Latest news with #CerysMatthews
Powys County Times
30-06-2025
- Powys County Times
One of Powys' best stargazing pubs the Star Inn reopening
One of the most remote pubs in Wales that is renowned for being the best for stargazing has revealed that it will be reopening to visitors for the first time in years. Tucked away in the Cambrian Mountains above the Clywedog reservoir between Llanidloes and Machynlleth, the aptly named Star Inn in Dylife will be welcoming back customers for a well-earned pint later next month. Its owners have said the pub will reopen its doors from Friday, July 25,and will also be serving food. In an announcement made on social media, the pub said it aims to be a "focal point for the community and to reach far and wide". RECOMMENDED READING "After what seems like a lifetime, The Star Inn will once again rise, high above the surrounding area, this famous old drovers hostelry will be opening its doors once again!" the pub said. "We will be serving food, and the bar will be open. "Understandably with a few tweaks to ensure everything we do is viable. "A fresh lick of paint, deep cleaned, and décor to reflect our unique setting. "It really is an exciting time!" Customers have been told that there are "so many plans in the pipelines, some very unique" to keep an eye out for. The pub also announced that it will be taking bookings for private parties, birthdays, tours, small weddings, meetings and more. The Star Inn will be open from 12pm to 9.30pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with food served from midday until 8pm. The pub will serve food on Sunday from 12pm to 3pm, before closing at 5pm. The Star Inn dates back to the 17th Century, and was popular with walkers, cyclists and celebrities like Cerys Matthews and the late Terry Jones before it was put up for sale in 2021. Surrounded by stunning scenery of the Cambrian Mountains, and only a stone's throw away from Llyn Clywedog, the was awarded Dark Sky Discovery Site status in 2019. After the pub was sold, Powys County Council granted the new owners permission last year to site a caravan and three glamping domes. To get to The Star Inn, visitors need to take the B4518 road and turn-off onto the 'mountain road' which eventually leads to Machynlleth. Dylife was once a thriving mining community of more than 1,000 people. At the height of the lead mining industry in the 19th Century, there were four inns, several chapels, a church and a school - which have now nearly all disappeared.
Daily Mail
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
What happened to EastEnders' 'Italian stallion' Marc Bannerman: Noughties lothario was axed from soap over co-star romance, then battled with booze before falling for Cerys Matthews on I'm A Celeb - while his girlfriend watched in horror
He was the 'Italian stallion' of Albert Square, who was so popular with female viewers that he once donated a sackful of knickers sent to him by lustful female viewers to Oxfam. From 1998 to 2000, Marc Bannerman stole the show in EastEnders as Gianni di Marco, after landing the role by fibbing to producers that he was half Italian, despite being born in Dublin. It was a rapid rise to fame that came crashing down equally quickly when his character was axed, and he descended into depression, piled on weight and turned to the bottle while struggling to cope. He later claimed that the BBC got rid of him because he was in a real-life romance with on-screen girlfriend Nadia Sawalha, and it was dimming his appeal for female fans. But whatever the truth of the matter, it was far from the last time that his romantic liaisons caused a headache. After being briefly linked with actress Suranne Jones in 2005, he found happiness with his Footballer's Wives: Extra Time co-star Sarah Matravers and the pair were said to be discussing starting a family together when he joined the 2007 series of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! Imagine, then, Sarah's disbelief as he struck up a flirtation with campmate Cerys Matthews, from the Welsh band Catatonia, who had recently ditched her American music producer husband Seth Riddle after four years of marriage. Viewer watched the pair gaze into each other's eyes over the camp fire, having meaningful conversations. They also often cosied up together in the hammock, and fellow campmate John Burton Race even claimed that the pair were intimate under the stars and that producers decided to not air the footage. He told MailOnline: 'There were times when the pair disappeared off together. I have to say that. 'I know what I know. You can guess the rest. We are all grown men and women and know what the game is.' He said: 'There are things the viewers wouldn't have seen or heard in there. Relationships are formed.' Marc confessed he behaved like a 'rat' after breaking Sarah's heart. On the I'm A Celebrity... Coming Out Show he admitted: 'I just developed feelings for someone in there and I've got a Mrs at home, I'm a rat. I can't look for a scapegoat. The buck stops here.' However, he insisted nothing untoward had happened, despite their 'deep' connection. Nothing's going on [with Cerys], we got on fantastically. We bonded quickly. She's a fantastic girl,' he said. 