The current season of Rivals very much started as it meant to go on when it returned to our screens earlier this month, kicking things off with a raunchy shower scene.

In the sequence in question, Victoria Smurfit’s Maud O’Hara was seen sharing a steamy shower with her husband Declan, played by Aidan Turner, in what was later reduced to a comedy of errors resulting in a scene-stealing EastEnders cameo.

Rivals’ robust approach to intimacy co-ordination is already well-documented, with Victoria telling fans at the Hay Festival on Sunday that both she and Aidan were required to wear “modesty equipment” for the shoot.

Or, at least, that was the plan.

“It was long, pink and a fucking plaster,” the actor said, as reported by The Times. “You take the plaster, you jam it on and hope it stays there.”

She continued: “I have to be honest with you – under a storming shower, it doesn’t stay there for long. You give up. You just realise that glue is not what it was in the 80s.”

Victoria previously praised the show’s “fantastic” intimacy coordinators, who help facilitate its many, many sex scenes safely for actors and crew members, while promoting season one.

“Pretty much all of the characters have to de-robe at some stage, whether it’s for comedy, love or power, so we had two intimacy coordinators,” she told The Gloss.

“They were fantastic because, what I’d never realised before, was how much they bring to the camera angles and the story-telling. It’s not just to protect the actors; it’s much deeper.”

Similarly, she told Evoke: “The intimacy coordinators were amazing, all 27,000 of them because they were able to [explain], ‘This is what sells the story of the sex’, because each of the sex scenes for everybody is telling a story about the characters and how they function.”

As a result, the hardest part of shooting each of these scenes, she claimed, was worrying “how cold are we going to be in this outfit?”.

Rivals continues on Friday 29 May and 5 June, before taking a mid-season break and returning later in 2026.

Alan Cumming has spoken candidly about living in the United States during Donald Trump’s second tenure as president.

The Scottish actor holds dual US and UK citizenship, and currently resides in New York with his husband, the visual artist Grant Shaffer.

Later this week, the Emmy winner is due to make his debut in Tip Toe, a new Russell T Davies drama which takes an unflinching look at modern life in an ever-divided world.

Speaking to Radio Times to promote his new show, Alan claimed: “Of course, there are kind people in America, and I live in New York, which is a different kettle of fish to the rest of America.”

“But the government…” he continued. “It is a fascist country and I’m paying taxes to it. It’s horrible.”

Riffing on Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, Alan remarked: “Make America like the 1950s again, more like. When Black people would serve you, you could do whatever you liked, and anyone who you didn’t like, you would get the boys to duff them up. That’s what they want. That’s what they’re creating.”

“It’s not a new thing for people to be so bigoted and intolerant – it always has been like that. It’s just been suppressed,” he then insisted.

“What’s shocking now is how public and blatant it is and how comfortable people feel agreeing with it.”

Last year, Alan told HuffPost UK: “People are scared. Especially in America – people are terrified to speak out. You should be scared! You could get attacked, you could get deported… it’s just awful, it’s a terrifying time. If you speak up and are a voice of descent, you risk a lot.”

Referring to a speech he made in support of trans rights on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the former Baftas host said: “After Kimmel, my publicist was saying, ‘you’re going to get deported, you’re going to get deported’.”

“There was such a big response to it, and all I was doing was telling the truth and speaking up! I wasn’t being insulting, I was just telling the truth. And then I realised how privileged I am – in that I have another life, I have a life [in the UK],” he claimed.

“I have a home here, I have a passport, I spend more time here, actually, than I do in America right now. And so, I feel, I guess, privileged and a bit protected by that. If I did get deported, if something happened in that way, then I wouldn’t be sent to a Venezuelan prison, I would be sent to Scotland.”

He added: “In a funny way, it made me realise that I have a duty to keep speaking up. And I want to keep doing that.”

Read Alan Cumming’s full interview in Radio Times here.

Tony Blair has called on the UK to maintain its close ties with Donald Trump’s America even when it’s “difficult or unpopular”.

The former Labour prime minister has penned a brutal essay calling for a policy reset within the party.

Deep fractures between the White House and Downing Street have emerged in recent months after Starmer refused Trump’s requests for aide in the Iran war and turned down US pleas to send warships to the Middle East.

