Month: January 2025

Daniel Radcliffe had a major ‘wake-up call’ while drinking that led to him becoming fully sober.

The actor is one of many major stars who have given up alcohol, having joined the likes of Tom Holland in speaking openly about sobriety.

Radcliffe spent much of his childhood growing up in the spotlight thanks to his star role in the Harry Potter films. And that certainly came with its challenges.

“In my case, the quickest way to forget about the fact that you’re being watched is to get very drunk,” he told Off Camera in 2019.

“And then as you get very drunk, you become aware that ‘Oh, people are watching more now because now I’m getting very drunk, so I should probably drink more to ignore that more.'”

Radcliffe also admitted to becoming ‘dependent’ on alcohol to ‘enjoy anything’.

The now 35-year-old first went sober in 2010 but relapsed in 2012, leading to him being involved in an altercation in a bar in New York.

In what was a ‘wake-up’ call for the star, he ended up in a brawl with the DJ and was asked to leave the place, causing a media frenzy.

Following this, Radcliffe gave up drinking again and has been committed to sobriety since.

He previously told The Telegraph: “I feel much more settled mentally. I’m more in tune with what makes me happy. I’m the type of person who changes when I drink.”

The actor now takes long walks when he experiences an urge to drink and maintains a regular gym routine.

Sobriety has also enabled him to get back into old habits and find new things to enjoy.

“I was a voracious reader as a teenager, but drinking strangely took that away from me. I lost the desire and energy to read. I’ve regained that now,” he added.

Going sober has enabled Radcliffe to be more comfortable with himself and he is able to live ‘without dread and fear and it is lovely’.

Alison Pope, her husband and three sons had a home on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, but back in 2022, they decided to pack up and go travelling around the continent-sized country.

They’d been on the road for almost two years when in February 2024 they decided to change their caravan and got a quote from a company called Tango Caravans.

Getting what they thought was a good deal, the Pope family put down a 10 percent deposit in April 2024 and were told the thing would take between eight and 10 weeks to build.

Sadly, things went quickly downhill from there.

At the end of May last year the family were told construction on their caravan was going well and they’d need to book their handover date, which meant they had to pay up the rest of the price of the caravan.

“Naively and emotionally we paid our full payment to Tango Caravans, thinking we would be in our new little home in two weeks time,” Alison told the Daily Mail.

Once they’d paid the full AUS$80,000 (£40,000) price the family said they were suddenly ‘completely ghosted and mostly ignored’, with calls and emails unanswered while on the scant few occasions they could get through to someone they were told they’d be called back later with further information about their situation. Nobody ever did call back.

This went on for several weeks, with the family living in short term accommodation that was costing them a lot, until in August 2024 they found other Tango Caravans customers who were also having problems and then heard that the company had gone into liquidation along with all the money the Popes had paid out.

After investigating the matter further the family said they learned that no manufacturers had ever been contracted to build their caravan, writing in a GoFundMe that it ‘was never intended to be built’.

According to news.com.au, when it collapsed, Tango owed about AUS$3.2 million (£1.6 million) to 85 different creditors, with the brunt of those being 60 customers out of pocket to the tune of AUS$2 million (£1 million).

In a tough blow, Tango customers were told that in the liquidation process they wouldn’t be getting any money, leaving families like the Popes out of pocket, and a report submitted to Australia’s corporate regulator indicated that the company had been trading while insolvent since at least March 2023.

It turned out that customer payments and deposits were being used to keep the business going and pay for operating expenses rather than going to manufacturers to actually make caravans they’d been paid to supply.

The Pope family said they’d been ‘left completely heartbroken’ at having no chance of getting their money back, and now plan to buy another caravan, which they need some financial help with after having lost so much money in the Tango Caravans debacle.

Alison said: “We are slowly coming to terms with what has happened but it has been an incredibly emotionally and mentally draining couple of months.

“Our plans and dreams were completely stolen from us and we’ve had to make some difficult decisions working out what is best for our family.”

They’ve set up a GoFundMe, which you can donate to here.

But for the actor and comedian, there is only one film role which he would consider reprising.

There’s Ace Ventura, Bruce Nolan and Hank Evans, to name a few – but taking on all of these personas hasn’t been easy for Carrey.

He has previously opened up about the mental and emotional toll that masquerading as other people for movie roles has had on him.

