Cynthia Erivo is reflecting on the infamous press tour she and her Wicked co-star Ariana Grande took part in to promote the hit film.

Back in 2024, Wicked’s two lead stars went into full-blown promo mode to help plug the movie musical, which led to a string of viral moments and, indeed, a number of tearful interviews.

Reflecting on the last four years, Cynthia told Variety as part of a new interview: “We were holding on by threads, and we were really trying to take care of each other.”

The British performer noted that she and Ariana made a “really conscious decision” early on in the process of making Wicked to have one another’s backs, but during the promotion of the film, the sincerity of their friendship was called into question once or twice.

“It’s very interesting, watching what people’s perception is versus what the reality actually is,” she recalled of the period she and Ariana were being dissected on social media.

“[There were] lots of psychologists seated at home deciding who we were, what we were going through, what we were doing and why.”

“I think that people didn’t really believe that we were actually friends, but that’s also because people don’t know me very well,” Cynthia added, noting that she and Ariana still text one another most days, even with Wicked behind them.

She added: “ I think sometimes, if I’m honest, people thought I was being myself, even though I was green.”

Towards the end of the interview, Cynthia was also asked if she’d ever consider going back to play Elphaba in a third Wicked movie, admitting that she probably didn’t have enough distance from the first two to really offer an answer.

She did, however, claim that it would “take a lot” for her to return to Oz, and that the project would have to “make sense”.

Back in 2024, Cynthia defended the emotional interviews she and Ariana had given while promoting Wicked.

Pointing out that, at that point, the films had taken up “almost three years of our lives”, she told BuzzFeed UK: “We’re still processing everything – and this tour has been a wonderful opportunity to talk about the experience of making it, and the experiences we had together, and the experience of coming out of it.”

“So, yeah, we’ve definitely been emotional, because we’re still deeply connected to it. And I think we’ll always be connected to these roles, these women that we got to play, who I don’t think have completely left, or will ever leave, because they were such a large part of our lives.”

Read Cynthia Erivo’s full interview with Variety here.

Wes Streeting has joined Andy Burnham in accusing Tony Blair of not acknowledging the inequality in the UK.

The ex-prime minister tore into Labour in a 5,600 word essay this week, saying the current shadow leadership contest is futile until the party reassesses its policies.

His warning came as Greater Manchester mayor Burnham is contesting the Makerfield by-election in the hope he can get a seat in parliament, where he is expected to challenge Keir Starmer’s premiership.

Streeting, who quit as health secretary earlier this month, has made it clear he intends to join any leadership challenge.

But Blair urged the party to resist drifting further leftward, and called out both politicians. He wrote: “Wes Streeting is a huge political talent and Andy Burnham was an outstanding member of my government.

“But this leadership debate has an extraordinarily retro 20th-century feel to it. Like most politicians, they’re anxious to distance themselves from the ‘Westminster bubble’.”

Speaking after Labour’s thrashing in the May elections, Blair said Labour’s declining popularity stems from a lack of “worked-out, coherent plan”, and urged the party to govern from the “radical centre”.

Streeting, often described as a Blairite though he rejects the term, wrote in the Guardian that there was a “striking weakness at the heart of Tony Blair’s intervention”.

He said: “Across thousands of words about technology, geopolitics and political strategy, the defining issue of our age is barely confronted at all.

“Inequality – the economic, social and democratic fracture running through modern Britain – is treated as peripheral rather than fundamental.

“But inequality, rather than being incidental to the crises reshaping western democracies, is actually their cause.”

Streeting also pushed back on Blair’s call for the UK to retain close ties with the US, despite the conflict with the Trump administration.

“When US presidents flirt with authoritarian leaders, undermine international law or pursue reckless military adventurism, Britain must have the confidence to act independently.

“We learned at terrible cost in Iraq what happens when loyalty replaces judgement. Britain’s long-term future lies in Europe,” the Labour MP for Ilford North wrote.

He also rejected the suggestion that Labour’s answer comes in longing for the 70s or the 90s.

Meanwhile Burnham told the Observer on Wednesday: “The last 40 years has given us wide inequality – that’s what’s responsible for the abandonment of the centre.

“People don’t think the centre has delivered for them in terms of their lives, therefore they’ve gone further to the extremes.”

Burnham, known for being on the soft left of the party, tore into Blair’s vision of what the UK should look like.

“He doesn’t mention inequality once,” he said. “If you don’t get how that’s driving politics now, if you are not rooting your analysis in the fact that people are unable to live and that things that were taken for granted are no longer affordable, then you are not understanding what’s going on.”

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Fox News is … sounding the alarm?

Shortly after the conclusion of a Cabinet meeting Q&A at the White House on Tuesday, Fox News anchor John Roberts decided to zero in on one very disturbing thing President Donald Trump did: casually threaten to blow up Oman.

During the Q&A, Trump rejected a plan to have Oman and Iran jointly control the Strait of Hormuz.

“The Strait is going to be open to everybody. It’s international waters,” Trump said. “We’ll watch over it, but nobody’s going to control it. Oman will behave like everybody else or we’ll have to blow them up. They understand that. They’ll be fine.”

“In the middle of all that — and it really kind of went unnoticed by the reporters,” the visibly flummoxed anchor said. “President Trump became the first American president that I know of to ever threaten to take military action against Oman, saying that they have to behave like everyone else or we’re going to blow them up. I’m not quite sure what that was all about.”

“Let’s go to our senior White House correspondent, Peter Doocy, at the White House. Peter, what were your takeaways from this, other than that not-so-veiled threat against the country of Oman, with which the United States has had a traditionally peaceful relationship?”

Doocy went on to highlight other moments from the meeting, but Roberts seemed to still be reeling.

