On Strictly Come Dancing’s results show last night, Claudia Winkleman won over viewers with her satin blouse, and they’ve already been frantically trying to get hold of it before it runs out.
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Claudia wore the blouse during the Strictly Come Dancing results show(Image: Sinead McKeefry/Instagram)
Claudia Winkleman will sell out an outfit, if there is one thing we can foresee on Strictly Come Dancing. We can be certain that the presenter’s looks will be gone before we’ve even said “foxtrot,” with her most recent outfit being no exception. The presenter’s looks are always such huge hits with fans.
Claudia wore the Light Pink Tie-Neck Long Sleeve Blouse ($88) from the Tabitha Simmons X Next collection to the results show on Sunday night, and it was still available in all sizes when her stylist Sinead McKeefry shared a link to it. However, a quick glance this morning revealed that only the sizes 8 and 16-22 are currently available and that it is currently sold out in the sizes six, 10, 12, and 14.
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Claudia’s looks were also the subject of fans’ obsession, with Sinead’s post saying: “Claudia looks stunning in this outfit. Love the blouse,” while numerous others inquired about the location of the purchase.
The Light Pink Tie-Neck Long Sleeve Blouse is the essential wardrobe item because it can be worn on a variety of occasions. Claudia’s blouse is styled like a pair of Reiss’ Elia Velvet Tuxedo-Stripe Flared Trousers in Burgundy (£180), which, depending on your accessories, will look great on any occasion, from the office to a date night.
Made of a blend of silk, polyester, and tencel lyocell, which is both more maintenance-friendly than pure silk and lightweight, breathable, and comfortable. The blouse retains its wearability while also receiving a little flair and drama from the tie-neck detail.
We made sure to find some excellent alternatives to her blouse given the limited supply of Light Pink Tie-Neck Long Sleeve Blouse. We chose New Look’s Pink Pussybow Neck Blouse as our favorite. The New Look blouse is available in all sizes from a six to a 20 for a fraction of the price, costing only £27.99, making it the ideal choice if you missed out on Claudia’s exact version.
The New Look blouse, like the Next blouse, has an oversized bow fastened at the neck and a silky, satin finish. Similar gathered sleeves are present, but the front is not buttoned up.
River Island’s Pink Poplin Shirt With Neck Tie is available for £42, but it also quickly sells out in sizes. The CUPSHE Satin Blouse, which is available in eight different colors and has a similar look to Claudia’s, can be purchased for £25.99 at Amazon.
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However, Claudia’s Light Pink Tie-Neck Long Sleeve Blouse is still available in a variety of sizes, so order quickly before it runs out!
Jenny Eclair may have a succesful marriage, but she admits to completely regretting the decision to tie the knot, sharing her surprising verdict on the special day.
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Jenny Eclair has shared her surprising verdict on her wedding to partner of almost four decades Geof Powell
After marrying her partner of over three decades in 2017, you’d think Jenny Eclair would be thrilled. But the comedian actually says she couldn’t care less about the “on paper” union with her partner Geof Powell.
The couple tied the knot in an intimate ceremony with just close family and friends in attendance. And Jenny’s hilariously nonchalant about her big day. Asked by Mirror whether she’s glad to have taken the leap, she immediately fires back, “Oh no. No, no, no,” accompanied with an assured shake of the head.
“Marriage is a stupid thing. It has to be done, though, because otherwise you die and all your money goes to the government,” she explains. “Had I known that civil partnerships for heterosexual couples would be legal within a year after I got married, we’d have done that.
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“It was a nice day, don’t get me wrong. Pleasant. But was it the best day of my life? F**k no. I was 57. It was like admin with a party and a nice meal with some of my favourite people.”
She and Geof do try and mark the day each year – when memory allows. “We celebrate our anniversary, when we remember! But we’re good at being nice to each other. It doesn’t need to be an anniversary – occasionally we do buy each other small things.”
Jenny and Geof share one daughter, Phoebe, and the comedian became “nanna” to grandson Arlo almost three years ago. “Oh, he’s the light of my life. It’s not healthy, but I love it,” laughs 65-year-old Jenny of the tot.
