Singer Gracie Abrams has opened up about her relationship with actor Paul Mescal in an interview with The New York Times’ Popcast.

Rumours that the pair were dating began in 2024. They have since been photographed together at this year’s Bafta Awards, which some called their first “hard launch”.

They were also seen at the 2026 Golden Globes and the most recent Oscars.

The singer, whose partner helped to write song Imaginary Friend for her upcoming album Daughter From Hell, was asked whether the collaboration might invite more prying into their previously private relationship.

“I don’t like the feeling of hiding,” she shared on the podcast.

That’s not to say she doesn’t want to maintain some boundaries – “I also love privacy where it feels like the right thing,” she stated.

On the topic of public scrutiny about her private life, she said: “I always try to assume the absolute worst-case scenario of everything, and then anything else is pleasant”.

After all, she continued: “If you know how happy your experience was making something or how much you learned about yourself or your partner or whatever the thing is, it’s like, no amount of hate or trolling or whatever could take that away.”

She described her relationship as “a part of my life that brings me so much peace and joy… I’m not going to pretend like that’s not true, but I also think it’s not like an open-door policy.”

She added that working with partner Paul on an album wasn’t as huge a leap for the couple as some might expect.

“That was so fun to write together… That wasn’t some groundbreaking event for us”, she said on the episode.

“We have a very creative home with friends who are so good at what they do and everyone feels happy to share that with one another.”

Daughter From Hell will be released on July 17. You can watch the full Popcast interview here.

If you’re looking for something to fill the void between now and September’s very promising-looking Sense and Sensibility release, it might be time to give an underappreciated Lady Susan adaptation a go.

As a committed Austen fan, my top two on-screen period versions have long been the basically-perfect 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice series and 2016′s Love And Friendship.

But while I think a lot of fans are with me on the BBC take, I’ve seen a lot less buzz around Whit Stillman’s masterpiece – despite its 96% Rotten Tomatoes score and multiple awards.

Perhaps that’s because the wild late-teens writing it’s based on is rarely read, though that, too, should be rectified IMO.

The Love and Friendship movie is based on Lady Susan. I’m not really sure why it’s got the name; there is a story by Austen called Love and Friendship, but though it also features grasping, scheming women, the movie’s plot is clearly based on the “little-known novella”.

Still, the only thing that matters is our Suze. Played by Kate Beckinsale, she’s a ruthless, conniving, cruel and self-serving manipulator – who gets absolutely everything she’s ever wanted.

The Regency marriage market, after all, had all of those traits too.

The book (well, epistolary novella) comes from the young, cynical mind of an Austen who isn’t as concerned about mass-market appeal as she is making her friends and family laugh. The movie feels similar.

You will not swoon as Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett) brainlessly squawks the words “Church” and “Hill” around a terrified teen. Your knees won’t buckle when Susan’s friend, Alicia (Chloë Sevigny) sneaks around her older husband (Stephen Fry).

Nor will you sigh longingly when you watch the recently-widowed Lady Susan backstab her way to that sweetest of lovers: solvency.

But you will howl laughing at the absurdity of all of this – the brutal weaponisation of manners, gentlemanly duty, and less-than-gentlemanly urges.

That’s because at her heart, Austen knows love is stupidly simple and very complex. It’s the silliest and most serious topic in the world, and in both her and Stillman’s hands, it becomes the funniest, too.

Love and Friendship is available on Disney+.

Nigel Farage is “dead in the water” and will have to quit as Reform UK leader, according to Piers Morgan.

The broadcaster said Farage is “rattled” by questions about the £5 million he accepted from a Thailand-based crypto billionaire and did not publicly declare.

The Reform boss has insisted the money, which he received months before becoming an MP in 2024, was a “gift” which he would spend on his personal security.

He has also described it as a “reward” for campaigning for Brexit, and last week even suggested he could spend it on Ferraris.

Parliament’s sleaze watchdog has launched an investigation into the issue, which is expected to report back soon and could see Farage suspended from the Commons if he is found to have broken rules on the declaration of donations.

On the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show, Morgan said Farage’s failure to shut down the row meant time was now running out for him.

He said: “Nigel Farage, I think, is dead in the water.

“I think this £5 million bung he took from this crypto tycoon in Thailand, he still can’t get his story straight about why.

“Originally it was about security, then it was a reward for Brexit. Now he says it was just a gift and he can spend it on Ferraris, like all men of the people would say.

“You can see how rattled he is by the questions he’s getting [and] they’re not going to go away.”

He added: “Reform, I think, are in real trouble. I think their leader’s going to have to go.”

In a car crash BBC interview last week, Farage insisted that “no one cares” about his £5m gift.

He said: “Let’s be clear: it’s a personal gift, I can spend it on cars if I want to. It’s entirely up to me.

“But there is a specific reason for this. I have been physically the most attacked and endangered politician for now well over a decade.”