“Well, there’s no question there is something going on in this town. For sure,” Roberts said.

The State Department seemed to double down on Trump’s remarks about Oman — a Middle Eastern country the US has shared a friendly relationship with for two centuries — by publishing a clip of his remarks on X Tuesday (below). You know, just so the threat doesn’t slip through the cracks.

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President Donald Trump bragged that if Iran doesn’t give the US what it wants amid negotiations for a potential agreement to end hostilities — then Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is going to “finish ’em off.”

Trump made the remark during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Wednesday after a reporter asked him to describe where the talks with Iran are at in football terms, asking him, “What yard line would you be on?”

Opting to skip the football analogies, the president responded, “They are starting to give us the things that they have to give us, and if they do, that’s great. And if they won’t, then the man on my left is gonna finish ’em off.”

Trump was referring to Hegseth, who was seated on his left.

“Is there a time frame in your mind?” the reporter followed up.

Noting that it “happens quickly,” Trump said, “The problem is, every time I mention a time frame — for instance … we’ve been doing this for a few months. Vietnam lasted 19 years. Korea lasted eight years. Afghanistan lasted many years. They were all many, many years. And we’re into it for a few months.”

Trump then referenced the American troops who were killed during Operation Epic Fury in Iran and across the broader Middle East.

“We lost 13 souls, 13 great people. [I] met the parents, great people. It’s a terrible thing, but 13. If you look at the war casualties and the deaths and wars for Vietnam and all that, they lost hundreds of thousands of people in numerous of these wars.”

Trump added, “We’re very cognizant of that. We want to lose very few, we want very few to be injured. We’re very careful, but war is war. War is dangerous.”

Elsewhere in the meeting, the president said that he is “not satisfied” yet with the terms of the deal being negotiated with Iran. Claiming that Tehran is “very much intent” on reaching an agreement to end the conflict, he added, “So far, they haven’t gotten there.”

Listen to Trump’s remarks from the Cabinet meeting below (skip to the 1:08:57 mark.)

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This article features expert advice from Dr Bisola Laguda, a paediatric dermatologist and spokesperson for the Skin Health Alliance.

With kids now getting extra protection against chickenpox as part of their routine childhood immunisations, it’s hoped fewer kids will end up struggling with the worst effects of the illness.

That said, kids might still catch it – albeit a milder version – and those who aren’t vaccinated against it (either because they’re too young or their parents opted out) will also be at risk.

But spotting chickenpox can be tricky, especially as the telltale sign is a rash – and other childhood illnesses like impetigo and hand, foot and mouth can look pretty similar.

To try and get some clarity on how to tell it apart from other illnesses, which is important so you know how to treat it (and how long they’ll need off school or childcare), we spoke to Dr Bisola Laguda, a paediatric dermatologist and spokesperson for the Skin Health Alliance.

Chickenpox is a very contagious infection caused by the varicella zoster virus. Data indicates that half of children will contract chickenpox by the age of four, and 90% by the age of 10.

Kids might initially experience flu-like symptoms, such as a high temperature and feeling sick and/or achy, said Dr Laguda.

“When the rash does manifest, it’ll be in the form of small red spots that blister and can become very itchy,” she said.

“These spots can appear in clusters anywhere on the body, but are commonly found on the arms, legs, chest and stomach, as well as the face, scalp and ears.”

It’s worth bearing in mind that new spots can appear around three to five days after the initial rash begins, too.

After a day or two, the blisters begin to burst and dry out, “with the crusting skin naturally falling off within two weeks”.

The dermatologist noted that whilst chickenpox can cause a lot of frustration and upset, children’s symptoms will often resolve themselves naturally.

But if the skin around the blisters becomes hot, red or painful; the blisters themselves get infected; or your child develops other symptoms such as dehydration, chest pain, or difficulty breathing, she said it’s best to contact your GP.

Never give ibuprofen to kids with chickenpox (unless told to by a doctor). Pharmacists can provide antihistamine medicine to try and ease any itching, while paracetamol can help with pain or discomfort.

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is another unpleasant illness kids tend to pick up in the early years.

The first stage of symptoms typically involves a sore throat, high temperature and not wanting to eat. A few days later, kids develop a raised rash of spots and/or mouth ulcers.

There are some key distinctions that can help parents tell the two viral infections apart, said Dr Laguda.

“Both manifest in rashes, but appear on different areas of the body and have visual discrepancies,” she explained.

“Where chickenpox can appear anywhere, HFMD rash patterns are most commonly found on the palms of the hands, soles of the feet and inside the mouth – though it is true that we are seeing more cases of HFMD around the face and genitalia, so worth keeping an eye on these areas too.

“Also, chickenpox rashes appear as small, itchy blisters, whereas HFMD is usually characterised by flat, red spots.”

The illness usually gets better on its own. If symptoms don’t go after seven to 10 days, speak to your GP.

Impetigo is another contagious illness you probably won’t have heard of until your kids get it (I certainly hadn’t).

The skin infection starts off as red sores or blisters, which can then burst leaving crusty, almost cornflake-like golden brown patches. These can be itchy and/or painful.

Dr Laguda said it’s “important to be able to distinguish chickenpox from impetigo”.

“While impetigo is a bacterial infection and chickenpox is viral, both can cause itchy, blistery rashes. However, where chickenpox rashes are fluid-filled blisters potentially found across the entire body, impetigo appears as yellow-ish, crusty patches around the nose, mouth and limbs.

“It’s worth noting impetigo can develop secondary to chickenpox if blisters become infected after being scratched.”

Treatment typically involves hydrogen peroxide cream or antibiotic cream/tablets, so a trip to the pharmacist or your GP is warranted.