Category Entertainment News

The Darts is coming to BST Hyde Park for the first time ever with superstar Luke Littler leading the line-up

The Darts is coming to BST Hyde Park for the first time ever with superstar Luke Littler on the line-up alongside fellow legends of the game Luke Humphries, Fallon Sherrock and Michael Van Gerwen.

The sports stars will join a summer season of incredible acts playing the festival that already includes musical superstars Sabrina Carpenter, Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, Olivia Rodrigo, Zach Bryan, Noah Kahan and Jeff Lynne’s ELO.

PDC Presents The Hyde Park Darts Championship will take place on Tuesday 8th July, and will be a pro-am tournament featuring special guests Olly Murs, Roman Kemp and Dion Dublin.

The pro-am tournament is part of the BST Hyde Park Open House midweek series of events. The Hyde Park Darts Championship, featuring the sport’s top players, will be played out on BST Hyde Park’s famous Great Oak Stage.

The Hyde Park Darts Championship tickets also include access to The Summer Garden simultaneously hosting BREW//LDN, renowned for the UK’s largest and most diverse craft drinks festival, celebrating innovation and excellence across the worlds of craft beer, cider, and spirits. As well as serving the latest drinks trends, BREW//LDN is also a cultural celebration – complete with street food, DJs, and a vibrant festival atmosphere.

But the star of the show will no doubt be new World Darts Champion, teenage sensation Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler. Littler followed up his historic run to the 2023/24 World Championship final by capturing the Premier League title in fairy-tale fashion on debut in his first year as a professional. Littler landed a nine-darter in the final – one of four perfect legs he produced in 2024 – and his haul of ten titles in the 2024/25 included the Grand Slam of Darts, World Series of Darts Finals and World Series event wins in Bahrain and Poland. The 2023 World Youth Champion, he ended his first year on the circuit full-time by claiming World Championship glory in January 2025, defeating Michael van Gerwen in the final at Alexandra Palace.

Among the sporting stars taking on Littler at Hyde Park is three-time World Champion Michael Van Gerwen. Mighty Mike’ – has established himself as one of the game’s all-time greats following a decade of darting dominance. A teenager wonderkid when he broke through to win the 2006 World Masters in the BDO, the Dutchman waited six years to pick up his next televised title at the 2012 World Grand Prix, a victory which sparked a golden run of success. Van Gerwen lifted three World Championship crowns in 2014, 2017 and 2019 during his eight-year spell as world number one, amassing over 150 PDC titles in the process. The Dutchman completed the full set of televised PDC titles in October 2019 when he won the Champions League in Leicester – the first and only player to achieve this feat.

Tickets go on general sale on Friday 2nd May.

It comes after Stevie Wonder was revealed as the final musical headliner for this year’s BST Hyde Park festival as he makes a return to the UK. The hitmaker joins the likes of Olivia Rodrigo who kicks off the event on June 27 followed by country star Zach Bryan, who will perform on June 28. US singer-songwriter Sabrina Carpenter, who caused an Ofcom storm at the BRIT Awards this month, will take to the stage on July 5 and 6th. Sabrina was called up to play two nights after Hugh Jackman pulled out.

In a statement posted to BST’s social media pages, Jackman said: “Due to an unforeseen conflict in my schedule, I am deeply disappointed to announce I will be unable to perform in Hyde Park this July 6th. This was a stage I truly was looking forward to being on. No less in a city that I love so much. “

The second weekend will see Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts appear in front of fans on July 11, alongside Yusuf/ Cat Stevens and Van Morrison on July 13. The festival will conclude with Jeff Lynne’s Electric Light Orchestra on July 17, marking their final live performance.

Superstition hitmaker Stevie, 74, will top the bill in Hyde Park on Saturday 12 July as part of the 2025 LOVE, LIGHT & SONG UK performance dates.

The music legend has previously graced the major festival on multiple occasions. Stevie last played the festival in 2019 when he was joined on stage with Lionel Richie, and in July 2016, where he took to the stage and played his iconic album Songs in the Key of Life in its entirety. Before this, in the summer of 2010, Wonder played at Hyde Park as part of the Hard Rock Calling festival. .

