Back in early 2017, Greater Manchester was preparing to hold the inaugural elections for its first directly elected mayor. At the time, we were part of an EU funded research project exploring youth participation in politics. We attended mayoral youth hustings organised by members of local youth councils. Candidates for the position – including Andy Burnham – answered questions put to them by the young people of Manchester.

We saw how young people used tactics similar to those used by the suffragettes in Manchester’s Free Trade Hall during the 1905 general election campaign. They repeatedly lobbied every mayoral candidate for the creation of a Youth Assembly.

The northern English city of Manchester has played a critical role in the development of Andy Burnham’s political and social outlook. This series considers what some have dubbed Manchesterism and what it might mean for the future of the UK.

Samuel Remi Akinwale, now the CEO of Young Manchester – a non-profit connecting youth services in the city – was then studying for his GCSEs. He challenged Burnham, explaining how many of his peers felt left behind and disconnected from politics.

Burnham gave a powerful reply with a message that still resonates through his speeches today. Westminster must change and things cannot go on as they are, he said. He emphasised that listening to young people must be at the forefront of reimagining democracy.

When Burnham was elected as Mayor, he committed to the creation of the Greater Manchester Youth Combined Authority (GMYCA). The establishment of the GMYCA was supported by an already existing local community and voluntary sector organisation, Youth Focus North West which has a strong track record of supporting youth voice, participation and advocacy work.

This unique approach to devolution aimed to put youth at the heart of city-region policy.

Developing policy

Many of the current youth initiatives in Manchester have emerged from an established dialogue between GMYCA and Burnham. These include the creation of Our Pass, the city-region’s free bus travel scheme for 16 to 18-year-olds, and the strong advocacy for a green agenda through the contribution of young people at Greater Manchester’s annual Green Summits.

They also include the ongoing development of the Greater Manchester Baccalaureate, an educational pathway focusing on technical education.

The young people who act as representatives from a variety of community and voluntary organisations to form GMYCA are from diverse identities and backgrounds. However, although GMYCA is now an established route that young people can use to influence youth initiatives and feel politically engaged, not all may feel seen and heard.

Manchester has become the fastest growing economy in the UK, yet the city has the third highest proportion of children living in poverty across the country.
Campaigners have highlighted the disparities that affect young people from ethnic minority backgrounds in the city in particular.

Our study showed that narrow understandings of what counts as political engagement, through formalised structures such as GMYCA, can limit levels of participation.

À lire aussi :
Manchester Baccalaureate: how the proposed vocational GCSE route would work – and the pitfalls it must avoid

However, Manchester is also home to various community arts organisations such as The Agency. Projects like these enable young people to initiate creative projects to reinvent how their communities are represented and understood, which can build other paths for political engagement. For example, in its play Census, theatre company Malandra Jacks – made up of former members of The Agency – reinvents harmful portrayals of working-class communities to show the importance of youth and community spaces.

In such attempts, young people momentarily experience a kind of hope that their lives might be understood and represented differently. If “hope in every heart” – as promised by Burnham recently – is to become a reality, then we must demand new ways of thinking and responding to the challenge of racialised and class-based stereotypes.

This starts by engaging with young people’s everyday struggles, and creating opportunities for them to work with youth and community workers who can support their efforts to be at the forefront of reimagining democracy.

The saying goes that ‘inside every fat person there’s a thin one trying to get out’. But inside one of my thin friends there’s a fat child – herself, between the ages of eight and 18.

That was the decade when her weight ballooned, when furtive chocolate binges meant her thighs rubbed together and when changing for PE became a torture for her.

This being the era of The Goonies, she became known as Chunk, the character who famously did the ‘truffle shuffle’: lifting up his shirt to wobble his belly. And yes, she was teased many times to do the same.

One day in biology class my friend – then 12 – was learning about body mass index (BMI). Along with her classmates she was required to measure her height and weight before chalking up these figures on the blackboard. She still burns with the humiliation of it.

