Sidekicks to side-swipes: The chasm grows between Don Cherry and Ron MacLean
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Toronto Sun
10 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
'Ted Lasso' star Hannah Waddingham says show's return is like a dead dog coming back to life
'I'm thrilled that it's been exhumed,' Emmy-winning actress says of soccer comedy's planned return Get the latest from Mark Daniell straight to your inbox Hannah Waddingham attends The Olivier Awards 2024 at The Royal Albert Hall on April 14, 2024 in London. Photo by Gareth Cattermole / Getty Images Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham is absolutely 'thrilled' that the beloved Apple TV+ series is coming back for a fourth season. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account At the premiere of Smurfs this week, Waddingham, who won an Emmy for her role as AFC Richmond owner Rebecca Welton on the series, told Variety that she can't wait to begin shooting new episodes of the soccer comedy in the coming months. 'It feels like it was the most beautiful, beloved dog that was buried, and now we've exhumed it, and I am here for it,' Waddingham told the outlet. 'I was hankering and hankering and hankering and hankering to see where Rebecca had gone, where she was going to. She's my girl. She's in my bloodstream, so I'm thrilled that it's been exhumed.' Waddingham continued, 'I can't wait to get involved with that and put my penneth in and go shopping for her looks.' Hannah Waddingham attends the Los Angeles Premiere of Paramount Pictures 'Smurfs' on July 13, 2025. Photo by Amy Sussman / Getty Images Earlier this year, the streamer announced the Jason Sudeikis-led dramedy about an optimistic American soccer coach making a name for himself in England would be returning for a new batch of episodes. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'In season four, the folks at AFC Richmond learn to LEAP BEFORE THEY LOOK, discovering that wherever they land, it's exactly where they're meant to be,' Sudeikis said in a statement. Originally created by NBC Sports to help promote English Premier League soccer back in 2013, Sudeikis told Postmedia that he wanted to give Ted his own spinoff because he loved the character's 'optimism and enthusiasm.' Ted Lasso became a TV hit for Apple when it launched in 2020 and won 13 Emmys, including outstanding comedy series for its first two seasons. Season 3 of Ted Lasso was supposed to be the dramedy's last, but after pleas from its devoted fanbase, Warner Bros. Television and Apple confirmed the series would continue as it picked up options on several of Sudeikis' co-stars, including Waddingham, Brett Goldstein (Roy Kent) and Jeremy Swift (Leslie Higgins). This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. When it returns, the show will reportedly find Ted coaching a women's soccer team. 'Ted went through some highs and lows in that first commercial,' Sudeikis said, reflecting on the character's genesis in a 2020 interview . 'But the series became something we felt we could do after doing the second commercial. We had a mix of childlike enthusiasm and unwavering optimism that I always felt, as they say in show business, gave it legs.' Jason Sudeikis and Hannah Waddingham in a scene from Apple's 'Ted Lasso.' Photo by Colin Hutton / Apple TV+ But after the first season proved to be one of the most-talked about shows of the year, Sudeikis couldn't quite answer why so many people fell in love with Ted when we spoke the following year. 'I wish I knew. I'd like to think that some of the things we had creative control over, like making intentional choices with the way we told the story and hiring really great people in front of and behind the camera had something to do with it. I think it was the right amount of alchemy between those elements and old-fashioned good luck,' he said . mdaniell@ Read More Celebrity Toronto & GTA Toronto & GTA Editorial Cartoons Columnists
Toronto Sun
12 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Shannen Doherty's pals pay heartbreaking tribute to '90210' star one year after her death
Ian Ziering says losing '90210' co-star 'hit me like a freight train' Get the latest from Mark Daniell straight to your inbox Shannen Doherty Photo by Getty Images Shannen Doherty's co-stars and friends are sharing their heartbreaking tributes to the Beverly Hills, 90210 star one year after her death. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Doherty died on July 13, 2024, at age 53 following a years-long battle with cancer. 'Grief is weird,' Doherty's 90210 castmate Tori Spelling wrote in an emotional Instagram message. 'It presents itself in different ways and at different times but never fades. Just like your memory. In fact, it burns epically in my soul more and more as the days pass.' Ian Ziering, who did not share a tribute to Doherty after her death, said the actress was 'fierce, funny' and 'full of life' in his own Instagram post. He also said losing her in his life 'hit me like a freight train.' 'When I first heard she was sick, we had nearly a decade more with her,' he said of Doherty, who was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. 