Strictly Come Dancing star Angela Rippon made history this weekend as the oldest ever contestant to perform on the BBC ballroom show.

And though the broadcaster, 78, floored viewers and judges alike with her impressive flexibility and THAT high leg kick, she has admitted that her ageis something that ‘does worry’ her on the show.

Angela told Radio Times that she has wanted to do the show for years but has only been given the opportunity now.

She told the publication: ‘The first words out of my mouth were, “Why didn’t you ask me ten years ago when I was a lot younger?” 

‘I’m doing Strictly this year because it’s the first time they’ve asked me.’

But despite her late-coming to the programme, Angela is determined to let nothing hold her back.

She continued: ‘I look at the younger people and I know I’m not as fit or strong – that’s just a medical fact. But I play tennis, I go to pilates and ballet classes, so I’m pretty fit for someone of my age. 

‘I’ve told my pro partner, Kai, there are things I can do, and things I can’t. I just want to do everything properly. I’ve told him, “Challenge me.”’ 

Angela, who hosted the original version of the programme Come Dancing, has been partnered with professional dancer Kai Widdingtron.

Angela and Kai performed the Cha Cha Cha to Shirley Bassey‘s version of the Pink! song, Get the Party Started and received 28 points out of 40 on Saturday.

During the routine, Angela shocked the judges and viewers when she showcased her incredible flexibility and stretched her leg over head head.

And it appears their relationship may take plenty of credit for Angela’s glowing performance.

She explained: ‘I love him already. We clicked when we met… We laughed all through our first meeting. I’m a very happy bunny that it’s Kai. 

‘I told the producers, “I need someone strong, patient and with a sense of humour.” He’s got all those qualities, and he’s a brilliant dancer and choreographer. He and his partner, Nadiya Bychkova, are both fabulous.’

As for what’s next after Strictly, Angela explained that she simply wants to continue working, in a profession she ‘adores’.  

She said: ‘People told me, “They’ll never employ anyone over 50.” Well, there’s me, Gloria Hunniford and Julia Somerville, and we’re in year 15 of Rip Off Britain – we’re still hanging in there.’ 

On Saturday, Angela wowed viewers with her performance.

She looked sensational in silver fringe mini dress as she performed to Shirley Bassey‘s cover of Pink’s Get The Party Started before kicking her partner lifted her leg for the dramatic finale. 

With the duo impressing the duos scoring 28 for their performance which saw them briefly at the top of the leader board.  

Taking to Twitter one fan said:  ‘I need some tips off Angela Rippon. I’d love to dance like she does and I’m literally half her age!’.

While a second wrote: ‘Angela Rippon’s leg though!’.

Someone else joked:  ‘When I grow up I want to be Angela Rippon’.

And: ‘I want Angela Rippon’s legs!’.

It comes after Angela admitted she is finding Strictly training ‘very gruelling’ and her legs ‘feel like they’re going to collapse.’ 

Speaking in an interview, Angela shed some light on how her training with professional partner Kai is going. 

She told The Mirror: ‘My legs feel like they’re about to collapse.

‘I know what I should be doing, I know how it should be feeling, it’s actually making my legs do it to the music. I’m just getting cross and frustrated.’

Angela continued: ‘I’m exhausted. There are bits of me aching that I didn’t know I had. I’m enjoying doing it and I’m fine with the bits that I get right. But I get very angry with myself when I absolutely muck it up and do it wrong.’ 

Angela’s Strictly stint comes 47 years after she stunned the 27 million viewers of Morecambe and Wise’s 1976 Christmas special by emerging from her newsreader’s desk to perform a high-kicking dance routine, in an era when journalists never ventured into light entertainment. 

Australian radio host Jase Hawkins has revealed some odd moments he experienced with embattled comedian Russell Brand.

On Monday’s episode of KIIS 101.1’s Jase & Lauren, he detailed his memories when Brand was visiting Australia to promote his film, Get Him To The Greek.

Jase recounted how he was hosting the red carpet chat and afterparty at the time, but the British comedian didn’t turn up. 

‘He never rocked up at the after parties. Jonah Hill had to do it… The next day we were working at another radio station 2DAY FM in Sydney and Kyle and [Jackie O] were doing breakfast and he [Brand] rocked up… For the interview.’

Jase then described how Russell engaged with the staff when he got to the studio.

‘He sort of mozzied in and flirted a lot with the girls in the office. My wife was working there at the time. She was in the little kitchenette was making breakfast and popped in and was very, very flirtatious,’ Jase said. 

‘He would come in and give them little compliments but in that Russel Brand style. Not handsy.’

The breakfast radio host then told a story about the UK comedian locking himself in the office bathrooms.

According to Jase, Brand was in the bathroom for 20 minutes, posted his bodyguard outside the door to block anyone from going in, and missed his interview on the air.  

‘He eventually came out [of the bathroom]. He looked off his dial. This was the point that he said he was off booze and drugs, but it just didn’t not seem legit. I’m not saying guilty or innocent,’ the radio host said.

‘[The women that he flirted with] they laughed it off. That’s what I was saying to Lou [my wife] last night, we were talking about that… Everyone got caught up in this whole Russell Brand thing.’

Two weeks ago, Brand was accused anonymously by multiple women of serious allegations, including rape, sexual assault, and emotional abuse. 

The comedian has denied the allegations on his popular YouTube channel, saying his relationships were ‘always consensual.’

The rest of Brand’s ongoing tour in the UK has been delayed, and his sponsors have chosen to distance themselves from him. 

Both the BBC and Channel 4 have removed content featuring the comedian from their streaming platforms.

The video platform YouTube has taken action against Brand’s channels, preventing them from earning revenue through advertisements due to a claimed violation of its ‘creator responsibility policy.’

YouTube stated that this suspension of monetisation applies to Brand’s account, which boasts 6.6 million subscribers, and is a result of ‘serious allegations against the creator.’ 

The Google-owned video service clarified that this decision extends to all channels associated with or run by Russell Brand.

In recent years, Brand has developed a large online following creating videos offering alternative views on media bias, Covid lockdowns, as well as corporate and governmental abuses of power. 

