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TALKING POINTS | Owen Cooper, Jimmy Kimmel, Strictly and Celebrity Race Across the World

Here's what's got me talking this week...


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It's that time of the week again when I take a look back at the last 7 days to see what has got me talking the most.


From Owen Cooper's phenomenal Emmys win to this year's Celebrity Race Across the World line-up and more, here are my 4 telly talking points of the week...

1

OWEN COOPER

becoming the youngest ever male actor to win an Emmy


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Amongst the big winners at this year's 77th Emmy Awards was Netflix drama Adolescence, which took home eight awards, including a historic Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. win for Owen Cooper, who, aged 15, becomes the youngest male actor to ever win an Emmy.


Adolescence is undoubtedly one of the standout shows of the year, and alongside deserved wins for Stephen Graham and Erin Doherty, it's Owen Cooper's win that everybody has been talking about.


For those of you who have been living under a rock, Adolescence tells the story of what happens when an ordinary family have their house raided by police and a 13-year-old boy is arrested, accused of murdering a young girl.


Everything about the drama, from the script, to the performances and the innovative way in which it was filmed, it was Owen's performance as 13-year-old Jamie Miller which truly blew me away.


At just 15, 14 when he shot the drama, Owen was able to hold his own opposite a number of our finest actors in what was remarkably his first ever acting job. Especially during the show's third episode, when Jamie finds himself opposite clinical psychologist Briony Ariston, played sensationally by Erin Doherty,


Owen's ability to find the monster within was astonishing to watch unfold on screen. It was then that we got a deeper understanding as to who Jamie is, as well as what he's been exposed to in school and online and how that's affected him.


During his acceptance speech, Owen said, "When I started these drama classes a couple of years back, I didn’t expect to be even in the United States, never mind here,” the English actor said in his acceptance speech. But I think tonight proves that if you listen and you focus and you step out of your comfort zone, you can achieve anything in life."


Watching Owen in Adolescence, we all could see that he has a very bright future ahead of him, and this week's history-making Emmys win just goes to prove that even more.


2

JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!

being pulled off air indefinitely


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Arguably one of the biggest talking points of the week was when US TV host Jimmy Kimmel's late-night talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, was pulled off air by ABC indefinitely, following comments he made about the shooting of Charlie Kirk.


In his monologue on Monday, Kimmel spoke about flags being flown at half mast in honour of Kirk and mocked US President Donald Trump's reaction to the shooting, comparing his mourning to "how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish".


He also said during his monologue, "We hit some new lows over the weekend with the Maga gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it,"


The decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! off air indefinitely, came after Brendan Carr, chair of the broadcast regulator, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), threatened to act against ABC and its parent company, Disney, over the remarks, accusing Jimmy of misleading the American public before Nexstar Media announced that it would not air Jimmy Kimmel Live! "for the foreseeable future".


Despite Brendan Carr demanding an apology, Jimmy is yet to make one, with insiders claiming he won't apologise and instead will never return to host the show again. It's claimed that he would see apologising as caving to political censorship.


That's the reason this story has been talked about so much this week. The move to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! off-air is seen as a threat to free speech in America, with the Trump administration seemingly able to pull down shows and opinions that don't align with theirs or are overly critical. And the Writers Guild of America (WGA), did call the decision "a violation of constitutional free speech rights"


However, during a press conference in the UK, Donald Trump was asked about Jimmy Kimmel, and the President claimed that the decision was down to bad ratings and a lack of talent from its host.


On Thursday night, US talk shows came out fighting, united in their support for Jimmy Kimme, with Jimmy Fallon's opening The Tonight Show by describing Kimmel as "a decent funny and loving guy", reassuring viewers that he would "cover the president's recent trip to the UK just like I normally would", before launching into a monologue about Trump in which anything critical was replaced by a voiceover being overly positive about the President.


Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show, opened his show standing in a parody set resembling Trump's White House, to introduce what would be "another fun, hilarious, administration-compliant show".


Seth Myers, host of Late Night with Seth Myers, opened his show by acknowledging Trump's state visit to the UK and how "while back here at home, his administration is pursuing a crackdown on free speech… and completely unrelated, I just wanted to say that I have always admired and respected Mr Trump. I have always believed he was a visionary, an innovator, a great president, and an even better golfer."


Meanwhile, adopting a more serious tone, Stephen Colbert condemned the cancellation, describing it as a "blatant assault on freedom of speech".


