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Charlotte Chilton has shared a heartbreaking post about her daughter amid questions over her paternity.

The Traitors star, 33, has claimed social media star Conor Maynard is the father of her daughter Penelope, who was born in October.

However earlier this month Conor, 32, shared a statement saying he’d undertaken a paternity test which ‘confirms I am not the father’. ‘I am glad that the speculation can finally be put to an end,’ he added.

A few weeks on, Charlotte has shared an emotional post regarding her baby girl.

Before getting pregnant with Penelope, Charlotte had undergone IVF with her estranged wife but had suffered seven miscarriages.

Sharing a photograph of her daughter’s teddy bear, she explained: ‘This teddy was the first thing I brought Penelope when she was only 10 weeks in my tummy.

‘I figured if I had to bury her she would have that from me… I never thought I would actually ever get to give this gift to my rainbow baby!

‘So now the fact she loves this Teddy so much it makes me feel so much better about the all losses I had. We are so excited for out bright future!’

Last year Charlotte revealed she feared she would miscarry her daughter after claiming Conor ‘changed’ after she told him she was pregnant following a one-night stand.

‘He turned on me, I felt pressured into keeping his identity as the father a secret,’ she said.

‘It was so stressful that doctors twice put me on bed rest. I thought I was going to miscarry.’

Charlottes said they conceived Penelope after meeting on the night of the finale airing, shortly after her split from ex-wife, Laura.

When announcing the results of the paternity test, Conor asked that ‘people act with kindness in response to this news’.

‘There is a child at the heart of all of this and that should not be forgotten. I wish Charlotte and her family all the best.’

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Dancing on Ice viewers have admitted the show had ‘run its course’ after news of its cancellation broke.

Overnight ITV announced the long-running series, which launched in 2006, would not be returning to screens.

‘Following another successful series earlier this year, Dancing on Ice will be rested in 2026 with no current plans for another series,’ an ITV spokesperson told Metro.

‘We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the cast and crew who have worked on the show since 2006, and over the previous 17 series, for all of their hard work both on and off the ice.’

During the first season finale, the show attracted an impressive 13 million viewers.

However, the recent 2025 finale, which was won by Coronation Street actor Sam Aston, only drew in 2.7 million viewers.

The series has been plagued by cancellation rumours for weeks, but when it was finally confirmed – many said it had been a long time coming.

The announcement of the news drew over 3,800 comments on Facebook, with many Metro readers saying the format had grown tired.

‘Haven’t watched the show in yrs. No great loss,’ Nadine posted.

‘The last series wasn’t as good as normal, Jane and Christopher are retiring it seems the right time to end,’ Teresa shared.

‘It’s had its day. When it was first on it was great they couldn’t skate, and you saw them all improve now they are brilliant from the start, so I stopped watching it,’ Carol explained.

‘It’s had its time. It wouldn’t be right without Jane and Chris skating either. I avidly watched the first couple of series’, but I haven’t watched it for years now. It just completely went off the boil,’ Debbie added.

Reflecting on the most recent season, many others also weighed in.

‘Am gutted and sad to hear this but after this last series I feel it’s the right decision as it was nowhere near as good as it used to be. Felt very rushed this year and the standard wasn’t as good as it was in the earlier series’,’ Ant wrote.

‘This series wasn’t the best in my opinion. And when they said it would be the last performance of Torvill and Dean on TV, that was the announcement [it was over],’ Charlotte explained.

While this season was airing, it was reported that the drop in viewership was making the cost of producing the programme ‘difficult to justify’.

‘We need bums on seats, but the ratings have dropped to a point where it’s difficult to justify the cost,’ a source told The Mirror.

There’s also been criticism from fans over the years for its lack of star power, with many often complaining they don’t know many of the celebrity contestants, in stark contrast to the famous faces who sign up to rival shows like Strictly Come Dancing and I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!.

Dancing on Ice was originally fronted by Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, before he was replaced by Stephen Mulhern two years ago.

The series was previously cancelled by ITV in 2014, with the broadcaster’s director of television saying at the time that the show had ‘reached its natural end’.

However, it was then revived four years later, but struggled to attract audience numbers it had initially received.

Over 200 celebrities have taken part in the show over the 245 episodes.

