Alan Carr was comforted by Nick Mohammed and David Olusoga as he broke down in tears, after winning the first series of Celebrity Traitors
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Alan Carr was left in tears after winning The Celebrity Traitors(Image: BBC)
Alan Carr has received a warning from The Traitors champion Harry Clark, following his victory on the celebrity version of the programme. On Thursday evening, the comedian secured the £87,000 prize for his chosen charity after the faithfuls failed to identify him as a traitor.
The 49-year-old made it to the final three with faithfuls David Olusoga and Nick Mohammed, who together eliminated Joe Marler in an unexpected twist.
After the trio chose to conclude the game following Joe and Cat Burns’ elimination, they each disclosed their true identities.
While finally confessing to being a traitor, Alan broke down in tears as he admitted the role had been “tearing [him] apart”.
He proceeded to apologise to his fellow Celebrity Traitors co-stars, who consoled him during the emotional scene.
Reflecting on his win, Harry, from series two, warned Alan to “be prepared” for what happens next.
Chatting on Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden, he explained: “I think the only people that trusted me [after winning] was my family and everyone still has that, ‘Oh, I don’t know if I can trust you because of what I’ve seen you do’.
“But then again, Alan was telling the truth, like even when he said he was a faithful he was laughing.
“So, he might get away with it a little bit more than me, but he should be prepared for people not believing a word he says from now on.”
Harry went on to say he wasn’t taken aback by Alan’s emotional reveal, adding: “No not at all, I think once you’re there, you really understand it, the show is completely different when you’re there.”
“At the end of the day it’s a game, and he’s also raised a lot of money for his own charity, he should be very proud of himself.”
The 24-year-old further commented that Alan’s tears “just shows how much of a good person he is”. During the game show, Alan shockingly “murdered” his friend Paloma Faith in plain sight as part of a challenge.
Following her departure, the singer confessed to feeling “humiliated” and “embarrassed” about being the first to leave. She revealed on The One Show: “My four-year-old woke up next to me and she just shook me and she went, ‘Mama, I don’t like Alan anymore he can’t come to our house’.”
She continued: “She was like ‘You can’t invite him to our house again’. I was like ‘Oh God’, she shared, before adding: “He was the only one that my kids have met and they’re like ‘Mummy’s friend’.”
Last night, Alan and Paloma had a face-to-face discussion about the incident that strained their friendship. Speaking alongside Ed Gamble in front of their co-stars, Alan admitted: “I’m a fan of her music, I’ve been a fan of hers for ages. We are friends, we go on each other’s podcasts. It absolutely really hurt, it really did.”
Paloma responded: “Observing tonight and going through my whole plethora of hormonal emotions, the reason why Alan won and the reason why I was so sad was because we all love him so much.
White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood will no longer front the Marks & Spencer Christmas advert despite being involved in the promotional clip in August
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Aimee Lou Wood (Image: Getty Images)
Aimee Lou Wood has been ‘dropped by M&S’, according to reports. The White Lotus star was set to be the face of the new Marks and Spencer Christmas advert, but appears to have been cut from the production.
The claim comes after the retail giants are said to have initially wooed the 31-year-old actress with a huge fee. Any appearance would have seen her follow the likes of Hannah Waddingham and Sophie Ellis-Bextor in featuring in the festive fun.
However, despite appearing in the promo clip in August, Aimee is thought to have been removed by the brand who have reportedly chosen to go in a different direction.
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A spokesperson for M&S told Mail Online: “We really enjoyed working with Aimee Lou Wood during the early stages of this year’s Christmas campaign – she brought great energy and creativity to the process.
“As the campaign evolved, we started to embed a new product-focused strategy under new leadership. So, rather than a single-hero advert, the campaign was reshaped around a series of festive films and influencer content-drops aligned to key seasonal shopping moments – from gifting and hosting to partywear – delivered through a social-first, multi-channel approach across social media, digital, out-of-home and print.”
It could be seen as a blow for the Stockport-born actress. However, after finding fame in Netflix’s comedy drama Sex Education, she has continued to go from strength to strength before the M&S dropping.
She also portrayed Chelsea in the third series of the Sky Atlantic drama last year. It’s thought she had signed a deal to lead the M&S ad in the summer. But with a change in direction, comes new faces.
It comes as the eagerly anticipated John Lewis advert received a mixed response. It was attempting to pull at the heartstrings with its latest offering that focuses on a father and son struggling to find the words to say how much they care about each other.
That all changes when Dad finds a present addressed to him while packing away the wrapping paper for another year on Christmas morning. This year the famous advert is soundtracked by 90s dance icon Alison Limerick’s hit Where Love Lives, with a newly reimagined version by globally acclaimed artist and producer Labrinth also featuring.
However, while some shed a tear, others blasted the production as “Depressing, boring and not very Christmassy!”
