MICHAELA Strachan has been spotted in action for the first time ahead of her upcoming Dancing on Ice stint.

The Springwatch star got her skates on ahead of taking to the rink on the ITV skating contest this January.

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Michaela has been partnered with long-running pro Mark Hanretty for the upcoming run and she will be his final ever celebrity star after he opted to quit the show after 14 years.

Before it was revealed that they would be paired up together, Mark admitted in an emotional statement that he would be hanging up his skates for pastures new.

However, it seems that he is more determined to win than ever before with he and Michaela making sure to get their preparations in nice and early with their training kicking into full-speed this week.

The pair were seen enjoying an evening of skating as they attended the VIP launch party of the Canary Wharf Ice Rink.

Revellers at the celeb-packed bash watched on as the TV presenter was spotted practising her moves on the ice, in time for the first episode of the skating show next year.

As well as enjoying some time to rehearse on the ice, Michaela was on hand to support Mark as he presided over hosting duties at the extravagant launch event.

Michaela even found herself gaining some extra help in the form of a former Dancing on Ice champion.

Performer Regan Gascoigne helped her out on the ice at one point as both he and Mark held onto each of Michaela’s hands for a spin around the rink.

It is likely to spark some debate among the current Dancing on Ice crop that Michaela has been able to benefit from the wise words and talent of a former show winner.

Other stars spotted attending the VIP party included reality TV superstar, and former DOI contestant, Ekin-Su as well as Loose Women star Linda Robson and Geordie Shore‘s Ricci Guaranccio.

Recent Big Brother evictee Izaaz Miah and star of last year’s show Hallie Clarke also flocked to the event and were spotted mingling with one another at the luxurious Oasis Bar & Terrace located next to the ice rink.

The launch night marked the brand new season of the festive favourite ice rink with members of the public encouraged to get their skates on for a whizz around the ice in the lead up to Christmas.

STAR DEPARTURE

Pro skater Mark Hanretty’s current partnership with the BBC nature presenter is all the more worthwhile after it was revealed that he had opted to leave the programme for good.

Writing on Instagram he said: “Hard to believe I’m embarking on my 12th series of Dancing on Ice.

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“I’m as excited as ever and so grateful for the chance to work on the greatest show on ice once again.

“This will be my last year as a pro skater and I’m eager to soak up every second of it!”

Fans rushed to comment on the news, with one writing: “I’m sad it’s your last series your my favourite pro skater.”

And another said: “Omg Mark don’t do this to me, all my favourite skaters are leaving.”

Last year Mark was partnered with BBC Radio 1 presenter Adele Roberts and they came third.

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HBO has denied rumors that Euphoria has been cancelled ahead of its third season, saying: “Nothing has changed.”

On Friday (November 8), reports circulated on social media that cast and crew were walking away from the Sam Levinson-created teen drama, which originally aired in 2019.

However, in a statement to The Independent, a representative for HBO said: “Euphoria is going in to production in 2025. Nothing has changed.”

Following significant delays and reported disagreements about the direction the series was heading in, there’s been much speculation over the future of the Emmy Award-winning series.

Many members of the cast – which includes Emmy winner Zendaya, Jacob Elordi, and Sydney Sweeney – have seen a skyrocket in their careers since the show premiered, bagging lead roles in other TV shows and major films.

Sweeney starred opposite Glen Powell in the rom-com Anyone But You, while Elordi was cast as Elvis Presley in the critically acclaimed biopic Priscilla. He also starred in Emerald Fennell’s much-discussed class satire, Saltburn.

Meanwhile, lead actor Zendaya starred opposite Timothée Chalamet in Dune: Part 2, as well as in the 2024 tennis drama Challengers.

Despite their busy schedules, HBO top executive Casey Bloys confirmed earlier this year that “the same core cast” will be returning for Euphoria season three.

“There’s been a lot of back and forth,” he told Variety in June. “One of the issues I think that [Levinson] is thinking about is that he doesn’t want to have it in high school anymore.”

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Bloys continued: “That’s where it was set and what made sense then. So when you take it out of that, there’s a lot of back and forth about where to set it and how far in the future. But I think he’s got a take that he’s excited about, and he’s busy writing”.

The delay of Euphoria’s third season was inevitable due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes in 2023, while further complications arose following the death of actor Angus Cloud.

HBO drama chief Francesca Orsi previously said the new installment was expected to air in 2025.

