Month: February 2025

Taking place in heart of New Orleans at the Caesars Superdome, 75,000 people will watch live from the stadium when it kicks off at 6.30pm local time (11.30pm GMT) on Sunday (9 February).

While it is a sporting event at its core, the Super Bowl is so much more than that.

From the adverts to the halftime show (hello Kendrick Lamar) and the snacks, it has evolved in to a cultural moment in the US calendar that the world is becoming more and more welcoming to.

And with Taylor Swift cheering on beau Travis Kelce for a second year in a row, combined with the confirmation President Donald Trump will be in attendance, the likelihood of a record TV audience looks a safe bet.

In 2024, the Super Bowl took place at the $2 billion rated Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

For the big event last year, you were looking at $13.99 for a Coors Light, Budweiser or Bud Light on draught. It was $15.99 for premium beers such as Model Especial, Michelob Ultra, Kona Big Wave, or Stella Artois.

A ‘deluxe can’ was $15.99, coming in either Budweiser or Bud Light form, with a ‘premium can’ coming in at $17.99.

For Super Bowl LIX, it’s set to be $17 for large domestic beers, according to reports.

If you want to go a bit fancier and go for a premium cocktail, such as a Frozen Irish Coffee, Pina Colada, or Bayou Strawberry Daiquiri, you are looking at $18.99.

But those going can hold off on the tears, with hot dogs only setting you back $4.

A pizza is $13, which isn’t the worst thing we’ve ever heard.

Those wanting to splash out a bit more than the basic deals can spend $60 on a Don Julio 1942 tequila cocktail called Voodoo Magic.

Then there is a bottle of Veuve Clique Brut, setting punters back $200 a go.

Baron Cohen, 53, and Fisher, 49, tied the knot in 2010 and they have two daughters and a son together, but last year they announced their marriage was over.

The actors released a joint statement explaining that they’d jointly filed for divorce in 2023, saying: “After a long tennis match lasting over twenty years, we are finally putting our racquets down. In 2023 we jointly filed to end our marriage.

“We have always prioritized our privacy, and have been quietly working through this change. We forever share in our devotion and love for our children. We sincerely appreciate your respecting our family’s wish for privacy.”

Speaking to The Times, Fisher has opened up on how her family life has changed since the split and the impact it’s had on her.

She said: “It’s the most difficult thing that I’ve been through and I’ve learnt so much about myself in the process. I never imagined my family being separated but we are committed and loving parents.”

Fisher said her own parents splitting was ‘very harmonious’ and hopes to use that as the model for she and Baron Cohen co-parenting their three children.

“Kids are the most important thing and you want them to really feel safe and loved,” she said of her parenting goals following the split.

“We are building a new, healthy version of what our family looks like and putting as much care and love into it as possible.”

The couple co-parent their children in the UK, with Fisher having left Los Angeles saying ‘it definitely was an unappealing concept to live in Trump’s America’.

Elsewhere in the interview she spoke about her habit of eating raw or lightly cooked meals a few times a week and whether or not she’s ready to start dating again after her divorce.

Apparently the answer is no, as she said it was ‘not on my to-do list’ and jokingly hyperventilated as she said she was ‘not ready to think about any of that’.

Shortly before Baron Cohen and Fisher publicly announced their split Rebel Wilson alleged that Baron Cohen was ‘being an a**hole’ who mistreated her on the set of The Brothers Grimsby, allegations which Baron Cohen’s representatives said were ‘demonstrably false’.

The accusation came in her book, Rebel Rising, but she said she didn’t think she was the reason behind their split and said that the timing just ‘wasn’t great’.

Greta Marie Otteson and her South African partner Els Arno Quinton were found dead on Boxing Day at the Hoi An Silverbell Villa in Vietnam by hotel workers.

As there were no traumatic injuries, their deaths came as a shock, but it would soon be revealed that the limoncello they had consumed two nights before contained toxic compounds which would kill the couple who thought it was a ‘hangover’.

