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Sam Thompson left gobsmacked as he's surprised by huge Hollywood A-lister during his 260-mile endurance challenge

Sam Thompson left gobsmacked as he's surprised by huge Hollywood A-lister during his 260-mile endurance challenge

The Sun05-06-2025
SAM Thompson has been given a huge boost during his 260-mile endurance challenge after being surprised by a massive A-lister.
The telly and radio star, 34, was left screaming with amazement after receiving some words of encouragement from the Hollywood actor.
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Sam had called in for a pitstop on Thursday morning to chat to Colson Smith live on This Morning.
But before continuing on his way, Sam - who has torn his calf muscle - was given the ultimate lift.
Orlando Bloom spoke to the former Made In Chelsea star live from the This Morning studio - and Sam was gobsmacked.
Realising who was speaking to him, Sam began yelling and attempting to jump up and down with his painful legs.
He then listened open-mouthed as Orlando gave him some encouraging words as he nears the end of his gruelling Unicef challenge for Soccer Aid.
The British actor, who has starred in blockbuster movies Lord Of The Rings and Pirates Of The Caribbean, told Sam: "We are so proud of you, mate!
"It's amazing what you are doing. You're in the home stretch, we're all pulling for you.
"Like you, I have seen the work Unicef do in the field, it's amazing.
"You're a hero, everyone donating is a hero. I'm going to throw some at you as well. I hope it helps.
"You are remarkable. I only wish I could find time to come out and see you and cheer you over the line.
Sam Thompson breaks down in tears and is comforted by Pete Wicks as disaster strikes on 260-mile endurance challenge
"But it's incredible what you're doing and Unicef, as an ambassador for many years, we are so grateful for all the women and children's lives around the world you're changing.
"Congrats, mate. We're pulling for you."
Sam screamed: "Oh my god, Orlando Bloom!"
Orlando - who has been an ambassador for Unicef since 2009 - said the exchange "brought a tear to his eye".
Sam is on the penultimate day of his five-day Match Ball Mission.
He has been tasked with transporting the Soccer Aid ball 260-miles from Stamford Bridge in London to Old Trafford in Manchester.
Sam is running and cycling the journey and aims to complete it on Friday June 6.
On Wednesday, the former I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! star broke down in tears as he was surprised by Pete Wicks.
In a heartwarming clip, Pete could be seen waiting for his best pal as he approached him on his run.
Sam was seen limping due to his calf injury and, upon seeing his BFF, he burst into tears.
Pete pulled him in for a hug and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
'You all right? Come here. It's alright,' Pete said to Sam.
The tearful reality star replied: "I didn't know you were coming."
Struggling to compose himself, Sam said that he didn't think he was "smashing it".
Sam is completing the challenge in support of Soccer Aid, which takes place on Sunday June 15.
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Everton near £27m deal for Villarreal's France Under-21 striker Thierno Barry

