Belfast city centre’s latest addition recently opened so I decided to check it out

I love it when a new spot opens in Belfast and it was no different when I discovered that Good Spud was opening on Church Lane. When I heard it was opening, I was absolutely certain it would be a baked potato restaurant, which Belfast surprisingly doesn’t have. However, I was wrong and it was specialising in a different potato offering, which was dirty fries.

It took over the former Ragin Ramen premises before it moved around the corner and I gave it a few weeks to settle in before heading in on my lunch this week.

The offering was simple, with six different types of dirty fries and a build-your-own option on the menu so it didn’t take long to choose.

What I ordered:

I went for the number 3, which was chips topped with chilli beef, freshly grated parmesan, sliced red chilli, crispy onions and a choice of sauce. There was a range of sauces on the list, but I went for the Korean sticky BBQ and I also got a can of Pepsi to wash it down with.

What I liked:

I loved the simplicity of the menu here and I always support a small menu done right because it means they can really nail it. The chips were of the skinny variety and cooked really well and the chilli beef was really lovely here. All of the ingredients do work well separately here, I feel, and I would be intrigued to try the Pablos one if it is anything like the old burger spot.

It also didn’t take very long to bring it out to me but I will say that I was the only person there during a busy lunch period so this was to be expected.

What I didn’t like/would change:

I was actually a little taken aback when I was handed what I’d ordered because of the size, and unfortunately, it wasn’t a good thing on this occasion.

The box was very, very small. I used my phone as a reference, and it was smaller than the box’s length. Given the price I had just paid for this, that needs to change pretty quickly.

Don’t get me wrong this portion size would be great for a lunch spot but it does not line up with premium price point it’s currently at.

How much it cost:

Everything I got here came to £12.95, which is honestly too expensive for the portion size, so that needs to be addressed here. A bigger box so they can add more chips is a pretty simple solution in my opinion, if they do want to continue at that high price point.

I was also charged an extra £1 on top of the £9.95 that the chips cost for sauce, but on the menu it did say choice of sauce, which implies it is included here. With this type of restaurant, every penny counts, and I think tipping the original chips over a tenner might have been a mistake.

All in all, I do think the food here is pretty tasty, and the location, plus the offering, has the potential to be a very popular lunch spot in the city. However, the price point has made that impossible in my opinion because it’s too expensive for a casual lunch.

I can handle something being expensive because I’m definitely not tight, and I rarely call something out for a huge disparity in value, but I fear this one might be a little too far. It’s definitely fixable, and I will go back once those issues have been ironed out because I’m all for a redemption arc.

In the interest of fairness and transparency, we pay for all the meals and drinks we review. This ensures that we are giving accurate and honest representations of the food and service that we receive. So, unless we state otherwise that we were invited down, we have paid for the meal ourselves and visited without the knowledge of the eatery, so you can trust our opinions aren’t skewed by a freebie.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our What’s On newsletter here

Dame Maureen Lipman has revealed that she had sleepless nights when actors quit a play over her pro-Israel views. 

Two of her co-stars walked away from the West End production of Right Before I Go after refusing to promote the show because of her involvement. 

Dame Maureen, 80, had thought about stepping down to avoid the drama becoming a distraction for the production.

However the Olivier award-winning actress was persuaded to stay on by the play’s director after she considered quitting herself after suffering sleepless nights. 

Gerard McCarthy, who has appeared in BBC dramas including Call the Midwife and The Fall, had been due to reprise his role in Right Before I Go when it transfers to London‘s Soho Theatre.

But the non-binary actor decided to withdraw after the casting of Dame Maureen, 80, was announced, saying her publicly expressed views on Israel and Palestine were incompatible with his own political beliefs.

Mr McCarthy, who performed in the play at the Edinburgh Fringe, said he had privately raised his concerns before ultimately deciding to leave the London production.

Transgender actress Iz Hesketh then followed Mr McCarthy by stepping down from the show over Dame Maureen’s involvement, saying: ‘Having recently become aware of public comments made by her, I no longer feel the next stage of the production aligns with my own personal values and beliefs.’

In May, pro-Palestinian campaigners targeted performances of her comedy Allegra in Aberdeen with a poster depicting the actress with devil horns and a pitchfork

Gerard McCarthy, who has appeared in BBC dramas including Call the Midwife and The Fall, had been due to reprise his role in Right Before I Go when it transfers to London’s Soho Theatre

Advertisement

However Dame Maureen has now revealed that the ordeal has left her struggling to sleep after she considered quitting the production, but was encouraged by the director to stay on. 