Four women have levelled accusations of sexual assault against Brand, spanning from 2006 to 2013, and a fifth individual later came forward with a claim dating back to 2003. 

None of Brand’s accusers have so far been publicly identified.

Ex-BBC boss who championed Russell Brand and then lost her job over Sachsgate is released from a confidentiality agreement so she can reveal ALL about what she knew of the under-fire star’s behaviour

• Lesley Douglas has reportedly been freed from a confidentiality agreement 

By Cameron Charters

Published: 17:11 EDT, 24 September 2023 | Updated: 17:28 EDT, 24 September 2023

WHAT BOOK would classicist and writer MARY BEARD take to a desert island?

By Daily Mail Reporter

Published: 16:35 EDT, 21 September 2023 | Updated: 17:18 EDT, 21 September 2023

Russell Brand is seen in resurfaced footage calling Morning Joe’s Mika Brzezinski a ‘shaft grasper’ for the way she holds her water bottle – forcing her to cut to a break.

Brand was 38 at the time and promoting his Messiah Complex stand-up tour, which begun in Abu Dhabi in August 2013.

He appeared to enjoy the awkward interview, in which he pretended to do the hosts’ jobs and mocked them for their dress sense, later tweeting: ‘This is me on a mad American program. Quite funny.’

But after he was accused in a bombshell report on Sunday of rape and sexual assault, Brand’s comments are being seen in a new light.

Brand has now been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse by four women during the peak of his fame, following a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches.

The explosive allegations are said to have taken place between 2006 and 2013, while Brand was a presenter for BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4. He has denied the claims.  

The comedian and actor opened with a riff on the media and said that he enjoyed stand-up because it gave him a direct connection to audiences.

‘Don’t think about what I’m wearing – these things are just a distraction,’ said Brand, in response to Brian Shactman joking that he intended to come into work the next day dressed like Brand, with an open shirt and multiple necklaces.

‘I’m distracted,’ interjected host Mika Brzezinski. ‘Be distracted,’ Brand said. ‘What do you think that gesture means – the way you’re touching that bottle? What’s the subtext of that?’

To loud laughter from the studio, Schactman said: ‘We’ve got to go to a break.’

Brand continued: ‘You need to lose that ring, Mika, because it don’t mean nothing to ya’. She’s grasping for the shaft. She’s a shaft-grasper.’

Brzezinski looked somewhat stunned, and picked up her coffee mug to hide her shock.

‘Russell…’ began the other woman on the panel, fellow Briton, Katty Kay. Schactman, laughing, said: ‘That was free, but it was great. We’ll buy tickets.’

The clip resurfaced on the same day that another similarly uncomfortable encounter with Brand, from the same year, re-emerged.

Singer Katherine McPhee was seen in 2013 bouncing up and down on Russell Brand‘s lap during her appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Brand, now 48, appeared on the talk show a decade ago and tried to flirt with the married actress, which to onlookers left her appearing visibly uncomfortable.

But on Monday the singer – who has been married twice – poured cold water on such suggestions. ‘This specific incident was over 10 years ago and it was harmless,’ she said.

During the Jimmy Fallon interview, Brand refused to move out of the interview chair as McPhee stepped up to talk to the host. 

He told Fallon: ‘She’s welcome to sit here’, then grabbed her and suggestively bounced a shocked-looking McPhee on his lap – before she quickly leapt up. 

After Fallon referenced McPhee’s husband, Brand interjected: ‘I didn’t know you were married. I’m going to f**k off now.’ 

It comes as The Times and Sunday Times claim ‘several women’ have come forward with undisclosed allegations about Brand’s behavior during the early 2000s in wake of their joint investigation with Channel 4 which was published on Saturday.

The maverick actor and stand-up comic has strenuously denied any wrongdoing and blamed the ‘mainstream media’ for the ‘litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks’. 

The latest allegations – which the newspaper says have not been investigated by police, but will now be ‘rigorously checked’ – follow accusations from four women, including one who claims she was sexually assaulted by Brand during a three-month relationship with him when she was 16 and still at school. 

The BBC is now also facing ‘urgent questions’ after it was claimed Brand used his company-provided car service to pick the girl up from school.

Both BBC and Channel 4 have launched internal investigations into separate accusations of predatory behavior by Brand towards staff and audience members during the time of his employment. 

Channel 4 has since removed all programs linked to Brand from its website, including episodes of The Great British Bake Off and Big Brother’s Big Mouth in which he was featured, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Netflix has since been urged to remove his comedy special, titled Re:Birth, from its streaming catalogue. 

The BBC’s probe was announced minutes before Scotland Yard piled on the pressure by announcing that detectives would like to speak to the comedian’s alleged victims.

Among the complaints raised in the investigation were allegations by one woman, who alleged Brand raped her against the wall in his Los Angeles home. 

Another woman alleged the comedian sexually assaulted her while she worked with him in Los Angeles and that he threatened her with legal action if she told anyone.

While the third claimed she was sexually assaulted by Brand who she alleges was physically and emotionally abusive towards her.

The fourth woman, referred to as Alice to protect her identity, said she was 16 when he choked her during a sexual act.

She alleges he took her virginity, was ‘preoccupied’ with her being ‘innocent and pure’, and often referred to her as ‘The Child’.

Alice described his behavior towards her as ‘grooming’ as Brand would allegedly provide her with scripts on how to deceive her parents into allowing her to visit him. She also claimed he would send his ‘BBC car’ to her secondary school to pick her up.

‘The first time I used it, he told me it was booked to take him to his radio show but he had a friend taking him instead so I should use that car,’ she told The Times.

She claimed the chauffeur once took her from Brand’s home to her grandmother’s house and that on a separate occasion the same car ‘picked me up from school’.

Alice added: ‘It was the same car…I knew that that was a BBC car.’

The BBC did not initially commit to an inquiry but amid the growing outcry, it shifted its position and a spokesman said it was ‘urgently looking into the issues’.

In a statement, a BBC spokesman said: ‘The documentary and associated reports contained serious allegations, spanning a number of years.

‘Russell Brand worked on BBC radio programs between 2006 and 2008 and we are urgently looking into the issues raised.’ 

