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When Grey’s Anatomy writer Elisabeth Finch was suspended from work in March 2022, it marked the moment her house of cards finally came tumbling down. The former True Blood and The Vampire Diaries writer had appeared to be a powerful Hollywood success story. She claimed to have drawn on her real-life experiences of battling a rare form of bone cancer to inspire storylines on the hit medical show. In fact, she was spinning a jaw-dropping web of deceit that is now being explored in-depth in the new Peacock docuseries Anatomy of Lies.

This much is true: Finch grew up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and attended film school at the University of Southern California. She got her career started by writing a short film called Looking for My Brother, which was released in 2006. That brought her to the attention of True Blood, which hired her as a writers’ assistant in 2008. After gaining several writing credits, she moved on to The Vampire Diaries in 2012 where she wrote a string of episodes and earned the nickname “Vampire Girl” for the niche she seemed to be carving out for herself.

However, her dream was to write for Grey’s Anatomy, and she grabbed the medical drama’s attention in 2014 with a personal essay she wrote for Elle magazine. In the article, Finch recounted her experience of being diagnosed with chondrosarcoma, a rare and usually fatal form of bone cancer, but made it clear that the diagnosis didn’t get in the way of her work. She recalled one doctor criticizing her for returning to a writers’ room to “[punch] up dialogue about vampire-werewolf hybrids” while dealing with a shunt in her spine.

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Shortly after the Elle piece was published, Grey’s Anatomy super-producer Shonda Rhimes offered Finch the job she’d been dreaming about. Less than five years later, Finch’s story about battling bone cancer had become a plot line on the series. In the Finch-written episode “Anybody Have a Map?”, which aired in November 2018, surgeon Catherine Avery (Debbie Allen) learns she has chondrosarcoma.

Finch, who was by then showing up to work bald with a scarf around her head, claimed she’d been living with the cancer since 2012, and was the only one in her clinical trial to have survived. She was given time off to have chemo at the Mayo Clinic, and wrote about her experiences for shondaland.com to promote her episodes.

As Finch told it, cancer was only the start of it. She told friends she’d unexpectedly fallen pregnant and had to choose to have an abortion rather than cease her treatment. She had a kidney transplant. A close friend died in the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in October 2018. Her brother, who had abused her in their youth, unsuccessfully attempted suicide – and she was the one who had to pull the plug.

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It wasn’t until February 2022 that Finch’s coworkers at Grey’s realized something wasn’t right. That month, Rhimes received an email from Finch’s estranged wife, Jennifer Beyer. Beyer warned Rhimes that Finch had been fictionalizing her own life. She told her the writer with the tragic backstory was not to be trusted.

Finch was suspended from work the following month, and in December of that year finally came clean. “I’ve never had any form of cancer,” she admitted in an interview with The Ankler. “What I did was wrong. Not OK. F***ed up. All the words.”

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She also confessed to lying about her brother’s death by suicide – he’s still alive and living in Florida. She revealed she’d shaved her head to look like she was undergoing chemo, and had taped a dummy catheter to her arm.

Finch said she felt relieved to be coming clean. “When you get wrapped up in a lie you forget who you told – what you said to this person and whether this person knows that thing – and that’s the world where you can get caught,” she said. “I don’t have to worry about that now.”

Anatomy of Lies is on Peacock from October 15.

ACTOR Chris Pine has broken his silence on the brand new The Princess Diaries movie after a third edition of the franchise was revealed to be in the works.

20 years on from the last edition, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, fans have been left over-the-moon after it was confirmed that Disney would be bringing the movie back to life once again with an all-new edition.

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Whilst rumours have been swirling for the past two years about a new film, Disney insiders have finally suggested that the movie will film next year after signing Adele Lim up to direct and seemingly getting a yes from actress Anne Hathaway about returning to the big screen.

The movie is expected to be a continuation of the existing two movies as opposed to a reboot meaning the door is open for each and every one of the film’s characters to make a comeback.

It has led to rife speculation that Chris Pine, known for his role as Nicholas Devereaux in the second movie, could be set for a comeback.

Appearing on talk show The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Chris addressed the speculation for the first time and remained rather coy on the matter.

As Jimmy asked Chris about the film, he insisted it was “incredible” news that bosses had decided to bring it back for another go-around.

