Fans are already going crazy for Simon Cowell’s new boyband December 10 – and now they’ll be able to catch them live as they announce five live shows across the UK next month
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They’ve been touted as ‘the next One Direction’ – and now Simon Cowell ’s new boyband December 10 have announced their very first live shows. The group – whose formation was documented in Netflix series Simon Cowell: The Next Act, will be performing In February, in Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, London and Dublin – and admitted they’re excited about hitting the road for their mini-tour.
The lads – who landed a record deal with EMI/ Universal music, said, ““We’ve been buzzing to get on stage and play live together. We’ve become best mates through all of this, so sharing that moment on stage, doing it in front of people for the first time, is something we’re proper excited for.”
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Though fans will have to wait a little while to hear their debut single, the group have already dropped a cover of the NSYNC hit Bye, Bye Bye on YouTube. And it went down a storm, in a matter of weeks already getting over 1 million views.
And while the seven members of December 10 will be gigging together live for the first time next month, they’ve got plenty of experience between them. Nicolas, 16, represented Portugal at Junior Eurovision, while Sean, 19, sang for the Irish National Opera in Dublin.
Cruz, 19, has already performed in London’s West End playing a young Michael Jackson in the West End’s Motown: The Musical while Danny, 17, appeared on The Voice Kids in 2023.
John, 17, turned down a role in stage production Paddington: The Musical to join Cowell’s next big thing – and Hendrick, 19, and Josh, 17, both have a fanbase online from playing covers and their own original music.
The Next Act saw Simon scour the UK in the hope of discovering the planet’s biggest boyband – and his final seven were named December 10 after the release date for the hit documentary.
Music mogul Simon knows his stuff. He has already achieved global success with One Direction – and is hoping to replicate that success with the new band.
Singer-songwriter Kamille, who was on the judging panel with Simon and has penned hits for everyone from Raye to Little Mix, told the Mirror last December that it was ‘time for a resurgence of the boy band’.
She said, “We auditioned what felt like thousands of boys up and down the country to find this group! And sometimes we thought it just wasn’t going to happen. But it all worked out – the talent was incredible.
“I’m proud of Simon for not giving up, and proud of the boys. I think this group is going to be huge, they give me goosebumps when they perform. They could be the next One Direction.:”
Adding that she felt very protective over the boys – the oldest of whom is just 19, she explained, “I already feel like the band’s big sister. I’ve been giving them advice, making sure they stay focused and don’t get caught up in the lights and the glamour, as has everyone.
“You’ve got to protect your mental health and I do remind them of that, and to always be kind. That’s sustained me in this business..I just want them to be happy and they are – they are buzzing. They’re like 7 puppies running about in a garden right now, they’re so cute.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has said that there are no current talks between Havana and the United States, as US President Donald Trump ratchets up threats against Cuba following his attack on Venezuela.
Diaz-Canel stated in a social media post on Monday that routine coordination on immigration continues between Cuba and the US, but that no larger talks are currently taking place.
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“We have always been willing to maintain serious and responsible dialogue with the various US administrations, including the current one, on the basis of sovereign equality, mutual respect and the principles of international law,” Diaz-Canel said.
He added that relations between the US and Cuba should be based on international law rather than “hostility, threats, and economic coercion”.
Trump has said that the US could ramp up pressure on Cuba after the US abduction of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro in a January 3 attack that killed at least 100 people, including 32 members of the Cuban security forces in the country for security cooperation.
The US president stated on Sunday that Venezuelan oil supplies to Cuba would be cut off and that the government in Havana should “make a deal” with the US before it’s “too late”. Trump also told reporters that the US was “talking to Cuba” without offering further details.
Diaz-Canel responded to Trump’s comments on Sunday by saying that Cuba was a “free, independent, and sovereign” country and would defend itself “to the last drop of blood”.
Venezuelan oil was an important economic lifeline to Cuba, isolated and under heavy US sanctions, providing 35,000 barrels of oil per day before the US attack, according to estimates from Jorge Pinon of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin.