Brand has lashed out at ‘aggressive’ media claims as he insisted any relationships he had ‘during his time of promiscuity’ were ‘consensual’ in a 2min 45sec monologue to his 11 million followers on X and 6.5million subscribers on YouTube.

He accused the news organizations of coordinating an attack on him, telling his followers: ‘Is there another agenda at play?

‘Particularly when we’ve seen coordinated media attacks before, like with Joe Rogan, when he dared to take a medicine that the mainstream media didn’t approve of, and we saw a spate of headlines from media outlets across the world using the same language.’

Holly Willoughby has paid tribute to This Morning’s medical expert Dr Uchenna Okoye who has tragically passed away after a ‘sudden illness’ aged 53.

The ‘kind and passionate’ Cosmetic Dentist made numerous appearances on the ITV show, offering advice to viewers at home. She was also a regular guest on 10 Years Younger in 10 Days, Daybreak, and BBC Breakfast.

A heartbreaking statement posted on Dr Uchenna’s Instagram said she had fallen ill at home on Friday September 15 and died shortly after. No cause of death has been provided by her family.

Willoughby, who worked with Dr Uchenna on This Morning, told her followers: ‘Unbelievably sad to hear of the passing of @druchennaokoye. We first worked together many moons ago with @oralb_uk and she was very kind to me… and then of course again, giving her advice on @thismorning. Sending all my love to her family.’

BBC radio presenter Jo Whiley wrote online: ‘Devastating news. Sending love to her daughter, family and London Smiling team. Strong, beautiful, funny Uchenna. Awful. Just awful.’

TV presenter Donna Air posted: ‘What?! No, I’m so confused. How, why… her daughter!! Shocked and saddened.’

Dr Uchenna, who qualified at the prestigious Guy’s Hospital in London, ran two dental practices and owned a line of specialist dental products. 

She was one of a small group of dentists to belong to both the British and American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. 

Outside of directing the London Smiling Dental Group, she regularly appeared on television and radio to provide expert advice. She also was the official dentist of Channel 5‘s makeover programme 10 Years Younger. 

Presenter Cherry Healey of the Channel 5 programme also paid tribute to Dr Uchenna. 

‘There aren’t really the right words to say how much this absolute force of a human being will be missed and how sad this news is.

‘I was so fortunate to work with Dr Uchenna on @10yearsyounger for many happy years, and to then got to know her as a beautiful friend.

‘She spoke with such passion and love for the people she helped smile again – and she was the warmest, smartest, most fun woman you could wish to meet,’ she wrote on Instagram this evening.

Dr Uchenna’s husband Chidi Ngwaba is a doctor who specialises in lifestyle medicine, helping patients who suffer from diabetes, autoimmune diseases and obesity. 

He has also appeared on televisions, including ITV’s Good Morning Britain and the BBC’s Food: Truth or Scare.

The couple share a young daughter.  

Announcing Dr Uchenna’s tragic passing, her family wrote earlier this evening: ‘It is with the heaviest of hearts that we announce the passing of the much loved and respected Cosmetic Dentist, Dr Uchenna Okoye, who passed away after falling ill at home on Friday 15th September 2023.

‘At this time, we ask for your prayers for her young daughter, her family, her team of staff at London Smiling Dental Group and her friends who are all struggling to come to terms with her loss.

‘We request that you respect Uchenna’s family’s wishes for privacy at this very difficult time.

‘The Uchenna sparkle touched the lives of everyone she met and drew her into stardom on 10 Years Younger makeover show, followed by 10 Years Younger in 10 Days where her passion and compassion leaps off the screen.

‘For the last twenty years, her deep knowledge of dentistry and her incredible chair-side manner made her the go-to spokeswoman for any dental issue and a popular contributor to radio, TV, and women’s consumer press,’ it continued.

Tributes from viewers have poured in for the TV regular with one fan writing: ‘That’s absolutely devastating… sending much love to her family.’

Another wrote: ‘Am absolutely heartbroken to read this. I adored Uchenna. I can’t really process this awful news.’ 

A third commented: ‘Beautiful Uchenna! An industry beacon who quickly became a friend to many of us. So warm, generous and funny. 

‘Sending condolences to her family and friends.’

Another follower wrote: ‘Devastating news. My love and prayers to her family. 

‘We will all miss your infectious energy and warmth.’

While someone else shared: ‘Absolutely shocked about this devastating news! I still can’t believe it. 

‘She was the kindest, loveliest person who I knew briefly. Rest in peace and my condolences to your family and your little girl.’

The news comes just days after Holly Willoughby and This Morning led the tributes to guest Matty Lock after he suddenly died aged 19. 

Holly and co-presenter Dermot O’Leary paid tribute to a ‘truly unique’ and ‘lovely’ member of the studio. 

The ‘delightful’ teenager regularly appeared on the show to review vacuum cleaners, which he had become obsessed with since the age of two when he received his first toy Henry hoover.

The popular youngster was also a member of the Labour Party and recently spoke of his pride at becoming councillor in his hometown of Maghull, Merseyside. 

Sharing the news at the start of Monday’s programme, Dermot said: ‘One of the This Morning family members Matty Lock – you might remember Matty – sadly passed away this weekend.’

Willoughby added: ‘He was a much-loved member of our team who never failed to bring joy and more to our studio with an infectious passion for gadgets and technology. He was truly unique.’

O’Leary continued: ‘Yeah, bless him. His love for vacuum cleaners started when he was just two years old when he received his first toy Henry. 

‘He then went on to become a politician, a campaigner and a much loved member of this show. He’s a lovely guy.’

‘Matthew will be missed by all of us here and we extend our deepest condolences to his family. It was incredibly sad, shocking news to get yesterday’, finished Willoughby.

Matty regularly appeared on This Morning from a young age, including at the age of 15 where he had a segment revealing the best hoovers to buy that summer. 

Private £4,569-a-term day school, Merchant Taylors’ Boys’ School, in Crosby, Liverpool, shared his appearance on the show on its website at the time. 

Matty last posted on his Facebook page in April where he spoke of how he had ‘hit the ground running in delivering for Maghull and residents’ concerns and priorities’ since he had been elected.

