Welcome to How I Do It, the series in which we give you a seven-day sneak peek into the sex life of a stranger.

This week we hear from 38-year-old married dad-of-two Calvin*, who has been with his wife, Marie*, since 2017.

After tying the knot in 2021, they have a little boy, now four, and a girl, now two, but Calving says being busy working parents isn’t conducive to a hyper-active sex life.

‘We have sex about twice a week and I’m really happy with how my wife and I communicate and enjoy our time together,’ he says.

Despite their best efforts, they sometimes have three-week dry patches because of the demands of work and childcare.

‘I’d like my sex life to be a bit more regular and adventurous, but life gets in the way,’ he adds. ‘While we don’t schedule sex in the diary, we do make an effort to make time for each other.’

So, without any further ado, here’s how she got on this week…

The following sex diary is, as you might imagine, not safe for work.

Monday

Who has sex on a Monday? I’m half-joking.

Maybe in years gone by when I was a student it was on the cards, but as a working parent in my late 30s, sex just isn’t on the agenda at the start of the week.

I’m working from home today with plenty to get through, before picking our kids up from nursery in late afternoon.

Marie gets home just after I get back from the nursery run, and she’s had a rough day.

We talk it over, I try and offer support, and see if there’s anything else I can do. It goes without saying that I pick up the slack with the kids, get the housework done, and generally just try to be helpful.

The rest of the evening is about having dinner and keeping our two little ones content before it’s time for bed. It’s just a routine Monday.

Tuesday

I’m looking forward to my night out with Marie on Friday, and it’s serving as today’s motivation.

We don’t get out alone together too often, but this is a formal event related to her work. During the day, I get some twinges thinking of what Marie could be wearing underneath her dress for the occasion. I’ll need to tell her.

The anticipation is a huge turn on for me. I like to be teased and thrilled, it keeps things fun and exciting, as well as making sure the intimacy is alive.

Marie gets home from work late, but as the kids are with my parents until late this evening, we have time together to enjoy dinner and talk. It sounds simple, but it doesn’t always happen as parents.

It is crucial to connect and talk, in and out of the bedroom for us, otherwise complacency can set in and it can cause silly niggles between us. Often though, we’re both just missing sex and connection.

While making dinner, we’re playful, touching and kissing each other here and there. When she’s at the sink, I come up close behind her and grab her curvy bottom, then rub myself against her while kissing her neck.

I tell her how much I like her ass. She likes it, but she’s too busy peeling the potatoes to act on it. Teasing is great, though. The more the better.

Dinner is delicious, but we ate too much while nattering about work and kid stuff.

Our window of opportunity for sex has passed, and soon after the kids get home, so there’s too much going on.

It’s a late night by the time the kids are settled, and we’re ready to crash out. Missing out on sex can be disappointing and frustrating for my wife and I, but mostly it’s because of the kids, which can’t be helped.

Wednesday

Today is a disaster for me. I have our son all day and while he’s well-behaved, he just wants to play and get my attention all day.

Unfortunately, I have one work task to complete and getting it done is taking much longer than expected. Our son has some tantrums because I can’t play yet, and I’ve got a tension headache that just won’t shift.

I’m just not feeling good at all today, and I’m not in the mood for anything.

A busy day extends to the evening with a lot of housework and extra admin to do at home. Mariegets home with our daughter, and soon my son is playing football is a bundle of energy and mess.

We have dinner, play for a little with the kids, and then fall into bed.

Thursday

I wake up as Marie is getting ready for work.

She’s wearing a matching red underwear set that makes me want to pull her back into bed. I give her a compliment and she bends over and slaps her ass, but tells me that she needs to go, and that I’ll have to wait until later.

We kiss, and she leaves for work, but I need to relieve myself. I reach for my phone and into my ‘w**k bank’ of raunchy pics of Marie.

She knows I occasionally take pictures of her while we’re having sex, and while I do sometimes watch porn, I prefer to look at my wife.

I’m getting very horny and think about later, tomorrow night, and what I want to do. Masturbating is a good decision, instant gratification, self-pleasure and looking at my wife. What’s not to like?

Time for a shower before the kids wake and the day begins for real. They’re off to their grandparents’ house until tonight.

