Dancing On Ice, which first aired in 2006, will end, according to ITV bosses, after viewership for the previous series dropped below 3 million.
Axed Dancing On Ice is ‘huge blow’ for Stephen Mulhern after difficult year(Image: Getty Images)
The end of Dancing On Ice will most likely be a ‘huge blow’ for one-half of the show’s presenters, Stephen Mulhern, after he struggled with a difficult year. The ITV show being axed comes after he was rushed to the hospital over a health scare and after the death of his father Christopher.
ITV bosses have confirmed that the show, which first aired in 2006, is to end after viewing figures dwindled to below 3million for the last series. The most recent final, won by Coronation Street star Sam Aston managed to pull in just 2.7 million viewers – a staggering decline from the viewing figures it once had with an estimated 12 million tuning in during previous years.
Continue reading the article.
READ MORE: Amazon’s best-selling teeth whitening powder hit ‘lowest’ price in Spring Sale deal
Dancing On Ice was recently axed(Image: Kieron McCarron/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
The series was fronted by Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield before Stephen took over from him when the presenter quit his roles at ITV following his bombshell affair admission.
Before ITV announced they had no longer wanted to air the series, Stephen didn’t hold the role of host.
Judges Torvill and Dean had previously announced they were hanging up their skates following the final dates of their tour in May, but PR expert Lynn Carratt has claimed Stephen will suffer the most as a result of the show’s cancellation.
The cancellation could be a ‘huge blow’ to Stephen(Image: Getty Images)
“Stephen Mulhern has had a challenging year, and losing Dancing on Ice will be a huge blow to him, but he has other ITV projects in the pipeline and will be back on screens shortly with Celebrity Catchphrase…” she said on behalf of Prime Casino.
A spokesperson for ITV confirmed the cancellation, saying that there are no current plans to resurrect Dancing On Ice after another successful season in 2018 (Following another successful series earlier this year).
We would like to thank everyone who has worked on the show since 2006, as well as the previous 17 series, for their tireless efforts both on and off the ice.
Following the passing of his father, Christopher, Stephen had a difficult year. Following his tragic passing, he was forced to leave Butlin’s holiday parks.
He also became concerned in November when he collapsed while eating at a Pizza Express. He was allegedly reacting to an anesthetic he received for an operation he performed that day.
Meanwhile, DOI insiders told the Mirror that the show was set to be dropped after receiving low ratings.
It has enjoyed a successful run for nearly 20 years and has a large following of viewers who are devoted to it; however, the sad truth is that there aren’t enough of them because it’s difficult to justify the cost.
Continue reading the article.
Follow Mirror Celebs on Threads, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok.
READ MORE: Ninja’s ‘powerhouse’ air fryer is now £130 off in the Amazon Spring Sale
As his other half Andre Portasio released an unseen video taken just 20 minutes before the TV legend passed away at his home, Paul O’Grady spent his final days surrounded by his beloved dogs.
In a posthumous video, Paul O’Grady introduces his dog Eddie.
Paul O’Grady’s husband has shared a heartbreaking video of the TV presenter taken just 20 minutes before he died as more detail of his final moments are revealed. Beloved presenter Paul died in March 2023 from sudden cardiac arrhythmia at just 67 years old, surrounded by his beloved pets and partner, Andre Portasio.
The video taken shortly before his sudden death shows Paul sitting in an armchair cuddling one of his much-loved dogs. The presenter seemed in great spirits as he thanked fans for their support. Just 20 minutes later, the iconic broadcaster died from a cardiac arrhythmia.
Continue reading the article.
READ MORE: Paul O’Grady fans have same response as star seen beaming 20 minutes before death
Paul and Andre married in 2017 and moved in together during the pandemic(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Paul had no signs of dying before his sudden death, according to those closest to him and who knew him. The entertainer’s grieving husband, Andre Portasio, who wed him in 2017, shared the video as a homage to the presenter.
Andre wrote in the Instagram video, “It’s amazing how our minds can shield us from the pain of loss in shock. I lost a video that Paul’s last recorded on camera just 20 minutes before he tragically passed, and it came to mind in my iPhotos today. You can see him in this bittersweet moment as the sincere person he was, showing his gratitude to everyone for funding his book at an award ceremony he was unable to attend.
It’s difficult to believe his passing has occurred two years ago. He spends the entire day surrounded by his devoted dogs. @paulogrady, we miss you dearly. Happy birthday, heaven-seekers! #paulogrady. “
Paul said, “Hi everyone, I’m Paul O’Grady, and I just want to say a huge thank you for reading my book, as well as for voting for it. Thank you so much for your kind gift. “I’m absolutely delighted with my award.
