The celebrity chef took to the stage three times today (August 29), demonstrating his culinary skills while keeping audiences entertained with plenty of jokes along the way.

One of the dishes saw James recreate the fast-food favourite using his own unusual addition – cornflakes.

James spoke about KFC’s famously guarded blend of herbs and spices, telling the audience he had found a version of the recipe online after it was reportedly revealed by a relative of the chain’s founder, Colonel Harland Sanders.

He used the seasoning to create his own version of the chicken but swapped a conventional breadcrumb coating for crushed cornflakes to give it a crispy finish.

James also made homemade mayonnaise to serve alongside the chicken, demonstrating how to make it from scratch for the audience.

Another dish he managed to demonstrate in just under 35 minutes was a French onion tart, made using puff pastry and chopped onions cooked in butter before being finished with crème fraîche.

The fast-paced cooking was mixed with stories, tips and jokes from James, who has become one of the festival’s most familiar celebrity faces.

Reflecting on his long association with the event, he told the crowd: “We’re back here, 16 years I have been doing this.”

“It’s great to be here.”

This year’s appearance also marked a change from his usual festival routine.

James has traditionally appeared on bank holiday Monday but was instead on stage on Saturday this year – something he was more than happy to joke about.

He said: “It’s so nice to have the bank holiday off, it will be the first one in ages.

“They got me in today instead – and after last night, now I know why, because I was cooking hundreds of starters for last night’s gala dinner!”

His appearances followed a busy Friday evening at the festival, when he was among the chefs cooking for the gala dinner.

The Yorkshire-born chef, who now lives in Hampshire, also found himself back in more familiar northern weather.

He joked that he had not seen rain for four months at home, only to arrive in Bolton as the rain poured down outside.

Speaking to The Bolton News ahead of his demonstrations, James praised the event and explained why he has continued returning to Bolton over the years.

He said: “It’s the biggest and the best.”

Bolton Food and Drink Festival continues until Monday, August 31, with food and drink stalls, live entertainment and demonstrations taking place across the town centre.

Chantelle Cameron produced one of the finest displays of her career to beat Mikaela Mayer and add the WBA and WBC light middleweight titles to her WBO belt.

An engrossing encounter was narrowly won by the British fighter by unanimous decision – 97-93 on two scorecards and 96-94 on the other.

American Mayer disagreed with the decision, claiming she “outboxed” Cameron – leading to an angry exchange of words in the ring.

The possibility of a rematch was also floated, with Mayer also suggesting Cameron had benefited from home advantage – to the champion’s chagrin, as she said “talk is cheap”.

It means Cameron remains unbeaten since her second fight with Katie Taylor in 2023, and with 23 victories in 24 professional encounters.

And this was one of her best displays. These fighters were evenly matched in every metric – from punch rate to height and weight, even hairstyle.

But Cameron won out thanks to her unrelenting pressure, which never allowed the usually adaptable Mayer to figure out a winning gameplan.

Mayer was the more imposing figure early on, but Cameron played counterpuncher until she could get onto the front foot.

Cameron forced Mayer against the ropes in round four, and again at the start of the fifth. Increasingly confident to take the initiative, she was roared on by a partisan but disappointingly small home crowd.

Mayer was unable to get in behind her jab for long periods and was bleeding and breathing heavily by round six.

The home favourite was cut in the final rounds but pushed through and was lifted shoulder high by her team before her biggest win since beating Taylor in Dublin three years ago was announced.

For three-weight world champion Mayer, this is the third defeat of her 25-fight career and costs her the WBA and WBC belts, which Cameron now puts with her WBO title.

Shortly before entering Downing Street, Andy Burnham made a promise that appeared to be reassuring in its simplicity. “I won’t change,” he said. “I have a style. It’s my style.”

Burnham’s political appeal partly rests on the impression that there is little distance between the politician and the person. His black T-shirt and jacket, attachment to Everton football club and the band New Order, ease with crowds and habit of speaking without notes all reinforce a recognisable persona. After the more reserved Keir Starmer, Burnham’s informality has been part of the attraction.

