Stood outside the pub on a Saturday night, wine in hand, you’re often hit with a waft of smoke as someone puffs on their cigarette.

But, if you turn your nose up, you’re actually in a growing minority.

While it might once have been considered a dirty habit, we’re now increasingly turned on by the idea of smoking, with sales of smoking fetish porn up 58% from the beginning of the year, according to Clips4Sale.

Smoking was also the sixth most searched term in the UK for the porn site, pointing to an insatiable demand for sex and a smoke.

We know it’s become chic again for celebrities, too, with certain A-listers like Charli XCX even dubbed ‘cigfluencers’. Margot Robbie was filmed on the set of Ocean’s Eleven prequel with a cigarette in hand, with one fan saying: ‘She is looking so stunning and hot while smoking.’

Dua Lipa has also been accused of making ‘smoking cool again’ after being pictured cigarette in hand multiple times, and even reportedly having bowls of cigarettes at her wedding after-party for guests.

And, multiple men have confessed to being enamoured with women they’ve seen puffing. ‘I don’t know why but whenever I see a woman smoking, whether that be in real life or in movies, I just find it super attractive and sexy, it makes the girl look so badass and cool,’ wrote one on Reddit.

Another said it was a ‘100% yes, hot as f**k’, while someone added: ‘Nothing more sexy than a pretty woman with a cigarette.’

But not everyone understands the allure of this aesthetic, with others branding smoking ‘completely irrational’ and unpleasant.

‘I hate smoking with every ounce of my being,’ wrote one, while another called it a ‘disgusting, unhealthy, and stinky’ habit.

Why can smoking be a turn-on?

As for those who do find it a turn-on, psychosexual therapist Becky Crepsley-Fox tells Metro there’s rarely one single reason someone finds smoking sexy.

‘Usually it’s a combination of aesthetics, psychology and a bit of cultural conditioning,’ she explains. ‘For some, it’s purely visual. There’s something they find elegant, almost cinematic, about the act itself — the way the breath is drawn in and the smoke slowly exhaled.

‘It’s slow, deliberate and performative, which can feel sexual.’

Few of us can forget the moment Sandy from Grease stepped out in her leather jacket, voluminous perm and cigarette she stumped out with her red stiletto.

Of course, for others the appeal can be more of a suggestive one. ‘The lips are one of our most sensitive, intimate areas,’ Becky adds.

‘The act of wrapping them around something phallic and slowly drawing the smoke in, the imagination can wander straight towards oral sex.’

It’s an act that carries a lot of cultural weight, too, according to the sex expert. ‘Ever since the early days of Hollywood, cigarettes have been the accessory of the glamorous, the wealthy and the powerful — so, for many, they still hold an air of allure and control.’

The taboo

Another major selling point for smoking is that it’s a little but, well, wrong.

Becky continues: ‘We now know smoking is bad for us, and doing something you’re “not supposed to” can feel deliciously rebellious.

‘In that sense it has a lot in common with sex. Sex is an entirely natural human behaviour that many of us still feel we have to hide, and for some people that forbidden quality is exactly what’s arousing.’

There can also be a power dynamic at play.

‘An erotic charge in watching someone do something that’s “bad” for them, or in the sense that the eroticism of the moment outweighs any thought of the consequences. When desire wins out over risk, that can feel powerful in itself,’ says Becky.

A turn on or a fetish?

It’s important to note though, that being turned on by seeing someone snoke, is different from it being a fetish.

Becky explains the distinction: ‘A turn-on adds to the experience, whereas a fetish is something a person genuinely needs to be present to get aroused,’ she says.

‘So, yes, smoking can be a fetish for some — but for many others it’s just something they find sexy, rather than something they can’t get there without.’ 

As for where a fetish can come from, they can be traced back to early experiences, frequently around puberty.

