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Features

A range of long-read features, exclusives and investigations 

BBC News •

HBO Harry Potter: What was it like auditioning to be part of the new TV series?

Almost every child has dreamed, if only for a moment, of living in the world of Harry Potter.When the cast was announced for the films back in the early 2000s, I remember feeling a pang of jealousy – Emma Watson was fine, but wasn't I the real Hermione Granger? I would have given anything for a casting director to have spotted me and whisked me away to Hogwarts to play the iconic witch.For three young actors - Dominic McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton and Alastair Stout - that fantasy has become a re...
BBC News •

Beyoncé daughter Blue Ivy: Nepo babies or superstars in waiting?

While most 13-year-olds were spending their Monday evening stressing over homework, awkward school crushes and what to post on TikTok, Blue Ivy Carter was performing in front of a crowd of 70,000 people alongside her mother Beyoncé on the opening night of her Cowboy Carter tour.Her numerous cameos throughout the show – particularly her solo dance during Déjà Vu – were highly praised."She must be one of the most self-disciplined 13-year-olds in America," Variety's Chris Willman wrote, external. O...
BBC News •

Not so demure any more: The rise of 'free the nipple' fashion

Six months ago, a viral TikTok trend made us obsessed with being very demure and very mindful - but now, modesty has taken a back seat among celebrities who have made see-through outfits all the rage on red carpets and catwalks.At the Brit Awards last week, big winner Charli XCX went full brat as she wore a sheer black dress, prompting hundreds of complaints to media watchdog Ofcom.She used one of her acceptance speeches to address the controversy of her outfit. "I heard that ITV were complainin...
BBC News •

EastEnders: I watched a soap opera for the first time aged 27, here's what I thought

I have a confession: I've never watched a soap opera before.I'm not sure why, as I regularly binge shows with hundreds of episodes and love drama series. As a teen, I was addicted to programmes such as Waterloo Road and Skins, which, like soaps, followed the lives of a community who found themselves embroiled in increasingly outlandish plot lines.Despite ratings which are far below their 1980s peak, EastEnders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale consistently rank in the top 20 most viewed shows on...
BBC News •

The Traitors UK: Twists, turns and betrayals - the standout moments from Series 3

Devious betrayals, shock twists and mortifying fails, this season of The Traitors UK has had it all.The format-breaking twists began in episode one when the group had to choose three contestants to get off the train to the castle and potentially face leaving the game before it even began. And the chaos didn't end there, with daily missions that pitted the group against each other, tears at almost every roundtable and constant eye rolling.While we ponder what will fill the void left in our weekni...
BBC News •

The Traitors: Harry and others spill secrets about Claudia and castle

The Traitors is one of the few things getting us through a miserable January. For three nights a week, it feels as if the whole country is living and breathing the cloaks-and-daggers drama.For the other four painstaking days when the show isn't on air, we're sharing our opinions and theories with everyone from colleagues to strangers online.But it's not just tactics and contestants viewers are talking about - my group chats are incessantly pinging with questions about what happens behind the sce...
BBC News •

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni: What you need to know

From the moment Justin Baldoni announced in 2019 that he was adapting the best-selling book It Ends With Us into a film, there was a widespread frenzy. There are few books in recent years that have become as big a cultural phenomenon as Colleen Hoover's novel - it has sold 20m copies and became an internet sensation on TikTok with more than one billion tags on the app.When Blake Lively, who rose to fame in the 2000s playing Serena van der Woodsen in Gossip Girl, was cast as the main character...
BBC News •

Jacob Rees-Mogg: 'Reality TV show Meet the Rees-Moggs is a calculated risk'

"I don't want to be a celebrity," former Conservative MP Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg insists when I ask him why he, his wife and six children have decided to take part in a Kardashian-esque reality series called Meet the Rees-Moggs. "You have to be open if you're a public figure and if you're telling people to vote for you, you have to tell them who you are and what you're about," he says. "And, of course, I thought it would be fun."In his 14 years as an MP, the former minister came to be viewed as one...
BBC News •

Timothee Chalamet to Harry Styles: Celeb lookalike contests are more than good looks and big egos

There is something quite bold about telling people you look like someone famous - especially if your supposed doppelganger is one of the world’s biggest heartthrobs.But that hasn't put off the hundreds of men in the UK and US who have taken part in a recent craze for lookalike competitions.It all started with the Timothée Chalamet competition in New York three weeks ago, which even attracted the real actor himself.Since then, similar contests have attracted crowds of young people hoping to get a...
BBC News •

Are celebs such as Charli XCX and Addison Rae making smoking 'cool' again?

