Del. Tim Griffin criticised the Loudoun County School Board after it approved a proclamation recognising October as LGBTQ+ History Month. In the video, he said: “Loudoun County in Virginia is up to it again, where they are now having a gay month, an LGBTQ transing the kids month in October.”

Griffin went on to suggest, without evidence, that the timing was chosen to reach more children while school is in session. “If you thought that was only for June, I thought that as well, but I always wondered why they just did it during the summertime, where they couldn’t get as many kids into their transing program as possible,” he said. “But here we are again, where they’re going to try to teach this to kids.”

He also condemned the board’s decision, saying: “Despicable, disgusting. I hate to see this. Leave children alone. Like we shouldn’t have to do this.”

What did Loudoun’s LGBTQ+ History Month proclamation say?

The Loudoun County proclamation itself does not describe a programme to change students’ gender identities. It recognises October 2026 as LGBTQ+ History Month and encourages staff, students and the wider community to recognise LGBTQ+ history and contributions.

Loudoun County Public Schools has said the proclamation imposes no requirements on students. The district’s statement came after criticism from parents and conservative media outlets over the board’s decision.

The proclamation was approved by the school board in September with five members voting in favour, one opposed and three abstaining, according to reporting by the Loudoun Times-Mirror. Board member Deana Griffiths cast the lone vote against the measure, questioning what students would be taught as part of the recognition.

Ross Svensen, another board member, said: “We are here to ensure our schools are affirming, inclusive spaces,” adding that students are only able to learn when their environment respects them and is supportive.

Alongside recognising LGBTQ+ History Month, the LGBTQ+ History Month proclamation (PDF) also confirmed that schools would not discriminate on the grounds of gender identity, sexual orientation, or gender expression.

Why Loudoun County keeps becoming a flashpoint

LGBTQ+ History Month was established in 1994 by Missouri history teacher Rodney Wilson, who sought recognition for LGBTQ+ history similar to Black History Month and Women’s History Month. October was selected in part because schools were in session and because the month includes National Coming Out Day and anniversaries of major LGBTQ+ marches on Washington.

The observance is now marked by schools, universities, libraries and LGBTQ+ organisations across the US.

Griffin was first elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 2023 and won reelection in 2025 with more than 69 per cent of the vote, according to Ballotpedia. Virginia’s next regular legislative elections are scheduled for 2027.

Loudoun County has also been nationally prominent in US school culture-war disputes. In 2021, two more teachers joined a lawsuit against a Loudoun County School Board policy that asked staff to use the correct pronouns of trans students.

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The free expression organisation said the removals affected 7,370 individual works, the highest total since it began tracking school book removals five years ago. The figures were published in PEN America’s annual report, Banned in the USA, released during Banned Books Week.

PEN America said a large share of the bans happened in Florida and Texas, states that have introduced restrictive laws and seen politicians and conservative activists press for books to be taken out of schools.

In Banned in the USA, PEN America said school libraries are key to helping students explore ideas and experiences beyond their own. “Book bans impede the freedom to read, cutting students’ access to a diversity of views, voices, perspectives, and literature they deserve to encounter,” the PEN America report Banned in the USA said.

What did PEN America’s book ban report find?

PEN America said more than 4,500 works appeared on its list for the first time, ranging from Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre to Sui Ishida’s Tokyo Ghoul manga series.

PEN America counted 312 removals, making Stephen King — for the second year in a row — the author whose work was most often withdrawn. The organisation said the most banned individual title was Patricia McCormick’s novel Sold, with 25 removals.

PEN America also said school district administrators are increasingly relying on AI to determine which books should be pulled.

Why do book ban totals differ between trackers?

PEN America and the American Library Association have both described historic surges in book bans since the early 2020s, but they count bans differently. PEN America includes books removed even for a short time, while the ALA counts only books that have been permanently pulled.

NBC News cited the ALA’s most recent report, published in April, which counted some 5,600 instances of bans during the previous year.

In January 2023, Stephen King urged students to seek out challenged titles, after PEN America warned of a “dramatic expansion of book banning” across the US, including books with LGBTQ+ characters or themes.

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Speaking to Attitude, the rapper, musician and actor reflected on what he learned from Thirlwall – who has credited her success to the LGBTQ+ community – and why he feels strongly about showing up for LGBTQ+ people.

“Jade showed me what an ally is,” Stephens said. “So, I’m going to try not to get imposter syndrome, but for me, I guess it’s about not being afraid to show my allegiance to a community that I really admire.”

Stephens received the award at the 15th anniversary ceremony at London’s Roundhouse on 7 October.

What did Jordan Stephens say about Jade Thirlwall?

Stephens suggested their shared love of LGBTQ+ community spaces was part of what drew them together. “I don’t think we would have got together,” he said. “Like, our existence would be verging on heterophobic.”

The former couple were together for six years, before splitting in July 2026.

Stephens also spoke about the comfort of having someone close who is genuinely at ease in LGBTQ+ spaces. “[It] helps to have a person around who is not only at ease, but genuinely f****** loves that company, that world, that energy,” he said.

In August, Stephens spoke about feeling at home in queer venues, saying he felt “able to experience joy” in a “non-judgmental space”.

What did he say in his Ally Award acceptance speech?

In his onstage speech, Stephens said: “It honestly, genuinely means the f****** world to me to get this. Being an ally, to me, doesn’t feel like a challenge, because I genuinely love the f****** community from the bottom of my heart.”

He also thanked his godfather, David McAlmont, and brought him on stage, saying: “I want to give him his flowers… He’s a f****** legend.”

Stephens ended with a final nod to Thirlwall, adding: “One last thing: shout out to Jade [Thirlwall]. I love Jade.”

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.

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Already, the 2026 series has seen potentially the biggest shocker ever when Richard E Grant revealed he was a Traitor to his co-stars, before having to try and backtrack.

Friday’s episode ended with a cliffhanger at the roundtable for the first banishment, with it looking pretty certain that Grant’s time was up. Viewers will have to tune in tonight to find out his fate.

And it seems there are even more intense moments to come.

A source told The Sun: “During filming, something so unbelievable happened even execs didn’t see it coming. It forced them to throw plans out the window to accommodate the epic moment – which should make great TV.”

The moment will reportedly air later in the series.

Why do Traitors cliffhangers change?

Speaking at the launch of the series, executive producer Sarah Fay explained that cliffhangers can be mapped out in advance, but the team has to stay flexible once the game starts shifting.

“We always have an idea before going into pre-production what might be cliffhangers but we have to be so reactive because who knows what the story is going to be,” Fay said.

She added: “Last year we went to deadlock [at the Round Table] when it was down to David [Olusoga] and Mark [Bonner] where it was a tie.”

When is The Celebrity Traitors on BBC One?

The Celebrity Traitors continues on BBC One at 8pm on Thursday (8 October), with viewers set to see the resolution of last week’s round-table cliffhanger.

The celebrity spin-off is filmed at Ardross Castle in the Highlands and follows the same paranoia-fuelled format as the civilian series, with Traitors plotting in secret while Faithfuls try to identify them before the next banishment.

The new run began last week with 21 celebrities arriving at the castle, including Myha’la, Bella Ramsey, Joe Lycett and Sebastian Croft.

The series was filmed in May, and the launch episode peaked at just over 9million viewers and averaged 8.9million overnight.

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.

The post Celebrity Traitors bosses forced to ‘scrap’ cliffhanger after ‘unthinkable’ moment appeared first on PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news.

