1 week agoViral XComments Off on ‘Really embarrassing’ – Shaun Murphy reveals one of darkest moments of his career before bouncing back to win Masters
SHAUN MURPHY revealed he had a bitter pill to swallow before bouncing back to the top.
The snooker star won The Masters in January – his first major title since winning the same tournament in 2015.
GettyShaun Murphy was left despondent after an incident last year[/caption]
Murphy had been struggling for form for much of the previous year and found himself tumbling down the rankings.
Prior to last year’s World Snooker Championship he even found himself unable to defend titles he won in 2023 – the Players Championship and the Tour Championship.
He spoke on that disappointment on the Onefourseven Podcast, saying: “Last year I didn’t even get to the Players or to the Tour to defend my titles, that was embarrassing. It was a bitter pill to swallow.
“I had to go to Manchester during the Tour Champs to do some PR for World Snooker, and I’m walking past the venue where they are playing for my trophy in what used to be my home city. People are stopping me on the street asking me when my game is.
“I’m having to say my next game is at the Crucible and it was really embarrassing to have to do that. I didn’t like that at all.”
Murphy lost in the quarter-final of the Players Championship to eventual runner-up Judd Trump last week.
But he is ready to go again and believes he can win the Tour Championship, which gets underway next week.
He continued: “I’ve tried hard all season to get into the Players and the Tour.
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“It’s great now knowing that I can go to Manchester, have a free crack, get stuck in and get amongst it. I won’t use it as a warm-up for the Crucible.
“Nothing breeds confidence like winning. And nothing would fill me with more confidence and belief going to the Crucible than a win in Manchester.”
1 week agoViral XComments Off on Blow for Jimmy Carr as show is shelved by bosses after just one series despite star-studded lineup
JIMMY Carr has been dealt a huge blow as his star-studded game show has been shelved after one series.
The funnyman, 52, hosted Battle in the Box for UKTV’s digital channel U&Dave last year.
Jimmy Carr’s game show has been shelved after just one seriesGettyPAThe funnyman’s show Battle in the Box aired last year on UKTV channel U&Dave[/caption]
It saw two pairs of celebrities go head-to-head in a series of mental and physical challenges.
We look back at some of the best to ever grace the screen.
Fawlty Towers (1975-1979) – Only two series were made of the beloved institution. However, the cultural impact of the series starring John Cleese and Connie Booth spans decades. It follows rude and intolerant Basil Fawlty (Cleese) as he attempts to improve the reputation of his hotel.
Only Fools and Horses (1981-2003) – The show was crowned by some as the best British sitcom of all time by a TV poll in 2004. Seven series were broadcast on BBC until 1991 with additional sporadic Christmas specials airing until 2003. Sir David Jason starred as ambitious market trader Derek “Del Boy” Trotter whilst Nicholas Lyndhurst played his younger half-brother Rodney. Set in working-class Peckham in south-east London, it follows the highs and lows of the lives of the Trotters’, in particular their brazen attempts to get rich.
Blackadder (1983 – 1989) – Four series were made of the iconic show, created by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson. Each series spans a different historical period as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder (Atkinson) tries to better himself in each society. Accompanied by his dogsbody Baldrick (Tony Robinson), trouble always ensues. A TV poll in 2004 found that Blackadder was voted the second-best British sitcom of all time
Absolutely Fabulous (1992 – 2012) – Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley star as failing PR guru Edina ‘Eddie’ Monsoon and alcoholic fashionista Patsy Stone. The pair embark on heavy-drinking sessions and abuse drugs in a desperate attempt to stay ‘hip’. Eddie constantly chases bizarre fads and fails to lose weight whilst her disappointed and neglected daughter Saffy (Julia Sawalha) looks on.
Little Britain (2003 – 2006) – The premise is simple. A sketch show which features different British people from all walks of life that are engaged in all sorts of comical scenarios. Starring Matt Lucas and David Walliams, the pair created iconic pop culture characters. Viewers loved obnoxious council estate teenager Vicky Pollard, morbidly obese scrounger Bubbles Devere, slimming coach Marjorie Dawes, despondent office worker Carol Beer, disgraced politician Sir Norman Fry, of course the iconic Lou and Andy!
The Catherine Tate Show (2004-2015) – A sketch show starring the likes of Catherine Tate. She made iconic characters such as rowdy schoolgirl Lauren Cooper with her line ‘Am I bovvered?’. Other characters featured Bernie the nurse, the aga saga woman, complaining couple Janice and Ray, and of course her infamous ‘Nan’, Joannie Taylor. The last character herself spawned multiple specials and even a movie.
Gavin and Stacey (2007 – Present) The series tells the story of Gavin (Matthew Horne) and Stacey (Joanna Page). The pair embarked on an online and telephone romance for six months. But when they finally decide to be together properly, their friends and family get in the way. Ruth Jones and James Corden created the beloved show, which has been going for over a decade. The 2019 Christmas special was the most-watched comedy in 17 years and the most-viewed non-sporting event in a decade.
1 week agoViral XComments Off on The Bachelor’s Litia Garr’s Raw Honesty About Grant Ellis’ Decision Explains Exactly Why Producers Need To Update The Show (He Raised The Stakes And Broke Her Heart)
The Bachelor season 29 ended in a difficult exchange for Litia Garr and Grant Ellis, whose decisions explain why the show needs to change things up.
1 week agoViral XComments Off on Wolf theory, ‘harvester’ horror claim & grandparents’ arrest: Twists & turns of Emile Soleil case that gripped the world
AS the Emile Soleil case continues, here are all the shocking twists and turns so far.
