Once known as ‘Little Hercules’ across the globe, Richard Sandrak has made a heartbreaking admission 25 years later.

The lad earned the title at just eight-years-old, as he was tipped as the ‘world’s strongest boy’. But having stopped lifting weights as an adult, there have long been theories about what Sandrak’s life growing up was really like.

Having been working out every day since he was just five, he was able to bench press three times his own body weight, become a global phenomenon as the media covered the young bodybuilder’s story.

The now 32-year-old’s childhood was far from normal but it wasn’t totally something he was used to, as he ‘had nothing to compare it to’.

“When people talk about a childhood memory, it’s usually associated with something positive. I can’t really relate. For me, it was a daily occurrence to where I was physically and emotionally abused by my dad,” he told Metro.

The former body builder explained his physique came as a result of ‘working out eight hours a day, constant weight training and a diet of pure clean eating.’

Sandrak’s parents, Lena and Pavel, homeschooled him and he grew up without any friends, experiencing a very different upbringing to other kids at the time.

“My father would often go into rage fits and what would start as a normal workout ended up with me doing a triple split kick [performing three consecutive kicks in a single motion] for 12 hours,” he claimed.

“I’ll never forget it, because it was just extremely exhausting and emotionally heavy. And there were more times than I can count where a simple training session turned into what felt like a really intense hostage situation.”

He has now spoken out about being abused by his father. (Michael Bezjian/WireImage)

At around the age of eight or nine, he recalled having to do non-stop squats while watching a film.

“That was something I got used to because that was my entire childhood. That’s how I was raised. I had nothing to compare it to. I didn’t have a friend to tell me, that’s not what we do,” he claimed.

“I got physically beaten into it. My dad was very abusive. I learned early on not to ask to stop. You grit your teeth and keep doing what you’re told.”

Being in the limelight and meeting celebrities did bring some positives, including the fact his dad would have to treat him properly in public.

“It was a very confusing childhood. I don’t recall too many pleasant memories, until after my dad left,” he added.

Sandrak has since left bodybuilding behind (YouTube/Inside Edition)

Sandrak called 911 on his father after a particularly violent assault on his mum in 2003.

He said he had always been too fearful to make ‘that dramatic step’, but with the abuse getting worse he made the leap: “And I called them, told them not to sound their sirens, and they came and they took him away. It’s been a breath of fresh air ever since.”

Pavel was imprisoned for abuse and deported to his home nation of Ukraine.

The former ‘Little Hercules’ has not seen him since, with no interest in reconnecting and no apology from the father.

“I will always hold resentment towards him. They say ‘forgive and forget’. I may be willing to forgive, but I will never forget,” Sandrak said.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, 10am-8pm Monday to Friday. If you are a child seeking advice and support, call Childline for free on 0800 1111, 24/7.

The shocking incident resurfaced in the aftermath of the Super Bowl LIX, which saw 43-year-old Serena going viral after making an appearance in Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show.

During the show, Serena appeared on one of the stages doing a Crip Walk dance during Kendrick’s performance of ‘Not Like Us’. A Grammy award winning song, it was created as a diss towards Kendrick’s rival Drake, who Serena was heavily rumoured to have dated between 2011 and 2015.

Viewers were left somewhat shocked by Serena doing the Crip Walk, or C-Walk, after realising the links between the dance and the gang that killed her sister.

Created in the 1970s by Robert Jackson, known as ‘Sugar Bear’, he was a member of the Crips gang that operate out of Los Angeles.

An extremely violent street gang, with a history of murders, robberies, and dealing drugs, the dance was used by members to signify their allegiance to the Crips.

It found itself way in to the rap subculture along the West Coast of the USA, with artists such as Snoop Dogg, Ice-T, and Ice Cube performing it over the years during their concerts.

Serena Williams doing the Crip Walk

Serena has opted to perform the Crip Walk on a number of occasions during her life.

After winning gold medal at the 2012 Olympics at Wimbledon, she performed the signature dance move on Centre Court with sister Venus cheering her on from the family box.

She also did it in June last year when presenting at the ESPY Awards.

“Not a single one of us, not even me, should ever pick a fight with Kendrick Lamar,” she said in an apparent reference to her alleged ex Drake’s beef with the Compton rapper.

Serena danced the C-Walk once again at the 2025 Super Bowl in New Orleans, appearing with Kendrick during his performance of ‘Not Like Us’. Speaking about the song, she previously said: “When they play that jam, I’m jamming. That jam is jamming.”

People didn’t realise Serena’s sister was shot dead by a Crip gang member (Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)

Killing of Serena Williams’ sister and fan realisation

Following Serena’s Crip Walk performance at the Super Bowl, some viewers were alerted to the Crips connection to the Williams family through the shocking killing of Yetunde Price.

