Category Entertainment News

The Prince and Princess of Wales are on a surprise unannounced trip today for a series of special engagements, it has been revealed.

Both William and Kate have travelled to Northern Ireland, where they will spend the rest of the day undertaking several visits. Kensington Palace says “they will spend the day visiting innovative organisations that showcase growth and investment in rural areas and demonstrate entrepreneurial and creative opportunities for young people”. The trip marks Kate’s first visit to Northern Ireland in three years, with her last trip there in October 2022, when she joined William at a suicide prevention charity in Belfast before heading to a food market, where they made cocktails, before ending the day-long visit with a trip to Carrickfergus.

It also marks her first trip to the area since her cancer diagnosis and treatment. William on the other hand, last visited last November, when he was in Belfast for a series of engagements for his Homewards initiative, which is aiming to end homelessness.

Their last major joint public event was a visit to Southport to show their ongoing support for the community following the fatal knife attack in July 2024.

William and Kate’s joint trip to Northern Ireland today comes days after the couple made a series of solo appearances to champion causes close to their hearts at the end of last week.

Last Thursday, Kate visited Home-Start Oxford to learn about the organisation’s work supporting parents juggling work, finances and creating a loving home for their children.

She crouched down to help the youngsters making imaginary cakes with plasticine and flour – and when one of the children injected Kate with a toy syringe, the princess was left with flour on the jacket of her olive green Victoria Beckham trouser suit.

Earlier that day, Kate published an essay highlighting the importance of creating a firm foundation for the lives of children by helping them develop “strong social and emotional skills”.

She also warned about the “epidemic of disconnection” created by smart phones and other gadgets, and urged society to “invest in the relationships you have with each other” in the piece written in collaboration with Professor Robert Waldinger, director of The Harvard Study of Adult Development.

Meanwhile, last Thursday, William made a rare joint appearance with his father King Charles at the Natural History Museum for a reception ahead of the COP30 climate change summit next month..

It has been confirmed William will attend the conference in Belem, Brazil during a trip to the country for his Earthshot Prize, which is being held days before in Rio de Janeiro.

Then on Friday, he was seen fighting back the tears as he discussed the devastating impact of suicide and the need for better support for those at risk.

William was filmed in a moving conversation with campaigner Rhian Mannings, whose one-year-old son George died after suffering a seizure in 2012 and whose husband Paul died by suicide five days later.

The footage marked the launch of a new National Suicide Prevention Network, spearheaded by the Prince and Princess of Wales’s Royal Foundation, on World Mental Health Day.

A singer-songwriter and BRIT Award nominee has shared a health update from hospital after being hit by a car and revealed the dismissive reaction of friends

British pop star Grace Barker, professionally known as Gracey, has sparked concern amongst fans after sharing pictures of a recent hospital visit. The singer, who was nominated for a BRIT Award, was rushed to A&E after being hit by a car.

The 27-year-old was nominated for Best British Single for her track Don’t Need Love at the 2021 BRIT Awards. She has continued to release music since then, but has now found herself in hospital. Sharing a selfie from a hospital bed on her Instagram, Gracey revealed that her right foot and leg had to be bandaged up.

In the caption, she joked that this was “absolutely not what I meant by I want a hit”. Fans flooded the comments with get well messages, including DJ Alex Chapman who said: “Omg my poor queen!!! Sending u healing vibes.”

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However, in the post, Gracey also revealed that friends had a less concerned response. Sharing a screenshot of text messages, the singer revealed that when she told one friend that she got hit by a car, that friend said: “Sorry, thank GOD you’re alive but also this is the funniest message ever.”

Gracey also took to TikTok to share how she was doing. She uploaded a video showing her using crutches and wrote over the video “got hit by a car x”. In the caption, she joked: “diva down!”

Again, fans rushed to ask the singer if she was okay. One wrote: “DIVA NO!!! Are u ok? X” Another said they were “speechless” and a third said they were “just so glad you are okay and safe”.

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Professionally, Gracey has faced a tough couple of years. After her BRIT nomination and supporting Anne-Marie on tour, she split from her record label Polydor in 2023. Since then she has been independent, but has now signed with a new indie label Glassnote.

In an interview with Principle magazine, she shared that it was “difficult” to be an independent artist, especially in pop. “It is so difficult being independent.

“It’s hard when you are someone like that who doesn’t have loads of money to put into a project, especially being a pop girl. It’s expensive and you want to pay your team and you want to pay everyone correctly and you wanna do it right.

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“And it’s really hard to keep up with the bank accounts of a major label. For anyone that would be reading this, that’s difficult to do. I just want to validate that because I think it’s really unspoken about how you’ve gotta do everything yourself. You’re doing TikTok three times a day, you’re in the studio.”

She added that you have to absolutely love music to be an independent artist because if you don’t it’s “harrowing”. “If you don’t f***ing love it and you don’t really really care about your music, maybe don’t do it because it is really quite harrowing on days where you’re like, ‘Oh, okay, cool. That got one view.’” She also continued to say that it was worth it for her, because she got to be in control. “But, it feels glorious to be in control.”

