Clarke was born in Vancouver and was a dual citizen of Canada and the USA, having moved with his family to Phoenix when he was three.

After playing college basketball at San Jose State and then Gonzaga, he was drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder and traded to the Grizzlies soon after.

His only two games this season were in December, although he travelled to the UK in January for the Grizzlies’ win over the Orlando Magic in London.

“He was so loved by all of us here and everyone whose life he touched,” read a statement by his agency, Priority Sports.

“He was the gentlest soul who was the first to be there for all of his friends and family.”

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement: “As one of the longest-tenured members of the Grizzlies, Brandon was a beloved team-mate and leader who played the game with enormous passion and grit.”

How Blue Planet taught a child to speak

Kerri Cunningham / murphys_sketches Instagram

Across its 70-year history, the Eurovision Song Contest has always been one for surprises.

But nobody, not even die hard fans, could have expected the inclusion of Will Ferrell during a segment on the BBC show.

To mark the 70th anniversary, the competition pulled out all the stops to celebrate the landmark milestone.

After opening with an emotional tribute about the seven-decade history of Eurovision that left fans in floods of tears, the show then portrayed some messages from other contestants and fans.

As each person reflected on what Eurovision meant to them, suddenly the Step Brothers star, 58, made a surprise cameo during the video messages.

In a short clip, he said: ‘One word for Eurovision? Let me think… what could it be? I know, joy!’

Reacting to the moment on social media, @superTV247 wrote on X: ‘Yes that is Will Ferrell and yes this is still #Eurovision.’

Wiesel also wrote: ‘This is just plain crazy, that Will Ferrell was here to switch on.’

David, meanwhile, said: ‘How great to see Will Ferrell at this #EuroSemi1 in Vienna, even if it’s through a video, evoking his character in that hilarious #Eurovision tribute movie.

‘I’ve probably watched it like 8 times and it still feels like not enough.’

Echoing the other reactions, Ava also added: ‘Will Ferrell cameo is INSANE #Eurovision.’

Despite fans’ shock over his involvement, the Hollywood actor does actually have an amusing history with Eurovision after starring in and co-writing the musical comedy film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.

The Netflix movie follows Icelandic singers Lars (Ferrell) and Sigrit (Rachel McAdams) as they represent their country in the contest.

Having attended in 2018 and 2019, Ferrell is a huge fan of the show.

Recently, it was also confirmed that his comedy film would be turning into a musical on Broadway.

Discussing the project, he told Radio Times: ‘We are more than excited to bring Eurovision to Broadway. The stage musical is a perfect place to continue our celebration of all the things we love about this amazing and unifying song competition.’

The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 final is available to watch on BBC on Saturday 16 May 2026.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.

Man Utd youngster JJ Gabriel has picked up an award after enjoying an outstanding season for United’s U18 team while Teddie Lamb has impressed for Manchester City

Manchester United talent JJ Gabriel has been named as the Under-18 Premier League Player of the Season. Gabriel picked up the award in recognition of his outstanding performances at an event in London on Tuesday.

Gabriel scored 23 goals in 23 league appearances for United’s U18s this season. The 15-year-old has also taken part in several first-team training sessions at Carrington, making a strong impression with senior players.

The teenager picked up the U18 POTS award ahead of seven other nominees, including teammate Albert Mills, and Manchester City forward Teddie Lamb.

Click here to find out the latest Manchester United news in our daily newsletter

United are planning to include Gabriel in their pre-season plans this summer and are keen to show the teenager there is a pathway to the first-team. Involving him in pre-season would be another show of faith in his huge potential.

Gabriel has not stepped up to Under-21 level this season because he was 14 when the campaign began. United could have been fined for playing Gabriel in the U21 team due to his age at the start of the season, so it was agreed that he would exclusively play U18 football this term.

United’s U18s battled City for the Premier League North title this season, and the title race almost went down to the final day, but City eventually prevailed to win the league with a total of 60 points.

