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South Wales Argus
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- South Wales Argus
Monmouthshire's nominees at the Welsh Hospitality Awards
These awards aim to highlight excellence in Wales' vibrant hospitality industry, recognising outstanding businesses and individuals to showcase the very best in hotels, restaurants, bars, spas, and other sectors within the industry. Big Love is the 'UK's friendliest small festival' (Image: Facebook) First up in Monmouthshire's list of nominees Big Love, nominated for Best Local Festival. The four-day independent music and arts festival is held in Usk and has been coined the 'UK's friendliest small festival' – their home is even complete with an iron age fort. This value friendly festival pulls together the perfect lineup every year to keep punters dancing and smiling, all without breaking the bank. Big Love is fiercely independent and entirely self-funded since 2016, hosting a range of talent from the local area and around the world. Their big top tent and outdoor aerial stage host an array of activities and shows for all ages, from yoga and aerial classes to DJ workshops and art sessions. The Clarence Hall can accommodate up to 250 guests (Image: Facebook) For those who prefer a more 'civilised' venue to experience art, The Clarence Hall is nominated for Event Venue of the Year. This iconic landmark is situated in the centre of Crickhowell, sitting on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park. It is the town's largest community event space, with a main hall that can accommodate up to 250 people. The venue features a large stage, balcony, entrance atrium, bar and kitchen for use by customers. The Clarence Hall hosts a number of large community events throughout the year, including seasonal markets and craft fairs, faith group activities, indoor physical activity and dance. They also host some themed events like gardening and arts activities, cinema screenings, exhibitions, book launches, public meetings and cultural celebrations. Cwmdu Campsite is nestled in the heart of the Brecon Beacons (Image: Web) Cwmdu Campsite is nominated for Camping Site of the Year and offers up anything a camper could want for their stay. This Visit Wales 4 Star Campsite has space for tents, campervans, caravans, motorhomes, trailer tents, and roof-top tents, and even hosts Duke of Edinburgh groups. They offer a modern take on camping, with glamping and holiday cottage options available for those who prefer a little more sparkle. The site is entirely dog-friendly, with all the usual amenities along with free Wi-Fi across the site and a mini spa complete with sauna and ice baths for use. The local village of Cwmdu has an excellent pub in The Farmers Arms within walking distance from the campsite for all visitors and campers to enjoy. Delta Hotels offer a range of activities for guests (Image: Web) If camping isn't quite your speed, you may prefer Hotel of the Year nominee Delta Hotels by Marriott St Pierre in Chepstow. This hotel has parts that have stood since the 16th century and has ties to King Henry V and the crown jewels. This former manor house sits in the heart of the Wye Valley and promises a range of activities and experiences for guests. You can sample dishes in the Cast Iron Bar and Grill or take a moment to bask in their renowned spa that offers an extensive range of treatments. Their grounds house one of Wales' most esteemed golf courses, allowing players to take advantage of their creative course design in the picturesque location of the Chepstow countryside. Chepstow Racecourse is nominated for Sports Venue of the Year (Image: Facebook) For lovers of other sports, Chepstow Racecourse is a go to. Nominated for Sports Venue of the Year, it's a staple of life in the town. It's the home of Wales' most 'prestigious' race meeting, the Coral Welsh Grand National, and with 30 meetings of both flat and jump racing this year, there is a fixture to suit any fan of horseracing. Alongside horseracing, the racecourse also holds events that includes a concert series during the summer months. Previous performers include icons like Tom Jones and country-royalty Shania Twain. Their themed race nights, like the upcoming 'Rum and Reggae Caribbean race night' offer up a unique take on the sport, giving those newer to it a reason to go and give it a try. A spokesperson for Chepstow Racecourse said: 'We're delighted to be nominated as Sports Venue of the Year at the Welsh Hospitality awards, it's an honour to be recognised among the best in Welsh sport, and we're incredibly proud of our team and the experience we offer our guests. 'Especially as we look ahead to our first ever Dragonbet Welsh Racing Festival in October, and the Coral Welsh Grand National in December. Along with our centenary year in 2026!" The Savoy Theatre is housed in a Grade II listed building (Image: David Broadbent) Last on the list of nominees for Monmouthshire is The Savoy Theatre in Monmouth, nominated for Best Theatre Wales. This incredible Grade II listed building offers up sensation 5-star entertainment year-round. The Savoy stands on the oldest knows theatre site in Wales and is one of the oldest operational theatres in the country. The theatre is managed and maintained by The Monmouth Savoy Trust, who aim to keep the venue as the premiere entertainment venue for Monmouth and the surrounding areas. The venue hosts everything from live music and festivals to stage shows and book talks with TV personalities, so there is something on their listings for any age group. The winners for the Welsh Hospitality Awards will be announced at an elegant ceremony set to take place on the 10th of September.
