Reese Witherspoon has defended herself after receiving some words of warning online over eating snow.
Yes, you read that correctly. Hollywood A-lister, Oscar winner and multimillionaire Witherspoonlikes to eat snow.
Earlier in January, the Legally Blonde and Morning Show star shared a TikTok video showing herself enjoying a “Chococinno” made of snow collected from outside her home, topped with cold brew coffee and chocolate and salted caramel syrups.
Yum.
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The internet’s reaction, it’s fair to say, was mixed. We’ve all heard “don’t eat yellow snow”, as one follower commented, but apparently innocent-looking white snow has its own hidden dangers.
“No no no… snow is not made to eat,” one user commented. “U can get seriously sick.”
“I love you Reese, personal anecdote: As someone who grew up in Minnesota, our teachers would always melt snow to show up how dirty it was and not to eat it! Be careful out there,” replied another.
“Am I the only one concerned that she scooped it off of her car?” questioned one follower – although Witherspoon replied to say that actually, the snow was scooped from a cooking grill – “but is that bad?”
And then there was the big question: “What if birds pooped in that snow?”
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However, some Tik-Tokers were won over.
“Fallen snow can be very dirty from the air and wind but who cares,” replied one former snow eater. “You only live once. I remember eating snow as a kid.”
“I do this same thing every time it snows, I make snow ice cream, but I grew up eating snow and drinking tap water and drinking out of a hose,” said another.
Image: The star pictured at the Golden Globes with her son Deacon earlier this month. Pic: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
‘You only live once’
Since sharing her recipe, Witherspoon, 47, has posted three further videos answering her concerned followers’ questions.
“There’s so many people on here saying snow is dirty so we went and took snow from the backyard and we microwaved it and it’s clear,” she said. “Is this bad? Am I not supposed to eat snow?”
In another clip, she said: “Okay so we’re kind of in a category of, ‘You only live once’ and it snows maybe once a year here. I don’t know! Also, I want to say something. It was delicious. It was so good.”
In a final post, Witherspoon addressed her lack of filtering before making the frosty snack.
“I didn’t grow up drinking filtered water,” she said. “We drank out of the tap water. We actually put our mouths on the tap and then sometimes like in the summer, when it was hot, we drank out of the hose, like, we put our mouth on the hose, growing up.”
She then joked, “Maybe that’s why I’m like this”, adding: “So what you’re saying to me is I have to filter the snow before I eat it? I just can’t. Filtered snow. I don’t know how to do that.”
What does science say?
A snowflake begins life as a tiny droplet of “supercooled water” which freezes in the sky to create an ice crystal, the Met Office explains.
“The droplet becomes frozen either because temperatures are sufficiently cold (it would have to be -35C or lower) to freeze to other droplets, or in clouds above -35°C, they can form around a nucleus such as a dust or pollen particle.”
Once the ice crystal has formed, if the conditions are right it will grow to form a snowflake. Scientists say they may also pick up other elements in the atmosphere, including pollutants.
One study led by chemistry professor, Parisa Ariya, from McGill University in Quebec, Canada, in 2016, found that snow absorbs toxic compounds emitted from car exhausts.
But some scientists agree the trace amounts of chemicals found in snow – even in cities with lots of traffic – do not reach harmful levels.
In 2017, a study in Romania found it was safe to eat clean snow that was half a day old, and that it was safer to eat it in the colder months. But by two days old, the snow is not safe to eat, Istvan Mathe, a professor at the Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania, said at the time.
So there you have it. Assuming she’s not snacking on homemade snowy Choccocinos for every meal, it sounds like Witherspoon is safe for now.
MasterChef presenter John Torode says an allegation he used “racial language” was upheld in a report as part of a review into the behaviour of his former co-presenter Gregg Wallace.
There were also two standalone allegations made against other people.
In a statement posted on his Instagram page, Torode said he was one of those people, but added that he had “no recollection of the incident” and said he “did not believe that it happened”.
He commented: “Following publication of the executive summary of the investigation into Gregg Wallace while working on MasterChef, I am aware of speculation that I am one of the two other individuals against whom an allegation has been upheld.
“For the sake of transparency, I confirm that I am the individual who is alleged to have used racial language on one occasion.
“The allegation is that I did so sometime in 2018 or 2019, in a social situation, and that the person I was speaking with did not believe that it was intended in a malicious way and that I apologised immediately afterwards.
“I have absolutely no recollection of any of this, and I do not believe that it happened.
“However, I want to be clear that I’ve always had the view that any racial language is wholly unacceptable in any environment. I’m shocked and saddened by the allegation as I would never wish to cause anyone any offence.”
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
An investigation into Gregg Wallace’s “inappropriate behaviour” on MasterChef has found that more than half of the allegations against him have been substantiated, including one of “unwanted physical contact”.
MasterChef’s production company Banijay UK shared a summary of its report into historical allegations of misconduct against the 60-year-old presenter, carried out by independent law firm Lewis Silkin over seven months.
The report also said the number of sustained allegations made Wallace’s return to MasterChef “untenable”.
The investigation heard evidence from 78 witnesses, including 41 complainants.
There were 83 allegations against Wallace, and 45 of them were substantiated. All were related to MasterChef.
While the majority of the substantiated allegations related to inappropriate sexual language and humour, a smaller number of allegations of other inappropriate language and being in a state of undress were also substantiated.
One allegation of unwanted physical contact was substantiated.
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Nearly all the allegations against Wallace were related to behaviour which is said to have occurred between 2005 and 2018, with just one substantiated allegation taking place post-2018.
Additionally, the report summary found that there were also 10 standalone allegations about other people between 2012 and 2018/2019, two of which were substantiated. Those people were not named in the summary.
The investigation found that complaints had previously been raised with the production company between 2005 and 2024.
Image: Gregg Wallace on MasterChef. Pic: BBC/ Shine TV 2024
While the report flagged inadequate reporting procedures prior to 2016, when Endemol merged with Shine ahead of Banijay acquiring Endemol Shine in 2020, it said there were significant improvements to HR processes and training after 2016.
While the investigation said some formal action was taken by the BBC in 2017, it also noted the corporation held no information regarding concerns raised over Wallace centrally, resulting in issues being addressed as a first offence.
Sky News has tried to contact Gregg Wallace for contact today.
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.”