‘It might be an association formed while watching a glamorous smoking scene at the very age our sexuality is coming online — or a stretch of time where smoking and those first sexual feelings happened to overlap, and the brain wired the two together,’ says Becky.

‘Fetishes can form almost anywhere, but smoking offers a particularly rich mix of imagery and meaning for that to latch onto.’

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@metro.co.uk

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Amazon is fuelling the illegal e-bikes menace by selling Chinese conversion kits for under £500 that turn regular bicycles into souped-up machines.

The online retailer is offering upgrades that allow riders to travel at several times the speed limit for an e-bike, The Mail on Sunday’s investigation has found.

Our reporter transformed a second-hand pedal bike into an illegal e-bike after buying a conversion kit from Amazon for under £500.

These kits are not illegal to sell in Britain. But there are growing calls for a ban on sales amid a rise in accidents and muggings involving rogue e-bike riders.

Under UK law, e-bikes must have electric motors limited to a maximum power output of 250 watts and must stop providing power at 15.5mph.

Anything above that is classified as a moped or motorbike and must be registered, taxed and insured.

However, many e-bikes are being modified to travel at frightening speeds.

This can be done by cranking up previously compliant electric bikes or converting pedal bikes into motorised ones.

The underside of the motor shows it has a power of 500 watts, twice the legal limit for e-bikes

The MoS found it was astonishingly easy to find kits online that would boost bikes well beyond the legal limit.

Amazon offers a range of conversion kits, including some with 2,000 watt motors capable of speeds of up to 40mph.

We ordered a package containing a 500-watt Chinese-made motor, a battery and other parts for just under £500. The kit arrived in days. We then paid a bike shop in South-east London £200 to install it on a second-hand pedal bike.

The motor helps create speeds of more than 25mph but we could easily have bought one far more powerful. We found a specialist retailer selling a 5,000 watt e-bike conversion kit for £1,327.

A simple Google search also revealed websites selling ‘speed derestriction dongles’ for up to £299. 

One product claimed it would ‘suppress the speed limiter’ so that riders could travel at ‘unlimited speed’.

Police forces nationwide have been grappling with a surge in illegal e-bikes. Seizures rose 83 per cent, from 3,858 to 7,049, in the 12 months to May 19.

They have been described by MPs as the ‘perfect accessory to phone theft, mugging and drug dealing’, with gangs increasingly using them to target victims.

The Metropolitan Police arrested 187 thieves and seized 157 e-bikes, mopeds and other vehicles in an operation targeting e-bike muggers this year.

The machines have also caused a spate of accidents, including the death of grandmother Gloria Stephenson, 86, who was struck and killed by a teenager riding an illegal e-bike on a zebra crossing in Sunderland last year.

Gloria Stephenson, 86, was struck and killed by a teenager riding an illegal e-bike on a zebra crossing in Sunderland last year

This was the moment teenage e-bike rider Billy Stokoe mowed down and killed grandmother Gloria Stephenson on a zebra crossing in an incident that shocked the nation 

The £4,000 type of bike in the crash, which is still being sold online, had a claimed top speed of 47mph and could accelerate from zero to 30mph in 2.7 seconds. 

Safety campaigners welcome police action but argue the problem should be tackled at source.

Powerful conversion kits can be sold because the bikes they are fitted to can be used legally if properly registered, taxed and insured by the owner.

Retailers can also sell high-speed e-bikes if they specify that they are for use on private land only.

But these rules are routinely flouted. Labour MP Julie Minns, who has introduced a Private Member’s Bill to ban the sale of illegal e-bikes and conversion kits, said The Mail on Sunday’s investigation was ‘deeply alarming’.

She added: ‘It is completely unacceptable that major online platforms like Amazon make it so easy to buy 500W or 2,000W motors to convert an ordinary bicycle into a machine capable of car-like speeds.

‘While recent police enforcement powers are a welcome step forward, seizing bikes on the street is tackling the symptom rather than the cause. The Government must go further.