The travellers were enjoying living in Vietnam after having moved there last February.

They had gone out for dinner on Christmas Eve at a restaurant and when they got home at approximately 10.00pm, they’d had two bottles of limoncello delivered to their reception desk from a different restaurant.

Investigators believe this ‘homemade’ liqueur was, in fact, laced with a fatal dose of methanol.

A source later revealed that Otteson text her parents, complaining she could see ‘black spots’ in her vision.

The source added to The Times: “A local bar owner and a fantastic friend called over and wanted to take them to hospital but they refused. Sadly I think it was too late by then. Police forensics established the limoncello, which had been delivered, was the source.”

That person was Todd Ford, a close friend of the couple who visited them at 10:00pm on Christmas Day, which was 24 hours after the couple drank the laced drink.

He explained that Ottenson had been suffering from what she believed to be ‘the worst hangover ever’ and was in bed drinking coconut juice after having thrown up when he visited them.

He too shared that she had complained of seeing ‘black spots’ in her vision.

Ford explained to The Times that he didn’t see Quinton, but went to check up on him.

He said: “I went up and I knocked. I called his name. I didn’t see any lights on in the room. I got Greta water and went to check on her. I said: ‘Do you want me to break the door down?’ She was like, ‘He probably fell asleep playing his video games and his hangover’s probably even worse than mine’.

“She wasn’t concerned. But I believe in hindsight that he probably had already [died] at that stage because he consumed a lot more than her.”

According to Ford, she said her ‘hangover was subsiding but she had some vision issues that were worrying her, but when asked if they should go to the hospital, she said she would ‘sleep it off.’

Sadly, the pair would be found dead the very next day.

Vietnamese police later confirmed Otteson and Quinton’s deaths were caused by methanol poisoning from contaminated alcohol.

Typically found in antifreeze, paint thinners and windscreen-washer fluid, methanol can cause poisoning if consumed, which can lead to brain damage, organ failure, blindness and death. Symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, dizziness, changes to vision and abdominal pain.

Such as the case with the couple, it takes around 24 hours after consuming a methanol laced drink for these symptoms to appear, as the chemical becomes toxic once the body metabolises it.

Otteson’s parents, Susan and Paul, said in a statement: “Both Greta and Arno were experienced worldwide travellers. They found their perfect home and were incredibly happy with their life in Vietnam, planning for the future.

“The Vietnamese police have now confirmed that the cause of death was methanol poisoning, as verified by the autopsy results.”

A bartender named Le Tan Gia was arrested earlier this week, and stands accused of using 70 percent medical alcohol (which is only intended for disinfection use) when he prepared the two bottles.

He has since been charged with violating food safety regulations, with a police spokesman saying: “The Criminal Investigation Police Department of Quang Nam Province arrested the suspect on charges of violating food safety regulations.

“The prosecution of the defendant will continue, based on the evidence he served the victims methanol drinks that caused their deaths. Currently, the case is being investigated and handled by the police force in accordance with the law.”

Former Love Island star Jack Fincham has opened up on the negative impact addiction has had on his life, as he revealed that he had spent over £1 million on alcohol, drugs and gambling.

Fincham was recently sentenced to spend six weeks in prison after his dog bit a man. Last month, he was released on bail pending an appeal.

He had gained fame in 2018 for winning that year’s iteration of Love Island alongside Dani Dyer, but after his sentencing in which he was also ordered to pay fines, his representative said he had ‘no savings’.

Fincham recently told The Sun in an exclusive interview that he could not blame Love Island for what has happened in his life, admitting that he ‘did that myself’ and is an addict.

“I can’t say Love Island ruined my life – I did that myself. I, Jack Fincham, am an addict,” he said. “I feel like a failure, utterly mortified by the things I have done. I had the world at my feet and I screwed it up.

