The voice actor behind Milhouse Van Houten – Bart Simpson’s very uncool friend – is stepping away after 35 years on the show.
Pamela Hayden, who also voiced Jimbo Jones, Rod Flanders, Janey and Malibu Stacy, will sign off from The Simpsons on 24 November in a Treehouse of Horror episode.
“It’s been an honour and a joy to have worked on such a funny, witty, and groundbreaking show,” the 70-year-old said in a statement.
Show creator Matt Groening said: “Pamela gave us tons of laughs with Milhouse, the hapless kid with the biggest nose in Springfield.
“She made Milhouse hilarious and real, and we will miss her.”
Tulisa Contostavlos has opened up about the moment she says her life “fell apart” after being “set up by a British newspaper” and charged with supplying drugs.
The charges against the singer were later dismissed after prosecution witness “fake sheikh” journalist Mazher Mahmood was found to have tampered with evidence during her 2014 trial.
“2013 was the year I was set up by a British newspaper, for concern in the selling of class A drugs,” she told fellow campmate Oti Mabuse.
“The guy’s name was Mahmood and basically, I was approached by a big movie company and they sent me a tweet or a DM from their official account to audition me for a movie role… I’d dabbled in acting, so this opportunity for me was huge.”
Contostavlos, 36, said the role was offering £3.5m and she was flown out for meetings with producers in Las Vegas but told former Strictly Come Dancing star Mabuse “it was a lie”.
She claimed the team behind the movie encouraged her to take on a real-life role of a “bad girl from London who was constantly up to naughtiness, rolling with gangs, up to all kinds of naughty stuff”.
Contostavlos said “they had me dangling on the end of a string”, claiming every time she met with the team they would tell her “we need some drugs”.
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“After months and months, eventually they got a number and it was of someone that wasn’t even a drug dealer, it was an aspiring movie producer and I wanted to make a hook up as well for that person, but I didn’t know anyone that could do that,” she said.
“The long story short is they ended up ordering £800 worth of cocaine from the number that I had given them.
“Then before I knew it, I was being arrested in the concern of the selling of Class A drugs and I was facing four years in prison.”
Contostavlos revealed she lost “all my endorsements” over the incident and “my life fell apart”, she said.
“When it came to the trial, I’d had a conversation with one of their drivers, I was being recorded but I didn’t know, I was saying how anti-drugs I am, so they were very aware of my feelings towards drugs.”
Contostavlos said the driver initially gave a statement confirming she was anti-drugs, however she claimed that as the trial loomed the journalist forced him to change his statement.
In 2016, Mahmood was jailed for 15 months after being found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice relating to his actions in Tulisa Contostavlos’s court case.
Friends and family of Liam Payne, including his One Direction bandmates, have gathered to say goodbye at his funeral.
Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik were among the family and friends attending the private ceremony.
Simon Cowell, who put the band together on The X Factor, Payne‘s girlfriend Kate Cassidy, and former partner Cheryl were also there.
The 31-year-old died after he fell from a third-floor balcony at the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 16 October.
Fans from around the world have held their own vigils over the past few weeks, and tributes have been left today in his hometown, Wolverhampton.
Payne’s dark blue coffin, topped with white roses, arrived for the service on a horse-drawn carriage, bearing flowers reading “son” and “daddy” – for his son, Bear, with Cheryl.
Her Girls Aloud bandmates Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh were also among those at the service, along with TV and radio presenters including James Corden, Marvin and Rochelle Humes, Scott Mills, and Adrian Chiles, and former professional footballer Robbie Keane.
US influencer Cassidy, who returned home from Argentina two days before his death, arrived with Damian Hurley, son of Elizabeth Hurley.
As Payne’s mother and father, Geoff and Karen, arrived at the church in the Home Counties, standing next to the carriage, silence fell among mourners outside.
A few locals and fans also gathered nearby, but in the main largely stayed away from the private ceremony.
Payne rose to worldwide fame alongside Styles, Tomlinson, Malik and Horan on The X Factor in 2010, when they were put together to form One Direction. They went on to become one of the most successful UK pop groups of all time.
After the band announced their hiatus, the singer launched his solo career, releasing his debut album LP1 in December 2019.
Prosecutors in Argentina have launched an investigation into Payne’s death and announced earlier this month that three people had been charged in connection with the incident.
One Direction tributes
Payne’s One Direction bandmates all publicly paid tribute following his death.
“His greatest joy was making other people happy and it was an honour to be alongside him as he did it,” said Styles in his statement. “Liam lived wide open, with his heart on his sleeve, he had an energy for life that was infectious.
“He was warm, supportive and incredibly loving. The years we spent together will forever remain among the most cherished years of my life. I will miss him always, my lovely friend.”
Tomlinson said he had “lost a brother” and offered to be an uncle to Payne’s son, Bear, if he “ever needs me”.
Horan, who had been touring in South America and saw Payne at his show in the weeks before his death, said: “I feel so fortunate that I got to see him recently. I sadly didn’t know that after saying goodbye and hugging him that evening, I would be saying goodbye forever. It’s heartbreaking.”
Malik said Payne had supported him “through some of the most difficult times” of his life, and said he always had a “positive outlook and reassuring smile”.
Cowell also paid tribute, saying he was “devastated” and “heartbroken”.
He continued: “I wanted to let you know what I would always say to the thousands of people who would always ask me. What is Liam like? And I would tell them you were kind, funny, sweet, thoughtful, talented, humble, focused. And how much you loved music. And how much love you genuinely had for the fans.”
Movie fans are being warned they must not sing along to music in the new Wicked film.
The movie, which features British singer and actress Cynthia Erivo and American star Ariana Grande,will be released in UK cinemas on Friday 22 November.
However, according to an advisory video shown moments before the film in the US, AMC Theatres tells the audience “silence is golden” and fans should stay quiet so everyone can “enjoy the magic of movies”.
It urges people not to talk or text, adding “no singing, no wailing, no flirting, and absolutely no name calling”.
Ryan Noonan, an AMC spokesman, told IndyStar: “The Wicked pre-show spot incorporates the themes of the film as a fun, engaging reminder to moviegoers to not disrupt the experience for those around them as they enjoy the show.”
Some fans have posted on social media saying they may find it difficult to resist joining in with the songs in the film, which is an interpretation of the hit Broadway and West End musical.
Part one of Wicked will be released on Friday, followed by part two in November 2025.
The movies explore the friendship between Elphaba, played by Erivo, and Glinda, portrayed by Grande, before they become estranged.
The characters come from the classic Oz stories by American author L Frank Baum – a series which also includes The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz.
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In Baum’s works, Elphaba is known as the Wicked Witch Of The West and Glinda as the Good Witch Of The South.
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Earlier this week, the stars of the movie attended the London premiere at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre.
Jon M Chu, the film’s director, channelled the Emerald City of Oz in a forest green velvet suit jacket with a black bow tie and trousers, finishing the look with a pair of silver infinity glasses.
Erivo and Grande took inspiration from the original musical production, opting for black and yellow outfits respectively.