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Huge boost for Roman Kemp as fate of BBC quiz show is revealed

Huge boost for Roman Kemp as fate of BBC quiz show is revealed

The Irish Sun2 days ago
ROMAN Kemp has been delivered a huge boost as the fate of his BBC quiz show has been revealed.
The TV favourite, 32, has seen his star
power
rise with a slew of hit TV shows across the last few years.
4
TV's main man Roman Kemp has been given a huge boost by the BBC
Credit: The Mega Agency
4
His quiz show The Finish Line is to return for a fourth series
Credit: BBC
4
He hosts the programme with Sarah Greene
Credit: PA
Now, it has been confirmed that his
future
on the BBC's daytime schedule is firmly secure with his show The Finish Line being renewed for a fourth series.
Roman co-hosts the show alongside legendary TV host Sarah Greene.
According to TVZone, the next series of the show will film this autumn in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The first three series of the programme have proved a success for the BBC with it slowly rising up the ranks to match the success of fellow BBC quiz show, Pointless.
Read More on Roman Kemp
The hugely popular BBC game show has become a fan favourite, with contestants racing in moving podiums across the studio floor as they aim to be the first one to the finish line and to get their hands on £5,000.
Roman has fronted many shows in his career including being the face of Capital FM Breakfast, working on The One Show as well as being an I'm A
Celebrity
campmate.
But earlier this year, he confessed that presenting The Finish Line could be the hardest gig he has had yet.
He exclusively told The Sun's TV Mag, in March: 'I remember the first time I ever did this, I got on the phone to my parents almost in tears going: 'I can't do this, it's so hard.' And every time we do it, it's still difficult.'
Most read in News TV
'So you look at people like Bradley Walsh [who has hosted The Chase since 2009] and you think: 'Wow, what an incredible feat you've been able to do.'
"And I was watching Romesh do it on The Weakest Link, and that ability to move from question to question to question is hard.
Shock moment Roman Kemp reveals bitter feud with James Bond star who 'nearly made him cry' after EXTREMELY rude meeting
'I guess as a host, your job is to make it look easy. But I'm here to say that it's hard, man, it's really hard!'
He added: 'Hats off to all of the quiz hosts out there!'
Roman, who is the youngest child of
He will soon appear on the next series of Celebrity Race Across The World, alongside his sister, Harley Moon Kemp.
4
Roman is one of telly's most in-demand stars
Credit: PA
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Brown Bread: how a modern Irish emigration film is set to move the needle
Brown Bread: how a modern Irish emigration film is set to move the needle

