Category News

Olympics legend Denise Lewis, 53, splits from husband after 17 year marriage

By in Entertainment News, News

Olympic gold medallist Dame Denise Lewis has split from her music mogul husband Steve Finan after 18 years of marriage. The former athlete, 53, confirmed the news in an Instagram stories post on Tuesday.

Denise said in her statement – in white words on a black background: “After much thought and consideration, Steve and I decided to separate two years ago as a couple.

“This decision was made with mutual respect and care for one another after many meaningful years together.
“We remain grateful for the time we shared and the wonderful children created.

“We value the kindness and support from our family and friends over the last two years and our priority moving forward is maintaining a positive co-parenting relationship and focusing on the well-being of those we care about most.

“We appreciate your understanding for privacy during this time and as we move forward.”






Denise Lewis and Steve Finan O’Connor got married in 2006
(
Niki Nikolova/FilmMagic)

It had been reported that Mr Finan, 60, who was the late Liam Payne’s manager for seven years, had moved out of the home he shared with Denise in Buckinghamshire, where the pair lived with their three sons.

One source told The Mail on Sunday at the time of the report: “It’s such a shame because they are both lovely people and were always thought of as a wonderful couple.

“Despite trying to make it work, Steve and Denise just found themselves drifting apart from one another.

“In the end they decided that breaking up was probably the most sensible thing to do.”

Heptathlete Denise was spotted without her wedding ring on air throughout her run as a pundit for the BBC’s Olympic Games coverage in 2024, and her social media accounts appear to be bare of any photos of her and Steve.






Denise Lewis and Liam Payne


Denise Lewis’ husband was the late Liam Payne’s manager
(
@realdeniselewis/instagram)





Denise Lewis, Anton Du Beke on Strictly


Denise Lewis returned to Strictly in 2016 for the Christmas special where she danced with Anton Du Beke
(
BBC / Guy Levy)

The pair also seem to have unfollowed each other on their socials.

Steve is the son of comedian Tom O’Connor, and met Denise in 2000 through mutual friends at the Brit Awards when he was then a pop manager looking after acts such as Neneh Cherry and All Saints.

They met again and started dating after Denise split from the Belgian sprinter Patrick Stevens – father to her daughter Lauryn.

Denise said in 2006: “I was still with Patrick when I first met Steve, then we met again more recently and it was sort of love at second sight.”

The Mail on Sunday said when Denise approached about their story about her marriage split in November 2024, she declined to comment but did not deny their separation.

Steve and a spokeswoman for Denise also declined to comment at the time.

Bayern Munich upset PSG as Diaz scores two goals in Champions League

By in News, World News
by news organizations

With a 2-1 victory over Paris Saint-Germain away from home thanks to Luis Diaz’s two goals and red card, Bayern Munich have won 16 of their 16 games this season, underlining their status as early UEFA Champions League favorites.

On the stroke of half-time, the Colombian winger struck twice on Tuesday before being sent off for a violent tackle against Achraf Hakimi.

Recommended Stories

list of 4 itemsend of list

After the break, PSG dominated possession but failed to make it count, falling to their first defeat in the competition since last season’s quarterfinal second leg defeat Aston Villa.

With the early replacement of Hakimi and Ousmane Dembele, Bayern remained top of the 36-team league with a maximum of 12 points, PSG in third, three points adrift, and with more injury concerns.

The most important thing I hope isn’t too bad for Hakimi. Bayern coach Vincent Kompany stated at a press conference that we had this experience with [Jamal] Musiala] at the Club World Cup in the United States.

“I always tell players to believe what there is when there is some hype.” We’ve won 16, but it’s going to be back to zero starting tomorrow. Today, no one has captured the Champions League.

The PSG counterpart, Luis Enrique, echoed that sentiment, saying, “Today’s standings are meaningless. February, March, April, and May are all important.

“It’s always difficult to lose at home,” he said. We must be more assertive and creative. A well-organized team, especially physically, was on hand. Marquinhos, the PSG captain, said, “We couldn’t get our game going.”

“This match has some positives to take away,” he said. The team continues to be ambitious, but we must improve. They were more superior to us. We were in control in the second half, but it came after the red card.

In the 32nd minute, Diaz of Bayern Munich scores the second goal.

Ten-man Bayern are on pace for a dramatic victory.

Dembele made his Champions League debut, but Lee Kang-in took the place of him after 25 minutes.