‘I am continuing to press ministers to take decisive action to ban the sale and supply of high-powered conversion kits and speed-derestricting devices by online marketplaces once and for all.’

Margaret Winchcomb, of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, said it was ‘unsustainable’ to leave police to seize ‘what they can on the streets’.

Labour MP Fabian Hamilton, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling and Walking, said the availability of dangerous e-bikes and conversion kits online ‘must not continue’.

An Amazon spokesman said it was ‘removing the products’ highlighted by The Mail on Sunday. 

He added: ‘We require all products offered in our store to comply with applicable laws and regulations and we monitor for product safety concerns. 

‘We go further by requiring sellers of e-mobility products to provide documented testing certification carried out by an accredited lab.’

A Government spokesman said: ‘E-bikes that have been modified to be faster and more powerful than the rules allow are motorbikes, and unless they have been registered, taxed and insured, they are illegal and have no place on our roads.

‘We have given police stronger powers to seize vehicles without needing to issue a warning and we are cracking down on unsafe products sold online.’

Things have reached a sorry pass when it is not the contestants but the dance show itself which is on its last legs, but this is where we are with Strictly.

Now in its 24th series, this former jewel in the BBC‘s crown returned on Saturday night, a tarnished tiara in comparison to the sparkle of its former greatness. 

The line-up boasted three new hosts and five new pro dancers plus a Niagara of nonentities vying for the glitterball trophy, thundering about in their freshly unboxed jazz shoes like wildebeest.

Even with my star-spotting lorgnettes perched eagerly on nostrils professionally primed for any sniff of celebrity, the view from the sofa was disappointing.

Who were these duds in the fringed frocks and spangled shirts? 

The class of 2026 includes Hollywood ‘hair king’ Chris Appleton; content creator John Nellis; the omelette lady from Gavin & Stacey, a ‘philanthropist’ called Delta; a random called Cach from Love Island; someone named Graeme who is a ‘canine expert’; plus a total Dingle from Emmerdale, if you get my drift.

As they paraded through the ballroom of broken dreams, they made Cuthbert, Dibble and Grubb seem like A-list movie stars clamouring around an Oscar podium. 

Earlier on Saturday night there were more celebrities in my local branch of Waitrose than there were on this show, and I’m not even joking.

Television personality Emma Willis (pictured, centre), former Strictly professional Johannes Radebe (right) and comedian Josh Widdicombe (left) seemed absolutely thrilled to be there

The trio have taken over from Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, who departed the BBC show at the end of the 2025 series

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A new era needs new hosts, and television personality Emma Willis, former Strictly professional Johannes Radebe and comedian Josh Widdicombe seemed absolutely thrilled to be there – and it was nice that someone was.

‘Never in a million years did I think it would be the three of us standing in this spot,’ said Johannes, who spoke for us all.

Perhaps it is too soon to judge, but the three-presenter format seems awkward and forced. 

Emma is a total pro, even if she did ask someone from EastEnders if ‘being in the ballroom is very different from home life for you’. Yet neither Johannes’ muddy diction nor Josh’s sniggering are alluring. 

Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly left last year – perhaps they felt they’d had more than enough after a series of scandals rocked the show and made many faithful fans lose faith. 

I won’t miss Tess – there are fringed lampshades with more to contribute to showbusiness – but Claudia undeniably brought an irreplaceable spark, wit and style. She has gone off to Celebrity Traitors, and the tragedy and irony is that she has taken all the celebrities with her. 

Look at the stars appearing on that series this season – including James Blunt, Jerry Hall, Michael Sheen and Ross Kemp. 

Once, this would have been the dream Strictly line-up, but that is the problem. Now, with plummeting viewing figures and a lustre that’s lacking, Strictly can only dream. 

