EXCLUSIVE Humiliated Lorraine's absences have 'become a joke': Insiders reveal savage story of ITV bloodbath to KATIE HIND, truth about 'awful' show and why final blow was so 'mortifying for Lorraine'
The moment ITV bosses concluded their emergency summit with staff this week – during which they told them of an impending bloodbath of cuts – they called on just one of those present for an individual meeting.
That person, of course, was Lorraine Kelly.
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Scottish Sun
24 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Love Island viewers ‘turn on' Islander as they spot ‘snide' comment
The tension is already building in the Love Island villa LOVE Island fans have begun turning on one Islander after accusing her of making "snide" comments towards a rival. Viewers of the ITV2 reality show have claimed the female singleton has made one too many "b****y" remarks for their liking. Advertisement 5 Love Island fans are not impressed by Helena's behaviour towards Shakira Credit: ITV 5 They have accused Helena of being 'b****y' towards the pretty brunette Credit: ITV Fans are convinced Helena Ford is deliberately stirring the pot by some of the things she has said to Shakira Khan in the villa. There is a growing chemistry between Helena and Shakira's man Harry Cooksley - and the blonde beauty appears to be enjoying every second. But taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one fan complained: "I wanted to like Helena but she's made one too many b****y comments about Shakira. It's giving insecure babe, give it a rest." Another added: "Helena is giving nasty girl b****y vibes and I'm not here for it." Advertisement A third chimed in: "Helena i defended you but I'm feeling there's a little underlying grudge against Shakira i can't lie." And a fourth said: "Helena's snide comments about Shakira and Toni needs to stop. you've known the girls for 3 days…" Shakira is in a couple with semi-professional footballer Harry due to Love Island's first massive twist. The arrival of bombshell Toni Laites saw Shakira lose her man Ben Holbrough and she was tasked with finding a new connection in 24 hours. Advertisement Several of the lads stood up to show their interest in Shakira the following day and she chose to recouple with Harry - which saw his lady Sophie Lee sent home. But in Wednesday night's show, Helena began turning Harry's head. Watch the awkward Love Island moment that 'proves' two girls are feuding, say fans During a dare game around the fire pit, he gave Helena a lap dance before sitting back down and putting his hand on her leg. He also whispered "Hideaway" to her before they sneaked off for a quick moment together. Advertisement Helena appeared delighted when Shakira learned about the leg grope after the game had finished and giggled about his cheeky move. Moments later, Blu Chegini asked Shakira if he could have a chat with her and took her to The Hideaway. Outside, Helena laughed as she told Harry: "Your bird is in The Hideaway!" This comment didn't go down too well with fans of the show. Advertisement "Helena is a rat. 'Your bird's in the hideaway'. She's jealous. Period. And clearly not a girl's girl," one viewer blasted. Another added: "Getting a weird vibe from Helena. Like she's going for cool girl, but it's coming across as a bit mean? Referring to Shakira as his "bird" and then implying she's too cool to care if he's touching someone else's leg at the same time as hers." Unbeknown to Helena and Harry, Shakira ended up kissing Blu in The Hideaway. Love Island continues tonight at 9pm on ITV2/ ITVX 5 Helena was quick to tell Shakira's man Harry that she was in The Hideaway Credit: ITV Advertisement 5 Harry's head has been turned by Helena Credit: ITV 5 Shakira ended up kissing Blu in The Hideaway without anyone knowing Credit: ITV Have YOU got a story or an amazing picture or video? Email exclusive@ and you could even get PAID
The Sun
24 minutes ago
- The Sun
Love Island viewers ‘turn on' Islander as they spot ‘snide' comment
LOVE Island fans have begun turning on one Islander after accusing her of making "snide" comments towards a rival. Viewers of the ITV2 reality show have claimed the female singleton has made one too many "b****y" remarks for their liking. 5 5 Fans are convinced Helena Ford is deliberately stirring the pot by some of the things she has said to Shakira Khan in the villa. There is a growing chemistry between Helena and Shakira's man Harry Cooksley - and the blonde beauty appears to be enjoying every second. But taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one fan complained: "I wanted to like Helena but she's made one too many b****y comments about Shakira. It's giving insecure babe, give it a rest." Another added: "Helena is giving nasty girl b****y vibes and I'm not here for it." A third chimed in: "Helena i defended you but I'm feeling there's a little underlying grudge against Shakira i can't lie." due to Love Island's first massive twist. The arrival of bombshell Toni Laites saw Shakira lose her man