TV

June Sarpong emotionally admitted 2015 had been the "worst year" of her life as she opened up about her brother Sam Sarpong's death on 'Loose Women' on Thursday (07.01.16).
The 38-year-old TV star was making her first appearance back on the panel of the daytime series since her older sibling Sam - who worked as an actor, model and presenter - died at the age of 40 in October after jumping from a bridge in Pasadena, California.
The grief June and her parents have experienced has been unbearable and has been made worse by the fact none of them had any inkling that Sam was feeling suicidal.
Talking to her co-stars Linda Robson, Jane Moore and Andrea McLean, a tearful June bravely shared: "It's horrible, I wouldn't wish this on anyone. I mean it's been such a tough time for my family and I. 2015 was the worst year of our lives, like the worst, nobody could ever have predicted this ... Nobody could have ever predicted this ... He'd given no signs, we were shell-shocked, this is the person that you would never associate this with. In a world full of seven billion people, I feel so blessed to be able to say that my favourite person in the world was my brother. I mean he was so good. He was such a kind human being who just loved people and who treated everybody the same and was the life and soul of the party and whenever you had a problem he was the guy you turn to ... The thing that really sort of brought it home to us, just how loved he was, was at his memorial, over 2,000 people turned up to celebrate his life."
June also revealed her Christian faith had given her the strength to pull through her darkest days since Sam passed.
She explained: "The only thing that gets me through the day, because some days you just can't, is my faith, is a belief in God, my Christian faith. Reading Psalm 23, Psalm 91, to know that there's just something, a being that's going to get us through because you just can't do it on your own."
June still can't understand why her brother would have wanted to take his own life and she and her family were told by American police who tried to talk him off the bridge that 'Yo Momma' host Sam was "hallucinating" before his death.
She said: "This was a happy guy. He wasn't on medication, he doesn't even drink. All we know that on the day it happened, something just took over his mind. So the Sammy that we knew was not that boy on the bridge, the person that jumped off the bridge was not the man that we had loved for over 40 years. It was a moment of madness .., something just went off and he lost complete control over his mind...The police wouldn't let my father up there. For seven hours he was up there ... he was completely hallucinating. He was not there. He was not in charge of his faculties."

Sheridan Smith has dumped her boyfriend again.
The 34-year-old actress has called time on her relationship with her 'Hollyoaks' beau Greg Wood, just weeks after they rekindled their romance following their split last summer.
A source told The Sun newspaper: "This relationship was always a rocky one and most people thought it was over in the summer. She took him back to give things one last try."
But is seems the blonde beauty - who is currently starring in the musical 'Funny Girl' - isn't looking back this time and is determined to start the new year focusing on herself.
She wrote on Twitter earlier this week: "New beginnings, so excited about the year ahead. And thank u to my pals who came today,, lucky to have such special friends xxx (sic)."
Sheridan started dating Greg - who is known for playing bad boy Trevor Royle in the Channel 4 soap - a year ago while he was in the middle of divorcing Catherine Milburn.
However, their romance was short-lived as they split a few months later after Sheridan accused him of cheating on her with his co-star Tamara Wall, who portrays Grace Black.
But the former couple set tongues wagging again in December when Greg, 36, and the talented actress were spotted locking lips in London following the opening night of her West End critically-acclaimed musical 'Funny Girl'.
Meanwhile, Sheridan recently admitted her busy work schedule often gets in the way of her relationships.

Simon Cowell wants to make a TV show about sex parties.
The 56-year-old music mogul's company Syco has reportedly bought the rights to Emma Sayle's 2014 raunchy memoir 'Behind the Mask' - which details her life organising hook ups across the globe for Killing Kittens - in a bid to create a cheeky series for television screens in the US.
A source told The Sun newspaper: "Someone brought the book to his attention and he immediately saw pound signs."
Simon's entertainment firm - which is co-owned by Sony - is keen to make a show, which will be even sexier than the hot-under-the-collar 2015 movie 'Fifty Shades of Grey.'
The insider added: "'Fifty Shades of Grey' made hundreds of millions when it was turned into a film and 'Behind The Mask' has all the right ingredients to be a huge hit. It's incredibly raunchy in parts, so it would have to be aimed at the right audience, but it could be turned into a brilliant TV series."
And it's thought writer Tim Prager, who's written for 'Silent Witness', will act as a consulting producer on the upcoming show, while Emma - who held sex parties in the UK's first sharia hotel in London - will be the co-executive producer.
Meanwhile, if the raunchy television show goes ahead, it will be the first time Syco - which is known for creating TV contests like the 'X Factor' and 'Britain's Got Talent' - has branched out into the drama series avenue.