The class of 2026 boasted three new hosts and five new pro dancers 

Actress Jaime Winstone has been partnered with Carlos Gu, who will be hoping to replicate his 2025 win with Karen Carney

British skeleton racer Tabby Stoecker is with another new pro Mark Karmalita

Celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton is with show veteran and fan favourite Amy Dowden

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Yet there is still much to admire in this family-friendly show. The sheer creative power and energy of the production team who put this behemoth together every year is wondrous to behold – Saturday night’s six-minute opening number was testament to the skill and talent of all involved.

Just look at the costumes, the hair, the make-up, the music, the lighting, the dancing, the choreography! These elements are still tremendous, the BBC at its best. 

Yet the new way of pairing the couples seemed unnecessarily complicated, and why is everything so shrieky and LOUD? 

There are 13 weeks to go until the final, so time will tell if any of these changes will work. Yet the truth is that Strictly feels like it has overstayed its welcome. 

When it launched in 2004, Tony Blair was our prime minister and Facebook had just been launched. It was a long, long time ago. For how much longer can Strictly stagger on? 

STRICTLY COME DANCING 2026: MEET THE CONTESTANTS

LACEY TURNER 

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AGE: 38

BEST KNOWN FOR?: Playing Stacey Slater on BBC’s EastEnders 

WHY STRICTLY?: ‘I’m so excited and terrified at the same time but I’ve had so many friends do Strictly and I thought it was about time that I plunked up the courage and made my way onto that dance floor.’

DELTA GOODREM

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AGE: 41

BEST KNOWN FOR?: Played Nina Tucker in Neighbours and has released eight music albums

WHY STRICTLY?: ‘I’ve been incredibly honoured to perform on many different stages throughout my career – from tv, theatre, film sets, to touring my own shows around the world, there is however one stage I’ve never stepped onto and that is the ballroom floor!’

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CACH MERCER

AGE: 25

BEST KNOWN FOR?: Won Love Island 2025 and is a TikTok influencer

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WHY STRICTLY?: ‘I have grown up watching the show with my family and am so excited to now be part of the cast. Dancing is a huge passion of mine and I can’t wait to learn Ballroom and do the Foxtrot for the first time!’

DAME SARAH STOREY

AGE: 48

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BEST KNOWN FOR?: Britain’s most successful Paralympian 

WHY STRICTLY?: ‘Embarking on a new challenge so soon after stepping down as an athlete is hugely exciting.’

BETHANY ANTONIA 

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AGE: 28

BEST KNOWN FOR?: Plays Lady Baela Targaryen in House of the Dragon

WHY STRICTLY?: ‘I have grown up watching Strictly, and I am so excited to take the challenge on and (hopefully!) learn a new skill.’

GRAEME ‘THE DOGFATHER’ HALL

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AGE: 59

BEST KNOWN FOR?: Hosts Channel 5 series Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly

WHY STRICTLY?: ‘I have watched the show for years, so to be a part of it feels like a very exciting challenge, albeit more than a bit nerve-wracking!’

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TABBY STOECKER 

AGE: 25

BEST KNOWN FOR?: Olympic champion skeleton racer

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WHY STRICTLY?: ‘I’ve had the wildest year of my life so far, so to be rounding it off with a childhood dream of dancing in the Strictly ballroom is surreal and I can’t wait to get stuck in!’

MELANIE WALTERS 

AGE: 64

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BEST KNOWN FOR?: Playing Gwen West in BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey

WHY STRICTLY?: ‘Performing in Pantomime for the last 15 years, my Strictly ‘fix’ has always been watching in a dressing room rather than my front room.’

DANI DYER

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AGE: 30

BEST KNOWN FOR?: Winning Love Island and being the daughter of actor Danny Dyer

WHY STRICTLY?: ‘I am so excited to be back in the ballroom this September! I just cannot wait to get my dancing shoes back on and hopefully this time around I can actually make it to week one!’