Dancing on Ice is streaming on ITVX.

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Joanne Froggatt has spent 28 years perfecting her craft and is now one of Britain’s best on-screen talents.

It’s hard to imagine a world in which talented actress Joanne was struggling to find enough work to pay her bills, but the 44-year-old has recalled a period in her early 20s when things weren’t easy.

‘I’ve never come close to quitting acting but there were times when I thought, “Oh God, what would I do if I didn’t do this?” and when I’ve had the last mortgage payment in the bank thinking, “Oh, am I going to get a job before that goes?”, which I have managed by the skin of my teeth,’ she explained to Metro.

‘I have wondered if I was doing the right thing but that’s just part of life isn’t it? You have that in any career you’re in and I love acting.’

With knowledge that only comes through experience, Joanne has learnt to ride the ‘whole rollercoaster of life’ and deciphered that things often work out how they are meant to.

‘You struggle and you thrive, you miss out on opportunities, and you gain opportunities. There’s a saying, which I’m going to completely mess up, it’s good or bad, never believe your own press,’ she wisely shared and didn’t mess up.

Joanne, 44, expanded: ‘When things are going well, enjoy every minute, but don’t pat yourself on the back too much because you will go through times of struggle.

‘When times are a bit trickier just know they will pass. Don’t berate yourself for any choices you’ve made, learn from the mistakes and deal with the consequences to move forward.’

This is especially important when working as an actor. The nature of the audition process means that rejection is common for most people.

‘There are parts you miss out on that you go, “Yeah okay, I see why they got it” and then there are other times you go “No, I think I would have done that better” or “We actually played that quite similarly”.

‘You’ve got to roll with the punches. Often it’s got nothing to do with you and just that they wanted it to go in a different direction. It’s a tricky lesson, but you become better at letting things go when you’ve been doing it for a while.’

If Joanne’s acting career ever grinds to a halt we think she’d have a great career in motivational speaking. That hypothetical scenario doesn’t look likely as Joanne is very much thriving and is about to star in the new Paramount Plus series MobLand.

It’s a dream job for Joanne who’s always wanted the challenge of an ‘action-packed and high stakes’ gangster show that feels far removed from anything she’s been around.

In the upcoming release, Joanne is playing Jan Da Souza, the wife of ‘fixer’Harry Da Souza, portrayed by Tom Hardy. The Guy Ritchie-directed series also features Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan as Maeve and Conrad Harrigan, the heads of an organised crime family.

Joanne ‘loved’ working with Tom, 47, stating that they have the same taste when selecting a direction for their characters: ‘Tom and I wanted to bring in that these two are equals. She’s the one person who can be a voice of reason in Harry’s life and bring him up on things so that was a fun dynamic to play.’

‘Tom’s a brilliant actor – everything he does on set is great,’ she continued. ‘He’s such a fantastic scene partner as he’s a forensic thinker.’

Making sure Jan felt like a real person was something that Joanne took much care with. ‘I love that process of trying to build a backstory, and I got lots of creative freedom,’ she explained.

‘You don’t have to like every character you play but you do have to understand them.

‘I like Jan,’ Joanne quickly added, but also pointed out she doesn’t want to adopt any of her traits. The gangster’s wife is complicit in the criminal underbelly so that makes sense!

It wasn’t just Tom she enjoyed working with – Joanne recalled the fun scenes she shared with Pierce, 71, and Helen, 79, whose characters she describes as ‘bonkers’. What Joanne found most inspiring was how much the acting titans still loved their jobs.

‘To see them still having so much fun was lovely – that’s the key to success. If you’re enjoying the process that makes for better work because you want to be there,’ she said.

This is an early lesson Joanne also had instilled by her parents Keith and Ann Froggatt. The couple ran a corner shop before turning their attention to a sheep farm with Joanne even helping out with the milking and deliveries.

‘It was my dad’s dream to have a farm, and that’s what my parents did,’ she recalled.

‘One thing my parents always told me was to have a go at something you enjoy. They’d say “Find something you love, and you’ll have a much happier life because when you’re passionate, you’ll do your best”.’