'It's a difficult thing [being in the jungle]. It's a strange scenario.' 'I'm terrified. I'm gonna have to apologise. I've embarrassed her [Sarah] and I've embarrassed myself.' He was then told by Declan Donnelly that Sarah had flown out to Australia to meet him, but had changed her mind after witnessing his antics and was already back in London. While watching footage of himself and Cerys in the jungle, he said: 'I feel sick. I feel for Sarah watching that. I feel really stupid. 'There wasn't any sort of relationship between us in any kind of way. Anyway I can see why Sarah went home.' Visibly shaken, he then called Sarah on his mobile phone. The first words he said before the camera cut away were: 'I'm so sorry babe.' He also wrote an oddly formal letter to Cerys, saying: 'There are many problems in London and I've had to go back to try and sort them out - but I may well return to greet you when you come out, if that is your wish. Marc.' Bannerman flew back to Britain to confront his domestic crisis, but his apology to Sarah ultimately fell on deaf ears. Not only was there no hope of repairing the relationship, she also said there had been explosive rows during their two-year relationship. The father-of-two said that he 'doesn't know what he was doing' with his life before his children were born She revealed that she once reportedly had to stick her hand through a window pane to stop a drink-fuelled fight between them. She told The Sunday Mirror: 'I was very, very scared. I remember thinking, "he's a bloke, he shouldn't be doing this to me".' Sarah then explained how she their fighting, saying: 'I put my arm through the window in pure desperation. It was all I could think of doing. Yes, I've got a scar on my arm from it, but it worked. It stopped. Who knows where it could have gone - we could have unintentionally inflicted really very serious harm on each other.' Speaking about his romance with Cerys, she added: 'I don't care what happens with them now. He's dumped, it's all over and if he thinks he can come back grovelling he can think again. 'It honestly feels like my partner has died... and people don't come back from the dead.' She also claimed that she'd uncovered him cheating with a barmaid in the wake of his jungle tryst. 'Marc lied and cheated and if there's one barmaid, there's got to be more. I find it absolutely disgusting,' she said. Elsewhere in an interview with Closer magazine, Sarah said: 'This is a man she's only known for a week, a man who she knew had a girlfriend. It's either incredibly cold-hearted or incredibly screwed up. They deserve each other and I hope they rot in hell.' 'Thank God I'm not carrying his child. If they do go out, he's bound to cheat again.' Marc went on to have an on-off romance with Cerys, which finally came to an end the following year in 2008. She dumped him just before Valentine's day because, it was said, he could not cope with her responsibilities as a mother. Marc was also reportedly unimpressed with Cerys' wardrobe, commenting on several occasions that she should change outfits. Cerys told the News of The World at the time: 'I remember him saying 'Have you got any other jumpers?' I think he was surprised that I lived so simply, hate shopping and don't have a fancy wardrobe.' Cerys, who had two children at the time, also spoke of the complications being a single mother added to their relationship, explaining he was unable to cope with the kids when she took them to London to stay with him. 'It was a disaster. We all caught a cold and Glenys Pearl was screaming with a fever. We were switching beds all night and I remember Marc saying, 'This could be the rest of my life.' And he looked scared!' Cerys is now a mother-of-three and has been married to former Decay singer Steve Abbott since 2011. Since dating Cerys, Marc has continued to act, although EastEnders remains his most famous role. Last year, he appeared in the action thriller Fyre Rises, and he also had a small part in an episode of the hit Netflix series The Witcher in 2023. He also had a role in the TV series Snatch, a spin-off of the Guy Ritchie film. Marc has kept his personal life out of the spotlight however, during a rare appearance on Channel 4 in 2022, he spoke about his two children, Grace and Leo. Speaking on Steph McGovern's show, Packed Lunch, he said: 'I don't know what I was doing before I was a dad.' Marc was axed from EastEnders 25 years ago, after playing 'Italian stallion' Gianni Di Marco for three years. He explained that he had become depressed after the axe fell on the Di Marcos in EastEnders. He told the Mirror: 'I suffered depression and turned to the bottle to get me out of it.' He added: 'The whole thing was such a shock. It upset me so much that it's only now I feel able to talk about what it did to me. 'I remember feeling very bitter, especially at the way they got rid of us. There was no warning - we were just out. 'I have learnt to cope, but it hasn't been easy. I've not kept in touch with the other Di Marco actors because our departure was so traumatic. When I first found myself out of the show I didn't realise at the time but I started eating all the wrong things and I was boozing far too much.'
