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The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
The Bachelor UK winner reveals she's SEVEN months pregnant with first child after moving to Dubai and getting engaged
THE Bachelor UK winner has revealed that she's seven months pregnant with her first child, after moving to Dubai and getting engaged. She Advertisement 5 The Bachelor UK winner has revealed that she's seven months pregnant with her first child, after moving to Dubai and getting engaged Credit: Instagram 5 Alicia Oates has showed off her bump in some stunning snaps Credit: Instagram 5 Alicia rose to fame on The Bachelor UK Credit: Splash News And now Alicia Oates, who now lives in Dubai, has revealed the very exciting news that she's expecting a baby. The Bachelor star revealed the exciting news on social media in April, writing: '13 weeks of loving you - Forever to go….. Baby France Due October 2025. Another beautiful baby to love and add to our crazy family. She continued: 'Whatever you are - We can't wait to meet you, you are so loved already. I feel like I've been waiting for you for a lifetime. Our beautiful baby.' Alicia is engaged to the man she's expecting her baby with, and shared that news with fans in March. Advertisement Read More on Alicia Oates She wrote at the time: 'Actually have no words for this man. 'So grateful for you and the effort you have put in to making our proposal the best day of my life. My 32nd birthday will be a day I remember for the rest of my life. 'A million times yes - I couldn't imagine life without you ever my best friend and soul mate. Wow this year is going to be insane for us . I LOVE YOU.' Alicia has shared several photos of herself with her baby bump in Dubai. Advertisement Most read in News TV Exclusive In one she poses in front of the Jumeirah Burj Al Arab in a stunning red dress, and in another she can be seen in a white top and shorts. The brunette beauty also shared a photo with her fiance, and looked totally smitten as they enjoyed their romantic proposal evening. He'd laid on a red carpet on the beach, and a huge heart made out of roses could be seen in the background with 'will you marry me' in neon in the middle. During her time on the Channel 5 programme, which was hosted by Mark Wright, Alicia beat off competition from 16 other single women to win Alex's heart. Advertisement At the time viewers were surprised by his choice, but the couple insisted they had genuine chemistry. Alex said: 'We might be total opposites, which is what my head was saying, but my gut and heart were saying Alicia. 'We had an undeniable chemistry and everything I learnt about her I loved. She just makes me smile.' He even claimed they had spoken about wedding plans, saying Mark Wright would be a big part of the day. Advertisement Just two months after the show ended the couple called it quits, but it looks like Alicia has found her happy ever after. 5 Alicia beat off competition from 16 other single women to win Alex's heart Credit: Ricochet Ltd 5 Alicia and her beau after a romantic beach proposal Credit: Instagram
Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
The Bachelor UK winner reveals she's SEVEN months pregnant with first child after moving to Dubai and getting engaged
The reality star has shared some gorgeous photos of her baby bump BABY JOY The Bachelor UK winner reveals she's SEVEN months pregnant with first child after moving to Dubai and getting engaged Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THE Bachelor UK winner has revealed that she's seven months pregnant with her first child, after moving to Dubai and getting engaged. She won the 2019 series of The Bachelor UK when hunky PT Alex Marks picked her. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 5 The Bachelor UK winner has revealed that she's seven months pregnant with her first child, after moving to Dubai and getting engaged Credit: Instagram 5 Alicia Oates has showed off her bump in some stunning snaps Credit: Instagram 5 Alicia rose to fame on The Bachelor UK Credit: Splash News And now Alicia Oates, who now lives in Dubai, has revealed the very exciting news that she's expecting a baby. The Bachelor star revealed the exciting news on social media in April, writing: '13 weeks of loving you - Forever to go….. Baby France Due October 2025. Another beautiful baby to love and add to our crazy family. She continued: 'Whatever you are - We can't wait to meet you, you are so loved already. I feel like I've been waiting for you for a lifetime. Our beautiful baby.' Alicia is engaged to the man she's expecting her baby with, and shared that news with fans in March. She wrote at the time: 'Actually have no words for this man. 'So grateful for you and the effort you have put in to making our proposal the best day of my life. My 32nd birthday will be a day I remember for the rest of my life. 