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The Marvel series Agatha All Along has answered a long-running music mystery by revealing that Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” is in fact witch Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn).

In the latest episode, a series of news clippings explain Agatha’s origins by showing that she survived the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 and the 1937 Hindenberg disaster.

Another clipping shows a black-and-white screenshot of a blonde woman slapping Agatha. It is headlined: “Does This 1972 Surveillance Photo of Dolly Parton Show the Real Jolene?”

In a new interview with The Wrap, Agatha All Along showrunner Jac Schaeffer was asked to confirm whether Agatha really is Jolene. “In the MCU, hell yeah,” he replied.

Schaeffer went on to explain that the idea for the music reference came from writer Laura Donney, after the writers’ room was given the “fun assignment” of coming up with “five low-level, nefarious things that Agatha has done in her deep past.”

Schaeffer added: “And it was one of, I remember being one of the most fun days in the room, was everybody coming in with their sort of low-level Agatha nasties. And that was Laura Donney, she was like, ‘she’s Jolene.’ And we were just like, everybody fell out. It was so funny.”

Parton’s song famously identifies Jolene only as a beauty “beyond compare” with “flaming locks of auburn hair.”

In 2022, The Independent’s Robert Webb investigated the origins of Parton’s signature hit. He found that Parton had once credited its inspiration to a young fan of her sometime collaborator Porter Wagoner. “When I used to work with Porter, we used to sit on the stage after a show and sign autographs,” Parton recalled. “One night this little redheaded girl with the prettiest eyes and the prettiest hair I had ever seen was looking up at me. She was maybe 10 or 12.” Parton asked her name: it was Jolene.

Last month, Hahn shared an insight into how the opening scenes of Agatha All Along, a spin-off from previous series WandaVision, came to include Marvel’s first female bare bum shot.

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At the end of WandaVision, Agatha was trapped in containment, but in the opening of the first episode of Agatha All Along, she wakes up back in the suburb where most of the original series took place.

She wanders out into the streets looking for answers about what’s going on – naked.

“I thought it was good to see her as stripped down, literally, as we possibly could, which spoke into her powerlessness at the present moment,” Hahn told Variety.

“[Agatha has] been stripped of all of her power at this point in the series. I mean, she really had nothing at that point, and so it became about illustrating that gap between that moment and her finding her power again.”

THE Wheel has been hit with more “dodgy fix” claims after fans accused Michael McIntyre’s show of deliberately posing an “easy” last question.

Contestant Callum found himself in the final hot seat on this weekend’s The Wheel and chose to pair up with lowest celebrity scorer Angela Scanlon.

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This meant he was in line to scoop a top prize fund of £86,000 if they could answer their question correctly.

Callum was faced with the categories Flags, Movies and Sausages.

He told host Michael that hoped for “movies, movies, movies” when asked which category he’d ideally want his cash-out question to come from.

And as if luck would have it, seconds later The Wheel landed on Movies.

“Oooh, oh, Callum,” Michael said. “I’ve got to tell you, it’s so rare that happens. It’s always a one in three but I always ask people and it very rarely lands.”

Callum’s good fortune then went one step further when the self-confessed Avengers fan was quizzed about The Avengers.

He was asked: “In which of these films does a British-born actor star as the title character?”

The multiple choice answers were: Thor, Captain Marvel and Black Widow.

Looking chuffed as the 30-second clock began ticking, Callum told Angela: “Okay, so I’m an absolutely huge, huge Marvel fan.

“Thank God, go on,” Angela replied.

Callum proceeded to tell Angela that Australian actor Chris Hemsworth plays Thor, American actress Brie Larson plays Captain Marvel and that fellow American Scarlett Johansson plays Black Widow.

Angela butted in: “Dr Strange is Benedict Cumberbatch.”

Making a joke about his name, Callum agreed: “Doctor Strange is Benedict Cucumber Patch, so it’s got to be Dr Strange.”

Getting excited, Angela urged: “It’s him, it’s him!”

Callum nervously tapped his knees with both hands and briefly closed his eyes after locking in Dr Strange.

Irish broadcaster Angela, meanwhile sat with her head resting on her hands in a prayer pose.

After a tense few seconds, it was confirmed Callum had answered correctly, meaning sure he walked away with the top prize fund.

He put his head in his hands as the studio lit up in gold with £86,000 plastered on a huge screen.

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But fans at home felt the final had been fixed for Callum to end up with the top sum of money in his pocket, as the question had been so easy.

Complaining on X, formerly known as Twitter, one viewer wrote: “What a pathetically easy question for 86k!!!”

Another added: “I’m sorry what?! 86k just because you know Benedict Cumberbatch is British? That’s crazy sign me tf up now!”