“Just seen the John Lewis Christmas advert,” one user wrote on Twitter/X. “Thought it was dull, depressing, boring and not very Christmassy,”
Another posted on the platform: “The John Lewis Christmas Advert is TERRIBLE!!! What a bunch of nonsense. Unimaginative, unfestive, rubbish. Bring back Moz the Monster or Edgar the Dragon!! #JohnLewisChristmasAdvert #JohnLewis #Rubbish.”
A third was left conflicted, writing: “John Lewis ad 2025 – I’m not sure, it’s underlying message of father son communication is great, but it’s portrayed in such a dark way, you don’t know what’s happening, it’s very vague, and not very festive at all, bordering on depressing even!”
Mass cancellations of flights in the United States are causing havoc for travellers after the government ordered a reduction in the flight schedule due to a lack of air traffic controllers.
The reduced flight schedule, set to begin on Friday, comes as the US continues with its longest-ever government shutdown, which began on October 1, after Congress was unable to agree on a federal funding bill.
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On Thursday night, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced a phased-in reduction plan, which sets out that airlines must cut 4 percent of domestic flights from 6am EST (11:00 GMT) on Friday and gradually increase to 10 percent by November 14.
So far, no international flights have been affected by the planned cancellations.
According to an estimate by the aviation analytics firm Cirium, about 1,800 flights are being cancelled – a reduction of 268,000 seats.
Here’s what we know about the cancellations:
Why are flights being cancelled in the US?
Since the October 1 government shutdown, now the longest in history, there has been no sign of the Republicans and Democrats ending their standoff over healthcare funding and agreeing on a new funding bill. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers, including air traffic controllers, have been furloughed or are working unpaid.
While federal workers have received back pay following the end of previous government shutdowns, President Donald Trump has threatened to sack many of them altogether if the Democrats do not agree to sign off on the funding bill.
So far, 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 security screeners have been required to work without pay as they are classified as essential workers, so they will not receive payment until the shutdown is lifted.
However, in an attempt to alleviate pressure on the already overworked industry, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the decision to reduce flights now, before the busy Thanksgiving season at the end of the month.
In a post on X on Thursday night, Duffy said the decision to reduce flights was not about politics but about “assessing the data and alleviating building risk in the system as controllers continue working without pay”.
.@USDOT has many responsibilities, but our number one job is safety.
This isn’t about politics – it’s about assessing the data and alleviating building risk in the system as controllers continue working without pay.
It’s safe to fly today, tomorrow, and the day after because… pic.twitter.com/YRrq5sdy4T
“I’d love to pay them, but I can’t,” he added in a later post.
I don’t have access to money to pay air traffic controllers during this shutdown. Congress has said there is no money. I’d love to pay them, but I can’t.
My message to Democrats is to sit down, figure it out, and not hold the American people hostage- especially when they want to… pic.twitter.com/up2peizyZn
Is it safe to fly?
Yes.
“It’s safe to fly today, tomorrow, and the day after because of the proactive actions we are taking,” Duffy wrote in a post accompanying a wider statement.
The statement also cited FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, who said the agency would “not hesitate to take further action” to alleviate pressure on workers.
“We are seeing signs of stress in the system, so we are proactively reducing the number of flights to make sure the American people can fly,” Bedford said, adding that they were monitoring the situation.
It remains unclear how long the cancellations will continue.
Which airports will be affected?
Forty of the country’s busiest airports have cancelled flights, including:
The last government shutdown in January 2019, during Trump’s first term as president, lasted for 35 days.
On that occasion, travel was temporarily suspended at New York’s LaGuardia airport when several air traffic workers who had been required to work without pay failed to turn up, calling in sick instead. The travel suspension at LaGuardia led to delays at other major airports, including in Philadelphia and Atlanta.
This action, along with other staffing issues, prompted Trump to agree to temporarily end the shutdown. The government shutdown formally ended in February.
Air traffic controllers at Hollywood airport operating amid the US government shutdown, in Burbank, California, on October 7, 2025 [Daniel Cole/Reuters]
Which flights are cancelled and what can travellers do?
International flights will not be cancelled.
It is unclear exactly which domestic flights are affected, however. Katy Nastro, a travel analyst at Going, the flight-finder website, told ABC News that “less full flights to smaller cities, or flights with more limited schedules to begin with, are most likely on the chopping block”.
Alaska Airlines said most cancellations will affect high-frequency routes, to allow travellers to be accommodated with minimal disruption.
The Department of Transportation said airlines would be required to issue full refunds to travellers whose flights had been cancelled, but secondary costs, including food and hotel accommodation, would not be covered unless a delay or cancellation was within the control of the carrier.
The CEO of Frontier Airlines, Barry Biffle, recommended that travellers buy backup tickets with another airline to avoid being stranded or missing an essential trip if the flight gets cancelled.