'A million times yes - I couldn't imagine life without you ever my best friend and soul mate. Wow this year is going to be insane for us . I LOVE YOU.' Alicia has shared several photos of herself with her baby bump in Dubai. In one she poses in front of the Jumeirah Burj Al Arab in a stunning red dress, and in another she can be seen in a white top and shorts. The brunette beauty also shared a photo with her fiance, and looked totally smitten as they enjoyed their romantic proposal evening. He'd laid on a red carpet on the beach, and a huge heart made out of roses could be seen in the background with 'will you marry me' in neon in the middle. During her time on the Channel 5 programme, which was hosted by Mark Wright, Alicia beat off competition from 16 other single women to win Alex's heart. At the time viewers were surprised by his choice, but the couple insisted they had genuine chemistry. Alex said: 'We might be total opposites, which is what my head was saying, but my gut and heart were saying Alicia. 'We had an undeniable chemistry and everything I learnt about her I loved. She just makes me smile.' He even claimed they had spoken about wedding plans, saying Mark Wright would be a big part of the day. Just two months after the show ended the couple called it quits, but it looks like Alicia has found her happy ever after. 5 Alicia beat off competition from 16 other single women to win Alex's heart Credit: Ricochet Ltd
The Irish Sun
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
I was six-year-old ‘Balloon boy' who sparked £42k rescue op watched by millions…innocent comment exposed my dad's ‘hoax'
'MY family and I made an experimental flying saucer. It wasn't supposed to fly and it took off. I think my six-year-old boy got inside. He's in the air.' This bizarre emergency call from frantic father Richard Heene, in 2009, sparked a nationwide rescue operation, watched in real time as millions of TV viewers held their breath and prayed for 'Balloon boy' Falcon. Advertisement 12 The Heene family are now speaking out about the incident in a new Netflix documentary 16 years after the incident Credit: Getty 12 Falcon was eventually discovered emerging from his garage's attic Credit: Splash News 12 Millions tuned in to watch the balloon - believed to have 6 year old Falcon inside - float away Credit: Balloon Boy Over the next few hours, every news channel beamed images of the huge balloon - which measured 20ft across - as it sailed across Colorado. But when it finally landed, little Falcon was nowhere to be seen - prompting a ground search over an area of 55 miles. Now, 16 years later, the Heene family have spoken out for the first time about the infamous 'hoax' in the Netflix documentary Trainwreck: Balloon Boy which also features interviews with neighbours, reporters and police that reveal Richard's hunger for fame. And the family reveal how one innocent comment from Falcon, in the aftermath of the drama, turned the public against them and made them hate figures. Advertisement Read More Features "Everything blew up," says Richard. "It was like the biggest nightmare ever.' Self-styled adventurer and inventor Richard, his Japanese-born wife Mayumi and their children Bradford, 10, Ryo, eight and Falcon, six – were a lively family, according to neighbours, Dean Askew and Tina Chavez, whose bedroom overlooked their backyard. 'Richard was this big energy, constantly pacing, talking 100 miles an hour,' recalls Tina. 'He was super smart,' adds Dean. 'He could build anything. He could put electrical things together. One time I looked out the window and noticed he was working on something. It looked like a silver disc.' Advertisement Most read in The Sun Exclusive When he wasn't inventing things he liked to take the family in the car to chase hurricanes. 'We like to chase a thrill,' explains a grown-up Bradford in the documentary. 'Dad was always making us look at science experiments on YouTube. We were super interested in UFOs.' Balloon boy hoax parents convince the world son, 6, is trapped in out-of-control inflatable Inspired by the 1960s cartoon series the Jetsons, set in Orbit City where everyone flew around in personal space cars, Richard came up with a design for his own "flying saucer". 'I just thought, 'What if everybody could be flying around like The Jetsons?' It would be wonderful,' he says. 'Everybody could be pulling out of their garage in flying saucers, going to school and work and you wouldn't have all this traffic.' Advertisement In 2009, he set about building his space age dream machine with his family in their backyard in Colorado. 