All posts tagged: stars

Sheridan Smith and more stars confirmed for Dolly Parton Proms tribute

Sheridan Smith and more stars confirmed for Dolly Parton Proms tribute

Published by Daniella Wilson

Sheridan Smith, Beverley Knight and pop duo Ward Thomas are set to perform at the Last Night of the Proms on Saturday (12 September) in a tribute to Dolly Parton. Titled To Dolly, With Love and arranged by Fiona Bruce, the segment will see Smith, Knight and Ward Thomas join the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus on stage to perform a medley of Parton’s most celebrated hits, following The Queen of Country’s passing in August aged 80. Gavin & Stacey star Smith will perform 9 to 5, singer Knight will perform I Will Always Love You and duo Ward Thomas, made up of twins Catherine and Lizzy Ward Thomas, will sing Jolene. The tribute will kick off the second half of the show, from 9pm on BBC One, and will be led by presenters Katie Derham and Nick Mohammed. The first half of the show will begin at 7:10pm on BBC Two. Sheridan Smith. Mike Marsland/WireImage The concert will also be broadcast live on Radio 3 and BBC Sounds from 7:10pm, presented by Petroc Trelawny and …

5 famous stars who revealed unbelievable secrets on their deathbed right before they passed away

5 famous stars who revealed unbelievable secrets on their deathbed right before they passed away

Published by Daniella Wilson

Freddie Mercury’s health was dwindling for years before he died in 1991, but the Queen frontman refused to comment on the topic, and his team denied reports time and again that he had AIDS, the latest stage of an HIV infection. It wasn’t until the day before his passing on the 24th of November that he admitted the truth to the world, revealing that he had been diagnosed with HIV four years earlier and was dying of the illness.   “Following the enormous conjecture in the press over the last two weeks, I wish to confirm that I have been tested HIV positive and have AIDS,” he said in the statement. “I felt it correct to keep this information private to date to protect the privacy of those around me. However, the time has come now for my friends and fans around the world to know the truth, and I hope that everyone will join with me, my doctors and all those worldwide in the fight against this terrible disease.” “My privacy has always been very …

Stars who hid secret love children until after they died

Stars who hid secret love children until after they died

Published by Daniella Wilson

Clark Gable was married to Maria Franklin when he began filming The Call of the Wild with Hollywood up-and-comer Loretta Young in 1934, and the pair quickly engaged in an on-set affair.  When Loretta fell pregnant, Clark’s status as a married man and her conservative religious views meant that she needed to hide the pregnancy at all costs. Loretta fled to Europe in 1935 and gave birth to their daughter, Judy Lewis, before pretending to adopt her from an orphanage. As Judy grew up, she bore a striking resemblance to Clark – particularly her ears – which led to her undergoing surgery to pin them back. Judy met her father only once, when she was 15 and unaware of the rumours surrounding her parentage. “He was like a God. I couldn’t believe that he wanted to sit and talk to me,” she recalled to The New York Post years later. “We talked for maybe half an hour about school, my favourite subjects, boys, ballet class. When he got up to go, I walked him to the door, …

Selling Sunset star Amanza Smith’s hottest looks from bodycons to naked dresses as fashion inspires star’s new NYFW exhibition

Selling Sunset star Amanza Smith’s hottest looks from bodycons to naked dresses as fashion inspires star’s new NYFW exhibition

Published by Daniella Wilson

Selling Sunset‘s Amanza Smith is ringing in her New York Fashion Week in a major way. The reality TV star partnered with Transformer Table and created a 4,000 square feet immersive exhibit called A Seat At Her Table during the iconic fashion event of the year. The upcoming exhibit features six rooms which were all curated by Amanza with her flair for interior design, and will officially kick off on September 10 from 6-9pm at 55 Thompson Street. © Instagram Her vision when she decorates a space comes down to being adaptable to her clients’ desires and playing with aesthetics.  She revealed to Forbes: “I think I dress a room very much how I dress myself. I think about the client and I set a color palette based on preferences. Personally, I’m a huge fan of mixing antiques and moderns both through interior design and my personal style.”  Inside Selling Sunset star Christine Quinn’s $1m wedding © Instagram Over the years, the realtor has sported attention-grabbing looks, ranging from bodycon to naked dresses.  Amanza consciously …

Entourage creator slams stars’ reunion for ‘garbage’ Jake Paul betting app commercial

Entourage creator slams stars’ reunion for ‘garbage’ Jake Paul betting app commercial