Pressing him, Jimmy asked for all the details on “the plot and the script” in a joking manner to a put-on-the-spot Chris.

He further asked him, “are you in it?,” before Chris successfully swerved the question and avoided revealing anything.

The actor said: “What I will say, it’s been 20 years, it’s been a long time – I can’t believe it’s been that long.

“But, I have more people come up to me about that than anything I’ve ever done.”

Chris added: “It was an incredible experience, but I don’t, unfortunately… I really…

“The first time that I heard about it was on the internet when someone sent me a screenshot of Anne lounging in a nice garden with some glasses on.”

It led fans to quip that they thought his trouble with directly answering the questions ensured he ‘knew something’ and as such was likely to have signed up for the hit movie.

Commenting on a clip of his appearance, one fan said: “He totally knows something.”

Someone else penned: “He better be in it.”

Before a third echoed: “He knows, we know!!! This is some marvel level secret…and okay, we’ll be patient, but we ALLLLLL know.”

In another interview on Today with Hoda & Jenna, he once again tried to dance around the subject as he told the daytime talk show hosts: “The answer is honestly I don’t know anything about it. I think it’s fantastic.”

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Former CBBC presenter Angellica Bell has claimed that she “failed a generation” during her stint on the channel after belatedly realising the impact she had on Black children’s lives at the time.

Bell worked on CBBC between 2000 and 2006 where she mainly worked as a presenter between the various children’s shows that the BBC broadcast at the time, as well as being the main anchor on shows like 50/50 and Short Change. In 2021 she released the podcast Rewirement.

Bell, now 48, has now opened up about her time in the role and fought back tears while speaking about the influence that she’s been told she had on Black people’s lives.

Speaking to Fleur East on Hits Radio, Bell admitted that she “didn’t realise the impact of being on CBBC at that time”.

She said: “There was this guy, and he was like ‘Angelica, you were my childhood’. And I’m grateful for those experiences and maybe the tough times that I went through where I was trying to work out who I was. I’m like ‘Actually, it was worth it’.”

East complimented Bell on the legacy that she helped create but also touched on the fact that she said that she wasn’t comfortable wearing braids on her hair while in the job, which she feels didn’t matter.

The rapper, who has worked on Hits Radio since 2019, explained to Bell: “You just being on TV, for all the young black kids just watching you on TV gave people hope. Maybe if you’d had more of an example before you got in that position, you’d could’ve stepped into who you are a lot sooner. Thank you, on behalf of a whole generation.”

Moved by the compliment, Bell broke down, saying: “Sometimes I think I failed. Sometimes I think that I haven’t done enough.” East consoled her, telling Bell: “Never ever think that you haven’t done enough. You’ve done more than enough.”

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The presenter who most recently worked on TheMartin Lewis Money Show, has since been showered with praise on social media for her emotional comments.

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Current Newsround presenter De-Graft Mensah told Bell “you have never failed us! The amount of times you come up in conversation as someone who was SO important to have on TV growing up. Your impact and legacy will never be forgotten. A genuine ICON.”

Another Newsround presenter Shanequa Paris added: “Honestly @angellicabell watching you inspired me to join CBBC and I’ll have my braids, twist out and cornrows on Newsround all the time you paved the way!”

Fellow broadcaster Oré Olukoga echoed the sentiments saying: “Seeing Angelica Bell & Reggie Yates on television when I was younger was a real game changer for me. They are the reason I wanted to be a broadcaster.”

CORONATION Street began its most intense ‘whodunnit’ yet after a shocking murder, with at least three key suspects in the frame.

Monday’s episode of the ITV soap saw Joel Deering’s (Calum Lill) body surface from a river before a post mortem revealed that he was in fact dead before he entered the water and this was no suicide.

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DC Kit Green (Jacob Roberts) announced Joel’s death was now being treated as a murder investigation, sending shockwaves through Weatherfield.

Over the coming weeks, a series of exhilarating flashbacks will help viewers piece the puzzle together.

And the police try to solve one of the street’s biggest ever Whodunnits.

Officially the detective now leading the case, Kit begins his investigation by informing both Lauren (Cait Fitton) and Dee-Dee (Channique Sterling-Brown), the two women whose lives Joel threatened to destroy with his abuse and lies, of his murder. 