Joanne found that passion young, leaving her family home in Whitby at age 13 to attend theatre school in Maidenhead. Packing her bags and moving five hours away was made easier because she knew what she wanted.

‘I’ve always wanted to be an actor since I can remember. Before I even knew I could do it as a job, I just knew I wanted to be on TV having all these adventures,’ she stated.

One of Joanne’s earliest memories was her grandmother recording What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? on VHS. ‘It was not a very age-appropriate movie for me to be watching but I was obsessed with that film, and these two women acting so grotesquely towards each other. I thought “Oh you can play all these people that aren’t like you – how much fun that would be”.’

Her hard work paid off with Joanne, still a teenager, being cast as Zoe Tattersall in Coronation Street.

She’s gone on to impress with leading roles in Angela Black, Liar, Breathtaking and Downtown Abbey, which will soon be getting a third movie. Joanne says that fans can expect the upcoming film to bring back the ‘heart of Downton’.

‘We come to the core of the family and the servants, what the future will be and looking back at where the family have got to now. It’s a beautiful full-circle moment that it comes to at the end,’ she teased.

Her time as servant Anna Bates marks a huge personal career high for her, having won a Golden Globe for the portrayal. ‘I’ll be forever grateful. It was a nerve-wracking, fabulous fairytale night. I’ll never forget it.’ Joanne also thinks it marked a turning point for British TV.

‘There was a stage where reality TV came in and it was all the rage. There wasn’t much drama being made in the UK. That was sad but then eventually it came good again and Downton Abbey was one of the first shows to sort of bring back the eagerness for good drama.

‘It’s been amazing to ride it all out and still be around to tell the tale,’ she summarised.

Was she ever tempted to take part in reality TV? ‘No, never tempted, 100% no. I’m an actor. My personal life is not for sale.’ However, when it comes to watching, she is a Gogglebox fan. To unwind Joanne also loves a good documentary because that way she isn’t analysing editorial choices.

Nearly three decades into her professional acting career, Joanne still talks about her craft with an undeniable enthusiasm. As for what the future holds, Joanne hopes to play more characters that are the complete antithesis of her.

‘I loved playing Mary Ann Cotton – the first known female serial killer. The character was so sociopathic, psychopathic, whatever you want to call her, that it was so opposite from anything I am. I’d enjoy doing something along those lines again,’ she explained.

She is feeling optimistic about the acting industry too. ‘The way women are depicted has evolved, and it’s still evolving in the right way, which is exciting to see,’ she stated.

MobLand begins on Paramount Plus March 30

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Friendship is at the epicentre of many teenagers’ worlds and this was no different for Brianna Ghey.

Over long phone calls, fun sleepovers and the desire to help each other navigate a time of life that can be equal parts joyful and testing, her relationships with friends Daisy, Lucie and Viv became pivotal. 

They were three of the most important people to Brianna, and in return, she was intrinsic to their lives. However, their bond was ripped apart on February 11, 2023 – a date forever engrained in their memory. 

On that day, Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe, both 15 at the time, lured 16-year-old Brianna to Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington and brutally ended her life.

Their heinous act snatched Brianna’s future and stole any remnants of a carefree childhood away from the trio who knew her.

Creating special bonds

Daisy, now 17, met Brianna at age 11 on their first day of high school after they were both sent to the administrative office to wait for their parents, who were late to pick them up. Such tardiness was something Daisy would end up being eternally grateful for.

‘Within minutes we were pulling ugly faces to take funny pictures. It’s like we were long-time best friends,’ Daisy tells Metro.

‘Brianna was a comfort but also absolutely hilarious. After she moved school, we would still speak every day.’ 

This Is Not Right

On November 25, 2024 Metro launched This Is Not Right, a year-long campaign to address the relentless epidemic of violence against women.

With the help of our partners at Women’s Aid, This Is Not Right aims to shine a light on the sheer scale of this national emergency.

You can find more articles here, and if you want to share your story with us, you can send us an email at vaw@metro.co.uk.

Read more:

• Introducing This Is Not Right: Metro’s year-long violence against women campaign
• Remembering the women killed by men in 2024

Lucie, 18, had a similarly sped-up friendship when Brianna joined Birchwood High School. In January 2022 they were both sat in the ‘Oak suite’ designed for students who didn’t always benefit from traditional lessons. Brianna had dyslexia, ADHD and ASD [autism spectrum disorder] and missed some schooling due to spending time in a facility for her mental health and body dysmorphia.

