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EastEnders fans have flooded social media with heartfelt tributes to EastEnders legend Tony Caunter following his death just eight days after his wife

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Tony Caunter, best known for his portrayal of Roy Evans on EastEnders, has died peacefully at the age of 88, his family has confirmed and tributes have come flooding in following the sad news.

Caunter, who played the beloved car dealer between 1994 and 2003, was introduced as a romantic interest for Pat Butcher, played by Pam St Clement, and the pair eventually married on-screen.

In a statement to the PA news agency, his family said: “It is with enormous sadness that we bring the curtain down on our wonderful and hugely loved father, Tony Caunter, who died peacefully yesterday evening, just eight days after his beloved wife of 63 years, Fran, also passed away.

“Dad was 88 years old. After a long and fulfilling life on and off screen and stage, Tony leaves a daughter and three sons, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He will be missed by all.”

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The family also expressed gratitude for the care Caunter received in his final weeks: “We would like to thank the NHS staff at Eastbourne District General Hospital for their incredible care during his final hours, and to everyone at Eastbourne Gardens nursing home for the care and compassion they have given dad over the past two months.”

The iconic EastEnders star’s family ended the heartbreaking statement by requesting privacy “at this extremely difficult time.”

EastEnders bosses also released a statement adding: “It is with great sadness that we learn of the passing of Tony Caunter.

“Tony will forever be loved and respected by everyone at EastEnders for his warmth, kindness and humour as well as being greatly remembered by all those at home who instantly took Roy to their hearts.

“Roy will always be remembered for his great love of Pat, despite him famously declaring his distaste in her choice of earrings, which gave us all one of Walford’s greatest love affairs.

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“Tony will never be forgotten by all those who worked alongside him for many years and everyone at EastEnders sends their love and condolences to Tony’s family and friends,” the poignant statement concluded.

Fans have also paid tribute on social media following news of Tony’s sad death. One wrote on Twitter (X): “I’ve been watching 1998-2000 recently and Roy was one of the best characters. Always down on his luck but such a brilliant character! Sad to hear Tony Caunter has passed away.”

Someone else added: “RIP Tony Caunter, I was lucky enough to meet him a few years ago at a signing and he was one of the sweetest and nicest men I’ve met. Very sad.”

Another said: “Very sad news. Roy was always a favourite of mine, and Tony an excellent actor.” A third added: “Sad news RIP Tony… Roy didn’t half put up with a lot of rubbish with his son Barry causing him trouble and Pat cheating with Frank. He was in a great era of the show.”

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Another EastEnders fan wrote: “Tony Caunter was a reliable TV face, equally comfortable on either side of the law: always extremely dependable. That he was then rewarded with household name status in Eastenders was a deserved cherry on his acting cake. I visited at home some years back and he was lovely. RIP.”

“We’ve lost another versatile character actor. Tony will be best remembered for his long running stint on EastEnders as Roy Evans. Among his many other credits Tony appeared in Doctor Who 3 times. R.I.P. Tony Caunter,” someone else added.

During his time on the soap, Caunter’s character featured in some of the show’s most memorable storylines, including Pat’s affair with ex-husband Frank Butcher, played by Mike Reid.

Caunter’s career spanned decades beyond EastEnders , with appearances in Pennies From Heaven , Tumbledown , Juliet Bravo , and the drama Boon .

Caunter was married to Frances Wallace for 63 years, and the couple had four children together.

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Olympic golden girl Keely Hodgkinson has had a year plagued by injury and professional disappointment but she says she’s prouder than ever after learning how to handle the setbacks

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It’s been a difficult year but becoming more spiritual has helped Mancunian Keely, 23, to take problems – including her hamstring tear and subsequent setbacks – in her stride.

The middle distance runner says: “This last year has been the most insane year of my life I would say – in every way possible, like personally, on and off the track.

“I had a lot of growth. I feel like a different person. Even though there’s been a lot of troubles and hardship. I’ve cried a lot this year – but I’ve also laughed just as much.

“One good thing would happen, like I went to get my MBE. Two days later I pulled my hamstring – out for the season.”

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She continues: “This is probably the first year I can look back – it sounds insane – where I actually feel proud of myself. Against all odds I kept pursuing, I kept pushing through. I think I’ve maybe just got a deeper understanding of life.”

Keely’s “more chilled” approach meant that, after achieving a bronze medal – a comedown from her 2024 Olympic gold – at last month’s World Championships, instead of wasting time brooding over what could have been, she headed straight to a Tokyo karaoke bar for a night of fun with family and friends.

