In the book – Swan Song: Diana, My Sister serialised in the Daily Mail – the Earl claims that Charles, then the Prince of Wales, subjected him to a “stream of anger” after he insisted Diana would not have wanted Princes William and Harry, then aged 15 and 12, to walk in her funeral procession.

As fans gear up for the brand new series of BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing on famous face has revealed he turned down TV bosses after being approached six times to feature on the show

A BBC star has revealed that he’s turned down BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing multiple times.

Dion Dublin, former England striker and co-presenter of Homes Under the Hammer, previously confessed he is a good dancer but has now revealed that he turned down appearing on the show not just once, but six times.

The 57-year-old said: ” “But I’m not going to be dancing to that music and showing any of my rhythm off live on television. Thank you very much for asking but I’m out,” The Sun reports.

It comes as fans gear up for the brand new series of the hit dancing competition. After Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman stepped down from their presenting roles, a new trio of hosts – presenter Emma Willis, professional dancer Johannes Radebe, and comedian Josh Widdicombe – was announced.

Judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke, and Head Judge Shirley Ballas will return for one more series.

Here are the 15 celebrities who will battle it out to win the Strictly Glitterball trophy:

• Lacey Turner – EastEnders actress
• Dani Dyer – TV personality and former reality star
• Delta Goodrem – Australian singer and songwriter
• Chris Appleton – Celebrity hair stylist
• Cach Mercer – Social media star and reality winner
• Will Best – TV and radio presenter
• Dame Sarah Storey – Paralympic cycling legend
• Jaime Winstone – Film and television actress
• Bethany Antonia – Actress known for House of the Dragon
• Shaun Wright-Phillips – Former England football star
• Graeme Hall – Dog trainer and TV host, aka ‘The Dogfather’
• Lawrence Robb – Emmerdale actor
• Tabby Stoecker – Olympic skeleton athlete
• John Nellis – Online football creator and commentator
• Melanie Walters – Gavin & Stacey actress

They’ll be joined by professional dancers Aljaz Skorjanec, Amy Dowden, Alexis Warr, Carlos Gu, Dianne Buswell, Jowita Przystal, Julian Caillon, Kai Widdrington, Katya Jones, Lauren Oakley, Nancy Xu, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin and Vito Coppola.

It was later revealed that five new professional dancers are joining the show – Aleksandra Isaeva, Cristian Priori, Lethabo Monametsi, Maddie Ingoldsby and Mark Karmalita – after Karen Hauer, Nadiya Bychkova, Luba Mushtuk, Michelle Tsiakkas and Gorka Marquez all left the show ahead of the 2026 series.

Strictly returns when the pre-recorded launch show airs on Saturday, September 19, at 7.25pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. This will then be followed by the first live show a week later on Saturday, September 26, and is when the competition really begins as the new couples perform for the judges’ verdict and all-important scores for the first time.

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The former police officer gained a celebrity status as he appeared on BBC and Channel 4 crime shows

A disgraced ex- Cambridgeshire Police officer who created a “toxic” culture and asked for a female suspect’s sex video has been jailed. Paul Street, 41, gained himself a celebrity status while working for Cambridgeshire Police, frequently featuring on BBC and Channel 4 crime shows.

However today (Wednesday, September 16), at the Old Bailey in London, Street, of Huntingdon, was sentenced to four years in prison. Street had been involved in creating a “toxic culture” while working at Cambridgeshire Police, as well as asking for inappropriate images of a suspect, the Press Association reports.

In passing his sentence today, Judge Mark Lucraft KC said: “The public should expect to be able to trust police officers to act fairly in the execution of their powers to prevent, detect and solve crime – anything less does great harm to the public faith in police forces and individual police officers.

“The public expects, and rightly so, the highest of standards from police officers. I am sure there will be many thousands of officers in police forces in this country and abroad utterly horrified by your actions and by the attitude you have each displayed here. It is both appalling and inexplicable.”

A trial was held at the same court in June where Street was found guilty of two charges of misconduct in public office. During the trial, prosecutor Anna Whyte KC described how Street created a “toxic culture” during his time with the police force. This led to investigations into 11 other officers.

The court heard details of how a junior officer raised concerns about Whatsapp messages, where Street messaged colleagues: “Just a shame we have snakes as we are all such good mates.”

In April 2020, Street also told his team to “bully” 17-year-old detainee Robiul Islam, encouraging officers to “hit him” and “smash his head in”. It was also revealed in autumn 2020, the former PC Josh Williams, who worked with Street, was asked to examine the phone of a female suspect.