The doting grandmum, currently on tour with stand-up tour Jokes, Jokes, Jokes Live! , continues, “I am a big toddler fan. I dread him growing up. I can’t stop it but it’s going to break my heart! I have him every Tuesday, so on Wednesdays I’m f**ked, I’m a mess. My rule is that I never work Tuesdays now.”
Clearly a solid team, graphic designer Geof has been by Jenny’s side from the early days of her career through to the height of her fame, including becoming a household name, via BBC Two show Grumpy Old Women .
“[ Grumpy Old Women ] was a real stepping stone for me,” says Jenny of the early noughties documentary, which also featured other fabulous women such as Sheila Hancock, Germaine Greer and Loose Woman Linda Robson.
Jenny recalls, “My career has been a series of… coming off the edge of a cliff and then having to climb up the f**king cliff again. And then, you know, we’re bobbing away and having a great time for a couple of years and then oh, here we go again, slam into a brick wall.
“So, that show was when I was bobbing away. It’s only when you get to this age where you can look back and go, ‘Look at all that, this is what happens.’”
As we chat about the passage of time and how it changes your perspective, it’s clear that the comedian has had quite a wild ride. Looking back, she admits there are points in her career where she feels she didn’t get the breaks she deserved – but she remains philosophical. “I do think I’ve been undervalued.
“But, you’re only in this business if you’ve got an ego – and I have an ego, but it gets punctured very easily, I’m very thin-skinned. So obviously, I feel slighted when I don’t get jobs I think I could do really well, but that’s the nature of the game, too.
“I’m no different from anybody else. The whole industry is riddled with that disappointment. What’s unhealthy is to pretend that you don’t mind. I think now and again you should say, ‘I’m really gutted about that. That could have been my gig.’”
Are there any big jobs Jenny’s still wishing she got the call-up for, we wonder? “Oh, yes, Bake Off ! I was second to Matt, you know,” she says, referencing when in 2020 fellow comedian Matt Lucas took over from Sandi Toksvig, in presenting The Great British Bake Off .
“I was in that audition process and it came down to me and Matt. I would have loved that gig. I’d still be there now if I got it! But I auditioned and then I got a big bouquet of flowers the day before they announced Matt, with a little note saying ‘next time’.”
However, in 2023, it was Alison Hammond that got the call to take over from Matt. “I don’t know what happened to next time!” laughs Jenny.
Losing out to her former I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! campmate Alison wasn’t so bad, though, she admits. Now a big fan of the This Morning star, Jenny and Alison appeared in the jungle back in 2010, alongside the likes of Shaun Ryder, Gillian McKeith and eventual winner, Stacey Solomon. With a second All Stars series on the horizon, would Jenny be up for facing some critters again?
“Oh, the money would have to be really good for me to consider that. As in, a life-changing amount of money. And I don’t work Tuesdays, do I? I would need to commute from South Africa or take Arlo with me,” she laughs, reminding us of “Nana day”.
For now, she’ll stick to being a little closer to home, and it sounds like she’s got a pretty jam-packed schedule as it is. Heading off to continue her stand-up tour, Jokes, Jokes, Jokes Live! the day after our interview, Jenny still has plenty of important prep to do. “I need to get my car sweets for the journey. And biscuits, I always bring biscuits for the front row audience.”
The show is based on her 2024 memoir, which delved into Jenny’s family life, her upbringing and the changing face of women in comedy – as hilarious, insightful and disrespectful as you’d imagine it to be.
“It’s a lot lighter than the book, it’s all jokes and punchlines,” says Jenny of the tour, which runs until late November. “It becomes less personal to me and more general to the audience, as most people have experienced some kind of parent loss, siblings, school, first love, having babies… So, it should strike a chord with everyone. It’s a mix of a professional look-back with personal bits and some gossip from I’m A Celeb thrown in.”