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No lectern and the promise of a ‘new model’ – what we can learn from Andy Burnham’s speech

Burnham has also been described as a people pleaser, raising questions about whether he would be willing to disappoint or anger people when a decision requires it. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch used the same label in questioning his fitness to make difficult choices.

Yet the description is difficult to reconcile with his record. His campaigning for the Hillsborough families suggests a politician prepared to pursue difficult causes. His first instruction as prime minister launched a drive to end rough sleeping, and he has pledged to spend “political capital” on social care.

Social care in particular raises unavoidable questions about who should bear the cost. Choosing it as an early priority sits uneasily with the idea that Burnham is mainly concerned with approval.

The problem with the label is that it frames the leadership test too narrowly. The sharper question is how Burnham’s instincts will operate in government. A leader driven to correct what he feels is wrong may create energy and direction. But a prime minister must also decide which problems to address first, how much political capital each can consume, and what must wait.

His promise therefore prompts a larger leadership concern. Does staying authentic require him to behave as he always has?

Time to start disappointing people?

A recognisable style can help to build trust, while abrupt changes may invite accusations of opportunism. Yet governing creates demands that do not exist when you’re campaigning, in opposition or a regional leader.

As mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham built much of his reputation by not being part of the political centre. He could press Westminster for more money, criticise national policy and speak for a region that felt overlooked. In Downing Street, he is at the centre. He must now arbitrate among competing claims, accept responsibility for trade-offs and disappoint groups whose demands cannot all be met.

The identity that has served him well is that of the campaigner who identifies a neglected problem, mobilises attention and presses for action. Campaigning provides immediate and visible feedback through public response, media attention and a clear sense of momentum. In government, the results are slower and dispersed across institutions. Often they only become apparent several years later.

Under pressure, returning to campaign mode may therefore feel familiar and productive for Burnham. But repeated appeals to urgency or a preoccupation with worthy causes could produce too many initiatives competing for limited capacity.

The prime minister must sometimes be the approachable listener – it appears that Burnham already knows how to do this. At other times, he must slow down an initiative, defend an unpopular compromise, create distance, absorb criticism or tell supporters that a worthy proposal cannot yet be funded. The politician who prospered by challenging authority now must exercise it.

Psychologists use the term self-monitoring to describe the capacity to notice social and situational cues and adjust behaviour accordingly. It has sometimes implied a lack of authenticity. Someone who self-monitors becomes a social chameleon, changing colours to suit the audience.

But the evidence is more complicated; self-monitoring is different to seeking approval. It involves recognising what a situation requires and adjusting accordingly. Burnham can read an audience, but the test in Downing Street is whether he can respond as readily to less visible cues – things like capacity issues, competing claims for funds and the need to achieve things in a short space of time.

A better description of what leaders need is repertoire. This accords with the idea of multiple selves. People behave differently across roles and relationships without assuming that one version is false or inauthentic. A leader may be decisive in a crisis, curious in discussion, supportive when a colleague is struggling and demanding when standards slip. Each can be a genuine capacity of the same person, with context determining which should come to the fore.

An indication that Burnham’s repertoire is wider than he has perhaps been given credit for is the way he showed he can adopt a more statesmanlike role in his first overseas trip to Ukraine in August 2026. The evidence is in his formal attire, chairing the “coalition of the willing” meeting, and firm tone in declaring continuing UK support for Ukraine.

At the same time, he rebuffed Russian criticism that the UK was adding fuel to the fire with the no-nonsense response: “Who started the fire? That’s the question isn’t it?” There will be much tougher tests, of course.

A prime minister needs to remain close to public sentiment while creating distance from it, press for change while pacing reform, and advocate a cause while arbitrating among competing claims. This implies Burnham will need to bring forward a less visible part of his repertoire, the patient institutional leader who delegates, sets priorities and accepts that lasting reform rarely moves at campaign speed.