But as the mystery deepens, these stylised flashbacks will reveal just how many people are in the frame, as viewers revisit the night of September 27th when Joel went missing.

He was not a well liked man!

As a number of Coronation Street favourites fall under suspicion, the suspects will be highlighted on a crime wall photo.

The first to be revealed this week are Ronnie (Vinta Morgan), uncle of Joel’s wronged fiance Dee-Dee.

And Mason (Luca Toolan), the bad boy bully from the wrong side of town who has seemingly been turning his life around in recent weeks.  

In Wednesday’s episode, viewers will watch the first climactic flashback as we return to that fateful night when Joel disappeared and watch events unfold. 

As the evidence mounts, we’ll see Kit pulled in all directions, while DS Swain (Vicky Myers), who was made to take a step back from the case, sets about her own inquiries.

As the plot thickens with many more twists and turns to come, who was really responsible for Joel’s death.

How long will it take Kit and Lisa to catch the killer?

Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday at 8pm on ITV1 or stream at 7am on ITVX.

Corrie’s most famous villains

• Richard Hillman (Brian Capron) – arguably the most famous villain in soap history. The character has multiple killings to his name. Richard left his former business partner Duggie Ferguson (John Bowe) to die before he murdered his ex-wife Patricia (Annabelle Apsion) who threatened to expose his dodgy dealings. He attempted to kill his mother-in-law Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls) by setting her house on fire. He later killed her co-worker Maxine Peacock (Tracy Shaw) after she caught him in the act of attempting to strike Emily Bishop (Eileen Derbyshire) with a crowbar. Eventually he confessed his crimes to Gail (Helen Worth) before driving the Platt family into the canal. They all survived, but Richard drowned.
• Mad Maya (Sasha Behar) – She may not have the most kills to her name, but no true Corrie fan will be able to forget ‘Mad Maya’s’ stint. Maya Sharma first started out as an innocent lawyer. However her true nature was revealed when she kidnapped Tyronne’s () dog and threatened to kill Dev Alahan () unless he proposed. Things soon turn nasty when Sunita () received the news that she has a brain tumour. The pair rekindle their romance and they end up getting married. However, Maya ruined their big day by reporting Sunita to the police for bigamy. Not done there, she plans to kill them both as she sets fire to all of Dev’s shop empire and trapping them both upstairs after she set fire to the corner shop with the gas and stove on. When they are miraculously rescued, she attempts to run them over.
• Pat Pheelan (Connor McIntyre) – Pat was introduced as an acquaintance of Owen Armstrong (Ian Puleston-Davies), before embarking on a revenge plot. He creates a fraudulent property scheme which caused the death of Michael Rodwell (Les Dennis). He kidnapped Andy Carver (Oliver Farnworth) and Vinny Ashford (Ian Kelsey). This was before he framed his arch-nemesis Anna Windass for GBH after he pushed Seb Franklin (Harry Visinoni) off a ladder. He then murdered both Any as well as Luke Britton (Dean Fagan). He eventually met a gruesome end when he held most of the residents of the street hostage in the Bistro. He was stabbed by Anna Windass after he shot Michelle (Kym Marsh).
• Geoff Metcalfe (Ian Bartholomew) – Geoff started off as the innocent father to Tim Metcalfe (Joe Duttine) and he was a local Weatherfield celebrity owing to his radio show and his ‘The Great Magnifico’ magic act. He later embarked on a romantic relationship and married with Yasmeen (Shelley King). However, he had a nasty streak as he controlled her in every way. He made sure she was reliant on him for everything including financially, he constantly bullied and belittled her, locked her in the magician’s box despite the fact she was claustrophobic, and he even forced her to eat her own pet chicken. Later she snapped and stabbed him in the neck. This was before she was arrested for attempted murder. However, his nearest and dearest soon discovered his true nature and they turned against him. He tried to sabotage the trial by threatening his ex-wife, but she stood up to him in an epic court showdown. After Yasmeen was released, Geoff died shortly after when he set fire to their home and fell off the roof.
• Kirsty Soames (Natalie Gumede) – Kirsty was first seen on Corrie on a night out when Tommy Duckworth (Chris Fountain) paid her to flirt with Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall). Later she makes her interest very clear and they end up together. After she gets sacked from her job as a policewoman, Tyrone gets her a job at Underworld factory as a packer. She is utterly horrified and she lashed out at Tyrone with a ladle. Kirsty apologised and Tyrone pretended to all his friends the injuries were accidental. However, this pattern continued. Over several incidents she forced him up against a door, smashed household plates and pictures, bruised him after beating him with a vacuum cleaner, throws a candlestick at his head and she locks him inside the house. However, one time she tried to hit him but she lost her balance and fell down the stairs. She lies to the police and tells them that it was Tyrone who was beating her. Tyrone was put in prison after he broke bail conditions when he went on the run with his daughter. During the period of the trial, she struggles to look after baby Ruby. She throws a cup at Julie (Katy Cavanagh) before exposing her own behaviour by slapping her. Kirst then stormed into the courtroom and confessed that she was the monster, not Tyrone.

