The Traitors finalist Alexander Dragonetti has inspired people to donate more than £70,000 to a charity after he spoke about his brother’s story on the show.

In an interview on The UK Tonight With Sarah-Jane Mee, Mr Dragonetti said more than £70,000 had been raised for Mencap, an organisation supporting people with learning disabilities.

“The response has been fantastic. Anybody who supports or raises awareness on what to me is an incredibly important topic, I’m so incredibly grateful. The response has been fantastic.”

The former British diplomat opened up about how his late brother, who had Global Developmental Delay and autism, saying for a week a year his brother would go to a summer camp where he also volunteered to help other children.

The 38-year-old described how his brother would be “the centre of attention”, adding: “Everyone would flock around and he had this energy where he just drew people to him. And he was also slightly cooler than I was. I just stood there and waved, bathed in his reflected glory. It was such fun for him.”

Mr Dragonetti said his brother, who died aged 17, would have been really excited to see him appear on TV as part of the BBC show.

He said while it is “fantastic having special needs children” it can also be “really challenging”, adding: “Often parents don’t have much of a voice. And if I can create or help to create that voice for parents to help get them the support they need, that would be probably my most proud outcome from the show.”

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‘I was actually texting Leanne during the final episode’

Mr Dragonetti did not win the latest series of The Traitors. He lost to project manager Jake Brown and former soldier Leanne Quigley, who won the £94,600 prize pot.

But after a tense finale, is he still friends with his fellow contestants?

“We actually are all friends now,” he revealed. “I was actually texting Leanne during the final episode, saying ‘I’m so sorry to have accused you,’ and she was texting me saying, ‘Oh my God, I got it so wrong.’

“So we’ve actually become really close since the end of that. And it’s been really nice to get to know each other in a slightly less pressurised way.”

Told he had “become the nation’s sweetheart” and asked if he was still single, Mr Dragonetti said: “I am. No further comment.”

Singer and actress Marianne Faithfull has died at the age of 78.

A spokesperson for her music promotion company Republic Media said: “It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of the singer, songwriter and actress Marianne Faithfull.

“Marianne passed away peacefully in London today, in the company of her loving family.

“She will be dearly missed.”

Faithfull was best known for her 1964 hit As Tears Go By, written by Sir Mick Jagger, with whom she had a well-publicised relationship, and fellow Rolling Stones star Keith Richards.

She also starred in films including The Girl On A Motorcycle and 2007’s Irina Palm, for which she was nominated for a European Film Award for Best Actress.

In recent years, she provided voice work for the 2021 remake of Dune and 2023’s Wild Summon.

She and Sir Mick began seeing each other in 1966 and became one of the most glamorous couples of Swinging London.

He paid tribute to his “wonderful friend and beautiful singer and a great actress”, and said he was “so saddened” by her death, as “she was so much part of my life for so long”.

Next to a picture of the pair arm in arm on Instagram, Sir Mick said Faithfull “will always be remembered”.

His Stones bandmates Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards also paid tribute, with Richards posting on Instagram that he was “so sad and will miss her.”

His post was accompanied by a picture of the pair enjoying a drink together.

Wood wrote on Jagger’s post: “Farewell dear Marianne.”

Born in 1946, Faithfull started her singing career in 1964 after being discovered by the Stones’ manager Andrew Loog Oldham.

Her self-titled debut album was released a year later, with As Tears Go By reaching number nine on the UK singles chart.

She went on to have a string of successful singles, including Come And Stay With Me, This Little Bird, and Summer Nights, and famously dated Sir Mick from 1966 to 1970.

Faithfull was prolific throughout the 60s, releasing six albums – some only in the UK and some for the US – as well as contributing backing vocals to the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine and inspiring the Stones’ Sympathy For The Devil.

That decade also saw her star in films like 1967’s I’ll Never Forget What’s’isname – where she was one of the first people to say f*** in a mainstream studio film – 1968’s The Girl On A Motorcycle, and Tony Richardson’s 1969 adaptation of Hamlet.

Her affair with Sir Mick was notorious, with the couple being arrested in 1968 for possession of cannabis.