Here’s a breakdown of the BST Hyde Park 2025 musical lineup:

• June 27th: Olivia Rodrigo
• June 28th: Zach Bryan
• June 29th: Zach Bryan
• July 4th: Noah Kahan
• July 5th: Sabrina Carpenter
• July 6th: Sabrina Carpenter
• July 11th: Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts
• July 13th: Jeff Lynne’s ELO

The sister of The Vivienne has questioned whether the “stigma” around drug use stopped the drag queen from seeking help.

The sister of The Vivienne has questioned whether the “stigma” around drug use stopped the drag queen from seeking help. James Lee Williams, who won the first series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, died at home in Chorlton-by-Backford, Cheshire, on January 5 after taking ketamine at the age of 32.

Chanel Williams told BBC Two current affairs programme Newsnight that The Vivienne did not discuss their relapse, including a hospital stay, “to protect them”, following “a really long period of sobriety”.

“It’s hard for me because I think, if that stigma wasn’t there, would my brother have sought the help he needed? ” she said.

“To think that, if we’d known, or if he’d have felt able to talk and really reach out for the help that was needed, the outcome could’ve been different. That’s why we’ve shared James’s story. “

The family revealed in March that the drag queen died “from the effects of ketamine use causing a cardiac arrest”, to raise awareness. They also said they would work with the drug charity Adferiad on future campaigns.

“He’d spoken openly on Drag Race about the battles he’d had with addiction, and he’d come through the other side of that,” Ms Williams said. “He was at the height of everything he was doing and I think, because he’d said it in such an open platform, it’s really difficult to come back and say you’re struggling again. “

She also said the classification of ketamine should be moved from Class B to Class A, because people “think it’s less harmful than other drugs”, among other measures to tackle addiction. She added: “But it’s not just about reclassification… it needs to include education, police, health, to really raise awareness. We need a strategy around drug usage and drug deaths in the UK. “

The Government is seeking expert advice after the illegal use of ketamine surged to record levels.

While on the BBC show, Wales-born The Vivienne admitted having been a drug addict for four years, saying the addiction was a “habit that caught on a bit too quick and a bit too hard”.

Reflecting on sobriety, the musical theatre and Dancing On Ice star said: “I had to be kicked out of my house and told that I would be dead by the time I was 30.”

“It was the loneliest part of my life. I was killing myself… and my family don’t even know. I was pissing my life up the wall and I could’ve been dead now if I didn’t do anything about it. “

An inquest into their death was opened and adjourned at Cheshire Coroner’s Court in Warrington, with a full inquest listed to take place on June 30.

According to the Home Office, in the year ending March 2023 an estimated 299,000 people aged 16 to 59 had reported use of ketamine, which is controlled as Class B.

The UK national anti-drug advisory service Frank says the substance is a general anaesthetic that reduces sensations in the body which can make users feel dream-like and detached, chilled, relaxed and happy, but also confused and nauseated.

Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson wrote to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) in January to express the Government’s concern over young people’s ketamine use and call for the classification to be reassessed.

A Home Office spokesman said: “Our thoughts are with James’s family and friends, and all those affected by this tragic death, which has sadly reinforced once again the serious dangers of taking ketamine. “

“In January this year, the minister for policing and crime prevention wrote to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs expressing the Government’s concern about the growth in the use of ketamine, and asking them to consider whether to reclassify it as a Class A drug. “

Gary Lineker is one of the most famous faces on UK television and has been the face of Match of the Day for 25 years – but away from work, he has an unusual living arrangement

Despite facing two divorces in the public eye, Gary Lineker has maintained a unique relationship with one of his ex-wives – and her husband isn’t phased in the slightest.

The Match of the Day presenter, 64, is a familiar face on TV due to his illustrious football career and punditry role. The veteran host is set to wrap up his MOTD tenure at the end of this season, but will remain with the BBC until the end of the 2026 World Cup. In an interview ahead of his official departure, Lineker suggested that BBC chiefs made their feelings clear on his exit after a whopping 25-year stint on the flagship programme.

Speaking in an interview with the channel, he said: “It’s time [to leave]. I’ve done it for a long time. It’s been brilliant. It’s been great.” He added: “Well, perhaps they want me to leave. There was the sense of that, yes. I’ve got another year and I’m going to do the FA Cup and World Cup and they’re taking our podcast now, the Match of the Day Top Ten, as well as The Rest Is Football that I do with Alan [Shearer] and Micah [Richards].”

