NewsBeat
Travis Kelce’s dad says he’ll spend $10 on 35th birthday present
Travis Kelce’s dad has revealed he’s not splashing out on Taylor Swift’s birthday present, explaining that spending $10 (£8) on a personal gift is better than trying to impress her with something expensive.
The US pop star, who turned 35 on Friday, has been dating NFL player Travis since last summer.
His dad Ed Kelce said: “You’re not going to crush Taylor Swift with a gift that cost, you know, $100,000 (£80,000).
“You’ve got to get something that tweaks the strings of her heart that you spend 10 bucks on,” he continued. “Then she’ll just be all gooey. You’ve got to find something that triggers the emotion.”
Speaking to the Baskin and Phelps podcast, Ed said “the amount of money is meaningless” when it came to buying for the singer, and that buying a gift for her was similar to buying for his two sons. “There’s nothing they want that they don’t already have.”
Instead, he explained: “You have to look beyond that. You’ve got to dig down and come up with something special.”
Travis Kelce plays for the Kansas City Chiefs, while his brother Jason Kelce is a retired Philadelphia Eagles player.
Last weekend, Swift reached the end of her Eras world tour, which spanned 152 concerts over 21 months and is said to have made more than $2bn (£1.58bn) in ticket sales.
The singer has described the record-breaking tour as “the most extraordinary chapter of my life so far”.
At the final show on Sunday in Vancouver, Canada, fans began singing Happy Birthday to the singer.
And her birthday came a day after Swift made history as the winner of the most Billboard Music Awards.
“This is like the nicest early birthday present you could have given me, so thank you very much,” Swift said in a pre-recorded acceptance speech. “I love it. It’s exactly what I wanted.”
Swift picked up 10 prizes at Thursday’s event, including top artist and top Billboard 200 album for The Tortured Poets Department.
That brings the total number of Billboard Awards won by Swift to 49, the highest of any artist, overtaking Drake’s 41.
Her other wins this year included top female artist, top Hot 100 artist and top Hot 100 songwriter, prizes Swift said she considered fan-voted awards because they were driven by chart data.
“You guys are the ones who care about our albums and come see us in concert,” she said.
“Everything that has happened with the Eras Tour and The Tortured Poets Department, I just have to say thank you.
“It means the world to me that you guys have embraced the things I’ve made, and the fact that you’ve cared so much about my music.”
The award ceremony also saw wins for British stars Dua Lipa, Coldplay and Charli XCX – the latter of whom scored top dance/electronic artist and album for Brat.
NewsBeat
Prisoner released early under government scheme assaulted ex-partner the day after he was freed | UK News
A former actor who was released from prison in error as part of the early release scheme has been convicted of assaulting his ex-partner the day after he was freed.
Jason Hoganson, who starred in the 1987 film Empire State, was one of around 1,700 prisoners who walked free on 10 September 2024 as part of the government’s plan to ease overcrowding in prisons.
However, the 53-year-old was actually one of 37 inmates who were released by mistake when the scheme was rolled out.
Despite being released early in error in September, it is understood Hoganson is likely to have been released a few days later anyway under the terms of his original sentence.
Heavily-tattooed Hoganson was photographed giving a thumbs up as he left HMP Durham after serving half of an 18-month sentence for assaulting his ex-partner Rachel Usher and breaching a restraining order.
He was arrested in Newcastle’s West End the following day after going to Ms Usher’s flat and slapping her.
Ms Usher “very sadly passed away” after Hoganson was returned to custody, a court heard.
Her cause of death has not been reported but there is no suggestion it is linked to Hoganson.
The former actor was found guilty on Friday of assaulting Ms Usher and two counts of breaching a restraining order by visiting her home on 11 September 2024 and writing her a letter from prison a week earlier.
Hoganson was removed from Newcastle Crown Court in the middle of his evidence after he started shouting obscenities at prosecutor Lisa Callum, and was not present to hear the verdict.
A statement from Ms Usher read by Ms Callum said the two had been in a relationship for about six years and Hoganson “used to hit me all the time”.
The statement said: “I’m aware he was released two days ago – earlier than he should have been.”