In the evening, Marie returns home in the mood, and tells me straight away what she wants. We both go upstairs and I can hear her getting changed in our bedroom, as I’m brushing my teeth.

I enter our room to see my wife lying on the bed in a very sexy, strappy underwear set. She’s touching herself already and teasing me. I’m hard as I strip down to my boxer shorts.

We are both on the bed, watching each other masturbate. We love it. It feels sexy and intimate. It f***ing feels good. Next, I go down on her and take my time. We’re enjoying every moment.

I kiss and touch her all over, with extra time spent on her ass. It’s that good.

She’s lying on her front, I’m leaning on top of her back with my hand underneath her. I ask her what she’ll be wearing tomorrow night and she giggles. She’s too horny and locked in for a proper answer.

We do doggy, then missionary with her legs up, the latter of which is a favourite of mine. We go for as long as we can over the next five minutes or so, before coming together.

Friday

It’s a busy work day and there’s lots to do, but before I know it, the evening has arrived. The kids get picked up by my sister-in-law before we go out.

My wife and I both like the concept of ‘f*** first’. Going out for dinner, out for drinks, or with friends? You can have plans for a big finish to the night, but it doesn’t always happen, so do it before you go out.

We’re both touching each other before we’re even washed and changed. We’re naked and taking advantage. Some nice kissing turns to doggy over the bed, but it’s a quickie and nothing wrong with that. We have somewhere to be!

We both feel sexy, horny, closer together, and very satisfied.

Then we scrub up well, both complementing each other, and are ready to go. While out at the dinner event, I touch her leg and caress her subtly a few times.

I wonder if we might have round two tonight, but we get home later than planned and tiredness takes over.

Saturday

The kids are coming back early, but we wake up before with a cuddle.

A few moments later, I reach around to her front with my hand, and she reaches back for me. We lock eyes and enjoy the feeling, sound, and touch of pleasuring each other with our hands.

After a few minutes, she takes control, sits up, and briefly touches herself before putting her fingers in my mouth. This is something we both find incredibly dirty and intimate, it’s a major turn on for us.

Then she goes back down on me with her hand to finish me off. It’s good, quality time and we enjoy the climax before showering.

Once the kids get back we hit the local shops, grab lunch, head home and spend play and TV time together.

Sunday

We’ve got family visiting today, and we pop out to Tesco and get our washing done, before heading out on a walk with everyone.

We’ve had sex more this week than usual, and it’s been really satisfying, so I feel pretty content and happy.

Sometimes we can go two, three weeks without, but we always talk and make sure the drought doesn’t last too long. We get grumpy with each other otherwise, it just brings the mood down a little.

Yes, life gets in the way, but sex and intimacy are too important to neglect for us, especially because our sex life is a big factor as to why we’re so compatible as a couple.

Things are always better when we’re talking, sharing, and connecting, which we certainly did this week.

Do you have a story to share?

Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.

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Manchester United’s chances of linking back up with Scott McTominay appear to have changed just as things are taking a turn for the better under Michael Carrick

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Michael Carrick is hard at work attempting to preserve and prolong his meteoric start as interim Manchester United manager. And the Red Devils play host to Tottenham in Saturday’s early Premier League kick-off, hoping to make it four wins from four under the club icon.

Whatever Carrick has been doing at his old stomping ground thus far, it’s working. Despite being at the club on temporary terms as things stand, the 44-year-old hasn’t been afraid to tear up trees in an effort to put his old side back on top of the English pyramid.

United had a quiet January transfer window, where the only business to speak of was through the departures. That bodes well in terms of a bigger budget to spend in the summer, however, at which point it may be Carrick making the decisions on a longer-term basis.

Scott McTominay is one such name being linked with a move to Old Trafford as talk of a reunion escalates. And the latest development from Naples could aid United’s advances as Mirror Football breaks down the latest news around the Theatre of Dreams.

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Napoli stance on McTominay sale

Recent examples of players returning to Old Trafford after long stints away haven’t fallen in their favour over recent years. Expensive moves to bring the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Pogba back to the club ultimately failed to live up to expectations.

