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Strictly Come Dancing professional Jowita Przystal has revealed the secret code that she and her dance partner Pete Wicks use in training sessions.

The Only Way is Essex star Wicks is competing in this year’s Strictly competition along 14 more celebrities vying for the glitterball trophy. He is partnered with Przystal, who has worked on the show since 2021.

Appearing on Wicks’s Staying Relevant podcast, which he co-presents with former Made in Chelsea star Sam Thompson, Przystal discussed her bond with Wicks – and said they instantly “connected” when they first met.

Kicking the programme off, Thompson told Przystal he couldn’t believe she had been partnered with “Britain’s sexiest man”, to which the dancer replied: “Me too!”

Przystal reflected on the first time they met, saying they “didn’t dance much” as they couldn’t stop making each other laugh.

Speaking further about their special bond, she explained they sometimes don’t need to speak to each other to communicate in training – they simply look at each other.

“Me and Pete, we have a little code already. We don’t talk. Sometimes we don’t need to speak, we just know,” explained the dancer, demonstrating her stare.

Przystal added: “We went into a circle and all the female pros switch after one eight of the dance, and we just go around each other. Every time I went to Pete, we were just laughing. We didn’t even dance. It was fun.”

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She continued: “We had this final dance together when we learnt a little bit of the routine with the choreographer. Funnily enough, they video it and sent it around to the group so everyone can remember the steps and we were in the video!”

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Przystal said that when they re-met on the pairing day, they were both wearing cowboy boots and similar outfits.

Wicks’ co-host Thompson said that Wicks called him after he had met Przystal for the first time, and seemed completely overjoyed.

Thompson said: “I don’t want to embarrass Pete but he was like, ‘I couldn’t believe it, we had the same socks, she’s the same kind of person as I am’”.

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Przystal revealed later that Wicks calls her his “little ray of sunshine”.

Appearing on BBC Two’s spin-off It Takes Two on Monday night, Wicks revealed that his favourite part of being in the competition is being in the rehearsal room with Przystal.

Wicks told presenter Janette Manrara: “I am loving it, and I didn’t think I would.

“I am loving the whole learning experience and being in the rehearsal room with Jowita is my favourite bit. She makes me happy every day.”

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Ryan Murphy has responded to Erik Menendez’s accusation that his Netflix series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is“dishonest”.

The Menendez brothers were convicted of the 1989 murders of their parents, José and Kitty. They were arrested for first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder outside their home in March 1990 and sentenced to life in prison in 1996. In 2024, new evidence emerged that has the potential to set them free.

Erik Menendez, who is serving a life sentence at the RJ Donovan Correctional Facility in California alongside Lyle, has claimed Murphy’s series, starring Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch, does not accurately portray their crime, and accused the creator of releasing “disheartening slander”.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Murphy defended the Netflix series, saying: “I think it’s interesting that he’s issued a statement without having seen the show. I know he hasn’t seen the show in prison. I hope he does see the show.”

Monsters includes the harrowing sexual abuse that Lyle and Erik alleged to have been perpetrated by their father José (Javier Bardem) but Erik Menendez has accused Murphy of distorting the truth.

Murphy responded: “Listen, I think it’s really, really hard if it’s your life to see your life up on screen. I think it’s been 30 years since that case – that’s hard.”

He added that “if you watch the show, I would say 60 to 65 per cent” of the scripted narrative centres “around the abuse and what they claim happened to them. And we do it very carefully and we give them their day in court and they talk openly about it.”

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“We present the facts from their point of view,” the Dahmer director said. “We spent three years researching it – all of that is true.”

In his statement, shared to X/Twitter, Menendez said: “I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant in the show. I can only believe they were done so on purpose.

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“It is with a heavy heart that I say, I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent.

“It is sad for me to know that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime have taken the painful truths several steps backward – back through time to an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that males were not sexually abused, and that males experienced rape trauma differently than women.

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“Those awful lies have been disputed and exposed by countless brave victims over the last two decades who have broken through their personal shame and bravely spoken out. So now Murphy shapes his horrible narrative through vile and appalling character portrayals of Lyle and of me and disheartening slander.

He continued: “Is the truth not enough? Let the truth stand as the truth. How demoralizing to know that one man with power can undermine decades of progress in shedding light on childhood trauma. Violence is never an answer, never a solution, and is always tragic.

“As such, I hope it is never forgotten that violence against a child creates a hundred horrendous and silent crime scenes darkly shadowed behind glitter and glamour and rarely exposed until tragedy penetrates everyone involved. To all those who have reached out and supported me, thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

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BBC Radio 2 presenter Vernon Kay has been forced to pull out of his regular hosting duties on orders from his doctor.

The 50-year-old presenter sounded hoarse as he shared an update on Instagram on Tuesday morning, telling his followers he had a sore throat and had been advised to go on vocal rest.

He said: “Morning everyone. Under doctor’s orders, I’m resting my voice.

“It should be alright tomorrow but I’m going to slide away from the microphone this morning and just rest the vocal chords.”

“They’re a bit strained, allegedly. Very hoarse. But I’ll be back tomorrow,” he explained.

During Kay’s show on Monday, listeners remarked that the host sounded “awful” and shouldn’t be presenting.

One listener wrote: “It’s actually a bit unprofessional in my opinion. I don’t know what @BBCRadio2 are thinking of. It’s 1 thing him going in, but Vernon wasn’t sent home sounding like that when he’s on for 2.5 hours?”

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One fan added: “WOW! Vernon Kay sounds awful this morning. His voice is almost gone. Get better soon Vern,” as another remarked Kay sounded “awful”.

Presenter Gaby Roslin, who recently covered for Zoe Ball during her extended leave of absence, is sitting in for Kay today on his mid-morning show.

Opening the show today, Roslin began: “Morning everyone, Vern usually says what the weather’s like, I can tell you, it’s raining, take your umbrella.”

She later sent her well-wishes to the All Star Family Fortunes host, saying: “Gaby in for Vernon Kay, it’s a joy to be here.”

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“Vernon, I hope your throat is feeling better. I was listening yesterday, loved the show but did worry about your throat,” she said. “So just take it easy, no talking today.”

Kay’s absence comes as Zoe Ball returned to the radio station on Monday (23 September) following a six-week-long absence.

Ball welcomed back listeners on Monday (23 September) with her lively introduction, telling them, “It’s me Zoe, the happy wanderer, I’ve wandered back” before asking if they enjoyed their “Brat summer”.

Thanking her colleague and radio presenter, Scott Mills, for filling in for her, she said: “Thank you Scott Mills for looking after the show for the week – more on that later. What have I missed? Text me! Missed ya!”

In March, Ball revealed she would be taking time off from her breakfast show to care for her mother, Julie Peckham, who was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer earlier this year. In April, Peckham died aged 74, with Roslin and Mills stepping in to cover Ball’s morning slot.

After playing her first track, Ball joked that she hadn’t been to Turkey for a “new face and teeth” during her time off, but newsreader Tina Daheley told her “you do look great though”.

Ball joked that she had “so much gossip” to catch up on with her fellow presenters before reading out messages from listeners – with many of them telling her they had missed her during her leave.

As one listener phoned in to request a song, they welcomed Zoe back, to which she replied: “Ah thank you it is lovely to be back.”