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Hornblower star, Ioan Gruffudd, and new wife, Bianca, are expecting their first baby together, which has reportedly left the actor’s ex, Alice Evans, ‘fuming’

Alice Evans is “absolutely fuming” after her ex Ioan Gruffudd announced he was going to become a father again.

The Hornblower star, 51, who shares two daughters with his ex-wife, 53, shared his happy news with new wife, Bianca, 32, on Father’s Day, posting a snap of the couple with the caption: “Baby Gruffudd poppin’ out to say hello!”

While Ioan’s legion of loyal followers flocked to congratulate the Welsh actor, Alice is allegedly ‘horribly upset’ after claiming she’s been left destitute while looking after the former couple’s daughters. Revealing her response to the bombshell news, a source said: “Alice will be absolutely fuming over this. She’s made no secret of the fact she’s destitute looking after the two kids, so to have him rub how well he’s doing in her face is a real gut-punch.”

READ MORE: Ioan Gruffudd expecting first child with his wife Bianca weeks after wedding

They continued to The Sun: “For Ioan to not only break the news like that, but do it on Father’s Day . . . it’s yet another horribly upsetting saga for her to deal with.”

Ioan and Alice formally divorced in July 2023. However, they are still battling fiercely over spousal support and custody and financial support for their two daughters Ella, 15, and Elsie, 11.

Alice spoke candidly about the split, telling followers she was in ‘excruciating pain’ as she opened up about the break-up in agonising detail. in 2021, the 102 Dalmatians star said she was desperately fighting to save the relationship but said she ‘can’t see’ Ioan coming back.

The pair shared a joint statement admitting they were going through a ‘difficult time’ as their 13 year marriage crumbled. In a follow-up post, Alice took to Instagram to share a photo of a broken heart and another image of a heart on a blackboard with ‘Game over’ written across it.

The couple released a joint statement saying it was a difficult time but they remain ‘committed’ to their daughters Ella and Elsie. “As you can imagine, this is an incredibly difficult time for our family and we remain committed to our children. Thank you for respecting our privacy,” they shared.

Ioan and Bianca went public with their relationship in 2021 after working together on the set of Aussie ABC series, Harrow. It was another two years before Ioan’s divorce from Alice was finalised.

During that time he went through a bitter court hearing with his ex-wife, where he sought a restraining order against Alice. Ioan and Bianca claimed to have endured a ‘smear campaign’ of hateful text messages, emails and social media posts from the mum-of-two.

Ioan also fought Alice’s request for more money for spousal support, claiming he had paid $400,000 (£294,000) more than he needed to. In court papers he called Alice’s claims of poverty were ‘exaggerated’ and said it’s a ‘false narrative’ that she and the children have been left destitute.

In February this year, Alice claimed she’d been evicted from her home in Los Angeles after being ‘unable to pay her rent’. The actress said she and her daughters had been forced to leave and had ‘no way of renting even the cheapest room in the city.’

The Mirror has contacted Alice’s reps for comment on this story.

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Iconic high street retailer has spruced up one of the aisles at its beloved stores, prompting excitement among shoppers eager to see it in person but some have branded it ‘dangerous’

Marks and Spencer shoppers are all eager to visit the store to visit one spruced up aisle that’s been branded “dangerous” – because of how much shoppers are worried they’ll spend there. The iconic retailer had humble beginnings as a market stall in Leeds, originally founded in 1884, before going on to become the high street juggernaut so known and loved today.

The company is renowned for its high quality products which span multiple departments. Shoppers can peruse the latest fashion trends, an array of homeware, lingerie, beauty products and more. Equally as popular is its famed Food Halls, which offer branded food and drink as well as M&S’s own in-house range.

Similar to many of its high street competitors, the beloved retailer makes use of social media to keep customers updated on all the newest products and releases.

M&S operates a string of Instagram pages, each focused on a specific department. In a recent post which was cross shared to its main account and its food account, Marks and Spencer revealed its crisp aisle has had a “glow up”.

The retailer shared a video showcasing the aisle. Over the top of the footage were the words: “M&S has the ultimate crisp aisle”.

The clip then showed nine large, varying bags of crisps being added to a basket and added the text: “We’ve got it all!”

The footage was viewed more than 109K times and pulled in over 1.6K likes a hundred comments.

Captioning the popular video, M&S penned: “Our crisp aisle has had quite the glow up over the past few months, and here it is in all its glory.

“Brand-new, eye-catching packaging, upgraded recipes and delicious newbies make the M&S crisp aisle the place to be. What’s your top pick?”

In the comments section, people were keen to share their thoughts. One person declared: “My favourite aisle”.