Williams, 38, of Huntingdon, told Street the woman was “quite fit”. Street asked Williams if there were “any nudes” and Williams said there was a video of the woman committing a sexual act.

Williams later sent Street a photo from the woman’s phone which showed her in underwear. The following year, Street asked Williams if he had the video of the woman as he wanted to show it to the “lads from footy”. Williams said he doubted he still had it and there was no evidence to show it was sent.

The woman told the court today she had an “overwhelming sense of shock, violation, anger and humiliation” following the incident. Reading out her victim person statement in court, she added: “The photographs and videos on my phone were deeply private and intimate.

“They were never intended to be viewed or shared by anyone without my consent. Learning that people in positions of authority deliberately accessed and circulated these images has left me feeling exposed, degraded and powerless.

“Something that was entirely personal to me was taken and treated as if it had no value or dignity. Members of the public are taught to trust the police and believe that officers will act with integrity and respect for the law.

“In my case these individuals entrusted to safeguard my property and uphold the law abused their position in order to invade my privacy in an extremely personal and humiliating way.”

During mitigation in the trial, Jennifer Dempster KC said Street “enormously regrets his behaviour”. Ms Dempster added: “He recognises he has not only let the public down, he has let the police down and he has let his family down.”

For Williams, Robert Morris said: “He recognises what he did was deeply inappropriate, driven by misguided and stupid desire to engage in salacious gossip.”

The 11 other officers who were investigated following Street and Williams’ actions had fostered. Of those, two resigned, one was dismissed for gross misconduct, one received a final warning, two received written warnings and five were dealt with for low level performance issues.

Senior specialist prosecutor Lisa Rose, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This case exposed a sustained pattern of unacceptable conduct by a police officer who abused his position of trust.

“Police officers are entrusted with significant powers and are expected to uphold the highest standards at all times. Members of the public should have confidence that any personal material obtained during an investigation will be handled lawfully and appropriately. The actions of Paul Street and Joshua Williams represented a serious breach of that trust.”

Emily Barry, director of engagement for the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) described Street’s behaviour as “appalling” and a “complete abuse of his position as a police officer”.

She added: “He fostered a toxic culture in his team and instead of leading by example, he encouraged others to join in exchanging inappropriate messages – creating an environment that junior officers would find very difficult to challenge.

“However, this investigation shows that officers must be courageous and call out this sort of behaviour and forces must make sure that they support and protect those that do report. The officer who reported Street should be acknowledged for standing up for what is right.

“The public would also be shocked at knowing officers shared intimate photos from a woman’s phone without any policing purpose and that Street made a video threatening a child who was detained in custody.”

Michael Carrick insisted he didn’t care if he was under pressure after overseeing a Man Utd defeat at Old Trafford having led 2-0 – the first time that has happened in 50 years.

Michael Carrick challenged his Manchester United players to show they were tough enough to cope with the scrutiny of playing for the club after they were booed off at Old Trafford following a defeat to Brighton.

United threw away a 2-0 lead at Old Trafford, having seen early goals from Shea Lacey and Mason Mount wiped out by an excellent Brighton side.

The Stretford End booed the players as they walked off at full-time and chanted ‘what the f****** hell was that?’, with this defeat a major blow to Carrick and United’s third in just six games in all competitions this season.

Carrick gave short shrift to a question as to whether he was under pressure after a dreadful start to the season but told the players they had to show they can deal with the criticism and the negativity that is now coming their way.

“We all know it’s there,” he said. “We know it’s there whether it’s good or whether it’s not good. How you deal with that is the important thing.

“Being here toughens you up over a period of time, and it depends how you deal with it. You’ve got to deal with it in a way where you can cope with it and you can bring out the best in yourself, and whatever, however you do that, with your motivation and the confidence deep within yourself to, as a whole group I’m talking about here, that we know we can win football matches and that’s what we are here for is to win.

“It feels pretty quick, as I just said about the couple of little things that go one way and we’ve gone out of the cup tonight, and the feeling around the place feels bigger than that.”

Carrick could do no wrong last season as a run of 12 wins and three draws from 17 games in charge steered United back into the Champions League, but the pressure has mounted rapidly this season.

It might be too early to say the 45-year-old faces a must-win game at Fulham this weekend, but the pressure is certainly mounting, although Carrick claimed he wasn’t feeling it.