She says: “”As much as I was disappointed, I wanted to cry and I was upset, I was also like ‘well, it’s done now, I can go and have a good time with my friends and family and with G (her training partner Georgie Hunter Bell) and with Trev (her coach Trevor Painter) and celebrate the fact that we made it through this terrible year. I think it’s really important that I went through it.

She attributes her new mindset to “spirituality,” adding: “I just believe that within the universe everything is already planned, it’s already made, it’s going to happen.

“That’s one thing I tell myself before races, ‘all you need is to show up’, it’s already planned anyway, what’s going to happen is going to happen. And not to stress too much about what’s going to happen. You can take that into everything in life. What’s going to be is going to be. The spirituality seems to be the best thing that fits me with that.

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“I think everything for me always happens for a reason. So even looking back on this injury, it might take a couple of months or weeks or maybe even a year to figure out why that may have happened, but I’ll always be able to see the lesson and learn from it. “I think, for me, this year – all of this bad stuff happened – genuinely was for me to actually realise how strong I am.”

Keely, who sought advice on coping with injury from former Olympian Dame Kelly Holmes, has also had some real highs, despite her setbacks. She won the Diamond League event in August in Silesia, in a new 800m leading time for the year, and also her second fastest time ever.

But she was trolled after her World Championship bronze – with negative comments online about her media work, endorsement deals and even about her having fun with her friends.

Again, she refused to let it bring her down for long, telling the High Performance podcast: “There was this bunch of comments like ‘you should be embarrassed’, ‘what a let down of a show.’ And that’s obviously not nice – ‘oh she’s too busy making TikTok videos’.

“There’s so many hours to kill when you’re out there doing nothing. I’m like, ‘I’m going to do whatever I want’. I took one day to be sad about it and then I don’t think about it again.”

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As well as honing her personal resilience, Keely has stopped being superstitious about races. She says: “People get into superstitions sometimes. I broke mine this year. I used to always race with my rings off, I would never, ever wear them. And my jewellery as well, I’d always take it off.

“This year I was like ‘no, Keely, we’ll keep it on’, and I raced with it on. It was like a change in me. We’re in a new era, this is a new me. Otherwise I’m there trying to pull my rings off my finger.”

And Keely has turned her anxiety to positive effect. Recalling how she started feeling anxious two years ago – but overcame it using visualisation – she says: “I was thinking ‘this is horrible’. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep. I try and flip it into excitement. You can get anxious for a race, but I’ll call it excitement.

“I’m very much a visualiser, a drawer, a writer of notes. I just like to say little things to myself that I might write down that keep me in that confident, winning mindset. I might draw the podium and there’ll be a GB flag at the top, or look at the medal. I’ll see it and believe it so much that it’s got to happen. It hasn’t worked out every single time, but more often than not! For me this year, I feel like my 19 year old self again. I was such a carefree teenager.”

And, single at present, Keely now feels there is no reason why she can’t have it all. She explains: “I think you really can have it all. You can have the family and the amazing kids and the job and the career and you can be successful – and you can have great friends and family and it can actually all go right at the same time. I’m very young to be saying that, but I do think it’s possible.”

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Keely is more chilled out than ever about every day life, but when it comes to training, she believes in following a punishing routine, asking herself: “How much pain can I put myself through?”

Describing her routine, she says: “I just think ‘the more pain I put myself through now the easier it is race day’. Your legs are burning, your head’s spinning, I literally can’t see for hours afterwards. I hate being sick, when I’m sick I cry, so I’m crying mid-session.”

Compared to training, the actual races are mild, according to Keely. She says: “Race day doesn’t hurt half as much. The race hurts, but the adrenaline’s so high sometimes I can hardly feel it.

“I think your body goes into fight or flight. You think you’re dead, but if you don’t give it that extra everything and then you fail, you’re going to look back and think ‘Why didn’t I try harder?’ I sit there sometimes and think ‘Why did I choose to be good at this?’”

But, despite his demands on the track, she has a laugh with her coach Trevor Painter. She says: “We have a laugh, we have a joke. He takes nothing too seriously.”

New details have emerged about a car crash in the Hamptons involving Stephen and Alec Baldwin, as police issue a statement about the incident

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Local police have shed new light on a car crash involving Alec and Stephen Baldwin that took place on Monday (13 October). The 30 Rock star was driving his wide’s Range Rover in the Hamptons and crashed it into a tree.

