Category Entertainment News

Stacey Solomon has shared a simple tip to help calm anxious dogs ahead of Bonfire Night, and it’s hugely affordable

View 2 Images

With Bonfire Night on the horizon and the frequency of fireworks shows amping up as we head into the festive season, if you’re panicking about keeping your anxious pets calm, Stacey Solomon has just the trick. She’s shared a clever tip for pet owners ahead of the 5th of November, encouraging those with nervous animals to get a head start before the fireworks begin.

The TV star and mum-of-five, who often posts about her dogs Peanut and Teddy, revealed that she’s already preparing her pets using Pooch & Mutt’s Calming Range, and we think it’s a game-changer for nervous pups.

The brand’s range includes calming dog treats and food (starting from £2 for food and £4 for treats), formulated with natural, soothing ingredients like chamomile, valerian root and L-tryptophan to help reduce stress and promote relaxation.

Stacey’s trick is to start introducing these into pets’ diets now, ahead of Bonfire Night, as they are most effective when fed over a period of time.

READ MORE: Shop 2025’s best dog Halloween costumes from spiders and pumpkins to cowboys from £7

READ MORE: ‘I can’t believe the £40 Tu Sainsbury’s coat that could pass for designer is still in stock’

View 2 Images

Calming products in Pooch & Mutt’s range:

With fireworks season fast approaching, this simple, affordable hack could make all the difference for anxious pets. Whether you’re planning a quiet night in with your pooch or just want to know your pets are feeling ok at home, Stacey’s top may save you and your dog from a stressful November.

Looking for more ways to keep your pets calm? Amazon is selling HEYWEAN’s Dog Anxiety Jacket starting from £17.99 for extra small dogs up to £26.99 for extra large dogs.

The wellbeing of pop icon Britney Spears has been a hot topic for years and now her ex-husband Kevin Federline has fanned the flames by levying a series of explosive claims against her in his new book

View 4 Images

Fears for Britney Spears have been mounting in recent months, and now her ex-husband Kevin Federline has added fuel to the fire with a series of wild claims in his new memoir.

Kevin, 47, married the popstar in 2004 following a whirlwind romance and the former couple went onto have two sons, Sean Preston, 19, and Jayden, 18. The former backing dancer was granted full custody of the boys a year after they divorced, in the wake of Britney’s mental health battles.

According to an excerpt obtained by the New York Times, in the 47-year-old’s upcoming book You Thought You Knew, Federline alleges that the children would wake up to find their mother holding a knife at their bedroom door while watching them sleep.

READ MORE: Britney Spears facing ‘make or break’ decision but her hands are tied

View 4 Images

“They would awaken sometimes at night to find her standing silently in the doorway, watching them sleep – “Oh, you’re awake?” – with a knife in her hand,” writes Kevin. “Then she’d turn around and pad off without explanation.”

The knife allegation follows claims made by Britney’s sister Jamie Lynn Spears in her 2022 memoir Things I Never Said. Jamie, 34, alleged Britney had locked them both in a room together while holding a knife, a claim the singer branded “crazy lies”.

Federline goes on to claim that the boys cited ‘fear’ as a reason for not wanting to visit their mother at home in their teenage years. Talking about the infamous night in 2008 which saw Britney committed to the psych ward of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center after refusing to relinquish her sons to their father, he insisted it was “one of the hardest nights of my life”.

View 4 Images

The star was placed on a 5150 psychiatric hold and Federline was granted full custody of the children with Britney forced to pay him a sizeable child maintenance each month.

Britney’s relationship with her sons is said to remained strained and the boys moved to Hawaii with their father in August 2023. In her own memoir The Woman in Me, which was released the same year, Britney hit back at her ex-husband.

“Kevin tried to convince everyone that I was completely out of control,” she said. “He started to say I shouldn’t have my kids anymore – at all.”

The singer revealed she had struggled with postpartum depression and admitted to taking Adderall, an ADHD medication, but denied having a drinking or drug problem.

Chillingly, in his memoir Kevin voiced his fears the “clock is ticking” for his ex-wife. “The truth is, this situation with Britney feels like it’s racing toward something irreversible,” he said. “It’s become impossible to pretend everything’s OK.

View 4 Images

“From where I sit, the clock is ticking, and we’re getting close to the 11th hour. Something bad is going to happen if things don’t change and my biggest fear is that our sons will be left holding the pieces.”