At the age of 13 Matty had amassed 150 vacuums as part of his collection.   

He became interested in vacuums aged two when he got his first toy Henry. By the age of five he was hoovering the family home.

Speaking at the time, he said he was cleaning up by fixing old machines and selling them while carrying out repairs on every cleaner on the market.

He said: ‘I remember in year four or five having a rough idea how to take them apart and looking into how to make them run, that’s when the collecting started. 

‘I started finding machines, getting parts and being able to put them together to make a new vacuum.

‘I became more and more interested in getting rarer machines.

‘I like the way they work and seeing how they can be improved. I like seeing how they’ve advanced over the years – different machines do different jobs.

‘I get them off eBay or on Facebook selling sites. I find them in skips and people have even started leaving them outside my back door.

‘Some of the Henrys I have are 40 years old. I like to fix them but if they’re beyond repair I will make a good one out of two hoovers.

‘My collection is mostly Henrys and Dysons. I’ve got original versions which are made out of metal and Bakelite. My collection is well into the hundreds now.

‘They are all in my workshop in my garden which is where I do all my vacuum repairs.’

He spent around ten hours a week fixing broken vacuums, and estimated he had fixed around 500 and sold 300 machines.

From the money he made out of selling on the fixed machines, he reinvested the cash into more broken vacuums.

He added: ‘I just find it so satisfying getting them from places like builder’s yards where they’re full of plaster – being able to clean them up, make them look nice and get them up to a really good standard.’

Russell Brand was called out by a furious Sir Rod Stewart at the 2006 GQ Men Of The Year Awards after telling the audience he had slept with the singer’s model daughter Kimberly.

The comedian, now 48, is currently facing allegations of sexual assaults and abusive and predatory behaviour between 2006 and 2013, when he was at the height of his fame, following Saturday’s bombshell Dispatches documentary. He has denied the allegations.

When taking to the stage at the bash to collect his gong Russell made a very crude remark saying: ‘Here’s to Rod Stewart who had a go at me earlier this year for too much womanising’. 

Before adding: ‘But then again I did have a go on his daughter’. 

When Sir Rod, now 78, then collected his own trophy he made a point of blasting Russell for his comment.

Addressing him directly, the Maggie May hitmaker said: ‘You went with my daughter, did you? Russell, stand up.’ 

The comedian then seemingly lost all his bravado and could be heard sheepishly mumbling: ‘I took her out for one evening’. 

A fuming Rod asked if Russell had behaved himself on said evening with the former Big Brother host backtracking and saying: ‘I never touched that girl’.

‘F***ing right you didn’t’ Rod snapped, ‘You mustn’t come up here and boast. I speak here as a father.’

Rod – who has eight children in total – shares Kimberly, now 44, and son Sean, 43, with ex-wife Alana, 78.

Brand reportedly attempted to make amends following the tense moment and the pair could be seen sharing a smile following the awards ceremony.

Rod later told the Evening Standard: ‘[Russell] might be a bit of a player but he shouldn’t boast. I never did. Russell’s been a bit timid since I had my say.’

One woman has alleged Brand raped her in his Los Angeles home, while another accused him of grooming her as they were involved in an allegedly ’emotionally abusive and controlling relationship’ for three months when she was just 16 and still at school, and he was 31.

A third accuser claimed the comic sexually assaulted her while she worked with him in Los Angeles, and that he threatened to take legal action if she told anyone else about her allegation, and a fourth detailed the alleged sexual, physical and emotional abuse she was subjected to.

Allegations about Russell‘s ‘sinister’ behaviour towards women were an ‘open secret’ among TV and radio executives, it has been claimed.

Bosses at the BBC and Channel 4 are accused of turning a blind eye towards the entertainer’s behaviour while he worked for them as a presenter between 2006 and 2013.

The broadcasters have insisted they took all necessary steps over him, but executives could still be called before a Government select committee where MPs will grill them over what they knew.

Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse by multiple women, including one who says she was 16 at the time. 

His behaviour is alleged to have been common knowledge among female performers on the comedy circuit, who are said to warned each other about him.

rand has posted a video on YouTube and Twitter refuting the allegations and insisted relationships at the time of his promiscuity’ were ‘consensual’.

However, his attitude towards women is alleged to have been an open secret in radio and TV production, according to sources who briefed The Sunday Times. 

He also has a history of making high-profile and controversial remarks about women on his shows – including calling newsreader Andrea Simmons a ‘sex bomb’ and describing her as ‘erotic’ and saying he wanted to ‘go under the desk’ while she was reading the news.

In 2008 a ferocious public backlash was sparked after Brand and Jonathan Ross called the much-loved Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs during Brand’s show and left lewd messages on his answerphone – including bragging about sex with Sachs’s granddaughter Georgina Baillie, with whom he had a brief relationship.

According to The Sunday Times many believe the BBC should been awake to the concerns about Brand’s behaviour on his show well before the Sachsgate scandal.

Reportedly, a serious complaint was made by BBC staff to the station’s Controller Lesley Douglas about Brand’s behaviour in the studio, in December 2007.

The Times has reported that the complaint followed an ‘alarming display of aggression and disrespect’ by the radio host where he hurled objects in a fit of rage.

It also reported he urinated in a bottle in full view of production staff and a guest – who ‘appeared to be a minor’ – and had been invited to appear on Radio 2 by a charity.

This alleged complaint and any others that had been made were not mentioned in subsequent official reports into Sachsgate.

Douglas’ lawyers have said she ‘did not at any time encourage, enable and/or fail herself to take any adequate steps within her power with regard to the conduct of Russell Brand of which she was aware’.

‘She is presently unable to provide any further information which may be relevant to the matters raised in this article due to the obligations owed by her to her former employer,’ her lawyers added.

Brand left the BBC after the serious editorial breach in 2008 as did Douglas.

Strictly Come Dancing’s first live show ratings drop again for a second year with the opening competition night watched by an average of 6.1M

By Geraint Llewellyn For Mailonline

Published: 08:39 EDT, 17 September 2023 | Updated: 08:49 EDT, 17 September 2023

Again and again, it has been the rubber ball of BBC programmes, always bouncing back. Top Gear has long survived turbulence which would have instantly killed off other, less lucrative shows. Richard Hammond‘s 2006 car crash which left him in a coma for two weeks – and the subsequent Health and Safety Executive report which criticised the BBC for having a ‘gung ho’ attitude towards safety – if anything, only added to its blokey kudos.