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

Kemi Badenoch has been criticised after comparing the female allies around Andy Burnham to his “handmaidens”.

The Tory leader said they were merely “window dressing” as Labour once again prepares to make a man its leader.

Burnham is widely expected to succeed Keir Starmer after the PM announced he was resigning last Monday.

The new MP for Makerfield is currently the only person to formally announce his intention to run to be the next Labour leader and de facto prime minister.

If he gets into No.10, as expected, it means Labour will have missed another opportunity to appoint its first female leader.

At a press conference on Monday, Badenoch – the Conservatives’ fourth female leader – tore into Labour for still not choosing a woman to lead the party.

Asked about comments reported by the Spectator that some in Labour think Burnham would be the party’s first female leader in all but sex, Badenoch replied: “I don’t know what to say.

“The idea that Andy Burnham is Labour’s first female prime minister shows that that party still doesn’t know what a woman is.”

The Tories have often accused Labour of not “knowing what a woman is” amid culture wars around transgender people’s rights.

Badenoch continued: “But I’ve also found it very interesting how Labour women have been so much in a hurry to carry his bags and be his handmaiden and be at the front of his, of his, his photo pool.

“Why would you allow yourselves to be used as window dressing in this way?”

Her use of “handmaiden” likely refers to Margaret Atwood’s dystopian hit novel and the TV series, The Handmaid’s Tale, where women’s rights are completely eroded.

Burnham has been pictured surrounded by female aides on a handful of occasions, and is expected to appoint women MPs to key roles in government to counterbalance Labour’s lack of female leaders.

He has a strong body of support from influential women in the party, including ex-deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, former transport secretary Louise Haigh and deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell.

In response to Badenoch’s speech, key Burnham ally Anneliese Midgley wrote on X: “Stay classy, Kemi.”

A female Labour source told HuffPost UK: “Is she for real? Does she just say this stuff to attention seek, or does she actually genuinely think that women in senior political roles are just there to be exploited by men. She’s grim.”

The Conservative leader also used her speech to compare energy secretary Ed Miliband, the soft-left MP who could be appointed as Burnham’s chancellor, to “Nigerian military dictators”.

She said: “Yes, Ed Miliband is acting like the Nigerian military dictators who ruined a lot of that country’s economic potential and made it so much poorer and in some cases bankrupted the country.”

Badenoch claimed that the UK would be heading for a “summer of chaos” if Burnham became prime minister, too.

“Difficult problems need solving, and difficult decisions must be taken,” she said.

“But the man who will be prime minister in a couple of weeks wants a three-month summer holiday, because he needs some time to work out what he thinks.

“He will spend the next three months with unions and left-wing think tanks demanding policy changes which no one voted for.

“Andy Burnham is already the prime minister in everything but name. He must put an end to speculation, walk into No 10, name his cabinet, and come to Parliament to tell the country what he plans to do.

“Instead, he is allowing speculation and this chaos to run and run. He has clearly learned nothing from the disastrous speculation of Rachel Reeves’ last budget.”

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

Those looking to book a last-minute holiday this year – whether in the UK or further afield – are being urged to be wary of fake holiday listings.

According to Trading Standards Scotland, there were “a significant number” of consumer issues with holiday bookings reported last year, including fake accommodation listings being shared on social media.

Skipton Building Society said these scams are “especially common” for UK caravan holidays.

Some scammers create fake social media accounts and websites to advertise holiday properties that don’t exist or have already been booked.

Payment service provider emerchantpay also recently commissioned research which found a third of travellers had witnessed a rise in potential travel scams on social media.

Some fraudsters will also promote flights, tickets or tours that aren’t real – often at a discounted price.

One scam saw fake adverts shared on social media promoting caravan breaks at a holiday park in Ayrshire.

Trading Standards Scotland said a woman had paid £250 for a four-night break at the park, only to discover on arrival that the caravan was not owned by the person advertising it.

Another company offering glamping holidays also noticed that some of its accommodation, which was fully booked, was being advertised on fake social media accounts. The adverts contained links to a scam website with a similar URL and appearance as the glamping company.

Lisa Webb, a consumer law expert at Which?, said the statistics are “sadly unsurprising”.

She said while the onus should not fall on consumers, as social media firms should be doing more to tackle the issue, there are ways to try and avoid being duped by fake holiday listings.

• Using a reverse image search to check for stolen images,
• Checking the property’s location on an online map to see that it exists,
• Booking through official, trusted channels,
• Avoiding paying by bank transfer for anything advertised on social media.

Skipton Building Society urges consumers to check that websites have a padlock symbol before ‘https’ or ‘www’ in web browsers before booking, and to use a credit card for payments. “Never pay directly into an individual’s bank account,” the money experts add.

Lisa Webb ended: “If you think you have lost money to a holiday booking scam, contact your bank immediately and report it to Report Fraud or Police Scotland.”