Asked about the moment in a Variety interview published this week, the 54-year-old actor replied: “I wore no prosthesis.”

Affleck also said he has only used a prosthetic once on film, during his role in the 2006 drama Hollywoodland. “I’ve only worn one in one film, Hollywoodland. It was a nose,” he said.

The scene in question comes late in Gone Girl. Amy (Rosamund Pike) returns home covered in blood, gets into the shower, and asks Nick (Affleck) to join her so they can talk. She then demands he strip completely to check he is not wired.

What happens in the Gone Girl shower scene?

Gone Girl was directed by David Fincher and adapted from Gillian Flynn’s 2012 novel of the same name. Alongside Affleck and Pike, the cast includes Carrie Coon, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry and Emily Ratajkowski.

The film was a major box office success, taking around $370 million on a $61 million budget.

Affleck plays Nick Dunne, who becomes the prime suspect when Amy disappears on their fifth wedding anniversary, with the story’s tabloid frenzy and twist-heavy plotting helping turn it into a lasting pop culture reference point.

Affleck also spoke about Jennifer Lopez and awards

In the same interview, Affleck was asked why Jennifer Lopez has been “overlooked” for awards. “I’m biased. I have an enormous amount of respect and admiration for what she can do,” he said.

He also shared his view of awards recognition more broadly: “But guess what? I don’t think you die and go to heaven, and God says, ‘This was the actual best picture in 1986.’ At the end of the day, it’s just a bunch of people voting on movie prizes.”

Other actors have also addressed prosthetics in high-profile nude scenes, including when Theo James confirmed a nude scene in The White Lotus used a prosthetic and when Drew Starkey confirmed to TIME he wore a prosthetic for full-frontal scenes in Queer.

The post Ben Affleck confirms he did not wear a prosthetic for the Gone Girl shower scene appeared first on PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news.

Today, nearly two years later, the BBC has retracted those allegations in full and apologised unreservedly for making them.

When this began, we were new dads and our son was just six months old. What should have been one of the happiest periods of our lives was instead thrown into chaos, impacting our business, our colleagues and our family. This included being subjected to additional investigations by social workers ahead of the Family Court hearing concerning the parental order for our son.

By falsely portraying us as engaging in sexual misconduct and pressuring female employees over surrogacy, the BBC reinforced one of the most damaging homophobic tropes: that gay men are sexual predators who pose a threat to others.

These were allegations that should never have been broadcast.

It took minutes for these false allegations to spread around the world, but nearly two years for the BBC to publicly acknowledge that they were false. The BBC now owes licence fee payers an explanation of how such a serious failure could have occurred and what it intends to do to demonstrate that it remains fit for purpose.

We are incredibly grateful to Mark Lewis and Megan Tolkien of Patron Law, Lorna Skinner KC and Kirsten Sjovoll of Matrix Chambers, whose support and determination helped us reach this point.

We brought this case because we wanted the truth to be established and these allegations to be retracted. We are donating the BBC’s compensation to the Multiple Sclerosis Society and to the charity of the NHS Trust that Anthony felt compelled to resign from following the broadcast.

Throughout all of this, our greatest fear has been for our son’s future.

We have worried about the day he goes to school and other children find these false allegations online. We have worried about what he might read about his dads, what his friends might say and what that could do to him.

Today’s apology cannot erase what happened, but it means that when that day eventually comes, the truth will be there.

Our amazing son has also been the person who unknowingly carried us through this nightmare. The joy, love and brightness he brought into our lives cut through some very dark moments. However difficult things became, we still had the privilege of getting up every morning and simply being his dads.

In ways he cannot possibly understand yet, that kept us going.

Nothing can give us back the time we have lost, nor undo the impact this has had on our family. But the record has now been set straight.

The allegations were false. The BBC has retracted them in full and apologised unreservedly.

Today, we can finally begin to move forward.

The BBC, though, needs to carefully consider and learn from the impact that its reckless journalism has had on a young family’s lives.

The post Statement regarding BBC apology to Benjamin Cohen and Anthony James appeared first on PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news.

In a Statement in Open Court at the High Court in London on Thursday, 8 October, the BBC accepted that allegations made in its December 2024 documentary PinkNews: Behind Closed Doors and associated BBC News coverage were false and extremely harmful to the married couple’s reputations.

Jane Phillips, Counsel for the BBC told the court: “The BBC retracts and apologises unreservedly for the defamatory allegations made in the programme and the article.”

The broadcaster has also agreed to pay Cohen and James compensation, which they will donate to the Multiple Sclerosis Society and Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Charity.

What the BBC alleged

Among the allegations were claims that Cohen and James had enabled and tolerated sexual misconduct by themselves and each other towards junior employees at PinkNews.

The BBC’s online coverage also alleged that they had placed inappropriate pressure on young female employees to act as surrogates for them.

In a joint statement following the hearing, Cohen and James said that “the BBC ignored warnings about the veracity of these allegations and chose to broadcast false claims to millions of people”.

The settlement brings to an end defamation proceedings brought by the couple against the BBC.

‘Our lives were thrown into chaos’

Cohen and James said the consequences extended far beyond their reputations.

“When this began, we were new dads and our son who was just six months old,” they said.

“What should have been one of the happiest periods of our lives was instead thrown into chaos, impacting our business, our colleagues and our family.”

The Statement in Open Court confirmed that the couple were subjected to additional Cafcass investigations by social workers ahead of the routine parental-order hearing for their son, causing “considerable anxiety and distress during a time when they ought to have been able to focus on their newborn son”.

Both men also felt compelled to leave significant roles outside PinkNews. Cohen resigned as a trustee of international disability charity Humanity & Inclusion, while James resigned from his role as an associate non-executive director at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

The couple said the false allegations were particularly painful as gay men, “the BBC reinforced one of the most damaging homophobic tropes: that gay men are sexual predators who pose a threat to others”.

“These were allegations that should never have been broadcast,” they said.

They said their greatest fear was what the allegations could mean for their son in the future.

“We have worried about the day he goes to school and other children find these false allegations online. We have worried about what he might read about his dads, what his friends might say and what that could do to him.

“Today’s apology cannot erase what happened, but it means that when that day eventually comes, the truth will be there.”

‘The BBC now needs to explain how this happened’

Cohen and James told PinkNews the case should raise wider questions about editorial standards and accountability at the BBC.

“The BBC’s authority makes mistakes like this more dangerous, not less,” they said.

“When one of the world’s biggest news organisations tells millions of people something is true, those people understandably expect it to have done the work necessary to stand behind what it broadcasts.

“In our case, it hadn’t.”

The couple called on the BBC’s new leadership to examine how the allegations came to be broadcast.

Their intervention comes during the BBC’s once-in-a-decade Royal Charter Review. A House of Commons committee examining the corporation’s future said last week that the BBC had made errors in news and current-affairs output and had at times struggled to manage resulting crises with sufficient speed and confidence.

Cohen and James said the review should consider both editorial accountability and the negative impacts of the publicly funded BBC on independent, local and specialist publishers.

‘The person who carried us through all of this’

For Cohen and James, however, the significance of the settlement was ultimately personal.

“We brought this case because we wanted the truth to be established and these allegations to be retracted,” they said.

Ending their statement, they paid tribute to their son.

“Our son has also been the person who unknowingly carried us through this nightmare. The joy, love and brightness he brought into our lives cut through some very dark moments.