Ms Usher said she was leaving her flat to go to the shops on 11 September and was waiting for a lift when she saw Hoganson running towards her.
She said: “He opened the door of the stairwell and slapped me across the side of my face.
“He was shouting and bawling and seemed really angry. He called me a slut and said there was someone in my flat.
“He said ‘can we go somewhere’ and when I said ‘no’ he got even more angry.”
Ms Usher said she called the police and Hoganson started to hit his head on an electrical box on the wall.
Her statement read: “I do not have any injuries but the slap was powerful. There was a lot of force behind it.”
Ms Usher also described how receiving the prison letter, where Hoganson told her he loved her, made “me feel horrible and sick inside”.
Read more from Sky News:
Ex-Premier League footballer ‘kicked wife in head’, court hears
World’s largest iceberg on crash course with island
Record number of children live in B&Bs beyond legal limit
Hoganson denied the offences, claiming he went to the block of flats to get his belongings from a man who lived five floors above Ms Usher.
He said he went to get the lift back to the ground floor and saw Ms Usher when it stopped on her floor.
Hoganson told the court: “Obviously she panicked. She came straight for me and went to attack me. I’ve moved out of the way down the stairs. I’ve never attacked Rachel.
“I never even spoke to her, I just wanted to get out of there.”
Defence lawyer Mark Styles said the defendant had been “unable to process” the death of Ms Usher because he has been in custody, and had experienced a deterioration in his mental health.
He is due to be sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court on 25 February.
NewsBeat
Nail-biting finale brings series to dramatic end
Entertainment reporter
Warning: This article reveals the outcome of The Traitors.
The third series of The Traitors has been won after a nail-biting conclusion.
The finale saw faithfuls Francesca Rowan-Plowden, Alexander Dragonetti, Leanne Quigley and Jake Brown go up against traitor Charlotte Berman.
After weeks of challenges, murders, roundtables and banishments, the final prize fund stood at £94,600 after the last challenge of the series.
Ex-soldier Leanne and project manager Jake were the final two and split the money after revealing they were both faithfuls.
Leanne squealed and thanked Jake “for not letting me down”.
Jake said: “I feel like my body feels like it’s going to collapse but I’m just so happy.”
The final roundtable was different from previous years in that players who were banished did not reveal whether or not they were a traitor or a faithful as they left.
That meant the remaining contestants had to rely solely on their instincts about whether or not there were any traitors left in the game.
A late twist this year saw Francesca become “the seer”, a power that enabled her to find out the true status of one other contestant.
Unfortunately for Charlotte, the last remaining traitor, Francesca chose her, and was able to find out her fellow player was not the faithful she had assumed.
The finale comes after a phenomenally successful series for the BBC, which has been watched by an audience of more than nine million, a figure which will rise as more viewers catch up.
That places this series above the previous two and makes The Traitors one of the biggest hits currently on British television.
As in previous years, several of this year’s contestants attracted devoted followings online as the series progressed, with Linda in particular being one of the breakout social media stars.
Her delightfully appalling acting prompted hundreds of gifs and memes on social platforms in recent weeks.
Other stars of the series have included the impressively cunning traitor Minah, the extremely polite Alexander, the intuitive Fozia, and, of course, converted traitor Charlotte and her fake Welsh accent.
The third season has had a notably different narrative arc to the previous two.
In the first season, three faithful contestants won after rooting out the last remaining traitor, Wilf, during the finale. In the second series, original traitor Harry made it to the final, and won.
The third season is different in that none of the original traitors selected in the first episode made it to the end.
The differing routes of each series suggest the show’s format has the potential to last for several more years, as each finale has kept viewers guessing and been hard to predict.
However, the contestants are becoming increasingly aware of the way the show is produced, speculating on the decisions being made behind the scenes.
For example, one of this year’s faithfuls, Elen, correctly speculated in an early episode that there would be more female traitors this year, following a male-heavy line-up last year.
As players become progressively more savvy, producers will have to keep making changes to make sure the show remains fresh and unpredictable, keeping players on their toes.
A celebrity version of The Traitors will air later this year, giving the format another new spin. It has not yet been confirmed who will take part.