Even losing its mighty presenters Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Hammond to Amazon after Clarkson had a fight with a BBC producer in 2015 didn’t spell its demise. The disastrous reboot – who can forget the awkward Chris Evans/Matt LeBlanc pairing – may have hit a ratings low, but it didn’t extinguish the BBC’s loyalty to its golden goose.

That looks very different today, however. The Mail on Sunday has been told by multiple sources that the overwhelming likelihood is Top Gear will not – and cannot – come back for another series. We can also reveal its production team has been quietly dismantled.

BBC sources confirm there is no development of a new series and no plans to broadcast any of series 34, which had been part-filmed.

Why? This seemingly sudden turnaround is explained with just one glance at the pictures of Top Gear host and former England cricketer Freddie Flintoff, seen in public last week for the first time since December 13, 2022, when a car he was driving for one of the show’s stunts crashed, with disastrous consequences. At Dunsfold aerodrome in Surrey, home of the programme’s test track, and in icy conditions, Flintoff, 45, was driving a three-wheeled Morgan Super 3, a novelty miniature vehicle with no roof or airbag. It flipped over at speed, sliding across the track, dragging his face along the asphalt with it.

Some reports suggest Flintoff wasn’t wearing a safety helmet but a co-driver was. One source said Flintoff’s final words before the smash were: ‘Do I need a helmet?’

Neither he nor the BBC will comment on this. It’s also been said that nobody at Dunsfold was able to find a stretcher for him.

Flintoff suffered serious facial injuries and several broken ribs and waited 45 agonising minutes for an air ambulance. Some staff who witnessed the crash and its aftermath were said to have required counselling.

He spent four hours on the operating table and his son Corey, 17, later said his father was ‘lucky to be alive’. His wife Rachael hurried to Surrey from the family’s Cheshire home to be at his side and was told to expect the worst.

Nine months of silence followed until he emerged at Cardiff on September 8 to watch England’s opening one-day game against New Zealand. This week he took training sessions at The Oval and Lord’s before further one-dayers in the series, which insiders believe could herald his full-time return to the sport.

The physical aftermath of the accident was sadly evident, with scarring from his nose to chin, suggesting multiple reconstructive surgeries, while the right side of his face suggests signs of nerve damage. Gauze covered his nose, grazes on his face were still fresh.

As to the psychological toll, that’s also said to be great. Some formerly close friends of Flintoff – beloved across the world for his sense of humour and fun-loving nature – said they were kept at arm’s length for months after the crash as he concentrated on his recovery, supported by close family only.

Neither his representatives nor his legal team will make any comment on his injuries and recovery.

Relaunching a light entertainment show, then, which has so maimed a sporting hero would require an imperviousness to criticism, and personal callousness, both of which are alien to BBC boss Charlotte Moore.

More significant, perhaps, is the liability of the BBC for the accident. BBC sources suggest there is no ongoing legal action from Flintoff’s side and there is nothing lodged from him or his companies at the High Court. Why? This could indicate that the BBC has already quietly paid Flintoff compensation.

Relations between Flintoff and the BBC are said to be ‘cordial’ and there have been ‘constructive discussions’ – all pointing towards BBC bosses being keen to draw a line under the debacle, at whatever cost. The Mail on Sunday can also reveal Flintoff is understood to have co-operated with two separate reviews by the BBC, one having concluded and another ongoing. So how much have they paid him? Judicial college guidelines suggest ‘very serious facial fractures with permanent effects’ may attract compensation of up to £45,000.

Damage to his broadcasting career, on which it seems he has now turned his back, would be a more substantial sum. He and co-presenter Paddy McGuinness were on deals worth around £500,000 a year for Top Gear and he will have earned a similar amount from his regular appearances on panel show A League Of Their Own. Flintoff’s company has around £7million in its accounts, earned from his ventures into TV thus far.

One thing is certain: the amount paid will be substantial – millions of pounds – and the BBC will hope to make a claim against insurance to cover it; hence their first, rapid, investigation, which seems to have cleared them of negligence. The Health and Safety Executive also made initial inquiries but decided that it did not meet the threshold for further investigation.

After their first investigation ended, the BBC said: ‘BBC Studios has concluded its investigation into the accident which regrettably injured Freddie. We have sincerely apologised and will continue to support him with his recovery.’

The BBC never released the results of that investigation, and seem unlikely to do so.

Their second investigation, then, could be seen as a helpful tool to quietly explain killing off the show, officially closing this painful chapter. This investigation is said to be more far-reaching, a ‘wider review’ sponsored by the BBC and conducted by an external third party which the BBC decline to name.

Sources say the reviewer is talking to a ‘broad group of people who have been involved in making Top Gear over the last several years’.

Clearly, it is not just looking at that day last December but at the culture, scope and format of the show, which was officially put ‘on hold’ in March. Whether it can, or should, continue is the ostensible question it ‘seeks’ to answer. It’s possible it will recommend that only professional racing drivers and not amateur presenters take part in the dangerous stunts if – and that’s a very big if – the BBC wanted to bring Top Gear back.

Many think such a recommendation would effectively smother the show, providing a helpful ‘box tick’ against any possibility of its return, which would no doubt relieve a concerned BBC management.

Regardless of what the report says, the days of Flintoff’s debut Top Gear series in 2019 are unrepeatable. Back then he bungee-jumped off a 540ft dam in a Metro car, crashed a Subaru, flipped and rolled a rally car in which his co-hosts were passengers, and came off the track while riding a bespoke trike at 124mph.

These kinds of dangerous stunts were dreamed up by an executive layer which was well used to prangs and smashes, some say fuelled by a macho one-upmanship.

As executive producer Alex Renton mused in 2021: ‘The challenge now is how to top a car bungee jump in how to scare Freddie.’

Today, though, such challenges would be verboten. The team which had recently moved production down to BBC Bristol is quietly being dismantled.