“However difficult things became, we still had the privilege of getting up every morning and simply being his dads.

“In ways he cannot possibly understand yet, that kept us going.”

They concluded: “Nothing can give us back the time we have lost, nor undo the impact this has had on our family. But the record has now been set straight.

“The allegations were false. The BBC has retracted them in full and apologised unreservedly.

“Today, we can finally begin to move forward.

“The BBC, though, needs to carefully consider and learn from the impact that its reckless journalism has had on a young family’s lives.”

A BBC spokesperson told PinkNews: “The BBC has reached a settlement with Ben Cohen and Anthony James. We will not be issuing any further comment.”

Benjamin Cohen and Anthony James’s joint statement following the settlement can be read in full here.

The Statement in Open Court can be read in full here.

Disclosure: Benjamin Cohen is the founder and CEO of PinkNews and Anthony James is a director and COO. The defamation proceedings were brought by them personally, not by PinkNews.

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Glasson shared photos from the lakeside moment, including one shot of him down on one knee and another of the couple kissing after she said yes.

Alongside the images, he posted a lengthy caption reflecting on their relationship, opening with: “The things I’ll do for an Italian passport…”

He said the pair met five years ago “on a rugby social dressed as a laundry basket”, adding that he “instantly clicked with” Francesca. “At the time I thought I’d found a best friend,” he continued, saying he wanted to be around her constantly and felt she would be in his life forever.

Glasson also said he knew early on that she was the one. “Within a month of asking her out, I wrote a note in my phone saying ‘I’m going to marry this girl’.”

In a message addressed directly to Francesca, Glasson wrote: “Francesca, you have loved me as a woman; you have loved me through losing my dad; through surgery, hormones, multiple career changes and ridiculous side quests.”

He added: “You are everything I needed as a kid, and everything I want in a wife”.

What happened during Zelah’s time on Big Brother?

Glasson appeared on ITV’s Big Brother in 2025, and was introduced as a transgender personal trainer to viewers when the series launched.

During his time in the house he shared his identity with his housemates, and at times he did face transphobia, such as when co-star Caroline Monk misgendered him.

He also found himself at the centre of co-star Sam Ashby’s attention, with the duo hopping in bed together at one point.

Francesca publicly responded at the time, writing: “Zelah has not crossed any of our boundaries, so can well please chill.”

Glasson was the fifth to be evicted, on day 34.

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.

The post Trans Big Brother star Zelah Glasson engaged to partner after Canada proposal appeared first on PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news.

In a new interview with Attitude, the comedian spoke ahead of the Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards 2026, where she received the Comedy Award.

Ruffell said the realisation initially left her reeling. “I was horrified,” she said. “I didn’t want to be different. I just wanted to fit in.”

She also shared just how deep the obsession ran. Ruffell said she watched Titanic in January 1998, then returned to the cinema six more times.

Millions of theatre-goers were entranced by DiCaprio’s Jack Dawson, but Ruffell revealed her attention was firmly on Winslet’s Rose DeWitt Bukater.

She also said she initially tried to avoid talking about her sexuality on stage, but soon realised it was impossible to keep that part of herself out of her work. “I tried hiding who I was, but it never really worked,” she said. “I am loudly gay even when I try to be quiet.”

‘Now, I love being a lesbian’

Ruffell said she is now in a very different place from the 12-year-old who just wanted to blend in. “Now, I love being a lesbian,” she said, adding that her wife and queer friends helped her feel at ease with who she is. “Having queer friends who see you is nourishing.”

A British stand-up comedian, writer and broadcaster, Ruffell is known for confessional, story-led comedy about relationships, mental health and queer life, as well as warm crowd work and candid personal storytelling. In 2024, she spoke about homophobia she experienced early in her career and how it helped cement her friendship with Tom Allen.

While speaking with Attitude and looking ahead to the awards, Ruffell said the moment would have meant everything to her younger self: “Younger Suz would be over the moon. Mainly just to be in a room with so many queer people. I never thought I would be this comfortable in my own skin.”

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The feature, produced by Ben Shapiro’s conservative media company The Daily Wire, Mike Richards, Dallas Sonnier, Ari Novak and Amanda Presmyk, is being filmed in Livingston, Montana, and has become the centre of an increasingly heated dispute over politics, free speech and public safety.

The film reportedly takes inspiration from the January 2026 killing of Good, a queer mother of three who was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis.

A leaked copy of the screenplay, obtained by The Bulwark and reviewed by Montana Free Press, reportedly contains a fictionalised version of the incident. The character, named Melanie, is described as “a fat blue-haired” person, and is involved in a confrontation with an ICE agent that culminates in her being shot.

What is Pawn Shop about?

The reported storyline places the shooting within a broader pro-immigration-enforcement narrative. The film follows an ICE agent who becomes caught up in a conflict involving protesters and alleged MS-13 members.

The screenplay also reportedly contains elements inspired by the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man whose deportation to El Salvador became a major political controversy.

The film has drawn particular criticism because of its reported fictionalisation of Good’s death, with opponents arguing that the movie reframes the killing of a real person to support a political message about immigration enforcement.

But the controversy in Livingston has not been limited to the film’s content.

Residents and local businesses have raised concerns about how the production has operated in the town, including street closures, simulated gunfire, explosions and a staged car crash. Some residents also complained about the presence of armed private security personnel hired by the production.

The Livingston Food Resource Center, a local food pantry, said the production had made it more difficult for people to access its services. The organisation said it had not been adequately notified about the filming and that road closures and security personnel had created additional barriers for people seeking food assistance.

Those concerns prompted Livingston officials to temporarily suspend the production’s permit on 3 October, which ended up being short-lived.

Following a nearly seven-hour public meeting on 5 October, Livingston’s City Commission voted unanimously to allow the production to continue. Producers agreed to additional conditions, including keeping the food pantry accessible, improving signage and notifications for affected residents and businesses, and limiting the activities of private security.

The decision was not a vote endorsing the film’s political message. City attorney Jon Hesse told commissioners that the issue before them was whether the production had complied with the conditions of its filming permit.

Producers, meanwhile, argued that stopping the production because of opposition to its subject matter would raise First Amendment concerns. They also said the production had faced threats and dangerous incidents involving protesters.

Ben Shapiro, co-founder of The Daily Wire, subsequently accused Livingston officials of violating the production’s First Amendment rights. The company has defended the film as a story about an ICE agent facing opposition while attempting to arrest a criminal immigrant.

Filming resumed on 6 October and is scheduled to conclude on October 10.

Who stars in Pawn Shop?

The reported cast, according to a leaked call sheet obtained by Montana Free Press and reporting by Deadline, includes several well-known Hollywood actors, including Harvey Keitel, Danny Trejo and Henry Thomas.

Keitel is best known for films including Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and The Piano. Trejo has appeared in hundreds of films and television shows, with his roles in the Machete films and his appearance in Spy Kids becoming some of his most recognisable characters. Thomas became famous as a child actor after playing Elliott in Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Trejo’s involvement is particularly striking given his history of speaking about and supporting marginalised communities. In a 2019 interview with Fortune, he recalled protecting young people in prison, including gay couples who had married outside prison, and said he continued to hear from people he had helped after his release. He has also built a public reputation around community service and advocacy for people in need, including Latino communities and immigrants. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he joined a campaign providing Spanish-language resources to migrant farmworkers, and in 2025 he urged families affected by ICE raids to “keep up hope” and help their neighbours. Against that background, his reported role in Pawn Shop highlights a notable gap between the causes he has publicly supported and the political project represented by this particular film.

