Walking Dead fans only just realising what Andrew Lincoln's real name is – and ‘filthy meaning' behind it
The much-loved British star, 51, was on the gory zombie show for eight years, before quitting in 2018.
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But despite it being nearly seven years since he was on the blood thirsty US TV show, fans have only just found out that the actor's name isn't really Andrew Lincoln.
In fact, the star, who played tough sheriff Rick Grimes on The Walking Dead, has a very different surname.
The actor's real full birth name is Andrew James Clutterbuck.
Andrew has previously revealed how he was told to ditch his family name by his first agent, because it made him "sound like a hobbit".
But the revelations don't stop there, as according to fans his surname has a "filthy meaning" - although this is just a theory.
Taking to Reddit to discuss, one fan said: "it means 's**t shoveler'.
This one joked: "The name sounds like a hippogriffs name in Harry Potter - Buckbeak and Clutterbuck!"
BECOMING A STAR
Andrew got his first taste of fame as the hapless Edgar "Egg" in the BBC 's smash hit This Life, in the mid-90s.
Rick Grimes leaves The Walking Dead – but did he survive blowing up the crowd of walkers?
The show - which was about about five twentysomethings trying to make it law - was a huge hit, and carried on for two series.
This Life made stars out of its cast, which also included Pirates of the Caribbean actor, Jack Davenport.
Speaking about playing Egg, Andrew previously told The Guardian: "I love him!
"He was a sweet-natured guy and he spoke to a lot of people who had come out of university and were stuck in a rut and were re-evaluating what they wanted to do and believed in.'
Andrew's role in This Life was enough to get him noticed, and he was subsequently snapped up by Channel 4 to lead the cast of Teachers.
After four series on the show, he left and he got his big break in the movies when he starred in smash hit Christmas comedy, Love Actually in 2003.
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WALKING DEAD FAME
Fast-forward seven years later, and Hollywood called and in 2010 he reached a whole new audience on the American TV show, The Walking Dead.
With his deep southern drawl, US fans were shocked at the time to learn Andrew was in fact British.
During his eight year reign on the show his character, Georgia sheriff Rick, macheted, axed, gunned and spiked at least 150 zombies and quite a few humans.
After quitting the show in 2018, he revealed he'd never actually seen an episode of The Walking Dead
'I haven't watched myself for 15 years, because I don't enjoy it," he told The Guardian at the time.
"There's a lot of working parts that can change your performance in between you giving it and it going out.
"I just realised I'd prefer to have my own imagination about what the story is.'
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BBC News
11 minutes ago
- BBC News
Ozzy Osbourne: did he really bite the head off a live bat?
When it comes to the unruly world of rock, shocking behaviour is rarely frowned upon. Just the opposite. Most of the time it's practically there are limits, few performers have pushed those generous boundaries more than John Michael Osbourne, aka Ozzy Osbourne, or the Prince of Darkness, who has died aged don't get a nickname like that by Sabbath fans initially dubbed him with it thanks to his jet black onstage persona, decadent aura and lyrics that seemed obsessed by the his actions on the night of 20 January 1982, when the body of an unfortunate creature ended up separated from its head, were bat-split crazy, even by Ozzy's excessive an event that, decades later, is still discussed as one of the most notorious moments in heavy metal oddly, this wasn't even the first time that the singer had seemingly been involved in the decapitation of an innocent more of that it comes to Ozzy and the bat, it's unsurprising that, over the years, recollections have differed on the precise turn of that was because people's memories clashed. But mostly it depended on which version of the story Ozzy was in the mood to facts about the incident, however, are unambiguous. In January 1982, Ozzy was two months into a gruelling tour promoting his second solo album, Diary of a Madman. A tradition had developed where the singer would catapult pieces of raw meat and animal parts - including intestines and liver - into the far, so revolting. And perhaps, not totally inexplicable behaviour for a man who'd once served an apprenticeship at an the tour, word quickly spread about the practice, and