Ben Holbrough and she was tasked with finding a new connection in 24 hours. Several of the lads stood up to show their interest in Shakira the following day and she chose to recouple with Harry - which saw his lady Sophie Lee sent home. But in Wednesday night's show, Helena began turning Harry's head. Watch the awkward Love Island moment that 'proves' two girls are feuding, say fans During a dare game around the fire pit, he gave Helena a lap dance before sitting back down and putting his hand on her leg. He also whispered "Hideaway" to her before they sneaked off for a quick moment together. Helena appeared delighted when Shakira learned about the leg grope after the game had finished and giggled about his cheeky move. Moments later, Blu Chegini asked Shakira if he could have a chat with her and took her to The Hideaway. Outside, Helena laughed as she told Harry: "Your bird is in The Hideaway!" Love Island 2025 full lineup Harry Cooksley: A 30-year-old footballer with charm to spare. Sophie Lee: A model and motivational speaker who has overcome adversity after suffering life-changing burns in an accident. Shakira Khan: A 22-year-old Manchester-based model, ready to turn heads. Blu Chegini: A boxer with striking model looks, seeking love in the villa. Megan Moore: A payroll specialist from Southampton, looking for someone tall and stylish. Alima Gagigo: International business graduate with brains and ambition. Tommy Bradley: A gym enthusiast with a big heart. Helena Ford: A Londoner with celebrity connections, aiming to find someone funny or Northern. Ben Hullbra: A model ready to make waves. Megan Clarke: An Irish actress already drawing comparisons to Maura Higgins. Dejon Noel-Williams: A personal trainer and semi-pro footballer, following in his footballer father's footsteps. Aaron Buckett: A towering 6'5' personal trainer. Conor Phillips: A 25-year-old Irish rugby pro Antonia Laites: Love Island's first bombshell revealed as sexy Las Vegas pool party waitress. Rose Selway: Beauty salon owner from Devon who runs 12 aesthetics clinics, boasting a famous clientele including former Love Islanders Departures: This comment didn't go down too well with fans of the show. "Helena is a rat. 'Your bird's in the hideaway'. She's jealous. Period. And clearly not a girl's girl," one viewer blasted. Another added: "Getting a weird vibe from Helena. Like she's going for cool girl, but it's coming across as a bit mean? Referring to Shakira as his "bird" and then implying she's too cool to care if he's touching someone else's leg at the same time as hers." Unbeknown to Helena and Harry, Shakira ended up kissing Blu in The Hideaway. 5 5
The Guardian
25 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Look north: composer Gavin Higgins on his new song cycle celebrating northerness
As a child, the idea of 'the north' captured my imagination. Images of lonely moors, mist-drenched mountains and driving rain provided backdrops for some of my favourite books, poems and films. But for me, the raucous energy of Manchester had an almost religious pull. It was the birthplace of bands I loved – Oasis, Happy Mondays, Joy Division, A Guy Called Gerald – and home to that palace of techno and acid house music, the Haçienda, which I dreamed of visiting. I grew up at the rural borderland between England and Wales, but moved to Manchester when I was 16. It was my first time experiencing a real city with its cacophony of police sirens, shop alarms and drunken revelry, a far cry from the woodlands I'd grown up with. It was also the first time I realised I spoke with an accent. Against nasal Mancunian colloquialisms, my broad west country twang made me feel that I was from a different planet. But one of Manchester's great charms is how its people throw their arms open to strangers. The city quickly became my home and I became a proud northerner. Every city, town and village in the north of England has its own unique cultural identity, while the surrounding wild places – the moors, mountains, and coalfields – have an almost mythical allure for poets, painters and hikers alike. Walking the Lakes and Peak District – the beauty and melancholy of those landscapes permanently etched in my mind – changed the way I think about nature and our place within it. Experiencing community spirit at the annual Whit Friday marches in Saddleworth shaped my feelings towards the importance of community and ritual. The vibrancy of Manchester turned me from a provincial country boy to a card-carrying, coffee-drinking urbanite. Even my west country accent, an integral part of my identity, was changed for good, the singsong 'hello there' replaced by a succinct 'y'aright?'