Andre told a heartbreaking story to The Mirror last year about how Arfur, another of Paul’s dogs, nuzzled him after he passed away. The saddest part of everything is that I was trying to keep the dogs out of the room when all of this happened, and I was trying to revive him.
Andre said, “But somehow Paul’s favorite dog Arfur escaped and nuzzled his face on Paul’s shoulder as if to say “wake up.” It was “heartbreaking.”
Following the pandemic, Paul and Andre relocated together. They raised five rescue dogs, Nancy, Arfur, Conchita, Eddie, and Sausage, as well as pigs, alpacas, chickens, sheep, and goats at their Adlington home in Kent.
Andre said in a statement from March 28 that “he will be greatly missed by his loved ones, friends, family, animals, and all those who enjoyed his humor, wit, and compassion. He would want to thank you for the love you have shown him over the years, I am aware of.
Andre with one of their beloved dogs at Paul’s funeral (Image: PA)
He said Paul spent his final moment smoking a spliff at home(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
According to Paul’s close friend and colleague Malcolm Prince, Paul was “full of life” when he called in for a visit the day before his death. In a heartfelt tribute, Malcolm tweeted on the day of his death: “Yesterday afternoon I popped round to Paul’s for a good old catch-up. Surrounded by his beloved dogs, he was laughing, smiling, and full of life.
He was “so proud of (musical) Annie,” “so happy to be back on Boom Radio,” and “he was anticipating so many exciting projects.” He is now gone. I’m in shock about it. We both lost a special talent, and my dear friend also lost. Paul’s presence in our lives was a blessing. Andre, Paul’s family, and friend are my thoughts and prayers. Oh my goodness, I’ll miss him.
Andre also described the typical day-to-day life of the television personality. When Paul said he wanted to make a “cup of tea,” which was our little code for rolling a spliff, he told the audience at the funeral, “We had a very ordinary day, just watching TV together at home.”
“So Paul went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea, brought it back, lit it, and started smoking it,” he said. “That was our final and final interaction.” He died in his chair there.
Just two weeks before Paul’s passing, Paul’s final social media post revealed that he had spoken of losing his beloved pig. To let his followers know that he was grieving the passing of Tom Tom, who had a tumour, needed to be put to sleep, he wrote a heartfelt caption.
The 67-year-old “knew it was coming,” but he still felt bad about losing a pet, and he also called the hog “the gang’s cheekiest.” He continued, “On a lighter note, I’m thoroughly enjoying playing Hannigan again, especially with a truly amazing and lovely cast. Next, Edinburgh, please.
Right up until his death, the actor had been happily touring around the country in a production of Annie, playing character Ms Hannigan. He was even due to play the part for an additional week in June in Liverpool. While his sudden passing came as a shock, the comedian’s health had been ailing for years and he previously survived several heart attacks.
Continue reading the article.
READ MORE: The Range’s ‘gorgeous’ £12.99 wall art that ‘looks more expensive’
Although the details of a deal reached on Sunday were still being worked out, it appeared that Russia and Ukraine have stopped focusing on one another’s energy infrastructure this week.
“I can confirm that since this date, March 25 … there have been no attacks on energy objects. Heorhii Tykhyi, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the Kyiv Independent on Thursday that neither Russia’s energy objects nor our energy objects were targeted by them.
The United States appeared to have abandoned the comprehensive ceasefire proposal it signed with Ukraine on March 11 when reaching the partial ceasefire agreement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected it a week later during a phone call with US President Donald Trump, and negotiated a vaguely defined ceasefire on energy and infrastructure instead, to which Ukraine was not a party.
(Al Jazeera)
Following negotiations between Ukrainian and Russian negotiating teams, the US finally agreed to sign the smaller deal in Jeddah.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had said on Sunday evening that “a ceasefire in our energy sector can begin today”.
Ukraine was previously accused of violating the ceasefire by Russia.
The Russian Federation’s Ministry of Defense reported that the [Kyiv] regime continued to attack the country’s energy infrastructure despite Zelensky’s public statement.
It accused Ukraine of launching two attack drones over Crimea on Wednesday night targeting an underground gas storage facility, and of launching another drone against a high-tension power line in the Russian regions of Bryansk and Kursk, causing a cascade of blackouts.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces’ General Staff denies the claims made.
According to them, “the aggressor country’s military department makes false and unfounded accusations in order to prolong the war.”
The governors of Crimea, Kursk and Bryansk did not report Ukrainian UAVs in their airspace, as they usually do.
Over the past ten days, Russia has been engaging in diplomatic messaging, accusing Ukraine of violating ceasefires that it had agreed to.
It alleged that Ukraine had destroyed a gas measuring station in Sudzha, in the Kursk region of Russia, on Friday.