“As an actor you play characters, and if you go deep enough into those characters, you realise your own character is pretty thin to begin with,” Carrey told The Wrap in 2017.

“You suddenly have this separation and go, ‘Who’s Jim Carrey? Oh, he doesn’t exist actually’.”

So it’s no wonder that the Dumb and Dumber star was ready to call it quits and leave the acting world behind back in 2022.

Thankfully, Carrey later cancelled his plans to retire – so naturally, the next thing on the minds of fans was what role he would step into.

Or, more specifically, whether he was ready to take a trip down memory lane and revive one of his legendary characters for another film.

This topic of conversation came up while Carrey was doing press ahead of the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in December last year.

The Yes Man star was asked which character he would love to play ‘one more time’ – and it’s good news for fans of the Grinch.

Carrey told Comicbook.com: “Oh, gosh, you know, if we could figure out the Grinch…

“The thing about it is, on the day, I do that with a ton of makeup and can hardly breathe. It was an extremely excruciating process.”

“The children were in my mind all the time.

“‘It’s for the kids. It’s for the kids. It’s for the kids.’

“And now, with motion capture and things like that, I could be free to do other things. Anything is possible in this world!”

Carrey has been candid about his experiences on set while filming the 2000 Christmas classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

He previously compared his hours spent sitting in a makeup chair while being transformed into the green and hairy character to being ‘buried alive’.

It was that bad that he had to undergo CIA training on how to endure ‘torture’ in a bid to help him through it – so shooting the film really wasn’t just a regular day at the office.

Carrey even considered backing out of the role after his first day, as it took eight and a half hours to complete the look.

The actor had to endure being plastered in facial prosthetics as well as being encased head-to-toe in green yak fur and wearing coordinating contact lenses – which he complained the fake snow on set kept getting into.

Carrey even admitted that he ended up putting his leg ‘through a wall’ in his trailer as a result of how bogged down and frustrated he became with the get-up.

So, like he said, there’s a few issues which need to be ironed out before he locks himself in for a sequel to How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

But you never know, there’s the off chance that one day we could all be cosied up watching Carrey step back into the shoes of the iconic character.

Tom Stuker is the owner of a lifetime flyer pass and has certainly got his money’s worth, travelling to over 100 countries on over 12,000 flights in first and business class.

In the 90s, the New Jersey resident spent $510,000 (£400,000) on United Airlines’ companion pass for himself and a plus one of his choice.

It allows him to fly with United anywhere and anytime, with anyone he wants.

Since then, the 71-year-old has flown over 24 million miles in the last 30 years, with his sights set on 25 million.

But Stuker – who knows a thing or two about an upgrade – insists that the regular traveller needs to stop listening to all of the bulls**t stories out there.

“Every once in a while, you hear stories about a guy, that, you know, sweet talks somebody at the counter,” he told LADbible.

“That’s a bunch of malarkey, that’s a bunch of baloney.

“I mean, it’s all down to a science and it’s because there’s millions of frequent flyer miles that all want to be upgraded.”

Frequent flyer status

Although flyer status is something that you obtain over time, it increases your chances of getting upgraded.

“My suggestion for the average Joe that wants to get upgraded first, status matters, and so you want to get status,” the sales consultant says.

Upgrade with miles

“Second of all, you can upgrade with miles. You can upgrade with cash and miles. But the best thing to think about, is availability of first class seats, or business class seats,” Stuker said.

“So if you’re going to fly domestically, your best chance to get upgraded is by taking the first flight in the morning or the last flight at night.”

Download the airline app (a must)

Stuker says that with ‘today’s technology’, an upgrade has never been easier – but only if you download the airline app.

“If you don’t have the airlines app, for God’s sake, United’s app has saved me so much time, effort and everything, because it tells you in two seconds, that on this date, at that time, there’s this many seats still available in business and coach,” he explained.

“And it helps you understand what flights you should take, even if you’re paying economy fares, and it’s a cheap fare, and if you want more comfort, then stay on the app.”

Pick the right date to upgrade

Most importantly, make sure you ‘pay attention to the flights that are less crowded’.

He says the Tuesday morning flight or the Thursday night flight are great options, ‘but you’re going to have a harder chance of getting upgraded on Sundays and Friday nights and, you know, on Monday morning’.