PSG, who had defeated Bayern 2-0 in the Club World Cup quarterfinals in July, came out strong with their signature high pressing, but Lucas Chevalier’s effort was denied by Diaz in the fourth minute.

Dembele initially thought he had leveled midway through the half, but PSG struggled and looked unusually fragile at the back, where his goal was later ruled out for offside.

Bradley Barcola, who had a precise long ball from Fabian Ruiz, was denied by Manuel Neuer moments later in a spectacular save.

After Serge Gnabry hit the post, Diaz slammed on a sleepy Marquinhos to steal the ball and fire a second home in the 32nd minute.

Diaz abruptly missed half-time when he was shown a straight red card for a brutal lunge at Hakimi, who had a rumored ankle injury.

PSG had a number of long-range possession opportunities in the second half, but they didn’t have a cutting edge until the 74th minute when substitute Neves cut the deficit with a spectacular scissor kick from Lee’s cross.

Neves almost equalized a few minutes later with a header as PSG’s pressure increased. Bayern stayed put despite the hosts’ late ruckus.

Achraf Hakimi and Luis Diaz react.
[Franco Arland/Getty Images] PSG’s Achraf Hakimi is taken off the field with an ankle injury after being fouled by Diaz, far right.

‘More data than ever, but does it help managers?’

By in News, Sports News
  • 21 Responses

The amount of data used by football clubs is one of the biggest differences between my time as a manager and when I first started out 33 years ago.

It drives a lot of modern sport, not just the recruitment of players, but also the care of them in both the sports science and medical departments.

Since I first started working in the dugout at Bournemouth in 1992, the same year the Premier League era began, there have been some amazing innovations made, but I would argue that there are many ways it has made a manager’s job harder, not easier, than what is currently viewed as old-school.

The chairman, secretary, and manager were the only three people in charge of the club when I think back to those early days.

It has completely changed now.

Along with the first team and reserves, there is a recruiting department, a medical department, a fitness team, and of course, an academy for boys and girls. An army of workers, led and led by department heads, can make up each.

They are all distinct entities striving to achieve their own goals, and data frequently guides their development.

And while they once had complete control, today’s managers or head coaches are frequently subservient to those in charge of these departments and make their decisions.

When the manager is fired, and given how much of an impact they have had on the club’s culture, what I find fascinating to watch how many of those people leave the club.

My own head was “in my own head,” I thought.

Tony Pulis was player-coach at Bournemouth

The director of football, who typically works particularly closely with recruitment, an area that is almost certainly data-driven, instructs and guides each department head.

Even though I signed hundreds of players as a manager for more than three decades, none of them were data-driven, unless you add the database I had in my own head.

Based on the information I personally collected each week, watching live league, reserve, and non-league games, and making contacts with various scouts and managers of all levels, was the basis of that database. Typically, managers would expect to arrive at training at 8 am each morning and return home after midnight.

Despite having a network of scouts spread out across the nation, we still frequently spoke with people about both young and old players they had seen.

I would always try to follow up a player’s recommendation by watching him at least three times, with the exception of two outings because I always believed that if a player had a good character, that aspect would shine more in away games.

The Rothmans Football Yearbook was my bible in those days before there was an internet connection, and it provided invaluable information on players from all league teams.

Under Harry Redknapp, I first learned the value of having that knowledge when I first started out as a player-coach at Bournemouth.

You will never succeed unless everything is joined together, says the saying.

Brighton majority owner and chairman Tony BloomGetty Images

At all of my clubs, I oversaw the hiring process. I would let my scouts and coaches know what I wanted, then I would research their ideas and watch them get in action.

More noise would be made in this area from other members of the club as the years went on, but I always vowed to be the one to make the final choice.

My scouts and coaches were aware of the players I wanted for each position. I frequently saw talented players, but I never attempted to sign them because they defied the team identity I was in charge of at the time.

In the data-driven model that is used today, where the profile of signings is based on the club’s identity and what the manager needs, that kind of thinking should be applied.

There are some more well-known Premier League clubs that haven’t used it as effectively, but Brighton, Brentford, and Bournemouth are good examples of where it has worked brilliantly.

The Premier League has become a world league with over 65% of its players being foreign players, which is amazing how they discovered these players.

Being a dinosaur, I would still always insist on watching the player before signing them, and I’m sure most managers now would want that as well, despite the fact that data is an incredible resource for finding new talent.

I was more than happy to accept full responsibility for the player I signed if he or she did not fit the bill, and there were many.

However, it doesn’t always go that way anymore, and it has irritated me to learn that some of the players brought in haven’t even seen the manager.