The two-year-old vanished two years ago from a holiday home in France, in a case that gripped the world.
AFPEmile Soleil, 2, went missing on July 8, 2023[/caption]
AFPVolunteers helped in a search operation for Emile after his disappearance[/caption]
RexEmile’s remains were found by a rambler nine months after his disappearance[/caption]
After going missing on July 8, 2023 from his isolated grandparents’ home, the police launched a major search.
For days, police, soldiers, sniffer dogs, scores of volunteers, a helicopter and drones failed to find any sign of the boy.
Nine months later, Emile’s remains were discovered by a rambler in what was a major breakthrough for the case.
The remains were found about a 25-minute away from the French hamlet of Haut-Vernet where Emile was last seen.
The discovery left the police baffled as they scrambled to make sense of the clues.
Volunteers flocked to help search for Emile after his disappearanceRexAFPFrench gendarmes joined the volunteers in the search[/caption]
Killed by a pack of wolves
Following the discovery of Emile’s remains, there was much speculation around the two-year-old’s cause of death, with some locals convinced he was killed by wolves.
One person told Le Parisien at the time: “The little one must have been the victim of an animal. And I only see the wolf as the culprit.
“They say wolves are afraid of people, but with a little boy like that, a big boy, the wolf would have seen him as another prey.”
François Balique, The mayor of Vernet where Emile lived, also seemed to believe the horrifying theory.
Balique said: “There are some wolves here, especially in the summer with the sheep flocks.
“A wolf can very well grab a child at the village well and run for half an hour without stopping and without shedding blood,” he added.
Locals fuelled the theory saying several wolves had been spotted in the area.
Stéphane Chevrier, president of the Vernet hunters’ association, told Le Figaro: “Our department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence is one of the largest recorded wolf populations. Last September there were several attacks on cows and sheep near Vernet.”
GettySome locals believed that Emile was killed by a pack of wolves after going missing[/caption]
Peter JordanLocals reported spotting several wolves in the area at the time[/caption]
Hit by a combine harvester
Having ruled out wolves as Emile’s killer, the police probed an equally as chilling theory – that the boy was hit by a combine harvester.
A farmer from the village told BFMTV at the time: “Sometimes we find deer.
“The little one may have ended up in the tall grass and been hit by a farm machine. That would be terrible.”
Remains returned
The police were left puzzled after Emile’s remains were found in the very same area they had so thoroughly searched.
This led to Mayor Balique revealing a new theory – that the bones had been moved back to Vernet.
A source close to the investigation told The Mail at the time that such a move, if true, would add a very disturbing element to the investigation.
The source claimed it would be unlikely that animals would return human remains.
Instead they said the discovery suggested that “a person brought Emile’s remains back, and potentially very recently”.
The cops did not oppose this theory and refused to rule out any cause of death, including murder.
RexThe discovery of Emile’s remains was a major breakthrough in the case[/caption]
RexThe village was cordoned off after the remains were discovered[/caption]
‘Village of the damned’
Some residents believe Emile’s case was doomed from the start due to a curse over the French hamlet.
The seemingly-idyllic hamlet is being referred to as the “village of the damned” following a number of horror incidents in its dark past.
In March 2015, the hamlet was cordoned off following a horrific air crash in which 150 people died, including two babies.
The Germanwings Airbus A320 was deliberately brought down by co-pilot Andres Lubitz, who had previously been treated for suicidal tendencies.
Many Vernet residents took part in high mountain searches for possible survivors at the time.
The inhabitants of Vernet were also shaken by the murder of a local café manager in the village 15 years ago.Jeannette Grosos, who ran the Café du Moulin, was brutally killed by a customer in 2008.
Mayor François Balique said: “It was a real drama for the whole village – one which it has had a hard time recovering.”
One resident of Vernat said: “Everybody is saying it – Vernet feels like a village of the damned.”
AFPResidents are calling the hamlet the “village of the damned”[/caption]
Peter JordanThe memorial of the German Wings plane in the village[/caption]
Granddad’s dark secret
The case took another shocking turn when disturbing details about Emile’s granddad’s past emerged last year.
Multiple French news outlets including Le Parisien and Le Canard enchaîné reported appalling details of a sex abuse scandal at the Roman Catholic school where he worked.
Philippe Vedovini was training to be a monk when he worked at the school.
Riaumont is a Catholic community that includes a boarding school for troubled youngsters in Northern France.
The school in the Pas-de-Calais received multiple complaints from former pupils between 2014 and 2017.
They said they had suffered sexual abuse, including rape, in the early 1990s, as well as regular physical beatings.
Philippe was implicated in the enquiry as an “assisted witness”.
In an interview with the police in April 2018, Philippe admitted to administering “somewhat harsh” physical discipline, but insisted he had never broken the law, according to a source close to the enquiry.
Eleven former colleagues ended up being indicted on various charges.
Emile was in the care of his granddad when he died, fuelling theories that he may have been involved.
Murdered by grandparents
But the most shocking twist to the case came on Tuesday, as Emile’s grandparents were arrested on suspicion of murder.
Philippe and Anne Vedovini, both 59, were arrested on Tuesday along with two of their adult children in connection with Émile’s death.
The four are all facing charges of “intentional homicide” and “concealing a corpse”, according to a statement from Aix-en-Provence prosecutors.
The grandparents’ lawyer confirmed the arrest to AFP, but did not make any further comment.
Émile’s parents, Marie and Colomban Soleil, are not believed to be the two adult children arrested.
AFPFrench cops searched the grandparents’ house following Emile’s disappearence[/caption]
AFPA cop enters a vehicle outside the house of the grandparents of Emile Soleil[/caption]