“So take a look at the seats, because even if you end up finding a row and you book the back of the plane – by the way, the back of the plane is always what fills up last – so if you want to get the most comfortable seat, sometimes you look for a particular time in a back row of economy sometimes you get the whole row to yourself, which is a poor man’s business class, you might say,” the avid traveller concludes.

In case you were wondering, United stopped selling their companion pass a while back.

Ongoing devastation in the Californian county has saw the destruction of more than 12,000 structures and the death of at least 24 people.

The largest fire, burning for nearly a week, is the Palisades and has burnt through over 23,000 acres and is just 14 percent contained. There are currently two other fires burning in the area with forecasted winds causing fear they could spread again.

Maura is one of the thousands of people to have lost their house in the Palisades fire as she said her family had moved in just two days before.

Speaking to Katy Tur of MSNBC in a viral TikTok clip, the teary mum said had just got ‘everything perfectly placed’ after working for it to be the most she’s ‘ever been [able] to do [to] a house’ in her life.

“I travelled all over the world, gathering the most beautiful handmade ancient art,” she said, heartbroken.

“I had just, two days before this happened, finished decorating it with every single thing.”

Explaining it was the first time she was seeing the damage, Maura added the family ‘had no idea’ they would be faced by this.

In another clip, the teary-eyed woman said the experience was one that would ‘make her more human’.

“This is something that makes us bigger humans,” she added, saying she will be teaching her two young kids the loss is a ‘potent’ thing rather than a ‘sad’ thing.

As residents across LA lose their homes, many major stars are among those devastated.

Paris Hilton recently returned to the rubbles where her house once stood after watching it burn down ‘live on TV’. And a TV host who lost her home claimed a medium ‘predicted’ the destruction months before.

While still burning, the wildfires are already one of the most destructive in LA’s history in terms of how many buildings have been destroyed.

And while homes are wiped out, tens of thousands are also without power.

It cannot yet be predicted just when the fires will finally go out, with the city now bracing for a possible spread over the next few days.

The strongest Santa Ana winds are expected tomorrow (14 January) with a red flag warning in place, indicating a high level of fire danger.

What we know so far about the LA wildfires

2 January

The first warning

The US’ National Weather Service issued a warning of potential strong Santa Ana winds and extreme fire conditions five days before the first wildfire broke out.

In the following days, a Fire Weather Watch warning was issued, as well as state and local officials giving warnings to the Los Angeles area.

7 January

The first fire ignites

The Palisade’s Fire ignites, triggering an emergency call to be sent to LA residents advising people near the fire to get set for ‘a potential evacuation’.

Later that day, however, the City of Santa Monica issued an Evacuation Order for all areas of the city north of San Vicente: “Evacuation Order: Immediate threat to life. This is a lawful order to LEAVE NOW.”

Two more wildfires begin

Just hours after the first wildfire ignites, the second – named the Eaton Fire – breaks out in the Altadena area of LA.

And following this, the Hurst Fire ignites in LA’s Sylmar area as the National Weather Service report gusts of 99mph. A new evacuation order goes out to those in the affected areas as the blazes rapidly spread, scorching and destroying thousands of acres that contain homes and businesses.

9 January

Prison inmates deployed to help fight fires

Hundreds of incarcerated men and women were deployed to help fight the growing wildfires, with the number of inmates at the frontline standing at 939, the BBC reports.

This practice isn’t uncommon in California, as it is one of 14 US states that uses inmates to help fight fires. Inmates aren’t forced to take part and do so on their own accord, with it being reported they are being paid between $5.80 and $10.24 per day.

However, inmates with certain convictions – such as arson and sexual offences – aren’t eligible to volunteer.

10 January

Man arrested for arson

Three days on from the first fire igniting, the LAPD make an arrest after local residents claim that a man on a bike carrying a large blow torch had been trying to set bins and old Christmas trees on fire.

Authorities believe the Kenneth Fire was started intentionally, with the man believed to be responsible being held in custody.

Billion dollar energy company investigated over possible link to wildfires

Southern California Edison, a subsidiary of energy giant Edison International, admitted that its grid experienced a short circuit issue on 7th January, the evening the first fires broke out.

“On January 10, Southern California Edison (SCE) filed an Electric Safety Incident Report (ESIR) related to the Hurst Fire once SCE learned fire agencies are investigating whether SCE equipment was involved in the ignition, which is a triggering event for reporting,” Edison International said in a press release.