Ozzy's fans were nothing if not resourceful. At every venue, they knew exactly what was coming, and they turned up armed and ready to when something small and black landed on stage during a rowdy Wednesday night show at Des Moines' Veterans Memorial Auditorium, the singer thought it was a rubber here's where recollections start to veer off in different his 2010 autobiography I Am Ozzy the singer says he picked it up, stuffed it in his mouth, and chomped down."Immediately, though, something felt wrong. Very wrong. For a start my mouth was instantly full of this warm, gloopy liquid," he recalled. "Then the head in my mouth twitched." "Somebody threw a bat. I just thought it was a rubber bat. And I picked it up and put it in my mouth. I bit into it," he told the he says he realised: "Oh no, it's real. It was a real live bat."So is this the definitive version of the story - live bat thrown on stage, Ozzy bites into it? Far from hadn't always insisted the bat was alive when it was thrown towards in 2006, he gave the BBC a take on the story that was subtly, but crucially different."This bat comes on. I thought it was one of them Hallowe'en joke bats 'cos it had some string around its neck," he said."I bite into it, and I look to my left and Sharon [Osbourne, his wife and then manager] was going [gesturing no]."And I'm like, what you talking about? She [says], 'it's a dead real bat'. And I'm... I know now!"So was the unfortunate winged mammal dead or alive?Who better to confirm whether it was bereft of life and had ceased to be, than the person who claims to have actually brought the bat to the concert? Dead or alive? According to the Des Moines Register, that man was Mark was 17 at the time of the concert. And his account of the events leading up to the gory night was this: His younger brother had brought the bat home a fortnight before but, sadly, it hadn't said that, by the time he took it to the concert, it had been dead for it seems that the available evidence about this legendary piece of heavy metal excess, placed at number two in Rolling Stone magazine's list of Rock's Wildest Myths, does point to it being largely agrees that the bat did find its way into Ozzy's mouth, although it seems likely it was no longer alive by that point - something Ozzy himself concurred with. what of an eerily similar incident some nine months before in Los Angeles? Again the details vary, usually depending on who Ozzy was talking basic facts have never been in dispute. Ozzy was due to meet a group of CBS record label executives in Los Angeles, and Sharon had the idea of him bringing three live doves with giving a short speech of thanks, the plan was for Ozzy to throw them into the air, so everyone could watch them flutter away, in a symbolic gesture of alert: That's not what ended up happening. Doves of peace Ozzy had been drinking brandy all morning, and he later told rock biographer Mick Wall that a PR woman at the meeting had been seriously annoying to Wall's book, Black Sabbath: Symptoms of the Universe, Ozzy "pulled out one of these doves and bit its [expletive] head off just to shut her up"."Then I did it again with the next dove," he added, "spitting the head out on the table"."That's when they threw me out. They said I'd never work for CBS again." In version two, recounted some months later, he told Sounds' magazine's Garry Bushell a slightly different story."The scam is the bird was dead. We were planning to release it there, but it died beforehand. So rather than waste it, I bit its head off."You should have seen their faces. They all went white. They were speechless." The ringmaster of rock excess Ozzy, of course, had a reputation to uphold. After all, this was the man who'd been thrown out of Black Sabbath because, even by rock's astronomically lax standards, his drink and drug consumption was considered too while his encounters with bat and dove may not have seemed cricket to many, they - with helpful dollops of exaggeration - added significantly to Ozzy's outrageous undoubtedly gave him even greater publicity and notoriety, helping his solo career to skyrocket like a bat out of even though he might not be guilty of every misdemeanour that was attributed to him over the years, there's little doubt that he reached heights (or depths) that other rock stars never dared to meant that he was seen as the undoubted ringmaster of rock excess - a career defining reputation that stayed with him right to the end.
The Guardian
24 minutes ago
- The Guardian
In Ukraine's bombed out reservoir a huge forest has grown – is it a return to life or a toxic timebomb?
