18 h. ago Graham Norton: ‘The Bell Jar changed how I felt about books’

The TV presenter and author on discovering the beauty of Charles Dickens and why John Fowles put him off writing for 30 yearsMy earliest reading memoryI started reading because I was wildly jealous of my sister Paula, who is four years older than me. I must have been six or seven when I managed to read The Mountain of Adventure by Enid Blyton. I know she is no longer in fashion but I still remember the thrill of the world she created and the excitement of the plot.My favourite book growing upI adored the Flambards series by KM Peyton, probably because it felt slightly adult and a little bit sexy, but my absolute favourites were Grimble and Grimble at Christmas by Clement Freud. They were anarchic and knowing, in a way I hadn’t encountered before but more than anything else they were very funny. It also introduced me to the inspired illustrations of Quentin Blake. Continue reading...

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44 h. ago Golf icon lashed the lagers to get over US Open and recalls his coolest moment

Jordan Spieth swapped healthy regime for beer and chicken wings post Oakmont

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4 d. ago Welsh activist recalls terrifying moment she was arrested abroad

D. Murphy, a Swansea resident, was detained in Palestine of at the end of last month

Events

5 d. ago 'Only Dave and I knew how much pain he was hiding as he filmed Hairy Bikers one last time...' Wife LILI MYERS recalls the last weeks of her beloved husband's cancer battle

I have still not watched the final series of The Hairy Bikers. I'm not sure I could bear it. Dave, my beloved husband, was far more poorly than he let on publicly at that point.

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5 d. ago My unexpected Pride icon: indie breakup songs said all the things I couldn’t say to other boys

From John Lennon’s takedown of Paul McCartney to the Libertines’ Can’t Stand Me Now, songs by straight men about falling out with their friends were strangely romantic to meWhen I was a teenager, in the late 00s in central Scotland, being gay was something I experienced as painful made me feel overwrought. This didn’t match the depiction of gayness I encountered in mainstream culture at the time, which was mostly very cheerful. Almost all of the gay men on my radar were comedians – figures such as Graham Norton and Alan Carr, both of whom I found funny and still admire today, but who were too easy-going and unpretentious to satisfy my desire to see myself as a tortured poet.When I got to university, I found the representation I was looking for – solemn and beautiful – in writers such as Edmund White and James Baldwin, but earlier in my teenage years I had to make do with what was available: romanticising being gay through songs about straight men falling out with their platonic frie...

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6 d. ago 'Only Dave and I knew how much pain he was hiding as he filmed Hairy Bikers one last time...' Widow LILI MYERS recalls the last weeks of her beloved husband's cancer battle

I have still not watched the final series of The Hairy Bikers. I'm not sure I could bear it. Dave, my beloved husband, was far more poorly than he let on publicly at that point.

Events

6 d. ago Sharon Osbourne's reclusive daughter Aimee, 41, has grown close to Elvis impersonating rock singer, 29

The 41-year-old is believed to be 'besotted' with Elvis Presley impersonating rock singer Wes Leavins.

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6 d. ago Bridgerton Star Genevieve Chenneour Recalls Fighting Off Thief In London Shop, Describes It As ‘Crazy Moment’

Bridgerton Star Genevieve Chenneour Recalls Fighting Off Thief In London Shop, Describes It As ‘Crazy Moment’  Times Now

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7 d. ago Heston Blumenthal recalls moment police came to section him at his home

‘We sat down on the sofa and I showed him my OBE,’ chef said

Events

8 d. ago The secrets of the incredible shrinking Osbourne women: KATIE HIND

She was the round-faced, stroppy teenager who catapulted to global fame when her parents Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne allowed TV cameras into their Beverly Hills home in 2002.

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9 d. ago The incredible shrinking Osbourne women: After Sharon admits she's gone too far on Ozempic, KATIE HIND has the inside story on whether both daughters are using fat jabs too

She was the round-faced, stroppy teenager who catapulted to global fame when her parents Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne allowed TV cameras into their Beverly Hills home in 2002.

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9 d. ago Sharon Osbourne furiously axes band from Ozzy's farewell gig amid row and 'lies'

Sharon Osbourne has admitted that she was forced to remove a band from Back to the Beginning, a rock music event which will include husband Ozzy's farewell gig with Black Sabbath

Politics

9 d. ago Sharon Osbourne axes huge band from Ozzy's farewell Black Sabbath gig after bust up

Sharon Osbourne has axed a band from Ozzy's farewell tour

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9 d. ago Sharon Osbourne AXES huge rock band from husband Ozzy's final Black Sabbath gig line

The legendary metal band will be taking to the stage for the first time in two decades for their last ever performance.

Politics

1 week ago Sharon Osbourne dropped band from Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath's final gig over dispute with manager

It remains a mystery which band are no longer playing the charity concert on July 5 at Birmingham's Villa Park as a result of the fallout with music mogul Sharon

Politics

1 week ago ‘I was never so happy to be so wrong’: Rory McIlroy’s biographer on the moment Augusta fell

A new book chronicles the golfer’s journey to completing a career grand slam, as well as the roots in Northern Ireland that helped define himTimothy Gay excitedly describes the Sunday in April when Rory McIlroy finally won the Masters, completing a long-awaited career grand slam.Gay recalls “the incredible moment when the final putt dropped in. He fell to his knees and began weeping.” Continue reading...

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1 week ago Man mauled by bear recalls moment he heard his bones crunching in animal's jaws

Artyom Kodenkov, 31, cheated death after a brown bear attacked him in the Primorsky region of Russia - he is now recovering in hospital after being left with severe injuries all over his body

Politics

1 week ago Dannii Minogue back for more of BBC's I Kissed a Girl after having to clarify she is straight

Last year the Aussie host quipped that she "identified as queer" but afterwards had to explain she was still dating her long-term boyfriend

Politics

1 week ago Loose Women's Ruth Langsford shares 'embarrassing' moment in public as she declares 'karma'

The presenter recalled the moment she realised what had happened during her dog walk

Politics

1 week ago Russell Martin's drams with Rangers legend as he recalls fan abuse moment and need for resilience

New head coach was given pep talk about what it means to be a Rangers man

Events