The 17-year-old fan who got kicked out of JoJo Siwa’s recent Glasgow concert revealed she received death threats from trolls over the hoodie she wore to the gig

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A fan who got kicked out of a recent JoJo Siwa concert has apologised for wearing an “offensive” hoodie. Anjali Kalsi, 17, was booed by fans at the Glasgow SWG3 concert this month after JoJo claimed the teen was “making fun of her” for wearing a hoodie with a print of the singer’s face shaped like an egg.

In 2022, JoJo revealed how she had been left with a bald spot caused by the ‘stress’ of filming reality show Dance Moms as a child. At the time, she explained how people on social media began making cruel memes about her hairline.

And after spotting the hoodie in the recent concert, she slammed: “The hoodie making fun of me? No way! Appreciate it! But we only got room for infinity hearts in here, right Not in my house, baby. We got no room for that. We got no room for that!”

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Anjali has now shared her side of the story, claiming she didn’t know the story behind the photo as she apologised to JoJo in a video.

She said she and a pal had Googled “funny JoJo Siwa picture” and printed off the first one they found, thinking it would “be funny and JoJo has a good sense of humour, so she’ll laugh as well.”

In a TikTok shared on her page, she said: “We didn’t have any merch and we were like, ‘What are we going to wear?’ Let’s just print out a picture and stick it on our clothes, and it’ll be funny. JoJo has a good sense of humour so she’ll laugh as well. So we just googled ‘funny JoJo Siwa picture’ and screenshotted the first thing that came up. We didn’t look where it was from or anything like that.”

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Anjali and her friend were at the concert for 45 minutes before JoJo asked the crowd what they were wearing. The duo used the opportunity to try and make her laugh so they held up their hoodies.

JoJo asked them to hand over the clothing, which they did. They assumed she was going to laugh at the photo but “she didn’t find it funny.”

“She kicked us out and people started posting videos about it,” the teen added, revealing that security handed her hoodie back before she was escorted out.

The fan “called mum about to have a panic attack because I’ve never been kicked out of a concert before,” adding it’s common in the other shows she’s attended for fans to bring funny props and pictures.

“We went out of the concert and the staff weren’t even looking at us. We were trying to talk to them but they were ignoring us. It wasn’t very fun,” she concluded. Her mum, Lizzie, later told The Scottish Sun that the teenager received abuse from trolls after the clip went viral.

In messages seen by the publication, one troll posted: “I would have unalived myself long ago if I came out of the womb looking like you”. Anjali didn’t want to hurt the star and said she sent an apology video to JoJo, which the singer reportedly ignored.

Her mum said: ““To be booed by hundreds of people is bad enough, to unintentionally hurt someone equally bad for Anjali, as she felt like a horrible person, then the social media onslaught. It’s been horrible for her.”

The Mirror have reached out to JoJo’s reps for comment.

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Vicky Pattison first found fame years ago on Geordie Shore but she has now swapped nights out for the dance floor as she takes part in this year’s series of Strictly Come Dancing

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Strictly Come Dancing’s Vicky Pattison has admitted that she has a “huge question mark over motherhood” amid feeling the baby pressure. The Geordie Shore star has opened up about becoming a mum in the future but also feeling pressure to star a family at 37.

She has said that the pressure to have a baby now that she is married is “suffocating”. The star tied the knot with long-term partner Ercan Ramadan last summer and has now spoken about what the two of them think about parenthood.

The reality star has said that she has worked since Geordie Shore to build a successful career on TV but is now scared to take a break from this.

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Vicky spoke in an interview with Women’s Health UK, where she talked about how she feels about potentially juggling motherhood and her career. She explained that she is a big advocate for egg freezing as it offers women more freedom, but also understands she comes from a place of “financial privilege”.

She said: “Women shouldn’t be beholden to this invisible timeline. We’re fed this narrative that we can have it all and do whatever we want, but it’s not necessarily true. In women’s lives, there has to be a lot of compromise involved.”

Speaking on the Women’s Health Just as Well podcast with Gemma Atkinson and Claire Sanderson, Vicky explained: “My mum told me ‘If not having children is your trajectory, that’s fine,’ which I thought was powerful.

“I think we’re coming around to the idea as a society that a woman doesn’t have to have children to be fulfilled – and, for me, there’s still a huge question mark over motherhood. I’ve worked to finally get to a place where I’m proud of who I’m becoming, and the thought of taking a break… it scares me.”

Ercan and Vicky got engaged back in 2022, before they got married in front of the cameras last year for a Channel 4 documentary titled My Big Fat Geordie Wedding.

Vicky is currently taking part in the latest series of Strictly Come Dancing where she is competing alongside professional dancer Kai Widdrington. Vicky has managed to show off her dancing floors, impressing the judges each week.

Last Saturday night saw her dance an impressive Charleston to A Little Party Never Killed Nobody from The Great Gatsby for this year’s Movie Week. However, it wasn’t an easy week of rehearsals for her and Kai.

The pair of them both fell ill during the week and had to pull out of an appearance on Strictly spin-off It Takes Two. At the time Vicky shared a photo of her essentials that were helping her feel better including lozenges, cough syrup, ginger shots, oranges and juice.