NewsBeat
UK ticket holder scoops £83m EuroMillions jackpot
A UK ticket-holder has won Friday’s £83 million EuroMillions jackpot, National Lottery operator Allwyn said.
They matched all five main numbers and two lucky stars to take home the entire jackpot.
The winning numbers were 02, 11, 19, 30, 49. The winning lucky stars were 03 and 08.
If claimed, the ticket-holder will decide whether to go public once they receive the money.
Unless they announce the news, there will be no information on where the winner bought the ticket, or whether they entered the draw as an individual or part of a syndicate.
Andy Carter, senior winners’ adviser at Allwyn, operator of The National Lottery, said: “Amazing, what a fantastic night for a single UK ticket-holder who has scooped tonight’s £83 million EuroMillions jackpot.
“This lucky winner represents the first UK EuroMillions jackpot win of 2025, what a way to start the year.
“Players are urged to check their tickets and to give us a call if they think they are tonight’s lucky winner.”
Last month, a UK ticket-holder received £177m after winning the jackpot in November. That was the third biggest ever National Lottery pay-out.
NewsBeat
Luke Littler: World champion sets up Michael van Gerwen rematch at Dutch Masters
Earlier, there was a major upset as world number one Luke Humphries was beaten 6-3 by home hero Jermaine Wattimena, ranked 35th.
After going 2-0 down, Dutchman Wattimena won five successive legs while throwing some sensational darts in averaging 98.86, more than seven points higher than Humphries – before holding his nerve and his throw to spark wild celebrations.
Wattimena will face world number four Rob Cross in the quarter-finals, after the Englishman beat Richard Veenstra 6-3 in the opening match of the night.
The partisan crowd in Den Bosch had plenty to enjoy with seven of the eight first round matches featuring Dutch players.
And they were also thrilled as Raymond van Barneveld rolled back the years to stun Chris Dobey in an 11-leg thriller.
The 57-year-old was visibly emotional after taking out a 144 checkout in the final leg to beat Dobey 6-5, after the Englishman had missed a match dart.
This was one of numerous exciting games on Friday evening, and followed top seed Stephen Bunting narrowly seeing off Dutch hope Gian van Veen in another 11-leg battle.
Bunting is ranked first at this tournament after winning the Bahrain Masters last weekend, but the Liverpudlian was forced to a deciding leg by van Veen.
He held his nerve in the final set to beat the world youth champion 6-5 and proceed to the last eight where he will face van Barneveld.
The home fans were also delighted by home favourite Kevin Doets cruising to a 6-1 win over world number 11 Nathan Aspinall.
Doets will next play second seed Gerwyn Price, who comfortably beat Danny Noppert 6-2.
Politics
Reform UK chairman explains party’s ‘historic breaking of the stranglehold’ after topping poll in shock development
Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf has hailed a “historic breaking of the stranglehold” of Britain’s two main political parties after his party topped a national poll for the first time.
Speaking on GB News, Yusuf said the British public had grown “sick and tired after 14 years of Tory disaster, of incompetence, duplicity and corruption”.
He criticised the Conservative government’s record on immigration, healthcare and infrastructure, claiming they had “built no infrastructure, no hospitals” whilst energy bills “went through the roof because of their crazy net zero policies”.
The Reform chairman accused Labour of taking “all of the appalling things the Tories did and pour[ing] gasoline on it”.
Zia Yusuf has heralded Reform UK’s success
GB NEWS
A Find Out Now poll published on Friday showed Reform UK leading with 26 per cent of voter support, ahead of the Conservatives on 23 per cent and Labour trailing in third place on 22 per cent.
The Liberal Democrats polled at 12 per cent, with the Greens on 10 per cent.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
The survey of 2,380 UK adults was conducted on January 22.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage celebrated the results on social media, writing: “Reform LEADS for the first time in a national opinion poll. This is just the beginning.”
The milestone comes after two consecutive polls had previously put Reform UK in joint first place.
Find Out Now said Reform UK’s surge was driven by “retaining almost all of their 2024 GE support” – far more than any other party.