READ MORE: Gary Lineker’s true feelings on BBC suspension: ‘I was right but I wouldn’t do it again’

Away from work, Lineker, who earns £1.35 million per year from the corporation, spends time at his London home with his four sons. The former England striker has been married twice and shares all his children with his first wife, Michelle Cockayne, whom he wed in 1986 and divorced two decades later.

In 2007, the star began dating Danielle Bux, who was 20 years his junior, and they later married in Italy. But their marriage only lasted six years before the pair announced they were splitting in early 2016, reportedly due to their differing opinions on starting a family.

In 2019, Gary explained: “Danielle and I are best mates, we still speak three times a day, we text all the time. When she comes to London, she stays with me, and when I go to LA, I see her. “

The Leicester icon has since been single and has candidly opened up about his dating life. Back in 2021, he claimed to be unbothered about intimacy anymore, conceding he was at an age where his testosterone levels had dropped. More recently, he has insisted he doesn’t miss being married and is content that his working life and sons occupy the bulk of his time.

In an interview with The Times, Gary said: “I like being on my own… I don’t feel lonely. I have the odd date here and there, but nothing, not in terms of a long relationship. I’ve been married most of my adult life. Two really good marriages, I’m friends with both.”

The pundit described his second wife Danielle as his ‘best mate’ and refused to comment on his sex life. He insisted: “I am still single. I am not going down that route! I have been there before and tried to explain myself and I got slaughtered by my friends.” Gary also denied ever using dating apps and refused to let his sons set up an online profile for him.

After Gary and Danielle split, she went on to marry Nate Greenwald, an American entertainment lawyer, in 2019 and the couple welcomed their now-four-year-old daughter, Romy. Although, the exes still come together with their families. Last Christmas, Danielle posted a photo with Gary alongside her eldest daughter Ella, who she shares with a former partner Adam Willis.

She captioned the photo “Our annual Christmas dinner”, and Gary shared the picture with the comment, “Always a delight”. The sports presenter previously explained how he continues to keep in touch with his ex and Danielle’s current husband never gets ‘jealous’ of their relationship.

“He’s not got a jealous bone in his body,” Gary said to the Radio Times. “We get on really well. We go out for dinner when I’m in LA. It might be unusual and people might go, ‘That’s weird’ but, frankly, I don’t care. What is normal? Is it better to get divorced and end up fighting, screaming and shouting? Or is it better to get on if you can?”

READ MORE: Loose Women’s Frankie Bridge has fans rushing to River Island for ‘chic’ dress under £70

Josie Gibson was given some cold hard truths about her lifestyle as she took part in a new TV show where she road tested a 1970s diet

Drinking champagne, eating in Michelin-starred restaurants and flying by private jet might sound like the best way to live – but it left Josie Gibson facing a health crisis. After filming her Channel 5 travelogue Around The World In First Class, Josie Gibson went for a health MOT ahead of her next TV challenge The 1970s Diet.

And the results were not good – blood tests showed Josie was suffering from gout.

“I kept saying to the nurse ‘My toes keep hurting’,” explains Josie, 40. “I thought gout was only for old men but I have been living quite a lavish life. Before I filmed this show, I caught a lot of flights, I drank a lot of champagne, I ate a lot of rich food and I had little sleep. That’s how I ended up getting gout. ”

Luckily there is a lot less luxury involved in Josie’s new series The 1970s Diet, which sees her swap fancy restaurants for boiled potatoes, liver and spam. “I’ve come from one extreme to the other,” laughs Josie. “I went from living my finest life ever to being brought down to earth with a bang. ”

READ MORE: Josie Gibson says ‘I’ll never diet again’ after major health scare

The 1970s Diet sees Josie immerse herself in the food, drink and health culture of the 1970s to see if our lifestyles were actually healthier back then. Back in 1970 only around 10% of British people were classified as obese – a figure that has now tripled. “I was surprised by that,” says Josie. “I think of the 1970s and I think of madeira cake, trifles, angel delight… it doesn’t scream healthy – not to me! ”

A nutritionist was on hand to give Josie an authentic meal plan with smaller 1970s portions – and even a smaller authentic 1970s dinner plate. However, when she saw the food she was expected to eat, Josie feared it would make her gain weight – and she didn’t like the look of tripe or liver. “There were a lot of carbs on the menu,” she says. “I thought looking at the diet, I’d definitely put on weight. ”

However, it’s not just menus that were different in the 1970s, people were also a lot more active because they were walking more and doing housework without gadgets and many were working a vegetable patch.