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Katherine LaNasa was always cast in 'sexual' roles. She's happy to ditch makeup on 'The Pitt.'
As a teen ballet dancer turned actress with a list of credits (including Two and a Half Men and Big Love) as long as her arm, Katherine LaNasa has spent most of her life in the spotlight. But starring as emergency-room nurse Dana on the hit HBO Max medical drama The Pitt has launched the 58-year-old into a new level of fame. It's coming just at the right time, she says. 'I saw an [article] yesterday on GQ about these men that are finding success in their 50s — like Pedro Pascal, Colman Domingo and Walt Goggins — and how they already have a well-established self-identity,' LaNasa tells me during our conversation for Yahoo Life's Unapologetically series. 'It's really nice to feel really settled in myself and to have done what I do with very relatively little praise. So getting praise now, it's a nice ride. You see kids get that, and they start thinking they need to adopt some other jaded or cool persona. I already am my grown-up cool/uncool self. This is just career stability and nicer accommodations and clothing.' LaNasa has a lot of self-acceptance when it comes to the subject of aging, and her confidence is infectious. 'I was walking on the street in Atlanta, and [this guy said], 'Your dog almost walked into my dog,'' she recalls. 'I was like, 'Were you inconvenienced?' And he goes, 'You look old.' I said, 'I am old!' [But] I feel like I'm in really good shape; I feel really strong.' Having an 11-year-old daughter, with her husband, '90s heartthrob Grant Show of Melrose Place fame, also keeps her young. But motherhood is hardly a new experience; LaNasa was in her early 20s when she and then-husband Dennis Hopper (30 years her senior) welcomed their son Henry, who is now in his 30s. What has LaNasa learned from her relationships, and why is she happy to let go of playing sexual characters? Here's what she told me during our candid conversation on aging, catcalling and not wearing makeup on TV. I'd always wanted to work for [The Pitt executive producer] John Wells, and I thought, If I could get in front of [casting], if they ever see my tape, I have a feeling I know what they want. And it just worked out. [As for] the success — it's kind of like if you loved making coffee, and you made coffee for someone every day, and you put a beautiful heart on it or different designs every day, and you did that for 30 years or so, and that was your job, and you got paid well, and you liked [it], and then, one day someone looked at you and said, "This is such great coffee. I really love your coffee." That's kind of what it feels like. Getting approval and praise I didn't think was ever coming my way — that I wasn't looking for and I didn't really need — is all just a bonus, and it feels like a nice warm bath. It's very enjoyable. I always played such sexual characters, and I think I always identified myself so much with my sexuality. I thought that if I became less sexually desirable as I got older or if I felt less interested in sex, I would lose a big part of my identity, and it would be terrible. And I find that I just really don't care. You know, this thing about older women being invisible? I'll take a step back. I used to get catcalled all the time, and it's a relief, and it's nice [to not have to deal with that anymore]. I also think [now is] a time in life — if you can let go of this feminine ideal of our physical beauty — it's really a time in life for deeper things, to think about the meaning of your life, to think about your own mortality, to think about what kind of legacy you want to leave and who you are. I really appreciate this season of life. I also appreciate feeling really seasoned in my craft. So often that's the thing I like the most about a day. It's like, 'I really knew how to make that scene work. I knew how to get the guest star to speed up with me. And then I stopped for the camera just so, and I can handle a lot of camera moves, choreography, notes at once, and it feels really easy.' There's a lot of technical aspects about acting that people don't think about, and it's nice to feel at a certain point that you have some mastery over them. I think we are flipping the script on that. I have to say, I think there've been some really incredible, brave women out there that have always portrayed real women — you know, the Allison Janneys and the Patricia Arquettes. And then you get these sex symbols like Pamela Anderson going [on the red carpet] with like almost no makeup. John Wells is a maverick at putting real, complex, imperfect-looking women on television and celebrating them, way before it was cool. So to work for him, it just really feels like I'm getting to step into that. I have to