Gemma Collins has claimed her "violent" ex-boyfriend called her before she went into the 'Celebrity Big Brother' house.
The former 'The Only Way is Essex' star believes she was contacted by her ex-beau Alex Moss, who she alleged beat her up just over a year ago, hours before she joined Channel 5's infamous abode on Tuesday (05.01.16) in a bid to "get inside her head" and persuade her to quit the show.
Speaking before she went into the house, she explained: "He called me yesterday and he called me from a withheld number. As soon as he said 'Hello' I just had to put the phone down. I could tell from the breath even before he spoke - I just knew it was him ... I know Alex and I do believe he's psychotic ... I believe the phone call he was going to put into me would have been something sinister or he would have said something to upset me, or whatever he's so sick in the head that I wasn't prepared to take it."
Gemma was forced to call the police in 2014 when a row between the then-couple got out of hand at her home in Brentwood, Essex, and Alex - who was jailed in 2012 for conspiracy to supply cocaine - allegedly assaulted her.
The former drug dealer was arrested following the alleged incident but the investigation was later dropped.
However, despite her "abusive" relationship with Alex, Gemma has found love again with Stephen Mortimer, who also has drug and violent offences under his belt, but that doesn't bother her.
She told The Sun newspaper: "Despite his reputation, he's a perfect gentleman with me."

Michelle Keegan spent New Year's Eve (31.12.15) eating Chinese takeaway and singing karaoke.
The former 'Coronation Street' star ditched the local nightclubs of Essex and chowed down on her favourite fast food during a night of musical rivalry to celebrate the start of 2016 with her husband Mark Wright's family.
The 28-year-old stunner - who married the former 'The Only Way Is Essex' star in May last year - said: "I spent my New Year's Eve with Mark's family, we got a massive Chinese banquet for 30 people... there were actually around 30 of us, it wasn't 8 of us eating a banquet for 30 people! And we enjoyed taking turns on my new karaoke machine all night long."
However, despite letting her hair down over the festive period, Michelle is already back to her healthy eating regime.
Writing in her blog for Hello! magazine, she confessed: "I've had about two months off and I am already back on it and feeling good. This isn't about diets, it's about improving fitness levels and healthy eating. I've already started on my breakfast juices, using fruit and veg."
Meanwhile, the brunette beauty is currently preparing for her forthcoming lead role in the BBC drama 'Our Girl', in which she has replaced former 'EastEnders' actress Lacey Turner as a medic in the British army, and is keen to up her fitness levels for the tough role.
She said: "Filming for 'Our Girl' is going to start soon, so I want to improve my fitness levels for this. I will be going to circuit training around twice a week... I still can't do five pull ups! This is one of the challenges I have set myself. I can do around three at the moment."

'Emmerdale's Carly Hope's "tragic and really upsetting" backstory is set to be revealed next month.
Gemma Atkinson - who plays the blonde beauty in the ITV soap - has warned viewers to get their tissues at the ready from February as her alter-ego, who arrived on the Dales last year, is set to open up about her heart-breaking past.
She explained: "You're going to find out a lot more about her history. What's happened to her is quite tragic and really upsetting. And, unfortunately, some people will have been through it themselves. It's horrendous. So it's one of those storylines where I've had to do a lot of research because it's going to play across the whole of this year."
However, this year won't be all doom and gloom for Carly as she's also set to find herself a new male love interest.
Gemma explained to the RadioTimes.com: "It'd be nice for her to settle with someone. We've come up with three potential suitors for Carly. And the storyliners are now looking at all the tiny details of whose backstory would match with hers, rather than just plonking me with someone. They want to make sure its right. But I get on with all three of the potential boyfriends really well. They're all great."
And 2016 is also getting off on the right foot for Gemma as she's been nominated for this year's Best Newcomer gong at the National Television Awards (NTAs).
She said of her nomination: "It is a weird one. I've had a few people say to me, 'You're not a newcomer, you've been doing this for 15 years!' But I am a newcomer to 'Emmerdale'. When they said I was shortlisted, it felt amazing. I couldn't believe it. It's good news."