The sense of self she developed then – ashamed, alienated, embarrassed – has never left her, even though she is now slim.

She might be a successful 50-something with no need for Spanx but inside she’s still Chunk. The weight was shed but not the feelings attached.

Being overweight as a child can make it hugely difficult to be healthy in adulthood – with 80 per cent of obese adolescents becoming obese adults. And it is now alarmingly common. By the time they reach the last year of primary school, 22 per cent of children are obese, with a further 13 per cent overweight.

This is both a national crisis and a disaster for the children – which is why we should hear out the scientists who are advocating weight loss medication for those as young as six.

A new study led by the University of Western Ontario in Canada analysed weight-loss trials involving 756 overweight children between the ages of six and 17. Children using older GLP-1 drugs for obesity (rather than diabetes) lost 11lb (5kg) on average, while those taking semaglutide – which we know better as Ozempic and Wegovy – shed on average an astonishing 2st 12lb (18kg). One of the academics, Dr Manpreet Kaur Oberoi, said the medicines were ‘significantly efficient in lowering the BMI, weight, heart rate and systolic blood pressure and in improving quality of life, while maintaining a manageable safety profile’.

Surely – if the benefits outweigh the risks – this must be considered for children suffering from the mental and physical problems that come with obesity.

I know many readers will reel in horror: ‘What kind of society have we become when we’re considering jabbing young children to lose weight?’ But reality is telling us extreme measures are needed.

In England alone about 1.2million children are ‘significantly obese’. They will struggle to lose weight as they get older, since excess weight during formative years establishes permanent fat cells and hardwires neural pathways. If that ‘puppy fat’ does hang around, they’re facing a lifetime of health problems: heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, cancer, joint issues – not to mention crushingly low self-esteem, problems with relationships and potentially an inability to work.

I know, I know: it’s the parents’ fault. We see children who are overweight and immediately assume the parents weaned them on Greggs sausage rolls.

I can’t help judging myself – but I also feel a lot of sympathy for fellow parents in 2026, because it’s harder than ever to avoid calorific temptation. Those in their 60s and above talk in misty-eyed fashion of childhoods spent playing outside for hours, stealing an apple from Farmer Giles’ tree by way of a treat – meaning they were all thin as whippets.

While it is a parent’s job to tell children ‘no’, mother-of-four Clare Foges admits she struggles with this. Those who treat their kids with sugar to make them happy shouldn’t be sneered at

But that was then. Now, most parents wouldn’t dare let their children out of their sight for fear of muggers or paedophiles. Now a lot of playing fields are gone and the youth clubs closed. Now there is 24-hour kids TV, not the two hours a day we had in my childhood. And now each supermarket trip offers an unimaginable smorgasbord of treats, from KitKat cereal to Krispy Kremes: crack cocaine for young palates.

Yes, it’s our job as parents to say ‘no’ – but as a mother who sometimes struggles to say it myself, I feel for those who can only treat their children with sugary things.

It’s all very well for middle-class mums to sneer at the sugar-pushing feckless parents but if you’ve got money for trips to Legoland or the seaside or new toys, you’ve got other ways of making your child happy. What if all you’ve got is a few quid for an ice cream?

Besides, what does it matter if it’s the parents’ fault? Some might say it’s abusive to let your child get fat but we’re not going to start banging people up for that, are we?

Some will say we should educate parents more but we’ve done that to death, through numerous public health campaigns such as The Eatwell Guide, Change4Life and Better Health.

Against the temptations of ultra-processed food – which is cheap and easy and everywhere – the education strategy just doesn’t work. So what do we do for our 1.2million obese children, aside from throwing our hands up in the air? I vote for a strategy that has already proven to work: weight-loss injections.

Of course the idea of medicating young children is uncomfortable. And of course it shouldn’t be for children who are just a little plump.

But for those like my friend – who still bears the scars – it could be the intervention that doesn’t just change their life but saves it.

Mel C is the bride, Geri, not you! 