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Dr Michael Mosley’s last health tips have been revealed, as the first of a two-part special of his show Just One Thing, aired on Monday (14 October).

The TV doctor, who died after disappearing on a walk on the Greek island of Symi, was hailed as “one of the most important broadcasters of recent decades”.

The 67-year-old was found to have died of natural causes on 5 June after setting off for a walk from Saint Nikolas beach at around 1.30pm that day in searing 40C heat without a mobile phone.

Mosley was known for sharing easy tips, to encourage a healthier lifestyle, that could be seamlessly incorporated into everyday life.

In the special, he shared one of his most popular pieces of advice: having a cold shower in the morning.

He advises to start the process by working your way up, enduring the blast of cold water for 10 seconds at first. He recommends an average of 30 seconds as part of a regular routine, because doing it for longer than that has not proven to have any additional health benefits. There has been limited study into the technique.

In the programme, he tests the technique on a busy single mother of two, Jayne, who describes herself as “permanently knackered”. She confirmed that the technique left her feeling more energised.

The TV personality, who regularly made appearances on This Morning, found his passion for health and wellbeing following the early death of his father Bill.

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His self-experimentation, he once admitted to The Guardian, was inspired by his father’s death as a result of complications from diabetes.

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“No male in my family has made it beyond 72,” he said. “His friends said how much like him I was, so he was kind of a warning from history.”

He was the author of several books including The Fast 800, The Fast Diet, and The 8 Week Blood Sugar Diet.

In a moving post on Instagram, his wife Claire paid tribute to her husband as she wrote: “Michael was an amazing man. Thank you for seeing that too. We miss him so much.”

Michael Mosley: Just One Thing aired on BBC One and is on iPlayer now. Part two of the documentary is to be released on Monday (21 October).

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A former actor from the hit TV series Lost has admitted that he now regrets his behaviour while appearing on the show.

Ian Somerhalder played Boone Carlyle in 32 episodes of the hit USA drama, having been one of the initial survivors of the Oceanic Flight 815 crash, along with the character’s stepsister Shannon Rutherford, played by Maggie Grace.

Somerhalder’s time on the show didn’t last too long as Boone was killed off in season one and made sporadic appearances in season three and six.

The role was one of Somerhalder’s earliest in his career, which later saw him cast as Damon Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries – but he has now expressed regret about his time on Lost.

Speaking to People, the 45-year-old said: “I don’t think I would really change anything other than maybe with Lost.”

He continued: “I maybe complained about craft service or something, showed up late twice, actually really late once. I was so tired from the night before, I slept through my alarms. That’s about as far as I can go.”

After starring in 171 episodes of The Vampire Diaries, and following the cancellation of V-Wars in 2019, Somerhalder has taken a step back from acting to raise a family with his wife, Twilight actor Nikki Reed.

“Once you reach a certain level, you’re like, ‘Okay, I want to focus on family and the future of farming and food and energy and the big things,’” explained the star.

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“I don’t need to chase awards and anything that would make me feel better about myself. It feels like it was yesterday. But then also too, you realise this was sort of lifetimes ago. I feel such enormous gratitude for this piece of IP and the journey and the character and all the writing both from Lost and from Vampire Diaries.”

Since its conclusion in 2010, Lost, which follows survivors of the doomed Oceanic flight, has regularly been featured on polls compiling the greatest shows of all time. It turned 20 in September.

The show was added to Netflix in both the UK and US.