In a statement provided to Us Weekly, Spears’ representative said, “Once again [Federline] and others are profiting off her, and sadly it comes after child support has ended with Kevin.

“All she cares about are her kids, Sean Preston and Jayden James, and their well-being during this sensationalism,” they added.

It comes as he also claimed he caught Britney on the phone to her ex-boyfriend, Justin Timberlake, the night before their wedding when they were staying at the Fairmont in Santa Monica.

“I’m like, ‘What’s wrong?’ I thought she was talking to her mom on the phone or something and maybe she was, like, having doubts. And she told me that she was on the phone with Justin.

“I just kind of stepped back like, ‘Did I just hear you right? What the hell is going on?’ And I immediately was, ‘Okay, we don’t have to do this.’ I didn’t care if we got married or not,” he said. “And she told me no and really was like, ‘I just wanted to make sure that everything is done. I want to make sure that I say my final piece.’ I’m like, ‘Damn. On the night before our wedding, this is what you decide to do?'”

Meghan Markle is trying to pivot to a new venture after her and Harry’s exclusive contract with Netflix recently ended, with the streaming giant now only promising a ‘first look’ for any of their upcoming projects

View 2 Images

Meghan Markle has revealed what she is planning to try her hand at next in the aftermath of her relationship with Netflix changing, while on stage for the Fortune Most Powerful Women summit in Washington DC.

The Duchess of Sussex, 44, compared the terms of her new first-look deal to that of Barack and Michelle Obama’s company, Higher Ground.

Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry, first signed a reported $100 million (£74 million) contract with Netflix in 2020 after stepping back as senior working royals.

READ MORE: Meghan Markle attempts to spin ‘downgraded’ Netflix deal and compares herself to Obamas

READ MORE: Meghan Markle’s trip to Paris Fashion Week heralded as ‘first positive PR in years’

View 2 Images

In August, the couple announced a new “multi-year, first-look deal,” which gives Netflix the option to pick up their film and TV projects before anyone else.

Meghan addressed speculation that the revised agreement signals Netflix is scaling back its relationship with the Sussexes, describing the change as a “strength”.

While on stage, she told the audience: “My husband and I were in an overall deal with Netflix, and then not just similar to Higher Ground in the Obamas’ deal, once that had come to its term, the extension of it, which was such an incredible sign of the strength of our partnership, was now being in a first look deal.”

She added: “Which is also exciting, because it gives us flexibility to go to our partners first, and then at the same time, to be able to shop content that might not be the right fit for Netflix, but has a home somewhere else.”

The Duchess then confirmed that she is currently developing short-form recipe videos for her lifestyle brand, As Ever, which will appear on platforms outside of Netflix. “We’re testing out how to give people a recipe in two minutes,” she explained.

Meghan’s comments come in the middle of some uncertainty around the future of her lifestyle series With Love, Meghan, which debuted on Netflix in March but received mixed reviews.

When asked if the show will return for a third season, Meghan sidestepped the question, only saying: “The holiday special is coming out in November and that’s a really good one.”

During the discussion, Meghan spoke about what her career has looked like since leaving royal life in 2020, saying that early on she was mainly focused on “nesting and healing”.

She revealed that her newfound passion for cooking led her to launch As Ever despite people thinking she would get involved in fashion related projects next, explaining: “I’ve always loved being able to share, cook, and entertain…it ended up becoming the thing that really was my passion project that I turned into a business.”

Meanwhile, model and TV personality Chrissy Teigen, who appeared in season two of With Love, Meghan, has recently spoken warmly about her friend, calling her “deeply misunderstood”.

Chrissy told People: “I really adore her. I think she is so incredibly strong. It is insane to me how polarising she is…she really is just such a kind, good person.”

Taylor Swift’s newest album, The Life Of A Showgirl, caused a stir after fans believed one of her songs, titled ‘Actually Romantic’ was about Charli XCX – but now the feud has taken a new turn

View 3 Images

Earlier this month, Taylor Swift made her musical comeback by releasing her 12th studio album, titled The Life of a Showgirl. With a total of 12 songs and one collaboration – of course, it had to be Sabrina Carpenter. Swifites have been trying to figure out the meaning behind each song.

After reading the lyrics, fans believe that her seventh track might send a message to the Brat singer. The lyrics say: “I heard you call me ‘Boring Barbie’ when the coke’s got you brave.”