‘I told her that I liked her hair and in response, she followed me around and didn’t stop talking,’ Lucie fondly remembers.

‘I thought “Okay, we’re friends”. I’ve never got on with someone as quickly as I got on with Brianna. There was no warming up phase.’ 

In the following months, if they weren’t physically together, the pair were always in touch somehow. They often spoke until the second they fell asleep, not even taking a break when Lucie showered. ‘I’d put my phone on the wall so we could keep chatting,’ Lucie remembers with a laugh, adding they would often be doing ‘anything we weren’t supposed to be doing!’

During one memorable sleepover in Brianna’s completely pink bedroom (‘She even painted the Playstation controller with pink nail varnish so when you touched it the colour melted onto your hands’), they dyed Lucie’s hair ‘bright orange’ much to her mum’s dissatisfaction. 

Although the pair had a lot of fun together, Brianna’s role in Lucie’s life was significant in another way too. When Lucie came out as bisexual while at school, things became more difficult for her. ‘We both loved being girly and were a little wild, but Brianna never judged me. I could tell her whatever and she’d say “As long as you’re happy”,’ she recalls. 

‘I was crying constantly and had a rubbish time at school, but she made life easier. She understood because she’d gone through stuff herself.’ 

Brianna was born Brett before transitioning at age 14 during the nationwide lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic. When schools reopened she reintroduced herself to the world as Brianna. 

The teen didn’t just share herself with the people directly in her orbit, she also built a following on social media with makeup tutorials and dance videos, which Viv, now 17, first discovered in 2021. 

One day, she decided to comment on one of the TikToks, telling Brianna, ‘You’re gorgeous, I hope I’m like you one day’, which soon sparked a friendship between the two. Viv was also transitioning but wasn’t as far into the journey as her new friend, who was full of advice, from clothing choices to ‘passing’.

‘I struggled to accept being trans but Brianna was very proud of it. She helped me like that part of me a lot more,’ Viv tells Metro. 

Although their friendship lived online, Viv insists it was just as strong as anything that can be created offline. ‘There was no time limit to our conversations and we’d give each other pure, unbroken conversation,’ she remembers. 

‘I don’t always talk to every friend of mine for 30 minutes a day, but we’d often speak for three to four hours. We would prioritise scheduling time for each other. That is friendship.’

After two years of chatting, Viv and Brianna agreed to finally meet on a shopping trip at Manchester Trafford Centre. Their excitement was steadily building for their girly day – but just a week before their highly-anticipated hangout Brianna was murdered.

Saying goodbye

Daisy was happy for Brianna when she made a new school friend in Scarlett Jenkinson in November 2022. Unbeknownst to Brianna and everyone else around them aside from Ratcliffe, Jenkinson was secretly researching ways to kill and making plans to murder Brianna.

Just a few months after their first meeting, Brianna planned to take the bus alone to meet Jenkinson, Daisy felt proud of her, as it was something the teen had never done before.

‘I knew it was a big step for her,’ she says. They also met Ratcliffe, who had not previously met Brianna but knew Jenkinson from both previously attending the same school. Nobody could have known that Jenkinson and Ratcliffe had been plotting Brianna’s death over a series of messages. 

The pair stabbed Brianna 28 times before fleeing the scene. Dog walkers found the young girl’s body and called the emergency services but they were unable to save her. The offence was motivated by sadistic tendencies and hate against transgender people was also a motive for Ratcliffe, the court ruled. Jenkinson and Ratcliffe were handed minimum terms of 22 and 20 years respectively.

When Daisy was sent an article about the murder she thought it was a ‘sick joke’ by somebody bullying Brianna. She instantly went into protective mode and wanted to make sure her friend was shielded from such cruel taunts.

Having been granted access to Brianna’s social media to help deal with trolls, Daisy logged on to delete any posts about what she still thought was a hoax.

‘I cared so much for her, I always wanted her to be okay so I thought I’m gonna have to help her deal with this,’ she explains.