Spot the bride. With both Geri and Mel C in long white dresses at the latter’s wedding, it’s not easy. 

I know Geri wears the same colour every day because she says that way ‘everything matches’, but surely she knows you don’t wear white out of respect to the bride? 

Mel C reunited with her former bandmates – Mel B, Geri Halliwell-Horner and Emma Bunton – at her wedding last week. But did Ginger Spice’s white ensemble upstage the bride?

Advertisement

While her floor-length number was pretty, wearing it was plain rude.

My tedious three-hour Odyssey 

I went to see The Odyssey this week, fawned over by critics as the most amazing film since the invention of celluloid. While it was good in parts, nearly three hours is just too long for any film. 

Frankly, by the end I didn’t care if Odysseus made it home or not.

The Odyssey, featuring Matt Damon and Zendaya, was good in parts but, ultimately, did not live up to the hype, Clare Foges says

Advertisement

One in five people lie about their height on dating apps – particularly men, since they think many women will only want tall partners. But there’s a basic flaw in this ruse, when into the bar walks not a six-footer but Ronnie Corbett. Having been attracted to men of varying heights in my dating days, I would tell shorter men not to fib. Simply market yourself online as ‘fun-size’.

While I wish Holly Willoughby every success with her new YouTube show, I doubt many will tune in. We British will overlook many sins, but jumping a queue, as the former This Morning TV presenter did for the Queen’s lying in state? Unforgiveable.

Mums have a right to peace, too 

In France they are turning all sorts of spaces into child-free zones: hotels, restaurants, even train carriages. Their Human Rights Commission has just published a report sounding the alarm about this ‘worrying phenomenon’. I don’t know. As a mother of four noisy children I get the need for adults-only spaces. Yes, children should be seen as well as heard – but what about our human right to have a coffee in peace, too?

One of the pilots was rushed to hospital for a 12-hour operation after he suffered food poisoning – along with his colleagues – while flying to Heathrow

Advertisement

Three British Airways pilots have simultaneously suffered food poisoning mid-flight.

The pilots were on board a British Airways flight to Heathrow when they fell ill after a stopover in India.

The first pilot was “incapacitated” at 30,000 ft in the air and was required to be put on oxygen. The two other pilots continued to operate the aircraft but their symptoms worsened.

British Airways said passenger safety was “not compromised”.

One of the pilots required serious medical care upon landing.

The Sun reported that the pilot underwent a 12-hour operation after being taken to hospital once he was rescued him from the pit.

The pilots had shared breakfast in a hotel lounge in Hyderabad, but drank bottled water from an external company.

The pilots all filed Air Safety Reports and were asked to provide samples so doctors could try to pinpoint the source.

British Airways are now reviewing their hotel options.

Cleveland Police said officers used a drone to spot two males with a suspected stolen bike in a field area off Hoskins Way yesterday.

The search took place around 12.20pm on Tuesday (July 21), and police then watched a suspected drug deal take place.

As plain-clothed officers moved in to intercept the pair, one of them tried to start the motorbike but failed.

Both suspects then made a run for it.

Their escape attempt hit a literal stumbling block when they tried to climb a garden fence, which collapsed underneath them.

On social media, the force posted the drone footage alongside comical references to the film ‘Hot Fuzz’ and its famous fence‑jumping scenes.

The force joked about the suspects’ less‑than‑graceful effort at a garden‑fence getaway.

Officers from Middlesbrough’s Community Action Team and the Task Force, which specifically targets ‘criminal use of bikes’, caught up with one of the suspects in the back garden of a nearby property.

A 14-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of offences including possession with intent to supply class A and class B drugs, and theft of a motor vehicle.

Suspected cocaine, cannabis and cash were recovered from the scene, along with a motorbike that had been reported stolen in the Durham area.

A subsequent search of a property also uncovered further quantities of cannabis.

Cleveland Police said enquiries into the incident remain ongoing.

Warning: this review contains spoilers for The Odyssey.

