Latest news with #Marius
The Irish Sun
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Inside Kara Tointon's very different new life overseas after quitting the UK and double mastectomy
KARA Tointon has a wonderful life with her two kids in Norway after quitting the UK. The former EastEnders actress 6 Former EastEnders' star Kara Tointon has revealed that she underwent a double mastectomy Credit: Instagram 6 The actress now lives in Norway Credit: Instagram 6 She is mum to two young kids and loves 'the Scandinavian life' Credit: Instagram 6 Kara decided to have the mastectomy after losing her mum to cancer Credit: Instagram That gene raises the risk of breast cancer and Kara told fans how she made the decision to have the operation after her mum died of ovarian cancer in 2018. Kara posted an emotional video to Instagram where she described how she had both her breasts and her Fallopian tubes removed to lower her chances of getting breast cancer. The mother-of-two, said her family was at the forefront of her mind when making the decision. "I wasn't an easy decision, but one I am very glad that I made," she said. eastenders Kara added later in the video: "I wanted to talk about it because hearing other people's experience, helped so much and knowledge is power, communication is key, getting to know our bodies, our cycles is only a good thing, but I'll be talking about this a lot more." She is mum to Frey, six, and Helly, four, who she shares with ex-fiance Marius Jensen. Kara and Marius got engaged in 2018 with plans of getting married in his Norwegian homeland, but split four years later. While the exact date of her move to Norway is not known, Marius recently opened his own chiropractic clinic there after a few years in London. Most read in Showbiz "It happened really naturally as we were spending more and more time over here," she told the EastEnders and Strictly star Kara Tointon reveals she's undergone double mastectomy "It's so easy to get back to London and it just seems to work." She added: "It's such a beautiful country and a great place to bring up children and I'm definitely adapting to the Scandinavian lifestyle." In 2024 she told the Mirror: "Now I have children so my priority is to be at home as much as possible. "I live in Norway now - we've upped sticks and we're there. At the moment, we're settling into Norwegian lifestyle and loving it, so I'm lucky." Despite their split, Kara and Marius stay in touch to co-parent their children. Much of Kara's Instagram shows her life in Norway, including plenty of time fishing and enjoying the waterside with her kids. The actress rose to fame on the BBC soap playing Dawn, a bright teen from an impoverished home. Kara played Dawn for more than 300 episodes until 2009 after joining four years earlier. She has plenty of film and TV credits under her belt, including the lead role in prestige series, The Teacher and Too Good To Be True. In 2010, she won Strictly Come Dancing alongside professional dancer, Artem Chigvintsev. Before joining EastEnders, Kara had dated Busted band member, James Bourne and even appeared in the band's reality series, America or Busted. 6 Kara rose to fame playing Dawn on EastEnders Credit: Handout 6 She won Strictly Come Dancing in 2010 Credit: PA:Press Association
The Courier
7 days ago
- Business
- The Courier
How Pitlochry tourist office closure sparked resurgence of printed tour guides
It's an open secret that Pitlochry is one of Scotland's most popular destinations, but when the tourist information centre closed last year, visitors found themselves somewhat lost. And in the age of digital first, it's perhaps expected for the company printing physical tour guides to see a continuing decline in the number of maps they manufacture. But not so for Explore Scotland. The makers of Explore Pitlochry and Highland Perthshire are instead experiencing a significant boom. And this year they've printed off 70,000 physical guides to meet anticipated demand. The business has worked with Pitlochry artist Dylan Gibson to reflect how the area has changed over the past three decades. Highland Perthshire companies have also welcomed the surge in guide use, allowing them to advertise prominently to tourists seeking somewhere to stay. The guides have been circulating in Pitlochry and Perthshire for 30 years. And when the new custodians of the maps, Marius and Angela Bezuidenhout took over during the pandemic, the expectation was for around 40,000 of them to be used seasonally at most. So in September last year, when VisitScotland shuttered their Atholl Road offices, they thought they would end up making fewer maps, as tourists turn to Google Maps and Amazon Kindle digital versions. But the opposite has happened, says co-director Marius. 'The demand has been unprecedented,' he said. 'We are already having requests for restocks. 'People probably thought that the printed tourist guide was dead, with everything moving online. It seems not. It is actually more popular now than it has been for years.' Head of design and development, Ali Penman, added: 'The previous owners and producers did a great job and published the Guide for 30 years. 'However, when the tourist office closed, there was no information that hotels, B&Bs and businesses that cater for tourists, could leave for guests. 'What it also shows is that Highland Perthshire remains a destination that visitors from near and far want to come to.' First published in 1997, the guide has recently benefitted from an update, upgrading old maps of Highland Perthshire towns which had not kept pace with new buildings and historic sites. The new hand-drawn maps have been commissioned from Pitlochry-based illustrator, Dylan Gibson, who has also incorporated popular walks on the new maps. 'Marius wanted to produce a definitive map of the area which tourists could use as a physical map and take with them, explore the town and the surrounding area. 'Some of the existing maps went back 20 years or more,' Dylan said. The guide nods towards changing visitor trends with QR Codes now placed on the maps, offering additional online access. But even with 10,000 downloads to Kindle last season, demand for an old fashioned paper map is higher by a factor of seven. 'The guide has been a remarkable journey,' added co-director Angela. 'People love accessing trip information and booking from phones but they also appreciate something physical that they can keep, even as a memento.'
