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With traditional channels and streaming services all constantly creating new content in a bid to win viewers, it’s not often that something genuinely unique hits our screens.

But new series Jungle is doing something different – it’s a musical which uses drill and rap – think Tinie Tempah rather than Julie Andrews, and as well as sounding great, it has a highly stylised look, set in a near futuristic neon London.

The cast is made up of musicians, many of them already well known, like Big Narstie, who told Sky News’ Backstage Podcast that the show is giving rappers a platform that they’ve not had before.

“It’ll be the first time you’ve seen drill music presented to you as art,” he said.

“Remember, most of the drill artists are just raw talent compared to other genres where they have specialists behind who can turn their raw talent into art, into an actual piece of material.”

Referencing his own behind-the-scenes team who have helped Narstie on his path to success, he says he’s aware that he’s one of the lucky ones.

“A lot of drill artists, they haven’t had half the chance to have any of [these] type of structural things,” he said.

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“These are young deprived kids who just spoke their emotion and people listened.”

Narstie. Pic: Amazon Studios
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Pic: Amazon Studios
Jungle. Pic: Amazon Studios
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Pic: Amazon Studios

With Jungle available to watch on streaming service Prime Video, it’s bound to see drill reaching a new audience as it’ll be available to viewers whether they are fans of the genre or not.

Narstie says he’s proud to be involved with the series, telling Sky News: “I’m just humbled to be a part of the legacy tree.

“Legacy is important to understand, where it comes from… and to be a part of the process on the way up when this music is starting to actually make its roots [to] get into the soil of life – I’m down for that.”

The show follows two young men who want to change their lives, but are forced to confront the consequences of their actions.

Big Narstie says his part in it, as a gang member, is only small, but that he loved filming it.

Jungle L-R, Slim (RA), Gogo (Ezra Elliott). Pic: Amazon Studios
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Slim played by RA and Gogo played by Ezra Elliott. Pic: Amazon Studios

“We only had a short period of time to get it done, but I couldn’t stop laughing, I just couldn’t stop laughing,” he said.

“So the producers was getting the right hump, but I couldn’t stop laughing because of what the characters of the police officers had to say.

“So as much as I was irritating everyone because I couldn’t stop laughing, you got to big up the scriptwriter man, because it was bloody funny.”

It’s not the rapper’s first acting role – he’s previously appeared in Anuvahood and the last movie in the Foot Soldier franchise.

Describing himself as a “fat Wesley Snipes” the musician admits he’s keen to do more, but joked: “I need to do a real powerful romcom where I can scream through a letterbox.”

Jungle is out on Prime Video now – hear our review on the latest episode of Backstage – the film and TV podcast from Sky News.

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Dua Lipa at Glastonbury: A masterclass from a proper pop star

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Dua Lipa at Glastonbury: A masterclass from a proper pop star

Dua Lipa has set the bar high for this year’s Glastonbury headliners, performing a slick set of hits to an enormous crowd at the festival’s famous Pyramid Stage.

The 28-year-old star told fans she had manifested the moment, but watching her command the stage – hit after hit played, voice soaring, dance moves effortless – it seems her talent was always going to bring her here.

Starting with Training Season, from her latest album Radical Optimism, Lipa kept the energy levels high throughout for tracks including Be The One, Levitating, Hallucinate, One Kiss, Physical, New Rules and Don’t Start Now.

As is Glastonbury tradition, fireworks lit the sky, during and after the set, while several costume changes also added to the sense of occasion – which the singer described as “the maddest night of my life”.

Dua Lipa. Pic: AP
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Pic: AP

Telling the crowd about manifesting the experience, she also hinted she would be staying on at the festival to enjoy the rest of the weekend (although probably not in a tent, I’m guessing).

“I have written this moment down. I’ve wished for it, I’ve dreamt, I’ve worked so hard in the hopes that maybe one day I’ll get to do it and I can’t believe I’m here,” she said.

“You know when I wrote it down, I was very specific, I said I really wanted to headline the Pyramid stage on a Friday night because then I knew I could party for the next two days in the best place on Earth.

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“I’m so grateful, little me would just be beside herself right now.”