“SCE noted that the fire was reported at approximately 10:10pm on 7 January, and preliminary information reflects the Eagle Rock – Sylmar 220 kV circuit experienced a relay at 10:11pm. A downed powerline was discovered at a tower associated with the Eagle Rock – Sylmar 220 kV circuit. SCE does not know whether the damage observed occurred before or after the start of the fire.”

A-list celebrities forced out of their homes

A number of celebrities have been forced to evacuate their homes, many of which have been destroyed. This includes the likes of Paris Hilton, Miles Teller, Anna Faris, Billy Crystal and Eugene Levy.

13 January

40,000 acres of land destroyed

According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, more than 40,000 acres have been burned in the Eaton, Palisades, Kenneth and Hurst fires.

Homes and businesses are among the more than 12,000 structures that have been destroyedla fir

The death toll rises

Almost a week on from the first fire starting, 24 people have been confirmed by the LA County medical examiner to have died as a result of the blazes.

Officials also confirmed that at least another 23 people remain missing.

The 62-year-old has set the bar so high with his performances that it’s hard to imagine someone else portraying one of his iconic characters.

They just wouldn’t bring that same je ne sais quoi which Carrey does – so it’s probably a good job that stars would have to jump through a lot of hoops if they wanted to overthrow him as the Grinch.

He played the grumpy green monster to perfection, despite the hellish experience he had getting transformed into the Christmas-hating character.

Carrey compared being smothered in layers of prosthetics and make-up for endless hours each day to ‘being buried alive’ – and even had to undergo CIA training to cope with nine-hours in the chair.

In December, Carrey revealed that he would happily reprise his role in How the Grinch Stole Christmas if a few things could be ‘figured out’.

“The thing about it is, on the day, I do that with a ton of makeup and can hardly breathe,” the comedian told Comicbook.com. “It was an extremely excruciating process.

“The children were in my mind all the time. ‘It’s for the kids. It’s for the kids. It’s for the kids.’

“And now, with motion capture and things like that, I could be free to do other things. Anything is possible in this world!”

Film fans would no doubt be screaming ‘imposter’ at the screen if someone else dared to don the green get-up which has become synonymous with Carrey, anyway.

So it seems that the only chances of a successful sequel to the 2000 Christmas film is if movie chiefs find a way to avoid making him miserable in the makeup chair.

Even if there was someone out there with the courage to take Carrey’s place as the Grinch, they would have to overcome several obstacles first.

As we all know, How the Grinch Stole Christmas is based on Dr Seuss’ 1957 children’s book of the same name.

After the author’s death in September 1991, his widow Audrey Geisel set up Dr Seuss Enterprises to fulfil her husband’s wish of spreading his stories with ‘the widest possible audience in any and all media throughout the world’.

Which is why the world is blessed with Dr Seuss films, TV shows, games and stage productions, as well as his iconic literary works.

There are a host of strict guidelines which film producers must follow if they are looking to adapt the works of Dr Seuss, thanks to Seuss’ spouse – including what actor could play the lead role.

Geisel – who passed away in December 2018 – had final approval over the director and writer for The Grinch, as well as slipping in a stipulation about the leading man.

In a letter outlining the Seuss estate’s requirements for the movie, Geisel stated that the actor cast in the role also had to be of a very particular height and frame, according to Comicbook.com.

She used stars such as Jack Nicholson, Jim Carrey, Robin Williams, and Dustin Hoffman as templates – and as we all know, Carrey went on to bag the role.

So if the film studio were looking for a replacement, it seems like they’d have their work cut out for them.

I guess Carrey really is the only man for the job, eh?

As well as stipulations on who could play The Grinch, Geisel reportedly stuck a $5 million price tag on the film rights.

She also instructed the studio to give the Seuss estate a cut of four percent of the movie’s total box-office revenue, along with 50 percent of merchandising revenue and 70 percent from book tie-ins to the movie.

Officials warned that after a relatively calm weekend where progress was made in containing the multitude of blazes around the city, the return of high winds would make that task more difficult.

He said: “You’re going to have really strong gusty Santa Ana winds, a very dry atmosphere and still very dry brush, so we still have some very critical fire weather conditions out there.”

Preparations are in place for the next strong winds that can spread the blaze, while the accounting of damage in the first week of the fire makes for grim reading.