We already know that he can connect with people, recognise their frustrations and draw attention to causes he believes deserve action. What remains unclear is whether he can convert those instincts into a coherent and sustainable programme of government. In that sense, Burnham’s authenticity will be tested by whether he can expand his leadership and change his style when necessary without losing the moral and political identity that brought him to office.

Arthur Fery missed out on his first ATP Tour title with a straight-set defeat by Ignacio Buse in the final of the Winston-Salem Open.

Fery, who was the talk of Wimbledon as he reached the semi-finals of his home major in July, lost 6-3 6-2 to Peru’s Buse.

The 24-year-old was the first Briton to reach the final of the ATP 250 tournament in North Carolina and will rise to 33 in the world rankings as a result – overtaking Cameron Norrie as British number one.

Only eight weeks ago, before his astonishing run to the last four at the All England Club, he was ranked outside the top 100.

Little could separate Fery and Buse in the early stages of their match on Saturday, before the Peruvian took control with a break to love for a 5-3 lead.

Fery quickly fell further behind in the second set as Buse opened up a double break cushion with no reply, and while he pulled back one of those breaks, it proved to no avail as his opponent reeled off three straight games to seal the win.

For 22-year-old Buse, victory makes him the youngest ever winner of Winston-Salem and marks a second career title after he beat American Tommy Paul at the ATP 500 event in Hamburg in May.

With little time to reflect on his Winston-Salem run, Fery will now head to New York for the US Open, which starts on Sunday.

Set to play at Flushing Meadows for the first time, he faces a tough opening tie against Italian 13th seed Lorenzo Musetti.

Fery is one of nine British players set to feature in the main draws at the US Open, the final Grand Slam of the season.

Joining him in the men’s draw are Norrie and Jan Choinski, qualifiers Toby Samuel and Harry Wendelken, and lucky loser Jacob Fearnley.

Katie Boulter is joined by qualifiers Fran Jones and Harriet Dart in the women’s draw, but both Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu are missing through injury.

Thousands of mourning Norwegians laid hordes of flowers outside the royal palace in Oslo as they bid farewell to Europe’s oldest monarch, who died earlier this week. 

Throngs of well-wishers stood outside the palace, where King Harald lies in state, as they remembered his sense of inclusiveness and tolerance. 

Late on Friday, droves of mourners also lined the streets of Norway’s capital city in the pouring rain, as they watched the 89-year-old’s funeral cortege travel from Oslo University Hospital to the palace. 

Before his death, King Charles‘s cousin was being treated for haemolytic anaemia, a disorder that causes red blood cells to be destroyed at an abnormally fast rate. 

The palace said his health had ‘deteriorated’ after he contracted an infection, with members of the Norwegian Royal Family rushing to his bedside on Thursday.

Flags were flying at half-mast throughout the country, as portraits of the late king in gala uniform were displayed everywhere, from metro stations to public buildings. 

As Norway grieved King Harald, who became Europe’s oldest-reigning monarch after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, attention soon turned to the line of succession.

Yesterday, his son – now King Haakon VIII – was announced as the new monarch with a portrait of the former Crown Prince.

Meanwhile today, the main avenue in central Oslo was packed with Norwegians clutching flowers, handwritten cards, drawings and small national flags.  

A woman and a child pay their respects to the late King Harald outside Royal Palace in Oslo on August 29, 2026

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King Harald of Norway, cousin of King Charles III, has died at the age of 89 after a brief stay in hospital

King Harald and Queen Sonja posing at the Royal Palace after their wedding ceremony in August 1968

On what should have been the 58th wedding anniversary of Harald and Queen Sonja, who survives him, they praised the late king’s spirit of inclusiveness.

‘He meant a lot to us immigrants … We felt really very included. So, thanks to him, I feel so Norwegian,’ Bulgarian teacher, Veselina Vitanova, 43, said.

Another attendee spoke of his 2016 viral speech, where he said: ‘Norwegians are girls who love girls, boys who love boys and girls and boys who love each other.’

