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Saffron Barker issues warning to her fans travelling along Route 66 after her terrifying robbery on the US road trip

Saffron Barker issues warning to her fans travelling along Route 66 after her terrifying robbery on the US road trip

Daily Mail​24-05-2025
Saffron Barker has issued a stark warning to her fans travelling along Route 66 after her terrifying robbery ordeal on the US road trip.
The influencer and former Strictly Come Dancing star, 24, hired a car rental to travel from Los Angeles to Las Vegas along the iconic strip with her model boyfriend Josh Miln last week.
But when they stopped off at Route 66's famous diner Peggy Sue's, they returned to a completely smashed up car, with all their belongings gone.
She admitted she was 'grateful to be alive' following the horrifying robbery ordeal and urged fans to think twice before stopping off on the route.
Speaking about her 'nightmare' holiday in her recent YouTube video, she said: 'We keep saying how lucky we are, we could have been held at gun point.
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'These people could have been following us. I think honestly it happens quite often at Peggy Sue's.
'I know for a fact that if Josh had walked out and seen it you would have gone over there and they have guns and stuff here.
'So we are also very, very grateful that nothing like that happened to us and neither of us are hurt.'
Her boyfriend Miln, added: 'There were tourists everywhere, and apparently this happens almost every day. It's crazy that there are no warning signs.'
The couple, who are now back in the UK, had to drive the rest of the journey in the broken-in car and finish their trip in Las Vegas while waiting for emergency passports.
Saffron explained they were left with nothing other than their phones after thieves stole their passports, money and entire luggage.
she said: 'We walked outside and the car was completely smashed in, the car that we rented. And inside was every little thing that I feel like I own.
'I mean like our passports, cards, the list can just go on. I genuinely have nothing.
'The only thing we bought into the restaurant with us was our phones.
She admitted she was 'grateful to be alive' following the horrifying robbery ordeal and urged fans to think twice before stopping off on the route (Her smashed up car rental pictured)
'Its just little things like I don't have contacts, I can't even see right now. We were saying it's not even the materialistic things.
'Although it's really sad that we've lost all that money and all the things we have worked really hard for and all the things that we loved.
'But its also the inconvenience of 1. we cant even get home.
'2. we don't have cards to pay for anything.
'3. we don't even have ID so they didn't even want to let us into the hotel because they don't have a physically ID even tho I have a picture.'
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Divisive US Open mixed doubles was a surprise success but must change to survive
Divisive US Open mixed doubles was a surprise success but must change to survive

The Independent

time9 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Divisive US Open mixed doubles was a surprise success but must change to survive

'Spectacular awaits' was the tagline adorning every advertising hoarding inside Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong for this week's revamped US Open mixed doubles tournament. The final verdict may be slightly more lukewarm. Wednesday night's result was victory for the defending champions and only actual mixed doubles team, Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassorri. It was also a win both for doubles specialists, who face an uphill battle even to be taken seriously, and for tennis purists everywhere. And something of an embarrassment for the US Open, which made a big song and dance of the $1m prize pot in order to attract singles stars, only to see none of its top players take home the cheque in the end. Not that the tournament would admit this experiment didn't quite go to plan, of course. 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Even participating players Jack Draper and Karolina Muchova called it an 'exhibition', a telling slip of the tongue. Sure, the semis and finals had a more serious feel than the knockabout on day one. But it'd be hard to argue that any of the singles stars were playing for the prestige and honour of a grand slam title, rather than the money. Which makes a fun-and-games exho feel quite sad. The US Open may regard itself as the most forward-thinking of the slams, but there's a fine line between innovation and completely reinventing the wheel. The majors are supposed to be the pinnacle of the sport, a test of human endurance, tactical skill and mental resilience. It'd be hard to call this event that. Whether the executives think it's an experiment worth repeating, as seems likely, we'll have to wait and see. But if they do push on with their 'reimagined' slam, it shouldn't be without further changes. 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‘She did it, big time': Ilona Maher's road to becoming rugby's biggest breakout star since Lomu
‘She did it, big time': Ilona Maher's road to becoming rugby's biggest breakout star since Lomu