'Dad would make me video pretty much every experiment but, at the same time, keep my brothers in check," says Bradford. "Falcon was pretty wild and chaotic. He was always touching stuff he wasn't supposed to and loved to hide in the bottom of the flying saucer.' The saucer was, in effect, a silver helium-filled balloon with a small compartment underneath. Advertisement 'It was not designed to have people in it,' says Richard. 'It was a place that had access to put the helium in.' Swept away Bradley's footage of the creating of the saucer – 20 feet wide by six feet tall – is shown in the documentary. It took them just two weeks to assemble. Richard says the plan was to keep it tethered so that it hovered at 20 feet and they could study its movements. But on test day, 15 October, 2009, it broke free of its mooring and was swept into the air and carried off at speed. Video footage shows Richard shouting in anger and then in despair as Bradley tells him that he saw his brother crawl inside. Advertisement 12 The balloon broke free from its tether and ended up crashing down in a field Credit: Handout 12 The family quickly found themselves under intense media scrutiny Credit: AP:Associated Press 12 The flying saucer balloon was assembled in their backyard in just two weeks Credit: © 2025 Netflix, Inc. Falcon had a reputation for hiding but a search of the home and his usual places came to nothing and Richard made the memorable 911 emergency call, claiming his son had been swept away. Advertisement 'I heard all the screaming and yelling and the chaos in their backyard,' remembers Dean. 'My son, Brennan ran back and explained, 'Dad, they said Falcon got in the balloon and it took off.' I thought, 'This cannot be happening.'' With the balloon heading towards the airport, and possibly into the path of air traffic, panic set in. Richard contacted a TV news channel asking them to follow it in their helicopter. This dramatic aerial footage then interrupted all the major news channels schedules across the country, keeping viewers riveted. Bob Heffernan, an investigator at Larimer County Sheriff's Office, visited the family and searched the property three times looking for Falcon before having to accept the awful inevitability that the young lad was up and away in a flying saucer. Advertisement Media vans and reporters swarmed outside the Heene house. After nearly two hours the saucer began to descend and made a surprisingly gentle landing. But there was no sign of Falcon. Had he fallen out? At one point, a neighbour phoned Heffernan to say that she had taken a photograph of a small object falling from the flying saucer and police feared it could be Falcon. 'How do you deal with that?" Richard asks. "What if one of my stupid experiments killed my son?' On that day I was trying to sneak into the flying sauce...I wanted to live in that little compartment Falcon As a ground search got underway, tracking the flight path over 55 miles, Bob Heffernan was standing in the family kitchen when, around 4pm he heard a great commotion. Falcon had turned up. Advertisement 'On that day I was trying to sneak into the flying saucer,' he tells the documentary. 'I wanted to live in that little compartment. 'After dad yelled at me a few times for being in there I was scared and thought, 'You know what? I'm just not going to be here.' So, I made my way up to my new hiding spot in the garage attic and just chilled there for a while and fell asleep. 'It wasn't until I woke up later that I started hearing weird noises, people and cars. I walked down and there are a lot of people there. It's crazy.' Mum Mayumi says: 'I couldn't believe it when I saw him. We rushed up to him and hugged him. It was the greatest surprise I ever had.' Advertisement Tables turn With news outlets desperate to talk to him, Richard went outside and thanked the police and news channel for the helicopter and then agreed to be interviewed live at home with his family for Larry King's TV show. That was when things started to crash down around him. 12 The site of a black object falling from the balloon sparked fears that Falcon had fallen out Credit: CNN 12 Multiple searches of the family home failed to uncover Falcon's hiding place Credit: Reuters 12 Emergency services descended on the balloon once it landed but Falcon wasn't inside Credit: AP:Associated Press Advertisement News anchor, Wolf Blitzer, was sitting in for King and, with millions watching, the answer to his first question threw the family's story up in the air. Blitzer asks Falcon if he had heard his family calling his name when they were searching for him. To his dad's evident surprise, he replies, 'Yes.' Richard then asks his son why he didn't come out and Falcon looks at him and drops the bombshell – 'You guys said that we did this for the show.' A stunned Richard mutters, 'Damn' and can't look at the camera as Blitzer asks him what Falcon meant by that comment. He stammers, 'I have no idea. I think he