At the southern tip of Europe's largest river island, the ground falls away into a vast and unexpected vista. From a high, rocky ledge on Khortytsia Island, the view opens on to a sea of swaying young willows and mirrored lagoons. Some of the trees are already many metres tall, but this is a young forest. Just a few years ago, all of it was under water. 'This is Velykyi Luh – the Great Meadow,' says Valeriy Babko, a retired history teacher and army veteran, standing on the former reservoir shoreline at Malokaterynivka village. For him, this extraordinary new-old environment represents more than nature alone. 'It is an ancient, mythic terrain, woven through Ukrainian folklore,' he says. 'Think of all those Cossacks galloping through its valleys of forests so dense the sun barely pierced them.' That historic landscape vanished in 1956, when the Soviet Union completed the Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power plant and flooded the entire region. What had once been an ecological and cultural cradle became a reservoir, and its rich, living systems were entombed beneath the water. Water flows over the collapsed Kakhovka dam on 7 June 2023. Photograph: AP Then, in 2023, that water was unleashed as weapon: the Nova Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River, under the control of Russian forces, was blown up (Russia denies bombing it). It sent a vast, destructive flood of water and sediment downstream, destroying villages and killing an unknown number of people; figures for the death toll range from a few dozen into the hundreds. Up to one million people lost access to drinking water. Two years on from the disaster, the reservoir's future still hangs in the balance. Scientists say it represents both a 'return to life' for the ecosystem and wild creatures that inhabit it – and an unpredictable, potentially toxic 'timebomb'. It is a case study in the complexity of how nature responds to vast changes wrought by humankind – and what happens to ecosystems in the wake of disaster. In the immediate aftermath of the bombing, Kakhovka reservoir resembled a desert of drying mud and cracked silt. Now, plants grow so thickly you must scythe through the vegetation covering the earth embankment before the basin comes fully into view. The bone-dry former shoreline is studded with husks and shells of aquatic organisms that once lived here. Beyond it, a vast sea of young trees stretches over the horizon towards the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station. The size of it is difficult to take in: the reservoir's surface area was 2,155 sq km (832 sq miles) – bigger than New York City and its five boroughs. The latest report from the Ukrainian War Environmental Consequences Work Group (UWEC) confirms what satellite images, ecologists and field researchers began to observe over the past two years: the ecosystem of the lower Dnipro is not only recovering, it is evolving. The drained reservoir is now home to dense growths of willow and poplar and enormous wetlands; endangered sturgeon have returned to waterways; wild boar and mammals to the forests; and there are signs of spontaneous regeneration across a huge stretch of floodplain. 'We are witnessing the emergence of a massive natural floodplain forest system,' says Oleksiy Vasyliuk, co-author of a 2025 report on the reservoir for the UWEC and head of the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group. 'It is not a managed project. It is the land itself returning to life.' Instead of an artificial lake on their doorsteps, Malokaterynivka residents have a new forest landscape to contend with. Photograph: Vincent Mundy That return is increasingly measurable for ecologists. 'Native fauna are returning to the section of the river freed from the dam and reservoir,' the report confirms. 'As well as a rapid expansion of native vegetation, as many as 40bn tree seeds have sprouted, which could lead to the formation of the largest floodplain forest in Ukraine's steppe zone.'According to Eugene Simonov, international coordinator at Rivers without Boundaries, what is unfolding in Velykyi Luh is not just a local wetland rebound, it is the rare and spontaneous reconstitution of a vast riverine ecosystem, with implications that stretch far beyond Ukraine. 'Prior to the dam, the Dnipro floodplain here hosted huge oak forests and many types of wetlands over thousands of square kilometers, creating a mosaic of biodiversity-rich habitats for hundreds of bird species and gigantic fish such as the Ukrainian sturgeon, which used to come here to spawn,' Simonov says. Clockwise from top left: Critically endangered sturgeon are returning to their ancient spawning grounds; billions of freshwater clams died when the reservoir emptied; young sturgeon at a caviar aquaculture facility – a small wild population is now found in the Dnipro; the fountains in Dubovy Gai (Oak Park), which will not work again now the water supply has dried up, says Valeriy Babko, pictured; the floodplain is littered with the remains of aquatic organisms. Photographs: Vincent Mundy The Great Meadow, he says, also represents an opportunity for Ukraine as it seeks to attract global funds for postwar recovery and join the EU. 