Ciarán Hinds: ‘Who is my celebrity crush? Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem'
What is your greatest fear?
I'm not fond of snakes.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Vagueness.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Pomposity.
What was your most embarrassing moment?
Falling off the stage and on to the pianist during the opening number in the Mother Goose pantomime at the Citizens theatre in Glasgow.
Describe yourself in three words
Hopeful, egalitarian, overweight.
What makes you unhappy?
The slaughter of innocents.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
My gut.
What is your most unappealing habit?
Where to begin?
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
My penchant for having just one too many.
What scares you about getting older?
Not being able to fend for myself and being a burden to others.
Who is your celebrity crush?
Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem.
Which book are you ashamed not to have read?
Ulysses by James Joyce, but I might make a start next week – or the week after that …
What is the worst thing anyone's said to you?
As a young actor, again at the Citizens theatre, I was making an exit and a theatregoer leaned over the balcony and said, 'You're terrible!'
What is your guiltiest pleasure?
A perfect pint of Guinness.
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My wife and daughter – in no particular order.
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What does love feel like?
Overwhelming, discombobulating, irrational and unreasonable.
Have you ever said 'I love you' and not meant it?
Oh yes, many times – and then had to do another take because it didn't look like I meant it.
What has been your closest brush with the law?
I was once approached by a New York cop who said he was sorry but he was going to have to book me for impersonating a Roman emperor.
What keeps you awake at night?
An inability to get myself to bed at a reasonable hour.
Would you rather have more sex, money or fame?
Oh, all right then, sex.
How would you like to be remembered?
As not being a total bollix.
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
We're not here for long so don't be wreaking havoc along the way.
Tell us a joke
Two cows in a field. One of them says, 'I hear there's another outbreak of mad cow disease.' The other one says, 'Yep, thank God I'm a penguin.'
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Louise Thompson proudly displays her stoma bag in a yellow bikini as she admits she notices people staring at it and urges others to 'be kind'
Louise Thompson proudly displayed her stoma bag in a yellow bikini as she admitted she feels people staring at her and urged people to 'be kind'. The former Made in Chelsea star, 30, who nearly died when giving birth to her son in 2021, revealed last April that she had been fitted with a stoma after years of battling with ulcerative colitis. Ulcerative colitis is a chronic bowel condition where the colon and rectum become inflamed and small ulcers develop on the colon's lining, which can bleed. A stoma is a surgically-created opening made on the abdomen, which is made to divert the flow of body waste into a medical device, which the person can then empty. But taking to Instagram on Sunday, Louise admitted in a candid post that she us wearing less bikinis and switching to swimsuits, in part because she notices people looking at her stoma. Louise went on to say that she feels confident having her stoma on show now, but gave advice to those unfamiliar with them to 'be kind', not judge and let people with them wear what they want in peace. Sharing a snap and clip of herself in the yellow two-piece, Louise wrote: 'I'm not a big bikini girl these days. I don't think it's a confidence issue, I just really enjoy the comfort of a swimsuit. It's very practical and dare I say it - when you reach your mid 30s I think practicality equates to sophistication. 'There's another thing. I don't LOVE people looking at me that much. Stoma or no stoma. It doesn't happen to me often now I'm a bit older and a mother (gone are the days of men checking me out on the tube or the beach), but regardless of circumstances - you definitely get more attention with a random black or grey bag glued to your abs. Unsurprising really. 