was talking about the media asking him a lot of questions.' Advertisement The interview turned the tide against Richard, making him the target of hostility from the public who now believed it was all just a hoax. Reporters did some more digging into the family and discovered that a year earlier Richard and Mayumi took part in the TV reality show, It would be helpful if they ended up in the news or got their name out their somewhere...I think that's what their motivation was for this whole hoax Heffernan Two days after the launch of the spaceship, Bob Heffernan and Larimer County Sheriff information officer Jim Alderden, acting as press officer for the family, persuaded Richard to take a polygraph lie detector test. But his behaviour, as shown in the documentary, was bizarre. Advertisement 'It was obvious Mr Heene was employing countermeasures by tensing up, not answering questions directly and doing some mind exercises as well as almost comically pretending to fall asleep,' says Alderden. 'These are published techniques of things that you can do to try to defeat a polygraph.' The test was inconclusive but when Mayumi took one, she failed. Afterwards, questioned by Heffernan, her comments amounted to a confession that the entire thing was, indeed a hoax. When directly asked if it was a hoax and that they lied to make themselves marketable, she nods. Heffernan then says, 'Did you tell the boys what you were doing?' She quietly replies, 'We told them. Yes.' He pushes further – 'Did you tell them to act like their brother had gone up in the balloon?' Mayumi answers, 'Yeah. Something like that.' Advertisement In the documentary, however, the family now deny that it was all pretence and insist they were telling the truth throughout. 12 An interview Wolf Blitzer led to the nation turning against them Credit: CNN 12 Falcon now builds tiny homes for a living Credit: © 2025 Netflix, Inc. 12 Richard Heene and Mayumi were eventually pardoned by the Governor of Colarado Credit: AP Advertisement 'Back then, my English was worse, and the word 'hoax' itself, I misunderstood,' says Mayumi. But Heffernan and Jim Alderden aren't buying it. 'She had a degree in English from Japan, went to three more years of college in the United States. There was not a language barrier,' says Alderden. 'I learned that the Heene's had been working very hard to try to get themselves a TV show,' says Heffernan. 'It would be helpful if they ended up in the news or got their name out their somewhere. And I think that's what their motivation was for this whole hoax.' Criminal charges were brought for conspiracy, contributing to delinquency of a minor, false reporting to authorities and attempting to influence a public servant. Advertisement In court, Richard pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 days in jail while Mayumi received a 20-day sentence and had to sign in at the jail each day but then go out to perform community service. They were also ordered to pay the $42,000 (£32,000) cost of the rescue operation. Richard tells the programme that Mayumi was threatened with deportation to Japan if he did not plead guilty but Heffernan denies this. Looking back on it, I was six years old and all these adults took whatever I said, and they're able to just string together what they thought was something else and make it so big Falcon The family later moved to Florida to start a new life and, in a surprise move in 2020, the Governor of Colorado granted Richard and Mayumi a pardon, stating, 'It's time for all of us to move on.' Advertisement 'I was surprised that the governor pardoned him without reaching out to us in law enforcement or anybody that had been involved,' says Alderden. 'The thing that upset me is that he did it without having Richard make any sort of admission as to his guilt.' 'To get pardoned makes a statement that I'm a good person,' says Richard. 'Everything that you said about me before was not true. That's how I feel about it.' As for Falcon, whose brief comment caused such a stir, he now says: "I think it's crazy how I was able to just say a single sentence and affect the whole state of the country. "I remember feeling bad that I did something wrong. But looking back on it, I was six years old and all these adults took whatever I said, and they're able to just string together what they thought was something else and make it so big. It's baffling.' Advertisement Meanwhile, Richard continues to work on his inventions. 'With the flying saucer coming to an end, it's kind of a sad story because I loved it,' he says. 'But that doesn't hold me back. I'm working on something new. And it's going to be really big.' Trainwreck: Balloon Boy is available to watch on Netflix from Tuesday, 15 July
Scottish Sun
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
