Category Entertainment News

After a string of film and television failures that made him unable to pay for a beer, Danny Dyer admits to being completely broke before accepting the part in EastEnders.

Since joining the coveted cast of EastEnders, Danny Dyer has become a national treasure with a host of successful projects under his belt. But the 47 year old actor’s life hasn’t always been a comfortable one, as he recently revealed that before landing the role as Mick Carter in the BBC soap, he was “absolutely skint.”

The film and TV star, who is a married father of three, joined EastEnders in 2013 and from that moment on his life rapidly changed.

Speaking to chat show host Jonathan Ross, Danny explained: “I didn’t have an audition, they rung me up, I had a touch.”

He continued, “At the time, I was skint and I only had about enough gas money to get there, they said, Listen we want you to come in the show, take over the Queen Vic,” which is the real story.

The Marching Powder star continued, “They assumed I was a millionaire, and I met them in the hotel and I walked in without a trace.”

He continued, “I hope they don’t ask me to get them a lager because I have no dough,” adding: “I thought.” I was like, “Wow, I want to do a cartwheel in front of them,” but I also thought, “Play it down, don’t show your bolt too early.”

Danny made an attempt to play it cool as the meeting came to an end, promising to consider their offer rather than to jump at the chance right away.

Before joining the soap, Danny had considered changing his career because his situation was so bad. He said to Jonathan, “I might have had to go and load skip Jon because I was at nightclubs.”

He claimed that a number of “s*** movies,” including the 2012 film Un For Your Wife, made a meager £602 in its first weekend, in spite of his dire financial situation.

He claimed to the magazine, “I was f***ed. I was on my a**e.” I’d produced too many subpar movies. I had a shot and some excellent work. I had to resort to waving off balconies while going to nightclubs.

He continued, “That chips away at your soul that I’ll tell ya. What should you do next? I f***ed it. Dominic Treadwell Collins contacted me and requested that we meet for a meeting.

He continued, “I swear to god I was on my a**e. He told me about the part where the Alpha male wears a pink dressing gown. And his first storyline will be about his son coming out as gay, and you simply wrap your arm around him and declare your love for him.

I said, “wow you f****** get me, I told you.” assumed I would follow Phil around and enter. Six months, perhaps a year. Phil is not for you. He did not, however, advise taking over the Queen Vic and bringing a family. I was skint, they didn’t realize that.

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After discovering a horrifying plot to bomb a Lady Gaga concert in Brazil, cops have made arrests for a man and a teenager.

The pair allegedly planned to carry out the attack using improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails.

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Lady Gaga has been the reigning queen of pop for over a decade now, but many fans still don’t know the true meaning behind her unique stage name and why she ditched her birth name

Lady Gaga is once again the talk of the town following the release of her latest album, Mayhem. She’s also been hitting headlines due to her accompanying tour, which saw fans desperately scrambling for tickets. Her new tracks ‘Abracadabra,’ ‘Disease,’ and ‘Garden of Eden’ have been a hit with her fanbase, affectionately known as Little Monsters.

Her performance at Coachella was another highlight, despite technical difficulties with her microphone. The incident led to the festival being humorously dubbed ‘Gagachella’, as she dominated conversations. When her mic failed, she simply quipped: “At least you know I sing live.”

But despite everyone going gaga for Gaga recently – there’s some trivia people are only just learning about the star. They’ve been interested to learn how she got her stage name.

Born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, Lady Gaga shot to fame in 2008 with her debut album ‘The Fame,’ featuring hits like ‘Just Dance,’ ‘Poker Face,’ and ‘LoveGame. ‘ Her popularity has only grown since then.

She further cemented her status in pop culture with ‘Born This Way,’ an anthem for the LGBTQIA+ community, using its lyrics to foster inclusivity. But where did the stage name ‘Lady Gaga’ originate?

While there’s some debate over the exact story, it’s thought that the name was born out of an autocorrect mishap by her ex-partner and music producer, Rob Fusari. He reportedly began calling her ‘Gaga’ after she reminded him of the 1984 Queen song ‘Radio Gaga’.

Later, when he tried to text ‘Radio Gaga,’ autocorrect changed it to ‘Lady Gaga’. Since then, she’s adopted the name with pride, and in a 2010 tell-all, she revealed her desire to “reinvent” herself.

