LadBaby have claimed their fifth Christmas number one with their reimagining of Band Aid’s “Do They Know it’s Christmas”.
Social media star Mark Hoyle and his wife Roxanne collaborated with MoneySavingExpert’s Martin Lewis and a host of celebrity lookalikes on the track titled “Food Aid”.
In the run-up to Christmas, the track sold more than 65,000 units to become the fastest-selling single of 2022 to date.
Bob Geldof and Midge Ure’s 1984 classic was reworked by Grammy-winning songwriter Amy Wadge.
LadBaby have clinched the top spot for the last four years with their sausage roll-themed parodies: We Built This City (On Sausage Rolls) (2018), I Love Sausage Rolls (2019), Don’t Stop Me Eatin’ (2020), and Sausage Rolls For Everyone with Ed Sheeran and Elton John (2021).
This year’s festive win makes them the first to get five Christmas number ones, putting them ahead of The Beatles on four and The Spice Girls who got three.
100% of the profits will be donated to charity, with half of the money going to food bank charity the Trussell Trust and the other half to the Band Aid Trust.
The couple said: “I can’t quite believe it! We’re number one. The charity has made it five years in a row. How have we done this again?
“We want to say thank you to everyone who has supported us for the last five years. A massive apology to The Beatles, and to all The Beatles’ fans… I’m sorry!
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“The charity wins. The Trussell Trust gets Christmas number one again!
“Thank you to all the people who have downloaded, all the people who believed in us and brought a bit of Christmas magic. We love you all. Yes mate!”
In at number two was Last Christmas by Wham! which was, coincidentally, beaten to the top spot by the original Band Aid record when they were both released in 1984.
The number three spot was claimed by YouTube supergroup Sidemen with their festive rap record “Christmas Drillings” followed by Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You”, a perennial Yuletide fixture since its release in 1994, at number four.
Ed Sheeran and Elton John’s “Merry Christmas” which debuted last year, came in at number five.
The top album spot this year was taken by Taylor Swift’s Midnights, beating festive favourites Cliff Richard and Michael Buble.
Image: LadBaby with a group of celebrity lookalikes and MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis
A man has been arrested on suspicion of assault and sexual assault – which reportedly took place on the set of EastEnders.
The alleged incident happened on the set of the BBC soap at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, according to The Sun newspaper.
Hertfordshire Police confirmed a man in his 50s was arrested after the report in Eldon Avenue, Borehamwood, on 7 May.
The man is accused of sexual assault and common assault in relation to two victims, the force said.
The suspect is on bail while inquiries continue, police added.
EastEnders said in a statement: “While we would never comment on individuals, EastEnders has on-site security and well-established procedures in place to safeguard the safety and welfare of everyone who works on the show.”
BST Hyde Park festival has cancelled its final night after Jeff Lynne’s Electric Light Orchestra pulled out of the headline slot.
Lynne, 77, was due to play alongside his band on Sunday but has been forced to withdraw from the event following a “systemic infection”.
The London show was supposed to be a “final goodbye” from ELO following their farewell US tour.
Organisers said on Saturday that Lynne was “heartbroken” at being unable to perform.
A statement read: “Jeff has been battling a systemic infection and is currently in the care of a team of doctors who have advised him that performing is simply not possible at this time nor will he be able to reschedule.
“The legacy of the band and his longtime fans are foremost in Jeff’s mind today – and while he is so sorry that he cannot perform, he knows that he must focus on his health and rehabilitation at this time.”
They later confirmed the whole of Sunday’s event would be cancelled.
“Ticket holders will be refunded and contacted directly by their ticket agent with further details,” another statement said.
Stevie Wonder played the festival on Saturday – now its final event of 2025.
US rock band The Doobie Brothers and blues rock singer Steve Winwood were among those who had been due to perform to before ELO’s headline performance.
The cancellation comes after the band, best known for their hit Mr Blue Sky, pulled out of a performance due to take place at Manchester’s Co-Op Live Arena on Thursday.
ELO was formed in Birmingham in 1970 by Lynne, multi-instrumentalist Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan.
They first split in 1986, before frontman Lynne resurrected the band in 2014.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Image: Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”