Read more: Full line-up for Glastonbury 2024 – with space for surprises

Dua Lipa: PA
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Pic: PA

Lipa’s performance included Cold Heart, her Sir Elton John collaboration, which saw her greeting delighted fans at the front of the crowd, who had no doubt been there for hours beforehand to save the spot.

She followed another Glastonbury tradition by bringing out a surprise guest – Kevin Parker from Tame Impala, to perform The Less I Know The Better from his band’s 2015 album, Currents – and teased Barbie’s Dance The Night during one of her several costume changes.

The star also showed awareness of the festival audience, with 90s rave imagery on screens and confetti cannons blasting rainbows.

It’s something some big acts can get wrong – to go down in Glastonbury headlining history, it needs to be more than just an extra tour show.

Dua Lipa. Pic: PA
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Pic: PA

At times, however, the set was so slick, it felt more geared to the TV audience than to the crowd – a couple of songs saw Lipa performing to the camera, back to the audience, for good chunks of time – but when the choreography is this good, it’s captivating to watch wherever you are. It’s a small complaint.

Festival organiser Emily Eavis had said beforehand that Lipa was “born” to headline.

By the time the star had closed the set with Houdini, she had proved her absolutely right.

Read more on Sky News:
Brian Cox reunites with D:Ream
Meet Glastonbury’s State Of The Ground Guy
Glastonbury ‘likely taking break in 2026’

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If Lipa is indeed staying on to enjoy the weekend, she’ll get to see for herself the huge array of brilliant acts on offer.

But as headline sets go, hers will be a hard act to beat – a masterclass from a world-class, proper pop star.

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Damon Albarn makes surprise Glastonbury appearance with Bombay Bicycle Club

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Damon Albarn makes surprise Glastonbury appearance with Bombay Bicycle Club

Damon Albarn has made a surprise appearance at Glastonbury – addressing politics and the Israel-Hamas war as he turned up on stage to perform with Bombay Bicycle Club.

The band performed on the Other Stage this afternoon, ahead of artists including Anne-Marie, D-Block Europe and Idles.

Blur and Gorillaz star Albarn features on Bombay Bicycle Club’s 2023 song Heaven, and speculation he would join them had been rife ahead of their Glastonbury set.

They had teased a special guest, without revealing a name, and the @secretglasto Twitter account hinted beforehand that the mystery artist “could make Bombay Bicycle Club’s set go by in a Blur”.

Albarn headlined the festival with Blur in 2009 and again with Gorillaz the following year, as a last-minute replacement for U2 due to frontman Bono injuring his back.

After joining Bombay Bicycle Club at this year’s festival, he spoke on stage about Palestine, the general election, and world politics.

“Three things: you have to show me how you feel about it – are you pro Palestine? Do you feel that’s an unfair war?” he said.

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“The importance of voting next week – I don’t blame you for being ambivalent about that but it’s still really important. And thirdly – maybe it’s time we stopped putting octogenarians in charge of the whole world?”

Speaking to Sky News about their collaboration, Bombay Bicycle Club said it had all been unexpected.

“We were never expecting to have him on the record or to be playing a show with him, but… we just kind of asked, and he was really up for it. You don’t ask, you don’t get.”

There wasn’t much time to rehearse, they added, with about an hour to get things right for the live performance. “But, you know, with him, that’s all you need.”

Read more on Glastonbury:
The greatest secret sets of all time – and this year’s rumours

Russell Crowe: Forget the other job – we’re monster musicians

Kasabian, Liam Gallagher, Harry Styles, Kings Of Leon and Pulp are all among the artists rumoured to potentially make surprise appearances on stages around the festival site throughout the weekend.

Bombay Bicycle Club are among the music acts kicking off the first full day of the festival, which will be headlined by Dua Lipa.

Squeeze opened the show early on Friday, with K-pop act Seventeen, Olivia Dean and The Snuts also among the early performers.

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Elsewhere, just days after the birth of his fourth child, Joe Wicks led a fitness session – and set his sights on taking his workouts to the Pyramid Stage.

“You don’t often think about a fitness workout being at a music festival but yesterday I did a workout and about 2,000 people turned up and it was amazing,” he told Sky News, ahead of a second session on Friday.