Zia Yusuf joined Matt Goodwin on GB News
GB NEWS
The pollster noted the party had won over a fifth of 2024 Conservative voters.
Most significantly, Reform UK captured nearly half (46 per cent) of people who didn’t vote in 2024 but now say they would “definitely vote”.
“Although new Reform UK voters are twice as likely to come from the Conservatives than from Labour, their single-largest source of new supporters is people who didn’t vote in 2024,” Find Out Now added.
A separate Ipsos UK poll found confidence in the UK’s direction had fallen to near pre-election levels, with 62 per cent saying the country was heading in the wrong direction.
The survey revealed widespread dissatisfaction with political leaders, with 52 oer cent viewing Prime Minister Starmer unfavourably and 50 per cent holding negative views of Labour.
Farage emerged as the leader with “the most distinct brand”, according to Ipsos director Gideon Skinner, particularly in “understanding the problems facing Britain”.
However, the Reform UK leader faces his own challenges, with 51 per cent viewing him unfavourably – almost double the 26 per cent who view him positively.
NewsBeat
Premiership: Harlequins 22-19 Northampton Saints – Cassius Cleaves’ late try seals win
Harlequins: Green; David, Joseph, Waghorn, Cleaves; J Evans, Care; Jones, Walker, Kerrod, Launchbury, Lewies, Kenningham, W Evans, Chisholm.
Replacements: Riley, Els, Lewis, Herbst, Lawday, Porter, Benson, Halfpenny.
Northampton: Ramm; Litchfield, Savala, Hutchinson, Seabrook; Makepeace-Cubitt, McParland; Haffar, Walker, Davison, Mayavanua, Lockett, Kemeny, Pearson, Augustus.
Replacements: Wright, West, Green, Prowse, Hunter-Hill, Scott-Young, James, Glister.
Referee: Luke Pearce.
Politics
Our foreign aid spend is totally bonkers and represents a betrayal of British people
President Donald Trump, has just paused US foreign aid for 90 days.
Should the UK do the same?
Well, 64 per cent of Brits, nearly two-thirds of people, think we should reduce our foreign aid budget, according to a new poll by YouGov, prioritising very real public concerns.
Our government appears to prioritise international commitments over the domestic needs of our own people.
Matt Goodwin questioned if Britain is spending too much on foreign aid on GB News
GB NEWS
In 2023, the UK’s foreign aid budget reached a whopping £15.3 billion, with £4.3 billion of this sum allocated to domestic refugee programs. A significant increase of £583 million from 2022.
However, concerns have emerged about the allocation of funds to certain recipient countries and the potential misuse of aid.
Consider just some of these numbers. Of this £15.3 billion, we sent over £115 million to Afghanistan. They’re a country run by the Taliban which means funds could be used to inadvertently support rebuilding efforts under Taliban control.
Somalia received £98 million, a country which has a history of UK aid falling into the hands of al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab while Somalians here in Britain are also among the most likely to be given social housing, also paid for by the taxpayer
Pakistan was sent £69 million, and is forecast to get £133 million this year, a country who had SOME nationals implicated as key figures in the rape gangs scandal
£58 million was sent to Bangladesh, a country who undermined UK’s efforts to strip citizenship from Shamima Begum, a British-born woman who entered Syria to join the Islamic State at the age of 15 in 2015 – who was eligible for Bangladeshi citizenship.
And lastly, Kenya was sent £48 million – a country where human rights campaigners continue to seek reparations for colonial era grievances.
The TaxPayers’ Alliance campaign group revealed in 2024, that £536.4 million is being spent on ten active funding programmes focused on supporting farmers and farming communities abroad while here in Britain we just smashed family farms that have been operating for generations to save some £500 million
In other words we are sending £15 BILLION overseas while taking winter fuel payments off of British pensioners to save £1.5 billion annually.
I think this is totally bonkers, and represents a betrayal of British people.
NewsBeat
Prevent under review after failing to stop Southport killer, who else did they miss?
With the country still reeling from the details that emerged in the sentencing of Southport killer Axel Rudakubana, troubling questions continue to emerge over the many opportunities missed to stop him.