READ MORE: Napoli chief admits concerns over Scott McTominay future after Man Utd return demandREAD MORE: Man Utd told to ignore Michael Carrick demand as ideal replacement named

But many fans will hope McTominay could buck that trend in the event United come back in for their academy graduate in future. To that effect, recent comments made by Napoli’s global business development officer, Leonardo Giammarioli, suggest the transfer can be done for the right price.

“Yeah, of course I’m worried,” he told talkSPORT when discussing the prospect of McTominay leaving should a suitable offer come in. “But ultimately, especially Scott, who’s a very nice guy, we’re happy if he gets to the next level in a couple of years. Maybe not now, maybe not next year, but he deserves it.

“Look at Stuttgart, they wanted to keep Nick Woltemade [before he joined Newcastle last summer], but when such an offer comes in, there’s not much you can do, when the player wants to go and money is important.”

It’s common knowledge by now that Napoli got themselves a serious bargain after acquiring the Scot for around £25million in the summer of 2024. Many suggested at the time the player was underrated, and then-manager Erik ten Hag even confessed he didn’t want to sell his star.

One Serie A title and a Player of the Year award later, McTominay is one of the most valuable assets in Italy’s top flight. Again, United would be forced to pay a premium for a player they may well regret selling in the first place, but the need to replace the outgoing Casemiro – and potentially Bruno Fernandes, too – could make him a sensible summer target.

Carrick overrules Amorim and Ten Hag

One thing that’s been clear early on in Carrick’s reign is that he’s not worried about upsetting the status quo. And that goes just as much for established traditions at United, as well as something as ordinary as tactical tweaks.

The ex-England midfielder has already ditched Ruben Amorim‘s three-at-the-back formation in favour of a more standard set-up. He’s also brought Kobbie Mainoo in from his exile and found success switching left-back Patrick Dorgu into a more advanced role.

However, it’s now emerged Carrick has done away with Amorim and Ten Hag’s practice of making players train the day after matches, per the Sun. Both his predecessors favoured the habit of making the squad attend recovery sessions the day after playing – but no more.

Instead, Carrick has altered the schedule so that United’s players undergo their recovery sessions two days after playing. And it’s but the latest example of Carrick’s more humane touch, giving his stars a more relaxed working atmosphere, at least in one way.

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MPs discussed making further changes to legislation

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has issued an update after questions emerged about how it shares data with local councils. The statement follows discussions at the Work and Pensions Committee, where policy experts examined potential changes to the DWP benefits system aimed at ensuring people access the support available to them.

Fabian Chessell, who leads central government work at Policy in Practice, argued for enhanced data sharing to strengthen “employment support” for claimants. He took aim at the Government’s devolution bill, unveiled in July 2025, for failing to address data sharing arrangements.

The proposed law would grant mayors additional powers and establish Strategic Authorities across English regions, with responsibility for matters including housing, skills, and employment support. The bill is presently being examined in the House of Lords.

On the devolution proposals, Mr Chessell stated: “If we’re giving them power, we need to give them data.” He also pointed to current legislation that could be modified to enhance data sharing, reports the Mirror.

Section 72 of the Welfare and Pensions Reform Act 1999 permits the “exchange of information” between Government departments and employers relating to individuals claiming working-age benefits. Mr Chessell explained that this legislation “creates the gateways for sharing employment data with councils today from DWP and HMRC” and could be revised to enable greater data sharing.

He appealed to the committee: “Let’s do the simple thing. There’s a lot of complex questions in front of us, this isn’t one of those.”

A DWP spokesperson commented: “Millions of people rely on our welfare system every year and it is vital that it can be accessed by all who need it. We already share income and earnings data with local authorities to help ensure people receive the Housing Benefit and council tax support they’re entitled to.

“We’re now exploring ways to expand this data sharing with Local Authorities and Mayoral Strategic Authorities, so they can better connect people with employment support.”

The DWP also noted it regularly works to raise awareness of available benefits through campaigns such as Help for Households. Those who believe they may be missing out on benefits can use the Government website’s benefits calculator tool to determine their eligibility.

The Met Office said that some roads and railways are likely to be affected with longer journey times by road, bus and train services.