The reported casting has attracted additional attention because of the film’s overtly political premise. Thomas, in particular, played a character in E.T. whose family hides an undocumented extraterrestrial from government authorities — a detail that has been noted by some commentators given Pawn Shop’s focus on immigration enforcement.

The production is a collaboration between The Daily Wire and Bonfire Legend, following the companies’ previous partnership on Run Hide Fight: Infidels.

Pawn Shop is being filmed as a feature-length action thriller, with Livingston standing in for locations including a fictional Minneapolis pawn shop and Korean grocery store.

For now, the answer from Livingston is that Pawn Shop can continue, provided its producers follow the rules governing how they film in the community.

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Amritsar Police Commissioner Harmanveer Singh Gill said officers are looking into the possible role of gangsters, and that it was a murder-for-hire incident.

He said, as per NDTV, police are working to establish the detainees’ links to the crime and trace the main shooters, as well as an alleged mastermind.

Sandhu, a well-known Punjabi influencer and makeup artist, was killed in Amritsar on 3 October when two men on a motorbike shot him. He was found lying on the road after sustaining a gunshot wound.

What have police said about the investigation?

Gill said investigators had made a major breakthrough and appealed for patience, saying more facts were expected to emerge within 24 hours. The identities of those questioned has also not been announced.

Gill also said no extremist or radical angle had been established, with the investigation focused at this stage on the possibility of a criminal conspiracy involving hired gunmen.

A Facebook post from a handle “Goldy Dhillon” shared soon after the killing claimed responsibility for Sandhu’s death, saying the makeup artist had “spoilt” Punjab. The claim is unconfirmed.

Police had earlier suggested the killing may have been targeted, after initial enquiries indicated Sandhu had been followed before the shooting.

Who was Mad Sandhu?

Sandhu was a prominent figure in the Punjabi-language creator scene, and often appeared as a guest on podcasts discussing makeup, entertainment, and gender issues.

He was out gay, and a prominent LGBTQ+ personality in the region. Sandhu reportedly faced constant homophobic trolling, which he would brush off saying: “God has made me the way I am.”

LGBTQ activists and queer public figures in India often face online harassment and threats, particularly when they are highly visible on social media. Same-sex relationships are legal in India, but there is no nationwide legal recognition of same-sex marriage, and LGBTQ people can still face discrimination and stigma.

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Speaking on the I’ve Never Said This Before podcast, the 56-year-old actor reflected on why he never became the kind of leading-man blockbuster star he once imagined, despite years of recognisable roles and a loyal fanbase.

Lillard is currently starring in a new TV adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie from Mike Flanagan, but remains a cult favourite for playing Stu Macher in Wes Craven’s Scream (1996) and for bringing Shaggy Rogers to life in the live-action Scooby-Doo films

The star recalled living with Rudd for two years, and said the comparison followed him even as his own profile grew. “I was always in the shadow of Paul Rudd, no matter how famous I got. I’m like, ‘Oh my God, Paul Rudd is 10 times more famous than I am.’ And I have a competitive nature,” he said.

Matthew Lillard says Hollywood didn’t ‘value’ him

Asked whether he felt “valued by Hollywood”, Lillard replied: “No, not really.”

He went on to describe what he thinks the industry tends to reward, saying: “I think what Hollywood looks for is, they look for a movie star. They look for dashing.”

Lillard suggested he never quite fit the bill, adding: “I’ve always been a little quirky, a little gangly, a lot of energy. I’m funny and silly and at the same time can do drama, and they don’t really know where to slot me.”

He also questioned why he never got “a shot to be that guy on top of a $20million movie”, saying it was not because he lacked popularity or ability, but because decision-makers “didn’t get” him.

‘It was like living through your own wake’

Lillard also looked back on an outpouring of support in January 2026 after Quentin Tarantino criticised his acting and said he “didn’t care for” him.

“It was like living through your own wake,” Lillard said, describing the tributes and messages he received.

The actor, who has also voiced character across multiple animated projects, made headlines in September. when he said he felt “ashamed” and “embarrassed” that he starred in Scream 7 after Melissa Barrera was fired over comments she made about the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.

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After dating for just under two years, the couple took to their social media accounts to announced their breakup.

On Instagram, Crisp said in his statement: “There’s no easy way to say this, but as I’ve shared parts of my relationship online, it feels right to share that Dom and I have separated.

My page has always been a place where I try to share positivity and the good parts of my life. More recently, I’ve also made a conscious effort to keep more of my relationship and personal life private and I’d really appreciate that privacy continuing through this next chapter” he said.

O’Callaghan shared a similar message to their fans saying: “McKenna and I have decided to separate. There’s no dramatic story behind it, and there isn’t a right or wrong person. Sometimes life just takes you in different directions, and things aren’t always black and white. Sometimes they’re grey.”

Even though neither confirmed the reason behind their breakup, O’Callaghan showed vulnerability through his announcement: “We’ve had an incredible relationship, shared so many beautiful memories and been such a huge part of each other’s lives. I deeply love and care about McKenna, which is what makes this decision so difficult, but I also believe that sometimes you have to be honest about what is right for both of you.”

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Speaking to Vanity Fair, the out gay OpenAI CEO said he has never met Garfield, who plays him in Luca Guadagnino’s film, but the pair did share a brief moment on the street.

Altman said he had seen filming notices beforehand but did not realise what they were for. “And then one morning, I was walking down the street to get coffee and there were all these cameras and there was a guy dressed exactly like me with my same backpack walking so much that I felt I was in some weird glitch of the simulation or something,” he said.

“We waved and went on, but it was really weird,” Altman added. He said it was strange to see someone who had “nailed your kind of quirky mannerisms”.

Artificial dramatises the five-day period in 2023 when Altman was ousted from OpenAI and then rehired.

Garfield previously said he was “really scared” about potential backlash to his portrayal of Altman in the film, and stressed that he had not met him.

‘I don’t think they’re going for accuracy’

Altman said he has watched the trailer and concluded of Garfield’s performance: “He did walk like me.”

He also said he is not expecting the film to be a faithful retelling of events. “I don’t think they’re going for accuracy,” Altman said. “It will not be good as an accurate depiction. Except for the walk.”

As an example, Altman pointed to a trailer moment showing him rushing into a bunker lined with weapons. “There’s no bunker with firearms on the wall,” he said, adding: “That’s an example of inaccuracy, but I did look kind of cool.”

Andrew Garfield on Sam Altman

Altman’s comments come as Artificial premiered at the New York Film Festival, where Garfield said he was initially charmed by Altman after seeing him testify to Congress.

“I was like, ‘This guy seems f****** great. He’s honest. He’s transparent. He’s talking about regulation, and he has no stake in OpenAI. We need more of these people in control. He’s incredibly charming and charismatic.’ And then you learn more about a person,” he said, as per Variety.

He also said he spent “two to three months” listening to and watching footage of Altman while preparing for the role, and added: “We need to shine the light as bright as possible at the nooks and crannies of people we’re giving all of our autonomy and power to.”

Neon is distributing Artificial after Amazon MGM Studios dropped the film following Amazon’s $50billion investment and partnership with OpenAI.

The film is set for US cinemas on 25 December, with a UK release date of 7 January, 2027.

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.