Brat summer might be over as we grapple with how dark it is at 4pm, but the concept of being a brat – “pack of cigs and a Bic lighter”, according to the singer Charli XCX – lives on.There's Rosalia gifting Charli XCX a bouquet of cigarettes on her birthday, Addison Rae smoking not one but two at the same time in her music video Aquamarine, and the actor Paul Mescal saying he refused to give up smoking when getting into shape for Gladiator II. The risks of smoking are well known – it's still the...
Lily Collins speaking on the phone
BBC News •

Lily Collins: I'd love an Emily in London spin-off

She’s eaten croissants by the Eiffel Tower, drunk espressos outside the Colosseum and now, could it be time for fish and chips on the London Eye?Emily in Paris star Lily Collins has told the BBC she is keen for an Emily in London spin-off as it "would be so fun".Collins, 35, has been living in London for the past few months while preparing to make her West End stage debut in Barcelona.The romantic thriller sees Collins play an American tourist who has a one-night stand with a handsome Spaniard,...
BBC News •

Has Strictly been tainted by scandal after Amanda Abbington claims partly upheld?

Three days into the rehearsals of 2023's Strictly Come Dancing, actress Amanda Abbington complained about her dance partner, Giovanni Pernice. A year later, the BBC apologised to Abbington and upheld verbal bullying and harassment complaints but cleared him of the most serious allegations of physical aggression.Over the summer, other former celebrities made complaints - Zara McDermott reported her partner, Graziano Di Prima, kicked her in rehearsals and junior staff told BBC News that the cultur...
BBC News •

Channel 4 will not drop alleged abuser Alex Henry from Married at First Sight

Channel 4 reality show Married at First Sight has rejected calls to remove one of its participants after accusations of domestic abuse were made against him. Criticism has been aimed at Alexander Henry, who is in the ninth series which starts on Monday, in the comments on E4's Instagram promotion reel.Channel 4 confirmed it would not be cutting Mr Henry's scenes as "the DBS (criminal record) check carried out on the contributor raised in the allegation was returned clear". Mr Henry was also sent...
BBC News •

London Fashion Week: Five trends to look out for from bold colours to accessories

While you may have just pulled out your cosy knits from the back of the wardrobe, it's time to get thinking about what you'll be wearing in eight months time, because London Fashion Week is back. Over the next few days, hundreds of designers will showcase their weird, wonderful and wacky spring/summer 2025 collections around the capital. This year's event promises an exciting mix of vivid colours, creative patterns, and attention-grabbing accessories.Here are five key trends to look out for.

Wh...
BBC News •

The Jeremy Kyle Show: Cancelled and controversial but cleared

Five years after ITV's most popular yet controversial daytime programme was axed following the death of a guest, an inquest has concluded there was no "clear and reliable causal connection" between Steve Dymond's appearance on The Jeremy Kyle Show and his suicide.The programme was abruptly cancelled in 2019 after the 63-year-old was found dead.Just a week earlier, he had been filming for the show, during which he failed a lie detector test.The confrontational show, which ran for 14 years, often...
BBC News •

Why Gen Z & Millennials are hung up on answering the phone

Hi, you’ve reached the voicemail of Yasmin Rufo. Please don't leave a message as I won’t listen to it or call you back.Unfortunately that isn't my answerphone message but do I, along with most Gen Z and millennials, wish it was? Absolutely.A recent survey found a quarter of people aged 18 to 34 never answer the phone, external - respondents say they ignore the ringing, respond via text or search the number online if they don't recognise it.The Uswitch survey of 2,000 people also found that nearl...
BBC News •

Very demure, very mindful - are we missing joke of Jools Lebron trend?