The 18-year-old travelled to a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop at The Hart Space on 29 July last year, before unleashing 15 minutes of horror with a kitchen knife upon defenceless children.
Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, all lost their lives, while 10 others were seriously injured.
The killer, who had a twisted obsession with violence, has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 52 years.
It has emerged there were multiple warning signs that the teenager was plotting an act of evil, with his concerned teachers making referrals to the government’s flagship anti-terror programme Prevent in the years before the attack.
He was referred three times between 2019 and 2021 specifically over concerns about his interest in violence.
They included:
- In December 2019, he was referred after making comments about a mass shooting
- In February 2021, a fellow pupil raised concerns after Rudakubana posted images of Colonel Gaddafi on Instagram
- In April 2021, a teacher raised concerns after noticing he was reading about the 2017 London Bridge attack, in which eight people were killed
Despite the three referrals over Rudakubana, concerns about him were never escalated up the chain, meaning he was not put under enhanced monitoring.
Following his arrest in July, an urgent Prevent review was carried out over the summer which found that while there was evidence he had an obsession with violence, his case was not escalated as he did not appear to fit the mould of a potential extremist.
This is not the first time Prevent has been unable to catch a killer before they embarked on a murderous rampage, prompting a fresh wave of criticism for the government scheme.
Ali Harbi Ali murdered Southend MP Sir David Amess at a constituency surgery in 2021 and is currently serving a whole-life term in prison.
As a teenager, Ali had been referred to Prevent and engaged with the counter-radicalisation programme between 2014 and 2015 but was left unchecked after just one meeting.
He later boasted to the Old Bailey: “I just knew to nod my head and say yes and they would leave me alone afterwards and they did.”
Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain ahead of Rudakubana’s sentencing, his daughter Katie Amess said Prevent was not “foiling any terrorist attacks, it is allowing people to commit these crimes”.
She added: “I have been pushing and pushing and pushing for an inquiry from the Conservative government and from, now, the Labour Government.
“I tried to take the Government to court, I tried to take the police to court, and every door that I knock on is slammed in my face. Nobody wants to take accountability, nobody wants to delve into what happened and try and figure out how we can stop it.”
Other killers who had been referred to Prevent but went on to carry out heinous acts also include Plymouth gunman Jake Davison, who murdered five people including a three-year-old girl.
The apprentice crane operator first killed his mother Maxine, who had previously referred him to the scehem in November 2016 after becoming concerned about his behaviour. Despite information that he had a fixation with firearms being passed on to a government representative, the official did not feel it met the criteria for a formal referral.
In August 2021, the 22-year-old shot his mother at their family home before walking the streets and killing four others with his shotgun before taking his own life.
Another killer who appeared to slip through the net was Khairi Saadallah, who went on to stab three men in Reading’s Forbury Gardens on 20 June 2020.
Concerns had been raised to community mental health teams, probation officers and Prevent that Saadallah could carry out a London Bridge-style attack due to his extremist views.
He was the subject of dozens of intelligence reports which showed a pattern of violence and references to extremism, and had a string of previous convictions which led to repeated periods in prison from 2015 onwards.
Despite being referred to Prevent four times, he was never taken on a case. He was also “triaged” four times by MI5 between 2017 and 2019 over intelligence he wanted to return to Libya to join ISIS but they assessed he was at “low or no risk” of committing terror offences.
Following Rudakubana’s guilty pleas on Monday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced a review of the Prevent programme to be led by the former terror watchdog, Lord David Anderson KC.
Speaking in the Commons, Ms Cooper said Lord Anderson will start work “immediately”, adding: “His first task will be to conduct a thorough review of the Prevent history in this case to identify what changes are needed to make sure serious cases are not missed, particularly when there is mixed and unclear ideology.”
Meanwhile, the Home Office will look at the thresholds used for Prevent referrals to see how violent behaviour can be “urgently” addressed.
It comes after officials in the department spent the summer investigating Rudakubana’s Prevent referrals and found, “given his age and complex needs”, they should not have been closed.
NewsBeat
The Traitors UK: Twists, turns and betrayals
Entertainment reporter
Devious betrayals, shock twists and mortifying fails, this season of The Traitors UK has had it all.
