Isabel, who has played Victoria Sugden in Emmerdale for nearly 20 years, is set to become a first-time mum.

The soap star filmed her final scenes in December and revealed how she was releived to be getting a break.

Emmerdale star Isabel Hodgins on taking break from ITV soap

Speaking to The Sun , she said: “I thought I would be really emotional when I filmed my final scenes.

“Emmerdale is all I have ever known. But pregnancy does funny things to you and the truth is I felt ready not to have to film on Emmerdale!

“I live in Manchester and I’ve been driving over to Leeds to film. By the end, I felt exhausted and I knew it was time to have a rest before the baby arrives.”

Isabel discovered she was pregnant shortly after getting married to her partner, Adam, in April 2025, and is expecting sometime soon.

She said: “It suddenly feels very real now. I am so excited about becoming a mum for the first time and this will be, by far and away, my biggest role I’ve ever had.

“Adam is going to be a great dad. He pours his heart into everything he does and we both feel so lucky to be having a child.”

The couple chose not to find out whether they are having a boy or a girl, with Isabel also saying how co-stars Ryan Hawley, who plays half-brother Robert, and Danny Miller, who plays Aaron Dingle, have helped her on set.

“You don’t have to go through this alone.”

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— Emmerdale (@emmerdale) February 4, 2026

She said: “Ryan is a father, so is Danny, and they have been so sweet.

“They have really spoilt me, making sure I have somewhere to sit down in between scenes.

“I remember once I’d missed breakfast and Danny went to the canteen to get me toast. They are always getting me snacks and both have been really caring.

“They are like my two naughty brothers as they also have a great sense of humour.”

Despite her break, Isabel has confirmed she will return to Emmerdale in the future.

She said: “They told me it was up to me when I come back to the soap, which is lovely.

“I’ve been in Emmerdale for 19 years and it’s been a huge part of my life. Everyone has been so nice.”

She added: “I am in my own baby bubble now.

“I will be back in time but now it’s time to be with my baby and Adam. We can’t wait to be parents.”

Which actors have been on Emmerdale the longest?

Despite Isabel having been on Emmerdale for nearly two decades, there are characters who have been on the show even longer.

Chris Chittell, who plays Eric Pollard in the ITV soap, first began in 1986, having now been on the show for 40 years, making him the longest-serving cast member in the soap’s history.

Sheila Mercier was another long-standing Emmerdale star, having played Annie Sugden in the soap from the programme’s first episode in 1972 until 1994, with a guest return in 2009.

Annie died off-screen in August 2020, aged 100.

Other long-serving characters include Steve Halliwell, who played Zak Dingle from 1994 until his death in 2023, as well as James Hooton (Sam Dingle), Mark Charnock (Marlon Dingle) and Dominic Brunt (Paddy Kirk), each playing their role since 1995, 1996 and 1997 respectively.

Several characters may have appeared longer, such as Robert Sugden since 1986, but have been played by more than one actor.

Emmerdale airs every weekday at 8pm on ITV1 and STV1, with episodes available at 7am on ITVX.

Who is your favourite character on Emmerdale? Let us know in the comments.

The Seattle Seahawks’ defensive coordinator Aden Durde says “there’s no better feeling” as his side beat the New England Patriots 29-13 to win Super Bowl 60 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

READ MORE:

Seahawks dominate Patriots to win Super Bowl

Revenge, redemption & representation – the story of Super Bowl 60

“The referee’s call of a free-kick and yellow card to Guehi for the challenge on Salah was checked and confirmed by VAR – with the challenge outside of the area and deemed not to be denial of an obvious goal scoring opportunity (DOGSO) as there was a covering defender,” they said in a statement.

Manchester United are likely to bring in a new head coach at the end of the season despite Michael Carrick automatically placing his name in the hat

Gary Neville has claimed that Manchester United have told him that they have already started looking for a permanent head coach for the 2026/27 season.

United appointed Michael Carrick on an interim basis last month after Ruben Amorim was sacked. The former United midfielder has got off to the perfect start with four wins from four games, beating Manchester City, Arsenal, Fulham and Tottenham.