To measure her results on the show, Josie travels to Kingston University to have her body fat and weight recorded. Josie has always struggled with her weight, yo-yoing between a size eight and a size 22. It’s a brave thing to find out on national TV that you weigh 16 stones (102 kilos), and are 48 percent fat but Josie was happy to jump on the scales for the sake of the experiment.

“If I’m taking on this experiment, then I’m showing it all, that’s the experiment,” says Josie. “If you don’t show the experiment, what’s the point? ”

And she was pleased when her fitness level came back as superior. “It was nice to know that even though I was overweight, I was at a supreme fitness level,” says Josie. “I was expecting to have a low fitness level, even though I’ve always exercised. But he was like, ‘No, you’re at a superior fitness rate. ’”

Indeed on the show, Josie jumps on an exercise bike and barely breaks a sweat as she pedals at speed. It’s something that perplexes Josie, who says she has tried every diet going. “I’m one of the most on the go people I’ve ever met,” she says, “but my size doesn’t fit with my activity. It never has. I do not stop. I’ve got friends that are really slim and I’m thinking, ‘I run rings around you! ’ Sometimes I think, ‘Is it fair? ’ but we’re all different. I am fit but I am also overweight. ”

For Josie, she’s just glad she’s in good health – well now her gout has cleared up. “As soon as I stopped catching all the flights and started drinking a bit more water and less champagne, it leveled itself out,” says Josie.

Josie got more exercise on the show, walking to her local greengrocer and butcher with her wheeled shopping bag most days, with a daily 1970s step count to hit.

She even joined a disco-themed exercise group and enjoyed 1970s fashion on the show. However, when Josie went shopping for vintage clothes she was saddened to discover that dress sizes in the 70s were much smaller and that the clothes she’d chosen didn’t fit. After she learned that clothes shops now make their smaller sizes bigger so they don’t upset their customers.

“I think 1970s fashion was my favorite era,” says Josie. “It’s so gorgeous. When I got down there, I picked up my sizes that I am and went to the changing rooms and I was absolutely devastated. I didn’t know about vanity sizing. ”

Josie feels at her happiest when she can fit into size 12-14 clothes. However, she isn’t tempted to alter her weight by using weightloss injections such as Wegovy.

Though she admits many of her friends are using weightloss jabs. “If something new comes out, I am not one to sign myself up for it first,” says Josie. “I will sit back and watch what happens. ”

Having said that, Josie isn’t one to judge others. “If you know about the side effects and then you want to weigh it up, that is down to you,” says Josie. “It seems like everyone’s on it and I know lots of people that are on it. ”

You’ll have to watch The 1970s Diet to find out if Josie lost weight on the diet but it’s certainly inspired her to make some changes to her life. Firstly she wants to be more involved in her local community, and secondly she wants to do more walking – which she says will benefit her seven-year-old son Reggie too. “What I realised about Reg is he is a bit lazy,” says Josise. “I’m like, ‘Reg, come on, let’s walk up the shop. ’ And he’s like, ‘No, mum, can we take the car? ’ We have kept trying to keep at the walking but I’ve got to really gear him up. ”

Immersing herself in 1970s culture made Josie realise how important the family unit was back then. As a single mum, Josie doesn’t have the luxury of a supportive husband. “It has really opened my eyes. Back then I think the man needed the woman, and the woman needed the man,” says Josie. “I love the fact that I can have a career but relationships in the 70s I suppose they stuck together because they needed each other more. They were more solid as a family. ”

However, Josie insists she doesn’t have time to date saying, “It wouldn’t be fair. ”

Instead she’s pitching her next TV show – and she wants to investigate biohacking.

“I would like to do a biohacking experiment,” says Josie. “I would love to do that. I don’t know whether I should have given my idea but I’d like to experiment being a biohacker. You’ve got to be careful being a biohacker because there is so much stuff. How do you know what’s good and what’s bad?

Meghan Markle has spoken out on why she decided to change the name of her lifestyle brand, saying the old name became ‘word salad’ adding: “I didn’t love that so much. ” . In the latest episode of her new podcast Confessions of a Female Founder, the Duchess of Sussex chats to celebrity hair colourist Kadi Lee, who is also a good friend of Meghan’s.