Irish Examiner

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  • Irish Examiner

Brown Bread: how a modern Irish emigration film is set to move the needle

Shaunagh Connaire is bringing it all back home. More specifically, all the way back to the kitchen of her childhood home. That family home in Longford was the starting point for a long and successful career during which Connaire, an Emmy-nominated documentary maker, has reported for the BBC, Channel 4, and the Financial Times, among others, before then going on to spend three years working for the Clooney Foundation for Justice, including a memorable trip to Africa with Amal Clooney and Michelle Obama. Yet it is the homeplace back in the Midlands that also forms the backdrop for a first foray into fictional drama. Her 14-minute short film Brown Bread received its world premiere at the Galway Film Fleadh this week, and arriving at this point was truly a family affair. 'That's my parent's kitchen in the home where I grew up,' Connaire says down a Zoom connection from her new home in Lisbon. 'Fitted by my uncle Jackie, husband of my late godmother.' And here's another connection. Brown Bread is a moving, poignant, and at times humorous look at the emigrant experience, and it was anchored in Connaire's own story. Just as the character of Aine, played by Katie McGrath, couldn't get home from her job in New York to attend her godmother's funeral, Connaire also missed out on her beloved godmother's funeral due to issues with her Green Card application. 'What you have to do is hand over your passport,' Connaire explains, 'and my immigration lawyers have said, now, you know, you're not going to be able to travel with this, and I was like, it should be fine, a couple of months or three months, whatever it was, maybe it was six months, I can't remember. And then my godmother, who I was very close to, also from Longford, passed away in that period, and genuinely, it just did one with my head. 'As an Irish person, the guilt, but it wasn't even just that. It was a very profound moment. All I wanted to do was be back in a very simple house in Longford drinking a very simple cup of tea with my family. It just made me question everything about why I had kind of chased this in New York, that felt very at odds with how I was brought up, simple enough beginnings, and my relationship with my aunt was very much based on [having] a cup of tea.' THE GUILT Fionnuala Flanagan in Brown Bread By any measure, Connaire's career has been a success. Never mind the two Emmy Award nominations, in 2021 she became the first woman to be awarded the freedom of Co Longford. Yet the passing of her cherished aunt sparked conflicting thoughts that no doubt occupy the hearts and minds of Irish people living the world over. 'It's like a modern Irish emigration story,' she says, adding of Brown Bread: 'I was trying very hard to steer away from anything that felt twee.' She says her own two children are 'very Irish', despite living in the US and now in Portugal, and she adds that being able to portray her home town with 'a sense of pride' was 'hugely important'. Elements of the film — some of the locations, and also some home video footage — further anchors the fictional story in the reality of Connaire's life. Moving to Lisbon, she says, has helped with that connection to home, and it is certainly a change from the starkness of one of her children having undergone a 'shooter' safety drill at their New York school. 'I kind of, in a joking way, pitched it as 'we're moving home!' and whispered, 'to Europe'.' Her sister lives in Australia and so proximity to Longford — and Donegal, her husband's home county — counts for a lot, but as she says: 'You have to chase your own life, you have to do what's good for your own family. And this is where we are now.' TAKING A TILT Shaunagh Connaire: 'It's been a creative itch I've had forever, to write a script and all with a view, I would say, to doing something bigger after this short. The short is a little test.' Photo: Ray Ryan And it has been quite a journey. For Channel 4's Unreported World, Connaire secretly filmed in China where clinics provide electro-shock therapy to 'cure' homosexuality. A particularly harrowing edition of Unreported World saw Connaire covering the efforts of medics with Médecins sans Frontières in combatting the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone. Yet despite all that time in front of the camera, Connaire credits her three years working for the Clooneys as the inspiration for her tilt at fictional drama, recently telling Variety: 'I think being in their presence and learning a little bit about the world of Hollywood, gave me the confidence to enter this world. 'I would say this about all kind of different experiences I've had being around amazing filmmakers in current affairs as well, like when you're in people's company, and you see what they're doing up close, and you're like, ok, pretty sure that feels like I can probably do that too, everything feels a bit more accessible,' she says. 'I would say, with my role at the [Clooney] Foundation, a big part of it was actually directing short films for George, and he was the executive producer, and I was the director, and we're working really closely and collaborating on that. And so, on first cuts, I was getting amazing feedback. So I was like, Okay, if George thinks my films are ok... it definitely gave me a little bit of confidence. 'It's been a creative itch I've had forever, to write a script and all with a view, I would say, to doing something bigger after this short. The short is a little test.' Connaire saw the Clooney Foundation as having the biggest platform to 'amplify voices' — a case in point being the gathering of evidence of indiscriminate attacks by Russian forces in Ukraine that killed civilians and destroyed civilian objects, as well as violations committed by Russian armed forces, which ultimately led to cases being lodged in court. Connaire has previously spoken about the strangeness of being interviewed by the Clooneys for the job, but after three years with the Foundation, topped off with a visit with Amal and Michelle Obama to Malawi and South Africa, she knew it was time to move on. 'It was such a high,' she says. 'I kind of knew in the back of my head that I was potentially going to leave so I was like, feck it, I might as well just leave on this high.' THE GRÁ She once received Batman balloons from George, a former celluloid Bruce Wayne, for her 40th birthday, but she doesn't ever see her former employer running for the White House, adding: 'I don't believe celebrities and politics should mix.' Given what's happening in America, maybe even Batman himself would struggle. Connaire also sees journalism as being 'under attack' around the world but particularly in America, which, she believes, does not have the buffer of adequate public service broadcasting. She also takes the point that in some ways, drama can engage people with real life issues in a way beyond that of reportage, adding: 'I would love to create something that actually moves the needle.' So she is working on a 'prestige drama', and it sounds like the next step after Brown Bread has circulated among the various festivals. Yet there is no escaping the grá for home. Back in 2018 she was invited to speak at her former school, Méan Scoil Mhuire, only to be told on the day that the school could not show a montage of her broadcast work for reasons which included upholding the school's Catholic ethos. That led to Connaire not being able to attend and instead issuing a statement for the students about her work, and she never did get to show that montage in the way it was initially envisaged. 'I always will stick to my values, and that was very much against what I believed in,' she says now. There is a small echo of this in Brown Bread and the subsequent granting of the Freedom of the County and all the assistance of local people in the making the short film shows that the county holds her dear as one of their own. There is a lot to be said for it – and the related home comforts. 'Just something simple like going to SuperValu and buying purple Snack bars and sausages — that's high on my priority list,' she says. Brown Bread will be showing at festivals internationally throughout 2025

Tyson Fury's unknown cousin FLOORED as he suffers shock defeat to lose unbeaten record to journeyman with 59 losses
Tyson Fury's unknown cousin FLOORED as he suffers shock defeat to lose unbeaten record to journeyman with 59 losses