'I have no doubt that if I saw someone in a similar situation as me I'd look on in fascination/with curiosity/appreciation for what they might have gone through. It's natural. We are intrigued by uniqueness. We intrigued by medicine and health.' She continued: 'On the note of appreciation I've actually been serving myself lots of self-appreciation recently. Yesterday I got out of the shower and went straight to my phone to write down the words "remember you can get through TOUGH shit, ur tough as nails'" on a WhatsApp thread I have with myself (where I dump all my creative [thoughts]) because I really believed it. I wanted you to too. 'Regardless of the above I feel no shame when I look at my body. I don't attach much emotion to it at all. It just exists. That's the main thing. It's a privilege to exist. Literally. Metaphorically. 'But I fancied giving my tummy a bit of tan time/vit d on holiday… so here she is. The old bod. Me and Winnie hanging out. Wearing her with pride. I think I've still got it. I feel good. I roamed freely in the villa. I didn't feel the need to display my tummy in the beach clubs because tbh I'm not really a big lie down and tan kind of girl anymore. I think I dress really well and v freeely and vvvv ME regardless of my stomach situ.' Louise added: 'I don't feel held back at all, but I know some do and I want to remind anyone out there that doesn't really understand what this is that lots of normal and nice people in the uk have them (100k) and to be kind. 'Don't judge. Let people wear what they want. Ask nice questions if you really can't help it. You might learn something cool. #stoma.' In holiday snaps from earlier this month, Louise showed off her incredible figure in the two-piece, before slipping into a black swimsuit. Louise and fiancé Ryan Libbey have been enjoying a short trip 'just the two of them' at the luxurious Maslina Resort on Hvar island. Louise recently opened up about suffering a 'horrendously debilitating' stoma leak while out in central London. Since her diagnosis, Louise has continued to spread awareness and proudly show off her stoma, which she's nicknamed Winnie, in a hilarious reference to Winnie The Pooh. However, taking to her Instagram on Wednesday, she revealed she'd had a leak the day before, which left her in tears and needing some time out by herself. She explained she had headed to Marylebone with her fiancé Ryan on his motorbike for an appointment and a coffee, before going to record a podcast. However, Louise explained that despite their 'great start', she suddenly realised her stoma bag had unfortunately leaked, forcing her to rush to the nearest hospital for supplies. Sharing several selfies of her and Ryan on their bike journey before everything went wrong, she wrote: 'Yesterday I found myself in a really depressing situation. 'l had a great start to the day. I had a medical appointment at @ in the morning with Ryan... we biked there to get ahead of the traffic and managed to shave off 20 minutes from the journey. 'Then was off to record a podcast with 2x good friends which has been in the diary for ages. Had a lot of excited energy in my belly following a c**p week of of c**p health. 'We got off the bike in Marylebone blissfully happy and headed to @watchhouse for some delicious coffee and cookies pre-recording because we were a smidge early, but then I felt something a bit wet in my pocket. I looked down and had had the most horrendously debilitating stoma leak.' She recounted how she was left 'too overwhelmed' to explain the situation, but Ryan had stepped in, while she was left in a bathroom for an hour waiting for staff to try and source any new stoma bags, while 'covered in mess'. Louise said: ' I had to hobble to the nearest hospital which was a private one so a bit awkward. I was actually too overwhelmed to speak when we got to reception so thankfully Ryan who I was with handled it for me. 'I then literally waited locked in a bathroom for an hour sat on the loo covered in mess whilst they dug around to see if they had any stoma bags for any of their [sic] inpatients.'
