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EASTENDERS star Bobby Brazier has broken his silence after quitting the BBC soap.

The 22-year-old began playing Freddie Slater upon the character’s return to Walford in 2022.

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Bobby Brazier has broken his silence ahead of leaving EastEnders[/caption]

BBC

He began playing Freddie Slater three years ago[/caption]

BBC

The character had a close friendship with Bobby Beale[/caption]

Last month, The Sun revealed Bobby is set to leave the show later this year.

The actor has now addressed what’s next once his time on EastEnders comes to an end.

He attended the National Film Awards ceremony, where he won an award for his role in Paramount+ series Curfew.

Asked what his next plans were, Bobby told Reach: “I don’t know, I guess that’s how it really goes and how it works in this industry.

“You never really know what’s next until you go for it.

“But yeah, I’d like to play a variety of different roles so I can work out what I like, what I’m good at and what I need to work on.”

Viewers have seen Freddie learn the harrowing truth about his biological dad Graham Foster.

The character has also explored a potential romantic bond with Anna Knight (Molly Rainford).

An EastEnders spokeswoman said previously: “We can confirm that Bobby Brazier will be leaving EastEnders, and we wish him all the best for the future.”

A telly insider revealed: “Bosses had a meeting with Bobby only recently as they had a plan in mind for a storyline, and it just so ­happened that Bobby was also thinking that now was the right time to look for other opportunities outside the show.

“The timing of the decision worked for both, but his final scenes are not for a while yet.

“The character has had a great run, but the time is now right for Bobby to look for other opportunities, and for EastEnders to wave goodbye to Freddie Slater.”

News of his departure came as incoming boss Ben Wadey makes exciting casting decisions with the returns of some high-profile stars, including Michelle Ryan (Zoe Slater), Jake Wood (Max Branning) and Max Bowden (Ben Mitchell).

Meanwhile, co-star Molly is set to bow out as Anna after two years in the role.

The BBC confirmed her exit, saying: “We can confirm that Molly Rainford will be leaving EastEnders later this year, and we wish her all the best for the future.”

Other recent exits including Clair Norris as Bernadette and Matthew James Morrison as Felix.

Elsewhere, show stalwart Lacey Turner is taking a break as Stacey Slater.

EastEnders airs on BBC One and iPlayer.

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The actor has also appeared in Paramount+ series Curfew[/caption]

STIFLED by the strict rules that had her sneaking around, one woman escaped her Amish community at 17 – and has since spilled the beans on what her ultra-conservative upbringing was really like.

Born into the Swartzentruber Amish sect in rural Michigan, Naomi Swartzentruber, now 44, had to follow strict rules regarding everything – from the way she dressed to whom she could talk to.

Naomi Swartzentruber/instagram

Naomi Swartzentruber

After leaving the community behind aged 17, she ended up finding excitement and confidence as an exotic dancer and kept doing it for the next 20 years[/caption]

Naomi Swartzentruber/instagram

The mum-of-one, who quit her stripper career around the pandemic, has been very vocal about the hardships of growing up Amish[/caption]

Having now been out of the strict world for almost three decades, Naomi has detailed the hardships of growing up Amish, which also included no regular loo roll and waking up at 5am to help on the farm at just five.

By the time she was 14, school was no longer considered a priority and instead Naomi was forced to leave her education behind to cook, clean, and do household chores full-time. 

”There wasn’t much time for play – and we had to dress modestly. When I asked my parents why we had to dress and work, they said it was ‘just our way’,” she told Mail Online.

Fast-forward to now, the former Amish has spoken about what really went on behind closed doors whilst she was still living in the community – home to more than 370,000 people in the world.

As an Amish, she recently shared with LADBible, you have to follow a set of very strict rules known as Ordnung.

The guidelines regulate everything – from the way you dress to even the farming equipment the households use – and there’s punishment if you don’t abide by their way of life.

”If you are baptised and you break the rules, you get shunned – sometimes for four weeks, five or six weeks. It depends on what you did.”

To be accepted back, the rule-breakers would have to admit that what they did was wrong, before begging for forgiveness.

One of the biggest sins an Amish could make is dating an English person – a term the community uses for non-Amish people – which Naomi did when she was a teenager.

Unbeknown to her at the time, exploring her desires and sneaking out to see the boys is what eventually set her free.

The consequences of watching porn

While Naomi became a stripper to make ends meet after leaving the community, those she left behind still had to abide by the rules – which also meant no porn.

While those who got caught after being baptised would get shunned, the ramifications for those under the age of 18 were different.

If they were 18 and not baptised, and if they were already going to the singing, the teenagers would have to skip the ceremony a couple of times.

Amish singing is a cappella hymns sung in German by the Amish community during religious services and other gatherings, and they’re key for reinforcing their identity, history, and connection to their faith. 