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In an interview with Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany in late September, Poirot said Jesus was “not” the “soft or passive” figure he believes is sometimes presented in popular culture.

“There are so many cultural things that present Him as if He is some just tolerant guy,” Poirot said. “It is not the Jesus I met.”

What did Gabe Poirot say Jesus looked like?

Poirot described the Jesus he says he encountered as “a lion” and “a Mustang,” adding that the experience was marked by an overwhelming sense of masculinity.

“Talk about testosterone, like a Mustang,” he told McEnany. “I’m telling you, He’s the Lion of Judah, and there’s a roar within His voice.”

Asked what Jesus looked like, Poirot offered an unusually specific description.

“Pure fire,” he said. “He was 5’11”, like 6 feet, yet as tall as eternity. Like an ocean of love. Yet His eyes were burning white and red at the same time.”

Poirot has previously spoken publicly about the experience, which he says followed a 2021 skateboarding accident. He has said that he was in a coma for 18 days and that he ultimately returned to consciousness after a friend prayed for him.

What else has Poirot said about his 18-day coma?

His account also includes claims that he saw deceased babies waiting for their parents in Heaven and that his encounter with Jesus transformed his life and religious outlook.

There is no independent evidence establishing that Poirot visited Heaven or encountered Jesus, and Fox News did not present evidence during the interview verifying his claims, as Friendly Atheist reports via Substack. Fox News has nevertheless given the story a significant platform, with McEnany interviewing Poirot about his experience on more than one occasion.

Poirot’s book, 18 Days in Heaven, was released earlier this year and details his reported near-death experience. In an earlier Fox News interview promoting the book, he focused more heavily on the wonder of encountering Jesus, while his more recent appearance placed considerably greater emphasis on Christ’s masculinity.

Poirot has positioned his experience as a message about the love of Christ and encourages people to embrace his Christian faith. His description of Jesus, however, is strikingly physical and gendered, repeatedly returning to ideas of masculinity, strength and testosterone.

For Poirot, the experience has become both a religious testimony and a commercial project, with his book offering his account to a wider Christian audience.

And according to the story he tells, the Jesus he encountered was not a passive or gentle figure, but a “lion,” a “Mustang” and, above all, a very masculine one.

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Groff, known for appearing in Glee, Disney smash Frozen and gay favourite Looking, plays the lead role of Rosalind in the play. It explores masculinity and femininity, with Rosalind spending much of the play pretending to be a man, while also trying to woo male love interest Orlando (played by Elliot Barnes-Worrell), who is in love with Rosalind, not realising she’s standing right in front of him.

The role sees Groff switch between playing a woman in a dress and playing a woman pretending to be a man, before returning to playing a woman in a wedding dress.

Speaking to The Independent, Groff said: “There’s something unleashing for me in just wearing a dress.

“Being a man, playing a woman. It’s returning me back to the freedom of youth I had, when I was six years old, where I would put on dresses and pretend to be women.”

The actor, already an established star of the stage, went on: “I haven’t done it as much as an adult – I don’t know why – but when I was a kid, I was always in a dress.

“And so there’s something about returning here to the countryside and putting on a dress that feels incredibly liberating.”

All-male As You Like It at the RSC

The all-male production of As You Like It is directed by Daniel Evans.

As well as Groff and Barnes-Worrell, it stars Fisayo Akinade as Celia, Gary Wilmot as Duke Frederick and Duke Senior, Caleb Roberts as Oliver, Tim Preson as Phoebe, Giles Cooper as Le Beau, Greg Haiste as Touchstone, Rhys Parry Jones in a handful of roles, Luke McCall as Amiens, Steffan Harri as Gwilym and Syr Osian, Edward Judge as Silvius and Charles the Wrestler, Richard McCabe as Jacques, and Gareth Snook as Adam and the scene-stealing Audrey.

Jamal Franklin, Steffan Hughes, Gareth Kennerly finish up the ensemble cast.

The production is running at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon until 7 November, 2026.

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.

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The Heated Rivalry star stepped out in Louis’ blue-and-black striped “Journey” cardigan at the Kate Spade New York Global Summit on Women’s Mental Health in New York on 30 September.

Louis told British Vogue the reaction was immediate. “It’s pretty surreal,” he said. “It’s cool when somebody who has that much influence sees and appreciates your work.”

Louis said he only realised what was happening after returning from a paddle on the lake, when his phone started “blowing up” as fan pages tagged him. He said the cardigan alone generated $12,000 in sales, also gaining him a couple hundred new followers.

How did the Journey cardigan end up in New York?

Louis said Williams’ agent contacted him to buy the cardigan, but the request came too late for warehouse shipping. Instead, he said someone from Williams’ team drove from Vancouver to pick it up ahead of the actor’s appearance at the summit.

He also said Williams paid for the piece rather than asking for it for free, and later messaged him directly to say thank you.

For Louis, the spike was the kind of moment that can make a real difference to an independent label. “People think we have a lot of money – we don’t. We’re always grinding,” he said, adding that a sales day like that can create “breathing room” when bills are due.

Why Truth and Reconciliation Day mattered

Williams wore the cardigan on Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and also wore an orange ribbon. The day commemorates Indigenous children who were removed from their families against their will and made to attend Canada’s residential school system, which continued until 1996.

Louis said he had only 60 units left when the cardigan sold out, and opened pre-orders after demand kept coming.

Williams’ intense fandom has had real-world knock-on effects before. In September, his girlfriend Katelyn Larson asked fans to stop booking tattoo appointments purely because of their connection to Heated Rivalry.

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In an interview with People, the 40-year-old bisexual actor said she wanted the campaign to feel cheeky rather than awkward. “I personally feel like maybe I was born for this,” she said.

The ad campaign is rolling out on television and includes a Times Square takeover. In the spot, Fox appears as Ro Sparks, the personified embodiment of Ro’s prescription treatment for ED, posing for the camera in a red catsuit with the brand’s logo on, and delivering product information through a run of suggestive double entendres.

“If prescribed, I show up right at your door,” Fox says with a coy smile in the ad. “Don’t worry, my packaging is very discreet.”

‘Why take something that is already a heavy topic and make it heavier?’

Fox said the playful tone was the point, arguing that humour can make a difficult subject easier to talk about. “Why take something that is already a heavy topic and make it heavier?” she said. “It already feels serious, so let it feel fun.”

She also pushed back against the idea that erectile dysfunction should be treated as a private embarrassment. “You’re not defective. Something’s not wrong with you,” she said. “You can talk about this. You don’t have to hide it.”

Fox added that ED can affect both partners in a relationship, especially when it comes to longterm intimacy. “Anyone who’s been married or in a long-term relationship knows your sex life goes through peaks and valleys,” she said. “When it’s in those valleys, the conversations are very important. Transparency is very important, and your ability to support your partner and help them feel comfortable speaking about these things is very important as well.”

Megan Fox and suggestive ads

This isn’t the first ad Fox has appeared in that has made headlines.

The Transformers star was the subject of an online campaign from a conservative mum group after she appeared in an ad for Dr Squatch earlier this year.

In May, the actress was slammed by One Million Moms for the “highly inappropriate” and “vulagr” ad, which was filled with innuendos and saw her in a tight black outfit.

The group branded the ad “entirely unnecessary” and called for it to be withdrawn.

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.

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Johannes Claasen, 39, told Namibia’s High Court in Windhoek Correctional Facility that he was defending himself from two men who appeared beside him in bed in the early hours of Christmas Day in 2020.