'Restoring natural freshwater ecosystems along a 250-km stretch of the lower Dnipro could be the largest project of its kind in Europe and has the potential to become Ukraine's decisive contribution to meeting EU commitments to restore rivers to their natural state by 2030,' he says. Yet, as scientists are quick to emphasise, this recovery is not guaranteed. Much of the former reservoir remains inaccessible due to active shelling and mined terrain. Comprehensive biological monitoring is difficult. Heavy metals and chemical contamination are a growing concern for researchers. And the future of the area remains politically uncertain. Clockwise from top left: trees sprout from the basin of the former reservoir; Vadym Maniuk, ecologist, surveys the dense growth; white willows and black poplars have grown rapidly, turning the area into forest; some of the trees have already grown many metres tall. Photographs: Vincent Mundy and Alessio Mamo While the reservoir forest looks like an oasis, sprung up in the absence of people, it is still marked by the residue of human enterprise. Over time, the banks of the reservoir eroded. Their fine particles of dust sank into a thick layer at the basin's floor. At the same time, pollutants were entering the water – particularly heavy metals from industrial enterprises along and upstream of the reservoir. Oleksandra Shumilova, a freshwater ecologist, says: 'All these pollutants were absorbed into these fine particles that were deposited on the bottom.' The sediment acted 'like an enormous sponge that was accumulated on the bottom of this reservoir. We estimate that it was about 1.5 cubic km of polluted sediments'. The industrial chimneys of Zaporizhzhia tower over the ancient Scythian burial monuments of Khortytsia island. Photograph: Vincent Mundy When the dam was drained it sent an enormous quantity of polluted, potentially toxic waste flowing into the wider area. Its heavy metals could easily contaminate water sources, soil, and be taken up by plants. Even in small concentrations, they can 'have negative effects on various systems of human organisms; for example, they can cause cancer, endocrine disruptions, problems with lungs, with kidneys,' Shumilova says. She compares their effects to radiation: as those toxins move up the food chain, they can concentrate, causing particular problems for bigger animals and meat eaters. 'As for how these pollutants are also transferred within the food web, it's not known. It is not possible to investigate at the moment, because it's dangerous to enter the area. There is no systematic research,' she says. With the Dnipro River's water table permanently altered, the artificially fed ponds in Dubovy Gai are expected to be fully dried out by the end of the summer. Photograph: Vincent Mundy A 2025 report co-authored by Shumilova and published in the journal Science concluded that the pollutants represented a 'toxic timebomb', and warned of significant concerns for animal food webs and human populations living in the area. But, as in other environments – such as the site of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster – contamination and natural regeneration can occur side by side. In the same paper, the scientists concluded that within five years, 80% of the ecosystem functions lost to the dam's presence will be restored and that the floodplain's biodiversity would recover significantly within two years. The UWEC report frames this moment as a strategic turning point for Ukraine's environmental and cultural policy. If left to regenerate, the site could become one of Europe's largest contiguous freshwater ecosystems, rivalling even the Danube delta in ecological importance. But the emerging forest at Kakhovka could disappear as quickly as it emerged. 'If the hydropower dam is rebuilt,' Vasyliuk warns, 'this young forest and all the life it now sustains will be lost again.' The state energy company Ukrhydroenergo has already signalled its intention to reconstruct the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant. For some officials, this represents a return to 'normality': a reinstatement of industrial productivity, energy security and geopolitical control. 'Rebuilding the dam the way it was would not be a recovery,' says Vasyliuk, 'it would be an ecocide. It would destroy a young, spontaneous forest before we even have a chance to understand it.' The decision holds significance beyond Ukraine's borders. Roughly 80% of the territory affected by the reservoir's collapse lies within nationally and internationally protected zones, many of them part of Europe's Emerald Network, placing the fate of Velykyi Luh within a larger continental mandate to safeguard ecological and cultural heritage. People fish in the river, which dropped by several metres after the dam was destroyed. Photograph: Vincent Mundy From a climate perspective, the newly forming ecosystem offers significant potential for carbon capture and storage, the 2025 UWEC report concludes. 