The Irish Sun

time8 hours ago

  • The Irish Sun

Tyson Fury's unknown cousin FLOORED as he suffers shock defeat to lose unbeaten record to journeyman with 59 losses

TYSON FURY's little-known cousin was brutally dropped on his way to suffering his first professional defeat. Walter Fury has been making his way up the super-welterweight ranks over the last year. 4 Tyson Fury's cousin, Walter, locked horns with journeyman Kristaps Zulgis in Liverpool on Friday night Credit: BOX NATION 4 The 28-year-old was dropped with less than a minute of the first round remaining Credit: BOX NATION 4 Walter beat the count but couldn't Credit: BOX NATION The latest test in his boxing journey came on Friday night on Liverpool . Standing between Walter and a perfect 4-0 record was Latvian journeyman Kristaps Zulgis. But Zulgis well and truly upset the applecart with a stunning decision victory at Liverpool's Olympia. Walter was dominated over four straight rounds, with the judges turning in 38-37 scorecards in favour of Peterborough pounder Zulgis. Zulgis stunned the crowd by dropping 28-year-old Walter in the final minute of the first round. Walter looked flummoxed by the knockdown but got back to his feet at the count of two. Footage of the knockdown spread like wildfire on social media and stunned boxing fans. One wrote on X: "BIG UPSET AS FURY IS BEATEN." Most read in Boxing JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS 4 Walter Fury now boasts a 3-1 record following his shock defeat in Liverpool Credit: PA Another said: "I'm crying. Journeyman decided to lock TF." And another said: "Just because his a Fury doesn't mean it's an upset." Watch trailer for Tommy Fury's BBC docuseries as Love Island star opens up on 'worst year of my life' One remarked: "Seen this Walter a few times. [He] looks wrong in the ring, he looks uncomfortable and just strange." Another chimed in: "Literally every fury I've seen boxes in a similar way. "But each one gets a little bit more s***e. Tyson is an anomaly in that family. Walter will do well to bounce back from his upset defeat to Zulgis, who has an incredible 59 LOSSES on his record. Boxing is well and truly Tyson's brothers Walter isn't the only cousin of Tyson's to be involved in the Sweet Science . Read more on the Irish Sun Cousins Hughie, James Dean, Nathan Gorman and Horsea Burton are all active professional boxers. The most famous of Fury's cousins is Andy Lee, who captured the WBO middleweight title in 2014 with a sixth-round KO Matvey Korobov.

Mystery ‘Suffolk Banksy' artist known as ‘The Hat' who leaves pictures outside cafes and pubs ‘identified by fans'
Mystery ‘Suffolk Banksy' artist known as ‘The Hat' who leaves pictures outside cafes and pubs ‘identified by fans'

The Irish Sun

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Mystery ‘Suffolk Banksy' artist known as ‘The Hat' who leaves pictures outside cafes and pubs ‘identified by fans'

FANS reckon an artist dubbed the Suffolk Banksy is singer Ed Sheeran. Mystery dauber 'The Hat' has left pictures outside cafes, pubs and charity shops. Advertisement 2 Fans reckon an artist dubbed the Suffolk Banksy is singer Ed Sheeran Credit: PA 2 Shape of You hitmaker Ed has launched an art show under his own name at Heni Gallery in London's Soho Credit: PA Finders are urged to auction them for charity — and so far thousands of pounds has been raised. The Hat also sells abstract paintings online for as much as £1,900. Now tiny Framlingham Library — in the market town near where Ed lives with wife Cherry and their kids — is exhibiting more work. One post on the Visit Framlingham Facebook page reads: 'Hmmm, wonder who it could be?' Advertisement READ MORE UK NEWS A painting on show of three hedgehogs will be sold to raise cash for the library. Library manager Vivia Bamford said: 'We're absolutely delighted to be hosting this exhibition. It's all ready to go and the artwork looks wonderful in our gallery space. 'It's really worth a visit so I hope to welcome hundreds of people in the coming weeks. 'I'm so grateful to The Hat – whoever they are – for choosing us as location to display their work and for donating a painting and a percentage of sales to support our library.' Advertisement Most read in The Sun Meanwhile, Shape of You hitmaker Ed, 34, yesterday launched an art show under his own name at Heni Gallery in London's Soho. 'I'm so grateful to The Hat – whoever they are – for choosing us as location to display their work and for donating a painting and a percentage of sales to support our library.' Moment mystery man is caught painting Banksy-like mural hours before real artist completed his trail The Shape of You hitmaker is already an established artist and yesterday launched another gallery of work under his own name at London's Heni Gallery. That collection will raise money for the Ed Sheeran Foundation – which funds music lessons for kids. Advertisement Kindly Ed is known for making donations to charity shops and one woman once snapped up a pair of his boxers for £10.

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