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The fourth person from this season of The Great British Bake Off has left the tent with Mike receiving an outpouring of support from viewers after penning an emotional letter about his time on the Channel 4 show.

The 29-year-old farm manager was eliminated after Caramel Week, with Georgie being named as Star Baker by judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith, who recently revealed that she doesn’t actually watch the show.

Mike, who is also an advocate for the LGBT+ community in the farming industry, was as a firm favourite among viewers and the other contestant, said that “it was my time to go” in response to his exit. “I feel like the quality of what everyone else is doing is just breathtaking. I’m going to miss everyone,” he added.

Fellow baker, Sumayah, said that she was relieved to be staying on “but I’m sad at the same time – Mike was genuinely the heart of the group. He’s been a good friend.”

Mike has since written a lengthy letter about Bake Off, which has been shared on the show’s official X/Twitter account, adding that he had hoped that he hadn’t “let anyone down”.

His letter said: “What can I say but thank you!!! Thank you to every single person involved in putting together this magnificent show and thank you a million times over for including me in it!! Every person I have met throughout this experience has been among the most glorious people I have ever had the good fortune to know.

I have been made to feel welcomed and supported at every single second! Bake Off is so tremendously special and its joy and laughter and positivity has boosted me for years as a dedicated fan! Now, to be part of the family and part of Bake Off history is a privilege that I will cherish and treasure forever! I have also made 11 spectacularly wonderful lifelong friends – how can I possibly express my gratitude for that!!

“As for Alison, the love, laughter, and hugs are even better than I ever dared to hope! Thank you to both Alison and Noel for the unending support and to Paul and Prue for more brilliant feedback than I ever dreamed of! This whole experience has been pure magic! From showcasing my favourite queer books to celebrating British farming and farm produce in every bake, I am so proud of everything I have achieved!

“I just hope that I haven’t let anyone down and that everyone has enjoyed watching a fraction as much as I have enjoyed being here! P.S. You have my heart!! Sending oodles of love, hugs and thanks, Mike.”

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When sharing Mike’s letter, the Bake Off account added: “Oh Mike, you have done the very opposite of letting anyone down and you should be so proud.”

Many viewers have since echoed these sentiments, with many sad to see Mike go.

“Ah I’ll miss Mike. And I hope he now knows he hasn’t let anyone down. Far from it!,” said one fan.

Another wrote: “Aw, how lovely is Mike! So sad he’s gone but he can hold his head up high and be proud of himself.”

A third added: “No matter where you are just know that you’re loved and have it a little easier for someone who is struggling with their coming out.”

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Mike now joins Hazel and John as the first handful of bakers who have been eliminated. Jeff withdrew in the second week after struggling to continue following an illness.

MAFS UK fans have begged producers to step in after Holly admitted she’s afraid to confront groom Alex during arguments.

Last night the Married At First Sight UK couple got into another row after Alex‘s behaviour during the most recent dinner party caused Holly to storm off.

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She was unimpressed with his conversation with one of the imposter brides.

Alex later insisted Holly should bring up such matters in private – but she revealed why she feels unable to when the cameras aren’t around.

He said: “If I feel someone, I’ll tell you. I ain’t gonna hold it in. You just like to act like you’re cool when you’re not.

“Big Holly only comes out when there’s cameras around and there’s people around.

“If I start raising my voice, it’s gonna be a madness.”

Holly replied: “This is why I can’t confront you, because ‘it’s gonna be a madness’.”

Fans rushed to social media after the row to have to their say.

One wrote: “Quite shocked that the experts haven’t picked up on or questioned holly expressing how she only brings up issues in front of people due to feeling intimidated by Alex in private.”

Another said: “Has anyone thought that maybe Holly is waiting until there are people and cameras around to confront Alex because she doesn’t feel safe to do it alone? He’s a huge red flag.”

And a third added: “That is one big red flag right there what Holly said about wanting to be in a safe space and being around people when she wants to talk to alex about something that is bothering her.”