'And even then, most of the updates sounded less like 'Shannen's fighting cancer' and more like 'cancer picked the wrong woman.' That was her way—strong, defiant, take-no-prisoners tough.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Ziering, who shared his tribute on Instagram, said he 'truly believed she was going to pull off one more miracle.' 'When she died a year ago, I didn't post anything. And yes, some people criticized that. To them I say: grief isn't a performance. It's personal. Let people grieve how they grieve,' he said of his decision to mourn his friend privately. 'I miss Shannen,' he continued. 'We clashed now and then in the early years of 90210 — two strong personalities will do that — but we always had respect. I was the wisecracking comic relief; she was the beautiful chaos, the after-hours headline, the girl who could trash a hotel room and make the tabloids love her for it. (Stop laughing, Shan. You know it's true.)' Ziering, who played Steve Sanders on the teen drama, admitted it has been hard seeing his 90210 colleagues after losing Doherty and Luke Perry, who died in 2019 at age 52. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'That kind of loss doesn't fade. It just rearranges the furniture in your heart,' he wrote. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. He said as they aged, their relationship changed. 'W e mellowed. Grew up. Understood what we'd been part of and what we each brought to the table. I'll never forget when she and Jennie (Garth) surprised me at the Chippendales show in Vegas. God, we laughed so hard. It was one of those nights that stays with you,' he said. Ziering concluded his note by telling Doherty that he 'often' thinks about her. ' Your grit. Your fire. Your kind heart that so few really got to see. I still carry all of it with me,' he penned. 'Rest easy, Shan. ❤️' Sarah Michelle Gellar also shared a montage of photos with her late friend on Instagram set to Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth's emotional song See You Again . Rose McGowan also paid tribute to her Charmed co-star, writing in part, 'One year today you had to fly, but we on the physical plane of existence, think about you every day with gratitude and love.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Holly Marie Combs, who also co-starred with Doherty on Charmed , wrote that it only feels like 'a minute' since her death. 'You still light the way for so many,' she said. 'And you are missed by so many.' After nearly a decade battling cancer, Doherty died ' surrounded by her loved ones as well as her dog, Bowie,' her publicist confirmed last July. The Mallrats star had been open about her health struggles, crediting her positive outlook with helping her mental and physical health as she continued to fight the cancer that had spread to her brain and bones. 'Every day is a gift, and there are so many new things in the works that I think hope is always there,' she told PEOPLE in November 2023. 'I think it's so important. Listen, I can die today, I can die in 20 years, I don't know. I can die walking outside of my house and a tree falling on me or a bus hitting me, whatever. Or I can die of cancer. But all I can do is live each day in as much as a positive manner with hope as I can and embrace it and feel like, 'Wow, I get to wake up again today, what can I do?'' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. But the month before she died, Doherty fought back tears when she revealed she was going to have to undergo a new round of chemotherapy treatment during an episode of her Let's Be Clear podcast. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'I thought I was fine, cut to now. I am having to go back on chemo,' she said in a clip posted to her Instagram on June 24th. 'I now know that I can't do it the way that I was doing it … The idea of going through that all over again has wrecked me.' Doherty went on to add that she didn't know how long the treatment would last or 'if after three months, it's not working, if we're gonna change again.' 'That's not something that I can predict. It's not something my doctors can predict. And it's scary,' she said. mdaniell@ Read More Toronto & GTA Editorial Cartoons Columnists NHL NFL
Toronto Sun
a day ago
- Toronto Sun
WARMINGTON: After MacLean's overdue apology to Grapes, others need to follow suit
Cherry says former co-host apologized for interview commenting on his health, alleged Sportsnet 'exit strategy' Get the latest from Joe Warmington straight to your inbox Then-Hockey Night in Canada co-hosts Ron MacLean, left, and Don Cherry listen to an announcement at a news conference in 2014. Photo by Craig Robertson / Toronto Sun It was a sorry excuse for how to treat a longtime friend and partner, one that deserved a big 'I'm sorry' from one broadcast star to an even bigger legend. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account That mea culpa had to happen and now it has. Ron MacLean has apologized, Don Cherry said, for his media interview suggesting his former partner was in a hospital in Boston in 2019 and that the illness led to Grapes planning an exit strategy from Coach's Corner . This was confirmed by Cherry himself. 