The 80-year-old told The Times: ‘The truth is all this has been keeping me awake at night. It is scary, horrible and unnecessary.

‘It had crossed my mind that it might be easier for everyone if I go and they all stay, but I had an email from Abigail Morris, who is the director, which was very sympathetic and understanding.

‘So I have decided to put the worry to one side and carry on. I might get a few boos, but it will be fine.’ 

Right Before I Go deals with the sensitive subject of suicide, drawing on real suicide notes written by a range of people including celebrities, military veterans, bullied teenagers and members of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as people who survived suicide attempts.

Each performance is followed by a discussion involving members of the cast, the audience and a local mental health professional.

Writer Stan Zimmerman devised the not-for-profit play while grieving his friend Kevin Gill’s suicide. 

Dame Maureen is set to appear in a performance on September 10, coinciding with World Suicide Prevention Day. 

Mr McCarthy had been due to appear with Dame Maureen (pictured in June), in Right Before I Go at London’s Soho Theatre

Despite the backlash she has faced due to her involvement, the 80-year-old said she was ‘pleased’ to play a part because ‘young people and suicide is such an important issue’, adding that it’s a ‘vital’ topic to discuss. 

A spokesman for the production told The Times: ‘We understand that our cast and collaborators hold a wide range of perspectives, including on deeply personal and difficult subjects, and we respect the sincerity behind their decisions.’

They added that the political views of cast members are kept separate from artistic collaboration. 

The production team has been approached for further comment. 

According to Mr Zimmerman, the show has a revolving cast and Dame Maureen was never set to appear alongside Mr McCarthy in the same viewing. 

Mr McCarthy addressed the drama in an Instagram post on Friday, saying: ‘I was slightly surprised to wake up on Wednesday morning and discover that Dame Maureen had written about me in The Telegraph. 

‘I was even more surprised to learn that I had apparently attempted to bully her. 

‘For the avoidance of doubt: I have never met Maureen Lipman. I have never spoken to her. I have never contacted her. I have never asked for her to be removed from a production, nor have I ever refused to work with her. We were never scheduled to perform together. 

‘So if I have managed to bully her, I have done so with remarkably little effort. 

‘What I actually did was make a decision about my own participation in one performance of Right Before I Go.’ 

In the article, titled ‘I’m an alleged National Treasure. I won’t be bullied by actors over my views on Israel, Dame Maureen wrote: ‘I will not be bullied, nor will I allow anybody to tell me what to think. 

‘If that affects their ability to work with me, as opposed to convert me to their point of view, then they are lily livered.’

Dame Maureen man has been one of the more prominent British Jewish voices in support of Israel since the October 7 attacks and has faced fierce criticism from pro-Palestinian activists.

She has previously spoken about receiving anti-Semitic abuse and threats of protests and cancellation, and has at times been forced to use private security while touring theatres.

In May, pro-Palestinian campaigners targeted performances of her comedy Allegra in Aberdeen.

Gerard McCarthy (pictured in July), known for his roles in BBC dramas The Fall and Call The Midwife, quit a London theatre show following the casting of Dame Maureen

The Aberdeen branch of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign circulated an image depicting her with devil horns and holding a pitchfork while urging supporters to sign a petition against her appearance. 

Police Scotland examined the post but concluded that it did not amount to a crime, recording it instead as a non-crime hate incident.

Dame Maureen has previously described protests against Israel by Left-wing actors as ‘very, very close to fascism’ and branded performers who signed open letters condemning Israeli military action ‘bigoted signaturists’ and ‘bleeding heartless liberals’.

Earlier this week, the Daily Mail revealed that Mr McCarthy subsequently liked a string of abusive comments posted beneath his announcement on Instagram after he quit the show. 

Among them was one which read: ‘Lipman the zio hag can get in the bin.’

Another praised him as ‘a man of absolute principle’ before warning: ‘Zionists will soon have nowhere to hide.’

McCarthy, who was a regular on Channel 4’s Hollyoaks, also liked a message which said: ‘That woman is an odious ghoul. You saved yourself a tiring battle with your conscience every time you would’ve stepped in to the room with her.’

