Actor Ian Smith, known for playing Harold Bishop in Neighbours, has revealed he has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
The 85-year-old first appeared on Ramsay Street in 1987 and has played the beloved character on and off over five decades. After a 15-year break, he returned to the Australian soap just a few months ago.
However, he has now revealed he has filmed his last Neighboursscenes after being told he has a rare form of lung cancer called pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma.
Image: Kylie Minogue as Charlene Mitchell, Craig Mclachlan as Henry, Anne Charleston as Madge Bishop and Smith as Harold back in the early days. Pic: Fremantle Media/Shutterstock
The programme shared footage of his final day on set, telling his fellow castmates he had had “the most privileged life” and met “the most beautiful people” during his time on the show.
Harold arrived in Erinsborough as an old flame of Madge (Anne Charleston), and the pair went on to get married and become one of the soap’s best-loved couples.
But tragedy struck when he was washed out to sea in 1991, presumed dead – Neighbours fans will remember those famous final scenes, with a heartbroken Madge left with only his glasses, washed up on a rock.
However, this is soapland, where anything can happen – and Harold returned in 1996, albeit with memory loss. He remained on screen until 2009.
During that time, the character had his house burgled by a gambling-addicted girlfriend, suffered a stroke that completely altered his personality, and tried to strangle the man he blamed for the plane crash that killed his son.
Image: Smith returned alongside (L-R) Minogue, Jason Donovan, Annie Jones and Stefan Dennis in 2022, for what was thought to be the soap’s final episode. Pic: Fremantle/Channel 5
Smith went on to make brief guest appearances in the soap following his exit – including in what was thought at the time to be the final ever episode in 2022 after the series was axed by Channel 5.
However, Neighbours returned in 2023 after being picked up by streaming channel Amazon Freevee, and Smith announced his full return in May.
“After 15 years of living away, the legendary Harold Bishop is returning to Erinsborough,” the show revealed in a statement shared on social media at the time. “We are thrilled to welcome Ian Smith back to the show and the opening titles, where he belongs.”
After filming his final scenes, Smith said there were “real tears” during his last day on set.
Footage showed him alongside castmates including Stefan Dennis (Paul Robinson), Jackie Woodburne (Susan Kennedy), Alan Fletcher (Karl Kennedy), and Annie Jones (Jane Harris) – as well as a surprise return from Charleston, reportedly playing a different character following Madge’s death in 2001.
Dennis broke down in tears as he said: “In the last 20 years that I’ve been back, I have found the most incredible bond with this man… I love you so much.”
Smith said he had undergone treatment including chemotherapy and immunotherapy and that he had put his hand up “to be a guinea pig – plus the fact, I don’t want to die. I want to stay alive with quality as long as I can. If they can do that, I’m very happy”.
A woman who saw a man falling from an upper tier at Wembley Stadium says a similar incident at an Oasis concert over the weekend in which a fan died makes her wonder whether lessons have been learned.
Stephanie Good, 39, said a man fell during a Euro 2020 match between England and Croatia at Wembley in June 2021.
He landed “right next to where we were” on the “stairwell between rows of seats”, she said.
Named as Jon, he reportedly survived but suffered two broken ankles, a fractured femur and fractured pelvis just before kick-off.
Ms Good said she tried to give feedback but was unable to and felt the “emergency response was really lacking”.
The man reportedly fell from the stadium’s upper tier.
In his 40s, he was found with “injuries consistent with a fall” and pronounced dead at the scene, the Met Police said.
Ms Good, an NHS manager from east London, said what happened at the Oasis gig was “so similar” to what she witnessed that it made her wonder “were lessons learned”?
Image: Liam and Noel Gallagher on stage for the first Wembley night of the Oasis reunion tour. Pic: Lewis Evans
During that incident, among stadium staff “nobody seemed to know what to do”, she told the Press Association.
She thinks the man may have been trying to attach a flag to the front of a stand and “somehow managed to fall straight over”.
She said: “They (staff) didn’t seem well-trained in terms of how to respond to a really big emergency.
“Their stewards were kind of paralysed a little bit by fear, or they just weren’t well trained and didn’t know how to call for paramedics.
“It was us who were sort of shouting at them that they needed to get some paramedics.
“The first person on the scene wasn’t a stadium paramedic or St John Ambulance. It was an off-duty firefighter who had seen the guy fall and ran down to just try and offer some help.”
Regarding the follow-up, Ms Good said staff moved spectators to other seats but did not ask for witness statements.
She added: “They didn’t seek any input from people who’d seen the incident or the aftermath of it. They didn’t seem interested in speaking to anybody about it.
“I was a bit concerned, because I felt that the emergency response was really lacking.”
She then tried to get in touch to give feedback, but was unable to do so and did not receive a response to a message on social media, she said.
A Wembley spokesperson said: “Wembley Stadium operates to a very high health and safety standard, fully meeting legal requirements for the safety of spectators and staff, and is certified to and compliant with the ISO 45001 standard.
“We work very closely and collaboratively with all relevant event delivery stakeholders – including event owners, local authorities, the Sports Grounds Safety Authority and the police – to deliver events to high standards of safety, security and service for everyone attending or working in the venue.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs has been denied bail ahead of his sentencing on prostitution-related charges.
Judge Arun Subramanian said the hip-hop mogul had failed to show sufficient evidence he is not a flight risk and also cited admissions of previous violence made during his trial.
Combs, 55, has been in prison since his arrest in September last year.
During a two-month trial, jurors heard allegations that he had coerced former girlfriends, including singer and model Cassie Ventura, into having drug-fuelled sex marathons with male sex workers, while he watched and filmed them.
Image: Diddy fell to his knees after the verdict was delivered last month. Pic: Reuters/ Jane Rosenberg
The rapper’s legal team hailed this a “victory” and immediately applied for bail ahead of sentencing, citing his acquittal on the top charges.
After this was denied, they submitted another application last week. Judge Subramanian has now rejected the request again.
In denying the motion for bail, the judge found Combs had failed to show sufficient evidence to counter arguments he is a flight risk, writing in a court filing: “Increasing the amount of the bond or devising additional conditions doesn’t change the calculus given the circumstances and heavy burden of proof that Combs bears.”
Image: Judge Arun Subramanian heard Diddy’s trial and will also sentence the rapper
He also found that an argument by the music star’s legal team that the squalor and danger of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), where he is being held, did not warrant release.
“The public outcry concerning these conditions has come from all corners,” the judge wrote. “But as Combs acknowledges, MDC staff has been able to keep him safe and attend to his needs, even during an incident of threatened violence from an inmate.”
The judge has not yet responded to this application.
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How the Diddy trial unfolded
How long could Diddy be jailed for?
Combs is due to be sentenced on 3 October and could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
Discussions on sentencing guidelines which followed the jury’s verdict suggest it is unlikely he will be jailed for this long, with an estimate of around two to five years, taking into account time already served.
However, it is ultimately up to Judge Arun Subramanian to decide the rapper’s punishment.
On Friday, Donald Trump was asked during an interview about a potential pardon for Combs following speculation about the issue.
The president said it was unlikely, adding that the rapper was “very hostile” during his presidential campaign.
Combs, who co-founded Bad Boy Records and launched the career of the late Notorious BIG, was for decades a huge figure in pop culture – a Grammy-winning hip-hop artist and business entrepreneur, who presided over an empire ranging from fashion to reality TV.
As well as the criminal conviction, he is also facing several civil lawsuits.