“Embarrassed just doesn’t touch it. It is hideous. I cry when I think about how I’ve let people down. I have blown more than a million pounds thanks to drugs, booze and gambling.

“Drugs helped my relationship with Dani fail. I was absent, my priorities were wrong, I wasn’t a great boyfriend. I am determined to change my future.

“There’s times I wish I’d never been in the public eye and just stayed exactly as I was. Destruction was always in me, but fame and money made it happen quicker.”

Fincham said that the last time he drank alcohol was Christmas Day, and said that on New Year’s Day there was ‘no drugs or booze for the first time in my adult life’.

He opened up on an incident last year where he jumped over a hotel balcony while on holiday with partner Chloe Brockett, saying he went on IMDb and thought ‘s**t, I’ve done 30 TV shows’ but felt he had ‘nothing to show for this’ and thought he’d ‘messed up’ his life.

He said: “I ordered room service – Sambucas, Prosecco, five vodkas at a time. Bang, bang, bang, done. I started gambling on my phone, convinced I was going to win hundreds of thousands of pounds. But then I lost my last penny – or thought I had.

“I was that off my head I hadn’t pressed the button. But I thought I had. I was saying, ‘I don’t want to be here anymore, I’ve had enough. I am a f**king loser.’

“Chloe went downstairs and told them to stop serving me. She asked them to call an ambulance because she was scared I was going to kill myself.”

While she was gone Jack threw himself over the balcony in their hotel, and said that if he’d gone over at a different angle, ‘I may not be here today’.

Please drink responsibly. If you want to discuss any issues relating to alcohol in confidence, contact Drinkline on 0300 123 1110, 9am–8pm weekdays and 11am–4pm weekends for advice and support.

Or if you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can talk to FRANK. You can call 0300 123 6600, text 82111 or contact through their website 24/7, or livechat from 2pm-6pm any day of the week.

By now you’re likely more than familiar with a clip of a man watching his girlfriend get it on with another bloke via a livestream on a tropical island. Distraught, he screams and sinks to his knees in the sand before sprinting the length of a the beach to confront her at the vila.

That, my friends, is the moment that is currently breaking the internet – watch here if you’ve somehow missed it:

Here is a timeline of everything we know about contestants José Carlos Montoya, girlfriend Anita Williams and their viral moment which has rewritten the history of reality shows.

Montoya and Anita sign up for La Isla de las Tentaciones aka Temptation Island

After a year together, Montoya and Anita decided to celebrate their relationship milestone by signing up for a series that sees couples housed in separate villas and tempted into having an affair by numerous singletons. A great idea for a TV show, maybe not so much in real life.

Should their relationship survive this ultimate test, then Montoya and Anita were reportedly taking it as a sign to take the plunge into becoming parents together.

The couple enter the show… and things go wrong

Given everything we already know about the couple, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Montoya and Anita’s stint on La Isla de las Tentaciones hasn’t quite gone to plan.

Given the fact that full episodes are region locked and unavailable to viewers outside of Spain, it’s difficult to fully piece together a complete timeline on what happened between Montoya and Anitia, however, we do know that neither party is fully innocent in the matter.

Anita throws the first stone

According to numerous recaps online, Anita was tempted first after being pursued by a VIP single named Manuel. Footage of the pair kissing in a pool would be shown to a distraught Montoya at the boys’ bonfire ceremony, to which he reacted by ripping his shirt off in an Incredible Hulk fashion before booting an iPad over.

At a separate bonfire ceremony, Montoya has to be restrained by other contestants as he’s forced to sit through Anita and Manuel chatting in bed together.

After seeing the footage of Anita and Manuel, Montoya decides to give his girlfriend a taste of her own medicine by getting to know a woman in his villa named Gabriella.

Anita is then shown footage of her boyfriend receiving a lap dance from Gabriella at a girls’ bonfire ceremony and is absolutely furious by what she sees, prompting her to go all in on her growing connection with Manuel.

We’re now at the point were things truly kick off between Montoya and Anita, due to the live-stream sex clip.