And as one tour comes to an end, another begins, as Jenny will be back on stage in the lead-up to Christmas for a string of shows for her hit podcast Older And Wider , which she co-hosts with writer friend Judith Holder, as they natter about life. “ Older And Wider is a hoot, we have games and prizes,” she says. “Judith and I are still in the process of writing those shows.”
The double act starred alongside one another in Grumpy Old Women and have been recording their funny, irreverent podcast for several years now.
“We have a very chalk and cheese relationship, or fish and chips, shall we say. She lives in the country – as in, a village without a bus service (I’d last about three days there), and I live in the middle of Southeast London. But we’re both grandparents and have daughters, so we have a lot in common.”
Jenny’s in for a busy few months. “I’ve gone pink, thinking about [the podcast live shows] – I’ve suddenly thought, f**king hell, is that coming up soon? I’ve realised I’m not reliable when it comes to time. I can’t believe we’re in October. If somebody had asked me, I’d say it was May!”
For tickets to Jenny Eclair’s stand-up show Jokes, Jokes, Jokes Live! visit Jennyeclair.com. Tickets for the Older And Wider Live podcast shows in London this Christmas are available now from leicestersquaretheatre.com/show/older-wider-live-at-christmas.
Dafydd Pritchard, BBC Sport Wales and Chris Wathan, BBC Sport Wales
International friendly: England v Wales
Venue: Wembley Stadium, London Date: Thursday, 9 October Kick off: 19:45 BST
As a teenager, Craig Bellamy used to wind up his team-mates so much that they locked him in a toilet on the team bus.
If they were looking to shut him up, it didn’t work.
From a young nuisance at Norwich City, Bellamy went on to excite fans at the likes of Liverpool, Newcastle United and Manchester City during his playing days.
There were the goals, but there were also the golf clubs, the training ground rows, the controversies and the clashes.
Yet the “hothead” in the headlines is now a head coach described as “Mr Calm”.
Deep-thinking, astute, articulate, Bellamy is confounding expectations after an impressive first year in charge of Wales.
His aim is to take his country to the 2026 World Cup, and the latest stop on that journey is Thursday’s friendly against England.
To many, the Bellamy stood on the Wembley touchline will seem a different person to the snarling player of the past.
‘Ultra confident, combative, focused’ – Bellamy the teenage breakout star
Bellamy was born and raised in Cardiff but left home when he was 15 to join Norwich.
Homesick and “humiliated” by senior players who roughed him up in training, Bellamy signed his first professional contract at 17 and his performances in the second tier – then known as the First Division – were soon catching the eye of Premier League clubs.
“Bellers was really intense, focused, knew what he wanted to achieve, even at that age,” says Iwan Roberts, Bellamy’s strike partner at Norwich and international team-mate.
“He was confident. Some of the lads thought he was cocky, arrogant and they didn’t understand why at such a young age. But I don’t think it was cockiness. I just think he was ultra confident in his ability and rightly so.
“Don’t get me wrong, we did fall out. He fell out with everybody! But being Welsh is a big thing at football clubs, so we stick together. I’d always have his back if anything happened.”
That was certainly the case when Roberts stamped on Wolves’ Kevin Muscat after the Australian had injured Bellamy with a hideous tackle – and it wasn’t just opponents who sought out the teenager for punishment.
“He fell out with [former Norwich centre-back] Malky Mackay in a session and there’s no comparison in size, but he was like a little terrier,” Roberts adds.
“Then there was the time we were travelling to Bradford, and Bryan Gunn and Bellers had been having a bit of a ding dong and he was a bit cheeky.
“This might have been his first away trip. If you’ve done the trip on the coach a few times, you know if you go to the toilet, you have to stick your leg out so they can’t close the door.
“Craig goes in the toilet, door closes, lads are like ‘Oh no, he’s closed the door!’ They’re straight out of their seats, got the bins, put them down. Craig is obviously trying to open the door. He could just get the tip of his nose out and he was effing and blinding.
“He was in there for 45 minutes to an hour. First five, 10 minutes, swearing, effing and jeffing, then it just went quiet. One of the lads drafted this contract saying ‘I must not be cheeky to the senior pros again’ and he had to sign it before we let him out. He signed it but, as soon as he came out, he was cheeky again!”