Carrick’s contract runs until the end of the season, with United expected to bring in a permanent head coach for next season. However, speculation has already started linking the 44-year-old with the job on a full-time basis after his impressive start.

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Paris Saint-Germain boss Luis Enrique is one of the favourites to come to the club, with Mauricio Pochettino, Carlo Ancelotti and Thomas Tuchel all linked with the vacancy.

According to Neville, the process to bring in the new manager has already begun. Speaking on the Gary Neville podcast on Sunday after the weekend’s Premier League action, the former defender revealed insight into the decision-making process.

“I asked the club ‘what is the official position of the football club in terms of what you’re saying publicly to everybody else?’ They said ‘we’ve actually begun our process now of starting to look for another manager,’” he said.

“What they’ve said is they’re not going to be bounced into, irrespective of wins or draws or losses on the pitch in this next couple of months, making an appointment. They’re going to wait towards the end of the season… if Michael Carrick says ‘I want to put my name in the hat’, Carrick would go into a process.”

Carrick has avoided any talk about his long-term future at Old Trafford, but prior to the win over Tottenham, he dropped his first hint that he would stay if the opportunity was presented. “Nothing’s changed, to be honest,” he said.

“I’m fully aware of the role I’m doing here and the responsibility I’ve got. We want to be successful, and I want the club to be successful beyond the end of the season – if that’s me, if that’ somebody else.

“At this stage, I can’t control that and we’ll see what happens, but it’s certainly about trying to improve the team and making Manchester United stronger. Results over a short period of time don’t change that.

“If they have changed there is something wrong. It can’t be so knee-jerk whether it’s really good or whether there’s a few issues we need to solve.”

Martin and Tomas Rosinski, co-founders of OnlyCat, will appear on the BBC One show on Thursday, February 12, to present their smart pet product to Dragons Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman, Steven Bartlett and Susie Ma.

Their product is designed to use AI to detect and prevent cats from bringing prey into the home.

Martin and Tomas Rosinski, co-founders of OnlyCat (Image: OnlyCat)

Martin Rosinski, co-founder of OnlyCat, said: “Jinx is brilliant – but like many cats, she had a habit of proudly bringing home things we didn’t want brought in.

“That was the spark.

“We wanted to solve a real, everyday problem for cat owners in a way that was smart, practical, and genuinely life-improving.”

The OnlyCat flap includes an AI camera that scans each time a cat tries to enter.

If prey is detected, the flap remains locked and the owner can receive a video alert.

It also features microchip-based access control, allowing users to decide which cats can come and go.

Tom Rosinski, co-founder of OnlyCat, said: “Our goal was simple: keep the freedom cats love, while giving owners back control at the front door.

“OnlyCat is already the fastest-growing startup we’ve ever built.

“We wanted to solve a real, everyday problem for cat owners” (Image: OnlyCat)

“We’re building an incredible team, we’re seeing phenomenal feedback from customers, and demand is growing rapidly.”

The business launched through crowdfunding and has since generated more than £2 million in revenue.

The company now manufactures in the UK and ships its products worldwide.

Martin and Tomas are now supported by a senior management team, as well as engineers, designers, and software specialists.

Customer reviews have described OnlyCat as “life-changing” and “worth every penny.”

On Dragons’ Den, the brothers say they will seek investment to boost manufacturing, grow international sales, and take the business to its next stage.

The outcome of their pitch remains under wraps until the episode airs.

Dragons’ Den viewers can tune in to BBC One or BBC iPlayer at 8:00pm on Thursday, February 12 to see whether the Rosinski brothers secure investment.

The parents, whose son was diagnosed with leukaemia at just 17 months old, shared their story on the BBC show on Monday (February 9)

A dad was emotional on BBC Breakfast as he told how his toddler was diagnosed with leukaemia and almost died. Andy Hines spoke out as part of a report into the former Corby steel works in Northamptonshire, which many people believe caused birth defects and childhood cancers in the area. Its story was told in the Netflix show Toxic Town last year.

He appeared on the BBC programme on Monday (February 9) alongside his son Fraser’s mum, Alison Gaffney, who said: “Never found anger through any of this. Just hurt.”