tell you: To play a part like Dana and to wear no makeup, it was really very freeing. It's also really freeing working for a mostly female writing crew. Feeling like I don't have to live up to that ridiculous, feminine, sexual ideal has freed up my acting. And I think it's why the acting's good on the show. Women can feel like they can just relax into being themselves. Yeah, I love clothes and style in general. I used to have an interior design business, and I'm sort of an amateur interior designer now. I'm very visual. I also love ceramics. I feel like I'm in really good shape. Like, I feel really strong. I do yoga every day. I like mixing the hot yoga with the regular yoga. I play a little tiny bit of pickleball. I hike. I really appreciate that my body is still really strong — [something] you take for granted when you're young. I'm glad I can still do all this. The one thing that was really hard was [the doctors] wanting to give me a C-section right away. They wanted to plan a C-section. Because of my age, they were worried. I grew up in a family of doctors, so I'm used to just listening to the doctor. But I wanted to push back a lot. I didn't want to incise my body if I didn't have to. If I had needed one, I definitely would have, but I didn't want to plan for it months early just because I was 47. I had some kind of pre-preeclampsia signs. I went in for some testing, and they kept me in the hospital, and they induced labor with Pitocin. But then I didn't want to have an epidural, because I didn't want to slow [labor] down. I was worried about too many drugs. So I had a natural childbirth on Pitocin, and I don't recommend it. It was super hard. I feel really powerful because I got through that, but it was really, really intense. [And] I fortunately got a doctor who helped me advocate for what I wanted. Don't get married at 22! I think if you marry someone that is so far apart in age, at least for me, there wasn't a lot of intimacy in that. It's nice to have someone that you can grow with — more of a friend as opposed to them being the successful teacher one, and you being the student, less successful, more dependent one. I would opt now for a relationship with more equality. The thing we have between us really is our craft. He wants to audition for a musical, so I'm gonna help him with the choreography. I've helped him with the choreography before when he had to dance on Dynasty. He helps me with all my self-tapes. We have a very artistic home. We're always singing, or he plays the piano, and it's a very creative space. That's the thing I like most. We have the same aesthetic; we like the same things. We move a lot, and he really trusts how I'm going to put together a home. [Despite] my longevity in the business and what I've done and the people that I've worked with already, like Billy Bob Thornton and Will Ferrell and Jay Roach, I never really got that kind of name recognition. I'm hoping that The Pitt will sort of catapult me into getting to work with some more artists that I really want to work with. Slow down, trust your instincts, and say what you mean — [but] don't say it mean. I [also] wish I appreciated that my skin wasn't wrinkly. To all the 30-year-olds out there, wear all the crop tops, wear all the short shorts. Love yourself. Love your body. Enjoy your body. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Chloë Sevigny Joins Jennifer Garner, Regina Hall in ‘Five-Star Weekend' Peacock Series
Chloë Sevigny is the latest addition to Peacock's upcoming series adaptation of the Elin Hilderbrand novel 'The Five-Star Weekend.' The series was originally announced in January with Garner in the lead role, while Hall's casting was announced last week. The official description for the series states: More from Variety WWE Money In The Bank 2025 Livestream: Here's How to Watch the Event Online Regina Hall Joins Jennifer Garner in 'Five-Star Weekend' Series at Peacock 'Love Island USA' Contestant Yulissa Escobar Dismissed After Racist Posts Surface 'Hollis Shaw (Garner), a famed food influencer known for her delicious recipes, impeccable taste, and warm demeanor suffers a devastating loss. Unable to move forward, the death starts to expose the cracks in Hollis's picture-perfect life—her strained marriage, her complicated relationship with her daughter, and her growing pursuit of validation from her followers. In an effort to overcome grief and find herself again, Hollis gets the idea to host a weekend away at her house on Nantucket with three friends from different stages in her life: her childhood, her twenties, thirties, and one surprise fifth star. Set against a luxurious and coastal backdrop, they will mature in ways they could never imagine as boundaries are pushed and secrets are exposed.' Sevigny will appear in the series regular role