Meanwhile, Levinson has stated that the new season will be set around five years after the events of season two, adding that it will be “film noir” style and focused on Zendaya’s Rue, as she “explores what it means to be an individual with principles in a corrupt world.”

During its second season, Euphoria became HBO’s second most watched show behind Game of Thrones, with episodes averaging 16.3m viewers.

JOEY Essex has sparked romance rumours with another Love Islander.

The 34-year-old, who took part in the ITV2 dating show earlier this year, split from co-star Jessy Potts in September.

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After being a single man for a few months, he’s now been linked to a fellow Islander after spotting a telling clue.

One fan pointed out on Reddit: “Joey Essex and Samie Elishi?

“They seem to be liking each others posts alot 🤔 from what I can remember he barely liked Jessie’s and they were an actual couple. Anyone have tea?”

But some Love Island fans were left confused.

One asked: “Is Samie single?”

Another said: “Wasn’t she dating Harry from the only way is Essex?? What happened there.”

A third questioned: “doesnt she have a bf?”

The Sun revealed that Samie and Harry Lee had secretly been dating for months.

They then went Instagram official a month later and Samie told us that their romance was “going strong” after years of friendship.

But then in September it was revealed they went their separate ways.

A source said: “In recent months they have grown apart and decided it was better to remain friends.

“They tried their best to make things work but some things just aren’t meant to be.

“They decided to call it quits but wish each other the best.”

Samie shot to fame on Love Island in 2023 and found love with Tom Clare, however they split months later.

Meanwhile Harry was on Towie between 2019 and 2021.

He has dated the likes of Chloe Brockett and Frankie Sims.

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ESPN host Stephen A Smith has named several factors he thinks contributed to Kamala Harris’s devastating loss to President-elect Donald Trump.

Speaking on Wednesday’s (November 6) episode of his The Stephen A Smith Show podcast, Smith said Harris’s overwhelming amount of celebrity endorsements – from the likes of Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey – was a major reason she lost the election.

“In fairness, I don’t think anybody should be laying the Party’s loss at [Harris’s] feet,” the sports commentator prefaced. “In the end, celebrities, who are worth hundreds of millions, if not billions, who most American citizens feel are incredibly detached from their way of life and their quality of life, were not going to get away and guilt them into doing something different than what their experience says is going on and what they should do about it.”

Going on to cite the former First Lady’s Kalamazoo rally speech, in which she told the audience that a Black man’s “vote for [Trump] is a vote against us,” Smith fired back: “If we don’t agree with you, we’re against you?

“How do you think the men felt about that? So we have to do what you tell us to do; otherwise, we’re anti-you? You thought that worked? Do y’all know anything about most men? You think that’s going to work?”

Smith also referenced one of Winfrey’s previous comments, in which she told rallygoers that a Trump victory would mean they’d never vote again.

“Who believed that,” he questioned. “This is the kind of stuff that alienates an electorate, alienates a voter.”

In a Thursday (November 7) episode, Smith admitted: “I expected a tough, tight race. What we witnessed was an annihilation. This was supposed to last, this debate about the election and how many votes, it was supposed to last probably until Thursday, Friday, maybe even into the weekend. Ladies and gentlemen, Fox News called it at 2am.

“It was that of an annihilation,” he said, labeling Trump’s return to the White House “the greatest comeback probably in American history.”

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Smith joins the firing squad of political talking heads who are searching for people to blame for Trump’s election victory.

Many have pointed fingers at Harris, who they argued failed to distance herself from the Biden administration, while some progressives have argued that she simply didn’t appeal enough to the working class. Others have even blamed Joe Biden himself, who they say took far too long to drop out of the race.

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Actor June Spencer, who delighted listeners to The Archers – including royalty – for decades with her role as strong-minded Peggy Woolley, has died at the age of 105.

She was the last surviving member of the original cast of the BBC Radio 4 serial.

Her many fans over the years included Queen Camilla, who in 2021 invited her to Clarence House to mark the show’s 70th anniversary, calling her a “true national treasure who has been part of my life, and millions of others, for as long as I can remember”.

Spencer first appeared in The Archers’ pilot episode in 1950, and on air, her storylines saw her character deal with the fallout from alcoholism, gambling and bereavement.

A few years after the show’s launch in 1951, Spencer took a break to focus on her young family, and Thelma Rogers replaced her in the role. She returned in 1961 and remained in the role until her retirement in 2022.