Speaking on the show, which was hosted by Sally Nugent and Jon Kay, she said: “Our consultant just said, ‘We’re dealing with something we’ve never dealt with before. We’ve done testing, and it’s showing a really rare form of this cancer with gene rearrangements.”

“To hear your consultant say that about your son, you just break,” said Andy.

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Fraser was diagnosed at 17 months, and he is now nine, but the report said he “nearly died”.

“His life expectancy is shortened because he’s had a transplant and he’s at high risk of a secondary cancer,” said Alison.

“The amount of people we know personally that have kids with cancer, this is not normal,” said Andy.

The BBC Breakfast report said: “In its heyday, Corby steel works was the biggest in Europe. Following its closure in 1980, a huge dismantling operation got underway, which sent polluting clouds into the atmosphere… A number of babies in the area were born with abnormalities.”

It continued: “In 2009, the High Court agreed with claims that Corby Borough Council had been negligent with the clean-up of the steelworks and that there could be a link with birth defects in the area. It was a landmark case.”

The 2009 High Court case focused on limb deformities in babies potentially caused by hazardous airborne dust. Alison, Andy, and other families’ concerns are focused on where the waste was buried and whether there is a link to childhood cancer.

Corby Borough Council was abolished in 2021 and replaced by North Northamptonshire Council. Last month, they published two sets of findings on childhood cancer rates following requests by families.

They found that childhood cancer rates in Corby were no higher than elsewhere in England. The council said: “We approached this analysis with seriousness and sensitivity, ensuring the most robust methods were used and that the work was independently reviewed. The findings provide reassurance that childhood cancer rates in Corby are not higher than expected.”

Families have asked to see the raw data used to come to this conclusion. But the council has not released it, citing strict and important data protection rules.

Lawyer Des Collins, who represented families at the High Court in 2009, said: “The only way to address it, in my view, is for there to be a full statutory public employment to determine precisely what happened to this waste. Where it is, whether it can be located at the moment, whether it should be dug up at the moment. And finally, is it causing any health problems?”

BBC Breakfast’s reporter explained: “Public inquiries can only be initiated by the government. In a statement, North Northamptonshire Council said: “Our records, originally held by Corby Borough Council, do not show the movement of waste to sites other than Deene Quarry. We were made aware of a document last week that indicates some waste may have been moved to another location. And we are currently considering that information.

“At this point in time, this council does not consider that the threshold has been met to call upon the government for a public inquiry.”

BBC Breakfast airs on BBC One from 6am.

The former glamour model tied the knot with businessman Lee Andrews in Dubai last month

Katie Price has defended her decision to marry her new husband, Lee Andrews, as she told her fans she’s ‘not stupid’. The former glamour model tied the knot with the businessman in Dubai last month after a whirlwind romance.

Katie has tied the knot just months after she split from her former partner JJ Slater. She confirmed that she and Lee had married on January 25, only days after flying out to Dubai to meet him for the first time.

But now, Katie has spoken out amid concerns about her new spouse’s background. Packing her bags to visit Lee in the Middle East, the 47-year-old said in her latest YouTube video: “I’m going back to Dubai, obviously going back to see Lee. I’ve made no comments about anything, I don’t feel I need to comment about anything.

“I’m fully aware like everyone else, I see stuff, I get sent stuff. What I want everyone to know is, I’m a grown a*** woman. I’m 48 this year, I’m not a young kid. I’ve learned a lot in the past few years, through therapy and learning to love myself. So I’m not stupid, I know what I’m doing and if I’m happy that’s all that matters.”

The star continued: “At the end of the day, no one knows what I know. It’s only been speculated by the press. I am very happy and that’s all that matters. That happy I’m going back to Dubai for the weekend. So I can’t wait.”

Katie implored her fans not to be concerned about her decision to marry for the fourth time. She said: “If there’s anything to update you on, I would always update you all. But I just want people to not worry.

“I’m not worried, so you don’t need to worry about anything. Like I say, I will do what I want to do. But I want everyone to know you don’t need to worry, I’m really happy, there’s nothing to worry about. That’s all I need to address on that.”

