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Hollywood stars, a Pussycat Doll and a hit play about Gareth Southgate lead the nominations for this year’s Olivier Awards.

Sarah Jessica Parker, Sarah Snook and Nicole Scherzinger are among the 2024 nominees, along with James Norton, Andrew Scott and David Tennant.

Singer and Pussycat Dolls star Scherzinger is in the running for her starring role in the revival of Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s musical Sunset Boulevard, which leads the Olivier Awards charge with 11 nominations in total.

Nicole Scherzinger in Sunset Boulevard. Pic: Marc Brenner
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Nicole Scherzinger in Sunset Boulevard. Pic: Marc Brenner

Dear England, which tells the story of Southgate and the men’s football team’s journey through the 2022 World Cup, follows with nine nods – including best new play and best actor for Joseph Fiennes’s portrayal of the manager.

The sports drama, which is a fictionalised account of the struggles and successes of the team, also received nods for Gina McKee’s portrayal of team psychologist Pippa Grange and Will Close’s turn as Harry Kane in the supporting actress and actor categories respectively.

Read more: Joseph Fiennes on playing his ‘hero’ Gareth Southgate

Fiennes, star of TV series The Handmaid’s Tale, faces competition for the best actor prize from Sherlock star Mark Gatiss in The Motive And The Cue, Happy Valley’s Norton for his role in A Little Life, Doctor Who star David Tennant in Macbeth and All Of Us Strangers actor Andrew Scott in Vanya.

Joseph Fiennes as Gareth Southgate in Dear England. Pic: Marc Brenner/ National Theatre
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Joseph Fiennes as Gareth Southgate in Dear England. Pic: Marc Brenner/ National Theatre

Sex And The City star Parker is nominated for Plaza Suite, in which she performs alongside her husband Matthew Broderick, and leads a star-studded line-up in the best actress nominations.

The category also includes Succession actress Snook for her performance in The Picture Of Dorian Gray – a one-woman adaptation in which she plays 26 roles.

The other hopefuls for the award are Cilla star Sheridan Smith in Shirley Valentine, The Fall actress Laura Donnelly in The Hills Of California and Hotel Rwanda actress Sophie Okonedo in Medea.

US singer Scherzinger, who plays a famed Hollywood star fading and spiralling into mental illness in Sunset Boulevard, is up for best actress in a musical.

She faces competition from Natasha Hodgson in Operation Mincemeat, Caissie Levy in Next To Normal and Celebrity Big Brother star Marisha Wallace in Guys & Dolls.

Scherzinger’s Sunset Boulevard co-star Tom Francis is up for the male prize, which also features nominations for David Cumming in Operation Mincemeat, Daniel Mays in Guys & Dolls, and Charlie Stemp in Crazy For You.

The production is up against Tim Minchin’s Groundhog Day, Anais Mitchell’s Hadestown, and Frank Loesser’s Guys & Dolls in the best musical revival category.

Sarah Snook stars in Dorian Gray
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Sarah Snook stars in Dorian Gray. Pic: Marc Brenner

The late Haydn Gwynne has also received a posthumous nomination for best actress in a supporting role for her performance in When Winston Went To War With The Wireless.

Across all the nominations, the National Theatre garnered the most nods through several of its productions, with Dear England, The Motive And The Cue, Till The Stars Come Down and The Effect all recognised across multiple categories.

Organisers said the competition for nominations had been “fierce during an outstanding year for theatre, with significantly more productions than last year”.

The annual awards ceremony takes place on Sunday 14 April at the Royal Albert Hall.

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The Wanted star Max George recalls moment he wrote will from hospital bed before heart surgery

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The Wanted star Max George recalls moment he wrote will from hospital bed before heart surgery

The Wanted star Max George has told of the moment he wrote his will from a hospital bed, as he was convinced he “was going to die”.

In December, George revealed he had to undergo urgent heart surgery after being diagnosed with a block.

In an interview with The Sun, his first since he underwent the lifesaving surgery, the 36-year-old described the moment when he thought he would die.

He said: “If I could go from being absolutely on top of the world to being told ‘the bottom part of your heart isn’t working’, I kept thinking in my head, ‘Well, what if the top half stops working overnight?'”