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Entourage creator Doug Ellin has blasted a new gaming app ad featuring a pair of leads from his hit show. Jeremy Piven and Adrian Grenier’s appearance in the ad for gambling app Betr, founded by boxer and influencer Jake Paul and Joey Levy, marks the first time they’ve shared the screen since the Entourage film was released in 2015. The ad features Piven and Grenier — who played Ari Gold and Vincent Chase on all eight seasons of the beloved HBO drama — falling into a dynamic similar to the one they had on Entourage, despite the fact that they’re not reprising their characters. Ellin wasn’t too pleased with the ad, writing on X: “I have zero positivity in watching things I busted my ass of [sic] on for years he [sic] turned into garbage seek. Zero positivity. Go create your …

Good Morning America introduces show’s brand new stars in official update — details

Good Morning America introduces show’s brand new stars in official update — details

Published by Daniella Wilson

It’s official! Good Morning America is moving in a brand new direction for their weekend hours. The show’s morning hours on Saturdays and Sundays usually consisted of a panel of three anchors, mainly Whit Johnson and Gio Benitez, with Somara Theodore as the meteorologist. Now, the show will feature two anchors dedicated to Saturday broadcasts, and two separate ones to Sunday broadcasts, plus a regular weekend meteorologist. © ABCWhit Johnson will remain GMA’s Saturday anchor, a post he has held since 2018 Whit will now anchor GMA on Saturdays with Rachel Scott, while Gio will anchor the Sunday broadcasts with Rhiannon Ally. Leslie Lopez will be helming the weather department on weekends for GMA. Whit, who also serves as the anchor for ABC’s World News Tonight on Saturdays, has been anchoring GMA Weekends since 2018, while Gio, who is the network’s transportation correspondent and frequently appears on the main shows on weekdays, has been a GMA Weekend anchor since 2023. Leslie is the newest addition to the crew, only joining ABC News in April 2026. …

The Inside Story of What Happened at Stars and Stripes

The Inside Story of What Happened at Stars and Stripes

Published by Sam Flores

A “chicken plate,” in military parlance, is a protective shield used in a variety of combat situations. During the Vietnam War, chicken plates were inserted into vests—they are resistant against small-arms fire, but they’re also bulky and hot. So some pilots sat on them instead, which had the added benefit of providing protection against bullets that came from below. I first encountered another type of chicken plate in Iraq, where I was embedded with a convoy of American service members patrolling outside of Tikrit. On this particular morning, I sat alongside three soldiers inside an up-armored Humvee while a gunner manned the turret. But that gunner—James Murphy, a sergeant from New Jersey—wasn’t sitting in his sling, which was little more than a seat-belt strap hooked between two sides of the turret. If he sat down, the chicken plate would block his view. This left Murphy with a choice: stand up for hours and expose his head and chest, or remain behind the plate’s limited protection and endanger the convoy by missing a threat. For the …

Forever Home stars confirm major change from Graham Norton’s book

Forever Home stars confirm major change from Graham Norton’s book

Published by Daniella Wilson

Every adaptation brings changes, both big and small – and 5’s version of Graham Norton’s Forever Home is no exception. At the less consequential end of the scale, you can expect a new setting (Ireland has been substituted for North-East England) and new character names, but there’s one seismic change from the writer and broadcaster’s fourth novel that upends everything. The six-part series follows Amy Nuttall’s Carol, who is worried about her older partner Robert’s (Douglas Henshall) worsening dementia when some unsettling information comes to light. “She starts to wonder if the reason he won’t leave his home has something to do with the whereabouts of his first wife, who ran off with Robert’s brother 20 years ago, leaving behind their two young children Kaden and Sally,” reads the synopsis. “When Robert’s anxiety about the house’s hidden basement rises, Carol’s curiosity is piqued as she and her mother investigate the whereabouts of Robert’s first wife, Joan” – whose body Carol later finds stuffed in a freezer in said basement. “But the secrets Robert has kept …

The Inbetweeners original lead stars returning in new Netflix movie

The Inbetweeners original lead stars returning in new Netflix movie

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Fwends reunite! The original stars of The Inbetweeners are officially returning in a third film being made for Netflix. In October 2025, creators Damon Beesley and Iain Morris claimed that the Channel 4 sitcom, which followed the adolescent travails of four foul-mouthed teens, would be coming back in some form. It’s now been confirmed that Simon Bird, Joe Thomas, James Buckley and Blake Harrison are all returning as socially inept schoolmates Will, Simon, Jay and Neil for The Inbetweeners 3, which starts production on Monday (7 September). While unconfirmed, a 2027 release date is expected. All four of the original ‘Inbetweeners’ cast are returning for new movie (Channel 4) Only the four lead cast members have been announced so far, so it’s still unknown whether Rivals star Emily Atack, who played the popular character Charlotte Hinchcliffe, has signed up. Producers were …