I was six-year-old ‘Balloon boy' who sparked £42k rescue op watched by millions…innocent comment exposed my dad's ‘hoax'
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) 'MY family and I made an experimental flying saucer. It wasn't supposed to fly and it took off. I think my six-year-old boy got inside. He's in the air.' This bizarre emergency call from frantic father Richard Heene, in 2009, sparked a nationwide rescue operation, watched in real time as millions of TV viewers held their breath and prayed for 'Balloon boy' Falcon. 12 The Heene family are now speaking out about the incident in a new Netflix documentary 16 years after the incident Credit: Getty 12 Falcon was eventually discovered emerging from his garage's attic Credit: Splash News 12 Millions tuned in to watch the balloon - believed to have 6 year old Falcon inside - float away Credit: Balloon Boy Over the next few hours, every news channel beamed images of the huge balloon - which measured 20ft across - as it sailed across Colorado. But when it finally landed, little Falcon was nowhere to be seen - prompting a ground search over an area of 55 miles. Now, 16 years later, the Heene family have spoken out for the first time about the infamous 'hoax' in the Netflix documentary Trainwreck: Balloon Boy which also features interviews with neighbours, reporters and police that reveal Richard's hunger for fame. And the family reveal how one innocent comment from Falcon, in the aftermath of the drama, turned the public against them and made them hate figures. "Everything blew up," says Richard. "It was like the biggest nightmare ever.' Self-styled adventurer and inventor Richard, his Japanese-born wife Mayumi and their children Bradford, 10, Ryo, eight and Falcon, six – were a lively family, according to neighbours, Dean Askew and Tina Chavez, whose bedroom overlooked their backyard. 'Richard was this big energy, constantly pacing, talking 100 miles an hour,' recalls Tina. 'He was super smart,' adds Dean. 'He could build anything. He could put electrical things together. One time I looked out the window and noticed he was working on something. It looked like a silver disc.' When he wasn't inventing things he liked to take the family in the car to chase hurricanes. 'We like to chase a thrill,' explains a grown-up Bradford in the documentary. 'Dad was always making us look at science experiments on YouTube. We were super interested in UFOs.' Balloon boy hoax parents convince the world son, 6, is trapped in out-of-control inflatable Inspired by the 1960s cartoon series the Jetsons, set in Orbit City where everyone flew around in personal space cars, Richard came up with a design for his own "flying saucer". 'I just thought, 'What if everybody could be flying around like The Jetsons?' It would be wonderful,' he says. 'Everybody could be pulling out of their garage in flying saucers, going to school and work and you wouldn't have all this traffic.' In 2009, he set about building his space age dream machine with his family in their backyard in Colorado. 'Dad would make me video pretty much every experiment but, at the same time, keep my brothers in check," says Bradford. "Falcon was pretty wild and chaotic. He was always touching stuff he wasn't supposed to and loved to hide in the bottom of the flying saucer.' The saucer was, in effect, a silver helium-filled balloon with a small compartment underneath. 'It was not designed to have people in it,' says Richard. 'It was a place that had access to put the helium in.' Swept away Bradley's footage of the creating of the saucer – 20 feet wide by six feet tall – is shown in the documentary. It took them just two weeks to assemble. Richard says the plan was to keep it tethered so that it hovered at 20 feet and they could study its movements. But on test day, 15 October, 2009, it broke free of its mooring and was swept into the air and carried off at speed. Video footage shows Richard shouting in anger and then in despair as Bradley tells him that he saw his brother crawl inside. 12 The balloon broke free from its tether and ended up crashing down in a field Credit: Handout 12 The family quickly found themselves under intense media scrutiny Credit: AP:Associated Press 12 The flying saucer balloon was assembled in their backyard in just two weeks Credit: © 2025 Netflix, Inc. Falcon had a reputation for hiding but a search of the home and his usual places came to nothing and Richard made the memorable 911 emergency call, claiming his son had been swept away. 'I heard all the screaming and yelling and the chaos in their backyard,' remembers Dean. 