Couples separated by a wooden board

When it comes to sex before marriage, the worshippers are very strict – it’s ”a big no-no”, Naomi said in the interview.

One of the most intriguing Amish rituals has to do with dating couples and the bedroom.

It’s the practice of ‘’bundling’’, which takes place during courtship. Ironically, it’s only the most conservative Old Order Amish communities that still do this, as per Amish Rules.

Bundling entails spending the night together, in bed but fully clothed.

Sometimes, the young lovebirds will also be separated by a wooden board in the middle of the bed.

Even a cheeky smooch isn’t allowed during this practice, but while this courtship bedroom ritual may seem counterintuitive, the Amish believe that ”bundling encourages bonding and teaches restraint”.

Naomi Swartzentruber

‘Nobody ever talked to use about sex’

Naturally, Naomi also had very little understanding of how ”babies were made”, being told that a ”stork dropped the baby in a bag down from the sky”.

”Eventually, I figured out that mum was the baby maker because her tummy would get big, and one day there was a baby and her tummy would get smaller.

”But at that point, I didn’t know how they got in there – or out – until I was older,” said Naomi, adding that sex education at school didn’t exist.

”Nobody ever talked to use about sex. I just figured it out when I would see the dogs having sex or the animals on the farm. But it’s very taboo.”

‘Natural contraception’

Traditionally, the Amish people oppose and condemn all birth control methods.

The Amish church believes contraception interferes with God’s will and natural order.

However, there is no religious doctrine about birth control, as Amish ordinances and practices can vary among Amish group, as per Amish Furniture Factory.

The household Naomi spent her first 17 years did ”not use contraception”.

”My youngest sister belongs to a church that’s less liberal. She doesn’t use modern birth control – but she takes these pills that are natural that are supposed to help you not get pregnant all the time.

”But she still has seven kids.

”So I don’t know how well they’re working,” the former Amish chuckled.

”But she thinks they work sometimes – and sometimes not.”

Naomi Swartzentruber

Naomi wrote her memoir, The Amazing Adventures of an Amish Stripper[/caption]

Cutting ties from the modern world

The ultra-conservative community also limits most technology the rest of the globe would struggle to go a day without – and in most households, TV is also off-limits.

”The strict ones, they use very little technology because they don’t want to be tied to the modern world – they try to stay separate from the modern world,” Naomi said in the bombshell interview.

Some of the limited technology that’s permitted for use include a battery-operated flashlight, generators to run the washing machine and a table saw.

I thought it was real and those people really got shot and hurt

Naomi Swartzentruber44

It wasn’t until Naomi was around 15 when she first watched a movie on the TV screen – at an English pal’s house, without informing her parents.

The experience, she revealed, was traumatic.

”I had nightmares, it was horrible because I thought it was real and those people really got shot and hurt – I was traumatised.”

Even years later, after Naomi had ditched her home and had found new ”people” who had taken her in, she still struggled with the concept of acting.

”We were watching a movie and there was violence – and it freaked me out and I was like, ‘I can’t watch this because those people are dying’.

”And they’re like, ‘It’s just a movie’. They had to explain to me that they were acting, that it wasn’t happening in real life.”

‘I’m definitely going to run away’

”One Saturday night I got caught when I was almost 17,” she previously told The Sun.

“I always wanted to run away, but I didn’t know where I was going to go or when.

“After I got caught sneaking out by my parents, I was like, ‘That’s it. I’m definitely going to run away.’

“I didn’t want to sneak the rest of my life to have fun.”

It wasn’t until a random weekday morning that she started to figure it out.

“One morning, I was picking strawberries and this guy that would deliver logs to my dad’s farm came to the garden when I was there picking them by myself,” she explained.

A light bulb went off in her head.

“I just blurted it out. I was like, ‘I want to run away and I want to live with you,'” she said.

At first, the man called her crazy and was worried about the wrath of her father.

“I was like, ‘I don’t care. I just need your help. Please help me,'” she added.

After Swartzentruber’s relentless pleading, he eventually said he would think about it and give her an answer in seven days.

As expected, he came back and said she could live with his sick mother who had dialysis three times a week.

“Then, it was just finding the right time but it never seemed to come,” she said.

Exactly a week later, the opportunity presented itself and she ran away with that man in July of 1997.

Naomi danced until the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic, which started her venture into content creation and a popular TikTok account.

Now, she’s a book author who lives with her long-term partner and is the mother of a baby girl.

Her memoir, The Amazing Adventures of an Amish Stripper: An Erotic Memoir, £12, details her ups and downs and is available on Amazon.

A Thai man lost his pickup to a woman he met online after they arranged to meet at a resort in the Isaan province of Chaiyaphum on Monday, July 7. The 56 year old victim, Pramuan, filed a complaint with officers at Mueang Chaiyaphum Police Station after the theft. He was unable to identify the suspect …

The story Online date vanishes with Thai man’s pickup after resort stay as seen on Thaiger News.