A third remarked: “How easy was that question?”

And someone else raged: “They were very easy questions, dodgy fix there.”

This is the second week in a row that fans have accused The Wheel of being ‘fixed’.

Last Saturday saw mum-of-two Hala pocket £21,500 on the final question.

Earlier in the show, Hala had revealed that she would use any winnings to help her get married again.

She explained how, 10 years before, she had been hospitalised with a rare disorder that left her unable to walk and she had married her husband from her hospital bed.

Cynical fans felt Hala – who was partnered with Jonathan Ross – was set to win after being asked which member of The Beatles played bass guitar.

In echos of the latest show, one viewer moaned at the time: “The last question was ridiculously easy!”

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Strictly Come Dancing viewers were left complaining just seconds into Saturday (19 October) night’s show, with the introductions failing to entertain those at home.

There are 12 couples remaining after Nick Knowles and Luba Mushtuk’s exit on Sunday night, making them the third pair to be eliminated from this year’s competition.

However, before the dancing even began the viewers were left baffled by the decisions surrounding the new intro to the show, which involved the fours judges dancing their way out to the show’s main tune while Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman awkwardly shuffled behind them.

Then after Daly and Winkleman had begun presenting the celebrities and their professional dance partners were introduced to the audience on the stage behind them.

People at home called the introducing “surreal” and felt that it lacked atmosphere and failed to set an atmosphere for the episode.

One person wrote: “Can we please go back to having the #Strictly theme playing when the stars are introduced? It really created the atmosphere.”

A second added: “HATE the way they don’t introduce Tess and Claude anymore with the “Live from the BBC” and Dave Arch wagging his finger… really takes away from the atmosphere.”

A third said: “We really don’t need the judges dancing, so cringe.”

A fourth person wrote: “Dear #Strictly Can we please go back to using the theme tune for the celeb intros. You’re ruining the vibe. Thank you.”

This Saturday night’s show does not have a theme so viewers can expect a wide but eclectic variety of dances, including Paul Merson dancing a Samba to Rose Royce’s “Car Wash” and Pete Wicks dancing a Rumba to Oasis’s “Don’t Look Back in Anger”.

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This week’s dances include two Sambas and two Quicksteps, plus a couple’s choice routine for Montell Douglas and her pro partner Johannes Radebe.

Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell will dance a Waltz to “You’ll Never Walk Alone” by Gerry and the Pacemakers, while Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola will dance a Samba to “Do It Do It Again” by Rafaella Carrà.

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STRICTLY Come Dancing fans spotted Barbara Windsor’s widow Scott Mitchell in the audience.

The actor and dementia campaigner was sat in attendance of the fifth week of the long-running BBC One show.

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Scott, 61, is an actor who is known for his appearances in various TV series such as Goodnight Sweetheart, Kavanagh QC, and Nelson’s Column.

He was previously in a long-term relationship with legendary actress, Dame Barbara Windsor.

She was beloved for her portrayal of Peggy Mitchell in EastEnders, before she was forced to retire from acting.

The national treasure was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2014, but only made her condition public in May 2018.

Scott helped to look after Barbara in her final years before she passed away in December 2020 at the age of 83-years-old.

He has since found love again with fellow actress Tanya Franks, who also starred in EastEnders.

The 57-year-old star played the role of Rainie Cross on-and-off in the soap from 2007 until 2022.

They previously appeared together on This Morning to raise awareness of dementia and campaign for vital research.

Tanya sat next to former I’m A Celebrity star Adam Woodyatt as he supported his soap colleague Jamie Borthwick.

Flanked to his left was the relative of Gladiators athlete Montell Douglas.

Scott was also just one seat away in the front row, and eagle-eyed fans took to social media as they noted his surprise appearance.

On X, formerly known as Twitter, one fan stated: “I think i just saw the guy who was t****** Barbara Windsor sat in the crowd.”

“Is Barbara Windsor’s husband there or am I crazy?”, asked a second fan.

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Strictly Come Dancing is available to watch on BBC One and stream on BBC iPlayer.

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It’s been a tough week for Strictly Come Dancing. After two professionals’ exits cast a shadow over the start of the series, Wynne Evans and Katya Jones found themselves at the centre of a fresh controversy surrounding two short clips from last week’s live show. In the coming days, they rushed to apologise and insisted they were joking around, with Jones labelling the saga “absurd”.

Still, plenty of viewers had wondered if it would be mentioned in this weekend’s live show. In the end, just like the pre-series drama, it went unaddressed (unless you count Evans sheepishly remarking “I do love comedy” while being interviewed by Claudia Winkleman).

Its omission didn’t matter at all, though, and soon became a footnote of the episode. This week’s Strictly Come Dancing instead celebrated two of the things that make it so great; its diversity and inclusivity.