In that interview, she reportedly stated: “So I said, ‘What about Lady Gaga?’ because Gaga is sort of crazy and Lady has such connotations.”

So why not stick with her distinctive real name, Stefani Germanotta?

Speaking with Rolling Stone, Gaga expressed a deep connection to her stage persona, admitting her childhood wasn’t a walk in the park.

She confessed: “I’ve always been Gaga… I suppressed all those eccentricities about myself so I could fit in. Once I was free, I was able to be myself.”

It was at the tender age of four that Lady Gaga, displaying early signs of her musical genius, self-taught piano by ear and composed ‘Dollar Bills’ using “Mickey Mouse staff paper”.

In another heartfelt admission during an interview, she recounted: “I used to get made fun of for being either too provocative or too eccentric, so I started to tone it down. I didn’t fit in, and I felt like a freak.”

Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman are back for the fourth instalment of their cross-country adventure series, riding vintage motorcycles through more than 15 countries in Scandinavia, the Baltics and continental Europe

Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman are back for another cross-country road trip in a new season of their ‘Long Way’ series. Streaming May 9, Long Way Home sees the duo hit the road more than 20 years after the first instalment of their epic motorcycle adventure.

Across 10 episodes, the latest series will see the two best friends ride refurbished vintage motorbikes from McGregor’s home in Scotland to Boorman’s in England – but rather than take the shortest route, they go the long way. They head across the North Sea to Scandinavia, all the way up to the Arctic Circle and then down to the Baltics and through continental Europe, before eventually hopping back over the English Channel two months later.

The nine-week adventure takes them to 17 countries and along some of the greatest driving roads in the world. It marks the fourth iteration of the Emmy-nominated series, following Long Way Round, Long Way Down and Long Way Up.

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Long Way Home will launch exclusively on Apple TV+, which costs £8.99 per month after a seven-day-free trial. It joins the three previous seasons, all of which are available to stream on Apple TV+.

It comes as Disney+ launches a raft of its own docuseries, with National Geographic titles including Secrets of the Penguins, Tucci in Italy debuting May 19 and Limitless with Chris Hemsworth returning later this year. Throughout Long Way Home, McGregor rides a 1974 Moto Guzzi 850 El Dorado – previously used as a California police bike – while Boorman revives a 1972 BMW R75/5 once described as a ‘rust heap’.

The bikes take them to countries including Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands, where they immerse themselves in each country’s culture, meet the locals and try their hand at unique and eclectic activities.

“For the last 20 years, my best friend Charley Boorman and I have travelled to some of the farthest corners of the world,” McGregor says in the series trailer. “Yet, we’ve never properly explored the countries on our own doorstep, so this time, Europe is our playground.”

Long Way Home is executive produced by McGregor and Boorman, alongside longtime collaborators David Alexanian and Russ Malkin, who also direct. Writing on X ahead of the series premiere, one Long Way fan said: “I’m soooo excited for this. Feels like just the other day we were watching the first one.”

Another said: “Looking forward to this. Put it in the calendar.”

A third said: “Sold. Great story and authentic people. I’ll take adventure stuff like this all day!

Prince Harry is haunted by “the ghosts” of royal life, and a fortune teller known as the “Living Nostradamus” has shared his predictions for him, along with some “dangerous” events in his future.

The ‘Living Nostradamus’ has made some worrying predictions for Prince Harry’s future. The clairvoyant has said the Duke of Sussex since moving to California has lived under “constant hurricane” of family tension, but beyond this is a “deeper energetic layer” that is going to bring an “unexpected” and “disturbing” future.

Athos Salomé has been dubbed as the ‘living Nostradamus’ thanks to his countless corrected predictions over the years, and has now spoken out about the future for the prince who seems “trapped” between his new life in America with Meghan Markle and his “ghosts of royalty”.

He claimed there would be “painful” truths that would emerge in six areas where change was going to take place, from becoming a royal target to achieving reconciliation with his father.

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A royal target

Salomé claimed that “secret documents” emerging that show “negligence” on the part of the UK. Harry should postpone his engagements until September 2025 in order to prevent a “serious” security lapse while on a humanitarian mission. The prince was declared unharmed by the psychic, but that the situation would be severe enough to prompt a public review of his vulnerability.