“That first night I wrote a will, I thought I was going to die,” the 36-year-old musician added.

On the night of 13 December, George said his heart rate and blood pressure dropped, “I felt like I was dying,” he said.

He had a pacemaker fitted by doctors during the surgery, but the former Strictly Come Dancing star said he made a will on his phone fearing the worst.

More on The Wanted

Before the surgery, George said his thoughts turned to his partner, British actress Maisie Smith, and his family who he feared he’d leave behind.

He shared updates on social media throughout the process.

While the procedure was complicated by collapsed veins caused by the condition, the surgery was successful and he returned home before Christmas.

He described his pacemaker as “the best Christmas present”.

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Tom Parker, who also rose to fame in the 2010s with the boy band along with George, died at the age of 33 after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour.

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Former Little Mix star Jesy Nelson announces pregnancy – and it’s twins

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Former Little Mix star Jesy Nelson announces pregnancy - and it's twins

Former Little Mix star Jesy Nelson has announced she is pregnant with twins.

The singer, 33, said she was “eating for three now” on her Instagram alongside a polaroid picture of her with Zion Foster, with whom she was reported to have split up last year.

Nelson shared the touching post on Sunday, letting the world know she is set to become a mum for the first time – including two baby emojis next to her message.

The cosy picture shows the pair smiling in a kitchen.

Nelson rose to fame with the girl band Little Mix, which formed on The X Factor in 2011 and earned a string of UK number-one singles.

However, she left in December 2020 after nine years, saying the pressures of being in the group had taken a toll on her mental health.

Read more:
Little Mix ‘went to therapy’ after star’s ‘traumatic’ exit

Nelson has since performed as a solo artist but still had praise for her former bandmates, telling The Graham Norton Show in 2021: “To me they are still the sickest girl band in the world.”

Little Mix continued as a trio after Nelson’s departure in December 2020 before going on hiatus in 2022.

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Duchess of Sussex delays release of Netflix series due to LA fires

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Duchess of Sussex delays release of Netflix series due to LA fires

The Duchess of Sussex has delayed the release of her new Netflix series due to the devastation caused by the wildfires in LA, the streaming platform has announced.

Meghan’s eight-part series, With Love, will premiere on 4 March instead of 15 January.

“I’m thankful to my partners at Netflix for supporting me in delaying the launch, as we focus on the needs of those impacted by the wildfires in my home state of California,” Meghan said in a statement to Tudum, the official companion site to Netflix.

Harry and Meghan comforted volunteers and handed out food to evacuees during a visit to Pasadena on Friday, where they met with the city’s mayor Victor Gordo and emergency workers tackling the Eaton Fire.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Volunteering in Pasadena on 11/01/25
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Prince Harry and Meghan were seen comforting residents on Friday

Footage showed the duchess, wearing a blue “LA” baseball cap, and the prince hugging and consoling people who had fled to the Pasadena Convention Center.

Latest on LA fires

They were also seen speaking Doug Goodwin, whose home was destroyed in the wildfires, and also to Jose Andres, founder of World Central Kitchen (WCK) which has been helping feed the public and emergency crews.

Prince Harry and Meghan speak to Pasadena mayor Victor Gordo in Altadena, California. Pic: AP
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Prince Harry and Meghan spoke to Doug Goodwin (centre right), whose home was destroyed and Pasadena mayor Victor Gordo (right) in Altadena, California. Pic: AP

A description of the Netflix series on Tudum’s website said: “Produced by Meghan, ‘With Love, Meghan’ blends practical how-to’s and candid conversation with friends, new and old.

“Meghan shares personal tips and tricks, embracing playfulness over perfection, and highlights how easy it can be to create beauty, even in the unexpected.

“She and her guests roll up their sleeves in the kitchen, the garden, and beyond, and invite you to do the same.”

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The royals live in Montecito, near Santa Barbara, around 90 miles from Los Angeles.

They are understood to have donated supplies, including clothing and children’s items, to people affected by the disaster.

They released a statement on Thursday urging people to help those affected by the wildfires and to open their homes to those evacuated.

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