‘It embodies the way he felt about people and the way he wanted us Norwegians to feel about each other,’ Mari Eidsvaag, 32, said.

Wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the same very sentence, she added: I think it’s a very important statement, especially these days.’

It comes as the new monarch was announced alongside a photo of Haakon, 53, the former Crown Prince, who is now officially His Majesty King Haakon VIII.

He is set to address the nation at 7pm local time today, and on Tuesday, he will take the oath in front of Parliament where he will swear to defend Norway’s constitution and laws. 

King Haakon shares two children with his wife Mette-Marit, 22-year-old Princess Ingrid Alexandra and 20-year-old Prince Sverre Magnus.

With Ingrid now second in line to the throne, she would be the first female monarch in Norway for more than 600 years if she were to become queen – the last being Queen Margaret I, who died in 1412.

Mette-Marit, 53, faced intense scrutiny following the release of the Epstein Files, which revealed she stayed at paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s Palm Beach residence in 2013 – after he was convicted for soliciting sex from girls as young as 14.

One email released suggested she was still in contact with the billionaire financier just months before his death.

The new queen claimed this year that she had been misled by the late sex offender as she sought to contain the fallout.

Flowers and children’s drawing lay outside the Royal Palace square as mourners gather to pay tribute

Flags were flying at half-mast throughout the country, as portraits of the late king in gala uniform were displayed everywhere, from metro stations to public buildings

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On what should have been the 58th wedding anniversary of Harald and Queen Sonja, who survives him, they praised the late king’s spirit of inclusiveness

‘He meant a lot to us immigrants … We felt really very included. So, thanks to him, I feel so Norwegian,’ said Veselina Vitanova, a teacher from Bulgaria

King Haakon VIII has taken the throne in Norway following the death of Harald V at 89

Fresh scandal also came in June when Mette-Marit’s son, Marius Borg Høiby, was convicted on two counts of rape and jailed for four years following a six-week trial that laid bare allegations of violence, drug abuse and sexual misconduct.

An Oslo court also found him guilty of assaulting his former girlfriend, Nora Haukland, issuing threats and committing traffic offences, although he was acquitted of two other rape charges.

The 29-year-old had been charged with sexually assaulting four women who were asleep or otherwise unable to resist between 2018 and 2024.

The conviction marked a fall for Høiby, who grew up in the public eye after his mother married the then Crown Prince Haakon in 2001 when he was just four.

Although he does not hold a royal title or carry out official duties, he has long been closely associated with the Norwegian Royal Family.

On Friday, the Norwegian Royal Family announced in a statement that Europe’s oldest-reigning monarch had passed away.

‘It is with deep grief that we announce that His Majesty King Harald has passed away,’ Norway’s Royal Court said.

‘King Harald died peacefully at Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, Friday, August 28 at 6.35am.’

Mette-Marit (pictured) has faced increased scrutiny following the release of the Epstein Files, which revealed she stayed at Jeffrey Epstein’s Palm Beach residence in 2013 – after he was convicted for soliciting sex from girls as young as 14

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In June, Mette-Marit’s son, Marius Borg Høiby (pictured), was convicted on two counts of rape and jailed for four years 

On Friday, King Charles said he had extended his ‘deepest and most heartfelt condolences’ to the Norwegian Royal Family following the death of his ‘dear cousin’.

The pair were second cousins once removed, sharing great-great-grandparents Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark.

‘As Norway mourns the loss of so towering a figure, my whole family join in remembering a much-loved kinsman and friend whose kindness, compassion and deep sense of duty echoed from across the sea and across the decades,’ King Charles III said.

‘The Queen and I extend our deepest and most heartfelt condolences to Queen Sonja and all her family, as Britain shares in Norway’s grief at this time of such heartbreaking loss.’

Born on February 21, 1937, Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Martha of Sweden.

He is a great-grandson of Edward VII and his godparents included Queen Mary and her son George VI (grandmother and father respectively of the late Queen Elizabeth).

