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Daily Mail
43 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Property Brothers Drew and Jonathan Scott give glimpse of 'bittersweet' personal summer amid HGTV turmoil
Property Brothers Drew and Jonathan Scott have given fans a glimpse into their 'bittersweet' personal summer amid the ongoing turmoil at HGTV. The duo recently shared that during the show's hiatus they took their 91-year-old father, Jim, to Scotland - where he was born. They also took their own children, including Drew's young kids - Parker and Piper, along to visit Jim's hometown as he reconnected with his roots. Jonathan was accompanied by fiancée Zooey Deschanel but it is unclear if her kids Elsie and Charlie - to whom he is a stepfather - joined in on the getaway. 'We took our dad back to his hometown, and then we stayed in a castle, and then we went to Munich and Italy and Zurich. So it was fun to travel and get the kids used at a young age to traveling abroad,' Drew shared to People. 'Our dad's 91, so if we go, it's nice to take him too, because he can go back and see his brother and family. 'So, we did a big family reunion there. We had 60 people together and it was a lot of fun.' In July, without warning, HGTV pulled the plug on Bargain Block, Married to Real Estate, and Izzy Does It - with sources telling the Daily Mail more changes are coming. It also delayed the twins' new show titled Chasing the West. It was supposed to come out on July 20 but it was postponed to July 30 amid the ongoing shakeup. Another program of theirs - Don't Hate Your House With the Property Brothers - was meant to begin airing its second season on July 30. But an updated press release stated that season two of the home renovation show will start 'later this year,' with no specific date announced. The Scotts' show Celebrity IOU, however, has managed to stay on its original schedule, premiering on July 9 with guest star Rachel Brosnahan. Chasing the West will see the Property Brothers help families escape the city and acclimate to country life across an eight-episode first season. The brothers grew up on a 160-acre ranch at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada. 'It was sort of bittersweet because we could share what we loved about growing up on a ranch with all of these families,' Jonathan told People. 'On the flip side, I miss it. It was so fun to be in the mountains.' Drew added: 'It was like a blast to the past for us. It was nostalgic. We were riding horses every other day, and I haven't ridden in years, so I was sore.' Shortly after the initial raft of HGTV cancellations last month, network sources spoke exclusively to the Daily Mail about the thinking behind the move. 'We had to stop the bleeding,' said the senior source, who claimed that revenues were underperforming and the network needed to act. 'We were hemorrhaging money. So in order to stop the bleeding, we had to have a bloodbath. It was calculated cuts to make things make sense, financially.'
The Independent
4 hours ago
- The Independent
Trump is like a medieval king, former UK ambassador to US says
The former UK ambassador to the US has delivered a scathing rebuke of Donald Trump, describing the President as a 'medieval King'. Lord Kim Darroch accused the American leader of turning the ' Oval Office into a reality TV set'. The former diplomat was forced to quit his role in 2019 during Mr Trump's first term after leaked briefings showed him describing the President's government as 'dysfunctional', 'inept' and 'divided'. Speaking to broadcaster Iain Dale at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Lord Darroch defended the letter, which he said was a result of then prime minister David Cameron urging him to be honest and direct. He told the audience in Scotland's capital that his comments were borne out by Mr Trump's actions as president. The former ambassador said Mr Trump was ultimately an unpredictable leader as he cited the numerous firings of top officials by the president, the various changes to his tariff policies and the recent move to place nuclear submarines near Russia. 'He's sort of like a medieval king – that sort of capricious decision-making – than he is like a modern politician where consistency is seen as important,' he said. 'He doesn't think that's important at all. He thinks that every day is a fresh day. You're basically battling with media. 'You're battling with your opponents. If it suits you today to reverse something you did last week, just do it. 'If you look at tariffs, that's a perfect example of unpredictability of capriciousness.' Lord Darroch suggested that Mr Trump's style stemmed from his time on the US version of The Apprentice. 'Donald Trump was made by reality TV,' he said, describing him as 'the American version of Alan Sugar'. He added: 'He learned a lot about how to present himself from reality TV. 'I think he's now literally turned the Oval Office into a reality TV set.' During his discussion with Mr Dale, the former diplomat praised the Prime Minister's handling of foreign policy, including his relationship with the US President. He told the broadcaster: 'So far, against a lot of predictions, Keir Starmer has proved himself really quite an adept Trump whisperer. 'He's done some clever things, including phoning Trump up after the assassination attempt – that was a clever thing to do, going to see him to sort of kiss the ring before the election.' The peer said the Labour leader had been better on foreign policy than domestic policy, but warned the PM there were 'not many votes in foreign policy'. Asked about defence, Lord Darroch suggested the UK would not be able to cope with a Russian invasion, although he said the chances of that were low. 'The truth is I don't think we are close,' he said. 'I do think it's less distant than it was five years ago. 'I do think the important point really is that we are woefully underprepared.' Lord Darroch has been outspoken in his criticism of Mr Trump since he was forced to quit his stateside role. Mr Trump had criticised him as as a 'stupid guy' and a 'pompous fool'.