Top Gear’s editorial director Clare Pizey – in charge of reinventing the show after Clarkson, Hammond and May departed – quit her job at BBC studios three weeks ago while the investigation rumbled on.

Paddy McGuinness, 50, said: ‘This lady kept all us naughty boys in check on @topgear. Gutted you’re leaving us @clarepizey.’

A few weeks previously, Chris Payne, the development producer in charge of all the show’s big ‘challenge films’, also quit to take up a job with Gordon Ramsay’s outfit Studio Ramsay.

As well as this, McGuinness apparently feels it wrong to return to the show without Flintoff. Richard Hammond’s take on the show’s future earlier this year was that viewers tune in for the jeopardy, which is a part of the entertainment. ‘Pratfalls and somebody else hurting themselves, hopefully not too badly, is one of the oldest forms of humour, isn’t it?’ he said.

He added: ‘If you’re taking risks, you have to mitigate everywhere against those risks. But also we’ve all got to remember, just because we’re on TV doesn’t mean we’re in some sort of magic protected bubble. Real world things still apply.’

Former England bowler Steve Harmison, one of Flintoff’s closest friends, said last week: ‘The first time I saw him after the accident, I was in tears. But there was also a lump in my throat when I saw the big fella back at The Oval.

‘He went off and did something else after cricket and I could understand that but the problem cricket had is what [Freddie] went into next paid him a hell of a lot of money and it was hard to get him back. But if you think about the knowledge he has, he will be a great addition to anything England want to involve him in.’

It was announced last week that Flintoff will make one more show for the BBC this year (a second series of Field Of Dreams, in which he mentors under-privileged Lancashire youngsters to turn them into cricketers), but his TV days are effectively done. Field Of Dreams is a passion project, more about sport than showbusiness.

Flintoff’s fans will be pleased to note one bright spot. Back at The Oval this week, onlookers noted Flintoff was smiling. Fit enough to cope with the fast bowling of current England stars, he greeted them warmly, embracing some, that smile never leaving his face.

Cricket, then, his old friend, could be the comfort he so sorely needs as he adjusts to a new life ahead.

Russell Brand was met by scores of cheering fans as he arrived at his sold-out Wembley gig hours after being accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse.

Breaking cover this evening, Brand arrived at Wembley’s Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre almost an hour late to perform his show Bipolarisation after getting ‘stuck in traffic on the M40’, before ending his show early ahead of tonight’s Channel 4’s Dispatch programme which went into further detail about the allegations.

Four women have alleged sexual assaults between 2006 and 2013, when Brand was at the height of his fame, working for BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4 as well as starring in Hollywood films. 

Brand also faces allegations of controlling, abusive and predatory behaviour, following a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches. He has denied all the allegations.

Wearing an open neck black shirt, the 48-year-old comedian appeared to brush aside the allegations as he received a massive round of applause from his audience – with one woman holding a sign saying ‘We stand by you Russell. Stay strong. Stay Free. We love you.’

Father-of-two Brand told the crowd: ‘I love you. I love you. Thank you. There’s some things I cannot talk about and hopefully you appreciate that I’m gonna give you everything I’ve got.’ 

A man who looks like the comedian walked past the stage minutes after the gig started, with Brand joking he looked like body double.

‘That might come in handy,’ he quipped.

Tonight’s show comes after four women alleged sexual assaults between 2006 and 2013, when Brand was at the height of his fame, working for BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4 as well as starring in Hollywood films.

Brand vehemently denies the allegations and in a video posted online on Friday, stated all of his relationships have been consensual, before accusing the media of a ‘co-ordinated attack’.

In the clip, the 48-year-old claimed he was facing a ‘litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks’.

‘Amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute,’ he said.

‘These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies and as I have written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous.’

Speaking to fans this evening, Brand cracked jokes about his father and masturbation. He also spoke about changes to his lifestyle. 

‘I’ve changed my life – I’m now a vegan and don’t look at pornography,’ he told crowds. 

‘I’m trying to love a spiritual life and discern what is real and what is false.’

He later added: ‘I know I’m not the only one who doesn’t trust authority.’

He made jokes about being a father and dealing with his children, quipping: ‘Go to sleep now or I’ll burn your f***ing unicorn.’

He added: ‘You think this is the real me? ‘This is an act!’  

In the report by The Times, one woman alleges Brand raped her against the wall in his Los Angeles home.

A second woman alleges that Brand assaulted her when he was 31 and she was 16 and still at school. It is claimed the actor referred to her as ‘the child’ during an emotionally abusive and controlling relationship that lasted for about three months

A third woman alleged the comedian sexually assaulted her while she worked with him in Los Angeles and that he threatened her with legal action if she told anyone.

While the fourth claimed she was sexually assaulted by Brand who she alleges was physically and emotionally abusive towards her.

Audience members in Wembley were reading news reports about the claims on their phones before Brand’s gig started, as Rebel Rebel by David Bowie played.

The allegations have not put off fans who have travelled from across the country to watch the show.

Some were still appealing for tickets even after the allegations surfaced this afternoon, with one taking to Twitter asking: ‘Looking for two spare Russell Brand in Wembley tonight. DMs open.’

But others on social media said the recent accusations against the actor might have an impact on the mood.

‘Is anyone at the Russell Brand gig tonight at Wembley Park? Be interesting to gage audience reaction, because I can imagine the atmosphere will be very low,’ one person asked. 

An announcement played to the theatre said: ‘Russell is stuck in traffic on the M40. The start will be closer to 7.40pm. He is 100 per cent on his way. He is looking forward to seeing you soon.’ 

One of Brand’s alleged victims was still attending school when she was sexually assaulted by him. 

Alice – not her real name – who was 16 at the time, was shopping outside Topshop on Oxford Street when Brand approached her and began rifling through her bag. He pulled out a dress and asked her if she would be wearing it on their date.

Their relationship lasted three months and Alice, as well her mother, both described Brand’s behaviour as ‘grooming’.

Towards the end of the relationship, the woman, now 31, said the comedian sexually assaulted her.