They said rain moving north across England today is expected to turn to snow over higher ground in the afternoon and evening.

They said some sleet and snow is possible at lower levels, but snow will likely only build up above 250m to 300m with up to 5 cm possible.

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for snow (Image: The Met Office)

The yellow warning stretches from the Midlands into Cumbria, covering the eastern parts of Greater Manchester including Oldham and Rochdale.

The warning also covers parts of Lancashire including Bacup and Burnley.

It is from 3pm today until 3am on Friday (January 5), with the Met Office expecting any snow to melt throughout tomorrow.

They warned of dangerous driving conditions and recommended bringing essentials such as warm clothing, food and water in case of delays.

They said weather warnings may change quickly and recommended checking for updates in the weather forecast.

The forecaster also predicts flurries of sleet throughout Thursday afternoon across Bolton and Bury.

The human body is a machine whose many parts – from the microscopic details of our cells to our limbs, eyes, liver and brain – have been assembled in fits and starts over the four billion years of our history.

But scientists are still puzzling over why we evolved into this particular form. Why do humans uniquely have a chin, for example? And why, relative to body weight, is a human testicle triple the size of a gorilla’s but a fifth of that of a chimpanzee? As I show in my new book, The Tree of Life, we are still searching for the answers to many of these “why” questions. But we are starting to find answers to some of them.

The story of evolution tells us how, starting from simple beginnings, each species was built, when each of the components that make a living creature was added to its blueprint. If we climb the evolutionary tree of life, we can follow a twisting path that visits the increasingly specialised branches that a species belongs to. We humans, for example, were animals before we became vertebrates; mammals before evolving into primates and so on.

The groups of species we share each of these branches with reveal the order our body parts appeared.

A body and a gut (inventions of the animal branch) must have come before backbone and limbs (vertebrate branch); milk and hair (mammals) came before fingernails (primates).

There is a way we can study the separate problem of just why we evolved each of these body parts, but it only works if the feature in question has evolved more than once on separate branches of the tree of life. This repeated evolution is called convergence. It can be a source of frustration for biologists because it confuses us as to how species are related. Swallows and swifts, for example, were once classified as sister species. We now know from both DNA and comparisons of their skeletons that swallows are really closer relatives of owls than swifts.

Size matters when it comes to evolution

But convergent evolution becomes something useful when we think of it as a kind of natural experiment. The size of primate testicles gives us a classic example. Abyssinian black and white colobus monkey and bonnet macaque adult males are roughly the same size. But, like chimps, humans and gorillas, these similar monkeys have vastly dissimilar testicles. Colobus testicles weigh just 3 grams. The testicles of the macaques, in contrast, are a whopping 48 grams.

You could come up with several believable explanations for their different testicle sizes. Large testicles might be the equivalent of the peacock’s tail, not useful per se but attractive to females. But perhaps the most plausible explanation relates to the way they mate. A male colobus monkey competes ferociously for access to a harem of females who will mate exclusively with him. Macaques, on the other hand, live in peaceful mixed troops of about 30 monkeys and have a different approach to love where everyone mates with everyone else: males with multiple females (polygamy) and females with multiple males (polyandry).

The colobus with his harem can get away with producing a bare minimum of sperm – if a droplet is enough to produce a baby, then why make more? For a male macaque, the competition to reproduce happens in a battle between his sperm and the sperm of other males who mated before or after. A male macaque with large testicles should make more sperm, giving him a higher chance of passing on his genes. It’s a sensible explanation for their different testicle sizes, but is it true? This is where convergent evolution helps.

If we look across the whole of the mammal branch of the tree of life, we find there are many groups of mammals that have evolved testicles of all different sizes. In almost all these separate cases, larger testicles are consistently found in promiscuous species and smaller in monogamous.

A small-testicled, silverback male gorilla has sole access to a harem. Big-testicled chimps and bonobos are indeed highly promiscuous. Dolphins, meanwhile, may have the biggest mammalian testicles of all, making up as much as 4 per cent of their body weight (equivalent to human testicles weighing roughly 3 kilos). Although wild dolphin sex lives are naturally hard to study, spinner dolphins at least fit our expectations, engaging in mass mating events called wuzzles.

