Entertainment

Janey Godley cancels tour amid treatment for cancer

Published

1 day ago

September 18, 2024

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Scottish comedian Janey Godley has cancelled her upcoming tour amid ongoing treatment for terminal ovarian cancer.

The 63-year-old revealed she is currently in hospital being treated for sepsis, which is now “under control”.

The comedian, from Glasgow, told fans in a video posted to social media that her “cancer is spreading” so doctors have advised her “not to work” as part of efforts to help her recuperate.

Award-winning Godley was due to embark on UK tour of Why Is She Still Here? this autumn.

In a statement on Wednesday, her team said: “Janey has been living with stage four ovarian cancer for the past few years and the treatment from the wonderful Scottish NHS has kept the disease at bay, but sadly in the last few weeks the cancer has returned and there have been a few added complications.

“Her doctors have now advised her that she must stop work for the foreseeable future.

“Janey is devastated to let down her thousands of loyal fans, and the wonderful venues she has played many times over the years.

“She would like to thank everyone for their love and support at this difficult time.”

Godley, who found viral fame with her dubbed pastiches of Nicola Sturgeon’s COVID news briefings during the pandemic, revealed she had ovarian cancer in November 2021.

In the same year she faced controversy after offensive tweets by her came to light following an investigation by the Daily Beast website. The Scottish government coronavirus adverts she featured in were pulled as a result.

Godley profusely apologised for the tweets and donated the £12,000 fee she was paid to charity.

In 2022 she was given the all-clear for her cancer and said in a post to X that a scan showed “no evidence of disease”.

However, she later announced that another scan had shown signs of the disease in her abdomen but added that she would continue with her tour in February and March 2023.

Godley told ITV’s Lorraine that fellow comedian Jimmy Carr played a key role in convincing her to continue her tour despite her diagnosis.

She said: “I decided to cancel the tour, and my mate Jimmy Carr said, ‘is your mouth not working?’. I went, ‘yeah, my mouth works’ and he said, ‘well get back on tour.'”

In a video last year, Godley said she had received scan results that showed the treatment she was on was keeping her terminal and incurable ovarian cancer “at bay”.

Earlier in the year, Godley performed dates across the country in towns and cities including Bristol, Epsom, Norwich and Milton Keynes.

Entertainment

Kylie Minogue reveals major world tour news – her biggest in more than a decade

Published

2 hours ago

September 19, 2024

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Kylie Minogue reveals major world tour news - her biggest in more than a decade

Kylie Minogue has announced her biggest tour in more than a decade – as well as a new album.

The pop star’s Tension tour will open in her home country, Australia, before heading to Asia and reaching the UK in May 2025. More countries and dates in Europe and North and South America are set to be announced over the coming weeks.

It comes after huge success last year with her viral sensation hit Padam Padam and album Tension, as well as a Las Vegas residency and a big show at Hyde Park in London earlier in the summer.

“I am beyond excited to announce the Tension tour 2025,” Minogue said in a statement sent to Sky News. “I can’t wait to share beautiful and wild moments with fans all over the world, celebrating the Tension era and more!

“It’s been an exhilarating ride so far and now, get ready for your close up because I will be calling Lights, Camera, Action… and there will be a whole lot of Padaming!”

The UK dates include shows in Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Nottingham and Birmingham, and two at London’s O2 Arena.

Minogue first teased the news as she announced her new album, Tension II, earlier today – revealing the sequel will be released in October, with the lead single, Lights Camera Action coming on 27 September.

“But wait! There’s more…” she added.

The tour announcement followed this afternoon. It will be Minogue’s first since her Golden shows in 2018 and 2019 and her biggest since the Aphrodite: Les Folies tour in 2011, which followed the Aphrodite album and hits including All The Lovers and Get Outta My Way.

The new album includes the dance hit Edge of Saturday Night with The Blessed Madonna, as well as collaborations with Orville Peck, Bebe Rexha and Tove Lo, and Sia.

“The Tension era has been so special to me,” the star said. “I can’t possibly let it be over just yet!”

Minogue, who rose to fame on Australian soap Neighbours in the 1980s before becoming a pop mega star, has had hits throughout the decades ever since – from I Should Be So Lucky, Hand On Your Heart and Better The Devil You Know, to Confide In Me, Spinning Around and Can’t Get You Out Of My Head.