Wicks says people still want to look after themselves at festivals.

“It’s hard sleeping in a tent so if they’re awake, I’ve said, come and join me, start the day right.”

Coldplay will headline tomorrow, while Shania Twain fills the Sunday afternoon “legends slot” and SZA closes the weekend.

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Holly Willoughby kidnap plot trial: Gavin Plumb says TV presenter was his ‘celebrity crush’

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Holly Willoughby kidnap plot trial: Gavin Plumb says TV presenter was his 'celebrity crush'

A security guard accused of planning to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby has told a jury the television presenter was “my celebrity crush”.

An undercover US police officer on Thursday told Chelmsford Crown Court he believed 37-year-old Gavin Plumb posed an “imminent threat” to the former This Morning Host.

Plumb shared a video of his “abduction kit” with the officer, referred to as David Nelson, and said he would use chloroform to snatch Willoughby, 43, from her home to sexually assault her before slitting her throat, the jury has heard.

He alerted UK police who found two bottles of liquid, alongside items including handcuffs, rope, shackles and cable ties, at Plumb’s home in Harlow, Essex – but they were found not to contain the substance.

Gavin Plumb
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Gavin Plumb

Plumb denies three charges of soliciting murder and encouraging kidnap and rape between 21 December 2021 and 5 October last year.

Giving evidence for the first time on Friday, he told the jury he spent his life online engaging in “wholesome chat” but also fantasising about having sex with celebrities, including Willoughby, who he had seen on daytime TV after he became housebound, having gained weight and reaching 35.5 stone.

“She was my celebrity crush,” said Plumb, who sat down in a chair to give his evidence, wearing a light grey sweater and dark trousers, after telling the judge he would not be able to stand.

More on Holly Willoughby

Asked how many times he thought about her a day, Plumb said: “It would depend how many times I would chat about her. Sometimes it would be once, other times it would be four, five, six times.”

But the chats became “darker” from 2021, he said, being questioned by his barrister Sasha Wass KC.

He admitted he found the conversations “exciting” at the time but added: “Looking back at it now it’s massively regrettable because it’s not the sort of chat I would normally participate in.”

Plumb added: “It was kind of like gratification. It was something I knew was never going to happen.”

He told the jury he had bought most of the items in what has been described as an “abduction kit” following a four-month sexual relationship in which he was introduced to “BDSM and rough sex”.

“The whole kit is meant for someone who is consenting,” he said.

Items in Plumb's alleged 'kidnap kit'. Pic: CPS
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Items in Plumb’s alleged ‘kidnap kit’. Pic: CPS

Pic: CPS
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Pic: CPS

Plumb told jurors his weight started to fluctuate from the age of 13, which “really affected my mental health” because he could not play sport and was often put “in the friend zone” with girls.

Plumb said he has only had one serious relationship, which he described as “extremely toxic”, and lasted four-and-a-half years, during which there were “constant arguments” and he was “constantly put down”.

“I don’t want to be in a relationship anymore,” he said.

The court has heard he has two convictions for attempted kidnap from 2006, after trying to abduct two women off the Stansted Express train, later claiming they were members of cabin crew. He had rope and an imitation firearm when he was arrested.

Plumb said he was travelling between car parks where he worked handing out tickets and although he admitted he “had a stewardess fantasy back then” he said he did it “to get out of the relationship”.

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He was handed a suspended sentence and in 2008 said he used a box cutter to hold two “shouting and screaming and crying” 16-year-old girls in a warehouse where he worked, taping one of their hands behind her back.

Plumb said he committed the offences to “get away from the relationship”, which ended while he was in jail after he was sentenced to 32 months in prison, serving half, after admitting two charges of false imprisonment.

He told jurors once released he spent 99.9% of his life online, communicating with others about gaming, football and “normal fantasy chat” about having sex with various celebrities, including “briefly” Willoughby, but it was “completely different” to the “dark” material he later shared.

Willoughby, who is not attending the trial and is not a witness, announced in October last year that she was stepping down from This Morning after 14 years on the ITV show, but has since hosted Dancing On Ice 2024, and is due to present a Netflix show.

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