CHRIS APPLETON

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AGE: 43

BEST KNOWN FOR?: Hairdresser to the stars – including Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez

WHY STRICTLY?: ‘I’m thrilled to be joining Strictly and coming home to the UK for this incredible experience. I’ve always believed that the best things happen when you take a chance and try something new.’

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WILL BEST

AGE: 41

BEST KNOWN FOR?: Hosts Big Brother and previously TV

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WHY STRICTLY?: ‘I’ve been lucky to do lots of live telly before, but absolutely nothing like this. And I cannot wait!’

JAIME WINSTONE

AGE: 41

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BEST KNOWN FOR?: Starring in films such as Kidulthood and Tomb Raider

WHY STRICTLY?: ‘I am no stranger to a dance floor, but the ballroom is a whole new world for me.’

SHAUN WRIGHT-PHILLIPS 

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AGE: 44

BEST KNOWN FOR?: Footballer who played for the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City

WHY STRICTLY?: ‘Strictly is definitely outside my comfort zone, but I’m super excited to get started and really looking forward to the challenge!’

LAWRENCE ROBB

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AGE: 34

BEST KNOWN FOR?: Plays Mackenzie Boyd on ITV’s Emmerdale

WHY STRICTLY?: ‘I can’t quite believe that I am going to be getting my dancing shoes on this September on one of my favourite shows of all time!’

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JOHN NELLIS 

AGE: 33

BEST KNOWN FOR?: Face of a popular football-focused YouTube channel

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WHY STRICTLY?: ‘I can’t wait to meet everyone, learn a new skill and, hopefully, be much better at family parties by the end of it!’

 

A state funeral was held Sunday for Hong Kong‘s first post-colonial leader, Tung Chee-hwa, who led the city through the initial years of its transition from British rule after it was returned to China in 1997.

Chinese officials and Hong Kong political leaders attended the service, only the third state funeral in the former British colony since the 1997 handover.

Tung, a shipping magnate who was the city’s chief executive from 1997 to 2005, died Sept. 8 at the age of 89. He grappled with the Asian financial crisis, SARS epidemic and public protests during his nearly eight years in office.

Flower wreaths lined the wall outside the Hong Kong Funeral Home and Tung’s casket, draped in a Chinese flag, could be seen being brought out after the service in live video streamed online by Hong Kong media. The media were not allowed inside.

Shi Taifeng, a member of the Politburo of China’s ruling Communist Party, and Xia Baolong, the director of China’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, left the funeral in a white minibus with Hong Kong’s current leader, John Lee.

About 200 people were invited to the service, an attendee told Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post newspaper. Others paid condolences at three venues set up around the city.

After his death, the Chinese government described Tung as a close friend of the Communist Party and an outstanding contributor to the one-country, two systems framework that governs Hong Kong and nearby Macao, a former Portuguese colony returned to China in 1999.

Not long after Tung took office in 1997, Hong Kong’s economy was battered by a financial crisis that swept across Asia. In 2003, SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) killed nearly 300 people in the city and dealt another blow to the economy.

The same year, an estimated half-million people took to the streets to protest the government’s plan to enact an anti-treason law that was seen as a threat to civil liberties. The government shelved the plan, and Tung resigned in 2005, citing health reasons.

The 2003 protest marked the start of years of pro-democracy protests that came to a head in 2019 and were followed by a crackdown and a Beijing-imposed national security law in 2020.

After stepping down, Tung was elected vice chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the country’s top political advisory body. He was among 42 people who received national medals and honors in 2019 for their contributions to the country.

As a 75-year-old lesbian, Mindy Meleyal has lived through every major milestone in the modern LGBT rights movement, from the start of decriminalisation in 1967 to the first same-sex marriages in 2014.

But now she says this important part of her identity is frequently overlooked due to her age.

She’s part of England’s older LGBTQ+ community, which a new report suggests often experiences poorer health, more limited finances and greater social isolation than the wider older population.

The report, from the Centre for Ageing Better, says without specialist support, this growing demographic could be forced “back into the closet” when accessing care, warning they may even delay getting the care they need because of concerns about homophobia.