Padam Padam, released in 2023, marked another reinvention with a move into electronic dance, and became a viral hit.

Earlier this year, she was named a global icon at the Brit Awards, and won the Grammy for best pop dance recording for the single.

Entertainment

Geoff Hinsliff: Star who played Coronation Street villain Don Brennan has died

Published

3 hours ago

September 19, 2024

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Geoff Hinsliff: Star who played Coronation Street villain Don Brennan has died

Coronation Street star Geoff Hinsliff has died aged 87, ITV has said.

The actor was best known for playing Don Brennan on the soap from 1987 to 1997. He died last weekend.

Helen Worth, who plays Gail Platt in the show, paid tribute to Hinsliff on behalf of Coronation Street and ITV, saying: “Geoff was a lovely, quiet man who will be sadly missed by us all.

“His partnership with Lynne Perrie was something rather special and they gave the viewers huge pleasure for many years.”

Born in Leeds, Hinsliff studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and initially appeared on Coronation Street in 1963 and 1977 as different characters.

He joined the cast as taxi driver Don in 1987.

His 10-year stint on the cobbles saw him commit kidnap and attempted murder after several business deals went wrong before his character died when he crashed his car into a viaduct.

Hinsliff made his television debut in an episode of Z-Cars and also appeared in Doctor Who, Brass and the film A Bridge Too Far.

He made his last TV appearance in Heartbeat in 2003.

Entertainment

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs refused bail a second time as he faces sex trafficking charges

Published

6 hours ago

September 19, 2024

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Sean 'Diddy' Combs refused bail a second time as he faces sex trafficking charges

Sean “Diddy” Combs has been refused bail a second time as he faces several charges including sex trafficking, drug possession and firearms offences.

US district judge Andrew L Carter said the government had proved “by clear and convincing evidence that there is no condition or set of conditions” that will ensure the safety of the community and that the rapper and music mogul will not tamper with witnesses.

The 54-year-old pleaded not guilty after he was first arrested by officers at the Park Hyatt hotel in Manhattan, New York, on Monday.

He was originally denied bail and told he would be detained after pleading not guilty to three felony counts during an initial court appearance on Tuesday.

Lawyers representing Combs asked a judge on Wednesday to let him await his trial at his luxury home on an island near Miami Beach, as opposed to in jail in Brooklyn.

But prosecutors argued against the proposal, saying there was too great a risk that Combs could threaten or harm witnesses.

Combs’s lawyers offered a $50m (£37.8m) bail package in exchange for his release to home detention with GPS monitoring and strict limitations on who could visit him.

Arguing to keep him behind bars, prosecutor Emily Johnson told the judge that Combs had a long history of intimidating both accusers and witnesses to his alleged abuse.

Ms Johnson cited text messages from women who said Combs forced them into “Freak Offs” and then threatened to leak explicit videos of them engaging in sexual acts.

She also said that Combs’s own defence team was “minimising and horrifically understating” his propensity for violence.

The defence and prosecution were wrangling over the request before the judge passed his ruling.

“I am feeling confident. We’re going to go get Mr Combs out of jail,” Combs’s lawyer Marc Agnifilo said on his way into court on Wednesday, before the judge decided Combs would spend his time before the trial at the Metropolitan Detention Center.

A legal indictment released after Combs’s arrest detailed allegations dating to 2008, accusing him of abusing, threatening, and coercing women for years “to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct”.

He allegedly induced female victims and male sex workers into drug-fuelled sexual performances, dubbed “Freak Offs”, according to the report.

Combs, formerly known as Puff Daddy and P Diddy, was once one of the most influential figures in hip-hop – famous as a producer and manager of the late Notorious BIG, as well as a rapper in his own right for hits including I’ll Be Missing You, Come With Me, and Bad Boy For Life.

However, in November, his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, filed a lawsuit accusing him of coercing her, and others, into unwanted sex in drug-fuelled settings.

The suit was settled in one day, but months later CNN aired hotel security footage showing Combs punching and kicking Cassie and throwing her to the floor.

He apologised after the video aired, saying: “I was disgusted when I did it.”