Bellamy admits now some of that bravado was his way of hiding the fear of failure. He needed to succeed because he was a father at the age of 17. Put simply, he couldn’t afford to fail.
‘Pace, professionalism and a powder-keg temperament’ – the Premier League years
It was at Newcastle where the Premier League really found out about Bellamy, his pace, his potential – and his powder-keg temperament.
He played arguably the best football of his career under the encouraging guidance of Sir Bobby Robson, who described Bellamy as both “a great player” and “the gobbiest footballer I’ve ever met”.
“He was very outspoken, very opinionated,” says Match of the Day pundit Shay Given, the former Newcastle goalkeeper who Bellamy lined up with more than any other player during his career.
Given was once almost hit by a chair thrown when a row between Bellamy and Newcastle coach John Carver escalated in an airport departure lounge.
“He did rub people up the wrong way and grabbed a lot of headlines,” he adds.
“We all make mistakes, and he made loads, but he was young and there were different things going on.”
Robson did more than most to understand that, which is perhaps why Bellamy cites the former England boss’ man-management as a trait he’s keen to implement himself.
But perhaps Robson saw past what Bellamy now acknowledges was the persona he created to hide his insecurities.
Bellamy says he now often cringes looking back at the enraged footballer, banning his own team from throwing their arms up in disgust as he was so prone to do.
What hasn’t changed is the demand for standards – his “non-negotiables” – that so often were behind some of the fall-outs that invariably followed him.
“I think what you would say about Craig, and a lot of people wouldn’t see it, is his professionalism,” adds Given, who once joked Bellamy “probably moans in his sleep”.
“I know he got a few bad headlines off the pitch but he was the ultimate professional when it came to preparing for a game and that will to win.
“You’d go home at lunchtime and Craig would be there for another couple of hours in the gym in the afternoon doing what he needed to do to protect his knees or whatever after some of the injury issues he went through.
“He wasn’t always easy – we’ve probably had a few pops at each other over time – and I could give it back where others may have wilted.
“Often it was calling a few chosen names during a shooting session, but we got the best out of each other.”
The complaints came when Bellamy wasn’t sure if the team were benefitting, or if things weren’t being done properly.
“He always had a view in the dressing room, as you could imagine,” says Mark Hughes, who managed Bellamy with Wales, Blackburn and Manchester City.
“But it was always good insight – and when you were taking on board what he was saying, you realised he knew the game and what may have been going wrong in games.
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‘Some were treading on eggshells around him… now he’s controlling it’
Bellamy always wanted to be better and with it brought an edge – and often eggshells for team-mates to walk on.
“The last thing you wanted to do in training was give the ball away,” admits Joe Ledley who broke into the Wales squad as a 17-year-old when Bellamy was already a household name.
“His professionalism and work ethic were the best I’ve ever come across. I benefited from it and that’s what people don’t see.
“But he demanded so much of everyone in that squad, no matter who you were – and if you did something wrong he’d be the first to tell you.”
Although Ledley – and many others – say the influence was invaluable, there remained a trepidation about Bellamy’s temperament when he first came into the reckoning for the Wales job in 2018.
“He would raise the level of everyone around him because of how demanding he was,” says Danny Gabbidon, a team-mate with Wales and West Ham.
“There were some who couldn’t understand what he was trying to do at times or might be a bit intimidated, but I think he was a bit misunderstood. There was a side to him that could be not very nice, but it would often come from the right place.
“You had to break the layers down with him a little bit, but he was aware of it, and probably more so as a manager now.”
A manager, that for all the rashness and wrath of the past, some team-mates say is answering his calling.
“He knew some could be on eggshells around him, and probably in retrospect he doesn’t ever want people to feel like that,” says Ashley Williams, the Match of the Day pundit who captained Wales to Euro 2016 following Bellamy’s retirement.
“But I’ve found after retiring that you realise you’ve been revving on such a high gear when you’re playing, you’ve been so intense for so long. And he was really intense.