According to The Namibian, Claasen said the men were gay and that one of them propositioned him for sex. He claimed he tried to fight them off but later “came to his senses” and found himself holding a large knife.

Classen said he then realised he had stabbed his girlfriend, 28-year-old Rolinda Lamberth, and their 11-month-old daughter. The two “gay ghosts” had disappeared at that point, Claasen claimed.

The court did not accept that account.

A psychiatrist who testified for the defence said Claasen had rapid eye movement sleep disorder with automatism, also known as REM sleep behaviour disorder (RBD). The condition can cause people to physically act out their dreams, including behaviours such as punching, shouting, flailing or jumping from bed.

The psychiatrist argued that Claasen’s condition meant he could not be held responsible for the attacks.

Why did the judge reject the defence evidence?

Judge Dinnah Usiku said she had doubts about the psychiatrist’s evidence and instead relied heavily on the testimony of Claasen’s older daughter, who was seven years old when the stabbing occurred.

The child told the court that she had seen Claasen lift the mattress, take out a knife and put it beneath his pillow before the attack. She did not see him stab Lamberth, but said she heard a noise which woke her and saw him stabbing her baby sister.

The baby survived the attack.

The older daughter also testified that she had previously seen Claasen chase Lamberth with a knife and assault her, including an incident that left Lamberth with a swollen eye.

Three witnesses told the court that the couple’s relationship had a history of threats and physical violence. The judge also found that Claasen had distrusted Lamberth because of her previous relationship with the father of her older daughter.

Before the trial, mental health professionals had assessed Claasen as competent to stand trial and potentially criminally liable for his actions.

What happens next in the case?

Claassen’s judgement was delivered by Usiku on Friday (2 October). He was found guilty of murder, attempted murder and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm. He is due to attend a pre-sentencing hearing on 21 October.

The defence’s “gay ghosts” explanation resembles a broader form of the so-called gay panic defence, in which defendants argue that a queer person’s real or perceived sexual advance triggered a violent reaction. Such arguments have been widely criticised for shifting blame onto LGBTQ+ victims, and a number of US states have moved to prohibit their use in criminal trials.

In Claasen’s case, however, the court rejected both the supernatural explanation and the argument that his sleep disorder excused his actions.

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The vinyl, set for release on 27 November, 2026, is called KATSEYE: The Dance Breaks. It features live arrangements of tracks including “Debut”, “Gnarly” and “Gabriela”.

However, the artwork for the vinyl cover is what has got fans talking, as it features all six members.

Members Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj, Yoonchae Jeung, Sophia Laforteza, Megan Skiendiel and Manon Bannerman are pictured during a performance on the front cover, and posing backstage on the back cover. The vinyl also comes with two random photocards out of six, suggesting one may be Manon, too.

Manon has not been seen with the group since February 20, 2026 after it was announced she was going on hiatus for her “personal health and wellbeing”. Since then, fans have been left with practically no information on her future with the group.

Now, though, some are taking her inclusion in the vinyl as a sign of hope. It also follows a fan-filmed video of Daniela saying she “misses” Manon.

One fan said on X: “Dani saying she misses Manon… OT6 vinyl… this is slowly but surely becoming possible.” Another posted: “OT6 vinyl and Dani saying she misses Manon oh we are so back.”

On Reddit, one fan said: “The fact they’re releasing with six photocards and Manon’s vocals on the tracks (unlike the tour currently) is promising. They very well could have just released the recordings they’re currently using for the tour.”

Meanwhile, others complained they didn’t want a vinyl, they wanted answers.

What is going on with KATSEYE?

As well as Manon, Sophia is currently on hiatus. It was announced she would be taking a break on 7 August, also for her “personal health and wellness”.

She said: “Making this decision wasn’t easy, but I’m learning that health has to come first.”

The girl group then embarked on their European WILDWORLD tour with just four members – Daniela, Lara, Megan and Yoonchae. Sophia confirmed she would not be joining them, saying she “can’t pour from an empty cup”.

Unlike with Manon, though, fans feel less concerned about Sophia’s future, believing she will be back, whereas they fear the same can’t be said about Manon.

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.

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Speaking in an Out interview, the actor said the work no longer felt aligned with who he is. “I did OnlyFans for like four years,” he said. “It’s a tough industry. It can wear on you. Over those four years, I’ve learned that I’m really not meant for it.”

Salvatore said he started on the platform because he needed money after his dog required surgery for a broken leg. “Times were tough. My dog needed surgery on his broken leg and I needed cash,” he said.

Why Chris Salvatore says he needed a break from OnlyFans

Salvatore framed his decision around boundaries and what he wants from intimacy. “There’s no judgement on my end, but I needed to take a break. I’m more of a demisexual,” he said. “I really honor connection before intimacy, especially now, being in my 40s.”

He also spoke about the practical reality of filming adult scenes. “It was hard to show up on set and just go to town,” he said. “After I recognized that, it started to affect me quite a bit.”

He added: “It can be taxing physically and emotionally on different types of people. More power to the ones who are doing amazing at it! …I would feel empty afterwards.”

Salvatore stressed the pause is not necessarily permanent. “This break might not be forever, but I’m trying to do projects that make me feel good and lift me up,” he said.

Salvatore has also announced his role in new horror film Scorch Marks.

What is Scorch Marks, and who does Salvatore play?

Salvatore is returning to acting in Scorch Marks, a queer apocalyptic survival horror film now streaming on Dekkoo. In the film, Beckett (Brandon Shypkowski) wakes up to what looks like a ruined world, only to realise he is trapped alongside the eerie presence of his abusive ex-husband, Joel (played by Salvatore).

“I come back from the pits of hell to haunt my ex-husband! It’s a really fun film, but it highlights the scary parts of toxic relationships. We all have a story like that. It’s really different from what I’ve done before. I’m used to playing the boy next door, so I hope people see me in a different light,” Salvatore said.

Similarly, in 2021, American actor Tyler Posey said doing OnlyFans was “mentally draining” and made him “feel like an object”.

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In a blog post reacting to his latest messaging ahead of November’s midterm elections, she wrote: “Donald has been on a campaign against mail in voting, calling it cheating for years now, despite the fact that, of course, he always votes by mail.”

Mary also suggested her uncle is trying to make the midterms revolve around him, adding: “He is literally telling people that they need to pretend he’s on the ballot when they vote, as if that’s going to make people want to vote for Republicans.”

She went on to argue the stakes are personal for him: “And this is exactly what he is afraid of. If Democrats win, he will be trapped in a purgatory of impeachment and investigations.”

Mary also questioned him for “trying to bribe Americans with $5,000 checks should Republicans win this November,” calling it: “Another promise of a check that will never come.” In the same passage, she added that anyone who believes him is “probably also the kind of person who believes that public schools are doing gender reassignment surgery on little children, that oil and gas prices are going down, and that we have won the Iran War 17 times.”

Mary urged Americans to reject what she called “insanity”, writing that “almost everything that is going wrong in this country right now is the direct result of actions Donald has taken, supported by the entirety of the Republican Party.”

‘Just vote’

Mary ended with a blunt call to action, telling US citizens to “just vote”, saying the “best revenge” is to not get burnt out by Donald’s spiel.

She added: “We are less than 30 days out from the most important election in our lifetime. Check your voter registration and keep checking it until your vote is cast.”