If brat described our wild and unapologetically messy summers, then exemplary manners, politeness and being a stickler for rules is what's taking us into autumn. In recent weeks, thousands of videos showing us how to refine our etiquette have popped up on TikTok, all off the back of the "very demure, very mindful" trend.The satirical idea started out as poking fun at the stereotypical ideas of femininity, but it has since taken on a life of its own.While half of the internet are using the phrase...
BBC News •

Love Island's Tommy Fury and Molly-Mae: Bursting the bubble on reality TV relationships

Your first kiss, the first "I love you" and your first fight are all formative parts of a relationship that most couples experience privately. But when all your firsts are broadcast to millions of people across the country, is your relationship doomed to fail before it's even started?On Wednesday Molly-Mae Hague announced her split from fiancé Tommy Fury, five years after they met on reality show Love Island.The couple were seen as a rare success story that made even the most hardened critics qu...
BBC News •

Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX and Chappell Roan: Brat, messy and vulnerable

"It's so confusing sometimes to be a girl," sings Charli XCX on her latest album, Brat.The vulnerable lyrics, existential questions and honest exploration of the complexity and contradictions of womanhood has turned Brat into much more than a collection of music.For millennials and Gen Z, it reflects a highly relatable way of life.Brat is, in the words of Charli XCX, a girl who "has a breakdown, but kind of like parties through it", who is honest, blunt, "a little bit volatile". In recent weeks,...
BBC News •

Fangirls aren't silly, they're powerful says playwright Yve Blake

From causing seismic activity at Harry Styles concerts to Swifties boosting the UK economy during the Eras Tour, the power of teenage female pop fans shouldn't be underestimated.For playwright Yve Blake, the danger of dismissing these youngsters is the inspiration behind her new comedy musical Fangirls.Following the life of 14-year-old Edna, who is obsessed with a boy band resembling One Direction, Fangirls explores "what it means to love something without apology". The idea came to Blake in 201...
BBC News •

Mean Girls: Tina Fey's musical is pretty fetch, West End critics say

In the 2004 film Mean Girls, Regina George - queen of the Plastics - told her fellow clique member Gretchen: "Stop trying to make fetch happen."Two decades on, it seems writer Tina Fey has made fetch happen with her West End musical adaptation.The Telegraph said , externalthe show has "a rare combination of warmth, goofiness, snarky wit and perceptiveness" in a four-star review."This snarky adaptation never allows a dull minute, even if its general thrust is cosily predictable," wrote Dominic Ca...
BBC News •

James Corden's return to stage in The Constituent wins over most critics

In 2011, James Corden hit the West End with the farcical comedy One Man, Two Guvnors, and later won a Tony Award for best actor following its Broadway transfer. More than a decade later, he's back in London, this time starring alongside Anna Maxwell Martin in Joe Penhall’s political drama, The Constituent.The Gavin and Stacey star's return to the stage has been met with generally positive reviews from the critics - although some were more enthusiastic than others.The Independent called Corden a...
BBC News •

Supacell: Rapman's superhero series tackling knife crime and sickle cell

Heroic superheroes fighting evil and the gritty streets of south London aren't two worlds that would usually collide, but for Rapman it was a match made in heaven. The 35-year-old rapper and director has created a new Netflix sci-fi series about five black south Londoners who unexpectedly gain superpowers. At the London premiere, Rapman, real name Andrew Onwubolu, jokes that he wishes he could have the power of teleportation given that he almost turned up late to his own event. He says that the...
BBC News •

Kathy & Stella Solve a Murder: 'We're two northerners singing about true crime'

The theatre landscape is changing. A few decades ago, the West End was packed with classic musicals and Shakespeare adaptations, but now they're making way for a new type of show. Enter Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder, a musical about two true crime podcast-obsessed friends who find themselves in the middle of a murder mystery. "We're two northerners singing about true crime, we really didn't think it would make it to the West End," says Bronté Barbé who plays Stella.Her co-star Rebekah Hinds is...
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