It was thanks to the multiple observations provided by convergent evolution that we were able to discover this consistent correlation between testicle size and sex life right across the mammals. And as for humans, we have testicle size somewhere in the middle, you can make of this what you want!

But what of the human chin?

The human chin has been fertile ground for arguments between scientists over its purpose. As with testicles, there are half a dozen plausible ideas to explain the evolution of the human chin. It could have evolved to strengthen the jaw of a battling caveman. Maybe the chin evolved to exaggerate the magnificence of a manly beard. It might even be a by-product of the invention of cooking and the softer food it produced – a functionless facial promontory left behind by the receding tide of a weakening jaw.

Intriguingly, however, a chin can be found in no other mammal, not even our closest cousins, the Neanderthals. Thanks to the uniqueness of the homo sapiens chin, while we have a rich set of possible explanations for its evolutionary purpose, in the absence of convergent evolution, we have no sensible way of testing them.

Some parts of human nature may be destined to remain a mystery.

Crotch enhancements. Banned helmets. Qualifying manipulation claims. And Russian hacking.

Even before Friday’s opening ceremony at San Siro in Milan, the build-up to the Winter Olympics in Italy has provided its fill of controversies.

Athletes are always trying to find a competitive edge. This alleged attempt – dubbed “crotchgate” by some – is bizarre.

Why might ski jumpers be injecting an acid serum into their genitalia to artificially increase the size? It’s nothing to do with bedroom gymnastics in the Olympic Village.

Claims were put to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) that it’s being done to enlarge the skin suit surface area around the crotch to give ski jumpers greater lift – to glide further in the pursuit of gold.

WADA director general Olivier Niggli said he was not aware of the claims on how it could improve performance.

But he added: “If anything was to come to the surface, we would look at anything if it is actually doping related. We don’t address other means of enhancing performance.”

Rules were tightened after Norwegians were caught adding stitching to the crotch area of their suits during the World Championships last year.

Helmet ban

A more scientific case of seeking aerodynamic advantage landed Team GB in a hearing in Milan with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on the eve of the opening ceremony.

The British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association has been appealing to overturn a ban on new helmets that were found to have breached the competition rules because of an irregular shape, denying skeleton gold medal contender Matt Weston from wearing it.

He said while awaiting the CAS outcome: “This is a sport that is won by hundredths of a second, so for us as GB and the team we have around us, we’re constantly innovating from race week to race week.

“We try to push the boundaries and find those gains, this is just one of the parts of innovation we do as GB and I think we do it pretty well.”

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Who are Team GB’s medal contenders?

Read more from Sky News:
Ice hockey match postponed after norovirus outbreak
All you need to know about the Winter Olympics 2026

Now, having the best team of lawyers can be as essential as having the best coaches in sport.

The US launched legal challenges after skeleton racer Katie Uhlaender fell just short of qualifying for a sixth Olympics.

Fewer qualification ranking points became available after rivals Canada pulled four sliders from a race last month, reducing the status of the event.

The sport’s governing body recognised it could look like the event was manipulated but found no rules were broken.

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Will US get a frosty reception?

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Cyberattacks thwarted

Russia has been trying for a decade to return to the Olympics – losing sport’s court battles.

First banned for running a state-sponsored doping programme at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, the full-scale invasion of Ukraine extended its exclusion from the biggest sports extravaganza as a team under the Russian flag and anthem.

Russians were accused of trying to undermine those Games through online disinformation and hacking attempts.

Now the Italian government says it has thwarted cyberattacks on Olympic websites and hotels in one of the games hubs at Cortina d’Ampezzo.

A Which? taste test names the best chocolate hazelnut spread in the UK

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Chocolate hazelnut spread has established itself as a kitchen essential with numerous Britons savouring it on toast, stirred into porridge and poured over pancakes. However, the most well-known brand, Nutella, can be costly and isn’t consistently stocked at your neighbourhood supermarket.

Recently, a fresh taste evaluation from the UK’s consumer champion, Which?, has revealed which chocolate-hazelnut spread reigns supreme in Britain – and the victor wasn’t Nutella or any of the prominent brands.