(Al Jazeera)
Ukraine’s General Staff said Sudzha was “shelled by the Russians themselves” in a “campaign to discredit Ukraine”.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, responded with a retaliation. He claimed that Ukraine’s denial “shows how much one can trust the Kyiv regime.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova piled on, too.
Ukraine “already attacked the Russian power facility in violation of the United States’ proposed truce.” The question is now how Washington will continue to operate under the “mad terrorist scum.”
Sudzha is the point where a major Russian gas pipeline crosses into Ukraine.
After Russia drastically reduced gas flows to Europe in 2022, the pipeline was essentially defunct, and it ended on December 31 when a Russian-Ukraine transit contract expired.
Over the course of three years of conflict, Ukraine had numerous opportunities to obliterate or shut down Russian gas pipelines that had been crossing its territory.
Russia says Ukraine wants to ‘ thwart ‘ peace plans
Russia’s emphasis on Ukraine’s unreliability has been a constant theme throughout the conflict, and it has grown in recent days in an effort to obstruct its ability to negotiate.
For instance, on March 18, when Putin switched to a partial ceasefire, the Kremlin unilaterally announced that the Ukrainian ceasefire would go into effect immediately and without any prior consent.
Two days later, Zakharova accused Kyiv of violating the ceasefire by attacking the Engels air force base in Russia.
By attacking Russian energy facilities, Zakharova said, “Kyiv wants to thwart peace initiatives, including those proposed by Trump.”
Zelenskyy’s government “exhibited a complete lack of political will for peace,” she claimed.
That attack targeted ammunition, Ukraine’s General Staff said on Thursday. 96 air-launched cruise missiles were destroyed as a result of secondary detonations. According to the staff, the missiles were used in three airstrikes against Ukraine in March and April.
Russia’s Defence Ministry, on the other hand, admitted to striking Ukrainian energy facilities on the first night of Putin’s unilateral ceasefire, and on the following night.
(Al Jazeera)
Russia and Ukraine exchanged 175 prisoners of war each, and Russia also gave birth to 22 hospitalized soldiers on March 18. One aspect of the phone call clearly worked.
Russia continued to communicate even on Sunday.
As the agreement was announced, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denounced Zelenskyy in an interview with Russia’s Channel One, saying, “We cannot take this man at his word”.
Russia used 139 Shahed drones and an Iskander-M ballistic missile to attack Ukraine the same day. 78 of them were fatally shot by Ukraine, disorienting 34 of them electronically.
But other Russian attacks were deadly. A father and his 5-year-old daughter were among the three victims of the drone strike in Kyiv on Saturday. In a drone strike on Friday in Zaporizhia, three people were killed.
The White House did not respond to Russian assertions, spending the week in a defensive crouch after its top national security officials were revealed to have discussed operational defence plans against Yemeni Houthis on a commercial platform, and inadvertently included a journalist in that discussion.
Regarding ceasefire terms, the EU and the US are very different.
After separate Russian, Ukrainian, and US statements that didn’t align, Ukrainian and Russian technical teams were reportedly working out issues with Sunday’s agreement.
In addition to banning strikes on energy infrastructure, the White House said, the agreement aimed to secure safe navigation in the Black Sea and “help restore Russia’s access to the world market for agricultural and fertiliser exports”.
Russia went further, claiming that sanctions against Russian agricultural machinery and shipping could only be lifted if the deal were to become legally binding.
Zelenskyy denied that the US and Ukrainian teams had reached an agreement regarding Russian access to the grain and fertilizer markets.
“We believe that this is a weakening of positions and a relaxation of sanctions”, Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv on Tuesday. “This was not on our agenda,” we said.
Zelenskyy and the European Union came to terms.
(Al Jazeera)
The European Council of the 27 EU leaders said on March 20 that it “remains ready to step up pressure on Russia, including through further sanctions and by strengthening the enforcement of existing measures … to weaken its ability to continue waging its war of aggression”.
It stated that Russian central bank assets worth $300 billion would remain frozen “until Russia stops its aggression against Ukraine and makes reparations for the harm it caused.”
Anitta Hipper, a spokesman for the European Commission’s foreign affairs, reiterated that statement on Wednesday, saying the EU would consider lifting sanctions if Russia “puts end to its unprovoked aggression” and to withdrew without condition.
The situation on the ground
Throughout the week, Ukraine fought back against continuing Russian assaults that focused on the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine.
Russian forces are weakening, according to Viktor Tregubov, a spokesperson for the Khortytsia operational group of Ukrainian ground forces.
“There are fewer of them, and they have less equipment. He claimed on Saturday that the men fighting there claim to be seeing fewer Russians at the moment. Simply put, “Russia has suffered significant losses.” But they cannot leave this area, because it is still part of their plans to control this part of the Donetsk region”, he said.
Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskii, the commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, reported rising daily casualty rates in Russia. In the last three years of combat, 540 000 Russians have been killed and wounded, exceeding the 900 000 mark, according to reports.