Located on the outskirts of Phoenix, a small town hugely reliant on the Colorado River has restricted development, reopened disused wells and negotiated new water agreements.

Yet Cave Creek Mayor Robert Morris fears these efforts will prove insufficient to sustain the desert enclave of roughly 5,000 residents long into the future. Furthermore, a recent federal initiative intended to tackle the worsening crisis across the river basin will offer no help.

Cave Creek draws almost all its supply from the river, which provides water to 40 million people across the US West but has been shrinking due to climate change, demand and excessive use. The town was compelled to reduce consumption this year and stands to lose even more under the new federal proposal.

Morris likened the situation to planning for a meteor strike.

“You can see it coming, but you can’t get out of the way and you don’t know what the damage is going to be,” he said.

The uncertainty stretches across seven U.S. states, tribal nations and Mexico. Farmers are deciding which crops are worth the investment. Phoenix could lose some municipal and industrial water for the first time and turn to backup supplies. And residents could face even more costly water.

Nevada raised the stakes this week by suing the Interior Department and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, saying basic needs in the Las Vegas region will go unmet if the area has to absorb planned reductions of up to 70% of its Colorado River water in the next decade.

The bureau said Thursday it does not comment on litigation.

“The uncertainty is going to continue to build in the wrong direction,” said Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources.

Western reservoirs see record lows

In the U.S. West, water is stored primarily in reservoirs, aquifers and snowpacks. But a record snow drought means there’s far less water to recharge those sources.

The two largest reservoirs in the country serve as barometers of health for the Colorado River system: Lake Mead and Lake Powell. Both hit record lows this month.

Eight other reservoirs operated by the Bureau of Reclamation recently recorded the lowest levels in at least the last 30 years. Among them is Elephant Butte Lake in New Mexico that’s critical for supplying water for crops in southern New Mexico, Texas and Mexico. The Green Mountain Reservoir serves the western part of Colorado, and the Guernsey Reservoir in Wyoming funnels water to farmers in the eastern part of the state and western Nebraska.

Under the Bureau of Reclamation’s plan, California, Nevada and Arizona will collectively reduce water use by 1.25 million acre-feet (about 1.54 billion cubic meters) — enough to fill over 600,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools — annually in the next two years, with the possibility of larger cuts depending on conditions. Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico are not required to make cuts for now but could voluntarily reduce water.

While El Niño could bring intense moisture to the northern Rockies and the Southwest in the coming months, it won’t erase decades of drought.

“Drought is a slow-moving phenomena and it can take some time to come into it and also come out of it,” said David Mocko, senior research scientist who authored a recent U.S. Drought Monitor map.

Farmers are reluctant to plant

John Boelts grows vegetables, melons, durum wheat and other crops in Yuma, Arizona — a region that produces about 90% of leafy greens eaten in North America during the winter.

Farmers there have high-priority rights and may avoid cuts to their Colorado River supply over the next two years but, Boelts said, the reprieve isn’t enough to make longer-term plans. That makes farmers reluctant to plant new acreage.

Citrus, date and other orchard crops that thrive in the region take years to become commercially productive, he said.

“There’s no food that we grow in a hurry,” said Boelts, the Arizona Farm Bureau president. “Beef takes years to produce. The lettuce you eat today? A farmer was working on how they would grow that crop six plus months ago.”

Ray Martinez grows alfalfa on a reservation that’s home to the Colorado River Indian Tribes. The tribe holds some of the river’s oldest rights, and while its Arizona allocation is huge, an old irrigation system and the lack of infrastructure have kept much of the water out of reach.

Martinez and the water department are concerned about having enough water to finish this growing season. He has left some fields unplanted for years to help prop up Lake Mead. If the reservoir keeps dropping, he said, surface water coming to him and neighboring farms will be further limited.

“Unfortunately, Mother Nature has its own way of doing things, and we have no control of that,” he added.