Yetunde was the half sister of Serena and Venus. But back in 2003 when she was just 31, she was shot in the head in a drive-by shooting by a Crips gang member.

Parked up in her SUV with her boyfriend, they had inadvertently positioned the car outside of a crack house in Compton. Crips gang members guarding the house got suspicious before opening fire on the car, believing it to be connected to a rival gang.

One bullet was shot in to Price’s head, with her being pronounced dead shortly after when in hospital.

Robert Edward Maxfield, then 25, pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter the day before the third trial for Price’s killing. The first two trials had ended in a mistrial.

Serena and her family were naturally devastated by the loss, with her saying in 2004, as per PEOPLE: “She was a wonderful person. We’re dealing with it however we can. Some days are better than others.”

Serena and Yetunde months before the latter was shot dead (SGranitz/WireImage for ESPN)

Those watching the Super Bowl took to social media after discovering that Serena’s sister had been killed by a Crip gang member.

Reacting to Serena then doing the famous Crip Walk on TV, one viewer said: “Serena Williams’ sister was killed by a Crip in a drive-by shooting and she had the audacity to Crip Walk during Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show… indefensible.”

Another wrote: “You have the audacity to Crip Walk when your sister was killed by a Crip.”

And a third said: “Oh my God… why did I just find out Serena Williams sister was killed by Crips… she must really hate Drake cause what the f**k?”

Responding to previous suggesting the dance glamorised gang violence, sister Venus said: “It was just a dance.”

On performing at the 2025 Super Bowl, Serena’s husband Alexis Ohanian posted to Instagram saying: “Some of y’all have no idea how criticised Serena was for this same dance at Wimbledon 13 years ago, and it shows. This is bigger than the music.”

Nicola Pritchard bought a four pack of the £2.50 knickers from Poundland – where due to economic factors things no longer all cost a pound to buy – for her 10-year-old daughter.

However, they were confused over what a symbol on the front of the clothes meant and after translating it the 40-year-old mum said she was ‘gobsmacked’ to discover what it said.

Running the symbol through a translator she found that it meant ‘cat’ or ‘pussycat’ in Japanese and Chinese.

A mum was recently left ‘gobsmacked’ by a set of children’s underwear in Poundland (CARL COURT/AFP via Getty Images)

She immediately contacted Poundland to complain about the symbol and said the product should be taken off the shelves. Poundland said the clothes were part of a wider Japanese-themed cat range and they ‘understand why’ the mum contacted them.

“They were in a pack of four and you could only see the front pair was gingham,” Nicola said of the Poundland pants she’d bought for her daughter.

“So I put into Google Translate and Google Lens and it said that the symbol on the front of her knickers is the slang term for cat. In other words, it’s ‘pussy, puss, moggy’, something like that.

The mum ran the symbol through a translator and was horrified to learn what it said (Kennedy News and Media)

“If the pants had anything to do with cats, like pictures of cats or something like that [that would be fine] but there’s no correlation as to why this symbol should be on there, especially on children’s pants.

“I was absolutely gobsmacked. These come in ages three to four in Poundland.”

She emailed Poundland and claimed they told her they’d investigate the matter, but says that when she went into the shop a few days later she could see the underwear was still being sold.

Nicola said ‘it seemed like they weren’t taking this seriously at all’ and found it ‘baffling’, though she reckons that ‘Poundland didn’t know’ the mistake they were making and she doesn’t ‘think they’ve done it intentionally’.

Nicola Pritchard thinks it can’t have been intentional from Poundland and they must have made an error in production somewhere (Kennedy News and Media)

She’s hoping the clothes are recalled before others buy them for their children.

A Poundland spokesman said: “While these are part of a wider Japanese-themed cat range that includes socks and vests, we understand why Nicola questioned one item out of the context of the whole range.

“It goes without saying we apologise for that, and we appreciate her getting in touch with us.”

There’s something quite interesting about spotting celebrities hanging out with each other outside of the obligatory work events or awards shows.

And Kristen’s circle certainly isn’t disappointing, with a whole host of famous faces gathered around one table.

While the actress herself wasn’t actually in the photo – which was shared on social media – there were plenty of other celebrities enjoying an outdoor dinner.

Kristen Bell shared the photo on Instagram (Amy Sussman/WireImage)

It’s believed Kristen was either at the head of the table or perhaps behind the camera herself.

So who was there?

Meanwhile, further down the table was Jason Bateman, as well as Parks and Recreation star Adam Scott.

It doesn’t stop there, either. Opposite him was Kristen’s husband, Dax Shepard and even The Tonight Show host, Jimmy Fallon.

If you thought that list was more than enough for one dinner party, there’s actually more.

