Latest news with #Steps'
The Irish Sun
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Popular BBC quiz hands out £10k jackpot for first time in its six-year history
FOR the first time in its six-year history, The Hit List will hand over a £10,000 jackpot to a pair of contestants on the show. and , present its biggest ever winning sum to the victors in the final round. Advertisement 4 The Hit List, hosted by Marvin and Rochelle Humes, will hand over a £10,000 jackpot to a pair of contestants on the show Credit: PA Contestants have to name ten tracks played in the studio, and the artists who recorded them, with just five seconds deduction time alloted to each. If participants take more than that time they start having money deducted from the jackpot – but they don't lose a penny. Tune in on Saturday at 5.45pm to see their delight. The show's popularity has seen multiple celebrity specials with famous faces hoping to win big money for charity. Advertisement read more on rochelle humes Several celebrities have also made appearances while trying to win big money for charity. Some previous guests include 'Steps' members Ian "H" Watkins and Dancer Having begun airing in 2019, The Hit List is the first standalone TV show as a couple for Marvin and Rochelle. Advertisement Most read in News TV Speaking previously to Rochelle revealed: 'I always say to them before the round starts, 'don't look at the money trickling down, look at me, I want you to win. I took on The Hit List with Marvin and Rochelle but was left red-faced after 15 minutes of fame 'We've had people that just don't know the answer at all, and the nerves just completely take over. "It's easier said than done, though. Advertisement Bizbit DANNY DYER has good news for fans of Mr Bigstuff. The new series of the Sky comedy features a scene where he gets his 'crown jewels' out. On Heart Radio he said: 'I'm running through a council estate, stark naked – I laughed. "I thought, you know, 'It's got to be done.' SURANNE RELISHES PM ROLE SURANNE JONES has revealed the lengths she went to to prepare for her role as the Prime Minister in her drama, Hostage. The former Doctor Foster and Corrie star talked on the Table Manners podcast about taking the lead in the new Netflix thriller that drops next month. 4 Surrane Jones went to great lengths to prepare for her role as the Prime Minister in Hostage Credit: Des Willie/Netflix She said: 'I don't think I'm allowed to say (who), but I did speak to three really high-up women from different parties, and I read their books and I interviewed them, and that was very exciting. Advertisement 'I love research. . . 'I like to meet a lot of people and chat about the roles.' She said: 'Ashley Thomas, who plays my husband, who's a grime star. Advertisement "We did chemistry tests, and when he came in, it was just like, 'Oh, you're intriguing, handsome, lovely, smart, intelligent'.' Bizbit THE second season of Love Is Blind will air on Netflix on August 13. The dating show features people picking prospective partners without ever having seen them. Hosted by Emma and Matt Willis, the new ten-part season will drop in three batches every week until the end of the month. STEPHEN'S BACK ON THE CASE THE BBC and ITV are each launching their own big entertainment series within days of each other – and they bear a fair few similarities. On ITV1, 4 Stephen Mangan will be back with a second run of The Fortune Hotel in the first week of August Advertisement 4 Rob Brydon hosts BBC One's brand new show Destination X Credit: PA The show sees players from all walks of life – including cleaners, content creators and carpet fitters – compete in an intense briefcase-swapping game, full of twists, to hopefully be the one to walk off with the £250,000 prize. If that sounds a bit like The Traitors, so does BBC One's brand new show Destination X, which launches on July 30 and also has a whiff of Race Across The World. Host Advertisement The players board a blacked-out bus where they are fed clues – and a few nasty red herrings – with one simple question at the end of each episode: Where in Europe are you? A £100,000 prize awaits the winner. But with the amount of Euro facts we'll learn during the series, I reckon some of us will win big at the next pub quiz, too. Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme - Sun Club. Advertisement
Daily Mirror
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Ian H Watkins slams JK Rowling as he says LGBTQIA+ community is 'under attack'
Steps star Ian H Watkins has written a new children's book which is called Pride and the Rainbow Warriors, which teaches readers of all ages the about the LGBTQ+ community Steps' Ian H Watkins has slammed JK Rowling as he says LGBTQI+ community is "under attack". In a move away from music, Ian has brought out a children's book which teaches people about the LGBTQI+ community. Ian has reflected on his own experiences growing up in the Rhondda Valley in Wales in the '80s and '90s and has said that despite the world now being more progressive, the community is still "under attack". Harry Potter author JK Rowling has very vocal on the subject of trans people over the years. Following the Supreme Court's judgement in April, she has referred to transgender women as "men". Speaking to MailOnline, Ian said: "There are a few, they are the minority, a few very powerful people making decisions that the