Adam Porter, a housing development manager from the LGBT Foundation charity, says he regularly meets older members of the community in exactly that situation.

“It’s very common for people to hide things if they have a carer visiting their home, for example hiding their wedding photos or taking down a trans flag,” he says.

“In the case of someone moving into a care environment, that means hiding who they are in their own home, for what could be the rest of their life.”

He says he has been “horrified” by some of the stories he has heard meeting older LGBTQ+ people, including some who have had carers offer to “pray for them” regarding their sexuality.

Porter is part of the team behind Kindred House, a first-of-its-kind LGBTQ+ social housing scheme for over-55s, set to open in Manchester next year.

By REV GILES FRASER, CHURCH OF ENGLAND VICAR AND BROADCASTER

Published: 00:35 BST, 20 September 2026 | Updated: 02:11 BST, 20 September 2026

To those of us just trying to get on with the job of being a vicar, it is depressing that the Church of England’s leadership has become so ideologically captured by the progressive lanyard class.

Last week Leeds Minster ran a pro-Palestinian project featuring a tapestry depicting the victims of the Gaza war – including, it transpires, dozens of Hamas terrorists.

Not again, I sighed, as I was photocopying service sheets, worrying about getting a new treasurer and thinking about one of my congregation having chemotherapy.

But it feels like the Church leadership would prefer parishes address global causes, from Gaza to historic slavery, rather than look after the spiritual needs of our communities.

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It dumbfounds me that the Church wants to give up £100million for slavery reparations – and to take this money from a fund established by Queen Anne in 1704 for the benefit of churches and poor clergy.

They want us to be Net Zero by 2030, which is plainly impossible to achieve, given that we are custodians of the largest number of listed, medieval and frankly draughty buildings in the country.

They pass grossly one-sided resolutions on Israel and Gaza that have set back interfaith relations with the Jewish community by years.

So the fact that the tapestry exhibition in Leeds had to be cancelled due to a lack of forethought and, as a result, complaints by Jewish groups is, sadly, no surprise.

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Rev Giles Fraser criticised the Church’s involvement in Gaza and Israel, arguing that these issues are distracting from its core responsibility to serve local congregations

The tapestry, called Stitch Their Names Together, listed the names of people who have died in the conflict with Israel and had been due to remain on display at Leeds Minster until Sunday

It does not make for a good week for the Church of England.

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A few days ago, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, was forced to withdraw an award given to Muslim cleric Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, after it emerged that he had praised Osama Bin Laden and called Hamas attackers ‘freedom fighters’.

In June, she visited a woman active in the student wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, an organisation that participated in the October 7 2023 attack.

She was photographed next to a painting of the woman’s uncle, who Mossad assassinated for helping organise the 1972 murder of Israeli athletes in Munich.

This could all be just naivety, but I suspect the problem stems from how the Church hierarchy sees itself. 

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In their minds, they are more like politicians, who see Christianity as the same as liberal progressive politics, which requires them to save the world – though not in a salvation kind of way.

Our archbishops fly into conflict zones as if they were global ambassadors. The Church Commissioners sit on £11.6billion in assets while we struggle to make ends meet with a few faithful volunteers.

Until the Church shakes off its political posturing and sense of self-importance, it will continue to make these howlers, which only serve to alienate the parishioners we are called to attend.

The girl had been travelling in the vehicle when the attack took place on Friday.

A police investigation has been launched after a girl was sexually assaulted on a bus in Glasgow.

The girl had been travelling in the vehicle when the attack took place in the Gallowgate area of the city at 4.45pm on Friday, September 18.

Police say inquiries into the incident are ongoing.

Officers have asked for anyone with any information to come forward.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 4.45pm on Friday, 18 September, 2026, we received a report of the sexual assault of a girl on a bus in the Gallowgate area of Glasgow.