of Tatum McKenzie. In television, Sevigny is known for her many collaborations with Ryan Murphy. She appeared in multiple seasons of 'American Horror Story' as well as the second season of 'Feud' at FX. She most recently worked with Murphy on the second season of 'Monster' at Netflix, playing Kitty Menendez. Her other notable roles include starring in the film 'Boys Don't Cry' and the HBO series 'Big Love.' She earned an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination for her work in 'Boys Don't Cry' and a Golden Globe win for 'Big Love.' She has also starred in TV shows like 'Bloodline,' 'The Girl From Plainville,' and 'Russian Doll.' Sevigny is repped by WME, Circle of Confusion and Narrative. Bekah Brunstetter serves as creator, writer, and executive producer on 'The Five-Star Weekend,' with Beth Schacter also writing and executive producing. Garner will executive produce in addition to starring. Sue Naegle and Ali Krug executive produce via Dinner Party Productions, with Hilderbrand also executive producing. UCP is the studio. Dinner Party is currently under an overall deal with UCP. Best of Variety 25 Hollywood Legends Who Deserve an Honorary Oscar New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Animated Program — Can Netflix Score Big With 'Arcane,' 'Devil May Cry' and the Final Season of 'Big Mouth?'
Washington Post
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
The most quintessential American TV show is ‘Sister Wives'
One benefit of being a columnist is that every couple of years I get to subject all of you to a close analysis of the reality show 'Sister Wives,' and it turns out today is that day. What is 'Sister Wives?' It is a long-running TLC series about a family of fundamentalist Mormon polygamists who live in Utah, then Nevada, then Arizona and then eventually scatter as the clan breaks up. It's never-ending and dramatic and boring, and the faithful among us now just want to know whether erstwhile second wife Janelle, who moved to North Carolina, will ever open her unpronounceable flower farm (TAY-da? TIE-da? Tie-AY-da? Get it together, guys). Those of you have never seen the show: We know, you wouldn't be caught dead tuning in to this dumpster fire, you have better things to do, etc. etc. Congratulations on your brain cells. Now please leave us in peace to discuss a show, which wraps up its 19th season on Sunday, that has over the years become one of my lodestars for interpreting relationships and America. As a quick refresher: This show first aired in 2010, piggybacking off the popularity of 'Big Love,' an HBO drama about a fictional modern polygamous family, which starred Bill Paxton and which explored what it looked like to live a 19th century religion in a 21st century reality. 'Sister Wives' was that but less premium-cable. It introduced the country to Joseph Smith birthday celebrations, bulk meal prep (18 children!!) and the Utah accent, which pronounces 'real' and 'deal' as 'rill' and 'dill.' As a quicker refresher: The Brown family now hates each other. Kody Brown started off with four wives but now has just one as Christine, Janelle and Meri all spent the previous three seasons lining up to divorce him. The sad patriarch lives in Flagstaff with his single remaining spouse, Robyn, who began the series run as the hot new girlfriend but who now looks so perpetually low-energy that one podcaster I follow speculates that the couple's favorite spicy role-playing game involves pretending to be in hospice. The bulk of this most recent season was spent figuring out what to do about Coyote Pass, the overpriced land on which the family once intended to build a compound before everything went to hell. So now Christine has remarried, Meri is running a B&B back in Utah, Janelle has moved eastward with her grandbabies and her farm dreams, but all of them keep having to trudge back to Flagstaff to bicker with one another about who owes what to whom. As you might imagine, these are not really conversations about money. Why couldn't Kody just admit that he once he met Robyn, he started ignoring his other wives? Why couldn't Meri admit that her mid-series catfishing incident was an emotional affair? Did the family ever really function or was it just held together by a sticky paste of tuna casseroles and scripture? Here is Kody, once an earnest and good-natured lunkhead, gradually getting redpilled by the manosphere. And here is Meri, whose self-improvement journey dumped her at the alter of Brené Brown and Mel Robbins (this woman is always doing the work). And here is Christine, an irritating Disney Adult cheerfully rolling with her gay daughter's wedding, and here is Janelle, donating to the presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. At one point all the wives are involved in multilevel marketing