Aware that his girlfriend has decided to go all the way with another man, Montoya sprints to the vila and begins shouting his feelings aloud, with the moment, of course, caught on camera.

Anita is initially unapologetic for her actions, calling her partner a ‘scoundrel’, before the gravity of the situation begins to sink in.

Now fully remorseful, a tearful Anita runs off to find Montoya on the beach. Their reunion is promptly broken up by the show’s host Sandra Baranda, who tells the pair they are breaking show rules.

Following Montoya’s now infamous crash out moment on the beach, the 30-year-old has since addressed his feelings on one of the show’s spin-off programmes, where he told viewers: “I don’t believe it, what you can’t do is say that I’m the love of your life and get into bed with someone else.”

Montoya also faced allegations of exaggerating his behaviour from another contestant, as it would appear that he is no stranger to Spanish reality television.

The flamenco singer didn’t take the accusation well, firing back at his co-star Kiko Jiménez with the following: “Montoya goes where he shines, that’s what bothers you… I’ve earned things because I’ve been in love with my partner from minute one.”

Where are Montoya and Anita now?

Reports about the status of Montoya and Anita’s relationship are currently unclear, and likely won’t be fully resolved until the season of La Isla de las Tentaciones ends.

Which means it’s up to our friends in Spain to make sure we stay in the loop.

There’s only one British TV show that can equally make viewers laugh, gasp in shock and become totally outraged.

Headed by none other than comedian Lee Mack, The 1% Club is famous for its knack for leaving viewers at home confused or even annoyed by its questions.

Not only does it pickle your brain, but the questions also throw the contestants for a loop too, especially this one question that had everyone up in arms.

However, Mack, gave the contestants a choice of whether they would like to each take a share of £10,000 or carry on and chance that only one of them would win £99,000.

Obviously, they chose to carry on with the question and risk their 10k for a tidy 99k, and who wouldn’t?

For this question, a contestant called Matthew won after being able to solve what seems like an incredibly sly question, and viewers had a lot to say about it.

The question Mack asked was: “If you remove all the underlined letters from the sentence below, what word can be spelt if you rearrange all of the remaining letters.”

The sentence they had to pick the letters from was: ANIMAL TOSHUNINSTAMPEDE.

Now, here’s where fans became divided by this sentence.

When you take away all of the underlined letter, you’re left with these letters: Thpelean.

If you rearrange them to something mildly readable, you’ve got the correct answer: Elephant.

However, while many people at home were convinced that there’s just no way that anyone can get the correct answer with the time given on the clock, others were quick to say that they would have made it to The 1% Club.

On social media, they battled it out, with one person accusing the show: “They were sneaky with the letter P , I’m sure a lot of people missed it, crafty behaviour from the writers of the show #The1PercentClub.”

Another wrote: “Normally good at anagrams but couldn’t get that in 30 seconds.”

Someone else wrote: “Wasn’t seeing that, congratulations to the winner!” while another said: “Nthape Pathne? Nooo Thaphne? Nooo Uhhhh….. Got nothing #The1PercentClub It was Elephant! I’m not in the 1% club *crys*”

Viewers who were quick on the ball and were able to get the answer had a different reaction, though.

One said: “Yes I did it again 2 weeks running. I’ve just finished playing The 1% Club. #the1percentclub.”

Another noticed that the jumbled word was a clue in itself, writing: “Elephant the clue was there.”

The Irish boxer had been fighting Welshman Nathan Howells at Ulster Hall in Belfast on 2 February and was stopped in the ninth round of the fight.

He was assessed in the ring and then taken out on a stretcher before being rushed to hospital.

His promoter Mark Dunlop explained at the time that John had been ‘assessed by the onsite medical team of the British Boxing Board of Control and swiftly taken to Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital for further treatment’.

At the hospital, doctors found that the boxer had an ‘intracranial haemorrhage’ and the 28-year-old went into surgery to relieve pressure on his brain.