To determine the champion, 60 committed taste testers delivered their judgements after trying 11 chocolate-hazelnut spreads. Three leading brands were assessed alongside eight supermarket own-label products from Aldi, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, and others.

Waitrose Essential Hazelnut Chocolate Spread emerged victorious with an overall rating of 82%, reports the Express.

Priced at £2.50 for a 400g jar, it remains somewhat expensive but costs 40p less than a 350g jar of Nutella.

The supermarket spread earned acclaim for its chocolate and hazelnut tastes and its texture. Additional testers noted it achieved the ideal balance of sweetness.

Waitrose’s spread represents the most costly option among the supermarket brands, yet it secured first preference from the taste testers, earning it Which? Best Buy status.

Nutella’s famous hazelnut and chocolate spread secured second position with a rating of 81%. Priced at £2.90 for 350g, it’s certainly expensive, but it delighted the testers with over 75% declaring their affection for the spread’s chocolatey taste.

The brand’s hazelnut taste and level of sweetness also received commendation from the testers. However, more than half of those sampling found the texture to be overly thick.

The brand has received Which? Best Buy recognition, and fans of the product can purchase larger 630g or 1kg jars if they wish to get better value for money.

Tesco Hazelnut Chocolate Spread secured joint second position with a rating of 81%. Tesco’s spread achieved both Best Buy recognition and the Which? Great Value badge, priced at just £1.65 for a 400g jar.

The chocolate hazelnut spread received acclaim for its taste and appealing look. Three-quarters of the testers also appreciated the sweetness level, and most commended its texture.

Asda’s Hazelnut Chocolate Spread achieved joint third position alongside Lidl’s Choco Nussa Hazelnut Chocolate Spread.

Both spreads achieved 80% but vary marginally on cost, with Asda’s product priced at £2 for a 400g jar and Lidl’s priced at £1.65 for the equivalent quantity.

Asda’s chocolate hazelnut spread received praise from three-quarters of the testers for its chocolate and hazelnut tastes, with even more appreciating its sweetness.

Views on the texture were divided: more than half of evaluators considered it perfect, but others deemed it overly dense.

Asda’s spread ranks among the more affordable choices and comes in 750g jars, which offer better value per 100g.

Lidl’s spread received praise for its sweetness levels and visual appeal, while two-thirds appreciated its chocolate taste and consistency. The spread’s hazelnut flavour was appreciated by just over half, but more than a quarter felt it should be more pronounced.

How do other chocolate-hazelnut spreads compare?

• Sainsbury’s Hazelnut Chocolate Spread – 75% £1.65 for 400g
• Bonne Maman Hazelnut Chocolate Spread – 72% £4.10 for 360g
• Jim Jams Hazelnut Chocolate Spread – 72% £3 for 350g
• Marks & Spencer Smooth Hazelnut Chocolate Spread – 72% £2.50 for 400g
• Morrisons Hazelnut & Chocolate Spread – 71% £2.09 for 400g
• Aldi Nutoka Hazelnut Chocolate Spread – 62% £1.65 for 400g

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT A worker at Destiny Development Center in Inglewood, California, was filmed removing her shoe and throwing it at the child, who cried after being hit

A childcare worker has been caught on camera hurling a shoe at a five year old girl as fellow staff members watched and laughed.

The shocking incident took place at the Destiny Development Centre in Inglewood, California, with the footage, recorded on 16 January. It shows the unnamed employee taking off her shoe and throwing it at the child, who burst into tears after being struck. Two other members of staff witnessed the incident and laughed.

The girl’s mother, Michelae Jones, exposed what happened, telling local station KTLA she was shocked and outraged. “I’ve been with these people for three years. I really thought my baby was safe with them,” Jones said.

Jones revealed her daughter informed her about the incident that same evening. Jones immediately challenged the childcare facility’s director, but claims staff were far too sluggish in their response.

It took a fortnight before Jones was allowed to view the CCTV footage from that day. The child’s aunt, Kira Townsend, raised multiple concerns about the facility’s safety protocols and how it operates reports the Mirror US.