majority do not agree with.... So this book is also a big middle finger up to the b***ts." Stephen Fry has also also criticised LGBT charity Stonewall as he called it "nonsensical" and "stuck in a terrible, terrible, quagmire" when it comes to trans issues. In December he said: "I am not sure I support them." Talking about the situation, Ian said: "There's actual human beings involved. I think they are playing a political game. But at the end of the day, the bottom line is just be kind. "We're all facing struggles on a daily basis, you never know what somebody is going through, so just be kind, life is hard enough, let it go. Who I choose to love, why does that form your opinion? Why should that make you lose sleep at night? No. Worry about yourself." Ian's new book, which is called Pride and the Rainbow Warriors, follows the Rainbow Warriors as they teach readers about the LGBTQ+ community. Talking about the book, Ian said it is a "love letter" to himself. He said he wishes he had the book when he was growing up as he was made to fell "very different". He explained that he spent a lot of time out of school due to the bullying and hopes his children don't have to go through the same. Ian is dad to twin sons Macsen and Cybi with his former partner Craig Ryder. The pair welcomed the boys via surrogate in 2016 before they went their separate ways a year later. As well as turning his hand to writing and releasing his new book, Ian also uses his time to talk about diversity in schools and encourages children to embrace their individuality. Ian came out publicly in 2007 when he did an interview with The Sun.
Metro
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
90s pop icons missed out on Glastonbury legends slot for devastating reason
The Glastonbury legends slot almost turned a deeper shade of blue, Ian 'H' Watkins has revealed. For almost 30 years, Ian has been affectionately known as 'H', an acronym for Hyperactive – his energetic character being an instrumental part of Steps' success when personalities in pop weren't just all the rage, they were essential. It's a moniker which is a lot to live up to, though, particularly when you're in a band as exposed as Steps were. If they weren't playing to a sell-out arena, they were rarely off television, almost on SM:TV as much as Ant and Dec. In 1997, 5,6,7,8 was unleashed on the world to moderate success in the charts, but ruled school discos. It was a steady rise to the top of the charts for Steps when their fourth single, a cover of The Bee Gees' hit Tragedy, and a B Side of ballad Heartbeat got to number one in such an extraordinary fashion. It's sold more than 1.2million copies in the UK alone, a remarkable feat for any pop act from the Smash Hits era, and almost got them a spot on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury when it was saturated with nothing but guitar bands and 90s house DJs. 'The Bee Gees asked us to join them on stage,' Ian tells Metro. 'But it was a really late request, and we literally couldn't get it all together in time. Of course, some of them have passed away now, so that will never happen again. But that's another little jewel in the Steps crown.' With their own critically acclaimed musical, Here and Now, about to tour the UK and eventually make it to the West End, there are few things left on the Steps bucket list to tick off but they're not deterred from one day getting on that coveted Glastonbury bill, either in the Legends slot or the festival's first pop-friendly stage, Avalon. 'We're the only ones, really, from that era that have all the original members and are still going, so it feels like we've earned our stripes by now.' More than earning their stripes, Steps are still headlining festivals and breaking records. In 2022, they joined an exclusive club of bands to score a number one album across four decades. But now Watkins is on stage and topping charts as his true, authentic self. He has nothing to hide anymore – it's not the 90s when, if you were a good-looking male, the press was frothing to uncover secrets about your sex life. For Ian, there was always an underlying fear that they would discover he was gay when the press had a field day outing gay pop stars like Will Young and Stephen Gately. During one holiday with his then-boyfriend, Ian got the call he'd been dreading. 'They knew where I was, who I was with, and why I was there – I had a boyfriend. Immediately, I flew back from holiday, told my loved ones, told my family, told my parents, and then the next day, they didn't run the story, because I didn't give them quotes. 'But they threatened me for many years, and I felt like my coming out story was taken from me; my power was taken away, so it was a really emotional, dark time for me.' He wasn't alone, though. There were several pop stars gathered in the same closet, cautiously able to give solace to one another. Ian became particularly close with Lance Bass of N'SYNC and Boyzone's Gateley, but concedes: 'If the press knew you were gay, it was a really tricky thing to be seen together or to even admit that you were friends with another closeted gay person.' Instead, he clung to his closest straight women. His bandmate Lisa Scott-Lee, the girls from Liberty X and S Club… and Britney Spears. 'All of her dancers were gay anyway,' he says. 