You will never succeed unless everything is joined up.

Young managers today frequently don’t know anything about this, but when I speak with them about it, I always remind them that when your team is playing, you are in charge of the dugout, and that because it’s your job that’s in your hands, the team should be made of your own.

“Player fitness should also be a matter of common sense.”

Pulis (front right) and his assistant Dave Kemp oversee a training session at West Brom in 2017Getty Images

The same problems are present in most professional clubs’ sports science and medical departments.

I had a very straightforward and successful guide at the time of my management career to determine whether or not my fitness work was successful. I was aware that my players were working hard enough even if they were moaning and sweating.

Every department I’ve mentioned has grown both financially and physically. They each play a distinct and significant role, which is demonstrated by how much they cost the club, and it was important for me to hold each department head accountable for their actions.

I’ve always believed that sports science departments and fitness coaches should be challenged. They should bear responsibility for fitness levels and some injuries because they are crucial to the manager’s preparation.

For instance, knee, ankle, and joint injuries were always viewed differently from muscular injuries, which were unquestionably preventable, in my opinion.

Some fantastic doctors and medical teams knew what they were doing, but they never seemed to care about the club’s goals or the comfort of their ill players.

When we constructed a new training facility in Stoke, I thought about doing that. The medical room had five beds by the time they finished it, compared to the two I only wanted. What’s the issue, I asked the club’s chairman, Peter Coates, who was speaking to me. ‘.

Peter, I said to you, “If you have two beds, you’ll have two people injured there.” Because it serves as a comfort zone for those who are not members of the team and fosters the wrong culture, there will be five of them lying there.

In the end, I received my desired two beds, and I was not permitted to enter if I wasn’t hurt. I would continue to support that attitude if I didn’t want anyone to think that an easy-ozy attitude was acceptable.

related subjects

  • Premier League
  • Football

California’s Proposition 50 on redistricting to pass in blow to Trump

By in News, World News
by news organizations

In a counterattack against Republican-controlled gerrymandering, California has passed a ballot measure that will redraw the boundaries of congressional districts in favor of Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections.

In what was seen as a significant victory for Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, early results from Tuesday’s vote showed that voters had a two-to-one margin to support Proposition 50, increasing his party’s chances of taking control of the US Congress in the upcoming election and thus halting Trump’s agenda.

Recommended Stories

list of 3 itemsend of list

Democrats could win up to five additional House seats with the passage of the legislation, compared to the five that Texas Republicans are considering replacing after Trump pressured them to redraw their own maps. Republicans anticipate that new maps in Ohio and Missouri will add one seat, possibly two, to the mix.

Trump yelled out a furious response to Newsom’s protest. On Tuesday, he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that the entire process, especially the Voting itself, is a GIANT SCAM.

Newsom rebuffed his criticism, calling the Republican response the “ramblings of an old man who knows he’s about to LOSE,” saying that he is putting his claim to the presidency of the Democratic Party ahead of the 2028 presidential election on his willingness to stand up to Trump. He claimed that voters had “sent a powerful message” to Trump in X after the victory.

The elections of 2026, 2028, and 2030 will use the new district boundaries. The electoral map is based on the population there and is typically created by an independent commission following a national census that is conducted every ten years. Most parties in power actually rejigger the boundaries.

In some cases, the recast districts combine rural, traditionally conservative areas of northern California with Marin County, a renownedly liberal coastal stronghold across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.

The proposal was intended to counteract Trump’s efforts to erode democracy, according to Newsom, who had attempted to nationalize the campaign. An angry Trump was depicted in a television campaign throwing French fries at the TV as he watched the results.

Barack Obama, the former president, backed the decision. Republicans want to rig the next election by snub a seat in Congress, according to one advertisement. You can stifle Republican sentiment.

Critics claimed that a wrong does not equal a right. Even if Californians have reservations about Trump’s actions in Republican-led states, they urged Californians to reject what they perceive as a Democratic power grab.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former Republican governor who had overseen the establishment of the independent commission, was one of the most well-known critics.

ITV Lorraine star addresses being drunk live on show after apologising to bosses

By in Entertainment News, News

Dr. Hilary Jones, a regular guest on Lorraine Kelly’s show, addressed his future on the program ahead of a significant ITV shake-up, saying he thankfully “got away with” the encounter.

Lorraine show regular Dr Hilary Jones has opened up about a time he appeared on the programme while “drunk” – and later apologised to bosses. The professional medic has been a firm fixture on the show for several years, providing his expertise on a wide range of health topics. Reflecting on the early days of his appearances, Dr Hilary, 72, recalled a moment when his professionalism slipped while live on air.