Christopher Nolan’s US$250m (£187m), three-hour epic starring Matt Damon as the Greek king fighting his way home from Troy took more than $264m on its opening weekend – comfortably tripling the opening take of his Oscar-winning Oppenheimer in 2023.

It has earned Nolan the best reviews of his career. But crucially, it is the most ambitious attempt in a generation to put Homer’s 3,000-year-old poem back at the centre of popular culture. The heroism Nolan’s film depicts is far darker and far less triumphant than audiences might expect. It is also a film built for the biggest screen.

Nolan shot the film entirely on IMAX’s 70mm cameras, a first for any feature, carrying cast and crew across Morocco, Greece, Sicily, Iceland and the northeast of Scotland.

The result swings between extreme long shots of sea, stone and sky and extreme close-ups of faces, between monumental sets and claustrophobic caves and courtyards. It is unmistakably, a film in conversation with Nolan’s previous work. But also with a century of screen epics, from the blood and grandeur of Gladiator (2000) and Troy (2004), back to the forgotten silent versions of the Trojan story that German and Italian studios made more than a century ago.

Nolan borrows from other genres too: horror creeps into the Cyclops’ cave, supernatural elements into Circe’s hall, comic book action-adventures into Agamemnon’s armour, and literature and the visual arts supply their own echoes, from Dante’s and Virgil’s rival accounts of Ulysses (the Latin name for Odysseus) to Goya’s cannibal god Saturn, glimpsed in the Cyclops’ feast.

With Damon as his central character, Nolan has embraced the actor’s established image as a rugged, dutiful soldier to build a very different kind of Odysseus, defined less by guile and cunning than by determination and guilt.

Of an accomplished female cast – Anne Hathaway (Penelope), Zendaya (Athena), Lupita Nyong’o (Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra), Samantha Morton (Circe), Charlize Theron (Calypso) – only Hathaway’s Penelope is given the material to show real depth.

Robert Pattinson’s scheming suitor Antinous and John Leguizamo’s devoted swineherd Eumaeus are the strongest supporting performances. Tom Holland plays Odysseus’ son Telemachus – an actor coming of age playing a character coming of age. The jury is out on whether the maturity comes through.

Cutting the gods, doubling down on Troy

The film keeps Homer’s three-part shape – a son’s search for his father, Odysseus’s own account of his travels, the killing of his wife’s suitors – while reworking nearly everything inside it.

The gods are largely gone: there is no council on Olympus, Athena is reduced to a couple of coaching cameos, whereas Zeus and Poseidon become the elemental forces of thunder and sea storms.

Odysseus’ own father Laertes never reappears, the suitors’ souls never descend to the underworld, and Penelope’s test of the marriage bed vanishes along with much of the poem’s dialogue, including the Cyclops’ famous “Nobody” trick, replaced here by a wordless dash for the cave mouth.

The single biggest cut is the Phaeacians’ island, roughly a third of the poem, where Odysseus is welcomed, tells his story and is sent home in comfort. Nolan replaces it with a lotus-drugged, amnesiac Odysseus slowly recovering his own story for one listener, the goddess Calypso, and returning home a castaway.

The single biggest addition is Troy itself: the horse, the lie, the sack of the city, restaged again and again from different angles until a legendary victory starts to look like a crime scene.

A homecoming that resists closure

None of this feels indulgent; every spectacle is tied directly to the story Nolan is telling, and that story is a bleak one. Its subject is the price of action – what is owed to family, fellow citizens, strangers, animals, the natural world – and the unreliability of memory once survivors start shaping their ordeal into a story that flatters them.

The film’s own framing device makes the same point: Nolan casts the rapper Travis Scott as the bard who opens the action, explicitly linking Homer’s sung, oral tradition to hip-hop’s, a reminder that this poem took shape by being performed aloud.

It unfolds at the edge of a dark age, amid the terror of raiders “from the sea” and the film’s sharpest move is to let us notice, slowly, that its own heroes are those raiders.