DUBLIN (AP) — New North Carolina quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. threw for 232 yards, Aeron Burrell kicked two field goals and the Tar Heels opened coach Bill Belichick’s second season with a 15-10 win over TCU on a rainy Saturday in Ireland for the Aer Lingus Classic.

TCU didn’t score again after going up 10-3 on its first two drives. The Horned Frogs got the ball eight more times, and were stopped on fourth-and-short deep in Tar Heels territory on their last two drives.

The 74-year-old Belichick, who won six Super Bowls coaching the New England Patriots, was 4-8 in his college debut with the Tar Heels last year. That season began with a 48-14 home loss to TCU in prime time on Labor Day.

“I’m just happy for the players. They’ve worked really hard,” Belichick said. “To have positive results back up that hard work, reinforces it. I think they’ve been believing in what we’re doing, but I think this just gives everybody a little bit more belief and we’ve just got to keep building.”

The Tar Heels ran out the final 4:05 after new TCU quarterback Jaden Craig threw an incompletion when rolling left on fourth-and-2 from the 10, when the Harvard transfer may have been able to run for a first down. Craig finished 20-of-32 passing for 175 yards.

Jeremy Payne, who ran for 142 yards, was stuffed on fourth-and-1 from the 5 on TCU’s previous drive.

“Looking back now obviously, I wish we had kicked the two field goals, but at the time, it makes sense to try,” TCU coach Sonny Dykes said. “When you’re not moving the football, you’ve got to try to get the ball in the end zone.”

After Payne was stopped, the Frogs got the ball for the last time after North Carolina had a 13-play drive that ended with Burrell missing a 42-yard field goal attempt.

Payne had a 48-yard run on TCU’s opening drive and the Frogs had 111 yards on the ground by halftime. They had only 26 after halftime.

North Carolina last season never had a halftime lead against a Power Four opponent, but went ahead 12-10 on a safety with 1:49 left in the first half of the first major college football game this season. TCU punter John Hoyet Chance kicked the ball out of the back of the end zone after the snap sailed over his head.

Edwards, a transfer from Wisconsin, completed 16 of 28 passes. Jordan Shipp had five catches for 71 yards and Jaylen McGill had the Tar Heels’ only TD, on a 9-yard run in the first quarter after they had converted a fourth-and-7.

Heels strong on defensive front

Burrell’s second field goal, a 28-yarder that made it 15-10 early in the second half, was set up by Melkart Abou Jaoude’s blindside sack of Craig that forced a fumble recovered by Jaylen Harvey at the TCU 31. Abou Jaoude had 10 1/2 sacks last season.

Xavier Lewis had 4 1/2 tackles for loss with two sacks.

Big game for Small

TCU’s only touchdown was set up by Ed Small’s 33-yard punt return to the UNC 25, then he had a 13-yard catch. Jon Denman scored on a 2-yard run for a 10-3 lead with four minutes left in the first quarter. Small had nine catches for 65 yards.

The takeaway

North Carolina had 10 points and 141 total yards in the first quarter with new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino. The Tar Heels scored 10 points in the first quarter only once last year but never had more yards. They finished with 322 total yards.

TCU had scored at least 30 points in its last 10 season openers, which was the longest active FBS streak.

Up next

Both teams have an open date before their home openers Sept. 12. North Carolina hosts East Tennessee State, and TCU plays Grambling State.

___

Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here. Visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college football coverage here.

By CONNIE RUSK, ASSOCIATE SHOWBUSINESS EDITOR

Published: 22:01 BST, 29 August 2026 | Updated: 22:54 BST, 29 August 2026

The X Factor is reportedly set to return, seven years after it was retired from screens. 

According to sources, ITV is said to be in talks with production company Talkback Thames about bringing the singing competition back in a bid to boost viewing figures. 

The X Factor pulled in 19million viewers during its heyday and saw contestants such as Leona Lewis and One Direction become household names. 

After 15 series, it was shelved by ITV and went on to have two spin-off series X Factor: Celebrity and X Factor: The Band. 