He explained that he had met two of his brothers to celebrate having run the New York Marathon. I had no alcohol, no food, and plenty of beer, of course. On Lorraine’s show, I was scheduled to perform a live segment from a far away studio in Times Square.

The doctor claimed that Lorraine was “suddenly live” and that he was being questioned as he attempted to figure out the remote camera setup.

Because I was a little too drunk, all I can recall is giggling, laughing, and talking rubbish. I then realized that I had made a big mistake: They were going to fire me. What did I say?

Dr. Hilary claimed that he called the show’s bosses the day after fearing that his position had been compromised.

“I called them and said, “I’m really sorry,” and they responded, “Why?” You just sounded happy, and you sounded brilliant! It was very energetic and lovely, and you sounded euphoric. I escaped punishment for it, then.

Dr. Hilary has continued to appear on the program frequently since that humorous incident, speaking about the nation’s medical concerns.

However, next year will bring major changes to ITV’s schedule. From 2026, Lorraine and Loose Women will be shortened from an hour to 30 minutes and air on a “seasonal basis”.

Dr. Hilary remarked on his future involvement, saying, “I think I’ll be making guest appearances. Although the plan is still being developed, I will still have medical advice. I believe I’ll still be on breakfast TV because I’ve been with them for so long.

Meanwhile, Lorraine has shared her thoughts on the changes to the programme she has fronted since 2010.

Continue reading the article.

“It’s a different world we live in, isn’t it? I’m a realist and I knew there had to be cutbacks and changes. There are so many more outlets now, and television has to cut its cloth in every single department. It’s not like it was,” she told Woman Magazine.

She continues to believe in the future despite the adjustments, saying, “This is just another change; who knows what will come next in six months?” They might want to expand, but they might not. We just move forward with it while watching what happens because I enjoy my job and enjoy working with these incredible people. Nothing can ever remain motionless.

ITV Lorraine star addresses being drunk live on show after apologising to bosses

By in Entertainment News, News

Dr. Hilary Jones, a regular guest on Lorraine Kelly’s show, addressed his future on the program ahead of a significant ITV shake-up, saying he thankfully “got away with” the encounter.

Lorraine show regular Dr Hilary Jones has opened up about a time he appeared on the programme while “drunk” – and later apologised to bosses. The professional medic has been a firm fixture on the show for several years, providing his expertise on a wide range of health topics. Reflecting on the early days of his appearances, Dr Hilary, 72, recalled a moment when his professionalism slipped while live on air.

He explained that he had met two of his brothers to celebrate having run the New York Marathon. I had no alcohol, no food, and plenty of beer, of course. On Lorraine’s show, I was scheduled to perform a live segment from a far away studio in Times Square.

The doctor claimed that Lorraine was “suddenly live” and that he was being questioned as he attempted to figure out the remote camera setup.

Because I was a little too drunk, all I can recall is giggling, laughing, and talking rubbish. I then realized that I had made a big mistake: They were going to fire me. What did I say?

Dr. Hilary claimed that he called the show’s bosses the day after fearing that his position had been compromised.

“I called them and said, “I’m really sorry,” and they responded, “Why?” You just sounded happy, and you sounded brilliant! It was very energetic and lovely, and you sounded euphoric. I escaped punishment for it, then.

Dr. Hilary has continued to appear on the program frequently since that humorous incident, speaking about the nation’s medical concerns.

However, next year will bring major changes to ITV’s schedule. From 2026, Lorraine and Loose Women will be shortened from an hour to 30 minutes and air on a “seasonal basis”.

Dr. Hilary remarked on his future involvement, saying, “I think I’ll be making guest appearances. Although the plan is still being developed, I will still have medical advice. I believe I’ll still be on breakfast TV because I’ve been with them for so long.

Meanwhile, Lorraine has shared her thoughts on the changes to the programme she has fronted since 2010.

Continue reading the article.

“It’s a different world we live in, isn’t it? I’m a realist and I knew there had to be cutbacks and changes. There are so many more outlets now, and television has to cut its cloth in every single department. It’s not like it was,” she told Woman Magazine.

She continues to believe in the future despite the adjustments, saying, “This is just another change; who knows what will come next in six months?” They might want to expand, but they might not. We just move forward with it while watching what happens because I enjoy my job and enjoy working with these incredible people. Nothing can ever remain motionless.