Having provided plenty of laughs, swipes at Craig Revel Horwood and some of the most impressive lifts of the series so far, Chris McCausland this week put his serious hat on for a Waltz to the anthemic “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. The comedian, a Liverpool supporter from the city, was clearly desperate to get this one right. And it couldn’t have gone much better.

McCausland lost his sight when he was 22 and while the judges are committed to critiquing him exactly as they do the others, his achievements are undoubtedly more significant given the challenges he overcomes in training. His professional partner Dianne Buswell can’t show him the moves, and he can’t swot up on YouTube or watch performances back.

In one particularly poignant moment on Saturday, McCausland was left to dance under the spotlight alone. As the camera panned out, Buswell came into view and he confidently yet gracefully strode alone towards her. It was a moment steeped in emotion, heightened even further by the gravity of what McCausland is achieving on the show. If I wasn’t already in tears from the routine, then hearing him ask Buswell if he “did okay” as they embraced afterwards would have tipped me over the edge.

The second of tonight’s highlights came courtesy of Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe, as they danced a Carnival-inspired Couple’s Choice. The routine celebrated both Douglas’s Caribbean roots and her partner’s upbringing in South Africa.

In their VT, Douglas explained the dance was also a homage to her late grandmother, who gave her “the spirit of dance, love and movement”. The performance (complete with outfit reveals) was joyous and uplifting, with Douglas properly shining on the dancefloor for the first time this series.

“All I can say is Nana is looking down on you and she has sprinkled her magic dust on you because you were exceptional,” Shirley Ballas told the Gladiators star.

The show is at its best when celebrations of diversity and inclusivity are front and centre. Doing so is nothing new for Strictly either.

In 2022, Hamza Yassin celebrated Afrobeats with a dance that saw him become a serious contender (he went on to win). Rose Aying-Ellis, who lifted the Glitterball trophy in 2021, invited viewers to learn what dancing is like while deaf as the ballroom fell silent during hers. Two years earlier, Will Bayley — who was born with arthrogryposis, a condition affecting his joints — danced a routine which told his story of spending extended periods in hospital as a child. And just weeks ago, Punam Krishan made history with a Bollywood dance.

These moments, not the controversies, are what Strictly is all about.

STRICTLY Come Dancing fans were shocked to spot a familiar face in the audience – years after they spectacularly quit the series.

On Saturday night’s live show, as Tess Daly was talking to the camera, former professional star Brendan Cole was seen beaming in the seats behind her.

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Longtime fans were shocked to see his return, particularly as his exit was less than ceremonious – but were delighted to see him.

Talking on X (formerly Twitter), one shared a grab and wrote: “that is Brendan Cole, right? We’re not just hallucinating Ghosts of Strictly’s Past?”

“Brendan in the audience ???? Bring him back onto the show pleasseee I miss his drama,” said another.

A third wrote: “Nice to see OG Strictly Bad Boy Brendan Cole still turns up!”

“Surprised they let him back,” noted a fourth, prompting the response: “I know! Truly thought that bridge was burned.”

Brendan was a regular face on the series when it began in 2004, becoming a fan favourite and the first ever winner of the glitterball trophy alongside Natasha Kaplinsky.

The New Zealand dancer became known for hitting back against judges’ critiques he didn’t agree with, at times having on-air arguments with them.

He was also labelled ‘difficult to work with’ by other members of the team and former partners.

He eventually left the show in 2017, with Good Morning Britain’s Charlotte Hawkins being his last partner.

Announcing his exit ahead of the 2018 series, Brendan said that the BBC had “decided not to renew his contract”.

He said on Lorraine Kelly’s chat show: “They’ve just made an editorial decision to not have me back on the show.

They’ve made an editorial decision to not have me back on the show. I’m a little bit in shock. I’m quite emotional, and a bit raw about it.

“It’s done via a process of a phone call and stuff. I have had 15 incredible series on the show. I’m very proud of the whole show. It’s a great team.”

Brendan’s behaviour towards to head judge Shirley Ballas was apparently the final straw for Strictly bosses, who had decided enough was enough.

The Sun Online revealed the panel forced bosses to drop the dancer following his on-air spat with the head judge.

A insider told us: “It was the final nail in his coffin. That was the moment when they decided they’d had enough.

“The judges felt he was putting her down publicly and he thought he knew better than the head judge.

“They thought it was totally disrespectful.”

Brendan has since appeared as a contestant on Dancing on Ice, winning the series.

He is now on tour with a team of Strictly alumni, joining Ian Waite, Pasha Kovalev, James Jordan and Vincent Simone for Legends Of The Dancefloor.

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