The two actors are thought to have escaped unscathed from the incident. The East Hampton Town Police Department have now issued a statement about the crash, which happened in rainy conditions on the side of the Montauk Highway.

Police Chief Michael D. Sarlo said: “At approximately 12:01pm on Monday, October 13th, the EHTPD responded to a motor vehicle accident on State Route 27, Pantigo Road near Cross Highway.

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“A white 2023 Range Rover, operated by Alec Baldwin, with passenger Stephen Baldwin, was found to have struck a tree on the Eastbound shoulder of the roadway while avoiding the turning action of a 2020 Mack commercial truck, registered to National Waste Services out of Bay Shore, NY.

“There were no injuries reported or summons issued and the contributing factors to the accident were found to be a reaction to an uninvolved vehicle and the slippery and wet roadway conditions.”

Alec was driving Hilaria Baldwin’s white Range Rover, which is thought to have been severely damaged after hitting a tree head-on. In a video posted to Instagram on Monday, Alex blamed a rubbish truck he likened to a “whale” in size for the crash.

“I was in a car accident this morning, I’m fine,” Alec started. He continued to explain what happened. He said he had swerve to avoid a “the largest garbage truck I’ve ever seen”. He also thanked the police for their help.

He claimed another drive cut him off and that he had to swerve to avoid hitting the truck. As a result, he hit the tree. The owner of the truck assured press it was not the fault of the driver.

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Fans flooded the comments with messages saying they hoped Alec and his brother were okay. In another video, Hilaria thanked fans for their kind messages and reassured fans that both Baldwin brothers were okay.

Alec was in the Hamptons for the Hamptons International Film Festival, which runs from 5-13 October. A source told Page Six: “He has been out there all week, he attended films and moderated panels.”

Among many others, Alec has been in films such as The Hunt For Red October, Notting Hill and Beetlejuice. His brother is also an actor, though Stephen has not garnered the same level of fame. Stephen is also the father of Hailey Bieber.

Katie Price has been slammed by PETA after getting another dog despite her track record over animals being killed in her care, as the charity have unveiled a new Halloween fancy dress kit dedicated to her

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Model Katie Price has been branded the “grim reaper” amid fears another animal in her care could die.

The model, 47, last week revealed she had bought a dog who “doesn’t leave her side” despite charities having previously called for a ban on her owning animals after a string of deaths.

Now People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has created a limited-edition Halloween fancy dress kit parodying the star after the news. The kit, available for £54.99, includes a paper mask depicting Price’s face, a vest with “Grim Reaper” written on it, a “coffin” filled with dogs and cats, and a scythe.

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The animal rights group previously offered Price £5,000 in exchange for a legally binding promise to stop owning pets. “Too many animals have met a grim fate under Katie Price’s ‘guardianship’,” says PETA Vice President for UK and Europe Mimi Bekhechi.

“This Halloween costume may be a joke – but the message is not: being responsible for lives and needs of animals who are entirely dependent on you is serious business. And anyone who doesn’t treat it as such needs to stick to stuffed toys.”

The Mirror has reported on how Price has been at the centre of a string of controversies around animals in her care. The star has previously been branded a “serial killer” by PETA over the deaths of at least eight animals.

Earlier this year she was blasted for letting one of her £2,000-a-pop bald cats get sunburnt during the last heatwave. In a video, she showed one with a red head and back. Stroking the cat, she said: “Oh Kevin you have been in the sun today, you have got sun burnt despite us putting sun cream on you? look at his little face.”

Four dogs – Blade, Queenie, Sharon and Sparkle – were killed by cars near her home. And one of Katie’s horses was hit by a car and killed in 2017 after escaping from a field. In 2020, dog Rolo suffocated in her home after getting stuck in an electric armchair.

Katie, 47, admitted giving him cannabis oil, but said she was unaware it was illegal to do so without a vet prescription. The mum-of-five has also announced the death of a chameleon and told how she had to put down another designer cat, Frog.

“He had a neurological disease”, she wrote in her memoir. “Within days it had spread through his body. So I cuddled him in my arms and he had to be put to sleep.”

In February, she hit back at critics of her record with animals, saying: “It’s circumstances that were out of my hands. It’s no lack of me not looking after them. I love animals, I love nurturing.”

The Halloween outfit is available on the PETA website, and all proceeds will go towards the groups work to promote responsible animal guardianship.