Sadly, a statement released last night (8 February) confirmed that Cooney had died a week after the boxing match that had resulted in him being hospitalised.

The statement, posted by Dunlop on behalf of Cooney’s family, praised the work done by hospital staff and thanked everyone who had wished them well during such a difficult time.

“After a week of battling for his life John Cooney has sadly passed away,” the statement said. “Mr and Mrs Cooney and his fiancée Emmaleen would like to thank the staff at Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital who have worked tirelessly to save John’s life and for everyone who has sent messages of support and prayers.

“He was a much loved son, brother and partner and it will take us all a lifetime to forget how special he was. RIP John ‘the Kid’ Cooney.”

The Irish boxer had won the Celtic super-featherweight title by defeating Liam Gaynor in Dublin in 2023 but spent a year out of the ring afterwards with a hand injury.

Cooney had been victorious upon his return to the boxing ring in October against Tampela Maharusi.

Figures in the world of boxing have been paying tribute to John Cooney’s memory, with Barry McGuigan calling him a ‘fine young boxer’ and said he wanted to send his ‘deepest sympathies’ to the 28-year-old’s family.

He also told the BBC it was ‘terrifying that this could happen to a 28-year-old kid who looked in the prime of his life’ and was a ‘just a lovely, sweet kid’.

Boxing champion Conrad Cummings said: “John Cooney the warrior gave up his fight & passed away this evening.

“I am deeply saddened, I can’t begin to think of the hurt his poor fiancee & family are going through. I pray they find the strength.”

Taking place on Sunday (9 February), the world will be watching once again as Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs square off against Jalen Hurts’ Eagles at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

That will very much include the extremely famous girlfriend of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, music sensation Taylor Swift.

And with multiple Grammy award-winning Kendrick Lamar taking to the stage for the halftime show, all eyes will be on whether he inflames his beef with Drake even more than he recently has.

The NFL is a growing sport on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, with the UK and Europe outreach programmes a huge opportunity for league bosses when it comes to making money and expanding the game.

It’s why in 2024, more than 3.4 million Brits tuned in live overnight to watch the event despite kick off being at 11.30pm and not ending until the very early hours of the following Monday morning.

Over in the USA the game is being broadcasted on Fox and for free on streaming platform Tubi.

In the UK, Super Bowl LIX broadcast rights belong to Sky Sports and DAZN for those who pay for those subscription services.

Thankfully, it is also available on free-to-air channels, with ITV1 and ITVX also having the rights for the 2025 event.

But if you decide to tune in, you could end up facing a potential £1,000 fine if you don’t have the correct paperwork.

We’re talking about a TV Licence, which is a necessary legal requirement if you end up watching live TV of any kind.

This also counts for live on-demand content such as on YouTube, Netflix live events, and ITVX.

Daniel McAfee, Head of Legal Operations at Lawhive, says: “Under UK law, any live television broadcast requires a valid TV licence, regardless of the streaming platform.”

A TV licensing spokesperson previously said that the service ‘has a duty to enforce the law when there is evidence that someone has avoided paying for a TV Licence’.

Most people tend to have magical memories of ‘The Happiest Place on Earth’ but theme parks have sadly been home to several tragedies throughout history.

And in 1974, Deborah Gail Stone lost her life at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.

The 18-year-old has taken up the job as a hostess to earn some extra cash ahead off going to college following her high school graduation, where she landed a role greeting visitors as they entered the newly opened ‘America Sings’.

Featuring a cast of audio-animatronic animals, the attraction had replaced ‘Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress’ which had moved to Florida’s Magic Kingdom.

It was basically a rotating theatre, with the cast singing songs from America’s musical history. The building had an outer ring of six theatres, all connected by divider walls which revolved mechanically around every four minutes as the show progressed.

And while Disney fans were thrilled over the new attraction, tragedy struck just nine days after the first show.