Another liked by McCarthy said: ‘I would cross the street if I saw her. Vile bigot,’ and described Dame Maureen as ‘a horrid f****** witch’, adding: ‘It speaks volumes about the morally bankrupt scumbags behind this decision that they’re willing to work with her.’

‘Zio’, an abbreviation of Zionist, is widely recognised by Jewish organisations as an anti-Semitic slur.

When approached by the Daily Mail, McCarthy issued a statement saying: ‘I do not endorse anti-Semitic language or personal abuse directed at Dame Maureen Lipman, and regret having inadvertently appeared to do so by liking a number of comments among the hundreds posted beneath my statement.

‘My likes were intended as acknowledgements of support for my decision to withdraw, rather than endorsements of every word used in those comments. 

‘Having had the specific language brought to my attention, I have removed those likes.

‘My position remains the one set out in my original statement: my decision concerned views publicly expressed by one individual regarding Israel and Palestine. It was not about her Jewish identity, and I am against anti-Semitism.’

• Do YOU have a story? Email William.G.Hallowell@dailymail.co.uk

Andi Peters has responded after Miriam Margolyes used an offensive and outdated term to describe his skin colour during an extraordinary live television exchange.

The This Morning presenter, 56, found himself having to navigate an increasingly uncomfortable conversation when the Harry Potter actor, 85, began questioning his ethnicity before referring to him as ‘high yalla’.

The term, also spelled ‘high yellow’ or ‘high yaller’, is a historically derogatory American expression for a Black person with a lighter complexion.

The segment has since been removed from the version of Thursday’s episode available on ITVX, but footage quickly spread across social media and sparked a fierce backlash.

Now Peters has briefly addressed the incident after fellow broadcaster Jeremy Vine praised the way he dealt with Margolyes live on air. Sharing the footage on social media, Vine wrote: ‘This is seriously nerve-wracking. No filter.

‘@andipeters dealt with it brilliantly but note at the end – “they’re getting nervous” [the producers].’

Peters responded by acknowledging the unpredictability that comes with live broadcasting.

‘Thanks JV. As you know we have to be ready for ANYTHING!!!’ he wrote.

Margolyes had appeared on This Morning alongside Peters and Christine Lampard to promote her new book, Miriam’s Full English: A Grand Tour of All Our Best Bits.

Towards the end of their interview, however, she turned the questions onto her hosts.

After impersonating Lampard’s Northern Irish accent, Margolyes asked Peters: ‘But what accent would be normal for you?’

‘This is normal. This is what I am,’ he replied.

Margolyes then said: ‘Oh, you’re a mix, aren’t you? You’ve got a black daddy and a white mummy.’

Peters corrected her, explaining that both of his parents are Black. Attempting to make light of the situation, he joked about whether his makeup had made him appear ‘a lighter shade than normal’.

Margolyes nevertheless continued: ‘Both parents are? I think you’re what I would call a “high yalla”. That’s what they call it in America. Oh, when someone isn’t deeply black, right?’

Peters responded that he ‘didn’t even know there were shades’, to which she replied: ‘There are shades.’

At that point, Peters appeared to receive communication from producers through his earpiece and revealed on air: ‘Oh, okay. They’re getting nervous now. They’re getting nervous now.’

‘Don’t be nervous,’ Margolyes responded. ‘We welcome everybody. That’s what I want to write about in my book. It’s about inclusion.’

The exchange was subsequently edited out of the programme on ITVX, although ITV has not publicly explained the decision.

It didn’t take long for the original footage to take on a life of its own online, where many viewers condemned both Margolyes’ questioning of Peters’ ethnicity and her choice of language.

One viewer described the exchange as ‘very uncomfortable viewing’, while another pointed out that the term Margolyes used is far from commonplace contemporary American language.

Others argued that while her comments demonstrated ignorance, they did not believe she had intended to be racist.

Peters, meanwhile, hasn’t offered a lengthy verdict on Margolyes’ comments himself.

MORE: Jeremy Vine steps down from charity awards after backlash for ‘stoking hatred’

MORE: Miriam Margolyes: ‘I’m playing a nun but don’t worry – I keep the nipples out of it’

The two envoys have travelled to Moscow on multiple occasions since Trump returned to office, but Sunday would be their first visit to Kyiv. Delegations from Ukraine have attended talks in the US over the past 18 months.

Zelensky said on Saturday that Russia had fired “demonstrative” strikes on airports in Kyiv and Boryspil overnight ahead of his planned meeting with the US.