The Guardian

time18 minutes ago

  • The Guardian

‘She did it, big time': Ilona Maher's road to becoming rugby's biggest breakout star since Lomu

One Saturday in September 2014, the women's rugby team from Quinnipiac University in Connecticut travelled to Norwich, Vermont. On the home team, a powerful 18-year-old prop scored three tries in a convincing win. Quinnipiac coach Becky Carlson turned to her assistant. 'Oh man,' she remembered saying. 'Who's the kid in the pink scrum cap? I'd give my right arm to have her. 'And then that same fall, I had a voicemail. I saved it. And she sounds like a little kid. 'Hello, Coach Carlson, this is Ilona Maher. I just wanted to call and tell you I want to transfer from Norwich to Quinnipiac. I'm a nursing student. I would like for you to call me back.' 'And I was like: 'I didn't have to give my right arm.'' A decade later, many would give their right arm for time with Ilona Maher. Ahead of a World Cup in England set to take the women's game to new audiences, the 5ft 10in US center is a global star. Followed by millions on social media, a reality TV contestant and swimsuit model broadcasting a message of body positivity, the kid in the pink scrum cap has become a phenomenon – easily rugby's biggest breakout star in the 30 years since the All Blacks wing Jonah Lomu stormed the men's stage. Maher was born in Burlington, Vermont, in August 1996, a year after Lomu lit up his World Cup in South Africa. Michael and Mieneke Maher had three daughters, all athletic. In high school, in her dad's words, Ilona became 'a multi-sport star: starting pitcher for the softball team, state all-star, state all-star for field hockey, state all-star for basketball. 'But when she got to senior spring, she didn't like the way the softball program was … in terms of the lack of exercise. She would say: 'Dad, they kept us for two-and-a-quarter hours, they didn't ever sweat it once. I'm not going to do it.'' The Mahers had a rule: you've got to play something. Ilona considered lacrosse or track but there was rugby too. Michael Maher found the game at college and stayed with it, propping for Mad River RFC, a club outside Stowe. While Michael played and refereed, Ilona spent a lot of time on the sidelines. 'There was a rugby programme at the other high school in Burlington that allowed people from different high schools to come to it and was coached by friends of mine,' Michael Maher said. 'Ilona decided to try that. Phone calls started right away.' US college sports are serious business, coaches competing to recruit the best of the best. Ilona chose Norwich, an hour south of home, once a military school. Her first year brought success on the field but the culture wasn't a fit. And so she placed that fateful call to Quinnipiac, a small college in Hamden, CT. Quinnipiac women's rugby had varsity status, bringing funding and focus. Most importantly to Maher, the program was led by Carlson, a coach widely known for her dedication to success on the field and equality with the men's game off it. As Maher described it to the Guardian in July, before a US national team game against Fiji in Washington: 'Having a force like that behind you, who believes in you, believes that as a program we deserve more funding, as women we deserve more, that has kind of carried over.' Carlson switched Maher from prop to center, her size and speed propelling the Bobcats to three national titles and herself to the MA Sorensen award for best women's collegiate player. Maher got her nursing degree, top of the class, alongside an intense rugby schooling. As Carlson described it, for three years, Maher and her teammates 'got up at five in the morning to lift. You have breakfast, you have training … two sessions a day. You're still talking about going through rigorous courses with nursing and all the pre-science they take. You're doing strength and conditioning, you're doing agility, you're going to practice. You're watching game film. All of it.' Maher graduated in 2018. There was no professional 15-a-side option for women but sevens had Olympic status. As her father tells it: 'She said: 'You know, Dad, I'm not done. I want to keep going, I think I can make the Eagles Sevens.' Which to me seemed a little funny, because I think of that as a skinny person's game. But boy, she just worked at it. She stayed so fit and she did it, big time.' In 2018, Maher made her US debut in Paris. Covid intervened in 2020 but at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Maher made an impact, her play and her social media posts attracting a growing following. In 2024, at the Paris Games, the Eagles took bronze with a thrilling win over Australia, Maher's muscular contribution celebrated alongside widely shared TikTok videos from the athletes' village complete with her personal hashtag: #BeastBeautyBrains. Back home came lift-off: competing on Dancing with the Stars, posing for Sports Illustrated, endorsing Kamala Harris, launching her own line of cosmetics. Wanting to play 15s at the 2025 World Cup, she signed a short‑term contract with Bristol in England where she attracted record Premiership crowds before flying home. In July, at an awards ceremony in Los Angeles, ESPN named Maher Best Breakthrough Athlete. From the podium, she told fans: 'Strong is beautiful. Strong is powerful. And I hope more girls can feel how I feel … Take up space. Pitch it faster. Run harder. Put another plate on the bar and never tone it down.' A few days later, in DC, more than 15,000 paid to see Maher and the Eagles face Fiji — the Ilona effect clearly moving from the digital realm to the real world. Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion 'I don't know if anybody could quantify it,' Bill Goren, USA Rugby CEO, says of her influence. 'She has made a massive impact on our community, especially our young women who are engaging in a game they probably never would have otherwise.' Similarly, Sally Horrox, director of women's rugby for World Rugby, saluted how Maher had 'come out of the rugby bubble' and entered the American sporting consciousnessto become 'the eighth-most marketable sports property globally'. Amid pomp and circumstance in DC, pressing flesh as cameras flashed, Maher sometimes seemed slightly uneasy, at least with her press. Frustrated by the Eagles' stuttering play, or her own performance, or just the questions thrown her way, her fierce edge was on display. From afar, Carlson looked on. She has experienced frustrations of her own amid 15 years at the sharp end. 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'Ilona came in, led Quinnipiac in tries for three years,' he said. 'But more important, she led in assists for three years too. Ilona loves being a playmaker. 'All these people that were pooh-poohing her for wanting to play 15s, saying she doesn't know what she's doing? They should see her college record. She's the complete package.'