BBC News
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
The Documentary Podcast Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast 2025
It's the 70th anniversary of this unique BBC radio programme aimed at just a few dozen listeners: The team of scientists and support staff isolated at British research stations in the Antarctic midwinter. Hosted by Cerys Matthews, the show features messages from family and friends at home, music requests from Antarctica and a specially recorded message from His Majesty The King. For decades this show has been part of the traditional midwinter celebrations and has also been enjoyed by listeners around the world. Midwinter celebrations at the British research stations include a feast, exchange of presents, watching the 1982 horror film The Thing (where an alien monster terrorises an Antarctic base) and listening - on short wave - to the BBC's Midwinter Broadcast. Producers: Martin Redfern and Richard Hollingham An EcoAudio certified Boffin Media production
BBC News
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Dylan Thomas: Unseen photos show the poet in a fit of rage
Dylan Thomas implored his readers to "rage, rage against the dying of the light". And newly uncovered photos, lost in a drawer for decades, show the Welsh poet heeding his own words as he wrecked an employer's office after finding out they had no pay for him. Thomas had a job making wartime documentaries for Strand Film Company in London in 1942 when a photographer captured him waiting to collect a cheque. When no money was forthcoming, he can then be seen breaking up the furniture like a spoiled rock star in the series of never-before published photos. A quick-thinking Strand receptionist told the photographer to document Thomas's outburst then tucked the evidence away, said Jeff Towns, a Dylan Thomas expert and author. He bought the photos and got the back story from the receptionist's daughter, telling Cerys Matthews on BBC Radio 6 Music he believed Thomas's violent tantrum was the result of him being desperate for money. "There's one picture of him looking immaculate [with a] big smile," he said. "No cheque and he's pulling the desk apart like a rock and roller throwing a TV out the window."The photos and story appear in Towns' new book, the Wilder Shores of Dylan Thomas. "I got this letter out the blue from a woman who said her mother had worked at Strand Films are straight away I knew how important it was," he said, explaining how it was the only time Thomas had "a proper job with a salary".Thomas definitely worked at Strand he said, because one of his friends, Julian MacLaren-Ross, wrote about it a book. "He writes about what they got up to at the [Strand] office, so everything rang true," he said. "Plus I know that [Thomas] was forever living from hand to mouth," he said of the Swansea-born writer, who had a wife and two children to support at the time. "So the guy was desperate for money and obviously when he went in he thought he was going to trouser a few quid to get through the next few days. "Even just to get to the pub that night. "When it wasn't there, he flipped." Originally from east London, Towns has been antiquarian book dealer for more than 50 years and currently runs Dylans Bookstore in has written several books about the Welsh bard and holds an important collection of his letters, photos and memorabilia. The outburst in Strand Films was unusual, he argued."He got into trouble when he was drunk, but he was a pacifist in his own way." Towns said Thomas, who was only 5ft 6in (1.68m), always said he was above average height "for Wales". "He knew he was small, but if a big soldier came in and started being jingoistic he would challenge them and get thrown out on his backside," he said. "He didn't fly off the handle a lot - there are a couple of times when things went a bit wrong - but by and large he was passive and talked his way out of problems." The poet's fans were his worst enemies in some ways, he said. "In America his favourite whisky was a bourbon called Old Grandad. "People would turn up at his hotel room with a bottle and want him to drink it in front of them."When people were feeding him lots of whisky he could get irascible."I think he liked to be the centre of attention, in a pub he would tell great stories and people would buy him drinks, but I don't think he was known for a temper in any way. "[His wife] Caitlin had the temper and she would give him a right hiding."