Ukraine’s president added: “Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility of the US side using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine and land at Kyiv Airport or Boryspil Airport.”

Ukraine’s airspace has been closed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Zelensky said on Friday he would guarantee the safety of Russian airspace during the envoys’ visit and called for Russia to do the same for Ukraine.

He also said an overnight Russian strike on a civilian building in the Dnipro region killed four people and injured five others.

Witkoff and Kushner’s visit to Moscow comes just over a week after a rare visit to the Russian capital by the head of the CIA, John Ratcliffe.

There was no official comment from Washington or the Kremlin on what was discussed. Speaking last week, Trump described the meeting as “semi-routine”.

Last year, the US, Ukraine and Russia separately suggested that a deal to end the war was edging closer following a flurry of talks brokered by the Americans.

European allies also held talks in Paris but discussions ultimately ended without a breakthrough. Key disagreements remain between the warring sides on issues such as territory and security guarantees for Ukraine.

In recent months, both Russia and Ukraine have intensified their aerial attacks as fighting continues.

Ukraine said it has struggled to repel attacks due to a lack of interceptor missiles, while Kyiv has focused its strikes on Russian economic infrastructure targets.

Head Safe Football is launching the Government petition with the message: “Protect footballers’ brains. Think Head Safe: reduce heading in training.”

The charity says football must move beyond shock and sympathy when former players develop dementia, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) and other brain diseases.

It is calling for action to protect current and future players.

Head Safe Football was launched in Ferryhill. Pictured are Nick and Judith Gates, son and wife of Bill Gates who played for Boro, and Hayley McQueen, Sky Sports presenter and daughter of footballer Gordon McQueen (Image: NORTHERN ECHO)

Head Safe Football says research has found CTE in the brains of professional and amateur footballers, including young people.

It also points to evidence of increased neurological disease risks among footballers and recent US research that found CTE in at least one in four deceased NFL players.

More than five million children and 10 million adults play football in England, so the charity says the issue reaches far beyond the professional game.

It wants football to move “from shock to action”, “from sympathy to prevention”, “from blame to responsibility” and “from looking backwards to protecting the future”.

The campaign is not calling for heading to be removed from football.

Instead, Head Safe Football wants to reduce repetitive heading in training, where exposure can be limited.

Families of five former Middlesbrough players and coaches affected by sports-related brain disease will be among the first to sign the petition.

They are the families of Bill Gates, Willie Maddren, Hugh McIlmoyle, Gordon McQueen and Nobby Stiles.

Tina White, widow of Goff White, who was identified as the first non-league player to die with CTE, will sign for grassroots players and their families.

Former Middlesbrough, Manchester United and England defender Gary Pallister will also support the campaign.

The group says: “We cannot change what happened to those who came before us, but we can decide what happens next.”

Head Safe Football has five demands for the Government.

They include a parliamentary debate on the petition, making “Think Head Safe: reduce heading in training” a national slogan and recognising CTE caused by repetitive head impacts as a public-health issue.

The charity also wants the Government to work with sports governing bodies to cut heading in training through policy and accredited coach education.

Its fifth demand is for the Department for Education to include brain-health education and HeadSAFE in teacher training and PE.

The petition will launch at Head Safe Football’s ‘Lunching & Launching’ event at Middleton Hall Retirement Village in Middleton St. George on September 9.

The event starts at 12.30pm, and attendees are invited to get involved.

Head Safe Football says: “Tomorrow’s players need today’s voices.”

As his desperate battle to avoid extradition to the UK reached a Miami courtroom last week, self-styled misogynist influencer Andrew Tate wheeled out what he must have hoped would be his trump card.

Who would have thought, given the vile rhetoric upon which he built his online empire, that the most potent weapon in the alleged rapist’s legal armoury would turn out to be a woman?

Dressed demurely in black, her glossy dark hair swept neatly into an up-do, Natasha Sesay took to the stand to describe Tate as ‘calm, thoughtful and caring’ – not a bit, in fact, like the female-bashing alpha male persona which has brought him global notoriety and, he brags, a multi-million-pound fortune.

‘It’s not real life,’ trilled 35-year-old Natasha, from Chelmsford in Essex, while giving evidence at a federal bail hearing for 39-year-old Tate and his 38-year-old brother Tristan.

‘A lot of it is comedy. It’s a very different character from the person you see online versus the one I know personally.’