'Ron came by the house Sunday and he said he was sorry,' said Grapes of his partner of more than 35 years on Hockey Night in Canada before the infamous 'Poppygate scandal' that got Cherry fired from Rogers Sportsnet in 2019. The front page for the Sunday, July 13, 2025, edition of the Toronto Sun. Photo by Toronto Sun Cherry was owed the apology. He is owed one from MacLean for what he did back then — essentially saving his own hide and throwing his partner to the wolves. But his comments in the Kingston Whig Standard , which ran in other Postmedia papers, were unconscionable. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. MacLean told award-winning sports scribe Gare Joyce, 'I think that pneumonia scare was it. The pneumonia said to Don, 'It's time.' He had to think, 'Why is this grind suddenly so hard?' He was ready to have an exit strategy. From that moment on, he was plotting a way out. The first opportunity (to end Coach's Corner ) was going to be a happy one for Don. And I thought he did it well.' Read More The story also said Cherry was in a Boston hospital as a result of the pneumonia. Cherry said he was not in a Boston hospital, did not miss time on his show that season or the beginning of the next and did not orchestrate his exit. In fact, he told the Toronto Sun he feels management was looking for a way to move him along. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Whether the information was correct or not, MacLean should not have talked about Cherry's health nor made the suggestion his departure was the result of an elaborate 'exit strategy.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Cherry said he was 'disappointed' MacLean would do that and that he wasn't welcome at his home any more. But MacLean went to his home. How that meetings went is unknown. MacLean has not returned a request for a comment and other than Cherry confirming it happened, he declined to say much other than he 'ignored' what he was told. Cherry told me Saturday that he didn't have any feelings for MacLean anymore. In a letter to the editor Monday in the Toronto Sun , Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Orr wrote, 'I only have one thing to say to you Ron MacLean. Shame on you.' Legendary @BobbyOrr speaks out in a letter to the editor in the Toronto Sun on @Ron_MacLean revealing details about @CoachsCornerDC 's illness in 2019 and assertions the poppygate scandal was utliized by Grapes as an exit strategy because being tired -- Cherry has already… — Joe Warmington (@joe_warmington) July 14, 2025 This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. While MacLean has not spoken publicly, he is quoted in a Toronto Star column saying, 'I was completely out of line to engage in the conjecture and to share details of Don's health scare in 2019. I am deeply sorry. I've apologized to Don.' It's a start, but it's time to fix the damage done to Cherry by the NHL, Hockey Hall of Fame, Hockey Night in Canada and the federal government. Cherry should be in the Hall of Fame in either the builders' category or the media and broadcast category and this should be done as soon as possible. There is no one outside of the hall who is more deserving of it and there is no one on the broadcast side of the game who has had a bigger impact on the NHL over the last four decades than Cherry. Cherry should also be bestowed the Order of Canada — for his hockey contributions, but also for his avid support of Canada, its military, police, first responders and nationalism. There is nobody more patriotic than him. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. On top of that, he should be reinstated by Sportsnet so he can retire with the honour he deserves after six decades as a player, coach and broadcaster. No one is saying Cherry should go back on air, but they could do it symbolically. They could do a special segment with Cherry and MacLean one last time on his porch, as I have done numerous times since they threw him under the bus. @CoachsCornerDC explains his 'disappointment' in Ron MacLean and that he is not welcome to his home as far as his wife is concerned following a recent interview in which conveys personal health information and unsubstantiated narratives how he left Coach's Corner in 2919 — Joe Warmington (@joe_warmington) July 12, 2025 This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It's not hard. It's the right thing do to. They need to do something. He's 91 and Cherry is an iconic, historic and beloved national treasure. Even those he has criticized have said that. He's never been racist, misogynistic or discriminatory. He just tells it like it is — and that is what made him who he was, why he was so good and the reason his show was appointment viewing for so long. Nobody wanted to miss Coach's Corner . And sorry, Ron, it was not because of you. It was because of Cherry. He was the star of the show. When MacLean was fired back in the day, it was Grapes who worked behind the scenes — and with me on some of it — to get him back on the air. MacLean has not been a good friend to Cherry in return. However, his effort to apologize for this and to try to make things right is appropriate and noted. Now it's time for everybody else who has cast away and cancelled this legend to do the same and make amends on the mistreatment of a great Canadian while they still can. RECOMMENDED VIDEO Columnists NFL Golf Editorial Cartoons World