'People thought I was dating Brittany a long time ago, but that obviously wasn't the case – that was strange.' Ian is about to turn 50. Hyperactivity is no longer the personality he's defined by. His life is calmer, albeit busy with running his two children to school, walking the dogs, building a home, and organising his local annual Pride with his partner. 'Since having children, I've realised that education starts really early on, and it drowns out the bigotry,' he says. 'I go to all of the local schools and talk about how being different is something to be celebrated. My partner and I organise Cowbridge Pride, which is in its fifth year now. 'Cowbridge used to be the most conservative, laidback town, but now we have 2000 people marching every year, and we raise money for all of the schools to have LGBT resources in all of their libraries.' Ian is exactly where he's meant to be in life, and with Steps on a hiatus, he's finally managed to turn his passion project into a reality – a children's book, Pride and The Rainbow Warriors, educating children (and some parents) about LGBTQ+ history. All of the main characters represent a different colour in the original Pride flag, and all have traits corresponding to the original meaning. More importantly, Ian is finally cool to his children. 'Two of them are named after my kids – it's lush,' he grins. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video For those of us old enough to remember sneakily watching Queer As Folk with the volume turned down to one and one eye on the bedroom door in case anyone walked in, a children's book about LGBTQ+ was inconceivable. More Trending Now, with shows like Heartstopper becoming so hugely popular and a plethora of openly LGBTQ+ popstars ruling the charts, the world feels unrecognisable compared to just a few years ago. How children look at and look up to LGBTQ+ people is completely different today. 'It's something that I felt we needed, because there's a real lack of resources for children of all ages, also parents to be educated too,' he says. 'It's all about celebrating your superpower, and being different is an amazing thing. 'I was bullied terribly growing up because I was different, and I didn't know at that time what that different was. Luckily, I had an amazing art teacher, Mr. Owen, who is still one of my dear friends today, but if it wasn't for that man, who knows where I would have ended up.' Pride and The Rainbow Warriors is available in paperback now . Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: I went to Glastonbury and discovered it's just really overrated MORE: Heartbreaking reason Glastonbury nearly ended in the late 90s MORE: Glastonbury mystery performer 'gives away' appearance with arrival in the UK
Metro
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Steps narrowly missed out on Glastonbury legends slot for devastating reason
For almost 30 years, Ian Watkins has been affectionately known as 'H', an acronym for Hyperactive – his energetic character being an instrumental part of Steps' success when personalities in pop weren't just all the rage, they were essential. It's a moniker which is a lot to live up to, though, particularly when you're in a band as exposed as Steps were. If they weren't playing to a sell-out arena, they were rarely off television, almost on SM:TV as much as Ant and Dec. In 1997, 5,6,7,8 was unleashed on the world to moderate success in the charts, but ruled school discos. It was a steady rise to the top of the charts for Steps when their fourth single, a cover of The Bee Gees' hit Tragedy, and a B Side of ballad Heartbeat got to number one in such an extraordinary fashion. It's sold more than 1.2million copies in the UK alone, a remarkable feat for any pop act from the Smash Hits era, and almost got them a spot on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury when it was saturated with nothing but guitar bands and 90s house DJs. 'The Bee Gees asked us to join them on stage,' Ian tells Metro. 'But it was a really late request, and we literally couldn't get it all together in time. Of course, some of them have passed away now, so that will never happen again. But that's another little jewel in the Steps crown.' With their own critically acclaimed musical, Here and Now, about to tour the UK and eventually make it to the West End, there are few things left on the Steps bucket list to tick off but they're not deterred from one day getting on that coveted Glastonbury bill, either in the Legends slot or the festival's first pop-friendly stage, Avalon. 'We're the only ones, really, from that era that have all the original members and are still going, so it feels like we've earned our stripes by now.' More than earning their stripes, Steps are still headlining festivals and breaking records. In 2022, they joined an exclusive club of bands to score a number one album across four decades. But now Watkins is on stage and topping charts as his true, authentic self. He has nothing to hide anymore – it's not the 90s when, if you were a good-looking male, the press was frothing to uncover secrets about your sex life. For Ian, there was always an underlying fear that they would discover he was gay when the press had a field day outing gay pop stars like Will Young and Stephen Gately. During one holiday with his then-boyfriend, Ian got the call he'd been dreading. 