It’s believed the deadly chain of events occurred during the 45-second interval.

READ MORE:

ALL THE DEADLY INCIDENTS THAT HAPPENED AT THE WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS THEME PARK

SEVERAL PEOPLE INJURED AFTER CHRISTMAS FAIRGROUND RIDE ‘COLLAPSED’

Stone’s role saw her welcoming the next low of theatregoers during this time before the outer ring rotated, carrying the audience to the first scene of the show.

At around 11pm on the evening of 8 July 1974, it’s believed she approached the area between the rotating wall and the stationary stage wall too closely – and somehow became trapped in between them.

The exact circumstances of her death remain a mystery, as it is not clear how she got herself stuck in the gap. But the young Disneyland employee ended up suffering one of the worst deaths imaginable, as she was horrifically crushed to death between the two walls.

The audience seated for the next America Sings show reportedly thought Stone’s screams of terror were part of the show – although one member of the crowd realised something more sinister was going on.

An article at the time from The Los Angeles Times told how Daniel Robison, a member of the US Air Force, had been in the front row of an adjoining theatre with his family when the incident occurred.

He told investigators he had witnessed what he thought was a child being dragged between the two walls, while hearing a terrifying scream.

Following Stone’s shocking death, Disney launched an investigation into the incident and promptly closed America Sings and it reopened just three days later.

Safety lights were installed by the operators while the walls inside of the rotating attraction were then swapped to breakaway versions, so that it could give someone a chance of escape if a similar accident occurred.

Stone’s parents reportedly filed a lawsuit against Disneyland following her death, which is said to have resulted in them receiving a ‘small settlement’.

America Sings eventually closed for good on 10 April 1988.

While that might be a dream for people, it also seems highly unlikely you’d even pass the first round of questions during an interview. However, that’s not actually true and apparently, it’s pretty straightforward.

To prove this, Bezos once interviewed a potential Amazon employee by asking her just two questions.

Then he hired her on the spot.

Ann Hiatt applied and was then interviewed for a role at Amazon in 2002.

I don’t know about you, but I’d be shaking in my boots if I had to be interviewed by the man himself. So you can only imagine how terrified she felt when she ended up facing 61-year-old Bezos (happy birthday!) as part of the recruitment process.

But at least she wasn’t asked these three crazy questions. So, it could have been worse.

While she had to pass a number of smaller interviews to get to this stage, once it was Bezos’ turn to suss her out, things went quickly, as she revealed on the CNBC show CNBC Make It.

Hiatt, who was interviewing to be a Junior Assistant, made the revelation after leaving Amazon.

She said Bezos began by asking her a simple brain teaser that began with him saying: “I’ll do the math.”

“I want you to estimate the number of panes of glass in the city of Seattle,” he said.

This forced Hiatt to seriously think on her feet to come up with something that resembled an answer.

I’m not going to lie, if I’d been in her shoes, I’d have probably panicked and run out of the room.

But not Hiatt, who told Bezos that the best way to establish a number would involve taking the city’s population, and then creating a figure depending on whether they had a home, transportation, an office, and a school.

“So I suggested that we base the estimate on averages of those,” she said.

She then worked with Bezos and the pair ‘got down into every possible scenario, group, anomaly and ways to account for these exceptions’.

The hopeful assistant said it was thrilling to watch one of the world’s richest men come up with the figure itself.

“That looks about right,” he said afterwards.

The second question that he went on to ask her was a lot simpler, and it was one we’ve likely all been asked at some point.

“What are your career goals?” he questioned.

Hiatt explained that she wanted to work at Amazon because, in her opinion, the company was comprised of ambitious, passionate people who she wanted to learn from and emulate.

This was enough to seal the deal, and she said Bezos hired her on the spot.

Looking back on the interview process, she concluded: “He was measuring my potential by asking questions that would explore whether I had the grit, courage and motivation to run at his pace and be brave enough to consistently jump with him and level up.”