Fittingly, the film refuses a happy ending. Odysseus reaches Ithaca, but then leaves again. But not as an adventurer this time (as is sometimes presented in modern versions of the myth) or to appease Poseidon (as foretold in Homer), but as a self-imposed exile doing penance for his unburied companions and the harm he caused in getting home.

Ridley Scott’s Gladiator relaunched the epic for cinemagoers a quarter of a century ago with an uncompromising hero saving a broken world. Now Nolan’s Odyssey does the same for a new generation with the opposite figure: a traumatised hero whose own violence helped break it. That makes it a braver film than its trailers suggest.

The more interesting question now is what comes next. Whether future screen epics keep chasing Gladiator’s model, where the hero pays with his own life and stays morally whole, or Nolan’s, where the hero survives and has to live with the cost he has made others pay.

Free parking will be available from 3pm in four council-owned car parks

The launch of free parking in a Cambridgeshire city centre will begin next month after the council approved funding for the project. Peterborough City Council’s cabinet met on Tuesday (July 21) and members agreed to accept funding to deliver free parking at four council-owned car parks in the city.

The funding is from the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA). The first day of free parking in four council-owned car parks will be Monday, August 3.

These four locations will be:

• Bishops Road;
• Car Haven;
• Riverside;
• Pleasure Fair Meadow.

Parking at the above locations will be free after 3pm from Monday to Friday.

The scheme was pledged by Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Paul Bristow in his manifesto. The Mayor committed £1.5 million in his budget to bring free parking to both Peterborough and Huntingdonshire.

“I said I would bring free parking and it’s happening this summer,” Mayor Bristow previously said. “I made this pledge because I believe our city centre needs a lift.”

The aim of the free parking scheme, which will be run on a time-limited trial, is to bring in more footfall to support local businesses, and increase the health and vibrancy of the evening economy. The proposal, which was unanimously approved by the cabinet, will be trialled until March 31, 2028.

Councillor Christian Hogg asked the meeting about what would happen in two years when the CPCA funding for the scheme ends. In reply Councillor Mohammed Jamil said that “so long as we keep getting this funding, this will stay in place”.

If there is no further funding when the scheme ends, the charges would be reinstalled.

The Saturday presentation was at Brewhemian Hopsody, in Broadway, Fulford, which only opened last September in a former shop.

Karl Smith, presenting the award, praised rookie couple Katie and Amanda, who have made such a success of the venue, with it also receiving rave reviews online, including five stars out of five on Tripadvisor.

RECOMMENDED READING:

Karl said: “Often the pubs we pick are long established favourites of the good beer-drinking community and of course deserving of that support.

“Depressingly many pubs continue to close, particularly those out of the town centres in residential estates, but there are some new ones being opened like this one.

“New people are the lifeblood of the Trade and it’s fitting that Brewhemian Hopsody, although open for less than a year, has won this accolade. With their passion and enthusiasm, they have established a gem of a pub in an area not well served.”

“It has a friendly welcome, great ambience, good quality real ales and keg beers and a large range of cans and bottles so whatever your tipple, you can find it here. Fulford you lucky people!”

Receiving the certificate, Katie thanked Camra and customers for their support, saying without them it would not have been possible.

Katie said afterwards that presentation night saw both the pub and its garden full, with both CAMA members and regulars.

She told the Press: “We feel really honoured and privileged to have been nominated, let alone won. We’ve put a tremendous amount of hard work in, both in front of house but behind the scenes too. There’s a lot that goes on that people (understandably) don’t see and it can be exhausting. So to know we’re doing things right means the world to us.”

“We’re also passionate about good quality beer and have extremely high standards and it seems to be paying off, in what let’s face it is an extremely tough industry.”

Since the award was announced in May, and being part of the Ale Trail, Brewhemian Hopsody has received a boost from extra CAMRA members popping in.