The format-breaking twists began in episode one when the group had to choose three contestants to get off the train to the castle and potentially face leaving the game before it even began.
And the chaos didn’t end there, with daily missions that pitted the group against each other, tears at almost every roundtable and constant eye rolling.
While we ponder what will fill the void left in our weeknight evenings, here’s a look back at the 13 most memorable moments of epic treachery.
Everything about Linda
From the moment Linda risked whiplash by turning her head so quickly when Claudia said the word “traitors”, she became the darling of series three.
The retired opera singer channelled her GCSE drama skills to hide her true traitor identity – and even earned herself a central London billboard.
“Oh my god, who the hell is not going to come back?” she asked unconvincingly one breakfast as they waited to see who had been murdered.
Linda’s fiery side began to emerge during the narrowboat challenge, in which the contestants jabbed at each other for their poor rowing skills.
At the roundtable that followed, Linda told Anna witheringly: “You don’t need to be a sailor to know how to tie a rope, sorry.”
But all good things must come to an end, and, by episode seven, the rest of the pack had caught up with faithful Jake, who suspected Linda “from day one”.
Charlotte’s Welsh accent
Studies have found the Welsh accent to be the most trustworthy and while that didn’t help Welsh native Elen who was banished second, it certainly came in handy for Charlotte.
“I’m not actually from Wales,” the 33-year-old Londoner privately admitted to the camera in episode one, as she dropped her fake accent.
“I’ve been putting on a Welsh accent because my mum’s from Wales, it’s one of the most trustworthy accents.”
While her fake persona has served her well, it was a hilariously pointless plot twist, and, by the end, her two accents had begun to blur into each other anyway.
Alexander being Alexander
Move over Mark Darcy, there’s a new handsome, charming and slightly bumbling man in town: Alexander.
From falling into a flower bush while playing badminton to opera-singing “Sperbu Yur Wur Wur” – which now lives rent free in my mind – Alexander wins the award for nicest contestant, and, thanks to Claudia, we now know that he’s also single.
After he (literally) did most of the heavy lifting during one of the challenges, the nation gave an audible gasp when fellow faithful Joe claimed Alexander’s tiredness was “an act”.
Kasim’s eye twinkle
It was heart-breaking to see loveable doctor Kas ostracised by his fellow contestants in the day before his banishment.
At the roundtable, he hit back at Jake for his illogical theory that Kas must be a traitor because he saves lives during the day and therefore, must kill at night.
“You’re basically calling me Harold Shipman or something!” he replied, in what became one of the most viral moments of the series.
Kas (sort of) got his revenge with his exit speech, as he made the others think he was about to admit to being a traitor before pivoting to the truth.
“Joe, who would have thought you’d caught me based on a twinkle in the eye?” he said before revealing he was, in fact, a faithful.
Spelling troubles
Roundtables are full of treachery, tears and… shocking spelling.
One of the worst cases this series has to be Keith spelling Nathan as “Nather” – but the name people struggled with most was Minah’s.
The traitor (rightfully) wasn’t having any of it and death-stared Anna when she wrote “Meina” on her chalkboard.
She finally broke the apparent code of silence about the cast’s awful spelling when she told Alexander there was a ‘h’ at the end of her name – right before being banished.
Charlotte’s betrayals
Who would’ve thought lovely “Welsh” Charlotte would turn out to be a smiling evil mastermind and betray not one, but two fellow traitors.
First, it was poor Minah. Much to the original traitor’s surprise, Charlotte turned on her at the roundtable – after Minah had spent the whole day telling the cameras she totally trusted her fellow traitor to have her back.
If that wasn’t enough, Charlotte then chose to recruit faithful Freddie and encouraged him to murder Leanne, despite knowing she had the shield.
A cunning move and one that helped her achieve her aim of getting him banished, but perhaps she schemed too hard as Freddie chose to write her name on his card at the roundtable, casting doubts over her true identity.
Sister vs sister
There’s nothing like a bit of family drama (remember Diane and Ross?) and when Armani and Maia revealed they were sisters, viewers knew they were in for a treat.
Armani quickly established herself as the leader of the pack and was even brazen enough to advise her fellow traitors to be bolshier.