Pinon, who tracks the shipments, also estimates that Mexico supplies Cuba with approximately 5,500 barrels of oil per day, while Russia supplies 7,500.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has previously said that the US attack on Venezuela has increased the relative importance of Mexican oil to Cuba, but that Mexico has not increased oil sales to Havana.
Sheinbaum, who has responded to recent threats from Trump of possible military strikes against criminal groups on Mexican soil with a firm insistence on the country’s sovereignty, said that she spoke with Trump on Monday to discuss cooperation on issues such as commerce, security, and drug trafficking.
“We had a very good conversation with US President Donald Trump,” Sheinbaum said in a social media post, adding that the talks included a discussion of security “with respect to our sovereignties”.
EastEnders actress, Kara Tointon, who played Dawn Swann in the soap, underwent a double mastectomy and had both her fallopian tubes removed after losing her mum to cancer
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EastEnders star, Kara Tointon, has given a health update after bravely revealing she’d undergone a double mastectomy. The mum-of-two, 42, made the decision to have the operation after testing positive for the deadly BRCA mutation genes after sadly losing her mum, Carol, to ovarian cancer in 2019.
Kara, who has also had her fallopian tubes removed, said it was “right decision for me and my family” after revealing she’d had her mastectomy. And she’s now given an update on her health as she says she feels grateful to have been given a “lucky shot”. Speaking today on Good Morning Britain, she said: “We’re living in a time where we’re so lucky to become aware of personal genetics, and there’s a choice in that, sometimes that can be a daunting thing we wish we didn’t know about.”
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After losing her mum and aunt, and dealing with “generational trauma” among the women in her family, Kara revealed that her mum “always believed” she would die of cancer.
She continued: “For me to be given the opportunity to make the choice and see what it’s done to my family, it was a no-brainer for me,” she added.
“I’ve had a lucky shot. Everyone has the BRCA gene, but some people have the gene that’s faulty, and it’s a 50 percent chance that it is passed down.”
Revealing that her sister, Hollyoaks star, Hannah Tointon, hasn’t got the deadly BRCA mutation genes, she explained: “My sister hasn’t got it, but I have, my sister was so upset she didn’t have it… she wanted us to go through it together, but we have gone through it together, because she held my hand every step of the way.
Kara revealed that the “hardest part of the process” was making the initial call to schedule the first appointment.
“I couldn’t talk about it at the time because it is a big deal I suppose,” she admitted.
Offering advice to viewers, she added: “Don’t be scared, facing things actually is empowering.”
Kara revealed she’d had her mastectomy in May last year. Announcing that she had undergone the major operation and had her fallopian tubes removed as a preventative measure, she bravely told her followers on Instagram: “You may have heard of the BRCA genes type 1 and 2 and as a carrier it means that I am at a greater risk of both breast and ovarian cancer.
“Back in 2018 when my mum was undergoing treatment for ovarian cancer, I was asked to take a genetics test. There is a history of both cancers in my family but for various reasons including generational trauma of which I’ll talk more about another time, we hadn’t looked into it until that point. But it was put to us, we took the test and it was confirmed that my mum and I both carried the gene.”
The TV presenter broke his silence after being sacked by the BBC following investigation that upheld 45 allegations against him
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Gregg Wallace has defended his innuendo jokes whilst apologising for his conduct on MasterChef – acknowledging he had been “stupid, defensive and arrogant” after being axed from the show.
He acknowledged that numerous jokes on the programme were ‘sexual’ involving ‘spotted dick, nuts, the rim of a glass, little tarts’ but insisted food was ‘full of innuendo’ and used Channel 4’s Bake Off as an example of similar gags.
Wallace maintained it was never his “intention to make anyone feel uncomfortable” and now understands why participants may have hesitated to challenge his conduct at the time, worried it might jeopardise their prospects of winning his programme. The disgraced television personality also conceded he had been “completely wrong” to describe those who raised concerns about his unsuitable behaviour as “middle-class women of a certain age”.