“He’s out of that now and it’s allowed him to show his other side. I’d seen it because I’d been there in hotels on away games just talking, this side of him that was a lot more than just mouth or kicking off.”
Which is all a far cry from the no-filter Bellamy that would fill TV screens and back pages with some of his post-match interviews, ones Williams says team-mates still watch and laugh about.
Not just with Wales – although his withering assessment of a loss to Finland has gone down in lore – but, in the Premier League, live takedowns of Graeme Souness and John Terry spring to mind.
“I would have loved to have said some of the things he said after a game – I definitely wanted to at times,” adds Williams. “I don’t think he’s any less honest, I think he’s just controlling it and articulating it better.
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‘The football obsessive changing the way his players see football’
Bellamy has always watched and analysed football obsessively – from the World Cups he followed as a boy to the endless hours of opposition footage that he consumes as a coach.
During his playing career, his burning desire to be the best often spilled into raging fires. And as others have said, while his intensity remains, he has learned to control it.
That change is a gradual process, one which Bellamy himself says is still ongoing, and his first foray into coaching at Cardiff’s academy was a lesson.
The club investigated a bullying claim made against the former striker and he subsequently stepped down from his role as their under-18s coach.
Bellamy denied and disputed the allegations and was not the subject of any disciplinary proceedings, but did issue a statement at the time saying he was “truly sorry” if he had offended anyone.
“Football has changed a lot, how you man-manage players. There is that question people will have – is he capable of it when you saw the mistakes he made as a player,” says Gabbidon.
“But you live and learn and I think he’s understood that if he wants to go down this road, then you have to change and adapt.
“That period for him was definitely a learning, and the people he’s worked with since – like Vincent Kompany, who is a very calm person – you can see he’s learned from that too.”
Bellamy was a part of Kompany’s coaching set-up at Anderlecht and Burnley, and he credits his former Manchester City team-mate as a major influence, for his cool temperament as much as his footballing acumen.
That development in Bellamy was clear when he was interviewed for the Wales job.
At Burnley’s training ground, he impressed the Football Association of Wales’ chief football officer Dave Adams and chief executive Noel Mooney with a comprehensive presentation on the national team, from tactical analysis to granular assessments of individual player data.
“You’ve got to try and keep him very busy, Craig,” says Adams.
“He wants to be constantly involved in things, which is brilliant because in between camps, in under-15s and 16s camps you have a lot of meetings around the tactical principles and supporting the coaches in the pathway.
“Craig has to have a sense of purpose every day, which he’s really found in this job. We’ve based him in an office in Dragon Park, so he’s got his own space to watch games – and he watches a lot of games – and analyse the opposition in a very meticulous way.
“So although you might have a lot of time in international football, when you prepare in that way and you go and watch players, you visit clubs, you spend a lot of time with pathway teams, the role can be as big as you want it to be.”
Unlike some of his peers in international football, Bellamy treats the Wales job like a full-time occupation.
Players love working with him – whether that be on the training field or in meeting rooms. Harry Wilson has gone as far to say: “He’s changed the way I see football.”
Even Bellamy’s media interviews can turn into tactical seminars, and it seems like his conversations with former team-mates often go that way too.
“If you get on the phone with him, or you speak to him, they could last hours just over the smallest detail,” says Williams.
Not that some will see it, unable to forget the firebrand that went before.
“I’m not a lunatic,” Bellamy said after topping Wales’ Nations League group last year.
“I’m quite sane. People thought I was going to be running on the pitch and pushing the ref and stuff, getting sent off.
“I probably felt more pushed into management to show I am not like that. People used to bring temperament up. ‘Oh yeah, but his temperament.’ I was like: ‘Really?’ Now you get to see this side of me.”
So is this a different Bellamy? A changed, matured man, who has come through mental health challenges?
“It’s not an act,” says Williams, who believes Premier League clubs will have also noted that behind the caricature is a modern, intelligent, impressive manager.
Bellamy recently said himself he was “always this person” but has only now allowed it to be brought to the forefront.
