Gordon Ramsay ‘lucky to be alive’ after bike accident

Published

6 days ago

June 15, 2024

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Gordon Ramsay has said he is “lucky to be alive” after a “really bad accident” riding his bike in the US.

The TV chef, 57, warned his 7.6 million followers on X and 17 million on Instagram to “wear a helmet” after the incident in Connecticut this week.

He thanked the “incredible trauma surgeons, doctors, and nurses” at the state’s private Lawrence and Memorial Hospital, but said he is “most thankful for my helmet that saved my life”.

In a graphic video, he revealed a huge bruise covering much of his torso and said: “I’m lucky to be standing here.

“I am in pain, it’s been a brutal week, but I am sort of getting through it.”

On Instagram, he referred to himself as “looking like a purple potato” but said he “did not break any bones or suffer any major injuries”.

“You’ve got to wear a helmet,” he added. “I don’t care how short the journey is. I don’t care that these helmets cost money, they’re crucial.”

He signed off by wishing people a happy Father’s Day.

“I want to wish you all a happy Father’s Day, but please, please, please wear a helmet. If I didn’t, honestly, I wouldn’t be here now.”

Ramsay became a father for the sixth time in November when his wife Tana gave birth to their son Jesse James Ramsay aged 49.

The couple, who have been married for almost 30 years, are also parents to Megan, Matilda, twins Jack and Holly, and Oscar.

Ramsay is a keen cyclist and has completed several endurance challenges, including triathlons and Iron Mans.

He came under fire during the coronavirus lockdown for travelling to his second home in Cornwall, where he would often film himself cycling long distances.

Entertainment

Sabrina Carpenter: US singer breaks Ariana Grande’s UK chart record

Published

2 hours ago

June 21, 2024

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Sabrina Carpenter: US singer breaks Ariana Grande's UK chart record

Sabrina Carpenter has set a new UK chart record by becoming the youngest female artist to take the top two singles spots in the same week.

The US singer reached number one on the Official Charts Company rundown with Please Please Please, pushing Espresso, which had been at the top for five weeks, down to number two.

Please Please Please totalled 9.8 million combined streams, while Espresso came in second with 8.1 million streams.

At the age of 25 years, one month and 10 days, Carpenter overtakes Ariana Grande, the previous youngest holder of the record, by around six months.

Grande achieved the same two-spot hold in the same week when she was 25 years, seven months and 20 days old in February 2019 with 7 Rings at number one and Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored at number two.

Eminem is at number three this week with Houdini, while Billie Eilish’s Birds Of A Feather is at number four, followed by Shaboozey’s A Bar Song (Tipsy).

Taylor Swift doesn’t make the top five, but sets a new personal best in the albums chart with a seventh week at the top.

The Tortured Poets Department earns a seventh non-consecutive week at number one, surpassing 2022’s Midnights which spent five weeks at the summit.

Swift is in the UK for her Eras Tour, and will take to the stage in London’s Wembley Stadium on Friday evening.

At number two is US singer-songwriter Eilish’s latest record Hit Me Hard And Soft, while British singer Charli XCX’s Brat came in at number three.

In fourth spot is Canadian musician The Weeknd’s greatest hits collection The Highlights.

British rock group Sea Girls also celebrate a hat-trick of top five albums as their third studio collection Midnight Butterflies makes its debut at number five.

The group previously saw success with 2020’s Open Up Your Head and 2022 LP Homesick, which both reached number three.

Entertainment

Taylor Swift Tube map released as Wembley Stadium hosts London Eras Tour shows

Published

8 hours ago

June 21, 2024

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Taylor Swift Tube map released as Wembley Stadium hosts London Eras Tour shows

London’s iconic Tube map has been redrawn to celebrate the arrival of Taylor Swift’s tour in the capital.

As the US megastar’s Eras Tour descends on the city, fans, or Swifties, will be able to navigate their way around using a redesigned London Underground layout, with each line named after a different album and drawn in sequin colours to match – with stations denoted by her songs.

Under the changes, the Central Line has been renamed Red after the singer’s fourth album while the Victoria Line becomes 1989, the Bakerloo Line Evermore and the Northern Line her latest release, The Tortured Poets Department.

The map also highlights a host of places across the capital that are referenced in her music.

Notable locations on the Taylor trail – some of which feature in her song London Boy, include the West End, Soho, Bond Street, Camden Market, Highgate, Hampstead Heath, Vauxhall, Shoreditch, Hackney, Brixton and Kentish Town.

Swift-fever even spread to Buckingham Palace earlier on Friday where Shake It Off was played at the traditional Changing of the Guard ceremony.