AN IRELAND AM guest has opened up about their plastic surgery journey and how taking part in a TV show “changed their life”.

Irish influencer, Alan McGarry, appeared on the hit breakfast show alongside Alan Hughes and Muireann O’Connell to share their eye-opening cosmetic experience.

The TikTok star began receiving cosmetic treatments on their face at just 19-years-old.

Alan confessed: “Back then I was just not understanding what I wanted to look like I was just trying to enhance myself.

“I didn’t know where I wanted to be and who I wanted to look like.”

The content creator added: “Growing up I was a little bit more chubbier, I was ginger and people used to pick on me and I just wanted to change my appearance.

“I just wanted to get away from all those bad names, so I started getting into filler.”

The TikTok star highlighted how lip filler became a “big trend” when they were a teenager.

They admitted: “The Jenner’s were doing it, it was trendy.”

McGarry admitted that the cosmetic surgeries started to become an “addiction” quite early on in their journey.

They remarked: “I didn’t realise when enough was enough so I continued and continued to enhance my appearance.”

A shocked Alan Hughes was quick to ask: “Did you ever look at yourself and go, ‘I’ve gone too far’.”

McGarry honestly responded: “No, that was the strange thing.”

They continued: “My friends and my mam would say it to me.”

Alan cut across and questioned: “Well what would they say?”

To which the Dubliner replied: “Lay off the filler.”

‘MORE LIKE MYSELF’

When asked what were specific surgeries they were receiving, McGarry said: “My lips, cheeks, chin, jawline and PDO thread.”

Reflecting on how they had previously looked, the TV personality said: “I looked very swollen.”

Now, after taking part in the new Botched Presents: Plastic Surgery Rewind series, McGarry has taken a total 360 turn on the idea of cosmetic surgery.

The youngster admitted: “I’m starting to feel more like myself again. I’m in a very good place now.

“I’ve toned it down and I’m not as out there.”

They finished off by highlighting how the show had completely “changed their perception of life”.

SKY has launched an eye-wateringly fast new broadband service overtaking its arch rival Virgin Media.

The telecoms giant claims it now has the UK’s fastest broadband speeds from any major provider in the country.

Sky

New service is available to some 4.5million premises now[/caption]

Millions of households will have access to new Full Fibre 2.5 Gigafast+ and Full Fibre 5 Gigafast+ packages.

The fastest of the two can download an entire 4K movie in as little as 45 seconds.

It’ll come with a new hub router – Sky’s most advanced yet – that’s capable of handling the huge speed boost.

The service utilises CityFibre’s network instead of Openreach, which is currently available to some 4.5million premises.

CityFibre – which signed a deal with Sky last year – aims to eventually cover eight million homes.

Sky will continue to offer services using Openreach‘s network, whose Full Fibre network reaches about 25 million premises at present.

“We’re proud to be setting a new standard in UK broadband. With speeds up to 5 Gbps, our new Full Fibre Gigafast+ packages make Sky the UK’s fastest major broadband provider,” said Sophia Ahmad, Chief Consumer Officer at Sky.

“Combined with our existing full fibre range, we’re offering more choice than ever before.

“Powered by cutting-edge WiFi 7 technology, these plans deliver smarter, faster, and more reliable connectivity to homes across the country.”

But the new gigabit packages don’t come cheap.

Full Fibre 2.5 Gigafast+ starts at £70 per month, while Full Fibre 5 Gigafast+ with WiFi Max starts from £80 per month.

However, bosses tell The Sun that bundle deals with Sky Glass and Sky Sports could launch in future.

“Sky is making the most of CityFibre’s full fibre network to offer its customers fast and reliable Multi-Gig speeds and an outstanding online experience,” said Greg Mesch, CEO of CityFibre.

“This partnership is bringing more choice and better broadband to millions of homes on CityFibre’s nationwide, growing network – vital for how people live today and helping to deliver a healthy, competitive market for the long-term.”

A BENEFITS cheat couple who lied about being single were exposed by their own loved-up holiday snaps.

Alan Forsythe, 37, and his wife Jemma, 36, spun a 36-month web of lies to dupe the Department of Work and Pensions.

Facebook

Alan Forsythe and his wife Jemma were caught out by their holiday pictures[/caption]

The couple were living together in a family home in Blackpool with their two children and Jemma’s two kids from a previous relationship but claimed they were single parents.

Between 2019 and 2023, the pair scrounged a total of £52,190.18 from the DWP, Preston Crown Court heard.

But they were caught out after posting a series of photos of themselves on a family holiday on social media.

The DWP made further inquiries after noticing the loved-up snaps and began to delve into the couple’s bank statements.