Katie explained how she married Lee “at first sight”, with the couple exchanging vows just days after meeting in Dubai. She told The Sun newspaper: “How I met Lee was esoteric; we connected [by] both checking each others’ socials and quickly realised: ‘Wow, this is for me’.

“In the old-fashioned way, first by words which captured us both. That evolved deeper as we connected further within days [getting] matching tattoos, and then both deciding to buy rings for the other. All this without even meeting, we let fate, but you could say destiny, decide.”

She added: “I’m just so happy with my person that is just as happy as I am. What we have, they haven’t even invented the words. He has now the best version of me which can only grow more, knowing we are each others’. On the wedding, all I can say is ‘fatale’, and this was a wedding at First Sight.”

Social media has been discussing the apparent abduction of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s mother ever since news broke.

Influencers relayed the timeline from the hours after Nancy Guthrie was last seen and posted photos of the blood found on her front porch that later was a match for the 84-year-old grandmother.

Others called out individuals connected to the case as looking “sus” or filmed themselves walking through her neighborhood to help find her.

The desperate search for Guthrie, who authorities believe was taken a week ago against her will from her home just outside Tucson, Arizona, has become the latest investigation to pique the widespread interest of online armchair detectives.

As the search continues with no suspects or persons of interest, posts across Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook and YouTube have put millions of eyeballs on tips and theories surrounding her disappearance.

But they’ve also helped to amplify rumors and forced law enforcement to repeatedly set the record straight on at least one crucial detail.

Michael Alcazar, adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and retired New York Police Department detective, said overall the positives outweigh the negatives when it comes to the onslaught of social media posts.

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“More people are aware; It keeps people alert,” he said. “If they know she hasn’t been found yet, perhaps people will remember that and if they see something, they might say something.”

He compared it to the widespread online response to the disappearance and death of Gabby Petito in 2021 and the impact that may have had on her body being found.

Two YouTubers said at the time that an image they posted showed Petito and her boyfriend’s white van and that it led investigators to the area where her body was found. But the FBI didn’t specify what led to the discovery.

“I think it’s just something that we have to adapt to as far as law enforcement,” Alcazar said. “The true crime community is growing. … There’s a lot of people out there that want to help.”

But with the widespread posts also comes the proliferation of misinformation.

Ashleigh Banfield, from the cable network NewsNation, announced on her podcast Wednesday that a law enforcement source told her a Guthrie family member is the prime suspect.

She seemed to quickly walk back the statement seconds later, saying the person “may be a prime suspect,” and adding that family members are often looked at first. The information quickly took off across social media, with people posting photos of the person she named.

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Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos addressed the rumor early in a news conference Thursday, saying authorities don’t have any suspects or persons of interest. That remained the case on Friday.

“I plead with you to be careful of what it is we put out there. … You could actually be doing some damage to the case, you could do some damage to the individual, too,” he said later in the news conference. “Social media’s kind of an ugly world sometimes.”

Other posts have included a medium expressing her feeling that Guthrie is close by and a woman using astrology to point her viewers in the direction of what may have happened.

Calvin Chrustie, who has more than three decades of experience in negotiations for kidnapping, ransom and extortions, said if the public truly understood the toll those situations can have on family and law enforcement, they might not hastily post unsubstantiated information.

“This stuff on X and other stuff out there that’s pure speculation is actually making it more difficult for the families and making it more difficult to the police to secure the safe, you know, the safe return of the hostage,” he said.

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Julie Urquhart, an elementary school teacher in New Brunswick, Canada, has been posting about the case on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. She said she was drawn to the disappearance because she has a mother near Guthrie’s age and was fascinated that someone could have taken her seemingly without a trace.

Urquhart said her information comes from national news sites and law enforcement news conferences. One of her posts on TikTok and Instagram amassed more 4 million views, she said.

“That’s 4 million eyes that now saw that story and now maybe will see something or know something or know someone who does,” she said. “There’s just so many people it hits.”

“One of the mistakes of previous governments, that it’s pretty important that this Labour government doesn’t fall into, is the sort of focus on infighting, believing that constant changing of leaders is going to solve some of the very difficult problems that this country and in fact, the world faces,” she told Times Radio.