It’s not that he had to lock his old self away – like his Norwich team-mates did to him in that toilet on the bus all those years ago – but he has learned to harness his inner fire and use it productively.
Neymar was lying in bed as Ousmane Dembele was named the 2025 Ballon d’Or winner while playing online poker while recovering from his third injury of the year.
The 33-year-old Brazilian ace came in third place overall, winning about £73,800 in prize money.
It was comforting to see the Barcelona player who had once taken his place as the winner of a long-awaited award.
The 33-year-old forward hasn’t lived up to expectations since returning to his boyhood club Santos in January, drawing more attention for similar incidents to his football.
After 12 years away, his return to his native country was intended to give him a chance to regain his form and, most importantly, to rekindle a passion for the game that had vanished after frustrating spells with Al Hilal and Paris St-Germain.
Instead, all parties involved have found it to be incredibly disappointing.
In Brazil, the main question that is being posed is whether Neymar will win the World Cup in 2026.
He has a short window of time.
Even the stars must provide evidence of fitness, according to the saying. In his Folha de S Paulo newspaper column from 1970, Tostao, the winner of the World Cup, wrote, “The clock is ticking [for him].
Neymar was not included in the announcement made by Brazil head coach Carlo Ancelotti for the upcoming games against South Korea and Japan on Wednesday.
After missing the Selecao for two years, “The Prince,” as he was dubbed when he was welcomed back at Santos in a reference to the king Pele, is yet to play under Ancelotti. His most recent appearance came in Uruguay’s 2-0 defeat in October 2023.
In the unlikely event that he will miss two friendly games in March 2026 to prove himself to Ancelotti before the announcement of the World Cup final list, he also has an injury doubt for the November games.
Former AC Milan and Roma legend Cafu remarked, “Neymar was Brazil’s undisputed star for 15 years, carrying enormous expectations and responsibility on his own.”
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Something isn’t right if Neymar is cut out for technical reasons, Neymar claims.
Neymar has missed 47% of Santos’ games this season, but he has also had a number of fitness issues, leading PSG to pay a world-record €222 million (£200 million) fee when he was still in action. In contrast, during his peak, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo did it, leading PSG to pay Barca a record €222 million (£200 million) fee back in 2017.
Five of his nine goals have come against teams from lower-league leagues, including Inter de Limeira, Agua Santa, and then Inter de Limeira, all in the Sao Paulo State Championship.
The number 10 no longer seems to be the difference-maker he once was as Santos fights relegation in Brazil’s first tier, with only 50th in dribbles per game in the league.
Despite that, Ancelotti has argued that the forward has plenty of time to demonstrate his readiness for the World Cup.
His goal must be to be ready by June, he says. It’s irrelevant if he joins the squad in October, November, or March, the Italian claimed in an interview with L’Equipe.
Last month, Ancelotti allegedly attempted to protect Neymar by saying the star had been cut out because of health concerns.
Neymar later refuted it, saying that he was “wasn’t left out for technical reasons, and it has nothing to do with my physical condition.” Later, Vincelotti acknowledged that the decision was “a technical decision based on many factors.”
It certainly didn’t improve Neymar’s perception in terms of the general public.
In 2002, will Neymar be able to imitate Ronaldo?
Brazilians are divided on whether Neymar should be called up for his fourth World Cup, according to research from Datafolha, a respected polling company. 41% oppose the idea, compared to 48% who support it.
Neymar is Brazil’s all-time top scorer with 79 goals, but he hasn’t done much to improve his situation with his on-field behavior either.
He has argued with fans in stadiums three times in a row in the last three games of the summer, making it seem more out-of-control than usual.
The striker shed tears the following month after Santos was humiliated at home by Vasco da Gama, their biggest ever defeat.
He lost his patience when a reporter asked about his physical condition in a post-game interview, saying, “Again with this, mate.” I’ve already responded to this 500 times.
His father and agent Neymar Sr have also been asked the same question. “Neymar planned to spend five months in Santos,” Neymar said. What is it for? to get better. If Neymar could play, “amen,” he had previously said, causing outcry from supporters.
