The news was confirmed in a statement by the Eggheads social media page, which read: “It is with immense sadness that we announce the passing of Eggheads great Chris Hughes.

“Chris joined the show in 2003 and over the next 20 years gave us not only brilliant answers but very many laughs and happy memories.

“He will be hugely missed by all his Eggheads family.”

Hughes had been a part of Eggheads since its inception in 2003 and had remained on the show ever since, taking a break in 2021.

Prior to embarking on a career as a professional quizzer and appearing on the line-up of Eggheads, Hughes had worked as a train driver and a railway worker. His big break in the world of quizzing would come in the 1980s after he won BBC general knowledge shows Mastermind and International Mastermind in 1983.

He also won BBC Four’s Brain of Britain general knowledge quiz in 2005, becoming one of only seven people to win both Mastermind and Brain of Britain.

He was also one of the most successful contestants on game show The Weakest Link after making it to the final without answering a single question incorrectly. His abilities would impress host Anne Robinson so much that she decided against using her iconic ‘you are the weakest link, goodbye’ catchphrase when he was voted off by other contestants. She would later go on to refer to Hughes as ‘best contestant’ she’d ever had on the show.

Fans of the show have since begun to share their tributes on social media.

“Spent many hours watching Eggheads when I was younger so this is very sad to hear,” one person wrote on X. “Thank you Chris, may you rest in peace.”

“Spent many hours watching him as a kid – Rest in Peace,” a second added.

There have been a few air crashes so far this year, doing absolutely no favours for travellers with a fear of flying…

The American Airlines flight that collided with an army helicopter in Washington DC made headlines last month, while a Delta Air Lines aircraft flipped upside down and caught fire upon landing in Canada last week.

But the reality of it is that aviation accidents happen, and they’ve been occurring for as long as air travel has existed.

The deadliest air accident in history though, happened in Tenerife in 1977.

It would culminate in two planes colliding with each other in the middle of a runway, killing 583 people.

Pan Am Flight 1736 was scheduled to take off from Las Palmas Gran Canaria Airport when a bomb was set off at the site, forcing the aircraft to reroute to the much smaller Los Rodeos Airport in Tenerife in the fear that a second may go off at any point.

Also having to be diverted to Tenerife was KLM 4805, which was in the same situation after making its way from Amsterdam.

They were among a number of other planes in the small airport that usually dealt with light aircrafts, featuring just one runway and minimal parking for Boeing 747s.

KLM’s captain, Jacob Veldhuyzen van Zanten, was a senior pilot that was becoming increasingly frustrated with the delays with the flight, as he needed to return to Amsterdam after Las Palmas.

They were getting close to exceeding flying time limits, and he could be heard saying: “I’ve seen postage stamps bigger than this place. Now we’re going to get some boxed in here, goddammit,” when seeing the airport.

As all the runways were blocked with aircraft, the main one was used as a taxiway, with planes taxiing to the far end to use the runway to take off.

The weather also started to worsen, with fog setting in, but there was good news – Las Palmas airport had reopened and planes were being directed one by one.

The KLM captain took the decision to refuel, holding up the Pan Am airplane behind it.

As soon as it was done, the plane moved as quickly as possible, as Captain van Zante was set on leaving ASAP, despite the poor visibility.

After mistakenly believing they had been given clearance to take off, van Zanten sent the KLM hurtling down the runway and straight into the Pan Am plane, which hadn’t finished taxiing off the runway.

Pan Am pilot Victor Grubbs, could be heard saying before impact: “There he is… look at him. Goddamn that son-of-a-b***h is coming!”

Turning sharply to try and steer clear of the oncoming plane, first officer Robert Bragg exclaimed: “Get off! Get off! Get off.”

The KLM flight barrelled into the Pan Am craft, taking most of the roof off it, with the KLM plane flying into the air and slamming into the ground in a huge ball of fire.

In total, 583 people perished, with just 61 people surviving from the Pan Am flight.

The investigation into the incident looked into the conversation logs between the planes and the control tower.

It was found that the main cause of the accident was the KLM captain taking off without clearance, something he was warned about by crew.

It was then argued that the decision to take on extra fuel delayed takeoff and allowed the fog to set in more, and that the weight of it slowed the plane down during takeoff.

The fuel also caused the fire to be much bigger than it would have been.

As a result, international airline regulations were changed forever, with flight crew and air traffic controllers required to use standardised English phrases and to make decisions by mutual agreement.

Crew resource management was also improved, allowing pilots to challenge the captain with less hassle.

The heartbreaking case of Gabby Petito is back in the news again following the release of Netflix’s three-part series American Murder: Gabby Petito which follows the final days of the aspiring vlogger.

Petito had been travelling on a road-trip alongside her fiancé Brian Laundrie through the US when she disappeared in September 2021.

Her body would later be recovered near local camping spot in Wyoming, with her death confirmed to be strangulation and blunt force trauma.

Laundrie would vanish on 13 September after becoming a suspect in her disappearance. His remains would be found a month later alongside a confession note stating that he’d killed Petito.

His cause of death was determined to be suicide.

Following the release of the series, US woman Raegan Humphrey took to TikTok and shared side-by-side images of herself and Petito as part of a trend where people share their famous lookalikes online.