But her bold personality quickly came under fire and her fate was sealed by sister Maia who told the roundtable she was 60% sure Armani was a traitor – then voted her out.
Unfortunately for Maia, the remaining traitors chose to kill her off that same night.
Fozia’s home truths
From the moment Fozia reappeared in the game, she had it in for Linda and (rightly) suspected her of being one of the traitors.
When her suspicions were confirmed during a face-to-face murder by Linda and Minah, she sassily told Linda: “You’re not going to last. Get a good night’s sleep tonight because you’re going next.”
Linda, with equal sass, replied: “Get over it”.
A perfect interaction between the two queens of season three.
Suspended in cages
A rail replacement service is always bad news… But not this time.
It was when viewers were shown a mysterious carriage marked “rail replacement” that they began to suspect the three faithfuls who sacrificed themselves in episode one might be returning.
The next episode, Alexander, Fozia and Jack appeared in cages suspended above the forest and fellow contestants could choose to save two of them.
Unfortunately for Jack, his plea to stay – “I’m a gardener from Yorkshire and I’m 6’5 so I’d be good in the missions” – wasn’t convincing enough and he was banished from the game forever.
Freddie’s steamy shower
Among this year’s melodramatic cutaways to contestants supposedly in their hotel rooms was a clip of Charlotte reading a “Learn Welsh” book, priest Lisa praying and Keith practising his martial arts.
But the one that stood out to many viewers was Freddie taking a shower.
The topless video of the 20-year-old sent the internet into a frenzy and of all the thirsty comments on social media, our favourite was a comparison to Peter Andre in the video for Mysterious Girl.
The click/clique turns on Tyler
Who knew that central to this year’s show would be the pronunciation of the word clique?
But regardless of how it’s said, the clique – made up of Leanne, Leon, Tyler and Livi – soon turned on their own in an attempt to distance themselves from their supposedly traitorous friendship group.
Ultimately, it was Tyler who was thrown to the wolves at the roundtable in an ambush subtly triggered by scheming Minah.
Lisa’s secret
Contestants have a habit of concealing what they think are beneficial professions (think actress Maddy in series one).
This year, Lisa chose to conceal the fact she was a priest but revealed her true identity halfway through the series as a way of proving she was faithful, claiming her calling meant she couldn’t lie or deceive.
Not only did everyone seem pretty unfazed by this announcement, the traitors also later chose to murder Lisa, knowing her pureness of heart meant she’d never be banished.
A lose-lose for Lisa, unfortunately.
The powerful seer
The mega twist this year was the introduction of the seer – a powerful ability never seen on the show before, which allowed one contestant to find out whether another player was a traitor or a faithful.
With a bit of help from Alexander, Francesca collected the most gold in the challenge and was awarded the power.
And with great power came great responsibility, and unfortunately for Charlotte, Francesca inadvertently chose to find out the true identity of the one remaining traitor.
NewsBeat
Storm Eowyn live: Snow and ice warning as 100mph winds cause travel chaos with more than a million without power
The first Storm Eowyn-related death has been recorded in Ireland after a tree fell on a man’s car
-
Fashion8 years ago
These ’90s fashion trends are making a comeback in 2025
-
Entertainment8 years ago
The Season 9 ‘ Game of Thrones’ is here.
-
Fashion8 years ago
9 spring/summer 2025 fashion trends to know for next season
-
Entertainment8 years ago
The old and New Edition cast comes together to perform You’re Not My Kind of Girl.
-
Sports8 years ago
Ethical Hacker: “I’ll Show You Why Google Has Just Shut Down Their Quantum Chip”
-
Business8 years ago
Uber and Lyft are finally available in all of New York State
-
Entertainment8 years ago
Disney’s live-action Aladdin finally finds its stars
-
Sports8 years ago
Steph Curry finally got the contract he deserves from the Warriors
-
Entertainment8 years ago
Mod turns ‘Counter-Strike’ into a ‘Tekken’ clone with fighting chickens
-
Fashion8 years ago
Your comprehensive guide to this fall’s biggest trends
You must be logged in to post a comment Login