Who is the worst affected?
Todd Curtis, founder of Airsafe, an aviation safety website, told Al Jazeera that the shutdown was having a significant impact on workers.
“If there’s not enough staff, there’s procedures in place. What’s a more important issue, and this was handed out by the secretary of transportation, is fatigue because of staffing issues. Controllers have been asked to work six-day [work]weeks [with] mandatory overtime. Even under the best of circumstances, this is a difficult job,” Curtis explained.
Travellers facing disruption voiced anger about the cancellations.
At Reagan national airport in Arlington, Virginia, Sandy Humes, a passenger, told Al Jazeera that she almost cancelled her trip due to the airline cancellations.
“I don’t even know what’s gonna happen, [but] then I just decided, all right, we’re just gonna go for it and see what happens. But it’s just unexpected. I’m just sick of it. It’s like, what about us?” Humes said.
At the same airport, Vic Seested told Al Jazeera that the lack of information was “disappointing”.
“It means that Valentina, my youngest, my nine-year-old, was looking forward to see[ing] me for our date night, and now I may not see her,” he said.
Which other critical services have been affected by the government shutdown?
As well as flight cancellations, the shutdown could also affect more than 42 million Americans who receive benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme (SNAP), also known as food stamps.
The government had planned to freeze payments altogether for the scheme when its funding ran out at the end of October, but on Monday, a federal judge halted that decision and said the Trump administration must provide the programme with emergency funds, at least partially.
Officials will use $4.65bn from the Department of Agriculture’s contingency fund to support roughly half of SNAP participants’ “current allotments”. Despite this, some families may not receive benefits for several weeks, US media reported this week.
When will services resume?
When the Republican and Democratic members of Congress approve the bill and funding is released for government services.
Tom Davis, a Republican South Carolina state senator, told Al Jazeera that while the Republicans and the Democrats have got into standoffs before, “somebody always blinks”.
“Traditionally, you pass what’s called a clean contingency resolution. You continue last year’s funding levels until the new levels are agreed to. Democrats have done this 12 times under President [Joe] Biden, but they refuse to do it under President Trump. So [that’s] where we are at this point, and Republicans are not going to swallow the spending increase,” he said, referring to the extension of healthcare benefits that Democrats are insisting on.
A European naval force is en route to help a ship that was hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia, as another vessel narrowly escaped a similar attack, with piracy surging again in the region.
The European Union’s Operation Atalanta said on Friday that its assets were “close” to the Hellas Aphrodite, a Malta-flagged tanker which was seized by pirates the previous day.
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The attackers used machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) to board the vessel.
In its statement on Friday, Operation Atalanta said it was “ready to take the appropriate action and to respond respectively to this event”.
The rescue attempt comes amid fears for the safety of the 24 mariners on board the Hellas Aphrodite, which was carrying gasoline from India to South Africa when it came under attack.
Tracking data showed that the ship was more than 1,000km (620 miles) off the Somali coast, according to The Associated Press news agency.
The private security firm Ambrey said Thursday’s assault appeared to have been carried out by the same group of Somali pirates who recently captured an Iranian fishing boat, which they have subsequently been using as a base for their operations.
As the EU naval force neared the Hellas Aphrodite on Friday, the British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations centre (UKMTO) said another vessel had been unsuccessfully targeted by pirates on Friday.
In an alert published on X, UKMTO, which urged ships in the area to “transit with caution”, said the captain of a liquified natural gas tanker reported a boat approaching its stern, 528 nautical miles (equivalent to about 980km) southeast of Eyl, Somalia.
“The small craft fired small arms and RPGs towards the vessel,” it said, noting that the larger ship escaped by increasing its speed.
After piracy off the Somali coast peaked in 2011 with 237 attacks, the threat receded as a result of international naval patrols and the strengthening of the Somali government.
Australia flanker Carlo Tizzano says he cannot comprehend the criticism he received from former players and pundits in the wake of a critical clearout by Jac Morgan in the British and Irish Lions’ series-clinching second Test win in Melbourne in July.
With Australia leading 26-24 in the final minute of the match, Tizzano attempted to snatch a turnover as the Lions’ James Ryan went to ground, but Morgan arrived at the ruck a split second later and cleared him out.
In the following phase, Lions full-back Hugo Keenan went over for the winning score.
While Morgan’s clearout was reviewed by the Television Match Official and the try allowed to stand, Australia coach Joe Schmidt believed Morgan making contact above Tizzano’s shoulder line – without binding on to his opponent – meant it should have been penalised.
Former England flanker James Haskell was one of those to take issue with Tizzano, who fell back clutching his head in the incident, accusing him of “diving”.