The song carries on: “High-fived my ex and then said you’re glad he ghosted me / Wrote me a song saying it makes you sick to see my face / Some people might be offended / But it’s actually sweet.”

READ MORE: Taylor Swift reveals the pain she went through after finishing Eras tourREAD MORE: Bad Bunny has perfect response to MAGA critics ahead of Super Bowl performance

In a latest development, Charli XCX has refused to comment amid the speculations that Taylor Swift ’s tune ‘Actually Romantic’ from her latest album might be about the British singer.

During an interview with Vanity Fair, Charli got asked about her thoughts on the song, but the singer refused to make a statement. However, the star spoke about how people portrayed her for her ‘party girl’ image.

She said: “It’s fascinating to see people ingest your personality and spit it back out – what people cling to, what people miss. I’m always interested in, like, what does the casual viewer think? And probably think I’m a girl who parties and does drugs and is a little bit b****y.”

For more stories like this subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The Weekly Gulp, for a curated roundup of trending stories, poignant interviews, and viral lifestyle picks from The Mirror’s Audience U35 team delivered straight to your inbox.

READ MORE: SKIMS launch new ‘ultimate bush’ thongs people are branding ‘disgusting’

View 3 Images

Interestingly, Taylor and Charli XCX previously had a good friendship and collaborated in the past. The 33-year-old Briton performed on the 1989 World Tour, and previously opened her Reputation World Tour.

Rumours about a tense relationship between the singers began in 2024, following the release of Charli XCX’s most popular album to date, Brat. As reported by Harper’s Bazaar, one of the songs, titled ‘Sympathy Is A Knife’, seemed to have been inspired by the country-pop superstar. She highlighted how she felt insecure around Taylor, sparking controversy amongst both fandoms.

Both Swifties and Angels, their respective fandoms, believe that Taylor’s song is a response to Charli’s song. The lyrics are: “Don’t know if I’m spiralling / One voice tells me that they laugh / George says I’m just paranoid / Don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show / Fingers crossed behind my back / I hope they break up real quick.”

Neither Taylor nor Charli have publicly confirmed whether or not their songs are about each other. So for fans it will remain a mystery until they do.

Help us improve our content by completing the survey below. We’d love to hear from you!

The Princess of Wales made a surprise appearance alongside Prince William as they welcomed two of their royal pals to Windsor Castle today.

Kate was seen smiling as she and William greeted Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan and his wife Princess Rajwa during an audience this morning. The meeting had been scheduled for William and the Crown Prince but Kate and Rajwa also joined in. The Waleses’ are known to be friends of the couple, having attended their spectacular wedding in Jordan back in June 2023. The two couples posed for a photo in the castle, with Kate wearing a recycled camel-coloured Roland Mouret trouser suit while Raja opted for a smart black and white outfit. 

The friendly meeting came ahead of heirs to the throne William and Hussein heading to RAF Benson in Oxfordshire this afternoon, where they met personnel there and heard about roles on site and their experiences being deployed in operations around the world.

The RAF base provides rapid support for UK military operations around the world and is home to a number of Squadrons including No. 22 Squadron, which provides operational testing, evaluation, tactics and training. The visit also came as No. 22 Sqn celebrates its 110th anniversary.

Crew at the site also included Lt Col Mohammad Yousef Awad Alzu’bi a Jordanian pilot from RAF Shawbury and Flt Lt Peter (PJ) Howard, who instructed the Prince of Wales during flying training at RAF Shawbury.

Both the Prince of Wales and the Crown Prince of Jordan are trained helicopter pilots, with the prince training at both RAF Shawbury and then as a search and rescue pilot at RAF Valley with No. 22 Sqn which reformed at RAF Benson in 2020. The Crown Prince completed his pilot training with the Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) in 2019.

A Kensington Palace spokesman said: “Today’s engagements highlight the strong relationship between The Prince and The Crown Prince, as well as their mutual respect and support for the Armed Forces.”

Hussein’s close bond with fellow heir to the throne William came to light several years ago. In 2018, during a solo trip to Jordan, William stopped by Hussein’s then-swanky bachelor pad at the King’s residence of Beit al Urdun to watch a football match.

William had missed out on watching England’s emphatic victory over Panama in that year’s World Cup while travelling to the country – so the Crown Prince recorded it for him.

