BBC Audio Liz Carr
Born and raised in Merseyside, Liz Carr became seriously ill when she was seven and has used a wheelchair since she was eleven. Whilst studying law at Nottingham University, she got involved in politics, disabled rights and activism. As her public profile grew she became a powerful voice in the debates over assisted dying.
As the assisted dying bill returns to the Commons this week, with MPs debating and voting on a series of contentious amendments, Mark Coles speaks to Liz's friends and colleagues about her acting, comedy and campaigning.
Presenter: Mark Coles
Producers: Sally Abrahams and Nik Sindle
Production co-ordinator: Janet Staples
Sound: Neil Churchill
Editor: Nick Holland
Credits:
Silent Witness: 'Covenant part 2' (2017) BBC/Cipango Productions Audiovisuelles/Dir. David Drury
Better Off Dead (2024); Burning Bright Productions/ BBC/Dir. James Routh
Hardtalk – Stephen Sackur interviews Liz Carr
Dirty Dancing (1987) Great American Films Limited Partnership/Vestron Pictures/Dir. Emile Ardolino
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Daily Mail
25 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Don't mess with dolphins! The furious Flippers committing vicious and unprovoked assaults on swimmers
They're widely considered to be one of the most intelligent and playful animals on Earth, but dolphins can sometimes use their abilities for no good. Earlier this week, a group of kayakers claimed they rescued swimmers after Reggie the dancing dolphin 'nearly drowned' two women in Lyme Regis, Dorset. The solitary bottlenose dolphin, believed to be a young male, captured hearts after a video emerged of him excitedly playing with a family and asking for belly rubs in Lyme Bay earlier this month. However, scientists predicted that Reggie might soon lash out at his human counterparts, claiming that he could become increasingly aggressive and launch a fatal attack due to the amount of human interaction he's engaging with. The Daily Mail understands that the mammal arrived on its own in Lyme Bay in February, sparking concern from marine experts as dolphins usually travel together in pods. Thankfully, Reggie has yet to cause casualties, but the scientist's hypotheses partially materialised when he jumped on top of a woman swimming off the beach in Lyme Regis days ago, repeatedly pushing her head under water. Footage showed Lynda MacDonald, 50, her partner, son, and his girlfriend, in the sea while Reggie leaped vertically out of the water, scaring her 'to death', she said. Kayaker Rhys Paterson, 32, later revealed how he intervened. However, Lynda and her family's experience with Reggie is sadly not a standalone occurrence, with multiple people from around the globe falling victim to dolphin attacks. In 2019, a then-ten-year-old British girl was left bloodied and bruised by two bottlenose dolphins during a terrifying encounter in Mexico. Lexi Yeo was attacked by the animals when she took to the water with them as part of a holiday event in Cancun. Her mother Laura-Jane Yeo, then 40, from Barkingside, east London, was horrified to watch the pair 'dragging' her underwater in the sea pen. The animals would not stop attacking her despite pleas from the trainers, but she was rescued after managing to stay on her bodyboard. However, she did not escape unscathed, and the young girl suffered deep bite marks, cuts and horrendous bruises. Organisers from Dolphin Discovery put the bad behaviour down to bad sea conditions, which made the animals 'distressed'. The bosses added it was also down to a male dolphin that 'shouldn't have been in the pen'. Ms Yeo, who is a nursery nurse, told The Sun of the trauma at the time: 'It was terrifying. I thought she was going to die. 'But I've not even had a card, flowers or teddy bear for Lexi from TUI. They have washed their hands of us. 'More concerning [sic], the dolphins are still swimming with tourists and TUI are continuing to work with the company.' The company said it is looking into the incident. Nick Stewart, Global Head of Wildlife Campaigns at World Animal Protection, told the Daily Mail shortly after the attack: 'This is a tragic example of how support for this cruel industry by travel companies like TUI Group and Expedia Group puts customers at risk. 'Dolphins are large and powerful marine predators and sadly, when kept in these confined and unnatural conditions, it is not uncommon for harm to come to humans who interact with them. 'Dolphins at swim-with attractions have been known to seriously hurt humans by butting them and the resulting injuries have included lacerations and broken bones. Dolphins are wild animals, not playthings and not entertainers.' A few years later in Japan, a dolphin bit at least eight tourists who were holidaying at a beach resort. Japanese media reported that at least one man was taken to hospital in August of that year after being bitten on Koshino Beach near Fukui. The man was bitten on both arms and the back of his hand, and it is believed that the same dolphin is responsible for at least six previous attacks on the same beach One man was bitten on both arms and the back of his hand. Another attack then occurred in the afternoon when a second man suffered injuries to fingers on his left hand. Attacks have also occurred on other beaches in Fukui, with another video surfacing online in which people gathered along the shore to watch dolphins swimming on Takasu Beach as a man was chased by them and had to run away. Meanwhile, according to Japanese officials, at least six previous attacks at Koshino Beach are believed to have been caused by the same dolphin. In another attack, swimmers were bitten after they tried to take a photograph with the animal. A girl was set upon by the dolphin and bled after it gnawed on her left ankle. Due to the influx in dolphin attacks at the same beach, officials have now installed ultrasonic transmitters along the beach to hopefully deter them from the area. There have also been warnings to swimmers about the dangers posed by dolphins, who have been told to avoid them if they spot them in the water. Local media said that dolphins in the area are now used to human interaction and have been seen in water as shallow as knee-deep. Just last year, another terrifying incident occurred in a different Japanese region when a 'sexually frustrated' dolphin allegedly attacked a swimmer, who thought it was going to kill him. Footage showed the mammal swimming next to the man and seemingly bumping into him as the terrified swimmer tries to get away. Bystanders can be heard shouting in a panic, with one person throwing a paddleboard towards the man to bring him to safety. The man fleeing from the dolphin has been identified as Takuma Goto, who was swimming with a friend near the town of Tsuruga in central Japan when they encountered the single dolphin, believed to be responsible for as many as 15 attacks over the summer. The pair had swum 20 metres away from Crystal Beach when the mammal allegedly attacked them. 'It kept attacking me and I genuinely believed that I was going to die. I was most worried that I was going to be dragged under the water and further out to sea,' Mr Goto told local media. Dolphins are not typically thought to be a threat to humans, since they don't usually see us as prey. But signs had been put up by the local authority warning swimmers of attacks from dolphins, The Telegraph reported. Mr Goto, then 23, said he realised the animal was not a shark, but a dolphin when it reared its head from the water. The dolphin continued to attack and bite the swimmer, leaving him with wounds in both his arms, as well as a gash on his left index finger, which needed five stitches. He was luckily rescued from the aggressive animal, which experts now believe to be a bottlenose dolphin, by a nearby surfer. But it's possible that rather than trying to hurt Mr Goto, the dolphin's bites were its attempt at communication, with scientists suggesting it could have been seeking 'alternative companionship' after being ejected from its own community. 'Just as in humans and other social animals, hormonal fluctuations, sexual frustration or the desire to dominate might drive the dolphin to injuring the people it interacts with. Since they are such powerful animals, this can lead to serious injury in humans', said biologist Dr Simon Allen. Mari Kobayashi, head of the marine biology laboratory at Tokyo University of Agriculture, said that the animal was believed to have committed several attacks over the summer. She said that the mammal may have been showing signs of loneliness, given that the species is usually found in groups. For Mr Goto, the frightening experience has put him off returning to the water. He said: 'Whenever I look at the sea, I can't help but think a dolphin might be out there.' Medical teams from the Tsuruga Coast Guard office have been repeatedly summoned to treat people attacked by dolphins. It advised swimmers who see a dolphin to get out of the water quickly, keep their distance and not attempt to feed it. This year, news surfaced that a killer dolphin is on the loose in British waters after it slayed one of its own kind - and then a shark. The bottlenose dolphin, which has been nicknamed Jack the Flipper, was caught on camera attacking a smooth-hound shark in July. Meanwhile, three months ago it was also seen killing a baby common dolphin by repeatedly tossing it out of the water. The killer dolphin is part of a pod that lives off New Quay, Cardigan Bay, near Aberystwyth, mid Wales. The Marine Management Organisation shared concerns for the safety of the sea creatures and urged tourists to stay away from the animals in a recent Facebook post It was initially named Anakin - after the young Jedi knight in the Star Wars franchise -by dolphin watcher Sarah Michelle Wyer. 'I have not seen a dolphin throw a shark out in the eight years I have been watching them,' she said. 'One of the skippers I work with has seen them throw tope out of the water, which is another small member of the shark family. 'But when Anakin killed the young common dolphin, it was the first recorded instance of this behaviour happening in Cardigan Bay. 'It is unknown why this dolphin chose to do it - as it would have been of no threat. 'Bottlenose dolphins are highly intelligent creatures and are capable of many unusual behaviours - many not so pleasant. 'They are not 'friendly Flipper' like many assume. This particular dolphin seems to have a very unusual personality. 'Dolphins are known to kill porpoises in a behaviour known as porpicide. But despite the name common dolphin, they aren't common around here. 'And we now think this could be because of the bottlenose dolphins.' Experts have been left baffled by the killer dolphin's behaviour. A spokesperson for Dolphin Spotting Boat Trips, whom Sarah works with, added: 'We were very surprised when one of our local dolphins, Anakin, brought what we originally thought was a large salmon past the boat in its mouth and then threw the fish out the water. 'To our surprise it was not a salmon at all but a member of the shark family called a smooth hound. 'We aren't sure if there are many records of smooth hounds being part of a bottlenose dolphin's diet. Smooth hounds grow up to four feet. 'Bottlenose dolphins are opportunistic feeders and have a very wide-ranging diet of a variety of species of fish, squid and crustaceans. 'We aren't 100 per cent sure whether Anakin ate the shark or whether he and his friends were simply playing with it as they do. 'Earlier this year, Anakin was also involved in a not-so-common incident where he played the main role in the demise of the young common dolphin. 'Anakin's dolphinality is a very unusual one to say the least.' The incident in Cardigan Bay came just one month before the incident in Dorset, where kayaker Rhys Paterson said he witnessed the dolphin attack on Lynda and her family. Footage shows the swimmer saying, 'It scared me to death! Oh my goodness!' before being pushed under the waves on August 14. Mr Paterson, a development director from Lyme Regis, said the filmed incident was not the only confrontation and the dolphin appeared to be 'targeting women in wetsuits'. 'We saved two swimmers who were [in] fairly deep, where the dolphin kept jumping on them,' he said. 'The dolphin was basically drowning this woman - it kind of jumped on her back four times.' Describing how he and his brother, Gareth, came across the scene, Mr Paterson said: 'We had been following the dolphin for a little bit, because obviously, it's quite a local legend at the minute. 'But when we realised it wasn't playing it was quite a big shock. People need to understand that it's not an amusement arcade. It's a wild animal. It can snap all of a sudden if it wants to.' It comes after the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) warned the public to keep away from the lone dolphin. The organisation said human interaction can make dolphins lose their natural wariness, leading to 'injury or death'. Jess Churchill-Bissett, Head of Marine Conservation (Wildlife) at MMO, said: 'Repeated human interaction inevitably disrupts their natural behaviours, increasing stress and potentially altering their temperament. 'Once habituated to humans, dolphins can lose their natural wariness, a change that can be fatal. This is something we could already be seeing in Lyme Bay. 'They are also known to have become aggressive in cases and have attacked and injured people.' Liz Sandeman, co-founder of the Marine Connection charity, warned: 'This is the worst case of a dolphin becoming rapidly habituated to close human interaction in 20 years in the UK, with risks to the safety of the dolphin and people in the water with him likely increasing over time.'
Daily Mail
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Katie Price and Kerry Katona's daughters learn from their mothers' mistakes with surgeries, broken marriages and addictions - as they take VERY different paths to the noughties hell-raisers
From multiple failed marriages to addiction and chaotic lives that were rarely out of the headlines, Kerry Katona and Katie Price were the original noughties hell-raisers and with so much in common, it's no surprise they became close friends. Now the pair have something new to bond over - watching their daughters become young women and take their first steps into the limelight in their own right. Katie's daughter Princess made her first foray into solo reality TV this week with the launch of her ITV show The Princess Diaries, while Kerry's daughters Molly, Lily-Sue and Heidi are also weighing up their options in the worlds of entertainment and influencing. However, there's none of the drama that their mothers were famous for in their heyday. For instance, Kerry's daughter Molly is training to be an actress at Paul Mescal 's prestigious alma mater The Lir in Dublin, and recently said her dream role would be to play the titular role in Ibsen's Hedda Gabler. Meanwhile, Princess has won plaudits for her maturity and authenticity in her new TV show, and is modelling herself on savvy businesswoman Kylie Jenner rather than her own mother Katie. Here the Daily Mail reveals how, despite chaotic times in the past, the girls are forging their own paths. She is said to already have a net worth of £500,000, and starred on the cover of OK! Magazine for her 18th birthday Princess Andre was born on June 29, 2007, to mum Katie and dad Peter Andre. Despite her mother's headline-grabbing life in the spotlight, Princess has built a life of her own. She is said to already have a net worth of £500,000, and starred on the cover of OK! Magazine for her 18th birthday. While this is a substantial amount of money, this is only half of what Princess hopes to secure, as she has vowed to become a 'millionaire by the age of 20'. For a single brand deal video, the blonde beauty can earn anywhere between £2,540 to £3,810. She also landed a solo TV documentary, The Princess Diaries, by the age of 18. And it was recently revealed her next career move following the season finale of her hit ITV2 reality show. In a shock career U-turn, Princess hopes to dip her toes in the music industry as she detailed her five-year plan. Speaking to The Sun, she said: 'I want to be a successful businesswoman which I am actually heading towards at the moment. So hopefully in five years' time, it will all be up there. 'I also want to get into music.' Her father Peter, 52, shot to fame as a nineties heartthrob and is renowned for his 1995 hit Mysterious Girl. 'We've got amazing things coming. Obviously the industry is very [up and down] but it's always about picking yourself up and getting back to it.' The Princess Diaries tracks the daughter of Katie Price and Peter Andre as she navigates life in the spotlight and unpacks her tumultuous upbringing. Princess has also reportedly set her sights on becoming the UK's answer to Kylie Jenner with her own billion-pound makeup empire. She has given fans a new insight into her hopes for the future with her new TV show, which follows her attempts to establish herself as a makeup mogul. Princess is also said to have made it clear that while her mum made her name as a glamour model, she has no intentions of following in her footsteps. An insider told The Sun: 'Princess has got ambitions of being the next Kylie Jenner. 'Everyone's been saying they can see that happening, with her own TV show and a makeup range coming out. She also has lots more deals in the pipeline to consider. 'When Katie says that Princess is "following in her footsteps", she isn't.' Heidi Elizabeth Croft Heidi Elizabeth Croft was born on February 20, 2007, to mum Kerry Katona and dad Mark Croft. Throughout her long-lasting career, Kerry has battled with bankruptcies, abusive relationships and drug addictions. However, Heidi, who turned 18 this year, has kick-started a life far different from her mother's. The star, who boasts 18,000 followers on Instagram, reportedly has just 'done her first solo shoot' last month, according to her mother Kerry. Heidi is currently a brand ambassador for In Print We Trust, and she offers fans discounts for using her code, proving herself to be a budding influencer. With her 18,000 Instagram followers, she is estimated to earn anywhere between £160 to £245 for each sponsorship brand deal video. Heidi has been trying to break into showbusiness for many years, as she appeared on The Voice Kids in 2020. Having confessed previously that 'she knows she will be famous in the future', the brunette beauty has also teased that she has considered going on Love Island when she is old enough. And there is more to come for the star, as a source told The Sun last year that she had 'already secured some incredible opportunities, including an [audition] for a lead role in a Pinocchio feature film'. Heidi appears to be taking inspiration from family friend Princess as the Katona and Price families have been spending more time with one another over recent years. Molly Marie McFadden As the daughter of two famous noughties pop stars, a stint on reality TV followed by a clothing line with Boohoo and paid Instagram posts would be an obvious career path for Molly McFadden. However, the daughter of Westlife star Brian McFadden and Kerry Katona has been living a decidedly normal life out of the spotlight that she was born into. The 23-year-old lives in Dublin where she is an acting student at the prestigious Lir Academy at Trinity College Dublin, the alma mater of Normal People stars Paul Mescal and Éanna Hardwicke. Recently she was nominated for the Spotlight Prize, awarded to aspiring young actors in the UK and Ireland, and has expressed an interested in playing Hedda Gabler in Ibsen's play of the same name. She graduated in 2022 with a Foundation Diploma in Acting and Theatre Studies and it's believed she's progressed to the three-year, full-time, intensive honours degree, which she will complete in 2025. The degree course at the the Lir Academy is described as being 'completely different' to other drama schools where students might have classes for 14 hours a week. Lir Academy students are in classes, workshops and rehearsals for at least 35 hours per week, and sometimes more when in production, and the environment is designed to simulate what you'd expect in a professional theatre. Prior to her move, Molly lived in Cheshire with her mother Kerry and younger sister Lilly Sue, 21. Kerry also has Heidi, 17, and Max, 16, from her marriage to Mark Croft. She shares her youngest daughter, Dylan-Jorge, 11, with her late ex-husband George Kay who died aged 39 in 2019 following an overdose. Brian was based in Australia for much of Molly's younger years while he was in a relationship with singer Delta Goodrem. He eventually moved back to the UK in 2013 with his now ex-wife Vogue Williams, saying at the time he was 'missing all the growing up' of his daughters. Molly has been living a regular student life in Dublin with snaps from her social media showing her enjoying nights out and trips to Europe with her friends. Kerry travelled to Dublin in October to watch Molly perform in a play at the Lir Academy and gushed how proud she was of her. Far from being a nepo baby, Molly's showbusiness connections didn't play a role in her acceptance because all students are required to audition for their place on the intensive course, which is described as being much more rigorous than other drama schools. Appearing on Loose Women with Kerry in 2020, the youngster made a telling comment about how seriously she takes her career when she shot down rumours that she was set to appear on Love Island, insisting: 'I'll leave the reality TV to my mum.' The budding actress instead has turned her hand to Shakespeare, appearing in student productions such as Much Ado About Nothing, in which she played Leonora, a female version of Leonato. Molly has been based in her father's native Ireland for quite some time after moving when she was 15 to live with her grandparents in Artane, north Dublin, and prioritise her education. 'She did her GCSEs here in England, she didn't get what she wanted so we spoke to her nan because Brian doesn't live in Ireland,' Kerry recalled in an interview with 2FM. 'People think that Molly lives with Brian, she lives with her nan and grandad who absolutely adore her and have worked wonders for her. 'She moved over there and she did three years of education and then she moved to London which she absolutely hated. 'Then she moved back home and I said, "Why don't you move back to Ireland, you were flourishing over there." 'She was desperate to get into the Lir and she finally got in the Lir.' Lilly-Sue McFadden Lilly-Sue McFadden was born when Kerry and Brian were at the height of their pop fame. Despite having famous parents, Lilly has never desired to live off their names like other 'nepo babies'. Indeed, she spent several years working as a support worker in a care home for young adults with learning disabilities, a shop assistant in SpecSavers and a barista. Lilly told the Daily Mail in 2023: 'There's a negative connotation around nepo babies. It is absolutely true, I technically am a nepo baby because I come from two wealthy parents who are famous, which has given me more opportunities but there's nothing wrong with that. 'I'm a completely different person to my parents and that is the truth. I have worked hard doing jobs that have paid me peanuts and I worked many hours. 'I have made a name for myself in my own jobs but at the same time I do have opportunities that other people wouldn't have... You just have to be self-aware. It's not fair, of course it isn't fair but that's just life.' Lilly has appeared on reality TV shows alongside her mum, namely Celebrity Ghost Trip in 2021 and has also starred in panto. Her good looks, links to her parents and the fact she's single have sparked rumours that she could sign up for Love Island, but Lily admitted the ITV2 show isn't a natural fit. She explained: 'I love a pint, I'm not a wine drinker, I like a beer and my mum always says I'm such a bloke. I go down to the pub to watch the football and I have a pint. 'I'd never say never... but I don't really think it's a bit of me. If they could swap out the glass of Prosecco for a pint of San Miguel, then I'd probably do it! 'Maybe in a couple of years it might end up being me, I'm always growing and changing but at the minute that's not really where I'm at.' And in May 2024, Lilly decided to move to Ireland, as she confessed she is ready to 'quit the UK'. At the time, Kerry revealed in her OK! column that despite feeling emotional over having just one child left in school, she is 'proud' of Lilly because she has been accepted into a drama school. She wrote in OK! Magazine: 'Lilly is looking for a fresh start so has decided she's going to move over to Ireland to live with her grandparents on her dad's side. 'I think it's a good thing because she's 21 so it'll be nice for her to stand on her own two feet, she rules the roost at our house.'
Daily Mail
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Zoe Ball reveals her wild wedding to Fatboy Slim led to a very famous guest breaking his nose
Zoe Ball has revealed that her wild wedding to Fatboy Slim led to a famous guest breaking his nose. The Radio 2 DJ, 54, and the star, also known as Norman Cook split in 2016 after 18 years of marriage but have remained close friends and co-parents to their children Woody, 24, and Nelly, 15. And during their wedding in August 1999, Zoe revealed that actor Steve Coogan broke his nose after a few too many drinks. Speaking on her podcast Dig It, the radio star also confessed that another guest, a radio producer named Will, fell in a river. Her show co-host, Jo Whiley recalled: 'He fell in the stream at our house once when we had a party. Oh no, was it your wedding?' Zoe corrected her: 'No, it was my wedding. It was our wedding.' Jo continued: 'We had to fish him out of the lake.' And recalling another water-based catastrophe from the bash, Zoe said: 'The venue where we got married, there was a swimming pool that Steve Coogan jumped in and broke his nose. 'Never swim when you have been drinking, people. That is the lesson here. 'And then Will somehow had managed to walk into the lake and appeared in the bar, just covered in pond weed.' Zoe has now been sober for the best part of a decade, while Steve, said in 2022 that he had stopped drinking earlier that year. Norman and Zoe's son Woody Cook recently revealed how h is parents have been 'gardening' and 'doing puzzles' and working in a local cafe since Zoe quit her six-figure radio job. Radio presenter Zoe stepped down from her BBC Radio 2 breakfast show in December to 'focus on her family', bidding farewell to her lucrative £950,000 salary. Her departure came after an extended break earlier in the year when her mother Julia died from cancer, and she enjoyed some time off with her family before returning to airwaves in March. Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, her son Woody, 24, gave an insight into how she has been spending her time since quitting her job, focusing on 'gardening' and 'doing puzzles'. He admitted it has been 'funny' watching his 'crazy party' parents Zoe and Norman ditching wild nights out for more calm hobbies. 'In the last five years, it's been funny watching my parents take up gardening both of them,' Woody - who was promoting his Specsavers partnership - shared. 'These crazy party people I grew up with are now gardening, making puzzles and working in the local café. 'It's very funny to see that transitional period, just as I'm kind of leaving the nest and now at the start of something big for me in music.' Fatboy Slim has owned the Big Beach Cafe in Hove, East Sussex since 2013. Zoe and Norman were known for their hard-partying ways back in the 2000s and have both since spoken about their battles with alcohol. They tied the knot in 1999 and welcomed their son Woody and a daughter Nelly, 15, together before they split up in 2016, though they remain very close friends.