Wild video shows brawl on Carnival Cruise ship as passengers throw punches in row over ‘chicken tenders'
Wild video shows brawl on Carnival Cruise ship as passengers throw punches in row over ‘chicken tenders'

The Sun

time40 minutes ago

  • The Sun

Wild video shows brawl on Carnival Cruise ship as passengers throw punches in row over ‘chicken tenders'

THIS is the shocking moment a huge brawl reportedly erupts on a Carnival Cruise ship after a row over chicken tenders. Wild footage shows dozens of passengers throwing punches and kicking each other as security struggles to break up the clash. 5 5 The carnage unfolded in the dining area of the giant holiday cruise at around 2am on Monday morning — the final day of its voyage. As the cruise was heading back to Miami the late night brawl suddenly kicked off. Footage shows around 20 passengers, both men and women, becoming involved in the violent scrap. Several chaotic punches are thrown as more and more people join in. Some passengers are left flailing around on the ground after being hit. Others attempt to wildy swing at fellow diners before missing and ending up on the floor themselves. People are seen falling to the ground after being hit as others wildly throw punches. At one point, a pair are both caught in headlocks surrounded by shoes which have fallen off during the fights. Two women can be seen filming the carnage from what appears to be on top of the buffet area. Another female passenger can be heard screaming: "Where the f*** is security?" Watch shocking moment crowd Carnival Cruise ship passengers brawl before being slapped with rare 'DO NOT SAIL' orders Three male guards can be seen in the footage with one phoning in extra support as the two others try their best to pull people away from the melee. All of those involved appear to be under 30 with many being much younger. Content creator Mike Terra filmed the brutal scuffle and posted it online. He can be heard in the footage explaining the suspected reason behind the brawl. Mike reveals: "Over chicken tenders is crazy." The content creator later replied to several comments on Instagram about the brawl as he said it actually escalated over "more" than just food. Speaking to the New York Post, Mike admitted: "We weren't close enough to know why [the fight] really started we just knew they were in line for food." The Sun has reached out to Carnival Cruise for comment. It comes as another Carnival Cruise trip was plunged into chaos in April. Violence erupted when the passengers were getting off the ship after a week-long journey in the Western Caribbean. Dozens of passengers started to brawl with each other - before they were all slapped with a "do not sail" order. A spokesperson for Carnival confirmed that 24 passengers were banned from the cruise line as a result of the violent altercation. It follows a fiery cruise ship brawl that broke out between female passengers over a slice of pizza last year. 5

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