The US president has subsequently compared Starmer to Neville Chamberlain, the prime minister who proposed Nazi appeasement before World War 2.

Blair, who went to war in Iraq out of support for US president George W Bush, suggested Starmer needed to hold onto the relationship with America.

He claimed that the UK-US relationship “has always been an unequal partnership”, adding: “America is much more powerful than any single allied country, is the dominant force and therefore is the ‘shot-caller’.

“This has been true at least for the last half-century. Most American presidents have been too polite to say this; but they always thought it and more important, acted on it.

“That is why I don’t believe with the Trump Presidency we’re witnessing a ‘rupture’ [in relations].”

Blair claimed it was more of a “reckoning”, and it was time for the UK to wake up to “some home truths” from the States.

He also defended Trump’s repeated attacks on the Nato defence alliance, saying: “Though American security strategy is couched in very ‘America First’ terms, it identifies the principal threats – in the Arctic from Russia; longer term, globally, from China; and in the Middle East from Iran – no differently from how Europe sees the world.

“President Trump has demanded increases in Nato spending not dissolution of the alliance.”

Blair said the UK’s relationship with the US was now “weaker” after Starmer refused Trump’s request for American access to military bases for preemptive strikes on Iran earlier this year.

This move was widely welcomed by the general voters.

Public First research for Politico found that more than half (53%) of the UK public viewed America as a negative force globally in April, up from 35% in December.

But Blair said: “I understand the reasons for refusal but it’s not the best way to treat our ally.”

He added: “If you want to play you have to be sat at the table. And bring something to the table.”

However, he struck a more sympathetic tone when he added: “I know how hard it is to be an ally of the USA.

“We were its staunchest supporter post 9/11. We went through Afghanistan and Iraq together. But it mattered deeply to America and so it mattered to us also.

“America remains the indispensable core of Britain’s security alliance. But staying with it means even when it is difficult or unpopular.”

He warned: “The cumulative risk for Britain is that we become frighteningly insular: wary of America because of President Trump.”

Blair later adding on BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: “I’m not saying the Labour Party should love Donald Trump, get close to Donald Trump.

“I’m simply saying the American relationship matters to Britain.”

Blair was announced as a senior executive on Trump’s “Board of Peace” earlier this year, an initiative meant to initially run Gaza following the end of the Israel-Hamas war.

His appointment sparked fury within the Middle East because of Blair’s past involvement in Iraq.

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Ed Miliband has hit out at Donald Trump’s ongoing war in Iran after the energy price cap increased.

Regulator Ofgem has just announced the energy price cap will be going up by 13% between July 1 and September 30.

That means the average gas and electricity bill will increase to £1,862 a year, adding a significant strain to households across the country.

Responding to the concerning update, energy secretary Ed Miliband said: “The rise in the price cap because of a war we did not choose is deeply unwelcome news for households across the country.”

Trump worked with his Israeli allies to launch an attack on Iran at the end of February.

Iranian troops responded by blockading the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping lane which is responsible for transporting a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.

Three months later, the effective closure of the waterway continues as negotiation efforts stall – meaning energy prices around the world have gone up.

The US did ask to use British military bases to initiate preemptive strikes on Iran, but Starmer declined, only allowing the sites to be used for defensive action.

The UK, along with European allies, also turned down Trump’s plea to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz to force it to reopen.

The war has opened a chasm in diplomatic relations between the White House and Downing Street, as Starmer insists Britain will not be drawn into a “wider war”.

Miliband said the government would continue trying to help the public amid rising bills, adding: “We know people were under pressure before this crisis, and that’s why easing that burden is our number one priority. ”

He pointed out that chancellor Rachel Reeves froze fuel duty and made bus travel free for children across England in August.

The cabinet minister noted that the government has also taken £150 average costs off energy bills for the years ahead, and extended the Warm Home Discount for around six million families, too.

Miliband said: “We will continue to monitor the situation ahead of the winter and plan for all contingencies.

“In the immediate term it is essential to de-escalate this conflict to bring oil and gas prices down and as Britain faces the second fossil fuel crisis of this decade, we must learn the right lessons.

