Here is a round-up of some of the most memorable stories from this year’s showbiz calendar, where there is never a dull moment.
The past 12 months have seen a slew of entertainment stories dominate the news agenda. From divorces to deaths, and yet more Strictly Come Dancing drama, here we have rounded up some of the most memorable news stories.
The first incident, dubbed the Coldplay KissCam drama, happened in July but has been back in the news recently as the woman at the centre of the drama gave her first interview. Kristin Cabot broke her silence on what she describes as 16 seconds that ‘ruined her life’. The life-changing moment at a July Coldplay concert, has become one of the most viral videos of all time.
– Coldplay KissCam drama
A high-powered chief executive who worked for a tech company with a New York address resigned after watching a viral clip from a Coldplay concert in the summer. When Chris Martin, the band’s frontman, asked the cameras to scan the crowd at a concert in Massachusetts, Boston in July, Andrew Byron and Kristin Cabot, both of whom worked for Astronomer, were caught by surprise.
“Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy”, Martin, 48, joked when the couple appeared on screen and quickly tried to hide their faces. The clip, which was widely shared online, was the start of a number of parody videos and memes, and it even appeared on Strictly Come Dancing and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. The couple quickly emerged from their roles thanks to social media, and they both quickly recused themselves.
Later on, in an unexpected move, Astronomer hired US actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who was married to Martin for 13 years, as a spokeswoman. In a video where she avoided making mention of the KissCam drama, Paltrow said, “Astronomer has had a lot of questions over the past few days and they wanted me to answer the most common ones.”
– Katy Perry in outer space
In April, pop star Katy Perry embarked on an 11-minute trip to space as part of a six-woman crew who boarded Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin rocket for the New Shepard mission. The 41-year-old sang Louis Armstrong’s What A Wonderful World as she and the crew, also made up of CBS Mornings presenter Gayle King, former rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, astronaut Amanda Nguyen, film producer Kerianne Flynn and Bezos’s wife Lauren Sanchez, entered space.
The six women float around the spacecraft until they reached zero gravity before looking at the camera and declaring in unison, “taking up space,” according to a video that Blue Origin shared on X.
Perry was also seen holding a daisy which she later held to the air after emerging from the spacecraft to honour her daughter Daisy, before kissing the ground. Then, Bravos her, she responded, “Thank you.
The singer of the Fireworks said, “I feel very, very, very connected to love. I think this experience has shown me you never know how much love is inside of you, like how much love you have to give and how loved you are until the day you launch”.
The singer has also been in the headlines this year following her split from the Pirates Of The Caribbean actor Orlando Bloom, whom she shares her daughter with. Since then Perry has been romantically linked with former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and posted a photo of them to Instagram earlier in the month.
– The passing of Ozzy Osbourne
The Black Sabbath frontman, 76, passed away in a reported heart attack just two weeks after Ozzy Osbourne’s farewell concert in Birmingham. The news of Osbourne’s death rocked the nation and fans arrived in their droves to Birmingham city centre on July 30 to pay their respects while a hearse carrying the singer made its way past Broad Street and to the Black Sabbath bench and bridge.
When the cortege arrived at the bench and bridge, which were bursting with floral tributes, balloons, and messages from fans, Osbourne’s family stepped out of the cortege. Each family member carries a pink rose that was adhered to a purple ribbon and was placed next to a star’s poster, which read, “Birmingham will always love you,” among other floral tributes.
Musicians from Bostin Brass played Black Sabbath songs to accompany the cortege, and fans threw flowers at the hearse while it slowly passed through the city. The heavy metal singer was well known for his theatrical acting, including once styling himself as the Prince of Darkness and once bit off the head of a bat.
– Lily Allen’s comeback
Lily Allen’s fifth studio album, West End Girl, immediately garnered attention in October for its catchy melodies and frank lyrics, which are said to detail the alleged infidelity of the singer’s ex-husband, US actor David Harbour. According to Allen, whose 14-track album exposes the breakdown of a marriage that was “opened” after the “husband went astray” in explicit terms, the record, which was her first for seven years, has a mix of “truth” and “fantasy” on it.
Dakota Johnson, a 40-year-old US actress, portrayed the titular enigmatic mistress from her song Madeline in a December appearance on Saturday Night Live (SNL). The Fifty Shades Of Grey star also delivered the song’s spoken-word outro, explaining her side of the story via texts to Allen, saying: “He told me that you were aware this was going on and that he had your full consent”.
– Strictly departs Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly
A year on from Strictly Come Dancing’s 20th anniversary, hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly announced they would be leaving their roles following this year’s Christmas special. Daly, 56, had co-hosted alongside the late Sir Bruce Forsyth since the series launch in 2004, while Winkleman, 53, fronted its weekday companion show, It Takes Two.
Winkleman, who is also known for presenting The Traitors, eventually moved on to host the Sunday night results show alongside Daly and joined the main show every Saturday from 2014, after Sir Bruce stepped down. The duo picked up the entertainment programme gong at the Bafta TV Awards in 2024 and were made Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the King’s Birthday Honours for their services to broadcasting.
Following the announcement, they both posted numerous photos and separate posts to their Instagram accounts. It’s very challenging to express what Strictly means to me in words, said Winkleman. It’s been the greatest relationship of my career”.
Daly added: “Thank you for the laughter, the friendship and the countless memories over all these years. You’ve filled my heart in ways I’ll never forget. I’ll miss you all so much.” The pair received a message from Queen Camilla during the show’s final in December and Golden Glitterballs as leaving gifts.
– Honourable mentions
Following the success of Charli XCX’s alternative pop album, which came out in June 2024, Brat was the first Brit Award recipient at the beginning of the year. She later made headlines when she wed George Daniel, her long-time partner and drummer of The 1975, and held a celebration in both Hackney and Italy.
In another romantic turn pop star Taylor Swift got engaged to her NFL boyfriend Travis Kelce and shortly afterwards released another chart-topping album, The Life Of A Showgirl.
Also in the music world, the Oasis reunion tour was seen as a huge event for fans and was deemed a huge success from the minute Liam and Noel Gallagher walked on stage holding hands at their opening show in Cardiff in July.
There was also a number of high-profile divorces, with TV presenter Cat Deeley and The Late Late Show presenter Patrick Kielty among the couples announcing their separation.
A happier story came in the form of an unlikely relationship that blossomed on ITV’s reboot of Celebrity Big Brother. US dancer JoJo Siwa and reality TV star Chris Hughes batted away rumours they were in a romantic relationship before eventually confirming them to be true in a social media post more than a month after their stint on the reality TV show.
Popular TV show Strictly hit headlines in 2024 amid allegations of bullying during rehearsals and the drama continued into 2025 when The Apprentice star Thomas Skinner admitted to cheating on his wife just weeks after their wedding in an interview with the Sun on Sunday, having previously apologised for picking up a journalist’s phone and walking out of a press event for Strictly midway through. He also asserted that Strictly’s elimination was rigged, and that he was unfairly excluded from the show because he had met US Vice President JD Vance.
Source: Mirror
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