Wallace explained he had “lashed out” as he felt “backed into a corner” and now recognises it was “hurtful and wrong’. However, he confessed he remains puzzled by his fall from grace and questioned ‘whether the standards by which I was judged were knowable in advance’. He stated he had dedicated 20 years to playing the ‘loud, cheeky greengrocer off the telly’ and adapted his conduct to fit a ‘culture that was engineered from the top down’.
Wallace alleged the programme’s producers would ‘whip us up with energy and excitement’, his role was to ‘put contestants at ease’ and he achieved it the ‘only way’ he knew how.
“I genuinely thought everyone thought it was hilarious,” he said. “I saw the people around me making these jokes and assumed they were a normal, encouraged part of workplace behaviour, and that when I did it it would be perceived the same way.
“Nobody ever told me otherwise. Nobody, not a director, producer, or colleague, ever said, ‘Oi, Gregg, pack it in’. In fact, it was the opposite. The energy was encouraged.”
Wallace was dismissed by the BBC last July following a seven-month investigation which upheld 45 complaints against him, including inappropriate sexual language and humour, ‘being in a state of undress’ and one instance of unwelcome physical contact. He has subsequently attempted to launch a new career as a personal trainer and shares healthy recipes on social media platforms including TikTok.
In an extensive apology published on media platform Substack, Wallace seemed to minimise what he described as the “most serious” allegations levelled at him.
He explained: “18 years ago in a closed studio with only myself and three friends present I came out of my dressing room wearing a shirt and a sock over my bits. Everybody fell about laughing. The investigation confirmed that everyone present was amused. Nobody was offended.
“Furthermore the investigation confirmed that none of these instances were sexually motivated. There was also one incident of physical contact. Seventeen years ago, at a party, I had my arm around a woman while we were talking and had my hand on her bum for at least five minutes.
“I believed it was consensual. I confirmed this myself during the investigation and the investigation noted that I believed it to be consensual.”
He was discovered in a ‘state of undress’ when somebody walked into his dressing room whilst he was changing. He had removed his shirt to have a microphone attached and lifted his T-shirt to ‘show off my six-pack’.
Wallace acknowledged the banter on the programme was ‘colourful’ and ‘sexual’, with jokes about ‘spotted dick’ puddings. However, he complained he was a victim of shifting attitudes.
Gregg, 61, wrote: “Let’s start with the one thing I can say, without any doubt, that I got completely wrong. When the media first reported the allegations made against me I went on social media and dismissed the people making complaints as ‘middle-class women of a certain age’.
“It was a stupid, defensive, and arrogant thing to say. I felt like I was being backed into a corner, and I lashed out. There’s no excuse for it. It was hurtful and wrong. It’s not what I truly believe, and I’m sorry for what I said.
“In that moment, I failed to listen, reflect, and respect. I’ve learned from that post that when you’re under fire, the first thing you should do is listen, not talk. That feeling of being backed into a corner was a reaction to a situation I still cannot fully comprehend.”
Whilst he described the humour on set as ‘bawdy’, he insisted it was no different to other programmes, including The Great British Bake Off, which continues to air.
He explained: “We’d make jokes you’d see on any episode of Bake Off, suggestive comments like the ones that regularly show up on The 1% Club. I would bring real high energy into that studio.
“And yes, many of the jokes were sexual. I relied on innuendo quite heavily. Food is full of innuendo. Spotted dick, nuts, the rim of a glass, little tarts…we leaned into it. All of us.
“I’d see cameramen making phallic shapes out of leftover ingredients on the bench. I’d join in conversations about sex and relationships because that’s what everyone in the studio was talking about.
“I wasn’t a lone wolf making crude comments in a silent office. I was part of an ensemble that was noisy, energetic, and yes, sometimes crude. That was the job. That was the culture. I behaved the way I thought was expected of me. My intent was always to participate appropriately and I believed I was doing so.”
Wallace revealed that ‘the rules changed’ in 2018 following a complaint on another programme, resulting in a formal warning for inappropriate and unprofessional language which left him ‘surprised’.