However, as more and more messages came through, Daisy slowly realised this wasn’t the work of vile trolls – her friend really had been murdered. ‘That’s when it hit me – this was real.’

Daisy’s mother, who was doing a grocery shop, rushed back home to be by her daughter’s side and didn’t leave her for weeks. ‘When my mum would go for a shower, she’d have to get someone else to sit with me. I couldn’t ever be alone,’ she remembers. 

‘It took me a while to return to school, then when I did I was sent straight out of my maths class because I was sobbing so much. I felt different from my classmates. Everybody else was talking about the stress of GCSEs while I was trying to grieve my best friend.’

Viv was sitting in her boarding school’s library revising for upcoming mock exams when she first became aware of the tragedy through a social media post: ‘I just started breaking down, so my two friends walked me back to my room,’ she remembers. ‘The journey is normally 15 minutes but it took me 35 because I couldn’t walk. People probably thought I was drunk.

‘For weeks I couldn’t eat, drink, or move. I didn’t even go to the toilet. It’s so grim, but it’s just the way it was. It was one of the most prolific murders of a trans person and she was a close friend so I was paranoid. I thought I would be next. 

‘When the police visited me because I was too scared to go to the station, they spent a lot of time reassuring me that I was safe.’

Lucie was making a sandwich when a friend sent her an article about Brianna’s murder. ‘I had a tomato in my left hand and my phone in my right hand. I dropped both,’ she recalls. ‘When I got into bed that night I was getting so many messages and calls that my phone started overheating.’

Brianna’s funeral in Warrington was the first that Daisy had ever attended, and she didn’t feel ready. She and others wore pink outfits as requested by the family, and the streets were packed with people. Not just those whopersonally knew Brianna, but also people who just wanted to pay their respects to the teen. They watched as a carriage with white horses carried her pink coffin. 

‘I understood that funerals were for goodbyes but it felt too soon for me. I hadn’t even processed that she’d gone,’ Daisy explains. There was a lot of attention on the funeral, but she was able to get a moment alone with Brianna’s coffin and gently placed a rose quartz bracelet on it.

‘Brianna used to wear one similar until my dog bit it off,’ she remembers, her voice momentarily sounding joyful. ‘She kept all the beads for years after it happened. When she passed away, I bought her a new one.’

Remembering Brianna

In a new ITV documentary, Brianna: A Mother’s Story, each of the trio has has spoken lovingly about their friend, alongside Brianna’s mum, Esther, who has campaigned tirelessly for more protection from online harm and mindfulness in schools since her daugher’s death. 

As part of the programme which looks back at Brianna’s life, and the murder investigation, the friends’ were adamant that her fun and loving personality was given an equal amount of precedence to the devastating end. They want to ensure that her legacy isn’t just sadness – something that Esther expressed gratitude for at a special first screening of the episode.

As the three girls now stand on the edge of adulthood, they are united in a mission to make sure their friend is never forgotten. ‘I talk about Brianna every day. I joke that my friends must be sick of hearing about her,’ Viv says with a laugh. 

‘I very much separate what happened to her from who she was. My therapist imposed that one.’

On her dressing table, she has placed a picture of Brianna so she can look at her every day. ‘Brianna helped with my recovery from eating disorders. When she passed, I thought “Okay, one of us needs to get better.” I feel like I’m living for both of us.’ 

Lucie becomes visibly emotional when talking about some of her final interactions with Brianna. ‘She was having a hard time and I reminded her that school is a very short part of your life. It’s just so sad that she never got to experience that future.’

She now looks for signs that Brianna is okay, and is adamant that she still contacts her. ‘I recently saw the sunrise from my office which isn’t usually visible from my window. It was bright pink – her favourite colour,’ Lucie says, as tears fall down her face.

‘She was just a girl living a life. What happened to her was a freak incident, and it shouldn’t stop anybody from living authentically because Brianna taught us all to be unapologetically ourselves.’

Brianna: A Mother’s Story will air Thursday at 9pm on ITV1, ITVX, STV & STV Player

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Josie.Copson@metro.co.uk 

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Tina Malone has struggled to hold back tears speaking about her husband Paul Chase’s death from suicide a year ago.

The actress, 62, rose to fame playing Mo McGee in the soap Brookside from 1993 until 1998.