She told the paper: ‘I was sat up in the bed up against the headboard, and he forced his penis down my throat and I couldn’t breathe. It was just choking me and I couldn’t breathe, and I was pushing him away and he wasn’t backing off at all.’

Alice said that Brand manipulated women for sex by joking about his sex addiction and countless relationships.

She added: ‘I think he was very skillful in the start of making his identity be, ‘I’m the womaniser. I’m a sex addict. I’m inappropriate but it’s all just a joke, it’s funny’,’ Alice claims, ‘It’s a smokescreen for a lot more of his dark behaviour’.’

In late 2020, Alice contacted Brand’s literary agent, Angharad Wood, the co-founder of Tavistock Wood, to report the actor’s alleged behaviour.

She claimed she was told by a lawyer acting on Brand’s behalf that he denied the accusations. But in a fresh development tonight, Brand was removed from the websites of Curtis Brown and Tavistock Wood. 

In a statement about Alice’s 2020 allegations, Tavistock Wood tonight said: ‘Russell Brand categorically and vehemently denied the allegation made in 2020, but we now believe we were horribly misled by him. Tavistock Wood has terminated all professional ties to Brand.’

A second woman, who is named as ‘Nadia’ claimed to have had consensual sex with Brand in June 2012 in his LA home. 

Nadia, who is a businesswoman, said she then visited the actor at his home again on the morning of July 1 where she claimed a ‘naked’ Brand came bounding out of his bedroom before then assaulting her against a wall.

Recounting the alleged incident to The Times, she said she ‘tried to get away’ and ‘slipped’ before then getting stuck on a painting.

‘At this point he’s grabbing at my underwear, pulling it to the side,’ the woman told the paper.

Nadia alleges Brand then grabbed her and pushed up against her after she told him she wanted to leave.

‘He’s a lot taller than me. And he has that glazed look in his eye again. And I can’t move. And I told him, ‘Get off, get off.’ Nadia claims Brand pushed her up against the wall and raped her, without a condom.

After the alleged attack, Nadia said she ‘ran out and jumped’ into her car. She claimed Brand later sent her a text, saying: ‘I’m sorry. That was crazy and selfish. I hope you can forgive me.’

Nadia later replied, telling Brand he had ‘scared the s*** out of [her]’ before claiming the actor apologised and claimed she asked him if she needed to be tested for a sexually transmitted disease, which he said she did not. 

The Times claimed Nadia decided against pressing criminal charges against Brand – but that the Los Angeles Police Department had been alerted to her alleged assault after she reportedly attended a Rape Treatment Centre in Santa Monica. 

The following year, Brand allegedly sexually assaulted another woman in her twenties called Phoebe – which is not her real name – after reportedly meeting her at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

Phoebe said the pair started working together before having a brief sexual relationship, which ended by the time of the alleged attack in early 2013. 

She told The Times how Brand allegedly trapped her in a bedroom after realising he wanted to have sex with her.

Phoebe told the paper he ‘grabbed’ her and put her on the bed before describing how his eyes were eyes were ‘black, like the devil’.

She claimed Brand then put his ‘hands down my trousers’ as she was screaming and fighting for him to get off of her.

‘I was screaming, and I was like, ‘What are you doing, stop, please, you’re my friend, I love you, please don’t do this, I don’t want to do this’,’ she told The Times.

Phoebe told the paper Brand eventually got off her before he ‘flipped’ and became ‘super angry’, shouting ‘f*** you… you’re fired’.

A short time later, Brand left the US and moved back to Britain. It was then that serious allegations about his conduct came to light.

In 2014, Brand’s ex-girlfriend Jordan Martin wrote about their relationship in her self-published book kNot: Entanglement with a Celebrity, in which she renames Brand ‘Randall Grand’ and herself ‘Dina’.

The Times said she declined to be interviewed about the incident but reported that she ‘stood by’ her account, which detailed their six-month love affair.

In the book, Martin alleged that Brand assaulted her while at Manchester’s Lowry Hotel following an argument about her ex-boyfriend.

Writing about the alleged experience, Martin accused Brand of coming up behind her after the incident and sexually assaulting her and alleged he ‘slides his hand down the front her low hanging jeans, into her underwear and forces a finger inside of her’. 

Other allegations reported by the paper claimed that Brand’s alleged attitude towards women became an ‘open secret’ in radio and TV production, according to sources. 

While hosting his BBC radio show on 6 Music The Times claimed it was told Brand and his co-host, Matt Morgan, would sometimes undress in the studio and encourage guests to do likewise.

Morgan, who no longer works with Brand, told the paper that during his time with the Hollywood star he was ‘never aware of any allegations of serious sexual misconduct against’ the comedian before insisting he ‘absolutely condemns all form of mistreatment of women’. 

He added he was ‘regretful to learn that a show I was part of made colleagues uncomfortable at times.’

A runner who worked with Brand when he presented Big Brother’s Big Mouth alleged the star flashed her and made inappropriate advances at her.

‘Rachel‘ – not her real name – told The Times in a report published today that when she was 24, Brand flashed his penis at her as she walked into his dressing room.

She claims the comedian and actor ‘insinuated’ she could perform oral sex on him. Rachel said she was shocked by the comment and refused.

The alleged victim said she felt unable to report what had happened and feared that she would lose her job if she complained.

Brand, who has denied all allegations of impropriety made against him, is alleged to have continued to pursue Rachel, despite her rejection.

Rachel told The Times that after the incident he invited her to his flat, where they kissed and had sex. They later began a relationship, kept a ‘complete secret’. 

Brand is alleged to have told her that he was forbidden from having sexual contact with ‘anyone working on Big Brother’.

The revelations came ahead of a much-anticipated Channel 4 Dispatches investigation, Russell Brand: In Plain Sight set to air at 9pm tonight. 

Last night Brand addressed his fans telling them he had received two ‘extremely disturbing letters from a ‘mainstream media TV company’ and a newspaper.

Addressing his fans, the comedian said he had been accused of ‘a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks, which are untrue’.

His video drew backing for tech billionaire Elon Musk, who owns X – formerly known as Twitter, self-professed misogynist social media star Andrew Tate and Brand’s sister-in-law, Kirsty Gallacher.