The Sun has contacted reps for MAFS UK for comment.

When it was announced Alex was one of this year’s MAFS UK grooms, scores of women came forward to accuse him of abuse – with one branding him a “dangerous individual”.

A group of women have clubbed together to petition Channel 4 to reconsider airing scenes including the personal trainer from Birmingham, and even reached out to Married At First Sight UK‘s dating expert Mel Schilling.

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Harry Clark, the winner of The Traitors season two, has reportedl left Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins after he was caught lying on the show, according to reports.

The 23-year-old former British army engineer, who famously blindsided Mollie Pearce in The Traitors finale earlier this year, was exposed during his latest venture into reality television when he was questioned by the show’s trained interrogators.

The spin-off programme sees celebrities undergo a series of gruelling survival challenges from the Special Forces selection process.

Although his ability to lie and evade the truth had served him well on The Traitors, it has apparently been his downfall on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, which is due to air in 2025.

“This will make for delicious viewing for his fellow competitors on The Traitors, who felt hoodwinked by him all the way through the second series,” a source has told The Sun.

“The baby-faced assassin had them all fooled, letting his easy charm lull them into a false sense of security – and bagging himself the jackpot of £95,000. But despite his own military background, he just crumbled in the face of experts, who know how to spot a fibber.”

Earlier this week, Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins champion Georgia Harrison described the finale of the show as among the most “degrading” and “demoralising” moments of her life.

The reality star and campaigner, 29, was one of two winners of the show’s latest season, after she and boxer Lani Daniels passed an SAS-style selection test in the final episode.

Former Dancing on Ice judge and Doctor Who actor, John Barrowman, who competed on the same season as Harrison, revealed in September that he dropped out of the show after becoming violently sick just 32 minutes into the experience.

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Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins is not the only reality show that Clark is set to star in. He has also signed up for Pilgrimage along with Jeff Brazier, Helen Lederer, Jay McGuinness, Stef Reid, and Daliso Chaponda

The BBC programme sees various celebrities trek across different pilgrim routes in Europe while stopping at religious sites to reflect on life.

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In May, Clark revealed that he had barely spent any of his Traitors winnings, explaining that he wished he could spend his winnings “on rent” but that his father monitors the cash to ensure that he can afford to buy a house one day instead.

Clark’s representatives have been contacted for comment.

RUBY Fox-Miligan is set to make a shock discovery as her mum Helen’s will is revealed in Emmerdale.

She previously received a call from one of the nurses at the local hospital as her mum fell ill and was desperate to see her on the ITV soap.

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Ruby (Beth Cordingly) swaggered into the hospital before the nurse she spoke to on the phone tried to break some news to her on Emmerdale.

She accused her mum of playing “mind games” as she thought she was released.

Caleb (William Ash) watched in the hallway, as she also said that she was only at the medical centre to “watch her die.”

However, her mother died 20 minutes before her arrival which left her shocked when she stood by the corpse.

But Caleb will be on tenterhooks as he is worried that his secret will be exposed when Helen’s will is read.

Ruby will completely horrified by one of the documents as Caleb thinks the game is up and he will be rumbled.

It will be revealed by the will that before she died, Helen was secretly in communication with Ruby’s daughter Steph.

Ruby’s world will be turned upside down as she feels isolated and vulnerable.

She will go back to Chas (Lucy Pargeter) as she tells her pal how grateful she is to Caleb for giving her a vital link with the Dingle family.

Whilst her clan were estranged, the Dingle’s are known to be closely-knit, which gives her much comfort.

Meanwhile, Caleb is momentarily relieved after he makes it through the will reading unscathed.

But will his wife stay in the dark forever?

This comes after Ruby received an unexpected delivery of her mother’s ashes.

She later made her way to the Woolpack to drown her sorrows where Chas was on hand.

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Chas suggested that she should have gone back to the hospital to find out Helen’s last words as a form of closure.

