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Craig Doyle has admitted that he had doubts that he would ever return to TV and that he is very grateful to be a guest presenter on This Morning, The noughties Holiday presenter admitted he had pretty much given up on ever returning to mainstream TV until the offer came through to work on the popular daytime show. He started off by introducing some of the competitions on the show and has since become a stand-in reporter. READ MORE: This Morning fans blown away by James Corden's lookalike sisters in surprise appearance The Irish-born star, who has also been working alongside Josie Gibson on This Morning, said to The Mirror : "It's an amazing gig to land. There are a lot of presenters out there, so I feel very grateful. "I have been around the block a few times and had times where I thought 'Am I ever going to get back into this world again?' "If you step off the bus, it doesn’t always come around again and when you have been in the bubble of sport, you think the … [Read more...] about Craig Doyle shares he doubted he’d return to TV and is grateful for This Morning gig

Jake Paul has said that Thomas Tuchel would knock Antonio Conte after the two managers tried to weigh one another in on the touchline on Sunday afternoon. In a typically-charged London derby between Chelsea and Tottenham , while the challenges while flying in there were fisticuffs off it. On two separate occasions, the coaches clashed after some controversial moments. Both managers were booked after the first incident that saw Conte wildly celebrate a goal in Tuchel's face as he complained to the fourth official over a foul. And at full-time, there was further fury when the two bosses shook hands with the Chelsea coach refusing to let go - leading to another round in the ring. Read More: Tuchel blames stroppy handshake with Conte on rival 'not looking him in the eye' Watching from across the pond was YouTube personality and wannabe boxer Jake Paul , who firmly put himself in Tuchel's corner. Furthermore, the multimillionaire insisted that he would pay good … [Read more...] about Jake Paul says Tuchel would knockout Conte and he ‘would pay money to see it’

This Morning was left in meltdown as a screaming guest left "the wheels falling off" the latest show. Monday's episode (August 15) of the ITV programme saw summer presenters Rochelle Humes and Andi Peters joined by Viking re-creator and Anglo-Saxon indentured wet nurse Jenny Kell and her two young sons. As Rochelle and Andi interviewed Jenny, her son Tom caused chaos by loudly yelling "boo". READ MORE: This Morning's Rochelle Humes gags on ice cream as fans slam opening of ITV show With Rochelle claiming the show had "gone off the rails", viewers on Twitter were also left in hysterics. One fan said: "Utter chaos!!" Another commented: "Don't know what was funnier, the kids that were constantly screaming; or @andipeters trying to hold it together but then giggling every five seconds. "Amazing stuff for a Monday!" Meanwhile, a third complained: "Oh dear cute kids but boy they gave me a headache." A fourth added: "These kids are hilarious! Andi is a class … [Read more...] about This Morning in meltdown as screaming guest leaves ‘wheels falling off’ show

Energy companies have been accused of an “unacceptable” level of customer service by the regulator during Storm Arwen , including switching off their callback service to avoid logging their failures. Ofgem said customers were left “having to cope in appalling conditions” in the wake of the storm in November 2021, with nearly 4,000 homes without power for over a week, in a damning report released on Thursday. Customers struggled to reach their network providers as call centres became overwhelmed after a million homes were left without power, leaving them with inadequate communication on when it would return. Three network operators highlighted in the report have agreed to pay an additional £10 million to affected communities, on top of the £30 million in direct compensation already paid out. One of them, Electricity North West, switched off its callback function in an apparent move to avoid being fined by Ofgem, which logs calls as unsuccessful if they are not returned … [Read more...] about Energy companies switched off callback services during Storm Arwen to avoid fines

If there's one thing that this Government is really good at, it is doing nothing. They have turned it into an art form – a meeting here, a conflab there, briefed details of a hastily-arranged emergency summit designed to show purpose yet utterly devoid of substance. Seeing to do rather than actually doing is how Boris Johnson’s administration will be remembered. If the race to succeed him is anything to go by, it is a style of leadership that may persist. Nowhere is this troubling approach more evident than the response to the energy crisis. The latest predictions for bills are frightening for those on low incomes: £4,267 a year by January, which is £650 more expensive than previously thought; and more than £4,400 annually by April, according to analysts at Cornwall Insight. Meanwhile UK households owe £1.3bn to their energy suppliers, three times higher than a year ago, with six million households more than £200 in debt on average, according to Uswitch, and winter is still … [Read more...] about Lib Dem plan to solve the energy crisis is radical – but at least they have one