Shoppers have been going wild for the budget chain’s new accessory, which they’re adding to their front doors

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Winter is just around the corner, and fans of the season are already beginning to shop for festive decorations to adorn their homes. Home Bargains shoppers are loving a “gorgeous” £10 item for their front doors, which is likely to prove even more popular once Christmas celebrations begin.

The retailer has launched a festive wreath that has shoppers talking on social media. The new £9.99 wreath stands out with a Disney shape and colourful ornaments – and customers are loving the decor.

TikTok user and Home Bargains fan @findingroisin shared a clip showcasing the new product online. The post was captioned: “Gorgeous NEW Mickey shaped Christmas wreath from Home Bargains.”

The wreath was also featured in a video shared by TikTok user @broganandharrison_, in a clip captioned: “A Mickey Mouse shaped Christmas Wreath…yes please!! What a bargain, only £9.99. Home Bargains coming through with the Disney Christmas Decorations.”

The post racked up 24.3k views, hundreds of likes and a number of comments from excited shoppers. Among them, one person said: “It’s lush.”

A second wrote: “Yey! It’ll be a perfect Disney Christmas.” A third comment read: “I bought this today for my Mickey obsessed daughter” and a fourth said: “Love it.”

Another shopper wrote: “I got it, it’s lush” and one said: “Best purchase everrr.” One comment read: “How cuteeee.”

On the Home Bargains website, the Disney Rattan Shaped Wreath product description reads: “Bring some Disney magic to your festive décor with the charming Disney Rattan Shaped Wreath—perfect for doors, walls, mantels, or windows to add a cosy, fun holiday touch!”

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It added: “Add a touch of Disney magic to your holiday décor with this adorable Rattan Shaped Wreath! It’s the perfect festive piece for any Disney lover. Great for doors, walls, mantels, or windows. A festive touch that blends Disney fun with Christmas cosiness.”

Home Bargains shoppers can choose from various wreath designs this year, as highlighted in social media posts from the retailer, which showcase the different options available in-store. In one post, the retailer highlighted several green and red wreaths, including the cowbell design. The caption said: “‘New wreaths, new vibes! Make your home sparkle this Christmas.”

Merit’s new Brandon Maxwell collab lets shoppers score a free designer handbag, here’s how to claim yours

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If you haven’t already heard of Merit, it’s a minimalist, clean beauty brand that’s really dominating the make-up and skincare industry right now. Boasting celebrity fans including Hailey Bieber, Sarah Jessica Parker and Cameron Diaz, the brand is known for its ‘your skin but better’ approach to make-up.

And fans can now get their hands on a free designer handbag with the brand’s latest beauty offer. Teaming up once again with Brandon Maxwell, an iconic American designer known for his refined, effortless fashion, Merit is marking the 10th anniversary of Maxwell’s line with an exclusive release that blends beauty and fashion.

The collaboration launches the fifth edition of Merit’s Signature Bag, a chic mini bucket made from soft, pebbled vegan leather and finished with Brandon Maxwell’s signature metal knot hardware. And shoppers who spend £125 or more on Merit’s products can claim the bag for free (while supplies last).

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Talking about the MERIT x Brandon Maxwell handbag, Aila Morin, CMO at MERIT said: “The Signature Bag was created prior to launching MERIT — we knew we wanted an objet d’art that you could use as a makeup bag or purse that also insulated your shipment. Collaborating on our original design and iterating with creative partners has been a privilege. Brandon’s work has been on our moodboards for many years – his importance in American fashion and his effortless, classic design style is a perfect fit for the MERIT client. We’re so proud to partner with him in honor of his 10th anniversary on his iteration of The Signature Bag.”

Alongside the handbag, Merit shoppers can buy a limited edition Lip Blush in shade ‘Maxwell ’ (£23), a rich cinnamon-brown colour that’s perfect for autumn. This marks the first time Merit has worked with a designer on a beauty product.

If you’re unsure what Merit products to try out, we’ve rounded up a few of our top picks below…

Our favourite MERIT beauty buys

The Minimalist Perfecting Complexion Stick

Available for £34

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Somewhere between a foundation and a concealer, this clever stick is one of Merit’s most popular products. Offering seamless, buildable coverage that evens out the skin tone, this is ideal for those who prefer a natural, lightweight finish.

Flush Balm Cheek Colour

Available for £26

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This creamy, dewy blush effortlessly blends into the skin to create that healthy, lit-from-within glow that looks completely natural. Plus, there are 13 different shades to choose from.

Shade Slick Tinted Lip Oil

Available for £21

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The Shade Slick is a hydrating, high-shine lip tint that is the perfect combination of an oil and a gloss, so you can get that colour payoff alongside the moisturising effect.

Retrospect L’Extrait De Parfum

Available for £79

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Retrospect is a warm, nostalgic scent that blends soft florals with subtle woody notes, making it ideal for this time of year.

Looking for more minimalist beauty brands to shop? Glossier has recently launched its new Cloud Paint Plush Blush, a bouncy texture that applies like a cream blush but dries down like a powder.