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Well, they were found to be contributing to the death of a teacher,' Lee says, referring to Ruth Perry, the head whose death by suicide was linked by the coroner to her school's Ofsted inspection. 'So you can't say they improved lives. She wasn't the first and she won't be the last unless things drastically change.' He has had teachers contact him with similar stories. 'Why create a framework that makes teachers' workflow go through the roof exponentially, plunging them into this boiling pot of stress and worry?' Changes to Ofsted inspections are due to be published in September, but the proposals have already been met with opposition. 'I think they're not capable of reforming themselves. What we need is a working party of people outside Ofsted, working with Ofsted to make necessary changes.' This sounds like a job he might enjoy. 'I'd have a discussion,' he says. 'But I don't think they'd want to hear from me.' Lee didn't always feel like this. He started teaching in 2007, 'straight from uni'. He'd just turned 22. Labour's Sure Start programme was in full swing. 'He loved it,' Adam says. 'And I loved the thought of doing what he was doing.' At the time, Adam had been going 'from job to job': Next, Co-op, Iceland, Odeon cinema, six months of data handling at Ofsted ('I didn't know what Ofsted was when I worked there. If I had, I would have messed up all the things!') and volunteering as a rugby coach in a primary school. One day, his aunt, a children and families officer, asked him to volunteer one-to-one with a child who was struggling with his behaviour, and in isolation out of class. 'I struck up a real bond with him. I absolutely fell in love with working in a school.' It's fair to say that Adam was able to relate. Of the three brothers, he was the one who their parents were always being called in to school to discuss. Mostly for wrestling with other children and making rude gestures. He was diagnosed with ADHD at the end of primary school. 'I was medicated through secondary school,' he says. 'It helped me massively.' He would take his meds each morning, then button his blazer. 'And I'd look in the mirror, because I knew the saying, Looking smart's halfway to being smart, and I swear I was a different child.' Adam points to Lee, and the empty space between them, which has acquired the identity of their middle brother. 'They were a lot more able in terms of the work than I was. And I don't mind admitting that. I've done well, I think, with what I've got – to get to where I am.' 'My mum and dad always say, if he'd been the first, they'd never have had another kid,' Lee offers. 'Oh, he loves this!' Adam says, feigning indignation – or perhaps not feigning. His legs are bouncing wildly in that tiny chair. In the way of the best family joshing, it's both good-natured and close to the bone. You get the feeling they can – and often do – go on for hours. 'Are they not Mum and Dad's words?' Lee asks. 'MBE! This guy!' Adam shrieks. 'I'm just relaying information,' Lee says, leaning back in his teacher chair with a wink. 'What was the card you got on Father's Day for Dad?' Adam says. 'From your number one son?' 'No! It wasn't!' Adam's voice rises in triumph. 'It was, 'Sometimes you just get it right first time.'' For a moment, it seems as if they never left home. They've always been close and more alike than Ryan. 'We like spicy food. He hates spicy food. We were always drinking blackcurrant squash, but he'd have orange,' Adam says. Both Mr Ps are parents themselves. Lee has 14-year-old triplets and a 21-year-old stepson. Adam has a daughter, nine, and a six-year-old son. Increasingly, he has posted about his experience as what he calls 'a Send dad [special educational needs and disabilities] … Because it took me a long time to accept what the situation was, and learn,' he says. After his son was diagnosed with autism, 'I would say I grieved for the life I expected. I worried if he would ever make friends, be invited to parties, or join a sports team.' Adam's son's diagnosis has led him to reflect on his own. 'Sometimes autism and ADHD really clash.' While his son enjoys being read the same story repeatedly, Adam finds the repetition challenging. 'The last thing I ever want to do is not be there for my son and not give him what he needs,' he says. He has started to wonder whether taking 'tablets again would help me … relax a bit more. I'm a bit of an overthinker. I do struggle with that.' His son has an education, health and care plan (EHCP) and attends special school, having left mainstream education when the one-to-one care his EHCP legally entitled him to had to be shared with other children who needed support but didn't have EHCPs. The schools minister has recently refused to rule out replacing EHCPs, which have become fraught with problems, since the number has risen by 140% in the past 10 years while councils run deficits. Should they be scrapped? 'There's got to be a legally binding document to ensure children get the education they deserve,' Lee says. 'But is the current system working? No. Do education, care and health have to be rolled up or can there be a separate education plan? Are we able to create something that can make mainstream a lot more inclusive?' The Parkinsons speak every day. Do they ever get sick of each other? 'He's like my fifth child,' Lee says. 'Adam can be one of the funniest people on the planet. There's times I think: how do you function as an adult?' 'I feel I bring his silly side out,' Adam says. 'And at times he brings my serious side out, and we complement each other. But you couldn't have two me's because … Well, I wouldn't know how to plug a mic in.' For all the jokes, they have had days where they've gone home and cried. Adam has worked in a number of schools, including in Manchester. 'There are days when you're driving home, thinking, wow, that was a really hard, sad day. I've worked with teachers who have been hit or kicked … I've had all the children crying. And that's the saddest thing for me. Because for a lot of children, if they have a tough home life, this is their escape, their solitude.' 'We're faced with the biggest retention crisis we've ever seen for what should be the best job in the world,' Lee says. But he wouldn't recommend teaching to his children. 'Your job as a parent is to protect your kids. I feel like the current education system can break people – the expectations put on teachers, where you're expected to do more with less, and you're constantly made to feel like a failure, and you're under this incredible pressure and the sort of compassion fatigue teachers feel, working in a system that no matter what you do, no matter how many hours you dedicate – you are still seeing the system fail some children.' But sometimes a teacher will message them or come up to them – this happened to Adam at the tri-golf tournament earlier – and tell them that the podcast has kept them going, or brought them back to teaching, because, Adam says, 'we shine a light on the amazing things and the hilarious things'. 'It's a real privilege to have quite a big impact on a profession that is so special,' Lee says. What they really want is for teaching to be 'respected and valued by everyone'. How to Survive the School Year: An Essential Guide for Stressed-Out Grownups is published by HarperCollins (£16.99). To support the Guardian order your copy at Delivery charges may apply.

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