The Guardian
5 hours ago
- The Guardian
Will Hearts' army of data nerds back up Tony Bloom's title talk?
Despite the Scottish Premiership title race being more predictable than Football Daily at a bottomless brunch, fitba has never been short of drama. Who can forget Ross County deleting their own website, Kirk Broadfoot suffering facial burns after microwaving an egg and former Hearts manager Robbie Neilson trying to give journalists the slip as he left the club's training ground by sending out a decoy (sports scientist John Hill) to the car park in a Robbie Neilson mask. Edinburgh, very much the second city in Scotland when it comes to football, still has one of the game's finest rivalries between two grand old clubs, Hearts and Hibernian. Each have had their moments in recent derbies: last year Hearts' Lawrence Shankland celebrated scoring a penalty by catching and eating a pie thrown by a Hibs supporter. In March, Jack Iredale scored a screamer to win the derby for Hibs. The post-match celebrations at Easter Road featured one of the finest ever renditions of Sunshine on Leith, a song sung with so much feeling that it left some Hibs players in tears. And who can blame them? If you get goosebumps watching that song, imagine what it must be like to come from that corner of Scotland, stand on that terrace and sing those lyrics in front of your victorious team. Magic. The point is, fitba is far greater than just Rangers and Celtic. And this is very much the opinion of Tony Bloom, the owner of Brighton who bought a 29% stake in Hearts this summer for £9.86m. Following the club's opening win over Aberdeen – a 2-0 victory that leaves the Jambos top of the Premiership table – Bloom was in a bullish mood as he faced the media, explaining that he thinks Hearts can challenge for glory. 'If we have not won the league title in the next 10 years, I will be very disappointed,' Bloom stated. 'I want to make sure that we are in the talk to win the title at the start of each season.' We have heard this sort of patter before, a new owner coming in and telling a club's supporters what they want to hear. The difference is, Bloom has a track record of using his army of data nerds and analytics gurus to drastically improve clubs with savvy recruitment. Brighton are now one of the best run clubs in England, while Union Saint-Gilloise, who were bottom of Belgium's second tier when the Englishman took over in 2018, won the Belgian top flight a few months ago for the first time in 90 years and are in Bigger Cup. The last time a club that wasn't called Celtic or Rangers won the Scottish Premiership was 1985 and the last time Hearts won it was 65 years ago, but Bloom seems untroubled. 'I understand there will be a lot of Celtic and Rangers fans, maybe Hibs and Aberdeen fans, who will be laughing and saying 'we've heard it all before',' he blathered. 'I just thought there was an opportunity here to shake things up in Scotland. I think we've got a very good chance of at least being second this season. I've just got a lot more confidence of what Hearts can do compared to when I did my first press conference at Union seven years ago.' Bloom has wasted no time in bringing in a new striker, Cláudio Braga, who (very much in the Brighton ilk) was signed from Norwegian second-division side FK Aalesunds for around £400,000. The Portuguese bagged four goals in five pre-season matches – including one in a 3-0 win over Premier League Sunderland – and already has a chant among the Tynecastle faithful: 'All we need is … Cláudio Braga,' set to the tune of the Queen classic. Sunshine on Leith it is not, but Hearts fans will be getting goosebumps regardless. A couple of friends had come over to see me, we were chatting, and suddenly they said they couldn't understand what I was saying. My speech was slurring. I had gone for a walk that morning and felt wobbly, just very lethargic. I was sapped of any energy and a couple of times I felt as though I might stumble but I didn't' – in an extract from a new book, the former Portsmouth, Leeds and Exeter defender Noel Blake talks about the emotional and physical battle of recovering from a stroke. Celta Vigo signing Athletic Bilbao youngster Luis Bilbao and signing Bryan Zaragoza are yet more disappointing nails in coffin of nominative determinism. Now, it's just me and a lad I knew at school called Gareth Thickett who failed all his exams that are keeping up the good fight …' – Noble Francis. I rarely agree with Dr Tottenham, but he's right … it will be greatly appreciated when he leaves' – Chris Brown. If you have any, please send letters to Today's winner of our letter o' the day is … Chris Brown, who lands some Football Weekly merch. Terms and conditions for our competitions are here. Our man David Squires veers