Katie continued: “We’d love to seen some more people coming to visit us from accross the city. We’ve got excellent bus links with buses from Acomb, Derwenthorpe and the University stopping right outside the door. The 415 from Selby and the 7 park and ride stop on the main road so it’s just a couple of minutes walk. 

Katie believes what makes the pub special is that she and Amanda work the ‘vast majority’ of hours themselves, to “make sure we add that personal touch, the friendly welcome and the specialist knowledge craft beer requires.  We also have a couple of amazing staff who replicate our high standards and values.”

“We are very selective about the beer we put on. We get sent a lot of samples that simply don’t make it through our selection process. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad beer, it’s just not for us and what we want to sell.”

She continued: “We love what we do and I think it shows. I left my corporate job to open the business because I wanted to have more interaction with people.

“Hospitality is all about people and if you don’t have people, you don’t have a business and therefore a grunt from an unenthusiastic staff member just isn’t going to cut it! 

“We want people to visit, we want people to sit and chat to us and we want a place where a community can connect and have a place to come.”

Katie added Brewhemian Hopsody will stage a first birthday party on September 19 and an Oktoberfest Weekend during September 25-27. It also runs a quiz every Tuesday at 7pm.

It’s frustrating when someone parks on your private property. Here’s what you can legally do about it

Few situations in life can be quite as maddening as this. You wake up one morning or return home from work one evening to discover that someone has parked on your driveway.

For most of us, the instinctive reaction would likely be that this is completely unacceptable and a matter for the police. After all, it’s your property! However, you would be mistaken.

Journalist Steffan Rhys consulted legal and motoring experts to establish what you can actually do when someone parks on your driveway. They all gave the same response and, crucially, they all highlighted specific actions you absolutely must take — and one thing you categorically should not.

Paul Britton, CEO of Britton and Time law firm in London and Brighton, said: “If someone actually parks on your drive it’s trespass, a civil matter, not usually a crime. That means police often won’t attend unless there’s aggravation (threats, damage, breach of the peace).”

Advertisement

What to do if someone has parked in your driveway

Paul advised taking the following steps:

• Put a clear, polite note on the windscreen asking them to move and giving a time limit.
• If you can identify them locally, ask them directly – but be sure to remain calm and courteous
• If it continues, consider a solicitor’s warning letter and then civil action if needed.

Nevertheless, he warned: “You can’t clamp them. Private clamping is generally unlawful. If someone dumps a car on your drive the law gives you civil remedies but no quick DIY removal route. Don’t damage it, push it into the road, block it in, clamp it or tow it. Don’t get into a confrontation – especially if you’re filming or they are.”

Even if your own vehicle is boxed in by a thoughtless driver, there is no simple or instant remedy at your disposal. Paul explained: “If your car is blocked in on your own drive, you’re again into obstruction/enforcement territory – start with the council (if on the road) and police only if there’s danger, threats or serious obstruction.”

Richard Evans, head of technical services at We Buy Any Car, offered similar advice: “If a vehicle is parked on your private drive without permission, this is usually a civil matter rather than a criminal one, and councils will not normally intervene. You should not block the vehicle in or attempt to clamp it yourself, as this could lead to legal trouble. Instead, try to locate the owner and take photos for evidence. If it becomes a recurring issue, clear signage or legal advice may be appropriate, but a calm and proportionate response is always recommended.”

Advertisement

Is it illegal for another person to park in your driveway?

It may come as a surprise to learn that leaving a car on someone else’s driveway is not actually a criminal offence. Rather, it constitutes the civil offence of trespass, meaning police involvement is unlikely unless there are additional aggravating factors, reports the Express.

Even your local council may face limitations regarding the action it can take. The Road Traffic Act 1991 transferred responsibility for parking enforcement to local authorities, who can only intervene if the offence occurs on a public highway — that is, the road itself.

Should a vehicle be obstructing a driveway while parked on a public road, the council is able to intervene, most likely by issuing a penalty. However, when a vehicle is parked on a driveway, it is technically situated on private land, meaning the council lacks the authority to remove it.