It turns out that her mother was asking for her on her deathbed as she hung on – even hoping for a final reconciliation.

Ruby also discovered Caleb’s secret visit to the hospital ward to see Helen before she died, which led to a fierce confrontation.

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Emmerdale is available to watch on ITV1 and stream on ITVX.

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What would it feel like if, for eight years, you were in love with someone who was not who they said they were? If they introduced you to all their friends, but none of them actually existed? Or spent every night on Skype with you, listening to you sleep while refusing to ever show their face? Sweet Bobby, Netflix’s latest true crime documentary, introduces us to Kirat Assi, who experienced exactly that.

In 2009, Kirat fell prey to an elaborate romance fraud, carried out on Facebook, that went on until 2018. It involved up to 60 characters, each with their own fake profiles, who only existed in the scammer’s twisted imagination. At the centre of them all was Bobby, a handsome cardiologist from Kirat’s west London Sikh community. Bobby was a real person, but he wasn’t really the one talking to Kirat; it was her cousin, Simran Bhogal. Kirat, now 43, still doesn’t know why Simran – who was just a teenager when the lying began – tortured her throughout her thirties. “I had what I thought happened, and that’s just been ripped apart over the last few years,” Kirat tells me over video call. “I just don’t know what the truth is.”

The new documentary, out today, comes three years after Kirat’s tale of deception gripped millions of listeners in Tortoise Media’s podcast of the same name. “I thought it was going to be a small thing,” she says of the audio show’s release. Its popularity (it shot to No 1 in the UK podcast charts) has been vindicating. “With this documentary, I’m hopeful that other victims will feel that they can speak out against their perpetrators and feel safe going to the police or talking to people about it without feeling stupid,” she says.

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Kirat’s experience is believed to be the longest known case of catfishing on record. It began when Simran’s ex-boyfriend, JJ, sent Kirat a message on Facebook, seeking her advice on how to win her cousin back. Months later, when Kirat was told JJ had died, Simran gave her the details for his brother, Bobby, so she could send her condolences. However, it was Simran behind Bobby’s scarily realistic profile. They became fast friends and he told her he was married, but soon began sharing details about his collapsing relationship. In 2013, things took a dramatic turn when Simran, posing as Bobby’s wife this time, shared a Facebook post saying that Bobby had been shot several times in Kenya and was in a coma.

Simran, whose family were friends with Bobby’s, would later call Kirat to tell her that Bobby was now in witness protection in New York. “It was like something out of a movie,” Kirat admits in the documentary. This ruse allowed Simran to start messaging Kirat from a new fake profile, claiming it was Bobby under a new name to protect his identity. Disaster continued to strike fake Bobby: his marriage ended and just over a year later, in 2015, he suffered a brain tumour, followed by a stroke. Conveniently, this meant he was unable to speak over the phone and the witness protection scheme forbade him from appearing over video call. At various points in the film, viewers may question Kirat’s naivety, but the lies were always substantiated by Simran’s cast of supporting characters, such as Bobby’s doctor, Rajvir, or his cousin, Yashvir – all of whom were messaging Kirat, but none of whom were real.

One of the most emotional moments in Sweet Bobby comes when Kirat is played a farewell message she recorded when she was told Bobby was going to die. At that point, Bobby had told Kirat that he loved her but she hadn’t said it back. “It was horrible to think that he might die,” she tells me. “… You carry a lot of guilt for not giving the person what they want.”

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Of course, Bobby didn’t die; he miraculously recovered, and the relationship intensified. They began Skyping constantly, even falling asleep with the line open. The sound of the Skype ringtone is still triggering for Kirat, she tells me, which is perhaps one of the reasons we’re speaking over Google Meet today. Very quickly after the relationship turned romantic, Bobby began to display signs of coercive behaviour. He demanded to know Kirat’s whereabouts at all times, dictating who she saw and spoke to, and guilt-tripping her about his health if she dissented. “It was like Bobby owned my time now,” Kirat says in the film. Through a series of daily selfies she shared with Bobby, where she gradually becomes thinner and more worn down, viewers see how Kirat’s own health declined. She was eventually made redundant from her job in marketing.