Ukraine’s General Staff on Thursday said a drone strike on the Engels-2 airfield in Russia a week earlier had resulted in the destruction of 96 air-launched cruise missiles from secondary detonations. According to them, the missiles were used in three airstrikes against Ukraine in March and April.
In the Russian region of Kursk, Ukraine has experienced a setback in the past two weeks as a result of a counterinvasion last summer.
One of Ukraine’s stated reasons for that initiative was that it forestalled a new invasion Russia was preparing in its Sumy and Kharkiv regions in the autumn.
Now that Ukraine has been resurrected in Kursk, Zelenskyy told French newspaper Le Figaro on Wednesday.
Russian reconnaissance and sabotage groups were already advancing further into the Sumy region, according to Ukrainian Border Guard spokesman Andriy Demchenko, who spoke to a telethon.
“The enemy does not give up its sabotage activities. In the north of Sumy, the majority of enemy reconnaissance and sabotage organizations were previously exposed. We are now recording enemy groups’ attempts to move closer to the southeast and the southern regions of Sumy, he said, when they attempt to cross the state border.
Demchenko also told a telethon that Russian forces were conducting shelling and air attacks in Sumy. At the height of Ukraine’s Kursk operation, these activities had almost stopped.
At least 300 Russian strikes were recorded by Sumy police in 43 different settlements on the day of the agreement in Jeddah.
Dani Alves’ sexual assault conviction was overturned by a Spanish court, which overturned the decision.
Alves was given a four-year, six-month prison sentence in February of that year after being found guilty of raping a woman in a nightclub in December of that year. During the three-day trial, the former Brazil and Barcelona defender pleaded innocence.
There was “insufficient evidence,” the court determined on Friday, refuting Alves’s presumption of innocence.
In response to a gang-rape case that broke out at the San Fermin bull-running festival in Pamplona in 2016, the Alves trial was the first significant case to come up for trial since Spain overhauled its laws in 2022 to make consent a key component of defining a sex crime.
The “only yes means yes” rule in the “only yes means yes” rule of law explicitly states that consent must be an explicit expression of a person’s will. This makes it clear that passingivity or silence do not constitute consent.
However, the appeals court’s four judges unanimously decided to overturn the verdict. According to their ruling, the plaintiff’s testimony “differed significantly” from the evidence of videotape taken before the woman and Alves went to the toilet where she claimed he forced her to have sex without her consent.
Dani Alves, a former Brazilian footballer, was released on bail in March 2024 while appealing his rape conviction [Bruna Casas/Reuters].
Alves, now 41, was imprisoned from January 20th, 2023 until March 2024, when he was released after paying $1.2 million in bail while awaiting his appeal. Additionally, he gave his passports, but the prosecution argued against releasing him on bail due to a potential flight risk.
The victim’s lawyer requested that he serve a 12-year prison sentence while the prosecution requested that his sentence be increased to nine.
The Spanish Supreme Court in Madrid has the authority to take appeal of this ruling.
Alves won numerous titles with prestigious clubs, including Barcelona, Juventus, and Paris Saint-Germain, making him one of the most successful players of his generation. At the age of 38, he also assisted Brazil in winning two Copa Americas and an Olympic gold medal. In 2022, he won his third major title, the only other major title of his own. He briefly returned to Barcelona in 2022 after spending four years there between 2008 and 2016. He helped the team win three Champions Leagues and six Spanish leagues. He still lives close to the city.
Dani Alves, a former Barcelona and Brazil defender, has had her rape conviction overturned on appeal in Spain.
The 41-year-old’s appeals division unanimously accepted his appeal and acquitted him, claiming that the case against him had “consistences and contradictions.”
After being found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in a Barcelona nightclub in 2022, Alves was given a four and a half year prison sentence in February of that year.
While a higher court heard his appeal, the former full-back, who won 126 international caps, was freed on bail in March 2024.
The original court case’s ruling, according to the appeal court, “contains a number of gaps, inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and contradictions regarding the facts, the legal assessment, and their consequences.”
Further, the court determined that the complainant’s claim that she feared that Alves’ friends might follow her did not seem reasonable.
Instead, the alleged victim “voluntarily entered the bathroom area to be with the defendant in a more intimate space.”
Alves’s entire restrictions, including a travel ban and a restraining order, were also lifted by the Catalan court. The Supreme Court can still hear the case, though.
Alves is very content, he says. That is evidence that he is innocent. His attorney, Ines Guardiola, reported to RAC1 radio that justice had spoken.
At the age of 38, Alves helped Brazil win two Copa Americas and an Olympic gold medal, while also having trophy-filled spells with Sevilla, Barcelona, Juventus, and Paris St-Germain.