Claiming to have known the former professional kickboxer for five-and-a-half years, she insisted Tate, whose foul-mouthed sexist rants have garnered him more than ten million followers and a business empire worth millions, was not only a loving partner but also a devoted parent.

She told the court that they have a child who is eight-and-a-half months old and are expecting a second in a few weeks via surrogacy.

‘He’s a great father,’ she concluded.

So what should we make of this strikingly sanitised portrait of a man whose hideous outpourings about women have seen him banned from all major social media platforms for violating hate speech guidelines?

As well as facing criminal proceedings in the US and Romania, Tate and his brother are wanted back in Britain on 56 charges involving rape and sex trafficking.

Can it really be possible that he is a dedicated family man; that all the woman-hating male supremacy he has spouted in recent years was simply part of an elaborate money-spinning act?

Court sketch of the mother of his child giving evidence during Tate’s battle against extradition

In fact, as the Daily Mail discovered this week, Tate’s relationship with the woman he referred to as ‘one of my chicks’ during an interview just three years ago is a tad more complicated than the rose-tinted impression given by Natasha in court last week – just a few feet away from where self-styled ‘Top G’ Tate sat shackled, in a tan-coloured prison uniform.

We have spoken exclusively to those that know Natasha, including her 66-year-old father who had dinner with his daughter and Tate just a week before the latter’s arrest in the US in July.

More, in a moment, of Natasha’s father’s first impressions of the notorious man his daughter is linked to.

A former friend back in the UK has also given an insight into Natasha’s life with Tate, first in Romania from where he ran his lucrative webcam pornography empire and, more recently, in Dubai where he moved last year with his entourage.

‘I think she feels she is the “chosen one” because she has lived with him in his main house in Romania for years and in Dubai. He’s bought her a house, designer bags and a boob job,’ they said.

So what on earth attracted Natasha to a man who claims that ‘monogamy is not natural’ and brags about having sex with all the women in his orbit because, according to his own perverse belief system, it guarantees their unwavering loyalty?

Former neighbours from Brentwood in Essex, where she grew up with her divorced mother Tracy and younger brother Nathan, remember Natasha as a ‘sweet and lovely’ girl whose parents separated when she was small.

Father Alex, who was born in Sierra Leone, moved to the US 30 years ago. Natasha attended a large co-ed secondary in Brentwood but dropped out without completing her A-levels when her mother became ill.

She found work in sales, taking jobs with carmakers Ford and Land Rover before starting work in 2013 with house-building company Bellway Homes.

The same year, aged 23, she embarked on a long-term relationship with a local car dealer to whom she got engaged and bought a house with.

That relationship ended amicably in 2020 – a year before she met Tate.

By then, she is said to have been earning around £60,000 a year from her sales work and the modelling she’d begun, appearing in music videos and promotions. She met Tate in 2021 after taking a hostess job with supercar event company, The Cannon Run, of which he was then a director.

In a 2021 video clip, she can be seen sitting behind him on a rented private jet transporting his entourage from Biggin Hill airport in Kent to Ibiza.

One of several videos showing the couple, who are both originally from Britain, together

Advertisement

Natasha straddling Tate during a video in which he describes how to have a ‘good’ relationship

Two years later, during a podcast interview he gave to Canadian YouTubers The Nelk Boys, Tate referred to ‘the chick Tash’ when asked who was on ‘cigar duty’, adding: ‘It’s a chick, one of my chicks, you know. One of my wives. I’ve got four wives.’

She can also be seen straddling Tate during a work-out and being lifted by him into a flashy car in a promotional video he released about how to have a good relationship.

‘For them to look up to you with authority you have to show some confidence,’ says Tate in a voice over.

‘They’re not going to completely bend over and comply with you just because you have a d***. Because I’m telling you, if you meet a woman who’s half good and you’re the Big G, she’ll behave.’

‘When they met it was as girlfriend and boyfriend,’ the friend said, adding that Natasha was ‘very strong-minded’ and not the kind of woman to be taken advantage of. ‘If she was being victimised, she would know about it’.

The friend added: ‘She is definitely one of his partners.’

Self-confessed womaniser Tate has frequently boasted of having a ‘roster’ of four girlfriends and being ‘loyal’ to all of them. In his twisted world that means looking after them, financially and physically, while they are expected to take care of him, his children and his home and remain absolutely faithful while turning a blind eye to his own promiscuity.