“It felt like a switch had flipped. Suddenly, the very thing I’d been rewarded for across five TV shows was a problem,” he remarked.
“It came as a complete shock, and I didn’t understand it. If the jokes were a problem, why was everyone still laughing? If the culture was toxic, why was I the only one being singled out?
“That same behaviour I was being called out for appeared to be tolerated and encouraged in others, and I found myself wondering what was allowed and what was a violation, because the distinction was never fully articulated.”
Wallace revealed that work had become ‘a terrifying place’ for him and that he had ‘stopped socialising with anyone’.
“I’d go to the production office and ask if I’d said anything wrong that day,” he explained.
“I’d phone bosses late at night asking if I was going to get in trouble. I was an unscripted presenter paid to be energetic and funny who was now terrified of opening his mouth.
“Now I want to be very clear. I am sorry for the upset I caused. It was never, ever my intention to make anyone feel uncomfortable. I can see now that it would be hard for someone to complain about a crude joke if everyone around them was laughing along, including management.
“I also never considered that contestants might not have spoken up for fear it would affect their chances in the competition. Those were failings on my part, and I take accountability for them. I accept responsibility for the impact of my actions.
“What I question is whether the standards by which I was judged were knowable in advance.”
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Wallace’s MasterChef co-host John Torode, 60, was dropped after the BBC upheld a complaint that he had used an ‘extremely offensive racist term’ whilst filming – although he insisted he had ‘no recollection’ of the incident.
Israeli municipal authorities are discussing plans to advance an illegal settlement in occupied East Jerusalem. Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim reports from Kufr Aqab, near the site where Israel may demolish more Palestinian homes to make space for settlers.
Adolescence star, Stephen Graham, thanked his wife, Hannah Walters, when he collected the Best Male Actor gong at the Golden Globes in Hollywood on Sunday
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Stephen Graham and his wife partied up a storm at the star-studded Golden Globes afterparty on Sunday.
The Adolescence star, 52, paid tribute to Hannah Walters, 51 – who he has been married to for 17 years – when he collected the Best Male Actor gong for the astonishing Netflix drama in front of the toast of Tinseltown in Los Angeles.
After the star-studded ceremony came to a close, Stephen and Hannah, who plays the actor’s on-screen wife in Adolescence, hot-footed it to the afterparty where they looked incredibly loved-up as they hit the dance floor, with smiles a mile wide.
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Mum-of-two Hannah looked like she was living her best life as she twirled around with her husband – and a whole host of A-listers – at swanky restaurant, Spago, in Beverly Hills.
Sporting a gorgeous gold, shimmery dress with her blonde hair in a updo, the actress smiled adoringly at the Gangs of New York star, who looked smart in a blue shirt and black slacks as the couple danced the night away.
Earlier in the evening, the Scouser paid tribute to his wife, telling the Golden Globes audience he was “very very lucky” to be married to her.
Addressing the crowd, which included the likes of Leonardo Di Caprio – and Love Island’s Maura Higgins – he told Hannah: “I’ve said it before, but you saved my life. You saved my life.”
Paying tribute to their children, he added: “And to my two beautiful children, Grace and Alfie, I love you to the moon and back forever.”
Stephen continued: “My dad, my pops, my hero, and I would just like to dedicate this particular award to my mum and all my friends and family, you all know exactly who you are. Without you, none of this is possible.”
Also in attendance at the afterparty were Stephen and Hannah’s co-stars, Owen Cooper and Erin Doherty.
It was a huge night for Adolescence, which bagged four prizes at the Golden Globes, making it one of he most successful of all of the television shows up for nomination.
Stephen’s co-star Erin was named Best Supporting Actress in a TV Drama and Owen, 16, won Best Supporting Actor in a TV drama.
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The show also triumphed in the Best Limited TV Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for TV category.
In the four-part series, which won rave reviews after it dropped on Netflix last year, Stephen and Hannah play parents forced to deal with the devastating aftermath of their teenage son’s arrest for the murder of a female classmate in the limited series, which they also co-executive produced.