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Cycling great Thomas bids emotional Tour farewell
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And everybody wanted a piece of in his kit, on his bike and with his five-year-old son Macs sat on the handlebar, Thomas could barely move without a hand reaching out for a high five. As he wheeled past rival team buses, riders and coaches were constantly calling his name, falling over themselves to congratulate the achievements elevate one's status in Paris like wearing the yellow jersey as the Tour de France champion, crowned atop the podium in the shadow of the Arc de he was not victorious this year, Thomas was still in demand, given his 18-year association with this grand old was the youngest rider at the Tour de France in 2007, the champion 11 years later, and now the oldest participant in cycling's greatest race - the only man in the Tour's long and storied history to have been all three."It's been amazing," Thomas told BBC Sport Wales. "Looking back, I never thought I'd be doing 14 Tours and to win it was just bonkers. I can look back with fond memories."It was something I always dreamed of doing so to have just done it and be in Paris once is special you know. To do 14 is unreal really, one hell of a journey."I'm not one to be too sentimental and look back or whatever, you're always sort of thinking of the next thing. But I guess when it comes to the end there's nothing else to look forward to is there?" Thomas is not an outwardly emotional or demonstrative person by nature, but the Tour is a race like no other, a cultural phenomenon that transcends is the reason why Thomas, as a child, begged his parents for a Eurosport subscription, why he rushed home from school to watch on TV, hooked on a sport which was something of an alternative curiosity when it came to the sporting order of things in the UK in the Tour, however, has always cut through. Mention the yellow jersey to almost anyone and they will think of this race, regardless of whether or not they've actually ever watched is why Thomas has often said that it was winning the Tour that really changed his after successive Olympic gold medals and several world titles, he was only occasionally recognised even in his home city of Cardiff when he went out with friends and once he became Tour champion, Thomas was hurled into a different was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year, sat next to Nicole Kidman on Graham Norton's sofa and exchanged shirts with Lionel Messi at the Camp Nou. There were backstage passes for an Elton John concert too, what with Thomas signed up by Sir Elton's of that was remotely normal for a cyclist, regardless of how successful or likeable Thomas might be. Cycling is not a sport that lends itself to a glamorous have to sacrifice their family lives, their social lives, their diet – pretty much everything – to make it to the there is the colossal physical effort the sport was Thomas' 14th Tour, during which he has cycled for more than 1,000 hours and in excess of 26,000 miles – which is longer than the circumference of the still only makes up a fraction of the distances he will have clocked in all his other races and training sessions; literal years spent on a wonder, then, that he was ready to call it a day."It definitely feels like the right time now. It was a super hard race," Thomas said."The Tour is always hard, but the way racing is changing, not just physically, the aggression in the peloton and everything, the respect, everything is changing, so I'm definitely happy to be stepping away now." A decision on what comes next can wait. First, a chance to spend more time with Thomas sealed victory after the final time trial in 2018, the first person he saw after crossing the finish line was his wife Sara, flown in by the team bosses to surprise their new champion. On Sunday, she was by his side once more."It hasn't really hit home yet that this is the last one. We were just walking up the Champs Elysees, seeing the Arc de Triomphe and thinking, 'It's not every day you get to do this'," Sara said."It is a big part of our life but we're both very sure it's the right time to finish and excited for what lies ahead."The highs are amazing but the lows are so incredibly low that sometimes you start thinking if it's worthwhile, but then you get those amazing days again."It's going to be strange. It's going to be quite an adjustment having him always at home. It will be nice for him to do the mundane jobs, like the school pick-up and drop-off. Less travelling and being in one place for longer. I'm looking forward to that."The feeling was mutual."When you actually start to think about everything you've been through, you know, that's when it gets a bit like... yeah, it gets you," Thomas said, his voice breaking a little."They go through so much, just as much as me, if not more because they live the highs, but they live all the lows as well."And it's just been great that Macs has been able to be on the podium with me three times. Special memories."This is not quite the end of the road for Thomas, who will retire fully at the end of this year. Before then, there is time for one final race, September's Tour of Britain which will fittingly finish in a child with dreams of becoming a professional cyclists, Thomas had no Welsh role models whose paths he could follow, so he blazed his own becoming the first Welshman to win the Tour de France – having been only the second to compete in the iconic race – Thomas transformed cycling in his homeland, and secured his own legendary thousands who lined the streets of Cardiff for his 2018 homecoming were proof of that; freshly-converted cycling fans congregating to form the kind of throng usually reserved for Six Nations matchdays in the Welsh is Thomas' Tour legacy."This is where it all stated," Thomas said as he motioned towards the splendour of his Parisian surroundings."I did it my first year as a pro and was the youngest guy then and the oldest guy now, so it's full circle. 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The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Piers Morgan and Jack Grealish lead celebrities hailing England's Lionesses after incredible Euro 2025 triumph
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