Finally, after years of broken promises to meet in person, Kirat hired a private investigator who found that Bobby was living in Brighton, and she confronted him there. When she turned up at his door, the real Bobby, who also appears in the Netflix special, was mystified and scared. The next day, Simran drove to Kirat’s home and confessed: “It was me; I was Bobby, I was all of them.” On the podcast, Kirat said she “vomited” and “passed out” after the revelation, which came in June 2018. “I just kept screaming at her, ‘Why? Why Did you do it?’” Kirat says in the documentary. “She’s ruined my whole life. She’s stolen the best years of my life off me and all she could say was that I ruined my own life. No expression, nothing.”

In 2020, Kirat won a substantial settlement in her civil case against Simran for harassment, misuse of private information and data protection breaches. As part of the ruling, she received a private apology from Simran, which Kirat is not allowed to discuss. But she tells me she doesn’t “feel there’s ever been any remorse”. “Personally,” she says, “I feel like there’s a defiance or an element of arrogance about the situation.”

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Despite Kirat’s legal victory, Simran has still not been charged with a crime. Up until 2021, she was reportedly working a “high-powered job” in financial services, but quit when the podcast went live. The criminal case has since been reopened, says Kirat, but the system for dealing with catfishing cases is in dire need of reform. In the UK, catfishing is not a criminal offence. And when Kirat first reported Simran to the police, she was told she wasn’t a victim, but the real Bobby was. “It’s made as difficult as possible for you to want to pursue your case, and it’s you versus the police,” she says. “Everything has been a struggle every step of the way.”

This year, Richard Gadd’s Baby Reindeer has shone a light on online harassment and the stigma that victims of abuse often face. Kirat has watched the series, which is based on Gadd’s real-life stalking experience, and tells me the scene she found most triggering was when Gadd’s Donny reports his stalker but is quickly rebutted by the authorities. “That almost made me want to throw up,” Kirat recalls. “The hardest thing was being told to just quietly move on without people understanding the damage it had done and the trauma that it had caused.” Echoing Kirat, Gadd told The Independent in 2019 that police “look for black and white, good and evil, and that’s not how it works. You can really affect someone’s life within the parameters of legality, and that is sort of mad.”

After Baby Reindeer aired on Netflix, fans quickly began a frenzied search to discover the true identity of Gadd’s stalker – and they succeeded. Is Kirat concerned that people will try to track down Simran, too? “Yeah, I am concerned,” she says. “Anyone who wants to do that, I’d be like, ‘You’re as bad as her if you’re doing that.’ What we need to do is put pressure on the authorities to do the right thing. I could have banged her door down or sent thugs around, but no, that’s not the right way to do things. I think the right way to do things is highlighting the issue, which is what I’ve had to do.”

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Matters are made yet more complicated by the fact that Simran and Kirat are related. “People have to realise a witch hunt against her also impacts my family,” she says. “So to instigate witch hunts against these people that were named in the public like that is just poor form.”

Today, Kirat is pragmatic and “quietly determined”, she says, to reclaim the life she feels was stolen from her in the years she had hoped to meet a life partner and have children. First, she wants to see Simran face the legal justice that has long been overdue. “It’s been dragging for years now. I can’t move forward properly until that’s done,” she says. Her cousin wreaked such havoc, for such a long time, that Kirat still feels life is “nowhere near what it used to be or what I want it to be”. She sighs. “Hopefully I’ll get there.”

The Cyber Helpline has a dedicated page relating to catfishing or digital romance fraud. If you think you might be at risk, there are tips for recognising a scam and also suggestions for how to deal with it.