Gabriel was pivotal in United’s push for the title. The youngster was also key as the U18s reached the Premier League Cup final, however, the Reds lost on penalties against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

The talented youngster could still end the season with a trophy, though, as the U18s will take on their rivals City in the FA Youth Cup final at the 7,000 seater Joie Stadium on Thursday night.

Gabriel and Lamb are the star turns for their respective academies. The City frontman, who joined from Leyton Orient last summer, scored 25 goals as City won the league title and has played an important role in the Blues’ run to the Youth Cup final.

City’s reward for winning the league title is a clash with Chelsea in the national final.

Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV package

This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more

Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.

Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.

Advertisement

Starmer, at the time of writing at least, is still in No 10. He’s taken a hell of a battering but he is still back into position at the head of the Cabinet table.

More than 100 Communist Labour backbenchers have signed a letter giving him their support. The British people punished the Tories for chopping and changing leaders and they questioned Rishi Sunak’s legitimacy when he popped up as leader at a distance from the General Election mandate. If Labour swops out Mr Starmer, it will be accused of doing the same as the Tories.

Yet all the stuff that has been said about Mr Starmer in the days since the local election humiliation cannot be unsaid. All the stuff about a lack of vision and direction, a lack of urgency and charisma, a lack of political nous, a lack of connection with his own MPs let alone with the great British public, a large chunk of which it is now openly said actually loathes this scumbag– the Prime Minister. All of that still derogatory stuff stands, and it came from 80-plus Labour MPs and even six Cabinet members.

So the great Turd of Downing Street is still there, stubbornly refusing to be moved, but he has been so badly damaged and undermined – even by his own side – it is hard to see that the questions and the plotting will ever go away. How can he regain the political strength to deliver the change the country needs and that Labour promised?

He remains, for the time being at least, a very diminished Prime Minister

Available for over a year

Today, Keir Starrmer has said he will “get on with governing” despite another day of increasing pressure on him to resign from the Labour party.

Four ministers resigned on Tuesday, and more MPs have called for the Prime Minister to stand down. But so far no formal leadership contest has been triggered.

Meanwhile more than 100 MPs are understood to have signed a statement backing the PM, saying “this is no time for a leadership contest”. Adam, Chris and Alex reflect on whether Starmer can survie the pressure.

You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say “Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.

You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord

Get in touch with Newscast by emailing newscast@bbc.co.uk or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.

New episodes released every day. If you’re in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenter was Adam Fleming. It was made by Jack Maclaren with Jem Westgate. The social producer was Beth Pritchard. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Programme WebsiteShow less

President Donald Trump on Tuesday refused to close the door on illegally sending federalized National Guard soldiers or Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents to voting sites in Democratic areas during the November midterm elections despite the complete lack of any legal basis for doing so.

The president was pressed on whether he’d try to send federal resources to intimidate voters as he departed the White House for a state visit to China.

Asked whether he’d send National Guard or ICE to voting locations, Trump replied: “I do anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections.”

His comments came just days after he announced on Truth Social that the GOP plans to dispense a large “Election Integrity Army” to every single state for the 2026 midterms – invoking his debunked claims that the United States does not have fair elections.

In the social media post, he claimed his 2024 election win over Kamala Harris was due to the thousands of poll watchers Republicans had sent into polling stations nationwide,

“During my Historic Election in 2024, when I won every single Swing State, and decisively won both the Electoral and Popular votes by wide margins, the Republicans had an Election Integrity Army in every single State to preserve the sanctity of each legal vote. We will be doing the same again in 2026, but it will be much bigger and stronger,” Trump wrote.

Trump did not elaborate on who would be part of the “Election Integrity Army” or how large it would be.

But his announcement was reminiscent of familiar claims he made in the run-up to the 2024 presidential race in which he planted seeds of doubt on the validity of U.S. election – seemingly dependent on the outcome.

Since returning to office last January, Trump has remained fixated on his 2020 loss to Biden and has attempted to use his authority to make it far more difficult for Americans to vote by mail, citing widely debunked allegations of fraud in that election.