away from football this week to tell the story of his boxing forebear who died on the Titanic. It's well worth your time. On Thursday 11 September, join Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning and a host of your other Football Weekly favourites live on stage for an evening of unfiltered football punditry at Troxy in London and livestreamed globally. Book now. Football stardom is a young person's game these days. As in: very young. The stars of the future have social media disgrace presences way before they can apply for a provisional driving licence – all part of the career plan. And these young ballers recognise ball, to use a phrase we're decades too old to carry off. Judging by Monday night's showing against Athletic Bilbao, Rio Ngumoha is a kid for Liverpool fans to get VERY excited about, capping it with a beautiful goal. He's only 16, and his performance was hailed by Max Dowman, Arsenal's heir apparent, still just 15 but of whom huge things are expected. Dowman described Ngumoha as 'the coldest' on InstaChat, using ye olde vernacular of time-served veteran Cole Palmer, 23. Gunners fans are hoping to see their future king in the first team soon, alongside such oldsters as Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri. Former Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey has appeared in court charged with six sexual offences. The 32-year-old was bailed to appear at the Old Bailey for trial later this year over allegations of rape and sexual assault, which he denies. Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan expects the crisis club to play their opening game of the Championship season against Leicester on Sunday. 'It's easier to pull out of a pre-season friendly game than it is a Championship fixture,' he sighed. 'We've come into training and just got on with it.' Manchester United and Newcastle United are involved in a tug of war for Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko, having both tabled bids worth more than £70m. And in other Old Trafford news, the 1958 fans' group will protest against the club's ownership in the opening game of the Premier League season against Arsenal by displaying a banner that could have done with a taste test. It reads: 'Jim Can't Fix This'. Rangers have completed the signing of Go Ahead Eagles winger Oliver Antman on a four-year deal. Celtic have completed the signing of Steven Kangtheconqueror on a four-year deal. Meanwhile, yogi guru Russell Martin insists his scathing assessment of Rangers' players after the draw at Motherwell came from a place of love, man. 'I think if they know us by now as a group of coaching staff, that it all comes from [that] place … really, and [we] care for them,' he ommed. 'They're good people, but the default is to try and protect yourself when it gets tough.' And expect some Hollywood-style long-range passing at Wrexham next season, after Kieffer Moore checked in on a three-year deal from Sheffield United for around £2m. 'I'm over the moon,' yelped the Wales striker. The latest edition of our sister email is here on the Big Cup winner, Marco Simone, and his grand ambitions for a new women's club in Monaco. Jonathan Wilson declares the utter pointlessness of deriving any conclusions from pre-season while, er, deriving some conclusions from pre-season. As Xabi Alonso enters his first Liga season as Real Madrid coach, Coralie Salle hears from those who worked with him when he was dishing out the cones as coach of Real Sociedad's B team. A local affair but an international one too, will take place when Malmö meet FC Copenhagen in Tuesday's all-Scandi Bigger Cup clash. Billy Munday bridges the great divide. Big Website's Premier League pre-season preview series continues with Bournemouth and Brentford, two clubs shorn of key personnel by the bigger boys. And come and get your latest transfer rumours, right here! 4 July 1995: Liverpool moving for the hottest striker in English football is a familiar story. Back in 1995, they got their man in Nottingham Forest's Stan Collymore, seen here with manager Roy Evans after a whopping £8.5m transfer. Stan the Man got off to a decent start with a cracking goal against Sheffield Wednesday on the opening day of the 1995-96 season, before forming a deadly partnership with Robbie Fowler, sharing 55 goals. It was a Collymore goal that decided the following April's all-time 4-3 classic with Newcastle but that Liverpool team never achieved its potential. Wearing white suits as losing FA Cup finalists and some tabloid-splashed big nights out led to their Spice Boys tag. Meanwhile, Collymore's form began drifting. The rapid rise of Michael Owen meant he was sold to Aston Villa, his boyhood idols, for £7m, Liverpool never quite enjoying the best of his huge potential.