With Jimmy's return to Jimmy Kimmel Live! looking less and less likely, it'll be interesting to see what this chapter means for free speech in America and whether other late-night talk shows will have to dial down their criticisms of those in power to be more compliant. Let's hope not, eh?

3

STRICTLY COME DANCING'S

launch show kicking off series 23


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On Saturday night, Strictly Come Dancing put the negative headlines behind them with a launch show that proved, despite all the negative headlines, it is still one of the finest Saturday night entertainment shows on TV.


When this year's line-up was first announced, I must admit it was probably the least excited I'd been for Strictly, but predictably, all of that goes out of the window when the show starts. You see them all together and get to know them, and what I've always said is that often the most watchable celebs aren't always the biggest names. And that's the joy of Strictly, getting to know people you might not have come across before.


The impressive launch show opened with a sketch in which 2024 winner Chris McCausland refused to let go of the glitterball trophy he won with Diane… until he was subjected to another of Craig’s poems!


We were then introduced to this year's celebs. The first five celebs to find out the identity of their dance partner were former England rugby captain Chris Robshaw, entertainer and performer La Voix, TV personality Dani Dyer, former Emmerdale star Lewis Cope and entertainment and Hollywood reporter Ross King.


Chris was partnered with Nadiya Bychkova, LaVoix with Aljaž Škorjanec, Dani with Nikita Kuzmin, Lewis with Katya Jones and Ross with Jowita Przystał.


The next group of celebs to be partnered up were TV star Vicky Pattison, actor Alex Kingston, model, actor and influencer Ellie Goldstein, EastEnders star Balvinder Sopal, and ex-Lioness Karen Carney.


Vicky was partnered with Kai Widdrington, Alex with Johannes Radebe, Ellie with Vito Coppola, Balvinder with Julian Caillon and Karen with Carlos Gu.


The final group of celebs, left waiting to find out who their celeb partner would be, were Gladiators' Nitro, aka Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, Neighbours star Stefan Dennis, former The Apprentice contestant Thomas Skinner, content creator George Clarke and former professional footballer and football manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.


Harry was partnered with Karen Hauer, Stefan with Diane Buswell, Thomas with Amy Dowden, George with Alexis Warr and Jimmy with Lauren Oakley.


With all couples revealed, the time came at the end of the launch show for all 15 couples to take to the dance floor together for the first time, and already looking good and showing great promise were Lewis and Katya, Dani and Nikita and Harry and Karen. But of course, it's still early days, and it's not until next week that the competition really gets going.


But it wasn't all about the celeb pairings, we also got to meet this year's two new pros, Alexis Warr and Julian Caillon, in a sensational group routine, which also included the judges and reigning champions Chris McCausland and Diane Buswell returned to perform their now BAFTA-winning Waltz to You'll Never Walk Alone one last time. And honestly, almost a year on, it still moved me as much as it did the first time.


Elsewhere, the magnificent Jessie J performed Living My Best Life whilst four pros who don't have a partner this year, Gorka Marquez, Luba Mushtak, Neil Jones and Nancy Xu, danced in front of her.


4

CELEBRITY RACE ACROSS THE WORLD'S

2025 line-up being revealed


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As well as news that The Celebrity Traitors will launch on Wednesday 8th October, BBC One also revealed that another celebrity version of one of the biggest shows on telly, Celebrity Race Across The World, will also be launching this autumn, although no date has been given yet.


But what we do know as of this week, are the four celebrities and their partners who'll be swapping luxury for backpacks and comfort for the unknown.


Embarking on the ultimate adventure will be broadcaster and writer Anita Rani and her dad, Bal; actor Dylan Llewellyn and his mum, Jackie; partners, presenter and DJ Tyler West and actor and singer, Molly Rainford; and broadcaster Roman Kemp and his sister, singer-songwriter, Harleymoon.


This series takes the race through one of the most diverse and visually stunning routes yet, spanning the undiscovered Caribbean and Pacific coast of Central America.


The journey begins on the idyllic Caribbean island of Isla Mujeres, just off the easternmost point of Mexico, and challenges teams to race 5,900km to reach the finish line in the remote and breathtaking Península de La Guajira in Colombia, the gateway to South America.


These familiar faces will say goodbye to lavish transport, smartphones and bank cards. Instead, they must rely on limited budgets, local transport and their own resourcefulness, as well as the kindness of strangers. Relationships will be tested and transformed as they discover the world and themselves, in ways they never expected.

 
 
 

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