Another joked: “Too dangerous for me”, while a third shared a sense of nostalgia: “I [love] the crisp sticks, they remind me of Sunday tea at my Nan’s in the 70s & early 80s. She would only shop in the food hall at M&S every Thursday.”

Moving onto the topic of their favourite flavours, one shopper said: “It’s ALL about those Worcester sauce crisps – hands down the best ones out there!”

Another said: “The chicken and garlic butter ones are insane”.

One customer confessed: “Would love to see the combo mix back in multipacks rather than the large share bags…..which I don’t have the self control to resist!”

Another shopper shared their sadness over their favourite flavour being discontinued. They said: “Only you stopped doing the bestest of all….Salted Potato Rings!!!”

Someone else felt the same and replied: “I agree … why did you stop them”.

Jeremy Clarkson’s mum always believed her son would not have had the TV career he did without Paddington Bear after the family played a big part in creating the ironic character

TV star Jeremy Clarkson owes his career to Paddington Bear after his parents made mega money by designing the much-loved stuffed toy.

Shirley and Eddie Clarkson’s small design company led them to make the first-ever prototype of the character in 1972, which they gifted to their son Jeremy and daughter Joana for Christmas. Friends were quick to admire the toys so they started selling them in local shops in the 70s and the Clarkson couple modified Paddington’s design to include his now-famous yellow wellington boots.

However, issues soon came to the fore when the author of the Paddington series, Michael Bond, got wind of the couple selling the stuffed toy without copyright rights. The author asked his legal team to take action against the Clarksons, but one meeting between the Bond and the couple changed the trajectory of Paddington Bear forever.

As legal actions boiled to a head, Eddie and Shirley travelled to London to meet with the authors’ solicitors and happened to meet Bond in a lift. The author of the hit franchise quickly became pals with the couple and tensions around copyright soon melted away. “I got in the lift with Shirley and Eddie,” Bond told The Sunday Times. “They were terribly nice and pretended it had all been a mistake – and we were friends by the time we got out of the lift. I gave them a licence.”

That moment of kindness in the lift changed the Clarksons’ lives, as the family went on to sell millions of bears and Paddington-themed products across the globe. After a huge success, the Clarkson couple eventually sold the stuffed bear rights to toy stalwart Hamleys.

Shirley told AutoTrader in 2010 that he would not have had the TV career he did without Paddington Bear. The millionaire broadcaster also attended two private schools thanks to his parent’s entrepreneurial success – Hill House School in Doncaster and Repton School in Derbyshire.

The Paddington Bear website says: ‘The very first Paddington bear soft toy was designed in the UK by a lady called Shirley Clarkson. She made it as a Christmas present for her children, Joanna and Jeremy Clarkson (who was to go on to become a world famous motoring journalist).

“So many people admired Shirley’s Paddington that she started to make some more until her company, Gabrielle Designs and was granted an official licence to sell them in the UK in 1972.”

When Paddington author passed away in 2017, the TV presenter wrote an emotional statement on Twitter to honour his family’s relationship with him. He wrote: “Very sad to hear Michael Bond has died. I knew him for 45 years and rarely met anyone kinder or more gentle.”

With David Beckham finally receiving a knighthood, our beauty and wellness editor shares her experience trying his supplement brand, IM8, a drink that contains 92 vitamins and minerals

With news that David Beckham is finally receiving his long-awaited knighthood – and looking incredible at 50 years old – it’s clear that wellness is very much a priority for the former footballer. And for anyone wondering how he does it, this might be the answer – and I’ve tried it out too.

Dietary supplements are an important part of staying healthy for many (including the Beckhams), but swallowing handfuls of pills or gummies every day isn’t the most convenient. And so David partnered with a team of scientists to create IM8, a dissolvable drink that contains 92 different vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and pre-, pro- and post-biotics.

“Health and wellness have always been a priority for me, both on and off the field,” he said. “I wanted to create something that makes it easier for everyone to feel their best, every day. With IM8, we’ve done that. These are products my family and I take, and they’ve made a real difference in how we feel. We’ve brought together some of the best minds in science to make something truly unique, and I’m thrilled to be able to share it with the world.”

READ MORE: ‘I drank Gwyneth Paltrow’s go-to green drink for a month – I’m more awake and less hungry’

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The powder – which is designed to be stirred into a glass of water – costs £99 for 30 servings, or £79 if you subscribe and save. Travel sachets are also available, slightly more expensive at starting from £89.