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It is thought head judge Simon Cowell is likely to return in some sort of capacity. 

Insiders claim the broadcaster is keen on bringing it back with a revamp after new shows The Neighbourhood and The Fortune Hotel were panned. 

The X Factor is reportedly set to return, seven years after it retired from screens (pictured judges Louis Walsh, Simon Cowell, Nicole Scherzinger and host Dermot O’Leary) 

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It is thought head judge Simon Cowell is likely to return in some sort of capacity

A source told The Sun: ‘ITV have a giant gaping hole that needs filling in its entertainment schedule, particularly over weekends when bigger viewing figures are up for grabs.

‘ITV can’t afford another disaster after the car crash of The Neighbourhood, which was colossally expensive and failed terribly. Rather than creating more flop formats they have the opportunity to give The X Factor, a sure-fire hit, a modern makeover. 

‘They can explore a younger, fresher panel, with new faces and have Cowell behind the scenes. The plan is for the show’s return to take on a new life and be updated to envelop social media generation.’

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The Daily Mail has contacted ITV for comment.  

Earlier this year it was reported Simon had signed up for a new X Factor documentary featuring behind-the-scenes footage. 

Sky has described the untitled show as a ‘definitive documentary series exploring the era-defining entertainment juggernaut’. 

The X Factor was presented by Kate Thornton, Dermot O’Leary, Caroline Flack and Olly Murs over the years. 

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Simon was joined on the judging panel with a number of famous faces including Sharon Osbourne, Louis Walsh, Dannii Minogue, Cheryl, Gary Barlow and Tulisa.

The X Factor pulled in 19million viewers during its heyday and saw contestants such as Leona Lewis and One Direction become household names

Kelly Rowland, Nicole Scherzinger, Mel B, Rita Ora, Ayda Field, Robbie Williams and Louis Tomlinson also joined him at some point over the years. 

The contestants who took part were put into one of four groups – the boys, girls, over-25s and groups. 

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And they were also mentored by a number of celebrities including Simon, Sharon, Louis, Cheryl, Dannii and Nicole. 

The show became a huge fan favourite and there have been a number of huge success stories from the singing show, which saw singers audition at the start of the series to try and make it to the live shows, which aired on a Saturday night. 

They include Olly Murs, Little Mix, One Direction, JLS, Leona Lewis and James Arthur. 

The massive mansion on the edge of the historic city of Bath is facing calls to be torn down after some locals claimed it was proof how the wealthy were able to find loopholes in the planning process

Neighbours of a “mega mansion” believed to be the biggest new-build home in Bath in 100 years are demanding it be torn down after it was built without planning permission.

The massive mansion on the edge of the historic city has been built significantly higher than what was approved, according to the residents. Tavis Hamilton, 48, lives next door to the massive house and has spent 10 years battling developers.

He is now one of more than 100 locals to object to the build, but locals fear the council has left it too late to carry out any meaningful enforcement. With the building now “topped out” and nearly complete, a retrospective application has now been submitted to “validate” the changes from the original plans.

But some locals claim it highlighted how multi-millionaires were able to abuse and find loopholes during the the planning process. Bath and North-East Somerset Council declined to comment on the build and said enforcement action would only be “considered” after the fresh application has been determined.

But Tavis said: “It is an absolute mega home – it will prob be worth more than £3million when it’s finished. It is enormous and dwarfs all the cottages. You could fit around 24 of the other cottages into the footprint.

“It has been built for the last three years but it has now been topped out so you can see the full height and scale. It just shows how unfair the process is. It seems if you put the wrong guttering on your house or use the incorrect glazing, the council jump on you for enforcement.

“But you can build this enormous structure without the right planning permission and no enforcement is carried out until it is too late.” More than 70 residents attended a recent site meeting and over 100 have lodged formal objections to the now seven-bedroom home, expressing their anger at the situation while building work continued.