'This is an opportunity we cannot afford to miss,' says Simonov. 'If Ukraine chooses to protect Velykyi Luh, it won't just be saving a landscape, it will be choosing to believe in its own future.' Vasyliuk adds: 'This is our biocultural sovereignty at stake and that means our nature, our identity, our independence, and a symbol of the kind of nation we want to become.' Across the lower Dnipro, warblers nest in reeds where water once lapped against concrete and sturgeon spawn in shallows they haven't visited in 70 years. The new wetland echoes an ancient rhythm. 'What will happen with this area? We cannot predict at the moment with full confidence, but it's true that it is reestablishing very rapidly,' says Shumilova. 'From a human point of view it was, of course, a disaster for people living there. But from a scientific point of view, it's a very rare event: how an ecosystem [can be] re-established. It is a big natural experiment. And it is still ongoing.' Beyond the riprap (rocks placed at the shoreline to control erosion) of the former reservoir the new forest emerges. Photograph: Vincent Mundy Additional reporting by Tess McClure This article was amended on 22 July 2025. An earlier version mistakenly attributed a quote on biological sovereignty to Eugene Simonov instead of Oleksiy Vasyliuk. Also, Oleksandra Shumilova referred to the 'various systems' of human organisms, not 'virus systems' as stated owing to a mis-transcription. Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow the biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield in the Guardian app for more nature coverage
Daily Mail
43 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Aussie groom blurts out 'rude' seven-word remark about his bride at their extravagant Lake Como wedding
A groom has raised eyebrows with his 'rude' seven-word remark at the altar just moments after his stunning bride walked down the aisle. Aussie entrepreneur James Hachem, once named in the Forbes Rich List, tied the knot with content creator Antonia Apostolou in an extravagant wedding ceremony at the idyllic Villa Pizzo in Lake Como in June. Shortly before the couple exchange their vows in front of 140 guests, the happy groom blurted out, 'F*** me does she not look insane?' The groom's gushing comment in the video highlighted just how stunning his bride looked in a showstopping lace gown featuring a low-cut fitted corset. The crowd erupted into laughter, breaking into applause and cheers. James can be seen wiping away tears as his bride excitedly waved to the guests. 'Everyone take a deep breathe... Today is the day that's going to live in our hearts and our memory,' the marriage celebrant said. Antonia shared the footage on social media, with the caption: 'Aussies in the middle of their elegant Italian ceremony', poking fun at how the 'classy' moment quickly shifted when the groom swore. The short clip has been viewed more than 500,000 times - with many divided over the groom's remarks. 'I would die of embarrassment,' one said. 'That ruined the classy moment,' another claimed. 'He's nervous, he blurted out what he was thinking - kinda cute,' one suggested. 'I would be mortified,' another added. Some took particular issue with the groom for his 'disrespectful' choice of words. 'Why the foul language?' one asked. 'Bogans,' another said. However, many saw the funny side as they agreed with the groom, with one saying: 'She absolutely does look stunning. Valid as f***. Congratulations.' 'When he said that in front of everyone, I started laughing but I know that he loves you,' another shared. 'Can't get more Aussie than this - and yes she does look insane,' one said, laughing as she agreed with how stunning the bride looked. 'He's not wrong,' another added. While another pointed out: 'You can tell the non-Aussies in the comments... "oh my god, the foul language"... this couple is hot.' Back in June, it was reported that the couple's luxurious Italian wedding cost more than $1million. During the ceremony, Antonia stepped out in a gorgeous wedding gown with a long, flowing veil, with intricate lace embellishments, that fell into a long train. James complemented his bride perfectly in a white shawl lapel tuxedo jacket, a white shirt, a black bow tie and a pair of black pants, finishing his look with a boutonnière. The couple looked absolutely besotted with each other as they happily danced after the ceremony, while guests clapped along. The fun didn't end there either, with the couple later hoisted into the air on chairs inside the villa's ballroom and celebratory fireworks were shot into the air at dusk. James is the son of world poker champ Joe Hachem, while Antonia is a social media influencer and content creator who boasts 214,000 followers on Instagram and a further 195,000 on TikTok.