Mary L. Trump is a psychologist and author who has built a public platform around criticising Trumpism and Republican politics. She is also an out lesbian.

In November 2020, she warned her uncle was ready to “take everyone down with him” as the US election results were still being finalised.

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.

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Speaking to Bustle, the actor and author was asked about reboot chatter and whether he would return. “I know nothing and have heard absolutely nothing,” Colfer said, adding: “I wish I did.”

Out gay actor Colfer, who played Kurt Hummel throughout the Fox musical series’ six-season run, also reflected on what it would mean to revisit the show now. “It was a really tough show to do, and it would be really hard to do it now that Naya [Rivera] is gone,” he said.

He also joked that saying no might not be simple. “But I do know that Glee fans would probably come after me with pitchforks and jazz hands if I said no.”

What has Ryan Murphy said about a Glee reboot?

Murphy has previously suggested he is open to revisiting Glee, and the conversation picked up again in September when he said he, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan had written something for a reboot.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Murphy said: “Well, funny you ask, cause I just finished the script an hour ago.”

Murphy also said he had been in touch with around 10 original cast members and described them as “very enthusiastic” about the idea, adding: “Nobody has read it.”

Is the Glee reboot actually happening?

For now, there is still a gap between a script existing and a series being made. The reboot has not been picked up to air, and is currently just a project being worked on by the show creators.

Glee aired from 2009 to 2015 and followed a glee club at the fictional William McKinley High School. Colfer won a Golden Globe for playing out gay character Kurt, and he has also built a second career as a bestselling children’s and YA author with The Land of Stories series.

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.

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Miller was in the final three couples in the vote reveal, alongside celebrity Jimmy Kimmel Live! star Guillermo Rodriguez and baseball pro Jackson Olson. After judges’ scores and viewer votes were combined, it was announced Miller and her pro partner Brandon Armstrong would be leaving the competition.

The reality star said it had been “the moment of a lifetime”, as Armstrong shared his disappointment as Miller was “getting better every single week”.

Miller was middle of the pack when it came to judges’ scores, getting 21 for her Jazz routine to Mariah Carey song “Emotions”. Olson also scored 21, while Rodriguez was at the bottom of the leaderboard with just 13 points.

Viewers brand show a ‘fix’

DWTS viewers were left furious, with some wondering how Rodriguez was safe again despite consistently scoring the least with judges.

One said on X: “I swear this is fixed. I hope Guillermo isn’t the new Bobby Bones.” Another said: “This eliminated felt fixed [in my opinion].”

Meanwhile, one said: “I like seeing her improve and bloom every week. I thought that was the original concept of the show. I kinda don’t like what it has transformed into.”

As another complained: “He’s literally at the bottom every episode he needs to go I can’t stand the voting.”

Who is Ciara Miller?

Model Ciara Miller, who previously worked as a nurse, joined Bravo reality show Summer House in 2021, and went on to appear in its spin-off Winter House too.

She quickly became a fan-favourite, thanks to her friendship with Paige DeSorbo and Amanda Batula – however her fall-out with the latter became headline news last year.

Batula split from her co-star husband Kyle Cooke, and moved on with another co-star, West Wilson, who Miller had been in a brief relationship with.

The betrayal saw fans rally around Miller, though professionally her stardom also exploded.

She joined the cast of the American version of The Traitors and was announced as co-host for Love Island: Aftersun.

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.

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A city record posted online on 6 October sets out the proposed plan, including a negotiated acquisition with Callen-Lorde Community Health Center and the Nonprofit Organization for Philanthropic Initiatives (NOPI).

Under the proposal, the funding would go to vendors providing services including puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to trans patients under the age of 18, under a three-year contract. The contract is slated to begin on 1 February 2027.

Callen-Lorde is a prominent community health centre in New York with a long-standing reputation for LGBTQ+ inclusive care. In a city where municipal health funding can shape what services are realistically available across networks of clinics and nonprofits, the proposed contract could be significant for families trying to access care.

Why is NYC stepping in after hospitals ended trans youth programmes?

The plan follows the closure of several transgender youth health programmes in New York City over the last year, which has reduced access to care for some trans young people.

Mount Sinai, NYU Langone Health and New York Presbyterian have ended programmes serving trans youth over the last year and reached settlements with the Trump administration.

Nationally, the pressure has intensified since Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025 and signed an executive order threatening federal funding for medical institutions providing gender-affirming care for minors. The order ended up being struck down, but the US Department of Justice later issued 20 subpoenas to hospitals across the country for providing gender-affirming care.

Under a settlement Mount Sinai reached with the Trump administration in late August, the hospital system committed $2 million towards setting up a detransition fund. Actor Elliot Page, who last week criticised what he described as a “coordinated assault on health care”, described detransition in a public service announcement for the Gender Liberation Movement as the “often coercive ending of gender transition, which uses the same logic as conversion therapy.”

What does the NYC funding plan cover and when does it start?

The city record also sets out a timeline for organisations that believe they are eligible to deliver the services.

Eligible vendors can submit an expression of interest by email by 2 p.m. EST on 16 October to Tamala Watson at twatson2@health.nyc.gov, according to the city record.

Organisers from the Gender Liberation Movement and ACT UP have also been staging care-ins and demonstrations outside major hospital systems in response to the shuttering of trans youth programmes.

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Two people were arrested at addresses in London on suspicion of fraud and immigration offences, and a third person was arrested on suspicion of being in the country illegally.

Home Office Immigration Enforcement officers seized phones, jewellery and thousands of pounds in cash during the operation, as reported by BBC News.

Chris Foster, a regional lead for criminal investigations at the Home Office, said the arrests were over separate fake claims connected to Apanjon, a Bangladeshi community LGBT organisation based in Whitechapel, east London.

“We’ve got some intelligence that they can provide fake letters and documents, and they could charge anywhere between £1,000 and £4,500,” Foster said.

He added: “It could be letters of support from Apanjon, it could be staged photographs, suggesting that these people are gay, it could be letters from people claiming to be in a friendship or a sexual relationship – [a] same-sex relationship – as the claimants.”

Foster said more than 100 asylum claims linked to the alleged network are being reviewed by the Home Office, and that some of the fake applications would have “undoubtedly” been granted.

What has Shabana Mahmood said about the arrests?

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said “those faking persecution are beneath contempt and mock real victims who need protection”.

“To the gangs profiting from this disgraceful fraud: you will be prosecuted, stripped of your dirty money and shut down,” she said. “And to those cheating the system, your claim will be thrown out, and you will be removed from this country.”

The arrests follow a similar incident in May, when another BBC News investigation discovered immigration advisers were allegedly telling asylum seekers to pretend to be gay.

Two were arrested after footage was filmed by the BBC at an LGBT event for asylum seekers, with many there admitting on camera that they were not gay.

If convicted of asylum fraud, the maximum penalty is up to 10 years in prison.

In 2024 a gay Bangladeshi man was refused asylum by the Home Office and told he is ‘not truly gay’.

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The 6 October instalment ended with Shannon becoming the second baker to leave the 17th series, while Clara was named Star Baker.

After the judges’ decision, Shannon, 29, from Gloucestershire, described her time in the tent as “life-changing”, saying: “I have just really been me and it has been life-changing.”

And while she didn’t get a coveted Paul Hollywood handshake for any of her bakes, she did ask for one upon her elimination, which he happily gave her.

Judge Nigella Lawson also reflected on the weekly eliminations, adding: “I can’t get used to the fact that someone has to go home.”