Kadi has co-founded the salon and haircare brand Highbrow Hippie – and the pair chatted about picking an all important name for a business. Over a year ago, Meghan originally introduced her lifestyle brand with the name American Riviera Orchard, launching both a website and an Instagram account for it. However, earlier this year, she made a dramatic U-turn and announced the brand would now be called As Ever.

Meghan had faced setbacks trying to trademark the American Riviera Orchard name. However, in the latest podcast she tells Kadi that she “didn’t love” the previous name when it became “word salad”.

She explained: “I had secured As Ever as a name in 2022, and then as everything started to evolve last year, and bringing in a partner the size that it was, it was just so interesting. You remember, I said, ‘I like American Riviera as an umbrella,’ and then be able to have verticals beneath it.

“And maybe have the ‘Orchard’ really small. But when that’s not feasible, suddenly it became this word salad. I didn’t love that so much. “I was like, ‘OK, let’s go back to the thing that I’ve always loved. Let’s use the name that I protected for a reason that had sort of been under wraps’.

“And then we were able to focus in the quiet and put our heads down and build on something that no one was sniffing around to even see about. It was really just helpful to have that quiet period. “

Meghan revealed the change to her business name earlier this year in an Instagram video: “Last year, I had thought ‘You know what, American Riviera, that sounds like such a great name, it’s my neighbourhood, it’s a nickname for Santa Barbara’, but it limited me to things that were just manufactured and grown in this area. Then Netflix came on, not just as my partner in the show, but as my partner in my business, which was huge. “

Meghan greeted Kadi in the episode by saying: “Disregard the state of my hair right now. I’m so excited I’m seeing you next week. I should have a baseball cap on. ” The duchess said the pair met in 2020 – the year of Megxit when Meghan and the Duke of Sussex quit the working monarchy for a new life in the US – and told of her attempts to dye her own hair at home during the pandemic.

The duchess, who invested in her friend’s brand said: “It was 2020 – it was very much 2020. ” She added: “My family had just moved to California. We were staying in our friend’s home and, because it was the pandemic, I kept ordering boxed hair dye, and I thought I’m gonna look just like she does on the box. And instead it was this very inky, almost Elvira-esque black hair. “

Lee, who was called in at the time to help Meghan with her hair, said: “I remember meeting you guys, and you were so warm and both you and H wrapped us up in these big bear hugs and I was like ‘I don’t even know these people and I’m not a hugger but let’s do it’. “

Reflecting on having to close her hair salon during the pandemic, Lee added: “It felt like such whiplash and it felt like, gosh we cannot get a break, you know? ” Meghan laughed and added: “Oh, I understand. “

Meghan has already released two previous episodes of her new eight-part podcast with Lemonada Media, which promises “girl talk” and advice on how to create “billion-dollar businesses”. It follows the duchess’s much-criticised Netflix lifestyle series With Love, Meghan and her new brand As Ever, which sold out of its first batch of raspberry spread, flower sprinkles and herbal tea.

In th first episode, she chatted to Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder of the dating app Bumble. During the chat, Meghan talked about her experiences of being a mum and revealed she suffered from a ‘huge medical scare’ after giving birth. She explained: “We both had very similar experiences — though we didn’t know each other at the time — with postpartum, and we both had preeclampsia. Postpartum preeclampsia. It’s so rare and so scary.

Meghan added: “And you’re still trying to juggle all of these things, and the world doesn’t know what’s happening quietly. And in the quiet, you’re still trying to show up for people – mostly for your children — but those things are huge medical scares. ” Whitney replied: “I mean life or death, truly. ” Postpartum preeclampsia is a rare condition that causes high blood pressure after birth.

Meanwhile, last week, Meghan spoke to Reshma Saujani, founder of the not-for-profit Girls Who Code, where she touched on her experience of miscarriage and having to “let something go that you plan to love for a long time”. Meghan had a miscarriage in July 2020, when her eldest child Archie was one, revealing her heartbreak in an article for The New York Times later that year.

The duchess told Ms Saujani, who faced a series of miscarriages due to an autoimmune disease: “The miscarriages that you’ve experienced. I’ve spoken about the miscarriage that we experienced. And I think, in some parallel way, when you have to learn to detach from the thing that you have so much promise and hope for, and to be able to be OK at a certain point to let something go, something go that you plan to love for a long time. “