“I don’t feel under pressure,” he said. “Either way, that doesn’t bother me one bit. It generally doesn’t bother me one bit. I understand what goes on outside and how the world works, but it doesn’t bother me.”

The head coach backed his players to show the resolve and the stomach for the fight to turn around a hugely disappointing start to the season.

“Of course we can turn it around,” he said. “We’ve got some really good players and it feels bad at the moment because we haven’t had a great week, or two or three weeks.

“But it doesn’t mean you can’t win another game of football quickly. So there’s that side of it, the players have shown before what they’re capable of doing and we have as a group.”

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Little Noah Woods vanished from a playground on Tuesday afternoon

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A body has tragically been recovered from a pond amid a desperate search to find a three-year-old boy.

Noah Woods vanished just before 3pm on Tuesday (September 15) after playing at a playground in Brantham, Suffolk.

In a sad update today, police said a body was located in Decoy Pond, where the authorities have been searching.

Superintendent Tom Pearse said: “Formal identification has yet to take place, but the family of Noah Woods have been informed of this development.

“The discovery of the body is currently being treated as not suspicious but unexplained.”

The update comes as hundreds of people joined the search to find the young boy after he became separated from a relative. Volunteers in hi-vis jackets were seen combing through the streets and local areas, including the pond.

The search involved police, fire, coastguard and search and rescue teams as well as a helicopter and sniffer dogs.

Noah’s father previously appealed for help on social media for more volunteers, writing: “I cannot go another night knowing he’s out there alone, please don’t give up on him guys. He is out there somewhere and I appreciate every single one of you.”

Big Brother viewers have rallied behind the reality star after she was labelled ‘disrespectful’

Big Brother fans have rushed to defend a controversial contestant amid online backlash.

American housemate Johanne, 44, was labelled ‘disrespectful’ after she walked into the storage room while Omar was praying towards the end of Wednesday night’s episode of the ITV series. She began searching for a drink, apparently unaware of what he was doing.

Once Johanne realised, she apologised and left the room. She later apologised to Omar again, explaining that she had no idea he was praying. While some viewers criticised the interruption, others argued it was a genuine mistake and questioned whether Omar had been given enough privacy in the shared house.

“Omar should have let them know he was going in to pray you could tell she genuinely didn’t know #bbuk,” one viewer wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Another suggested: “I do think Omar should probably have a more private place to pray though how are all housemates going to know #bbuk.”

The encounter nevertheless left some fans cringing. As OK! reports, one posted: “I’ve never gotten worse second hand embarrassment in my life #bbuk.” A second wrote: “Stop that was so awkward poor Omar #BBUK.”

Others took a harsher view of Johanne’s behaviour. One wrote: “Wow Joanne is so disrespectful my lord. #bbuk.” Another added: “Joanne interrupting Omar praying? ! Holy s*** that’s incredibly disrespectful #BBUK.”

The debate came just four days after the new contestants moved into the house, with tensions already emerging. Tonight’s episode also saw Charlotte, who is an amputee, and Rochelle at the centre of the drama after Rochelle revealed she had long had a phobia of people with limb differences.

Meanwhile, Millie, Pauline and Rochelle were confirmed as the housemates facing the series’ first eviction.

The trio had been offered a lifeline if they could identify Big Brother’s moles, Tays and Philip. All three failed to expose the undercover housemates, leaving them facing the public vote.

Voting is now open for Friday’s (September 18) eviction, with viewers asked to choose the housemate they want to leave.

The evicted contestant will then join presenters AJ Odudu and Will Best for a live interview.

Big Brother is available to stream on ITVX

The global property advisory has entered into consultation with staff at the office

Property advisory firm Avison Young is closing its Cardiff office as part of an ongoing review of its operations.

The Canadian headquartered global firm is consulting with the office’s 12 staff and identifying potential alternative roles based at other locations.

Avison Young’s other UK offices, which are not affected, include those in London, Bristol, and Edinburgh.

Its Cardiff office, based at the city centre 1 Kingsway office scheme, was launched following the firm’s acquisition of rival GVA in 2019.

Recently the office has seen a number of high profile staff moving on, including its former principal and office managing partner, Peter Constantine, who last December joined Newmark, based in Cardiff, as part of its UK leisure team.