Wales legend Sam Warburton, who captained the Lions on their 2013 and 2017 tours, wrote in a column for the Times that Tizzano had been guilty of “simulation”, while Lions fly-half Finn Russell said the 25-year-old “obviously holds his head and tries to get a penalty from it”.
“I thought maybe those guys who played previously, the pundits, would be a bit more considerate and understand, because they’ve been there, done it,” Tizzano told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“Spectators haven’t done it. They haven’t played Test match rugby. But these guys that have, and they understand what your body goes through every single week, that’s the thing I didn’t – and I don’t – really understand. I don’t think I ever will.”
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“Jac’s a tough dude, he’s a powerful athlete, so getting in that position, I’m quite low, and that just jams you back,” said Tizzano, recalling their collision.
“Having nerve damage in my neck previously, if anyone that’s had nerve damage, it’s like boiling water gets poured through from your neck all the way down your trap in your arm.
“I hit my head, my nerve stuff activated, I’m gonna hold my head… so yeah, that is what happened.”
Tizzano, who played for Ealing Trailfinders in the Championship during the 2022-23 season before moving back to his homeland and forcing his way into the Wallabies squad, said Morgan had sought him out after Australia’s victory in the third Test in Sydney the following weekend.
“He came up to me straight away and actually spoke to me, and said, ‘mate, I hope you’re good, I thought you had an awesome tour and you’re a great player’,” said Tizzano.
“I really appreciated him, he didn’t have to do that, but he’s the number seven, he gets it. He gets the weekly grind of what you have to put your body through, even just when you’re training.”
Journey have announced they are splitting up after 50 years together, but the rockers will be saying goodbye to their legion of fans with a 60-date farewell tour
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Journey are going on tour for one final time
Journey are parting ways as they’ve announced a 2026 farewell tour. The rock legends will be bidding goodbye to their devoted fanbase across 60 cities throughout North America and Canada, kicking off on February 28 in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and wrapping up on July 2 in Laredo, Texas – marking the opening leg of their Final Frontier Tour.
Yet founding member and guitarist Neil Schon, 71, has pledged to keep creating music. He said in a statement: “This tour is our heartfelt thank you to the fans who’ve been with us every step of the way – through every song, every era, every high and low.
“We’re pulling out all the stops with a brand-new production – the hits, the deep cuts, the energy, the spectacle. It’s a full-circle celebration of the music that’s brought us all together.
“As its founding member, I carry the Journey torch to this day, wherever I go. The sentiment and spirit of the band will always remain.
“While this marks a farewell to one powerful chapter of the Journey we’ve shared, I want everyone to know I’m not done. Music is still burning strong inside me, and there are new creative horizons ahead. This tour is both a thank you and the beginning of what’s next.”
The group’s present lineup features vocalist Arnel Pineda, 58, drummer Deen Castronovo, 61, bassist Todd Jensen, 65, and keyboardists Jonathan Cain, 75, and Jason Derlatka.
Established in 1973, Journey have shifted over 100 million records worldwide, establishing themselves as one of the planet’s biggest-selling acts. The Don’t Stop Believin’ hitmakers were honoured with an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, alongside former singer Steve Perry, who is reportedly not involved in the tour, Neal, Jonathan, keyboardist Gregg Rolie, bassist Ross Valory, and drummers Aynsley Dunbar and Steve Smith.
Jonathan, who became a member of Journey in 1980, described his time with the band as an “incredible” journey.
In a statement, he expressed: “It’s been an incredible ride. We’ve shared our music with millions, and this tour is about gratitude, connection and one last chance to feel that magic together. We wouldn’t want it any other way.”
In 2024, the band abruptly cancelled their entire UK and Ireland tour as fans demanded answers. The 50th Anniversary Freedom Tour was scheduled to start at Cardiff Utilita Arena on Wednesday 30 October before going to Nottingham, Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Birmingham and Newcastle. It was then due to come to an end in London The O2 on Sunday 17 November.
Journey released a statement saying: “Due to circumstances beyond the band’s control, Journey’s UK and Ireland tour is unfortunately cancelled. Refunds will be made from your point of purchase.”
The O2 London has removed the tour date from its site. Some fans think that the tour may have been cancelled due to issues between the band members. Earlier in the month month, it was reported that keyboardist Jonathan Cain had filed a lawsuit against bandmate Neal Schon.
According to documents by Bloomberg Law, the suit was filed on July 30 in relation to Schon’s “expenses related to the tour”. NME reported that the document claims that “Schon believes his role as president of Freedom 2020 authorises him to make decisions unilaterally on behalf of the company”.
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Cain is also thought to have claimed in the file that his bandmate’s behaviour and spending “pose a severe threat of harm to the Company and to Journey’s storied history of musical greatness”. Within the suit are claims that Schon would spend beyond agreed limits for accommodation spending for him and his wife as well as book business class flights.