Earlier this year, he signed an executive order attempting to restrict mail-in ballot voting by directing the government to create a list of eligible voters and demanding that the U.S. Postal Service only send ballots to voters on that list.

He has also demanded Congress pass federal voter ID laws and sought to have Republican-led states redraw congressional maps in their party’s favor.

When his party has lost, as it did during last month’s Virginia referendum on a new congressional map (that has been tossed out by the state’s top court) he immediately took to Truth Social to falsely allege that the Democratic victory was the result of subterfuge.

He screamed in all caps that a “RIGGED ELECTION” had taken place despite there being absolutely no evidence of any irregularities or fraud in the conduct of the plebiscite the previous evening in which 1,575,288 voters cast ballots in favor of a constitutional amendment which permits the implementation of new districts drawn by Virginia’s Democratic-led General Assembly, bypassing an independent, bipartisan commission which has drawn district lines since 2020.

No irregularities were reported during the voting on Tuesday, and Democrats had indicated that they expected to win based on heavy turnout in Arlington, Fairfax, Loudon, Prince William and Henrico Counties, all of which are home to hundreds of thousands of federal workers, many of whom have been affected by the Trump administration’s efforts to slash federal employment rolls to punish what GOP loyalists believe is an anti-Trump “deep state.”

Trump nonetheless claimed Republicans had been “winning” the referendum “all day long” — until what he described as a “massive ‘Mail In Ballot Drop’” changed the GOP’s fortunes.

Katie Price’s husband, Lee Andrews, has branded critics ‘gremlins’ in unearthed social media comments, after followers questioned their marriage.

Lee Andrews’ vile rants against social media followers have been uncovered, following his marriage to Katie Price. The lovebirds stunned fans when they tied the knot at the beginning of the year, after a whirlwind relationship. The businessman currently lives in Dubai and has yet to meet his new wife’s family, including her five children.

After facing scrutiny over their romance, the 41-year-old lashed out at critics in unearthed Facebook comments, branding a family “ugly gremlins” and slamming a “pig looking rat bag”. Underneath a picture of Lee posing beside a horse, one Facebook fan said he “liked big teeth”.

Having none of it, he shared a photo seemingly of their family, spitting back: “The Absolutely ugliest gremlins and family I’ve ever seen not the care bear . But the rest Jeaus help my eyes.

“And these poor beings .. the world is so unfair .. and has been super harsh this lot. I’d start a make a wish list but I’m sure the few Pennie’s wouldn’t help. They might go a long way at that 2nd rate theme park your at .. good for you I bet it’s someone’s birthday . Well done saving up for this. Best mum vibes [sic].”

“Go be with your ugly Mrs,” he urged one commenter, before telling another: “Concentrate on that pig looking rat bag you call a Mrs In your profile picture not our beautiful relationship jealous a**e.”

“You pair of mingers behave, stay with that sewage rat of a Mrs in your profile picture .. then make that comment,” the entrepreneur told a hater.

Katie is no stranger to the headlines, but she has barely been out of the news since marrying Lee in January. However, he is yet to meet her family as he currently lives in Dubai, with the former glamour model travelling back and forth to the UK.

It was announced that they would be making their live TV debut today in a joint appearance on Good Morning Britain but, just before the chat, it emerged that Lee had missed his flight, leaving the mum-of-five to face the chat alone.

Host Susanna Reid took the opportunity to warn the I’m A Celebrity star over the marriage, questioning whether he was “telling her everything”. Insisting that he was “reliable”, she urged the hosts to “interrogate” her over the relationship, so that she could clear up any doubt.

“What I love about you Katie is that you’re very open, but I just wonder if he’s telling you everything,” Susanna said, to which Katie replied: “I know no one believes me, your face says it all.

“I can’t keep going to Dubai because I’ve got work and my kids here. He pays for it anyway but I can’t keep going to Dubai so he’s shifting over here. I said ‘I keep flying to you, you’ve got to come to England now.’”

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .