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Scottish Sun
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
US contestant wins Scotland's Home of the Year contest.
'After watching the shows and getting to see our competition in detail, it really must have been a hard decision to make MAJOR WINNER US contestant wins Scotland's Home of the Year contest. Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) AN American who brought 'Californian cool' to the wilds of Scotland has won a prestigious BBC TV property award. US-born Jessica Zanoni and her artist hubby Chris Labrooy have scooped this year's Scotland's Home of the Year title. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 5 essica Zanoni and her artist hubby Chris Labrooy are this year's winners. 5 Style like this saw them pip their rivals to the title. 5 TV judges Banjo Beale, Anna Campbell-Jones and Danny Campbell hand over the award to the happy couple. 5 The couple's luxury bath helped them win the top accolade. The couple, who live with their son Chase, 18 and dogs Enzo and Dino came out on top after building contemporary Hilltop House near Pitmedden, Aberdeenshire, beating five other finalists to the gong. Jessica, 39, said: 'It has been such a lovely experience all around, and to win it has been fantastic. 'After watching the shows and getting to see our competition in detail, it really must have been a hard decision to make.' Chris, 45 adds: 'It's great to win. The house is a reflection of our tastes and personalities and we are proud of what we have created.' The couple, who run their own art business, built their property on the footprint of the surrounding farm steading, filling it with colourful statement pieces from bright yellow sofas to a pastel pink bathroom. And their efforts paid off as it left the show's trio of judges impressed by their 'charismatic' choices. Interior designer, Anna Campbell said: 'This home managed to feel perfect in every way whilst still feeling like a place where real people live. 'I particularly loved the way their art was reflected in their choices of colour and furniture managing to create the perfect balance between playfulness and sophistication.' Fellow designer Banjo Beale added: 'It's an artful sanctuary - every corner tells a story, and it's quiet and charismatic all at once.' While architect Danny Campbell stated: 'This was a home that manages to be both deeply personal and architecturally ambitious. 'There's a clarity of vision that's rare - every corner feels considered, every material honest, every space deliberate and thought through. 'It felt like the building was completely in tune with the people who lived there, which is especially impressive for a conversion.' The eighth series of Scotland's Home of the Year will begin filming from June. For more information on how to enter, please head to for full terms and conditions.
Scotsman
5 days ago
- General
- Scotsman
Readers' letters: Protect our farmers from sea eagles slaughtering lambs
The Scottish Government is paying out £970,000 to farmers this year under the Sea Eagle Management Scheme (Picture:) A reader says action must be taken to stop sea eagles killing livestock with impunity Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... It is the time of year, with the lambing season, when ghastly photos are appearing in the media of defenceless, bloodied lambs being flown to their doom by an eagle. It is a wake-up call to so many of we urban dwellers, unaware of this daily slaughter, going on, under the radar, in our name. Some farmers and crofters in Inverness-shire confirm they lose an average two lambs a other predator causes losses on this scale. The Scottish Government is paying out £970,000 to farmers this year under the Sea Eagle Management Scheme, but that does not mitigate the barbarity of the white-tailed sea eagles. Farmers are being put out of business. Many talk of the devastating impact on their mental heath. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The eagles have a wing span of 2.5 metres and were introduced to Scotland from Norway in can be fined £40,000 if your dog kills livestock but the ghastly sea eagles, which also kill puffins and other small birds, kill with impunity and are protected. It will be of no surprise to anyone the Scottish Greens regard this slaughter as a big conservation success story. Both BBC TV and Radio Scotland this week, inexplicably, adopted this slant, proudly proclaiming that there are, perhaps, 220 breeding pairs in Scotland. Indeed, how commendable it is these predators are moving into north England, a conservationist argued. I don't think the Scottish public were ever consulted on this chilling barbarity nor did we MSPs must be told, in no uncertain terms, this abhorrent slaughter must stop. John V Lloyd, Inverkeithing, Fife Ban shooting More than 40 million pheasants and partridges, many of them factory farmed, are released each year in the UK, to be shot out of the sky for fun – most of the birds do not end up being eaten. Of course this is cruel to the birds, but it also damages the environment. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The scale of the problem is enormous: in fact, in late summer, the weight of all the birds released is greater than that of all the wild birds in Britain. The mass release therefore has a devastating impact upon wildlife and ecosystems. In addition, wildlife is poisoned by the more than 7,000 tonnes of lead ammunition that is discharged into the UK countryside by shooters each year. There is also the danger of bird flu spreading from game farms to wild birds once the farmed birds are released. And finally, there is the issue of gamekeepers illegally killing protected birds of prey. For the sake of our environment – and for the birds themselves – surely it is now time to ban shooting. Fiona Pereira, Campaigns Manager, Animal Aid Numbers game Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon states that 54 per cent of respondents were against the setting up of a national park in Dumfries and Galloway and Ayrshire (your report, 30 May). So this 54 per cent are to be respected – but not the 55 per cent that rejected the pie-in-the-sky independence referendum? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad I would dearly love to be able to cherry pick my choices on a whim. However, life being difficult as it is, this would lead to absolute carnage – in exactly the same fashion as we are governed in Scotland. This really sums up the hypocrisy of the SNP. The truth of the matter is they couldn't have put it into practice – like all the other policies they spout and never see through. David Millar, Lauder, Scottish Borders Wasted money In 2015, Derek Mackay, Transport Minister and John Swinney, Deputy First Minister, signed a fixed-price contract for two ferries at a cost of £97 million, it has now been reported that the total outlay to the shipyard is now just under £1 billion. Mackay is long gone but Swinney is still hanging around, seemingly totally unconcerned about this national scandal. What have the taxpayers got for this outlay? One ferry with much reduced capacity and another which may or may not enter service. Imagine, for a moment, if the SNP had stuck to the original fixed price. Imagine if the SNP had used the difference between that price and the latest, (but not final) price. Imagine how much state-of-the-art equipment could have been purchased for our hospitals, thereby saving lives and cutting waiting times. Think how many people could be back at work instead of waiting for an NHS Scotland appointment. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Or maybe, it could have been used to build a super highway (let's call it the A9), all the way from Perth to John o' Groats, thereby opening up half the land mass of Scotland to much needed inward investment and perhaps allow the sick and elderly in half of Scotland easy access to hospitals. Ever since Nicola Sturgeon launched the Glen Sannox, for political gain, with painted-on windows and cardboard funnels, this has been nothing short of a vanity project for a party which has long since lost touch with the people who voted them in and demonstrates a complete lack of financial responsibility on the part of the SNP. Bruce Proctor. Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire Markets in charge 'TACO' ('Trump Always Chickens Out') has become the policymakers' acronym of choice for the disruptive on-off policies that are coming to define President Trump's second term. Furthermore, imposition of blanket reciprocal tariffs by the White House has now been deemed unconstitutional by a US federal court. This ruling faces immediate challenge in the US Supreme Court. The balance of expectation, however, is that the Court's decision will be upheld. Consequently, 'tariff' may be losing its lustre as 'the most beautiful word in the dictionary' for the Donald. This looks like good news, especially for trade negotiators. But every silver lining has its own cloud: selective high tariffs on steel, aluminium, cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals etc can/will still be legally imposed by Presidential executive order under the US Constitution; and the main overriding concern remains the heightened uncertainty, instability and risk for international businesses and government policymakers engendered by Trumpenomics. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Stock exchange reaction to current developments has been relatively sanguine. The reaction of bond markets is more concerning with yields staying high on long-term government bonds (both US Treasuries and UK Gilts). As a result, the cost of government borrowing remains worryingly high. If future tax hikes prove politically too damaging, more swingeing cuts will be forced on Rachel Reeves. The bond markets, it seems, hold the ultimate trump card! Ewen Peters, Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire Big bills Can somebody please explain how the NHS arrives at the costings of their procedures, as quoted by Alan Hinnrichs (Letters, 30 May)? To the uninitiated some of the figures seem simply incredible! Chris Forrest, Polmont, Falkirk Remember seamen It is of enormous credit to the Norwegian people that the D/S Hestmanden has been preserved and maintained as a museum and tribute to the 30,000 Norwegian war sailors who served with the Allies during World War Two (your report, 28 May). The large Norwegian fleet and, in particular, their fast modern tankers proved to be invaluable in the transport of oil and oil products to every theatre of the war. Following on so closely behind the commemoration of VE Day it is of importance to note that, in the last attack carried out by a U-boat in World War Two, the Norwegian ship Sneland 1 was torpedoed near the May Island, with the loss seven lives. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad How tragic it is that these Norwegian sailors, who must have known that the war in Europe was almost over and they would soon be able to return to their beloved country after five long years, had their lives and futures snatched away. Amongst those lost was the ship's master Johannes Bernhart Laegland, aged 46. Also lost was a 17-year-old British Mess Room Boy, William Ellis from Hull. Young William and two members of the crew of the Avondale Park, which was torpedoed in the same attack, added to the huge number of almost 32,000 casualties suffered by the British Merchant Navy in the Second World War. I found it somewhat strange that in the various commemorations for VE Day I did not hear one mention of the Merchant Navy or see a 'veteran" from the Merchant Service being interviewed. Perhaps we, like our seafaring cousins the Norwegians, should pay more attention to the enormous sacrifice made by our merchant seamen. I wish Captan Klungtveit and the D/S Hestmanden a pleasant return voyage to Norway. James Simpson, Lower Largo, Fife Scots words The translator of Danish books into English, Barbara J Haveland, confessed in an article that she likes to 'sneak' Scots words into her translations. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad As examples she offered 'outwith', 'swither' and 'forenoon'. My dictionary acknowledges the Scottish origins of the former two. However, there is no such comment about 'forenoon'. This word is designated as a 'modifier' with the example offered 'a forenoon meeting'. Totally unrelated is the recollection that the word 'outwith' always reminds me how, from childhood, I used to sing 'There is a green hill far away, without a city wall' and I actually pitied this poor hill that lacked a boundary wall. The third edition of the Church of Scotland hymnary clarifies the situation and reads 'outside a city wall'. We live and learn. Bill Greenock, Netherlee, East Renfrewshire Write to The Scotsman
Daily Record
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
BBC Peaky Blinders new series will feature major difference from previous seasons
The show's creator Steven Knight has confirmed that plans are underway for the new series which will be shot in Birmingham. Peaky Blinders is to return for yet another series and this time it will be set in the 1950s. The show's creator, Steven Knight, has confirmed that plans are underway for the new series which will be shot in Birmingham. The long-running BBC TV drama, which wrapped in 2022, will follow the Peaky Blinders movie spin-off called The Immortal Man and Cillian Murphy is likely to return as Tommy Shelby alongside a wider cast of characters. Knight has now officially confirmed that the series is happening, and will remain in the central location of Birmingham. 'There is a new series and what's really great for Birmingham is that, like the film, it will be shot here,' he said. 'Birmingham is the home of the Peaky Blinders – so it's only right that the next chapter of their story is filmed here in the city where it all began,' added West Midlands mayor Richard Parker. 'I've been working closely with Steven Knight to help make that happen and I'm delighted we're on track to bring this iconic production back to Brum.' As previously reported, Cillian Murphy could return as Tommy Shelby, and the series will focus on a new generation of peaky blinders. Knight previously teased the future show, having suggested it would 'focus on the new generation in a series that will take place after the Second World War'. It comes after the upcoming Peaky Blinders film, which will see Murphy return as Shelby with Knight writing and Tom Harper directing. Teasing the film earlier this year, Knight told BBC Breakfast: 'I would say this wouldn't I, but it's fantastic. I think we've got the best British actors all in one place. The stuff that I'm watching, the rushes, the assemblies, no one will be disappointed. 'It's a quite incredible thing. It's a very fitting way to end this part of the story.' The Immortal Man will be set around World War II, and is also due to feature returning stars Sophie Rundle, Ned Dennehy, Ian Peck and Stephen Graham as well as new cast additions such as Rebecca Ferguson, Barry Keoghan and Tim Roth. However, troubled star Paul Anderson, who played Arthur Shelby has cast doubt on whether he will have much of a role to play in the film or in the upcoming series. His role is in doubt due to him having been addicted to crack cocaine. He claims he is prohibited to speak about the film after signing an NDA.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Who are the new Match of the Day hosts?
Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan will host Match of the Day from the start of the 2025-26 season. It is the first time the role will be shared between three people, and they will split presenting duties for Match of the Day 2 on Sundays and MOTD: Champions League on Wednesdays, as well as Saturday's flagship show. Kelly Cates has had a a 27-year career in football with stints on all major broadcasters, including the BBC on Radio 5 Live. She previously hosted 606 with Ian Wright on Sundays. Cates - whose dad is former Liverpool and Scotland legend Sir Kenny Dalglish - has been presenting Premier League football for Sky since 2017. She will also continue to work for Sky Sports. Mark Chapman, known as 'Chappers', has been hosting MOTD2 since 2013. He also presents a range of sports programming on BBC Radio 5 Live including the Monday Night Club and 606. He's hosted various sporting events for both BBC TV and radio. Chapman also presented Sky Sports' coverage of the Carabao Cup. Gabby Logan first joined the BBC in 2007 and has presented many sporting events, including men's and women's World Cups and European Championships, the Six Nations and Olympics. Since 2013, Logan has co-hosted BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Her father is former Wales and Leeds midfielder Terry Yorath. Match of the Day, which is the longest-running football show in the world having launched on 22 August 1964, has had five previous long-term hosts: Gary Lineker (1999-2025) Des Lynam (1988-1999) Jimmy Hill (1973-1988) David Coleman (1967-1973) Kenneth Wolstenholme (1964-1967) Alan Shearer, Micah Richards, Alex Scott, Jason Mohammad, Kelly Somers, John Murray and Steve Crossman will continue their roles on MOTD. "It's really great to share it because we bring different experiences and different interests within the game," said Logan. "We bring different ways of broadcasting and that will mean our pundits are kept on their toes and share different kinds of analysis." Chapman said: "People might find this hard to believe but there's absolutely no competition between the three of us. We'll do a mix of everything that works for us all as individuals, and all of us are really keen that it's fair. "Not only is it a great role just on its own but I'm sharing it with two people I really admire, respect and genuinely like. It's a great set-up," said Cates. This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team. Ask Me Anything is a service dedicated to answering your questions. We want to reward your time by telling you things you do not know and reminding you of things you do. The team will find out everything you need to know and be able to call upon a network of contacts including our experts and pundits. We will be answering your questions from the heart of the BBC Sport newsroom, and going behind the scenes at some of the world's biggest sporting events. Our coverage will span the BBC Sport website, app, social media and YouTube accounts, plus BBC TV and radio. Match of the Day - your questions answered Why is the FA Cup final before the end of the Premier League season? Is a guard of honour mandatory in football?