The pop star has already played sell-out shows in Edinburgh, Liverpool and Cardiff and it is now the turn of fans at Wembley Stadium to get a sprinkling of stardust.

They have waited more than a year for the tour to arrive, after Swift kicked off her marathon string of dates in Glendale, Arizona, in March 2023.

Since then, she has crossed the US, Asia and South America and made stops across Europe, sometimes accompanied by her boyfriend, the American football star Travis Kelce.

She will play three nights at Wembley Stadium on Friday, Saturday and Sunday before taking the tour to Dublin next week.

Swift will return to London for five more shows in August.

Her fans are expected to boost the London economy by £300m as the capital hosts more Eras Tour shows than any other city in the world, with nearly 640,000 people expected to attend across the eight dates.

Specially-designed murals have also been created to mark her arrival.

Wembley Park is hosting two new public artworks including one on the Spanish Steps, which are being temporarily renamed the Swiftie Steps.

The blockbuster tour takes fans on a journey through the different musical stages of her career.

Thousands of concert-goers have already arrived at Wembley eager to soak up the atmosphere of what promises to be a memorable performance.

Among those at the stadium were Lauren Robinson, 20, who had travelled from Cheshire, and her friend Grace Arnold, 24, who had travelled from the Wirral.

Ms Robinson said: “Coming to the capital has got to be the best place to see the tour.”

She added: “It’s like going to a party with all your best friends.”

Ms Arnold said she was most looking forward to the Folklore set (Swift’s eighth studio album), but said the potential surprise songs “actually make me feel sick to think about”.

Entertainment

Jane Fonda leads tributes to Hollywood legend Donald Sutherland

Published

17 hours ago

June 21, 2024

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Jane Fonda leads tributes to Hollywood legend Donald Sutherland

Tributes have poured in for actor Donald Sutherland after he died following a long illness.

The 88-year-old was best known for his roles in Ordinary People, The Hunger Games franchise and M*A*S*H.

His son, Kiefer Sutherland, confirmed the news “with a heavy heart” as Oscar-winner Jane Fonda and other stars of the big screen led tributes to the Canadian actor.

“With a heavy heart, I tell you that my father, Donald Sutherland, has passed away.

“I personally think one of the most important actors in the history of film.

“Never daunted by a role, good, bad or ugly. He loved what he did and did what he loved, and one can never ask for more than that. A life well lived,” the son said of his father.

Among Sutherland’s best-known roles was the detective John Klute, who attempted to protect Fonda’s character Bree Daniels from a killer stalking her.

US actress Fonda shared a black-and-white image of Sutherland from their 1971 hit where she won her Oscar for best actress, and said: “I am heartbroken,”.

The pair dated for a period in 1971 and staged a travelling anti-war roadshow for US soldiers.

Leading politicians like US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also paid tribute after the actor’s passing.

Mr Trudeau called him a “truly great Canadian artist”, after he learned of his death during a news conference relating to a national school food programme.

Mr Biden described Sutherland as a “one-of-a-kind actor who inspired and entertained the world for decades” in a post on X.

Dame Helen Mirren was among the British actors and actresses paying tribute.

She appeared alongside Sutherland in 2017’s The Leisure Seeker, following their 1990 drama Bethune: The Making Of A Hero.

“Donald Sutherland was one of the smartest actors I ever worked with,” Dame Helen said in a statement.

“He had a wonderful enquiring brain and a great knowledge on a wide variety of subjects.

“He combined this great intelligence with a deep sensitivity and with a seriousness about his profession as an actor.

“This all made him into the legend of film that he became.”

Most recently, many will know Sutherland from his role in The Hunger Games franchise where he played dictator President Coriolanus Snow.

The official account for The Hunger Games film called him “the kindest man in the world” who portrayed “the most corrupt, ruthless dictator we’ve ever seen”.

Throughout his career, Sutherland is perhaps best known as the womanising Captain Benjamin Franklin ‘Hawkeye’ Pierce Junior, from the 1970 film version M*A*S*H.

His co-star Elliott Gould, who played the Captain ‘Trapper’ John Francis Xavier McIntyre, called Sutherland a “giant” who was “enormously kind and generous”.

Gould recalled they were both “young fathers” when they worked together and said his death “really profoundly hurts because Donald was like my brother, and a big part of my own career”.

Rob Lowe, known for his role in The West Wing and a number of other movies, said Sutherland was “one of our greatest actors” and that it had been an “honour” to star alongside him on the miniseries Salem’s Lot, in 2004.

“I will never forget his charisma and ability,” Lowe said.