What was Bake Off Audience Choice Week?

Audience Choice Week reshaped the usual rhythm of the tent, with viewers setting the tasks for signature, technical and showstopper.

For the signature, the bakers had to make a baked cheesecake alongside a family member. In the technical, the 11 bakers were given mystery ingredient boxes and told to create something of their choice.

The biggest gasp of the night came during the wearable-bakes Showstopper, when Moyin presented a top hat cake. Hollywood praised it as “a great cake”, but after he cut a slice, the bake slid off its stand and dropped onto the floor.

“It needs to sit slightly lower on the head, then it wouldn’t have wobbled so much,” he said. Nigella Lawson, fellow judge, still described the cake as “sensational”.

Viewers divided

The format shake-up left viewers divided, with some calling it a success, while others demanded the show stop with “gimmicks”.

One said on X: “Good shout by the audience to have relatives come on and bake cheesecake!” Another said: “I like the idea of a mystery box invention test for the technical. Shakes things up a bit.”

While another complained: “The Great British Bake Off is such a beloved format, it really doesn’t need gimmicks or format changes. Audience-selected signatures, relatives baking, everyone doing different technicals, wearable bakes… all nonsense. Is there some new producer trying to make a mark? And another said: “Tried to fix something that wasn’t broken.”

The Great British Bake Off continues Tuesdays at 8pm on Channel 4.

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.

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Česká televize (Czech Television) said: “In light of the ongoing budget adjustments, Czech Television has decided not to participate in the 2027 edition,” adding that Eurovision is a large-scale project with significant programming, production and organisational demands. The broadcaster also said it assesses each edition separately and does not want to speculate about when it will participate again.

The EBU said (as per Eurovision Fun) it “completely understand[s] that broadcasters are having to make difficult choices”, adding: “We regret that Česká televize will not be able to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2027 because of the financial pressures they are facing.”

The statement, from Eurovision Song Contest director Martin Green, added: “We very much hope that Česká televize will return to the Contest when circumstances allow. They will always be welcome.”

Daniel Žižka represented the country in the 2026 competition with the song “Crossroads”. He placed 16th overall, with 113 points.

Czechia, which competed as the Czech Republic before 2023, have never won, but have broke into the Top 10 twice: in 2018 Mikolas Josef placed sixth with “Lie To Me”, and in 2023, Vesna placed 10th with “My Sister’s Crown”.

Who’s in and out for Eurovision 2027?

Eurovision 2027 is already shaping up to look different across the map: earlier this year, Canada confirmed they will compete for the first time ever after being granted full membership in the EBU, while the Netherlands confirmed a return despite broadcaster Avrotros announcing it would boycott again.

Ireland also announced it would boycott the show in September, over Israel’s participation.

New rules have been introduced for the 2027 contest, too, which block a winning country from hosting if there is active conflict there, such as Israel or Ukraine.

Next year’s Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Burgas, Bulgaria, after DARA won the 2026 show with “Bangaranga”.

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.

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The Taipei City Police Department’s Wanhua Precinct raided the Wanhua area bar on Saturday afternoon (3 October). Of the 58 patrons inside, 51 were taken in for questioning and the owner was arrested, as reported by The Independent.

Precinct spokesperson Chen Yu-cheng said those detained were suspected of violating Taiwan’s Social Order Maintenance Act, which bans “wantonly exposing one’s naked body or presenting a lascivious posture in a public place or publicly accessible place”.

One man, identified by his family name Wen, said: “They raided the place violently. It was very scary.”

In a statement, Wanhua Precinct said a search warrant was had issued after allegations of “offences against public morality” at the bar, denying accusations of misconduct.

Ten LGBTQ+ rights organisations condemned the raid in a statement on the Taiwan Tongzhi (LGBTQ+) Hotline Association’s Facebook page, alleging procedural violations including refusing to show a warrant, excessive use of force and discriminatory remarks to people with disabilities. The groups called for an independent investigation, disciplinary action and a public apology.

Protest outside Wanhua Police Precinct

Protesters marched to the Wanhua Police Precinct on Sunday (4 October). Kang Yang said: “I’m not cool with this. This city used to claim that it was queer-friendly.”

A precinct chief told protesters: “We respect the culture of a pluralistic society and will protect the rights of every citizen.”

Mayor Chiang Wan-an said the raid was conducted in accordance with the law, and instructed the precinct to review allegations and explain its actions.

Taipei’s Ximending area is known for nightlife and a visible LGBTQ+ scene, and gay bars often double as community spaces as Pride season approaches.

In 2023, Taiwan drew hundreds of thousands in East Asia’s largest Pride march, a reminder of why the raid has struck such a nerve in a place usually relatively liberal.

LGBTQ+ rights in Taiwan

LGBTQ+ people in Taiwan are usually treated well in Taiwan, with same-sex activity and marriage legal. The age of consent is 16 – the same as cisgender heterosexual citizens.

Same-sex couples are also allowed to adopt children together, and discrimination due to sexuality or gender identity in education or the workplace is banned.

Conversion therapy has been banned for a number of years, too.

As for trans rights, people have been able to change their gender on ID and legal documents since 1988, as long as they meet some surgery requirements and have two diagnosis certificates from psychiatrists. Trans or intersex people wishing to change their legal gender must have undergone gender-affirmation surgery, according to the Ministry of the Interior.

However, attitudes towards trans people in Taiwan is mixed.

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The “Birds of a Feather” singer unveiled the lighter look on Instagram on 5 October, breaking a brief social media hiatus with a photo dump showing off her new autumn-ready style.

In a mirror selfie, Eilish, 24, pulled a playful face for the camera while showing off her golden, dark strawberry blonde hair, which featured choppy layers, a deep side part and a shoulder-grazing length. She paired the new look with a dark navy knit sweater, khaki trousers, white socks and black trainers.

The new colour is considerably lighter than the chocolate brunette hair Eilish had been wearing since earlier this year, and brings her closer to her natural ashy blonde shade.

Her latest transformation also marks her first return to blonde territory since her platinum blonde era in 2021, when she famously swapped her black-and-neon-green hair for a dramatically lighter look around the release of her album Happier Than Ever.

Why did Billie Eilish go blonde?

At the time, Eilish said the platinum colour was partly motivated by a desire to become less recognisable.

“I couldn’t go anywhere with that hair because it was so obviously me. I wanted anonymity,” she told Elle in 2021, explaining that she had been concerned about paparazzi and stalkers.

The singer later reflected that being blonde changed how people treated her, telling Highsnobiety that she “didn’t feel sexy for one second” while wearing the colour.

“When I was blonde, people treated me differently,” she said, adding that she believed her more masculine approach to dressing had contributed to people taking her more seriously.

Since then, Eilish has continued to experiment with her appearance. She began moving away from her darker hair earlier this year, appearing with dark auburn roots before debuting a deep copper bob in August while filming the upcoming adaptation of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, in which she plays Esther Greenwood.

Billie’s hair history

Her latest photo dump also appeared to nod to her extensive history of hair transformations, including a blurry image of Eilish with the vivid blue hair she wore as a teenager.

Eilish first dyed her hair blue at just nine years old and has since experimented with shades including silver-white, lavender, blue, black and neon green.

The singer’s latest strawberry blonde look is officially another chapter in a long-running tradition of Eilish using her hair, as well as her wider aesthetic, to reinvent herself from one era to the next.

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