. I began to question the nature of my sense of Englishness, of my British identity. How do you even define such a thing? As a composer, the north remains a place of keen inspiration for me and one I was eager to revisit. So when soprano Claire Booth approached me to write a song cycle about 'the idea of the north', I was intrigued to explore more. The very idea of northernness felt so clear in my mind. But as I dug deeper, it proved more elusive and hard to pin down. My new song cycle, Speak of the North, is a vast and sprawling journey across the moors, mountains, cities and coasts of the north of England. Set to words from a host of northern poets such as Katrina Porteous, Tony Williams and all three Brontë sisters, the 11 songs explore ideas around regional and national identity, our place within the wild places of the north, and navigating life and hardship at the very edges and borderlands of England. In Great Northern Diver by Michael Symmons Roberts, Manchester is slowly revealed from above, from districts to stadiums to factories to pubs until we are on the very pavement itself, the earth rushing up to meet us as the rhythms of acid house music pound in the background. Here we learn the spirit of Manchester is not in its buildings or roads, but in the people who live there: 'so what keeps this city alive is you'. Zoe Mitchell's Sycamore Gap – written before the tree was felled – places us in border land, looking north to Scotland and south to England, not knowing which side is home. These liminal places fascinate me, challenging our absolutisms around identity. Where does Englishness stop and Scottishness start? Where does the north begin and where does it end? In Offcomer by Katie Hale, the very idea of northern identity is questioned. Through a series of visionary statements, she confronts her roots, her heritage and the way landscape has shaped her. 'My skin is a prairie, / my hair and eyes an Irish peat and sky, / my bones a Midlands town,' we are told. 'But put your ear to my chest […] you will hear / water, the raucous gathering of clouds.' This dichotomy is at the heart of this song cycle. Are we defined solely by our place of birth? Or by the movement of our ancestors, wars, stories, language, the weather? These are timely questions. Over the past decade, there has been a concerted effort from the right to push their definition of Englishness into public discourse, a definition that feels completely at odds with my own. Though these songs ask questions about northern identity specifically, they also invite a broader discourse about what it is to be English and to live in these isles. The simplicity and directness of folk music stands as a testament to the tenacity of ordinary people, holding a mirror to our deepest passions and concerns. The 'folk' is never far away in my composition. Whether through the inclusion of a folk-like violin part, or the leaping fifths and ninths in the vocal writing, mimicking the open strings of the violin, the use of folk ideas to explore class struggle resonate throughout the song cycle. The final song is a setting of the Northumbrian folk song Here's the Tender Coming, and leaves us on a sombre note. Here, a mother whose husband has been press-ganged faces the reality of her child being brought up in a broken home. This could equally be the story of a struggling single mother, or a wife mourning the loss of her husband in an industrial accident, and we are reminded that political choices made far away, by privileged people in fancy houses, can have a devastating impact on the lives of ordinary people. Though the cycle is made up of 11 clearly defined movements, melodic and harmonic motifs are heard throughout in different guises. The invigorating fanfares that open the piece return at a later point softer and muted, the dream of the north slipping through our fingers. The vocal leaps are littered throughout the cycle: at times jubilant and invigorating, at others stark, cold, relentless. In other moments, entirely different sound worlds are explored. In Sedimentary, the music is low and resonant, the pianist asked to play 'like a brass band' – a nod to the musical tradition that grew in the coalfields of the north. In Here's the Tender Coming, the piano part is prepared with Blu-Tack so that the strings resonate out of tune, tolling like a distant ship's bell. Techno piano rhythms feature throughout Great Northern Diver, beginning quietly as if from afar, later pounding as though we are on the dancefloor itself. The idea of the north is complex. It is a place of industry, of rolling moors and mountains. Of brass bands and acid house. It's a place of rain and proud, weather-worn people, of struggle and of survival. And it is also place of deep friendship and core memories: my friend and I deciding to climb Helvellyn but our plans being thwarted when she turned up in high heels; my first time in Manchester's gay village, the bar lady with a knowing wink giving me more money back in change than I'd handed her to pay for my drink; night swimming in the Lake District and then watching the sun rise over the mountains. Thinking of the north gives me a feeling of rootedness. It grounds me and reminds me of who I am and, in returning to the north for this song cycle, I feel like I've come home. The world premiere of Gavin Higgins' Speak of the North is at the Aldeburgh festival on 17 June. It is also at the Ryedale festival on 12 July.