'They knew where I was, who I was with, and why I was there – I had a boyfriend. Immediately, I flew back from holiday, told my loved ones, told my family, told my parents, and then the next day, they didn't run the story, because I didn't give them quotes. 'But they threatened me for many years, and I felt like my coming out story was taken from me; my power was taken away, so it was a really emotional, dark time for me.' He wasn't alone, though. There were several pop stars gathered in the same closet, cautiously able to give solace to one another. Ian became particularly close with Lance Bass of N'SYNC and Boyzone's Gateley, but concedes: 'If the press knew you were gay, it was a really tricky thing to be seen together or to even admit that you were friends with another closeted gay person.' Instead, he clung to his closest straight women. His bandmate Lisa Scott-Lee, the girls from Liberty X and S Club… and Britney Spears. 'All of her dancers were gay anyway,' he says. 'People thought I was dating Brittany a long time ago, but that obviously wasn't the case – that was strange.' Ian is about to turn 50. Hyperactivity is no longer the personality he's defined by. His life is calmer, albeit busy with running his two children to school, walking the dogs, building a home, and organising his local annual Pride with his partner. 'Since having children, I've realised that education starts really early on, and it drowns out the bigotry,' he says. 'I go to all of the local schools and talk about how being different is something to be celebrated. My partner and I organise Cowbridge Pride, which is in its fifth year now. 'Cowbridge used to be the most conservative, laidback town, but now we have 2000 people marching every year, and we raise money for all of the schools to have LGBT resources in all of their libraries.' Ian is exactly where he's meant to be in life, and with Steps on a hiatus, he's finally managed to turn his passion project into a reality – a children's book, Pride and The Rainbow Warriors, educating children (and some parents) about LGBTQ+ history. All of the main characters represent a different colour in the original Pride flag, and all have traits corresponding to the original meaning. More importantly, Ian is finally cool to his children. 'Two of them are named after my kids – it's lush,' he grins. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video For those of us old enough to remember sneakily watching Queer As Folk with the volume turned down to one and one eye on the bedroom door in case anyone walked in, a children's book about LGBTQ+ was inconceivable. More Trending Now, with shows like Heartstopper becoming so hugely popular and a plethora of openly LGBTQ+ popstars ruling the charts, the world feels unrecognisable compared to just a few years ago. How children look at and look up to LGBTQ+ people is completely different today. 'It's something that I felt we needed, because there's a real lack of resources for children of all ages, also parents to be educated too,' he says. 'It's all about celebrating your superpower, and being different is an amazing thing. 'I was bullied terribly growing up because I was different, and I didn't know at that time what that different was. Luckily, I had an amazing art teacher, Mr. Owen, who is still one of my dear friends today, but if it wasn't for that man, who knows where I would have ended up.' Pride and The Rainbow Warriors is available in paperback now . Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: For the latest Glastonbury weather forecast you need to follow a guy called Gav MORE: Drug warning issued ahead of Glastonbury after high-strength MDMA found at Parklife MORE: Glastonbury boss confirms 'exciting plans' for Worthy Farm in 2026 despite fallow year
Glasgow Times
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Glasgow Times
Here & Now musical brings Steps hits to Glasgow stage
The King's Theatre is set to host Here & Now as part of its UK and Ireland tour from September 16 to 20. Rebecca Lock will reprise her role as Caz, while Finty Williams and Blake Patrick Anderson return as Patricia and Robbie, respectively. River Medway, a fan favourite from RuPaul's Drag Race UK, is returning as Jem. Edward Baker Duly will play Max and John Stacey as Lesley. READ MORE: Glasgow's Lulu reveals dream to sing to former US President The principal cast is being joined by new faces, including Jacqui Dubois as Vel, Chris Grahamson as Gareth, and Rosie Singha as Neeta. Here & Now features Steps' most popular songs and a book by Shaun Kitchener. It is produced by the band and ROYO, with Pete Waterman. Rachel Kavanaugh is signed on as director, with Olivier Award-winning Matt Cole as choreographer and Matt Spencer-Smith as musical supervisor, orchestrator, and arranger. Set in the seaside superstore Better Best Bargains, the story unfolds on a Friday night. READ MORE: Megastar announces exciting Glasgow gig as part of arena tour But when Caz uncovers lies and betrayal on the shelves, her dream summer of love begins to unravel. The plot follows the characters' journey as they grapple with the possibility of losing happiness or cling to hope for a happy ending. Additional artistic contributors include Tom Rogers for set design, Gabriella Slade for costume design, Howard Hudson for lighting design, Adam Fisher for sound design, and Sam Cox for wigs, hair, and makeup design. The cast was selected by Will Burton at Grindrod Burton Casting. Further casting announcements will be made.