He laid bare this disturbing domestic set-up in a 2021 podcast interview.

‘What’s the point in pretending you’re with a guy and pretending he’s loyal? These girls are making good money. They’re living a very good life. They’re with a man they love. They’re with these other girls who are their best friends. There’s no disrespect in the house. My girls just understood, “I’m f****** all of you. If you don’t like it, leave”.’

He expanded on his theme in ‘The Tate Bible’, his self-penned guide to wealth, success and masculine power, describing how he had ‘a little penthouse with my hottest girls. The ones I actually wanted to spend time with’.

He added: ‘It would be me and the three of them, f****** and watching TV. Chilling. All would say in private, “I wish we were alone sometimes. I’d do anything to be just us”.’

While he’s been vague on exactly how many children he has, when pressed he admitted that it was around ‘10 or 12’.

Asked if the children had different mothers, he said: ‘Not all different but there’s been a few ovens to bake the bread.’

Andrew Tate, 39, with his 38-year-old brother Tristan. Both face charges in several countries

Tate, who said he had converted to Islam in 2022, went on: ‘I need 20 kids so, you know, I have no choice but to have four wives as Allah intended.’

Legal documents filed in Florida last year give a further insight into a disturbing arrangement which, from the outside, bears all the hallmarks of a harem. In one, US lawyers for one of their alleged victims say the Tate brothers deliberately created ‘jealousy and competition among the women which they can manipulate to their benefit’.

The same document refers to another woman living inside Tate’s home who ‘desperately wants to have a child with’ him.

The document features reams of text messages between Tate and another long-term female associate with whom he was in a relationship.

In one message, he mentions ‘another girl coming to the house for a week’ to work as a ‘cam girl’.

Using a slang word meaning ‘to scam’, he tells the other woman: ‘You need to famoose her like you did with Tash.’

On another occasion, according to the document, he asked the same woman to talk to ‘another woman he was dating, Natasha, to spy on her and report back’.

When Tate asks for an update, the woman tells him: ‘She just talked about you and her and how you’ve gone together places and how nice it is when you take her with you. How much she loves when you spend time with her and how you do things for her to show that you love her. That you want her to move in with you full time after the Cannon Run and spend more time together as a couple.’

Tate replies: ‘She’s testing you to see if you get mad… She’s running her mouth. You’re reporting to me. She’s a f****** child. You’re a real woman.’

He adds: ‘This is why it’s important you and I work together and just control them all.’

Natasha’s father Alex claims that he saw a very different side to Tate when he ate lunch with him and Natasha recently at Capital Grille, a Washington DC steak house popular with senior figures in Donald Trump’s orbit.

Tate, said Mr Sesay, took care of the bill at the restaurant, where a porcini-rubbed bone-in ribeye steak costs an eye-watering $93 (£67).

Speaking on the phone from his home in Maryland, he told the Daily Mail: ‘Everything was good. Natasha has never complained to me. I don’t interfere with my kids’ relationships.

Tate often shows himself in private jets, supercars and lavish houses to keep up his persona

‘The relationship between me and Mr Tate was cordial. There was mutual respect. He was very pleasant. He was very thoughtful and we talked about the grandkids. He told me he would take care of them and I said thank you.’

He added: ‘I just dealt with him as a human being and he seemed like a good guy.’

As for Natasha herself, Tate must have little reason to question her unwavering loyalty given her appearance in court last week.

‘I’m treated very well by Andrew at home,’ Natasha told the court, adding that her boyfriend has ‘never ever been violent toward women’. She said he was involved with his children and made them a priority.

Under cross-examination, Natasha admitted that Tate paid for her home in Dubai along with food, private health care, jewellery, cars, luxury bags and shoes.

She also revealed that British police raided her home in the UK and arrested her in February 2024 on suspicion of offences including prostitution, money laundering, tax evasion and modern slavery. She said she currently faces no charges.

‘It was frankly offensive,’ she told the court. ‘The things they were accusing me of were absolutely impossible.’

If anyone suspected that she was simply trying to portray her manipulative ‘manosphere’ influencer lover in a good light then, outside court, Tate’s lawyer Joseph McBride made a point of telling journalists that Natasha, who had flown from Dubai to give evidence, is ‘no pushover’ and that her ‘captivating’ testimony meant a lot to Tate.