schemes; at one point everyone's trying therapy. I'm telling you, the answer to every political pollster's question of the Trump era — how will the residents of flyover states deal with covid, with vaccines, with transgender issues, with health insurance, with poor retirement savings — is explored in one 'Sister Wives' episode or another. It's got every possible archetype. It's the most American show. There are podcasters who make their entire livings analyzing 'Sister Wives.' There is an honest-to-God communications professor who uses 'Sister Wives' as a weekly opportunity to teach his listeners about communication theory. Tourists travel to Flagstaff and take pictures of themselves at Salsa Brava or Fat Olives, restaurants that appear on the show, and, to be clear, all of these people are much crazier than I am. The biggest question of all at this point is: Why are any of us still here? 'Sister Wives' was marketed as an exploration of how one man could manage four wives, and the ultimate answer is, he couldn't. The original premise no longer exists. We're at the 'Tell All' point of the season now, a multi-part saga in which cast members sit down and dissect whatever we all saw on camera this season. The host, Sukanya Krishnan, does her best, but Robyn compares the experience to a root canal. Reading between the lines, the only reason any of them are here is because the show is now their main source of income. Kody and Robyn are constantly adding to their collection of horse-themed jewelry and art, and to earn their paychecks, the job description is self-reflection. And through that reflection, viewers get a master class on the mechanics of reality television. These five adults managed to put on a happy facade for a really long time. But since the cameras kept rolling, eventually the facade melted. Turns out they spent a lot of the early seasons lying to us and to themselves. Meri and Janelle didn't just have a complicated relationship, they could barely stand to be in the same room as one another. Christine wasn't just going through a rough patch with Kody, she was actively fantasizing about leaving for years. Midway through the season, a tragedy struck, which is so unspeakable that I worry how to even bring it up in this snarky column: One of Kody and Janelle's sons dies by suicide. Garrison had struggled with alcohol for a long time, we are told — something else we didn't see on screen — which had been brought on by the isolation of covid. And viewers, who are human, couldn't help but wonder about the other contributing factors. Was his fractured family to blame? Were we, the audience members who kept tuning in to watch the injuries? I couldn't imagine the show would continue after that event, and yet, there we were the next Sunday, watching grief-stricken parents trying to make sense of the most horrible event that could ever befall a parent and doing it while wearing microphones. We were told that Garrison loved cats. That a good way to honor his memory would be a donation to the Humane Society. I made a donation and wondered if it was time to permanently say goodbye to the Brown family. As for why I, and so many others, hung in for so long — my personal answer is that I wanted to see if they could put it all back together. I'm not asking whether they can all get married again, because they won't. Rather, I'm wondering what it looks like when everything has burned to the ground, but the cameras keep showing up, so you do too, trying to figure out this mess of your life and how it got this way. In the most recent episode, Krishnan kept prodding Janelle on whether she could be friends with Kody and Robyn again. After politely demurring several times, Janelle finally came out with it. 'I just don't like them,' she said. It was weird, frankly, for Krishnan to press the issue. Janelle left Kody, so why should she be expected to pal around with him and his remaining wife? But I got why Krishnan wouldn't let it go. Because this is the most American show on television. Because we all have to understand our past before we map the future. Because these are people who once vowed to spend their whole lives in a united state, and even if they sell Coyote Pass, they're still going to be bound by joy, grief, struggle, memories. Because every one of us living out this broken current reality of America is also trying to figure out whether an RFK Jr. supporter can sit down with a manosphere resident and a chipper Disney princess and an MLM high-seller and try to remember what we have in common. Try to envision what it could look like if we could ever put it back together. Try to remember that a family is still a family and a country is still a country no matter how much you hate each other, so you just have to grit your teeth and try again next season.