Tavis, who lives there with his partner Charlotte Bolton and his daughter, said permission was initially granted for a low-lying single-storey building built into the hillside. But when the builders hit ground water they backfilled the hole with concrete, he claimed.

The end result has been a home, he describes as, “significantly higher” than planned and in a different spot. It has gone through three different owners since 2007 and multiple planning applications – each time looking to increase its height and prominence, locals revealed.

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Enforcement teams have carried out a survey and confirmed several deviations from the approved plans – including the building being higher, larger and not in the approved spot.

Tavis added: “The new application has been submitted as part of a wider game to avoid enforcement action. The changes are so significant and widespread that all the rest of the drawings from roof light location also require total update.

“A cease order needs to be applied to all works on site whilst a detailed new planning application is submitted. If this had been put in place when the concern over levels was first reported two years ago, when the concrete pad was poured, this could have been resolved then, reducing the damage that will now be more difficult and costly to rectify.”

Local residents said the orientation, siting, height, volume, footprint and surrounding landscaping all “significantly” deviate from the original plans and would set a damaging precedent in the area.

Tavis, who has lived there for 20 years, said the lane is full of very traditional Bath stone Georgian properties. He said landscaping and planting had also not been done as it should but the main source of anger was its increase in height and massing and increasing it from five bedrooms to seven.

The plot was originally sold for £1million with planning and locals believe another million must have been spent on excavation. Another “monster mansion” has also been built the other side, and Tavis said his family were now “sandwiched between two of the largest single residences built in Bath in about 100 years”.

Locals said the original developer won permission for the biggest they could do on the plot despite a number of opposition and then put it straight on the market. It was then bought by a wealthy individual who went through the process of three or four more applications to make it higher and more prominent.

Among those objecting on the council website, another local added: “It was already noted as the largest house ever approved by the council, and now apparently will include seven bedrooms.

Local ward district councillor Joanna Wright said she backed the residents wanting enforcement action. She said: “It is outrageous. They got planning permission in 2013 and they haven’t built it to that plan. They keep extending it and changing who owns it.

“The development just changes to whatever they want to do. Enforcement was involved and asked them to stop. They said they would stop but then put in a variation on the plans and on it goes.

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“I’ve wrote again to enforcement and planning but why hasn’t been dealt with by now I don’ t know.”

The applicant and house owner Thomas Worrall, of Yate near Bristol, said: “The whole street has been against me from day one. I only bought the site to build my own house with planning permission already on it. Someone else took it all to planning seven years ago.

“There have been complications on the ground and the professional builders were not able to make it work so it was a little bit higher to start with. The neighbours all seem to think I have screwed the system and been sneaky. But I am not. I’ve now pulled all my guys off site and trying to deal with the planners.

“It was just a few mistakes on site. They think I have all this money and want to play the system but that is 100 per cent not true. I just want an easy life. I want to get my house finished and move my family into it. Everything has now completely stopped on site.”

Tottenham manager Roberto de Zerbi said he was “not angry” and there was “no panic” after his side’s second loss in two games left them bottom of the Premier League – but it was a depressingly familiar story for the club’s fans.

Goals from Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa in a 10-minute second-half spell gave Newcastle a 2-0 victory, with thousands of Spurs supporters heading for the exits early.

They have every reason to be annoyed as they have now seen only three home league wins from their past 23 matches at their superb stadium.

Seventeenth in the Premier League in 2024-25, 17th in 2025-26, only avoiding relegation on the final day, but this season was meant to be different.

With more than £300m spent in the summer, Spurs fans were expecting a push to get back into Europe, having won the Europa League two seasons ago and been in the last 16 of the Champions League in March.

Instead, in the Premier League it is played two, lost two, scored none, 20th out of 20.

“We can improve in the defensive phases but today was an unfair result,” said De Zerbi.

“Disappointed for the result because until the first goal we conceded, we played better than Newcastle.

“We are disappointed for the result and [for] our fans. We are working to be a great team. When we become a team, we can change the story of the last two seasons for Tottenham.”