“The way to get bills down for good and avoid these price spikes is to go further and faster with this government’s drive for clean homegrown power we control. We are upgrading as many homes as possible ahead of winter with the biggest investment in warm homes in British history.”

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, warned that this would be a very troubling update for the elderly.

She said: “Even during this unprecedented hot weather for May, older people on low incomes are already worrying about how they will afford to stay warm next winter.

“We know that today’s price cap increase is the shape of worse to come when the next price cap is announced, because by then the impact of the war in the Middle East will really be feeding through into prices.

“Unfortunately, these elevated energy costs due to the war will hit just at the time when pensioners will need their heating the most, as we head into winter.”

Age UK urged the government to come up with “an effective plan now to help older people on low incomes to get through the coming winter unscathed”.

Abrahams added: “It’s imperative that we avoid a repeat of the 2024/5 winter, when millions of older people were cold in their own homes.”

Subscribe to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

This article contains major spoilers for the latest episode of Euphoria.

Euphoria boss Sam Levinson has shared his thoughts on the most recent episode of the hit US drama, which featured the death of a major character.

As you’re reading this, we’re going to assume you know now that in the latest instalment of the award-winning series, Jacob Elordi’s character Nate was killed off.

However, it wasn’t just Nate’s death that left viewers reeling, but also the way he died, being stung by a venomous rattlesnake while buried alive.

Speaking to Esquire, Euphoria’s creator Sam Levinson shared exactly where the idea for Jacob’s character to die in such a gruesome way came from.

Explaining that it was always his plan for Nate to die in season three, he said that the character’s burial was an homage to The Candy Snatchers.

The rest of it came to him while driving to work with his wife, Ashley Lent, one morning.

“It was one of those gorgeous L.A. days where it was perfect weather,” he recalled.

“We’re listening to Otis Redding. The windows are down and we’re driving to Warner Bros. and I’m looking out the window. I just had this image of a rattlesnake coming toward this pipe. He’s banging and the snake can sense the movement in the ground. And I thought, ‘What if the snake goes into the pipe and then he’s stuck inside the coffin with this rattlesnake?’.”

He noted that it’s “sort of a funny moment where you realise that not all dark scenes come from a dark place”, adding: “I turned to Ash and I said, ‘I think I got it.’ And I explained how Nate dies in this sequence. She goes, ‘That’s what you’ve been thinking about?’.”

Despite being put through the ringer to shoot the scenes practical effects, Jacob has admitted he had a surprisingly good time filming his character’s death.

In a behind-the-scenes video, the Oscar nominee said: “I had to go into this coffin, my shoulders were touching the sides and I couldn’t move my arms. And then they would drill the lid on, and it would get dark. It was really nice, actually, it was quite peaceful in there.”

“[The snake] was super cute. He was, like, real cuddly,” Jacob then insisted. “He kind of just saddled up next to me, and it was nice. But he was real sleepy – sleepy snake. I had to kind of nudge him to get him to come up [to my face].”

Euphoria’s season three finale – widely believed to be the last ever episode of the show – will premiere on Sky and Now in the UK on Monday 1 June.

Perrie Edwards has dismissed the possibility of Little Mix coming together as a four-piece any time soon.

The Think About Us singer first rose to fame as a contestant on The X Factor back in 2011, where she and fellow auditionees Jade Thirlwall, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jesy Nelson were put together in a girl group by the judges.

In the end, the quartet went on to win the show, and stayed together as Little Mix for almost a decade, until Jesy announced that she was leaving the band in December 2020 on mental health grounds.

After that, Little Mix remained together as a trio, before going on an indefinite hiatus in 2022.

Since then, Jade, Leigh-Anne and Perrie have all been adamant that they’ll reunite one day, which the latter spoke about during a new interview with Attitude magazine.

“I’m ready and raring,” Perrie enthused. “We always message each other and are bantering like, ‘So how long until we do a reunion? Are we going to do one? Where is it?’.”

She added: “I’m like, just give me a ballpark time. Do you know what I mean? Just let me know when.”

However, when pressed on whether it would involve Jesy, Perrie insisted the band would “definitely” be “a three” when they did come together.