Having already tried and seen benefits from popular green drink AG1, I was keen to see how this compared, so I swapped my usual early morning coffee for this for a month – and here’s what happened…

IM8 review

First up, it looks very smart. I received a box contains a sachet of the powder, a metal scoop, an insulated cup and a ‘forever’ tin, which looks chic enough for me to keep out on my kitchen worktop.

I normally hit the button on my Nespresso machine as soon as I get up, but instead every morning for a month I mixed up a scoop of this powder in my IM8 cup with about 350ml of cold water, and drank it pretty much all in one go.

I actually quite like the green, earthy taste of AG1 but I know that I lot of people don’t; the acai and mixed berries flavour of IM8, however, tastes more like squash – I’m not a squash fan so this isn’t really to my liking, but it’s fine, and easy to drink.

Usually after staying fuelled with a coffee or three through the morning I’m seriously flagging my lunchtime, but drinking this instead kept me feeling alert for hours (OK, I would still have one coffee later in the morning, but there was much less of the usual highs and slumps that I usually get by on).

IM8

From £79

Buy here

The biggest change I noticed, however, was in my skin – I’d been struggling with breakouts for months, but my skin is much clearer now. Of course, I can’t say that it was definitely all down to taking IM8 (I had used some new skincare and had a recent facial too), but I’m sure it helped.

I also loved knowing that I was getting so much goodness into my body in one sitting. I usually take a number of different supplements, including probiotics, iron liquids and sugar-free gummies, but this includes a whole bunch of beneficial vitamins, minerals, adaptogens, biotics and more (you can read the full list of ingredients here).

The biggest downside to IM8 is the cost; at £79 a month, it’s not something I can afford to buy regularly, but if you’re someone who takes a lot of expensive supplements every day, this may indeed work out cheaper. For me, AG1 comes out every so slightly on top as I prefer the ‘green’ taste, but I would definitely look to buy another pack of IM8 if I felt in need of a health kick.

Another option is Protein Works’ “All In” A.I. Greens, which is slightly cheaper (currently reduced to £34.99 for 30 servings), which claims to deliver 172 health benefits; I’ll be giving this a go next and reporting back.

Made In Chelsea star Sam Thompson was seen leaving the Soccer Aid wrap-party in Manchester with sports presenter Jolie Sharpe

After England’s defeat at Soccer Aid, Sam Thompson was spotted leaving the Hilton Manchester Deansgate party with 23-year-old sports presenter Jolie Sharpe.

Jolie looked radiant as she wore a white ruffled skirt and denim jacket, while Sam kept it low-key in a grey co-ord and white tee. The pair looked in high spirits as they made their way out of the party after an incredible weekend working with Unicef.

The night marked a big win for charity as £15 million was raised for UNICEF and a tight 5-4 victory for the World XI team, thanks to a goal by rapper Big Zuu.

Jolie, who runs the marketing agency JGS Live – an official TikTok partner with clients like British Airways and Chelsea FC – was photographed alongside Sam as the night wound down. Naturally, tongues are now wagging amid speculation that there could be more than friendship between the pair.

Sam’s wild night with Jolie followed a near run-in on the pitch with Zara McDermott’s new boyfriend, Louis Tomlinson. Though both took part in the match, they narrowly missed sharing the field. Louis had already been subbed off by the time Sam made a surprise return late in the game, having earlier withdrawn due to injury.

Despite their history, after Sam and Zara split late last year before she began dating Louis, the atmosphere remained cordial throughout the duration of the charity match. Both Sam and Louis were seen arriving back at the hotel around the same time post-match, and reportedly shared a ‘peace dinner’ with teammates beforehand.

“There is no beef between the pair,” a source told The Sun. “They know everyone’s watching and just want things to go smoothly.”

In a recent conversation with Pete Wicks, Sam reflected on Zara’s quick rebound: “I suppose a lot of people look for validation in other people right? And they look for the next person instantly because it’s like ‘I need to find someone else to fill that hole and I need to find that excitement.’”

He also shared how the topic of Louis came up during an interview: “At the end of the interview, he goes, ‘Look mate, I’ve got to ask the question that everyone wants to know… What’s it going to be like with you and Louis?’”

Sam continued: “Mate, you should have seen the room – everyone goes, ‘Woah, Woah Woah, end the call!’ and I just said, ‘No, no guys, I’ve got this.’ I held my hands up to say just relax. I think I did alright and I meant everything I said. It’s not about me or Louis or who anyone is dating, it’s f**king Unicef and charity and everyone is going to be there for the exact same reason.”

Sam and Zara ended their five-year relationship back in December before former Love Island star Zara, 28, quickly moved on with former One Direction singer Louis, 33. Their relationship appears to be going from strength to strength with Zara having reportedly met all of Louis’ family.

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