Both Alan and Jemma were invited to attend interviews at the Jobcentre but they continued to lie about not being together.

The pair eventually owned up to their deceit and pleaded guilty to fraud.

Alan, who is currently serving a four-year sentence over a brutal attack that left a man with life-changing injuries, was handed a further 15 weeks in jail.

But Jemma avoided prison and was instead handed a suspended sentence to protect her four children.

The court was told Alan was awarded Universal Credit he was not entitled to while claiming he was living alone in February 2019.

He continued to scrounge until October 2019 but closed the claim before signing on again in January 2022.

This time he claimed to be a single dad to a child who was living with him – swindling £3,182.27 in total.

Jemma used her maiden name to make a claim in June 2020 – telling the DWP she was a single parent.

She claimed she was living alone with her four children but failed to report Alan was living at the home and working full time.

The mum continued the lie until June 2023 – fraudulently claiming £49,007.91.

Both parents signed a declaration stating the information they had provided was true and confirming they would inform the DWP of any changes in circumstances.

The DWP launched an investigation and discovered social media posts where the pair presented themselves as a married couple.

Sentencing, Recorder Ayesha Siddiqi said: “You were both involved in providing false information to the DWP which affected the benefits you were entitled to. You were a married couple and resided together in your family home.

“At the time you made these claims you signed declarations but you were not providing accurate information. You were taking from the public purse.

“Just because money is public money does not make this any less serious.”

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The couple claimed they were single parents despite being married[/caption]

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Facebook

The couple eventually admitted fraud[/caption]

TWO road traffic collisions across the country are causing delays for Irish motorists this morning.

Road users are being warned to drive with care when approaching the crash sites.

The first collision is sitting on the M8/N8 northbound between J19 Dunkettle and J18 Glanmire, Cork in Lane 2.

The multi-vehicle collision was reported just after 8am this morning.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland warned: “Some delays to your journey may occur.

“When approaching the collision location, drive with caution, reduce your speed and please obey instructions from emergency services.”

And shortly after 9am this morning a second collision on the M4/N4 westbound was reported.

The single-vehicle collision is sitting between J8 Kilcock and J9 Enfield around 3km outside Kilcock.

And again road users are being warned to obey the emergency services.

On the M50 northbound debris on the road will add further delays to journeys this morning.

The obstruction is sitting between J12 Firhouse and J11 Tallaght.

A breakdown on the M50 is also impacting drivers this morning.

The breakdown is sitting between J14 Sandyford and J13 Dundrum.

And further into Dublin city another collision is causing delays.

The smash is sitting on the R136 at the Grange Castle Business Park roundabout.

POWER OUTAGE

And for public transport users a power outage in Connolly Station this morning meant station lights and announcements were out of service.

Warning customers this morning Irish Rail said: “Passengers are advised there is currently an ESB power outage at Connolly Station.

“No impact to the running of services.

“However station lights, announcements/monitors and ticket vending machines are out of service until further notice. Update to follow.”

The rail bosses have since confirmed power has been restored and services are running as scheduled.

Getty Images

A DARTS star’s X-rated gesture was caught on live TV as fans likened it to “swearing at school so the teach can’t see.”

The bizarre moment occurred in the first round of the Players Championship 20 this week.

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Nathan Rafferty was caught swearing at Jitse van der Wal after losing to him[/caption]

Nathan Rafferty found himself up against Jitse van der Wal in a tense darts clash.

But the Northern Irishman came off second best as he lost 6-4 to his Dutch opponent.

Van der Wal will now face Josh Rock in the second round of the competition.

However, Rafferty was then caught on camera doing something rather unsavoury.

After shaking hands with Van der Wal, he made his way to the darts board to shake hands with the officials.

But as he went past Van der Wal, who had his back turned, Rafferty raised his middle finger up in a sneaky way.

The show of bad sportsmanship received a mixed reception on social media.

Some fans felt it was a light hearted moment that lifted the atmosphere of the match.

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While for others, it was an unforgivable act.

One fan said: “Like being at school swearing so the teacher can’t see. Fully rate it.”

Another sarcastically declared: “Classy…”

One fan noted: “Anyone see the cheeky finger?”

Another added: “Ali G vibes.”

The Metropolitan Police Division 8 conducted a successful operation to arrest a major drug network operator and her associates in the Thonburi area. Police Lieutenant General Siam Boonsom, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, along with senior officers, yesterday, July 8, ordered the arrest of 49 year old Phakhamon, also know as Joy, 45 year …

The story Major drug network dismantled in Thonburi by police operation as seen on Thaiger News.

MANILA, Philippines – With the proposals to outlaw online gambling, licensed operators in the Philippines warned that an outright prohibition will only push millions of players to the black market where illegal operators thrive. Signed by 14 licensed operators, a statement released on Wednesday, July 9, called for a “stronger regulation – not a total