The Courier
06-05-2025
- Business
- The Courier
Popular Killin restaurant Capercaille reopens as River Inn
A popular Killin restaurant has reopened with a new face at the helm. The River Inn has replaced the Capercaille on the village's Main Street. New manager Marius Boncota is bringing a taste of Greece, serving up mezze platters, chicken and lamb skewers, beef kokkinsto and more. The 60-seater restaurant also has three rooms for guests to stay in. Since moving to Scotland in 2010, Marius has been a frequent visitor to Killin. He said: 'I loved the village and surroundings. I came in this place, the Capercaille, I came for lunch and I liked everything. 'Obviously I started to chat with the people working here. 'One day, a lady working here, as a joke, said: 'Don't you want to buy it? It's up for sale'.' As well as Greek food, pasta and burgers are on the menu. Image: Isla Glen/DC Thomson Having recently opened The Pictures Restaurant in Coatbridge, it was the last thing on his mind. But when the offer returned, Marius jumped at the chance and named it after his first grandson, one-year-old River. The restaurant is named after Marius's grandson River. Image: Isla Glen/DC Thomson Marius, who is Romanian but grew up in Greece, said: 'It's been very good so far. 'I was afraid at the beginning that being a small village with a strong community that we'd be seen as outsiders, but they were very welcoming and really embraced all the changes.' Hopes of a 'good future' in Killin The River Inn hopes to give back to the Killin community as much as possible. All donations for using the restaurant's toilets will be distributed to local charities and the team will also lend a hand to fundraise for projects, such as at the McLaren Hall. 'Going forward, we're looking at integrating as much as possible in the community and do as much as we can for the village,' Marius said. The 41-year-old also feels it is important that tourists have a place to eat. Marius said: 'Killin can be a very busy place with tourists and if the tourists are coming and they don't find the facilities, I think they won't come back or they won't consider staying too long.' A lunch menu is also offered. Image: Isla Glen/DC Thomson A picture of Marius with his sons, as you enter The River Inn. Image: Isla Glen/DC Thomson He plans to sell 'grab and go' items – such as coffee, cake, ice cream and ready-made sandwiches – for those stopping to visit the Falls of Dochart. Marius added: 'I think we've got a good future here and it's going to be good for the village. 'Not only this village. We've had people coming from Strathyre, Crianlarich, Tyndrum, so people are starting to hear about us.' The River Inn is open from Wednesdays to Sundays, 12pm to 9pm. Elsewhere, a popular Callander café has reopened with a local family at the helm. For more Stirling news and features visit our page or join us on Facebook
The Guardian
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Les Misérables: The Arena Spectacular review – an irresistible, 40th anniversary love letter
If any musical deserves the arena treatment, it's Les Misérables. Hear me out! Like the best pop and rock music gigs, Les Mis is stacked with emotional bangers, from top to bottom. From almost the very beginning of its life on stage, Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil's adaptation of Victor Hugo's brick of a novel has presented its music in concert. The show is sung-through – even the exposition – and when you have a cast of musical theatre performers that are strong as both actors and singers, the emotional connection remains, even in an arena setting. This 'arena spectacular' version is sung to the back of the house by an international cast from Les Mis productions past and present. There are some cuts to the score to help this famously long show move along (it used to run for over three hours, until cost-cutting in later productions trimmed it down to two hours and 50 minutes), while keeping the glorious numbers the people really want: I Dreamed a Dream, Stars and One Day More. The orchestra, under the direction of Adrian Kirk, sounds rich and full. The concert lighting turns revolutionaries into rock stars. Those leitmotifs and melodies land like gifts. The performers have tears in their eyes. We have tears in our eyes. There's Jean Valjean (Alfie Boe on opening night, also played on tour by Killian Donnelly), breaking his parole to start life over a free man. There's Fantine (Rachelle Ann Go), cruelly stomped on by circumstance. There's Javert (Michael Ball on opening night, also played on tour by Bradley Jaden), a man who so believes in law and order that he calls stars 'sentinels'. There are the students who fight and die for the revolution – see Enjolras (James D Gish), vibrating with righteousness, and Marius (Jac Yarrow), who takes one look at Cosette (Beatrice Penny-Touré) and falls head over heels. There's Eponine (Shan Ako), longing for Marius and dying in his arms. And of course, the scheming Thénardiers (Matt Lucas and Helen Walsh, stepping in for Marina Prior on opening night), trying to get a little audience participation going. But look closer, Les Mis super-fans (if you're not one of them, you'll know them at your performance – they're the ones who scamper down to collect the scraps of Valjean's torn-up ticket). The cast is stuffed with past Grantaires and Feuillys and Courfeyracs and Factory Girls, these featured and supporting players lovingly compiled in YouTube celebrations. This is an irresistible, 40th anniversary love letter to the show that is so many people's first favourite musical, made for the fans who have passed it on to their children, or who play the ensemble numbers for singalongs at house parties, or who lovingly collect cast albums and trivia (or all of the above). That everyone is completely, fully, gorgeously committed is what makes it work. They have to be: you simply cannot approach the material half-heartedly, which directors James Powell and Jean-Pierre Van Der Spuy clearly understand. If you take one second to detach from Les Mis's gorgeous, enormous, bleeding heart, it all feels a bit silly and over-dramatic. Rush the tempo too much and you could break the spell. Suffer an awkward scene transition and you start to remember that some of these characters are pretty thin and the ending feels like a bit of a slog towards the finish line (OK, that part still happens here). But for most of its runtime, this Les Mis, an 'arena spectacular' of all things and at the ICC Sydney of all places, just works. This company gets you right in that sweet spot when their voices carry up to the rafters. Do you hear the people sing? I did, and it was magical. Les Misérables: The Arena Spectacular is on at the ICC Theatre now, then Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena from 14 May and Brisbane's Entertainment Centre from 28 May.