F rench President Emmanuel Macron has accused Russia of using energy as a “weapon of war” as the chief executive of oil and gas giant Shell warned gas rationing in Europe this winter was possible. Mr Macron yesterday told citizens to "prepare for a scenario where we have to manage completely without Russian gas." "The summer, early autumn will be very hard," he said. "Russia is using energy, like it is using food, as a weapon of war." He said the government would prepare a "sobriety plan" to conserve energy, which would start with turning off public lights at night when they aren't useful. "We need a general mobilisation," Mr Macron said in a televised address for Bastille Day. Ben van Beurden, chief executive of Shell, echoed the French president’s remarks, saying Russia had shown it is “able and willing to weaponise energy supplies.” Mr van Beurden said Moscow had “surprised” the market and told governments to be prepared for the Kremlin to restrict gas further. “For a … [Read more...] about Macron says Putin using gas as ‘weapon of war’ amid rationing fears

Staff at the City watchdog have told bosses that two days a week in the office is the most they can manage in the latest example of employees pushing back against a return to the workplace. Members of the “staff consultative committee” at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) told executives that any changes to its hybrid working policy could prove damaging during the cost of living crisis. The concerns were raised at a meeting of the FCA’s board at the end of June, when the regulator was trialling a policy that required staff to work from the office just two days a week. In recent weeks, the FCA has established a permanent requirement for staff to work from the office just 40pc of the time over a month, or two days a week on average. The complaint highlights how workers are now using the cost of living crisis to push back against more frequent days in the office, suggesting they are concerned about the price of commuting more than two days per week. It comes after a … [Read more...] about Two days a week in the office is most we can manage, say staff at City watchdog

A meditation app founded by a British entrepreneur has slashed 20pc of jobs as the Covid-fuelled boom for mental health technologies cools. Mindfulness app Calm, founded by Michael Acton Smith , will cut 90 jobs amid a wider tech downturn. San Francisco-headquartered Calm developed an app that claims to reduce stress and improve sleep through meditation exercises. It has signed up celebrities including Matthew McConaughey, Cillian Murphy and LeBron James to voice its audio guides. Users pay £28.99 per year to use its tools. Calm and other mental wellness apps have grown rapidly in recent years as anxiousness levels spiked during the pandemic. However, analysis for The Telegraph by SensorTower, which monitors mobile app use, estimates that downloads have dropped 30pc over the last 12 months as Covid pressures have eased. David Ko, Calm’s chief executive, informed staff of the layoffs on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal first reported. “Regrettably, today we are reducing … [Read more...] about Meditation app Calm cuts 20pc of staff as Covid mental health boom cools

McDonald’s has kicked off a recruitment drive to hire more over-50s, amid a scramble by businesses across the country to fill jobs with retirees. The fast-food behemoth is among companies launching fresh recruitment campaigns targeting older workers, with adverts posted by McDonald’s showing a grey-haired worker who “isn’t the retiring type” enjoying a job with the chain. Photographs of over-50s are also being used to advertise jobs at one of the UK’s largest insurers as part of a wider fightback against age bias. Phoenix Group, whose boss Andy Briggs was made the Government’s business champion for older workers in 2017, said it has added more photos of grey-haired workers to its recruitment page amid fears that older people are being discriminated against when it comes to hiring. The move comes months after the business banned what it deemed “younger-age stereotypical words” such as “energetic” and “enthusiastic” in job adverts to avoid deterring older applicants. Mr … [Read more...] about McDonald’s races to hire over-50s as companies seek to lure retirees back to work

Investors dialling into corporate earnings calls are increasingly liable to hear the same worrying phrases again and again: "deterioration", "slowdown" and "pull back" were increasingly common between April and June, according to analysis of more than 700 transcripts by Barclays. More often than not, executives' concerns trace back to how much consumers can afford to spend as inflation soars to 40-year highs. Fears are particularly acute in Britain, where people buying everything from Spotify subscriptions to meals out and new shoes accounts for around two thirds of UK GDP. Official data on Friday showed the economy shrank 0.1pc in the three months to June compared with the previous quarter, when GDP grew by 0.8pc. It has led to renewed fears that a squeeze on consumer spending will push the UK into recession, with inflation set to climb even higher as energy bills soar over winter. The Bank of England says consumers are already cutting back . Many are trading down to … [Read more...] about Why fragile Britain will struggle to bounce back