Jeremy Piven found shooting the last scenes of 'Mr Selfridge' a "bittersweet" experience.
The 50-year-old actor stars as Harry Selfridge in the programme, which comes to an end with its fourth series, which premieres on Friday night (08.01.16).
Speaking about filming the end of the show, which also stars Katherine Kelly and Tom Goodman-Hill, Jeremy said: "All the actors in the show are so overqualified for their roles - they're so brilliant - and they're all going off and starring in other things. Life goes on and we had an incredible run.
"There was a really nice feeling of accomplishment with all of us, and now we are all moving on. But it was bittersweet - there was sadness as well."
During an interview on 'Good Morning Britain' on Thursday (07.01.16) live from Los Angeles, Jeremy was asked if he had managed to take any souvenirs from the set to remember the show by.
He replied: "Because I was a guest in your lovely country the last thing I wanted to do was steal things and then leave. I wanted to finish cleanly, respectfully and then leave your glorious country."
But when he was pushed for an answer, Jeremy joked: "I stole my desk and two couches - lets be honest. And £100,000 and I robbed nine banks and then I left town!"

Lucy Mecklenburgh wishes her boyfriend Louis Smith's dog was "more loving".
The former 'TOWIE' star has had her issues with Louis' husky Luna with the excitable mutt once giving her a nip on the hand and generally ignoring her commands.
British Olympic gymnast Louis insists the two ladies in his life now get on great but Lucy's efforts to make Luna more of a cuddly pet have failed.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz to promote his new Petsercise doggy fitness video for pet insurance company MoreThan and Wagglepets, he said: "Lucy wants my dog to be more loving, more of a cuddle up on the sofa dog but my dog is not like that, she's more active and she's a very independent dog - she'll sit on the other side of the sofa, that's what my dog is like. I think that's what huskies are kind of like really, they're very active I have to my dog on at least two or three walks a day."
In the 11-minute video Louis leads two pooches - Gift, a border collie, and Titch, a Jack Russell - through a series of six gruelling workouts, such as short sprints, squat throws and a figure-of-eight routine with the mutts as they run in and out under his legs.
The 26-year-old athlete hasn't attempted to try Petsercise with Luna because she is just "too crazy" to carry out the activities for a treat.
He said: "My dog is just too crazy to do this, seriously! I could coax her probably through half the steps but if she knows she isn't going to get that treat then she's off. I think Petsercise works better with a more obedient dog. I've done a lot of research on YouTube to train her but it's so hard, she's too mental!
"I have got her trained with a little whistle, actually. When I walk her if I blow the whistle she comes back and gets a little dog treat. I have to walk her about three times a day and if there's a puddle I have to try and avoid it because she'll roll around in it and she'll make a right mess! She's crazy but I love her."
Louis, MoreThan and Wagglepets developed Petsercise so it could be used by pet owners at home following new research that indicates one in three dogs in the UK are overweight and the regime has been released to coincide with Dog Obesity Awareness Week which runs from January 1st to the 7th.
Go to YouTube (https://youtu.be/jNlKQQgkcfY) to watch Louis doing Petsercise.

Mel B has assured fans there's only going to be "good" celebrities taking part in 'Lip Sync Battle UK'.
The 40-year-old host is adamant the UK's version of the US' hilarious comedy show, which last year saw Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson belt out his rendition of Taylor Swift's 'Shake it Off', will give those across the pond a run for their money by signing up high-profile singers and dropping reality TV stars.
She told Yahoo! Celebrity: "Take the [US] version over there and apply that here, and that's exactly what you will see."
Mel's co-host Professor Green, 32, added: "Oh good God, I hope there is no-one from 'The Only Way is Essex' or 'Made in Chelsea' [taking part on the programme]."
To which Mel hit back: "It's going to be good people. The people we've got - there'll be 16 people this series - they're all really going to be really good. They'll be hilariously good."
However, the former Spice Girls singer has ruled out any of her ex-bandmates - consisting on Mel C, Victoria Beckham, Geri Horner and Emma Bunton - appearing on the show.
She said: "I don't think the Spice Girls would do it. They'd come and watch and be supportive."
Meanwhile, the first episode will see 'Britain's Got Talent' judges David Walliams and Alesha Dixon battle it out to be crowned the lip sync champion as they go head-to-head to mime a series of smash hits from various decades.
'Lip Sync Battle UK' will hit screens on January 8.