“It’s an honour for your beautiful soul to be seen in me,” she added in the caption.

The post went viral due to Raegan’s close resemblance to the 22-year-old, with users all noting how similar the two women looked.

“I got so confused bc i thought both pics were gabby, you two are so stunning,” one user commented.

“Everyone really does have a doppelgänger,” a second added.

The post would even catch the attention of her parents Joe Petito and Nichole Schmidt. Joe’s response to the post didn’t go unnoticed either, with the 45-year-old writing: “Make the most of every day,” alongside a string of heart emojis.

“This is so true, I’m more than sorry for your loss and could never imagine what your going through, but I’m sure you’re making gabby proud,” Raegan replied.

Understandably, the tender reaction from Joe was an emotional one for many, with several commenters saying the interaction had left them ‘in tears’.

“Wow Joe Petito had me in tears. God Bless. He gave you great advice,” wrote one commenter, as a second noted that she was ‘beautiful’, adding: “Her dad commenting on this instantly set me into tears but dang girl you are beautiful just like her.”

“Joe commented and Nikki reposted, I’m crying,” a third user noted.

As the two most chronically online generations, the distinctions are most visible between Gen Z and Millennials — with everything from the jeans we wear to the emojis we use being assigned as one of the two generational groups.

And it would seem like there’s a new giveaway to deduce whether a person’s year of birth starts with a one or two… the way in which you text.

Taking to TikTok, 27-year-old US woman Libby (@Libbyinboston) shared an image of a text she’d received from a man she’d recently been on a date with and asked for opinions on the quality of his response.

The text wasn’t anything particularly explosive or shocking, with the mystery man simply writing: “Hey, had fun last night. Have a good day.”

However Libby wasn’t too impressed with the message and shared a screenshot alongside asking followers if her date was a bad texter or just simply a man in his mid-30s.

Libby was deliberately vague when it came to what exactly had left her so unimpressed with the message, prompting plenty of debate in the comments.

“My bf is 38 n txts me as if it’s an email like spacing between texts I’m like can you not haha,” one commenter revealed, suggesting that formal text messages, full-stops and all, become more appealing as you age.

“LIKE WHY ARE THEY LIKE THIS,” a second person questioned, as a third added: “If he texts like he’s messaging his boss on teams you’re the one.”

However not everyone saw a problem with the business-casual approach to messaging, with some viewers suggesting Libby base her judgement after exchanging multiple texts to ‘see to how the conversation goes’.

“Listen, millennials have been thru it. We state facts because exclamation points scare us,” a second added.

Libby isn’t the only person to notice the difference between how Gen Z and Millennials text, with formal and complete sentences being favoured by the latter while the former prefer to express their feelings though a combination of slang, emojis and exclamation marks.

And it seems the constant ribbing is starting to make the older generation feel self conscious about their polite texting manner and adherence to grammar rules, as numerous commenters were seeking advice on how to loosen up over message.

“For us 35+ can you advise how to colour it up??? Emojis and exclamations,” one person asked, while a second user added that they were ‘painfully aware of it’.

The French Connection star, 95, was found dead alongside his wife Betsy Arakawa, 63, and their pet dog at their home in New Mexico on Wednesday (26 February).

“We can confirm that both Gene Hackman and his wife were found deceased Wednesday afternoon at their residence on Sunset Trail,” Santa Fe County said in a statement.

“This is an active investigation – however, at this time we do not believe that foul play was a factor.”

Gene Hackman adopted a dog from a shelter

ackman and Arakawa had reportedly shared their home with two German Shepherds.

Back when the actor was filming The Replacements, two stray dogs wandered onto the set in Baltimore.

He was said to have named the two dogs Gene and Keanu, after his costar Keanu Reeves.

After bringing both to the shelter, Hackman and his wife went on to adopt the one with his shared name.

According to the Daily Mail, shelter Animal Rescue shared a birthday message to the film star last year.

“Happy 94th birthday to our most famous adopter Gene Hackman!! While filming The Replacements in Baltimore in 1999, two stray dogs wandered onto the movie set,” they said.

“Both dogs were transported to us via limousine and the Hackmans came up the following week and adopted one of them. #adoptdontshop.”

Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa made a rare public appearance together last year

For the first time in 21 years, the pair were pictured together in public after leaving Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2024.

The two-time Oscar winner held on to his wife’s arm and was using a cane.

Hackman first met Arakawa, from Hawaii, at a fitness centre in LA, where she worked part-time. They started dating in 1984.

He married his first wife Faye Maltese in 1956, going on to divorce her in 1986.

They shared children Leslie Anne, Elizabeth Jean and Christopher Allen.

Hackman has appeared in 79 feature films from 1961 to 2004.

He is considered by many to be one of the greatest actors of all time, having picked up two Academy Awards, two BAFTAs, four Golden Globes and a Screen Actors Guild award.

His two Oscar wins came in the form of Best Actor for The French Connection (1971) and then Best Supporting Actor for Unforgiven (1992).

Hackman would retire from acting in 2004 due to health complications.

“The straw that broke the camel’s back was actually a stress test that I took in New York,” the actor told Empire in 2009.

“The doctor advised me that my heart wasn’t in the kind of shape that I should be putting it under any stress.”