Initially, the remaining members of Little Mix maintained that Jesy’s departure from the group was an amicable one, although this appeared not to be the case as time went on.

Reports around the release of Jesy’s debut solo single Boyz suggested that her former bandmates had all unfollowed her on social media, though unverified “leaked” DMs reportedly sent by Leigh-Anne Pinnock to a TikTok user later suggested that Jesy had, in fact, blocked the trio.

These alleged messages were never verified, nor did Leigh-Anne ever comment on them directly. However, they formed a major part of the conversation during an ill-fated Instagram live-stream Jesy took part in with her Boyz collaborator Nicki Minaj, in which the rapper branded Leigh-Anne a “fucking clown” and accused her of being “jealous” of Jesy.

Just over a year ago, Jesy became a mum to twin girls, Ocean Jade and Story Monroe.

She later disclosed that her daughters had been diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a genetic condition characterised by weakness and wasting in the skeletal muscles, which can cause severe issues with movement.

Following this, Leigh-Anne confirmed earlier this year that she and the rest of Little Mix had “all reached out” to Jesy in light of the news, praising her as “really brave”.

President Donald Trump on Monday proposed that the “Atomic Energy Commission” could help oversee the destruction of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile as he looks to negotiate an end to his unpopular war with the country.

But there’s one apparent error with the proposal: the US Atomic Energy Commission was dissolved over half a century ago.

“This is getting utterly surreal!” wrote Erik Townsend, one of several critics on X who flagged the president’s mention of the defunct agency on his Truth Social platform.

Earlier in the day, Trump pitched on social media that the stockpile of what he calls “nuclear dust” — a sticking point in the talks to bring the conflict to a close and reopen the Strait of Hormuz — be “immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed.”

He laid out other alternatives, as well: the enriched uranium could also be “destroyed in place” in conjunction and coordination with Iran or it could be destroyed “at another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission, or its equivalent, being witness to this process and event.”

Townsend noted that both Pakistan and Israel currently have an “Atomic Energy Commission” but neither “make sense” in the context of Trump’s pitch.

The US Atomic Energy Commission, formed in 1946 under President Harry Truman, was tasked with developing and regulating nuclear technology.

After the AEC was dissolved in 1975, its duties were split between two agencies: the Energy Research and Development Administration (which merged with the Federal Energy Administration in 1977 to make the Department of Energy) and the still-active Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Neither the AEC nor its successors, however, have typically been involved in such a mission to disarm a nation of its nuclear material.

Others on X wondered whether Trump was referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency, a body that would monitor Iran’s compliance with an international agreement to dispose of its stockpile.

The White House did not immediately return a HuffPost request for comment.

Subscribe to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

Even if the new movie based on the TV series The Mandalorian isn’t likely to be remembered as a high-point for the Star Wars franchise, director Jon Favreau has insisted it won’t be the last we see of its central characters.

Jon helmed the film The Mandalorian And Grogu, having also created the sci-fi TV series in which we first met its central characters.

Since its release on Friday, the latest addition to the Star Wars canon has had the lowest-grossing opening weekend in the saga’s history, and received lukewarm reviews, the most scathing of which described it as a low moment for the beloved franchise.

Despite this, Jon has told Entertainment Weekly that he’s already considering the future for his characters.

The Emmy winner explained: “I think about it creatively, and so for me it’s like a garden or a greenhouse with all the different storylines and characters.

“I see opportunity in all of them, because these storylines have taken on a life of their own, and I love the progression of these characters, and I like to think forward as to what’s the next step for both of them.”

He went on to describe Din Djarin and Grogu’s futures as a “wide open canvas”, albeit one dependent on decisions made by Lucasfilm president Dave Fioni.

“There’s a lot of higher-order strategic decisions that Dave is making that this will fit into,” Jon added.

“But from my perspective, I have a lot of notes and ideas as to where I think things might go within this small microcosm within Star Wars.”

As well as the return of Pedro Pascal as the central figure known as the Mandalorian, the first Star Wars movie in almost a decade also featured an appearance from Sigourney Weaver and a voice performance from The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White as the descendent of an iconic character.

The Mandalorian And Grogu is in cinemas now.