However, there is still a chance that Neymar’s golden years won’t be over and that he will be able to resurrect his career in the same way Ronaldo “Phenomenon” did in 2002 to win the World Cup and overcome criticism.
The legend from Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Inter Milan shares traits.
Ronaldo stated at a recent meeting with the forward in Sao Paulo, “He’s a crucial player for Brazil; there’s no one else like Neymar.”
“A minority of people think he’s neglecting his physical recovery, which is an exaggeration. Anyone who has ever played football is aware of how difficult it is to recover from a broken ankle and to regain rhythm and confidence. He is on time, exactly.
As mediators arrive in Egypt to discuss the details of his 20-point plan to end the Gaza war, US President Donald Trump said he expects negotiations to “very quickly” turn out.
Motor neurone disease (MND) affects nerves found in the brain and spinal cord, which tell your muscles what to do.
This leads them to weaken and stiffen over time and usually affects how you walk, talk, eat and breathe.
World Cup-winning former England rugby union international Lewis Moody, 47, is the latest former athlete to be diagnosed with the disease.
It is a relatively rare condition that is most common in people over 50, but adults of any age can be affected.
A person’s lifetime risk of developing MND is one in 300.
About 5,000 adults in the UK will have the disease at any one time.
Scientists are not sure what causes MND, but it is likely to be a combination of the genes – or biological traits – you get from your parents when you are born, and other lifestyle factors.
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What are the first signs of the disease?
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MND affects everyone differently.
Not everyone has the same symptoms, or experiences them in the same order.
The disease can progress at different speeds too.
Some of the most common signs are:
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Is there a cure?
There is no cure, but there is hope coming from treatments targeted at different forms of MND.
MND is not one disease – it is really several that culminate in the death of motor neurones or nerve cells.
A new drug called tofersen works in only one in 50 patients, however it has been shown to slow – and in some cases even reverse – some of the symptoms of MND.
It has been described as “truly remarkable” and a “real moment of hope” for the whole disease.
Although the drug has recently been approved in the European Union, it is not yet available in the UK.
There is only one drug currently licensed for the treatment of MND in the UK and approved by the NHS.
What is life expectancy for MND?
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Some people can live for many years with MND, including theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who was diagnosed at the age of 22 and lived to 76.
But for most, the disease progresses quickly and life expectancy is just a few years.
According to the charity MND Association, the disease kills a third of people within a year and more than half within two years of diagnosis.
Are athletes more likely to be diagnosed?
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The exact cause has not yet been found, but elite athletes appear disproportionately affected by MND.
Two studies from 2005 and 2009 showed professional footballers have an increased risk of developing MND.
A 2022 study by the University of Glasgow involving 400 former Scotland rugby union players concluded they had an increased risk of developing the condition.
Researchers at Durham University also found rugby players who have suffered multiple concussions have biological differences that may make them more prone to developing MND.
The MND Association acknowledges there is a “correlation” between contact sports and MND. It added that while the athletes studied were more likely to develop MND, it did not show the sports directly caused the condition.
The charity also emphasises that “reported MND cases in these studies is still relatively low, and so concluding there is a definite increased risk could be misinterpreted if this is simply a cluster due to random chance”.
Moody had a distinguished rugby union career – playing an integral role at flanker and coming off the bench to help England win the 2003 World Cup in Australia.
He started for England in the 2007 World Cup final defeat before going on to captain the team at the 2011 tournament.
His diagnosis is the latest in the sport after former Scotland rugby union international Doddie Weir and ex-England rugby league star Rob Burrow.
Moody’s Leicester Tigers team-mate Ed Slater was diagnosed with MND in 2022, aged 33, following six months of testing.
Former Liverpool and Bradford City defender Stephen Darby was also diagnosed with the condition aged just 29.
David ‘Syd’ Lawrence – who was the first British-born black cricketer to represent England – died in 2025 just a year after receiving his diagnosis.
In the United States, baseball player Lou Gehrig died from the condition aged 39.
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