HMRC had filed a winding up petition against Avison Young (UK) for unpaid taxes, but was withdrawn last month following a multi-million-pound settlement. Avison Young, via its Toronto headquarters, last month also confirmed it has reached a major recapitalisation deal with funders. The transaction, which is expected to be finalised in October, will reduce its det and preferred equity by nearly 70%.

Avison Young said its decision to close its Cardiff office ties in with the expiry of its lease at its 1 Kingsway offices and would allow the firm “to continue to bald a strong foundation for its long-term growth across the UK.”

The Cardiff team has advised on a wide range of property deals in Wales from office lettings to freehold investment sales, including acting for Cardiff Council on its £50m plus acquisition of the Red Dragon Centre in Cardiff Bay and for Delancey on its acquisition the 2 Kingsway office scheme in the centre of Cardiff for £13m. Last year it also acted for Cowell Group, founded by the brother of Simon Cowell, Nicholas Cowell, and Bravo Investment House, on their acquisition of the 90,000 sq ft Churchill House office building, also in the centre of the capital.

President of Avison Young for the UK and Ireland, George Roberts, said: “Our primary focus throughout this transition is supporting our employees and maintaining seamless service for our clients and partners. We are now consulting with the 12 affected colleagues in Cardiff to support them through this change, including identifying alternative roles based from other locations.”

Founded in 1978 Avison Young employs around 4,300 with more than 100 offices globally.

Speaking during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday (September 16), Councillor Darren Grimes said residents expected the council to spend money wisely while protecting frontline services.

He told councillors at the Salvus House meeting: “We’ll keep a laser-like focus on reviewing contracts where we can, stripping out any waste and avoidable costs and ensuring we don’t waste money on expensive gimmicks.”

Cllr Grimes said many of the rising costs facing the council were beyond its control.

“The biggest cost drivers that we face as a council aren’t optional extras, they’re not add-ons, they’re unavoidable cost pressures linked to national decisions that we must locally fund,” he said.

(Image: Stuart Boulton)

The council is warning that it will need to find tens of millions of pounds over the next few years to balance its books as demand for services continues to rise.

Much of the pressure is coming from areas such as children’s social care, home-to-school transport and staff pay.

If no action is taken, council forecasts show a funding gap of £23.3 million next year, rising to £83.7m over four years.

To help deal with the shortfall, officers have drawn up a list of possible savings.

These include changing the way some services are delivered, making greater use of technology and artificial intelligence, cutting back office costs, securing better-value contracts and finding efficiencies across council departments.

Some of the biggest savings are expected to come from long-term transformation projects designed to make services cheaper to run.

However, Cllr Grimes said those plans would take time to deliver.

“Transformation is no silver bullet and requires a total rewiring of our services, doing things very differently and leaning into a digital solution and artificial intelligence,” he said.

The report also highlights the impact of staff pay awards, with the council estimating that a 3.5 per cent pay rise next year would add around £10.8m to its costs.

Cllr Grimes called for more funding from central government, arguing councils were being left to cope with rising demand for services without receiving enough financial support.

He said the authority would not “shirk away” from the difficult decisions needed to set a balanced budget, which will be laid out in February next year.

Ashraful Islam will have to complete unpaid work and pay a fine, but will not go to prison for his crimes

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A student caught with hundreds of images of child abuse, including hundreds of images categorised as the most serious, has avoided jail.

Ashraful Islam, 21, of Chippenham, Gloucestershire, admitted taking indecent images of children and voyeurism when he appeared in court on Friday, September 10.

He was given a 26-month custodial sentence suspended for three years, and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) was imposed for a period of 10 years, reports GloucestershireLive.

Islam was arrested in connection with an unrelated matter in March 2026.

His phone was seized, and as part of this, a significant number of child abuse images were located, including nearly 350 images classed as category A – depicting the most serious form of child abuse.

As well as this, images showing ‘upskirting’ of schoolgirls were also found on Islam’s phone.

In police footage of Islam’s arrest, when asked by a police officer if he needed to take anything to the police station, Islam replied, “I really need to put my uni work in, otherwise I fail.”

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Det Con Will Saunders of Wiltshire Police said: “Islam was found in possession of hundreds of images of child abuse. Each of these images represents a real victim who has suffered serious, life changing abuse and those who view, possess, or share such material are contributing to that harm.

“I’d like to thank the officers who worked on this case particularly the digital forensics unit whose hard work allowed us to uncover a true picture of his offending.”

As well as the custodial sentence and SHPO that has been granted, Islam must also pay a £228 surcharge and complete 200 hours of unpaid work.

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