He said the pair’s first child was born via IVF and that the second was being carried by a surrogate after Natasha suffered ‘brutal miscarriages’. The pair were committed to raising a family, he added.

US magistrate Judge Lauren Louis will issue a written ruling at a later date on whether to grant bail to Andrew and Tristan Tate.

At the hearing last Thursday – in which the brothers’ legal representatives also downplayed their wealth, insisting many of the cars and homes they film in are rented – defence lawyers claimed that the pair had complied with the terms of their release while battling charges in the UK and Romania.

But the British Embassy in the US has filed documents asking the judge to keep the brothers, who have boasted about having multiple passports, locked up while the UK pursues extradition. British authorities have until September 16 to submit a full extradition request.

Both men deny all the charges against them.

Andrew Tate told the court last week: ’I’ve never committed any of the crimes I’m accused of.’

He argued at length that his ‘Top G’ gangster persona was just ‘social media hyperbole’ and shouldn’t be taken literally.

But in the morally muddled world the brothers have created, the real challenge is knowing what is real and what is not.

The Met Office has forecast the weather for Wales today.

It says: “Mostly dry today with plenty of sunny spells and lighter winds than of late.

“However, some cloud will bubble up during the day, giving a very small chance of the odd light shower.

“Feeling pleasant in the sunshine. Maximum temperature 20 °C.”

Mike Gordon, president of Liverpool’s principal owners Fenway Sports Group, added in a statement: “Richard joined us at the start of a period of change, embracing that responsibility by leading our football operations department and overseeing recruitment while also providing valuable support to our coaching staff.

Wands at the ready, Harry Potter fans, because HBO has shared an exciting new update from the wizarding world.

Yesterday, they announced who will be playing Dobby and Tom Riddle in the upcoming small-screen reboot of the magical franchise.
​
Am I Being Unreasonable? Star and Bafta winner Lenny Rush will be playing Dobby the House-Elf in the show’s second series, replacing Toby Jones, who voiced the character in the Harry Potter films.
​
Reacting to the news on Instagram, Lenny, 17, revealed how excited he was to be joining the show’s cast.
​
‘I am over the moon to be joining the magical world of HBO’s Harry Potter series as Dobby,’ he wrote.
​
‘Even littler me (a massive Harry Potter fan, as you can tell) wouldn’t believe it! Very excited to join this amazing franchise.’

Meanwhile, Billy Barratt, who starred in the recent superhero movie Kraven the Hunter and the excellent horror movie Bring Her Back, will be playing Tom Riddle.
​
Riddle is, of course, the dark lord Voldemort’s real name, although the wicked wizard doesn’t like it when people dare to call him Tom (what’s wrong with that name, Voldemort?).
​
Marking the announcement, the 19-year-old leaned into Riddle’s secretive nature, sharing a suitably coy post on Instagram which simply read: ‘Riddle me this…’

The pair aren’t the only new names joining the Wizarding World. Bonnie Hill will take over the role of Ginny Weasley from Gracie Cochrane.
​
Gracie will play Ginny in Season 1; however, she will not be returning for Season 2.
​
In a statement shared with People, Gracie and her family explained the reasons for making this ‘challenging decision,’ citing ‘unforeseen circumstances’.

‘Her time as part of the Harry Potter world has been truly wonderful, and she is deeply grateful to Lucy Bevan and the entire production team for creating such an unforgettable experience,’ the statement continued.
​
‘Gracie is very excited about the opportunities her future holds.’

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video

Advertisement

Earlier this week, HBO shared a new trailer for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which gave us our best look yet at the new cast and Hogwarts.
​
The show will star Dominic McLaughlin as the titular ‘Boy Who Lived’, as well as Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley.
​
The new golden trio will be joined by an all-star cast, including Paapa Essiedu, John Lithgow, Janet McTeer and Nick Frost.
​
The series will debut at Christmas 2026 on HBO and will be available to stream exclusively on HBO Max in the UK & Ireland.

MORE: Rupert Grint returning to Harry Potter as Ron Weasley in Broadway show

Advertisement

MORE: Nicholas Hoult fans say damage is done despite him quitting Harry Potter: ‘Still icky’

MORE: Andrew Rannells: ‘My father died when I was 22 – it was a lot to process’

Comments


Add as preferred source

TV Newsletter

Sign up and tell us which TV shows you love to watch to get personalised updates every morning.

Advertisement