Telegraph
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
BBC took cowardly approach to snooker's Chinese betting scandal
They could barely stop talking about Ronnie O'Sullivan changing his tip, but when it came to tips of a different nature they were strangely subdued. Or then, perhaps not. In opting for the more muted version of the Zhao Xintong betting ban, the BBC's television crew simply remained loyal to its age-old safety game. Ban? What ban? What elephant stomping around the Crucible? Of course nobody expected the controversy to lead the Beeb's output on Sunday and it would plainly have been insensitive if Rob Walker had referenced Zhao's recent past when announcing the protagonists into the arena. And what an introduction it was from the increasingly excitable compere, who no doubt punches the air whenever his eggs are done properly. However, to all but ignore the issue and sweep it under the table where the rests, extensions, covers and the other dusty skeletons reside? Shameless. And cowardly. Granted, there is the bigger picture of what a Zhao victory would mean for snooker, with an estimated 150 million Chinese tuning in. If darts has Luke Littler, snooker has no country larger. Yet in terms of his personal story, Zhao's enforced 20-month absence from the sport is surely central and, no, it does not have to be reflected purely through a negative prism. There will be those who believe he has served his time and feel inspired that he has launched such a rousing comeback since being accepted back onto the baize only in September. And there will be others who will think he should have received more severe sanctions and wonder how he can be competing on the world stage at a time when he is still not in good standing in his own country. No matter, which side you are on. These are resonant talking points and should be confronted. Whether it was a command from up high or not, BBC TV essentially took the yellow-spined route. There were brief mentions before the last day. Alas, no segments. Credit to Rishi Persad, the BBC's ever-professional interviewer, who quizzed Barry Hearn, the majority shareholder of World Snooker Ltd, about what he called the Zhao's 'transgressions'. Hearn mumbled something about the 28-year-old making 'a genuine mistake' and the 'slate now being clean'. And that was that. Onwards. Except it should not have been, certainly not for the BBC. What made the corporation's apparent television policy all the more baffling, if not infuriating, was that on its website it posted an article that did not shy away from the scandal. Anything but. It even quoted a journalist claiming that a Zhao win on Bank Holiday Monday would be bad for the game. 'I've found the flowery language since his return somewhat befuddling given the circumstances,' Nick Metcalfe said. 'It honestly feels at times like praise has taken the place of scrutiny. Coming so soon after the ban, some of the headlines [concerning a Zhao win] might well be the last thing the sport needs.' Disagree? Fine. But it cannot be denied this was ballsy stuff for the host channel to publish and we should pray that this apparent editorial disconnect between TV and the internet is broached in the BBC Sport overhaul currently taking place in the background. This is reality. This is not The Lego Movie ('Everything is awesome when you are part of a team'). And there is absolutely no need for the BBC to sugar-coat anything, regardless of any paranoia about ongoing contracts. It has the biggest platform of all and with such instances is doing its viewers and its own reputation a disservice. Not to say that other broadcasters are not similarly weak. A memory persists of a Sky presenter conducting an interview with Rory McIlroy, during which he kept the inquisition to birdies and bogeys. At its conclusion, and with the microphone turned off, he said to McIlroy: 'Thanks, I'll now pass you over to these guys who want to ask about your private life.' This was the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in 2014. Earlier that week it had been revealed that McIlroy had called off marrying tennis ace Caroline Wozniacki – after the invitations had been sent out. He was plainly emotional yet somehow put aside this mental anguish to prevail that Sunday on the West Course. It was a remarkable achievement and the split was obviously key in the narrative as was the acknowledgement of the inner turmoil he had to conquer. And we were supposed to shut our eyes and block our ears? The point is that in their desperation not to offend the talent, TV luvvies forget that these are people, not machines. They are humans with fallibilities and it really is OK to reference these in the context of competition. In fact, that is the job. Instead, we were forced to listen to a BBC veteran telling us that Zhao's feat was notable due to his 'time away from the game'. We are not children whose father has just been sent down and our mother is informing us he's gone off to spend a few years on the oil rigs. We are grown-ups who deserve to be informed. Because information is good, especially in such a complex case as that of Zhao. I am in the camp which believes his 'crimes' were relatively minor – he never fixed matches and was only party to frames and games being thrown – and admire the manner in which has restarted his career. Say it loud and say it proud. Redemption can be the most irresistible storyline. And transparency is paramount.