She then went on to play Mimi Maguire on Shameless from 2005 until 2013.

In 2009 she also appeared on Celebrity Big Brother and then competed on Celebrity MasterChef in 2016.

However, in May last year she announced the devastating news that her husband had died at the age of 42 by suicide.

At the time she explained that she’d decided to share how he died as she ‘believes in transparency’ and wanted to shine a light on the rates of suicide in military veterans.

A year on, Tina has given an emotional interview, breaking down when asked about her husband’s death.

In a promo clip for the upcoming episode of The Lewis Nicholls Show podcast on YouTube, Tina was shown to be incredibly upset.

As she explained: ‘My husband fought in Iraq, Afghanistan, Northern Ireland.

‘He went from Belize to Cyprus, and he had a wonderful life in the army. But 4.8 veterans take their own lives in the UK every week.

‘You never hear about it, and it needs to change now,’ she added.

Chase was a former member of the 22nd Regiment of the Cheshires, serving in Northern Ireland, Belize, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Falklands.

Last year Tina explained how after facing spiralling anxiety and depression, as well as a PTSD diagnosis, her husband had turned to drinking and drugs, saying he felt ‘lost and useless’.

‘This is a man who served his country and saved lives. He admitted it in the end but, by then, things had gone too far. He couldn’t find a way back,’ she said.

‘We have to talk more about suicide – that’s why I am speaking out now. It is the biggest cause of death in men under the age of 50 but there is still a stigma around it; there’s not enough support.

‘What are we actually doing to help people like Paul?’

A report released last year revealed male veterans aged between 25 and 44 had a higher risk of suicide than men in that age range in the general public.

Another study, by Northumbria University, concluded an urgent review of the mental health support for veterans was needed.

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Author of The Vampire Diaries Lisa Jane Smith – best known as L. J. Smith – has died at the age of 66.

Smith, of Danville, California, died peacefully on Saturday, March 8, 2025, after a ‘long bout with illness’, the author’s website announced.

Born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on her father’s birthday, to Kathryn J. Smith and Glenn C. Smith, Smith grew up to become a New York Times bestselling author of young-adult fiction.

Of over 29 books she wrote over the course of her career, Smith was best known for the Vampire Diaries series – later adapted into a hit television show – and the Night World series.

He debut novel was The Night of the Solstice, which she wrote in 1987, followed three years after by the sequel Heart of Valor, which she finished in 1990.

She grew up in Southern California, in the small town of Villa Park.

The tribute on the author’s website read: ‘Lisa was a kind and gentle soul, whose brilliance, creativity, resilience and empathy, illuminated the lives of her family, friends and fans alike.

‘She will be remembered for her imaginative spirit, her pioneering role in supernatural fiction, and her generosity, warmth and heart, both on and off the page.’

She is survived by her ‘devoted long-time friend’, Julie Divola, her beloved younger sister, Judy Clifford, Judy’s children, Lauren Clifford and Brian Clifford, Brian’s wife, Taylor Acampora, and Lauren’s son, Wyatt Nicholson.

Smith wrote seven books on the series in the 1990s, and the remaining six were ghostwritten, but she went on to publish fan fiction based on her version of the story.

The Vampire Diaries premiered on the CW in 2009 and ran for 171 episodes, following a love triangle between vampire brothers Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley) and Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder), as they fought for the affections of human Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev).

Set in the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia, the story soon unearths a whole supernatural world simmering beneath the surface of normal life.

The Vampire Diaries TV show concluded in 2017 after becoming the most-watched series on the network, passed only by Arrow, The 100, Riverdale, and The Flash.

Of The Vampire Diaries TV show, Smith once wrote: ‘I think it is a brilliant story, brilliantly written, beautifully acted, with terrific direction, cinematography, and music. 

She added: ‘Of course, I still wish that someone as talented as Kevin Williamson [creator] would come along and tell the story the way it is told in the books, but that doesn’t dull my appreciation of the version that is out.’

On becoming a writer, she said: ‘I didn’t choose or decide. I have been a storyteller since before I learned how to read or write. I knew from my earliest childhood – the first things I remember – that I would only be happy as a storyteller.’

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