A resolution with the King

The expert claimed a “silent reconciliation” will take place between father and son which will be “intimate” and “away from cameras” as it will be motivated by a sense of urgency – in the midst of King Charles’ health crisis. However Salomé said Prince William will remain “distant” and bound by “duty and resentment”.

A painful truth

According to the fortune teller: “A former employee of the Sussex family intends to reveal compromising recordings and documents in the second half of this year or next, negotiations are underway. This revelation will bring a new wave of empathy to the prince, but also an irreversible reputational loss for Meghan,” he told The Sun.

He claimed that the information will suggest that Meghan had a “strong influence” over his conflicts, which were frequently “conflict” with his values.

The Legacy of a Warrior

Salomé stated that the prince would work on a humanitarian project to improve veterans’ mental health. Harry’s “life mission,” he said, will receive the “informal support” of the monarchy, a nod to a subtle and strategic reunification, or “the beginning of redemption.”

Spiritual exile

The expert predicted Harry will relocate, and can see him settling in either South Africa or New Zealand and said: “The prince will leave California. Neither Hollywood nor Buckingham: his new home will be a third country. At 42, a number that symbolises Kabbalistic maturity, he will find a new purpose in life.”

book on transformation

“Harry is writing a new book – completely different from the controversial ‘Spare’. Due to be released in 2027, the book will be more introspective, philosophical and critical. It won’t be an attack on the monarchy, but a profound reflection on identity and mission. The book could be the turning point for him to regain global respect as an individual – not as a royal figure,” he insisted.

Salomé claimed that Harry’s future presents “intense trials” but also offers the chance for rebirth. Salomé claimed that the throne’s weight “still haunts him” despite the fact that he may have abdicated from the monarchy.

Do you have a tale to tell? Message niamh . kirk@reachplc.com

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After making significant diet changes, celebrity chef James Martin has lost three stone, but he hasn’t lost his favorite food group.

James Martin, the renowned chef and presenter of ITV’s James Martin’s Saturday Morning, has revealed his favourite two-ingredient breakfast following his recent three-stone weight loss journey, describing it as “simple and very tasty”.

Recently he visited Spain for inspiration and compiled some of his favourite regional dishes for a new book, titled ‘James Martin’s Spanish Adventure’. He shared that the recipes in the his books had been “specifically created” using the ingredients they discovered while travelling.

Following his impressive weight loss at the age of 52, Martin observes that fish now accounts for a predominant 80% of his diet, yet he still indulges in his beloved butter.

James explained in an interview with Hello! that the dishes in his new book were “specifically created” from ingredients he had come across while traveling.

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However, it seems his favourite recipe remains a simple dish that anyone can whip up at home using just two basic ingredients, reports Devon Live.

“Grilled tomatoes on toast,” James raving about it as his go-to meal. It’s very easy to follow and delicious. Additionally, the lardons and hazelnuts that were used to barbecue leeks.

James explained on the Spooning with Mark Wogan podcast how his passion for motor racing led to a significant weight loss because he had to “get out of them” trying to get out of them.

He continued, “It’s down to the fact that I race cars, or that I still try to race a few cars and that I actually struggle to get out of them.” You kind of fall into them after entering them, but you have to leave because it doesn’t look very good.

However, the famous chef continues to make use of butter, one of his favorite foods. The well-known TV personality and author has authored “Butter: Comforting, Delicious, Versatile – Over 130 Recipes Celebrating Butter” and has published a 517-page book in its own right.

James made a humorous observation about the era when healthy cookbooks were in fashion, claiming to have “brought out a book on butter” in the process.

James attributes his weight loss to his background as a “farmer’s kid,” acknowledging his love for “simple food” and “great ingredients” rather than laborious gym sessions.

He openly admits to skipping the gym and jokes, “I don’t go,” that he does it because he “gets my a**e in and out of a car.”

I’m a farmer’s kid, enjoy simple food, and adore great ingredients, James said. I enjoy simple cooking, but more important than anything else is to bring out the flavor of the ingredients.

With a portfolio of restaurants and bakeries under his belt, James honed his trade from home cooks and further refined his craft in France, later gracing our screens with his participation in various BBC and ITV cooking programs.

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