What loss of life has there been?

First and foremost, among the damage caused by the LA wildfires are the 24 lives confirmed to have been lost, according to a revised death toll from the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

Eight of the deaths have been attributed to the Palisades fire, while 16 have been put down to the Eaton fire, and authorities said that the death toll was likely to rise as there were 16 people missing.

What damage has been caused?

Yesterday morning (12 January) officials said that the Palisades, Eaton, Kenneth and Hurst fires had destroyed over 62 square miles of the area around LA, meaning the blazes have razed an area larger than the size of San Francisco.

Around 59 square miles of those are the Palisades and Eaton fires, by far the two largest wildfires that make up this current disaster.

Around 150,000 people remain under evacuation orders in the area, while many thousands of structures including many people’s houses have been burned down.

There are some neighbourhoods where there is little left besides rows of charred foundations, while in other areas a handful of homes still stand amidst the burning wreckage.

How long could the fires last?

Rolling Stone spoke to meteorologists Craig B. Clements and Allison Santorelli to learn about the conditions which could help bring down the flames.

Santorelli said that the wind and dry conditions had resulted in ‘perfect fire weather’, as high pressure across the western US was bringing in strong winds and low humidity.

Clements said that the ideal condition would be rain, but the fires had been burning through an area that hadn’t seen significant rainfall for months so it will be more about the wind, and high winds made it harder to fight the fire.

He said: “What really needs to happen is the winds need to die down and cease blowing so hard.”

Santorelli said that there would be ‘surface high pressure sprawled across the western US here for the next seven days’, suggesting that the winds may subside a bit by Friday (17 January) and give firefighters another window to make progress containing the spread of the fire.

Locals have been navigating apocalyptic scenes since the wildfires, which have so far claimed the lives of 24 people, erupted on 7 January.

A string of celebrities are among those who have lost their homes, while entire neighbourhoods have been decimated by the ongoing flames.

But among all the devastation, we’ve seen some touching moments of human kindness – such as NBC reporter Robert Kovacik taking custody of a man’s beloved paintings while he evacuated.

Communities have been rallying together to assist those in need, with locals raising more than $800,000 to help a local sports hero rebuild his life after he ‘lost everything’.

And now, people have been left sobbing once again after footage of a pet owner returning home went viral on X.

He wasn’t at the property when evacuations in the area began, however, his beloved animals named Oreo and Tika Tika Tika were still inside.

The US man was seen weeping as he spoke to NBC News correspondent Liz Kreutz, explaining that he was struggling to get past roadblocks.

Colvin told the reporter through floods of tears: “I literally rescued them [the dogs] off the street, they deserve better than this. How do I get to my house?!”

In an Instagram post detailing his dilemma, Kreutz explained that a heroic firefighter saw their emotional exchange and ‘came to help’, offering to go and search Colvin’s home to find his dogs.

“At that time, Casey’s home had not burned and shortly after, the firefighter returned to the staging area with Tika Tika Tika,” the journalist wrote.

“We were there as Casey reunited with his sweet girl,” she added. “But Oreo, a rescue who Casey says is behavioural, apparently ran out of the house and is now missing.”

Hours later, Colvin’s property had ‘burned to the ground’, with Kreutz saying that both dogs would have been ‘trapped inside’ if it wasn’t for the brave actions of the firefighter.

What followed was five agonising days for Colvin, which saw him scour his scorched neighbourhood while handing out flyers as he frantically searched for little Oreo.

Thankfully, a passerby later spotted the pup nestled among the debris and rubble of his property and the owner rushed over to collect the dog.

In a touching video, a relieved Colvin can be seen calling out to an understandably wary Oreo from the edge of his fire-ravaged property.

“Oh my god, you’re alive! You’re alive! Thank you, God,” the pet owner shouted while scooping up the animal into his arms and fist pumping the air, before he then thanked Kreutz.

The reporter later shared the footage online herself, dubbing Colvin and Oreo’s reunion ‘the best news’.

Social media users were in firm agreement and praised the owner’s perseverance as well as the animal’s resilience in such tragic circumstances.

One said: “Awwwww such a sweet moment. I’m glad they were able to be reunited.”

Another wrote: “I would be right there with this guy, totally losing it and crying my eyes out if it were my dog. So happy for this man and his little pup!”