She was also infamously found by police wearing only a bear skin rug when they arrived for a drugs raid at Richards’ home in 1967.

After breaking up with the Stones frontman, Faithfull spent two years homeless in Soho while suffering from anorexia and heroin addiction, before she started living in a squat.

She wrote in her 1994 autobiography: “For me, being a junkie was an admirable life. It was total anonymity, something I hadn’t known since I was 17.

“As a street addict in London, I finally found it. I had no telephone, no address.”

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In 1979, following success in Ireland with the country-themed Dreamin’ My Dreams, Faithfull released the Grammy-nominated Broken English – widely considered her best album.

She later achieved critical acclaim as a jazz and blues singer with 1987’s Strange Weather and went to rehab that same decade.

Faithfull released a total of 21 solo albums throughout her career. Her most recent was the spoken word album She Walks In Beauty from 2021, which saw her work with frequent Nick Cave collaborator Warren Ellis.

She made a full recovery from breast cancer in 2006.

Rihanna has attended court for the first time in support of her partner A$AP Rocky – as his former friend gave evidence about the moment the star allegedly fired a gun in his direction.

The superstar singer, who has two toddler sons with the rapper, sat next to his mother and sister, out of view of the Los Angeles criminal courtroom’s cameras on Wednesday.

Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, is on trial accused of firing a handgun at his former friend Terell Ephron, known as A$AP Relli.

He has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.

Before the trial began last week, the star’s lawyers said there was a possibility Rihanna may attend at some point to show support, as the court weighed up any potential impact of her celebrity on the case.

When jurors were selected, prosecutors asked whether Rihanna’s connection, especially if she appeared in the courtroom, would affect their decisions.

Nearly half of the initial group said they had heard of A$AP Rocky before coming to court, while nearly all said they had heard of Rihanna. All said they felt it would not have an impact.

It was not clear whether the jury could see Rihanna or were aware of her presence as they watched the testimony. She entered with the help of security before reporters arrived in court, according to US media reports, and was not seen with Rocky outside.

She also left separately through a restricted exit, according to the Associated Press news agency.

The star, known for hits including Umbrella, Diamonds and Work, was in court as Ephron, the trial’s key witness, began his evidence.

Who is the key witness and what has he testified?

Ephron and Rocky were members of the A$AP crew of creators at a New York high school, the court has previously heard.

They were once close but their relationship broke down after Rocky became famous, Ephron said.

Rocky allegedly fired the gun at him on a street in Hollywood in 2021.

Giving evidence, Ephron said he had been shouting angrily at the rapper, who was walking away after an initial confrontation and a scuffle.

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Rocky then pulled a gun from his waistband and held it in the air, Ephron testified.

“He turned around and then it was like BOOM!” he told the jury. “The whole thing was like a movie, he kind of like pointed down and he shot the first shot.”

He said his hand felt “hot” and added: “I was hit. Or I was grazed. I didn’t have a hole or nothing.”

Ephron said he grabbed a mutual friend after he alleged the first shot was fired and stood behind him for protection. He said he did not see Rocky fire a second shot, and that the rapper ran away moments later.

What have Rocky’s lawyers argued?

Rocky’s lawyer previously told the court the gun was not real – that the rapper fired shots from a starter pistol he carried as a prop.

Ephron knew this, he said. However, when questioned about it in court, Ephron said: “Oh it was a real gun”.

The court heard he has received death threats since the incident and that his career in music management has dwindled.

“It’s been a living hell,” Ephron said.

From court to Grammys

Rocky was raised in Harlem and had his mainstream breakthrough when his first studio album topped the Billboard 200 in 2013. The second, released in 2015, did the same.

His career was set to take off even further in 2025 – starting with his third Grammy nomination at this year’s awards ceremony, which takes place on Sunday.

The rapper is also set to headline the Rolling Loud Music Festival, will star opposite Denzel Washington in a crime drama directed by Spike Lee, and is also the co-chair of the Met Gala fashion event in May.

He faces up to 24 years in prison if convicted.

The trial continues.