Kensington Palace later shared a picture of William watching the rerun on a huge screen alongside Hussein as they reclined on a huge grey corner sofa. In addition, Hussein’s mum Queen Rania is a member of William’s Earthshot Prize Council.

Hussein married Rajwa in 2023 in a wedding attended by royals from around the world, including William and Kate as well as Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. Last August they welcomed their first child together, a daughter called Princess Iman.

Meanwhile, the country of Jordan is a special place for Kate, who lived there for three years as a young child. It came when her dad Michael Middleton was relocated there while working for British Airways – and Kate and sister Pippa attended a nursery there.

In 2021, the couple took their children to Jordan for a private holiday, with a family snap at the ancient city of Petra from that getaway featuring on their Christmas card that year. It came after William promised to take his family to Jordan following his 2018 visit there. 

Strictly Come Dancing winner Chris McCausland has been writing about his life for new book – including a mugging at knifepoint – after he was targeted by a violent theif

View 2 Images

Strictly Come Dancing winner Chris McCausland has told how he suffered a terrifying knife mugging as a youngster.

The actor and stand up comedian, 48, won Strictly last year and has written a new autobiography. And in it looking back on his teenage years he recalls one scary incident in Liverpool.

Writing in his new book blind Chris says: “Throughout my childhood and my youth, my parents had never once tried to restrict me out of concern for injury or incident. They always just encouraged me to engage with the world as any other child or teenager might.

“I was very lucky that my parents were able to not let their own fears restrict my engagement with the world and ultimately limit my experiences, because 30-plus years on, those experiences mean the world to me. Yeah, even getting mugged at knifepoint.”

Chris, blind due to a genetic disorder, says he was with best friend Neil on a night out and tried to walk on past two men to trick them by speeding up and not stopping but ending up in a headlock in a doorway of a shop.

He said: “Both of them pressed flick knives into my stomach as a threat that didn’t really need much in the way of explanation. ‘Money,’ one of the under-achieving bastards said. ‘Okay, okay,’ I said, and then, in a stroke of spontaneous genius, surprising bravery or complete idiocy, I tried to fob them off with just loose change that I had in my pocket.

“I don’t really know what I was thinking. I scooped out a small handful of change that must have totalled no more than a couple of quid. ‘Here,’ I said, offering it upwards to the two hefty losers. ‘Nice try. We just followed you from the cash machine,’ one of them said, as they pressed the knives a little harder. S**t.

“I needed to come up with something quick as I didn’t want them thinking I was taking the piss. ‘I know, I know,’ I said back. ‘I, err, I was getting to that. I just wanted to make sure that you got everything.’ I pulled out the two folded notes from that little ticket pocket in my jeans and handed them over. ‘Hey!’ shouted a lady from behind. ‘That lad’s getting mugged!’ And with that the two pathetic scumbags ran off down towards the backstreets of Liverpool with a whole thirty quid between them. Saddoes.”

View 2 Images

Typical of his personality shown on screen, Chris didn’t let the mugging ruin his day and carried on with his night out sharing his pals’ money.

He also kept quiet about it until now fearing his parents would become overprotective, looking back, he added: “If that had been twenty years later in any city centre up and down the country, they probably would have stuck the knives in anyway, just for sh**s and giggles.

“I don’t think I ever did tell my parents about it, because I didn’t want them to worry about me being out any more than they probably already did. Reading this might be the first they learn of it.

“I know being mugged at knifepoint had nothing to do with my poor eyesight, but I think my concern was that telling my parents might change things.”

Chris also of course talks about his Strictly win in the book. He admits his friends and family did not expect him to do well and none of them bet on him to win. Even his postman did not give him much of a chance when he was rumoured to be taking part.

He writes: “The number-one thing people wanted to know was: how the hell is that going to work? Which didn’t do a great deal to boost my confidence as I still didn’t have a clue. ‘Is it true?’ asked my postman John. ‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘I’m not allowed to publicly acknowledge it but it’s true.’ ‘Bloody hell’ he said. ‘The problem is,’ I explained, ‘that because I can’t see it, I don’t know how good the dancing is that I’ll be expected to do on the show.’ ‘I’m not gonna lie,’ said John, ‘it’s fucking good.’ And with that he thrust a parcel into my hands and was away. Cheers for that, John.”

* Keep Laughing by Chris McCausland is published by Michael Joseph and out now.