Scottish Sun
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Who is Tom Daley's husband Dustin Lance Black?
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) DUSTIN Lance Black is an American director and the husband of Olympic gold medalist Tom Daley. Tom is the focus of a new documentary landing on Discovery+, which will explore the diver's career and his battle with an eating disorder. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 4 Dustin Lance Black and Tom Daley share two children 4 Tom has launched a brand new documentary about his life A star director Dustin was born on June 10, 1974, in California and grew up in a Mormon household. When his mother remarried, the family moved to Texas. At the age of seven, Dustin realised that he was gay but worried about whether this would be accepted by his religious family. According to Dustin, he thought: "I'm going to hell. And if I ever admit it, I'll be hurt, and I'll be brought down." Eventually, he came out during his senior year at the UCLA School of Theatre. He is now an LGBT activist and a member of the American Foundation for Equal Rights. The star has worked on award-winning films and TV shows including the HBO classic Big Love and the hit movie Milk. Meeting his husband Tom and Dustin first met at a dinner party in 2013, with Tom only coming out as gay at the end of the year. The diver opened up about his sexuality in a YouTube video, but didn't say Dustin's name. The pair first appeared publicly in May 2014, with Tom revealing that he was 'overwhelmed' by how he felt about Dustin. Celeb Traitors star Tom Daly reveals surprising amount he earned as a professional team GB diver - despite Olympic wins He said: "I'd never felt the feeling of love, it happened so quickly, I was completely overwhelmed by it to the point I can't get him out of my head all the time." The pair married in May 2017 with Tom singing 'Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art though, Romeo?' to Dustin, before the ceremony took place. Tom and Dustin decided to keep the ceremony small, inviting only 50 guests to the wedding which was held just 30 miles from Tom's hometown of Plymouth. Becoming a dad On Valentine's Day 2018, the couple announced on Instagram that they were expecting their first child. They were pictured holding the baby scan out to the camera as they hugged each other. A month later, Tom confirmed that they were expecting a baby boy via surrogacy. Named Robert Ray, after Tom's late father, their baby was born in June 2018. Five years later, the couple welcomed a second child named Phoenix Rose. 4 Tom revealed that he had battled with his body image throughout his career 4 Tom and Dustin tied the knot in 2017 Tom's groundbreaking documentary Tom has opened up about his battle with an eating disorder in an upcoming documentary. The show is entitled 1.6 Seconds, which is the amount of time that a diver is airborne when competing. Ahead of the show, Tom told The Times: 'I had moments of real struggle. 'In 2011, my performance director told me that I was overweight and that I needed to look like I did when I was 14 - I was nearly 18 at the time. 'That was the first time I felt like somebody was looking at my body - not from a performance point of view but by what it looked like.' 'I struggled with all kinds of different issues around body dysmorphia and bulimia.'' 1.6 Seconds will be available to stream on Discovery + on June 1.