'My son, Brennan ran back and explained, 'Dad, they said Falcon got in the balloon and it took off.' I thought, 'This cannot be happening.'' With the balloon heading towards the airport, and possibly into the path of air traffic, panic set in. Richard contacted a TV news channel asking them to follow it in their helicopter. This dramatic aerial footage then interrupted all the major news channels schedules across the country, keeping viewers riveted. Bob Heffernan, an investigator at Larimer County Sheriff's Office, visited the family and searched the property three times looking for Falcon before having to accept the awful inevitability that the young lad was up and away in a flying saucer. Media vans and reporters swarmed outside the Heene house. After nearly two hours the saucer began to descend and made a surprisingly gentle landing. But there was no sign of Falcon. Had he fallen out? At one point, a neighbour phoned Heffernan to say that she had taken a photograph of a small object falling from the flying saucer and police feared it could be Falcon. 'How do you deal with that?" Richard asks. "What if one of my stupid experiments killed my son?' On that day I was trying to sneak into the flying sauce...I wanted to live in that little compartment Falcon As a ground search got underway, tracking the flight path over 55 miles, Bob Heffernan was standing in the family kitchen when, around 4pm he heard a great commotion. Falcon had turned up. 'On that day I was trying to sneak into the flying saucer,' he tells the documentary. 'I wanted to live in that little compartment. 'After dad yelled at me a few times for being in there I was scared and thought, 'You know what? I'm just not going to be here.' So, I made my way up to my new hiding spot in the garage attic and just chilled there for a while and fell asleep. 'It wasn't until I woke up later that I started hearing weird noises, people and cars. I walked down and there are a lot of people there. It's crazy.' Mum Mayumi says: 'I couldn't believe it when I saw him. We rushed up to him and hugged him. It was the greatest surprise I ever had.' Tables turn With news outlets desperate to talk to him, Richard went outside and thanked the police and news channel for the helicopter and then agreed to be interviewed live at home with his family for Larry King's TV show. That was when things started to crash down around him. 12 The site of a black object falling from the balloon sparked fears that Falcon had fallen out Credit: CNN 12 Multiple searches of the family home failed to uncover Falcon's hiding place Credit: Reuters 12 Emergency services descended on the balloon once it landed but Falcon wasn't inside Credit: AP:Associated Press News anchor, Wolf Blitzer, was sitting in for King and, with millions watching, the answer to his first question threw the family's story up in the air. Blitzer asks Falcon if he had heard his family calling his name when they were searching for him. To his dad's evident surprise, he replies, 'Yes.' Richard then asks his son why he didn't come out and Falcon looks at him and drops the bombshell – 'You guys said that we did this for the show.' A stunned Richard mutters, 'Damn' and can't look at the camera as Blitzer asks him what Falcon meant by that comment. He stammers, 'I have no idea. I think he was talking about the media asking him a lot of questions.' The interview turned the tide against Richard, making him the target of hostility from the public who now believed it was all just a hoax. Reporters did some more digging into the family and discovered that a year earlier Richard and Mayumi took part in the TV reality show, Wife Swap in which husbands swap wives for two weeks, suggesting they were keen on media attention. It would be helpful if they ended up in the news or got their name out their somewhere...I think that's what their motivation was for this whole hoax Heffernan Two days after the launch of the spaceship, Bob Heffernan and Larimer County Sheriff information officer Jim Alderden, acting as press officer for the family, persuaded Richard to take a polygraph lie detector test. But his behaviour, as shown in the documentary, was bizarre. 'It was obvious Mr Heene was employing countermeasures by tensing up, not answering questions directly and doing some mind exercises as well as almost comically pretending to fall asleep,' says Alderden. 'These are published techniques of things that you can do to try to defeat a polygraph.' The test was inconclusive but when Mayumi took one, she failed. Afterwards, questioned by Heffernan, her comments amounted to a confession that the entire thing was, indeed a hoax. When directly asked if it was a hoax and that they lied to make themselves marketable, she nods. Heffernan then says, 'Did you tell the boys what you were doing?' She quietly replies, 'We told them. Yes.' He pushes further – 'Did you tell them to act like their brother had gone up in the balloon?' Mayumi answers, 'Yeah. Something like that.' In the documentary, however, the family now deny that it was all pretence and insist they were telling the truth throughout. 