The dinner party featured heaps of celebs (Instagram/@kristenanniebell)

Also at the table was comedian John Mulaney, actor Olivia Munn, YouTube star Mark Rober, Shiri Appleby, Jake Tapper and actor and writer, Tim Curcio.

Wow.

People had a lot to say on the photo – which was shared back in summer 2023 – with one person writing: “This photo from Kristen Bell’s dinner party gets increasingly WTF as you go down the table.”

While another added: “Now that’s a dinner table! Love it!” And a third said: “Oh no we’re not JEALOUS not at all.”

Meanwhile, a fourth commented: “I’m just imagining being in a small Idaho airport and seeing this hoard of A-listers arriving lmao.”

Kimmel reportedly hosts the event each year (Mindy Small/Getty Images)

And a fifth wrote: “I’m sorry but KBell, JenAniston, Courtney Cox, Shiri Appleby, Jason Bateman and more. What a dream table.”

Well, it turns out that it isn’t actually Kristen’s dinner party, but Jimmy Fallon’s.

The photo was allegedly taken from his annual trip to South Fork Lodge. And it sounds like Kristen is a regular attendee, with the actor previously explaining: “Jimmy Kimmel and [his wife, Jimmy Kimmel Live producer] Molly McNearney, who are two of our best friends, organise it.”

Now that’s an event you’d definitely want an invite to, right?

In the news everyone worldwide was waiting for, the newest episode of Spain’s Temptation Island has released.

For those new here, the TV show features couples who decide to test their relationship with each other by splitting up into two villas full of attractive single men and women.

This, of course, went horribly wrong.

At various points members of each villa are given insights into the other, allowing them to see how far their partners are taking it.

One man, Montoya, was made to watch by screen as his girlfriend slept with another man, forcing him to leg it down the coast to try and find her villa in a fashion that made Troy Bolton’s golf course routine look reasonable.

After the last episode where both Montoya and Anita broke the rules in the aftermath of the sh**ging scandal, in the newest episode, each is not allowed to watch the screens when given updates on the other.

Instead, the other contestants watch for them and tell them what’s going on.

Montoya gave Usain Bolt a run for his money (Mitele)

Anita is shown in floods of tears as the other girls describe how Montoya and another girl, Gabriella, are going to bed with one another.

The lights go out and, while it’s not clear if they go the whole way in the same shocking fashion as Anita in the last episode, it is racy enough to force Anita to turn around and look.

Over the course of a four-minute video we have cut down for time, she looks at various points as he goes to bed with another woman, kisses her in a pool, and she licks his crotch area.

By the end, her mascara is running due to the tears from experiencing the same situation that caused Montoya to fall to his knees and leg it down the beach, spawning the now iconic ‘Montoya, por favor’ from host Sandra.

Meanwhile, others point to how engrossing it is, even if you don’t speak Spanish.

One person replied: “I was watching this sh*t like I understand Spanish,” while another posted: “This Montoya and his babe just torturing themselves. Both will never forget this whole experience.”

Well for anyone wondering, Anita and Montoya apparently are both back together post-filming, Spanish media reports (via Capital FM), so apparently watching one another cheat cancels out, right?

A man and his son were reportedly removed by security for shouting ‘garlic bread’ numerous times, while a woman was taken out as Kay compared her to Emmerdale star Lisa Riley.

According to The Sun, Kay said to her: “Have a drink, have we? Go on, off you go Lisa Riley.”

In a statement provided to Good Morning Britain, Kay said he ‘felt he had no option but to remove the hecklers and said they were spoiling the show’.

“There comes a point when dealing with repeated hecklers simply isn’t enough. It’s not something you ever want to do but it becomes a point when it’s no longer fair to everyone around.”

According to the Mirror, a man who was removed for shouting ‘garlic bread’, a known catchphrase of the comedian, got a positive response from Kay when he said it in the first half of the gig.

However, when he said it again in the second half of the show during a joke about kidney stones he claimed security guards went over and removed him and his son, saying ‘Peter Kay doesn’t like people shouting out’.

According to the Manchester Evening News, the lights came on and Kay picked the man out, and while he first thought it was a joke before ‘six or seven’ members of security came to escort him out.

Kay is currently on tour. (Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage)

Another member of the audience reportedly shouted out ‘we love you’ to the comedian and was asked to leave, and this is the point where Kay made a remark comparing her to Lisa Riley.

Riley herself said: “Please draw a line under this now, I am not offended, never was offended. I love Peter Kay to pieces. Laughter is my favourite medicine.”

The comedian is currently on his Peter Kay Live: Better Late Than Never… Again! tour, which is taking him around the UK and has proved to be very popular with tickets selling out all over the place.