If the vehicle has evidently been abandoned, the local authority would be obliged to remove it irrespective of whether it is on public or private property. That said, if the car has valid tax, insurance and MOT and does not pose a danger, the council is unable to take action.

How can I prevent someone from parking in my driveway?

Jonathan Such, motoring expert at vehicle finance provider First Response Finance, offered the following recommendations:

• Clearly mark your driveway with visible signage such as ‘Private Driveway – No Parking’ — this can act as a strong deterrent
• Keep access points clear and well defined, repainting faded dropped kerb markings where permitted or installing driveaway markings, which can also help remove any ambiguity.

Meanwhile, John Wilmot, CEO of car leasing comparison site LeaseLoco.com, said that “while the most effective way to protect your property is installing a driveway gate, putting out simple deterrents like parking bollards or posts, cones and signs can also help to prevent strangers from parking in your driveway”.

What should I do and not do if someone parks in my driveway?

More than 10 legal and car experts provided their perspective on what you could do if someone else’s car is parked on your driveway, and their advice was remarkably consistent.

DO:

• Try and find out who the driver is
• Leave a polite note on the car explaining that your drive is private property and asking them to please not do it again
• Take pictures of the car in your driveway
• Get legal advice if it continues, as you may be entitled to pursue civil proceedings and the courts have the power to have the car removed (although this could prove expensive)
• If the vehicle appears to have been abandoned indefinitely, notify the council, which may remove it from private land where appropriate.
• Fit a driveway gate, position straightforward deterrents such as parking bollards or posts, cones and signage to discourage and stop strangers from parking on your driveway.

DO NOT:

• Clamp, damage, or tow the vehicle without lawful authority
• Push the car into the road.

A former EastEnders star and Cambridgeshire local has swapped Albert Square for Ancient Greece in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.

Former EastEnders actor Himesh Patel is now a Hollywood star following his shock exit from the BBC soap 10 years ago.

The 35-year-old was born in Huntingdon before swapping his quiet life in Cambridgeshire to become a movie star.

In Himesh’s latest role, he stars in Sir Christopher Nolan’s film The Odyssey, an adaptation of Homer’s Ancient Greek epic that was released in cinemas on Friday, July 16.

The movie sees Matt Damon as Odysseus, the Greek King of Ithaca, during his treacherous decade-long voyage home following the Trojan War, while Himesh portrays Odysseus’ dependable second-in-command, Eurylochus.

Acclaimed actors Zendaya, Tom Holland, and Robert Pattinson also star in the movie, which marks the first feature film ever captured entirely using IMAX cameras, leaving Himesh surprised that Nolan offered him the role.

“It’s not what I was expecting when I got the call”, he admitted to Men’s Health: “They’re offering me a role? I thought I auditioned for Tenet.

“I wasn’t expecting to be in a bracket of actors that he would just offer a role, and it’s a great role! I got to do some really special stuff. And it all came out of nowhere.”

Viewers of The Odyssey have been praising Himesh for his performance in the movie, with one person writing on X: “What an awesome performance from Himesh Patel.”

A second stated: “Not enough people are giving Himesh Patel his praises, he was astounding,” while a third chimed in: “Put Himesh Patel in everything!”

“HIMESH PATEL APPRECIATION!!!!!!! Great work and also he’s in it way way more than I expected him to be,” added another.

Who was Himesh Patel in EastEnders?

Advertisement

Himesh will be a familiar figure to many viewers, having portrayed Tamwar Masood, the somewhat bookish son of the Masood household, on EastEnders from 2007 to 2016.

After a lot of family drama, he eventually departed Walford to explore the globe with Nancy Carter (Maddy Hill), whom he subsequently wed, though the marriage ended in divorce, reports the Mirror.

In 2016, after almost ten years in the role, Himesh chose to leave EastEnders to explore new opportunities in his acting career.

The decision appears to have proved astute, as he has now become a film star with his latest appearance in the blockbuster The Odyssey.