If you have been a victim of catfishing and need emotional support, then you can call the Samaritans. Their free phone line is available 24 hours a day. You can also call Victim Support or Victim Support Scotland.

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It’s been more than 30 years since Lorena Bobbitt became a household name after she infamously cut off her husband’s penis with a knife while he slept. Now, she is opening up about her motivation behind the act in a new documentary airing tonight.

I Cut Off His Penis: The Truth Behind The Headlines, which premieres on October 15 at 9pm BST, is an ITV documentary that explores cases of “penicide.” The film takes viewers through the personal testimonies of both women and men across the world who have witnessed and felt the impact of such cases while asking why they happen in the first place.

Lorena was just 24 years old when she sliced off her husband John Wayne Bobbitt’s penis with a butcher’s knife on June 23, 1993.

“​​The whole world knows I cut his penis off,” Lorena, now 55, says in the documentary, per the Daily Mail. “There’s no way to candy-coat it; that’s what happened.”

Three decades later, Lorena maintains that the many salacious headlines and true crime documentaries about the incident “miss the essence of what this whole story was about.”

Her attorneys argued she was driven temporarily insane by physical and sexual abuse from John; though, he has denied these allegations. He was later acquitted on charges of marital sexual assault in a related trial.

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Police had searched and retrieved John’s severed penis from a field after Lorena through it out of a moving car window, and it was successfully reattached following a nine-and-a-half-hour surgery. Lorena admitted there are still some moments after the act that remain fuzzy.

“The next thing I do remember was that I was driving in the car and I had the penis in one hand, and the knife in the other hand,” she recalls in the documentary. “I couldn’t drive straight, I have no idea how I got into the car. I got scared and I threw it out of the window, his organ. I was not in my right frame of mind. There was no way I could plan this; I mean who would plan this?”

The former couple met when Lorena was working as a nail technician in a beauty salon while John was a bar bouncer and ex-US Marine. They were married in 1989, shortly after Lorena’s 20th birthday, though she claims the “red flags” came soon after.

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“The escalation of abuse was not only physical – there were bruises on my arms, on my legs, shoulders, on my face – and it escalated to the point that I was raped,” she says in the documentary.

She claimed that she had fallen asleep after a long day at work when she woke to find John on top of her. “I was half asleep, half awake. I was like, ‘What’s going on here?’ That’s all I remember,” Lorena says. “I know that I went to get a glass of water, I don’t remember seeing the knife; I don’t remember any of that.”

Lorena was later arrested and charged with malicious wounding, but was found not guilty in 1994 by reason of temporary insanity. She was committed to a mental hospital for a maximum of 45 days, and Lorena and John were divorced in 1995.

“There was no element of revenge in my case,” she says. “I didn’t want anyone to suffer. That’s not who I am, so it’s not why I did it. It’s about what put me in that position.”

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These days, Lorena still lives in Virginia, where she now goes by Lorena Gallo. She met her current partner, David Bellinger, at community college more than 20 years ago. The couple share a teenage daughter.

Meanwhile, John now lives in Sarasota, Florida. Following the trial and the couple’s divorce, he appeared in the adult films John Wayne Bobbitt Uncut and Frankenpenis. In April 2024, he revealed that he lost all 10 of his toes due to toxic peripheral polyneuropathy.

In 2018, Lorena established The Lorena Gallo Foundation to provide domestic violence and sexual assault prevention, intervention, and awareness services for domestic abuse survivors and their children.

“Sometimes I wish it didn’t happen to me, but my life is not a tape that I can rewind,” she says. “I became a mother, I have a relationship with this wonderful man, I’m not only a survivor, but I have a new life.”

I Cut Off His Penis: The Truth Behind The Headlines airs on ITV1 and ITVX at 9pm GMT on Tuesday, October 15.

The national domestic abuse helpline offers support for women on 0808 2000 247, or you can visit the Refuge website. There is a dedicated men’s advice line on 0808 8010 327. Those in the US can call the domestic violence hotline on 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)

Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org.