Peggy was often viewed as a traditionalist, a conservative character in the long-running drama, which charts the ups and downs of life in the fictional village of Ambridge.

Peggy’s first husband, Jack Archer, was a gambler and an alcoholic, and her second, Jack Woolley, played by Arnold Peters, suffered from dementia, which led to her being involved in a moving storyline long before the condition became a national talking point.

Spencer’s family shared a statement revealing that the actor had died peacefully in her sleep on Friday (8 November).

“Her family would like to pay particular tribute and thanks to the staff team at Liberham Lodge, who so lovingly cared for her in the last two years,” the statement read.

Spencer, whose TV credits included Doctors, was praised by her former co-star Graham Seed when she announced her retirement, aged 103, in August 2022. He hailed her “remarkable strength and resilience”.

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In a storyline that resonated with real life, Peggy’s second husband, Jack, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2001 – one year after the death of Spencer’s husband of 59 years, Roger Brocksom, from the disease. Spencer and Brocksom had two adopted children: a son, David, who died of alcoholism in 2015, and a daughter, Ros.

Spencer, who had cared for Brocksom since 1992, said during a 2010 appearance on Desert Island Discs: “To start [work on that storyline] so soon after Roger’s death was hard. It gave me wonderful opportunities as an actress, of course, but it was difficult.”

She said that the scriptwriters had offered her the chance to change elements that “didn’t feel right”, but Spencer rejected this suggestion as she found that the scenes were “written beautifully”.

For her services to broadcasting and charity, Spencer was awarded an OBE in 1991 and a CBE in 2017.

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She was given an honorary degree by the University of Nottingham as a Doctor of Letters in 2012, and two years later she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement award at the 2014 BBC Audio Drama Awards.

Radio 4 controller Mohit Bakaya led the tributes to Spencer, calling her “a longstanding presence and companion for Radio 4 listeners during her exceptional run on The Archers”.

He continued: “Many have grown up with June as Peggy, and listened as she journeyed through life’s many chapters, with all of its ups and downs. In her later years, her portrayal of a devoted wife caring for a husband with dementia, including their very moving final goodbye, was deeply poignant and powerful radio.

“We send all our love and condolences to June’s family and the many people whose lives she touched.”

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Jeremy Howe, who has been editor of The Archers since 2018, said that working with Spencer had been “one of the great privileges of my time at the BBC”, adding: “June Spencer wasn’t just a brilliant Peggy Woolley, the ultimate matriarch of Ambridge, but a brilliant actress.

“I only ever worked with her in radio, but her technique, her precision, her delivery were flawless. One of the cast once remarked that in all her time in the show, he had only ever heard her fluff her lines the once.

“She was an actress who revelled in her craft, someone who could score a bullseye with a gently insulting cough as if it were a bon mot from Oscar Wilde.

“She was also a great company member – funny, sharp, warm, never gossipy, but with wonderful stories of the early days of radio drama; self-deprecating and a great companion.”

STRICTLY judge Craig Revel Horwood didn’t hold back as he spoke about one of the show’s fan favourites on It Takes Two tonight.

The 59-year-old said that the celebrity “still needs to work on a lot of things”.

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Craig appeared on this evening’s instalment of the Strictly spin-off with host Fleur East.

During their chat, Fleur asked him why he was giving Chris MacCausland such low scores – on average he’s been giving him 6.

Craig said: “He still needs to work on a lot of things.

“Yes, I think that people at home are falling in love with him, which is absolutely fine, but technically his frame is not great.

“I mean it has improved, don’t get me wrong, but he needs to work on that.

“To work on her shoulders.

“They keep raising.

“He needs to work on his posture, so still a lot of work to do.”

Chris is partnered with Dianne Buswell in the BBC competition.

The pair placed eighth on the leaderboard last week with 29 points.

Last month Chris took a swipe at the judges and show bosses.

Chris McCausland, 47, was the first celebrity to take to the dance floor on Halloween week.

Chris made a dig at show bosses as he warned them that he would be “having words” if he had to do it again.

“It was horrible,” the comedian joked. “I didn’t like going on first and if they put me on first again, we’re gonna be having words.”

After his dance, the judges said that there was “too much bounce”.

“I overcompensated with enthusiasm. And basically, you’re not allowed to be enthusiastic doing a samba,” he sarcastically quipped.

Adding: “You’re not allowed to have fun. I had too much fun, and I got penalised for it.”