Following his departure from EastEnders, Himesh has secured prominent roles in various major productions, including Danny Boyle’s Beatles-themed picture Yesterday (2019) and Christopher Nolan’s time-bending thriller Tenet.

Additionally, he appeared as the love interest of Jennifer Lawrence’s character in the Netflix apocalyptic drama Don’t Look Up.

The Odyssey is available to watch in various cinemas across the UK

Delicious Orie has weighed in on the debate around Joe Joyce’s future, after his fellow Commonwealth champion suffered his fifth loss in six fights.

Joyce, 40, won Commonwealth gold for England and Olympic silver for Britain before turning professional and winning his first 15 fights – even stopping Daniel Dubois, Joseph Parker and Carlos Takam.

However, the heavyweight’s sole win since 2022 is a late stoppage of Kash Ali in 2024, which came after back-to-back KOs by Zhilei Zhang and preceded a hat-trick of defeats: points losses to Derek Chisora and Filip Hrgovic, and a stoppage by Artem Suslenkov this month.

Now, compatriot and fellow heavyweight Orie has given his opinion on the situation, one year after abruptly calling time on his own pro career after just one fight.

“It’s funny you say this, because I was literally having a conversation about Joe Joyce earlier,” the 29-year-old told the Independent. “It’s very interesting with Joe. Phenomenal athlete, he did exceptional as an amateur and did great things as a professional as well.

“I’m going to be honest: I think he’s overstayed his welcome.” Perhaps hinting at his own early retirement from boxing, Orie added: “If you were to ask me, if I was Joe Joyce, I would have stopped about six years ago.

“He’s at the age now where it’s like… It’s not even an age thing as well, you can see it in his performance: it’s slowing down, and it’s so obvious.

“Now, I’m in no place to say: ‘Oh, he’s done.’ At the end of the day, one of my ethos is: do something that keeps that fire going; if your ‘why’ is big enough, do it. Don’t do it for anybody else. And if that genuinely is Joe Joyce, and that’s what he believes deep down in his heart, then 100 per cent [he should carry on].

Enjoy 185+ fights a year on DAZN, the Global Home of Boxing

Advertisement

Never miss a fight from top promoters. Watch on your devices anywhere, anytime.

Buy Now

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

Enjoy 185+ fights a year on DAZN, the Global Home of Boxing

Never miss a fight from top promoters. Watch on your devices anywhere, anytime.

Advertisement

Buy Now

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

“It sounds quite extreme for me to say, but this is the mindset that you’ve got to have as an athlete: for me before the Olympic Games, it was, ‘Am I willing to die in the ring today?’ How much am I willing to sacrifice? How much can I give?’ And if it’s, ‘I’m going to give absolutely everything,’ then it doesn’t matter what the result is; go and do it.

“When I started to think, ‘I don’t think I’m going to give quite enough,’ that’s when it’s time to pull out.

“Will I ever know what’s going on in Joe Joyce’s mind? No, but I do think – definitely from a health standpoint, for the young heavyweights that are up and coming – it’s important to know when to step out. And that’s difficult to handle for some athletes. Like, it was difficult for me to step away.

“It’s sort of like you’re losing your identity in a way, something you’ve armoured yourself with over many, many years to be perceived as. To step away is almost like dropping all of that hard work. So, I can definitely see that sort of angle from Joe Joyce, but at the same time, it’s so important to look inwards; that’s where the real answer is.’”

Orie continued, “Sorry, I just wanted to add: at the end of the day, my key message is whatever you feel keeps that fire within you, do that. Don’t ever listen to anybody else, whether it’s to keep boxing or to stop boxing – it doesn’t matter. I think that’s what makes life worth living.

“If Joe Joyce doesn’t have real intrinsic motivation to do anything else, why should he stop boxing at that level? None of us can give that sort of judgment.”

HBO Max is the exclusive streaming destination for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games in the UK and Ireland, while live coverage will be available on TNT Sports for TV viewers.