Amidst his denial of the allegations the 48-year-old actor said ‘we have seen coordinated media attacks before’, referring to Joe Rogan announcing he had taken anti-parasite drug Ivermectin to treat his Covid-19 infection during the pandemic. 

Brand said he was ‘aware of newspapers making phone calls’ and ‘sending letters’ to people he knows for ‘ages and ages’, claiming he feels that ‘there’s a serious and consorted agenda to control these kind of spaces’, referring to his YouTube channel. 

He added: ‘Amidst this litany of astonishing rather baroque attacks, often very serious allegations, that I absolutely refute.

‘These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies. 

‘And as I’ve written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous.

‘Now, during that time of promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely always consensual.

‘I was always transparent about that. Then almost too transparent, and I’m being transparent about it now as well.’

Brand continued: ‘To see that transparency metastasized into something criminal that I absolutely deny makes me question, is there another agenda at play? 

‘Particularly when we’ve seen coordinated media attacks before, like with Joe Rogan, when he dared to take a medicine that the mainstream media didn’t approve of, and we saw a spate of headlines from media outlets across the world using the same language.’ 

Get Him to the Greek star Brand also said there had been calls for his Community Festival Hay-on-Wye to be cancelled. 

Following the father-of-two’s bombshell video, he received the backing of disgraced influencer Andrew Tate – who recently won his freedom after months of house arrest amid an investigation into sex trafficking claims against the kickboxer and his younger brother, Tristan, 35. 

Supporting Brand, controversial social media star Tate, 36, took to X, posting a cartoon meme of a knight preparing for battle, captioned: ‘On my way to fight the crazy b***h allegations’.

Alongside the image, he captioned it ‘Welcome to the club Russell Brand’. 

Tate, who is currently facing charges of rape and human trafficking – which he has denied – in a separate Tweet responded to Brand’s video calling it a ‘Matrix attack’.

Brand also appeared to win the support of tech tycoon Musk, who appeared to sympathise with him. ‘Of course. They don’t like competition,’ he replied to the comedian’s video on X.

Both Musk and Brand have experienced similar criticism over the years being branded as conspiracy theorists. 

During the pandemic Brand was condemned for airing Covid conspiracy theories and in 2014 he received backlash after claiming he was ‘open minded’ about the idea the US government might have been behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The Tesla boss has also been known to publicly support conspiracy theorists as some ‘have turned out to be true’.

Later, Brand’s sister-in-law Kirsty Gallacher appeared to show her support for the controversial celeb.

The Smooth Radio presenter, 47, who is the older sister of Brand’s wife Laura, shared the comedian’s two-minute video on Instagram with a large red love heart.

Brand married his wife, who is currently pregnant with their third child, in 2017. Mrs Brand has not commented anything publicly or shared anything on social media since her husband made the video. She has since appeared to delete her Instagram account. 

Amongst the ‘very serious allegations’ made, Brand said there was also a ‘litany of astonishing attacks’, which he called ‘some pretty stupid stuff’ including calls for his Community Festival in Hay-on-Wye to be cancelled.  

He added: ‘I need my voice along with your voice. I don’t mind them using my books and my stand up to talk about my promiscuous sexual conduct in the past. What I seriously refute are these very serious, criminal allegations.

‘Also its worth mentioning that there are witnesses whose evidence directly contradicts the narratives that these two mainstream media outlets are trying to construct, apparently in what seems to be to me a coordinated attack.’

Throughout the clip, he mentioned how subscribers to his YouTube channel had previously written in the comments section ‘watch out Russell, they’re coming for you’. 

Brand closes the video, which has already had 4.9million views since it was uploaded to X at 11.21pm on Friday, by saying: ‘In the meantime I want you to stay close, stay awake, but more importantly than any of that – if you can, please – stay free.’

Brand performed the latest rendition of his show, Russell Brand: Biopolarisation, in Wembley.

MailOnline understands the sold-out Tuesday performance of the show, at London’s Theatre Royal Windsor venue, is also still due to go ahead. 

Gigs in Plymouth, on Friday, and Wolverhampton, on September 28, are also still listed. 

Confused fans have taken to social media to question whether the performance will go ahead.

One said: ‘Please can you confirm if the performance tonight is ging ahead and if there is an option for a refund?’

Another added: ‘Any chance of a refund? There’s a show on at 9pm on Channel 4 that I don’t want to miss.’ 

On the tour’s website, it said the show discusses ‘rules and rules breaking’, ‘democracy and freedom’.

It adds: ‘We reach conclusions from mass confusion by polling the live audience.’

‘Stay free’ is a phrase Brand frequently used to ends his videos on his channel. 

But hours before he was due to take to the stage, Brand was seemingly removed from the his agency websites.

Following his denial of allegations against him and ahead of the Channel 4 documentary tonight, Brand’s PR firm MBC PR and talent agent Tavistock Wood no longer advertise him as a client on their websites. However, it’s understood MBC PR still represent him.  

Brand, an only child from Grays in Essex, became famous thanks to his one-man stand-up shows. For a brief time was the toast of London, sleeping first with supermodel Kate Moss (who regretted her choice) and then allegedly with Moss’ friend Sadie Frost, too.

He shot to fame in the noughties as a TV and radio presenter, hosting series including Channel 4’s Big Brother’s Big Mouth and a BBC Radio 2 show.

The 48-year-old comedian later graduated to Hollywood, starring in films including Rock of Ages, Get Him to the Greek, Despicable Me, and more recently Death on the Nile.

His fame was cemented by the 2008 tome ‘My Booky Wook’ soon afterwards, in which he told of his heroin addiction and numerous sordid sexual encounters including sex with prostitutes and joyless orgies.

The following year he lost his slot on a BBC Radio 2 show after calling up Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs to boast about having had sex with his granddaughter, Georgina Baillie.

At that time it seemed there was nobody he couldn’t charm. In 2010, after a brief courtship, he married dazzling pop star Katy Perry in a seven-day ceremony in India. They had met at the MTV VMA awards when Perry had thrown a plastic water bottle at his head.

By December of 2011, the Brand had fled for divorce from Perry, citing irreconcilable differences.