12 An interview Wolf Blitzer led to the nation turning against them Credit: CNN 12 Falcon now builds tiny homes for a living Credit: © 2025 Netflix, Inc. 12 Richard Heene and Mayumi were eventually pardoned by the Governor of Colarado Credit: AP 'Back then, my English was worse, and the word 'hoax' itself, I misunderstood,' says Mayumi. But Heffernan and Jim Alderden aren't buying it. 'She had a degree in English from Japan, went to three more years of college in the United States. There was not a language barrier,' says Alderden. 'I learned that the Heene's had been working very hard to try to get themselves a TV show,' says Heffernan. 'It would be helpful if they ended up in the news or got their name out their somewhere. And I think that's what their motivation was for this whole hoax.' Criminal charges were brought for conspiracy, contributing to delinquency of a minor, false reporting to authorities and attempting to influence a public servant. In court, Richard pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 days in jail while Mayumi received a 20-day sentence and had to sign in at the jail each day but then go out to perform community service. They were also ordered to pay the $42,000 (£32,000) cost of the rescue operation. Richard tells the programme that Mayumi was threatened with deportation to Japan if he did not plead guilty but Heffernan denies this. Looking back on it, I was six years old and all these adults took whatever I said, and they're able to just string together what they thought was something else and make it so big Falcon The family later moved to Florida to start a new life and, in a surprise move in 2020, the Governor of Colorado granted Richard and Mayumi a pardon, stating, 'It's time for all of us to move on.' 'I was surprised that the governor pardoned him without reaching out to us in law enforcement or anybody that had been involved,' says Alderden. 'The thing that upset me is that he did it without having Richard make any sort of admission as to his guilt.' 'To get pardoned makes a statement that I'm a good person,' says Richard. 'Everything that you said about me before was not true. That's how I feel about it.' As for Falcon, whose brief comment caused such a stir, he now says: "I think it's crazy how I was able to just say a single sentence and affect the whole state of the country. "I remember feeling bad that I did something wrong. But looking back on it, I was six years old and all these adults took whatever I said, and they're able to just string together what they thought was something else and make it so big. It's baffling.' Meanwhile, Richard continues to work on his inventions. 'With the flying saucer coming to an end, it's kind of a sad story because I loved it,' he says. 'But that doesn't hold me back. I'm working on something new. And it's going to be really big.' Trainwreck: Balloon Boy is available to watch on Netflix from Tuesday, 15 July
Scottish Sun
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Massive American film star becomes favourite to be next Bond girl as she is pals with new 007 director
SCREEN star Sydney Sweeney is in line to be a Bond bombshell in the next 007 film. The franchise's new director Denis Villeneuve is a friend, and keen to cast the White Lotus and Euphoria actress, 27. 4 Sydney Sweeney is in line to be a Bond bombshell in the next 007 film Credit: Getty 4 Sydney, right, chats with Denis Villeneuve and Ana de Armas Credit: Getty Sydney also has the backing of Jeff Bezos, boss of Amazon — which has creative control of the series. A movie source said: 'Sydney is the top name on the casting sheet for Bond. 'Denis believes she is hugely talented, as well as having an alluring appeal to younger generations, vital in modernising the franchise. 'They've hung out together a lot and he has admired her stratospheric rise. Read more on Sydney Sweeney SYD BARES HER SOLE Sydney Sweeney dazzles in cossie & cowgirl hat for sizzling beach shoot 'Plus Sydney has the quality of being athletic and able to perform physical scenes, as well as being feminine and following in the legacy of Bond girls.' She recently transformed her figure to play US boxer Christy Martin in a new biopic, lifting weights daily and kickboxing. Sydney was pictured last year chatting to Villeneuve, 57, and Bond girl Ana de Armas, 37, at the Toronto Film Festival. And last month she was a guest at Bezos's Venice wedding. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and James Norton are among the favourites to replace Daniel Craig — whose last film as Bond was 2021's No Time to Die. Sydney Sweeney stuns in elegant blue dress at glitzy UK premiere of her latest movie 4 Daniel Craig's last film as Bond was 2021's No Time to Die Credit: Splash News