“I want to know how often are they reviewing the footage?” Townsend questioned. “How do you have a business and you don’t review the footage unless a parent says something? Why do we have to wait for my niece to come and tell us, ‘Hey, my teacher hit me in the ear with a shoe?’”

The nursery’s director, Danielle Williams, reportedly told Jones that she was initiating an inquiry. She subsequently explained to Jones that the carer who hurled the shoe was allegedly “throwing shoes into another room that weren’t supposed to be there and [the child] accidentally got hit in the head with the shoe.

“My school, what we stand for, it’s not child abuse,” Williams insisted. “We don’t hire child abusers.” Following her investigation, Williams sacked the shoe-throwing carer, identified only as “Ms. Emily.”

The two other women present during the incident were initially suspended for failing to report it, but after examining the footage, Williams decided to dismiss them too.

Williams emphasised that all her teachers and staff have undergone thorough background checks before joining. “We go through every procedure for people to get employed at this facility – a caregiver background check, FBI index, everything and then the training that goes along with it. I wouldn’t wish this on anybody’s child. We don’t stand for it, we don’t agree with it.”

The child’s mum said a simple apology isn’t enough and fears this may not be a one-off. Jones says she wants the carer arrested for assault and child abuse, with criminal charges brought forward.

“You need to be in jail like any other child abuser. That’s what I want. Justice,” the mother said. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is presently probing the incident.

The Newcastle show at The Stand Newcastle on Sunday, February 8 is part of Natalie’s UK tour, taking the popular podcast from the studio to the stage for an intimate Sunday matinee filled with laughter, honesty and candid conversation, featuring family members, celebrity guests and audience interaction.

Natalie says performing in the North East always feels special. “I’ve always found people in the North East incredibly friendly and warm. It feels very different to London. You smile at people up here and they smile back – and I’m really looking forward to coming up and feeling that warmth again.”

The Newcastle date will feature a special guest appearance from TV favourite Scarlett Moffatt, who Natalie described as “brilliant, hilarious and just such a laugh.”

Scarlett will also be bringing along some of her drag queen friends, adding what Natalie promises will be “a real bit of fun and camp” to the afternoon.

“Scarlett and I are just going to have a really lovely chat about life, love and what we’re all up to,” Natalie said. “It’s very much the normal Life With Nat podcast chat, just in front of a live audience – and with a glass of wine.”

Natalie added that the live format allows them to explore their very different journeys into fame. “I’ve known nothing different, whereas Scarlett had a completely normal life and then was suddenly catapulted into fame through reality TV,” she said. “We’ve both done reality shows, so we’ll definitely have a good old chat about that – including whether I should ever go into the jungle for I’m A Celebrity.”

Alongside Scarlett, Natalie will also be joined on stage by her brother Tony and her fiancé Mark, making the show a particularly personal one. Natalie believes the mix of people is what makes the live show stand out.

“My brother is 57 – he’s a builder and a fisherman and he doesn’t hold back,” she said. “He’s very no-nonsense and really down to earth. So for any blokes thinking there won’t be anything there for them – there absolutely will be.”

She added: “My fiancé Mark and I talk quite openly about relationships, and we’re very dry with each other, so anyone who’s a bit nosey about other people’s lives will enjoy that.”

Natalie, who left the hit BBC soap last year, said the live show is not just for regular podcast listeners, but also for EastEnders fans curious about life behind the scenes.

“I’ll talk about EastEnders, about the past, about being famous and how that’s affected my family,” she said. “People are always really interested in how it impacts the people around you, especially when you’ve been in it from such a young age.”

The Stand Newcastle offers an intimate setting – something Natalie says was a deliberate decision.“I think it’s really important to start with smaller venues, it’ll feel a lot more intimate conversation but it’s also so people can get to know what you’re about,” she said.

“I was really nervous before my first live shows, thinking, ‘Why would people want to come and watch us chat?’ But the feedback from my live shows last year was that it felt like a really lovely afternoon.”

Natalie is no stranger to the region, having previously toured the North East in productions including Bedroom Farce and The Vagina Monologues.

Life With Nat Live promises an afternoon of laughter, heartfelt stories and honest conversation, delivered with Natalie’s trademark warmth and down-to-earth charm.

Tickets are on sale now via The Stand’s website.