ThePensmith

"Run This Town" video has just dropped! It's really good actually, bit of a callback to both "Dance With Me Tonight" and "Army of Two":

The tour has now started! It's come round so quickly. Buzzing for the O2 I have to say (even if my knees aren't. I've got pit standing so that should be interesting 🤣) Elsewhere, a new EP of all their megamixes is now online. As is a HD video of the WIP Megamix from the first album: There's also a pre-order for their Greatest Hits with a signed art card: On RepeatFiveThe home of your favourite artists. Shop exclusive and limited edition music, vinyl and merchandise. Sign up for 20% off your first purchase!

The "Messy Little Raindrops" album came out 15 years ago today. Find it hard to believe it's been that long now!

Have to say Vicki actually did it justice! Felt very nostalgic. Sweet of Cheryl to send her a message as well. One thing that did cross my mind today... cause obviously there's two - possibly three, give or take, if they do "Ten" as a vinyl as well - reissues left for Girls Aloud. What do we reckon the likelihood is of Cheryl's albums being reissued on vinyl / expanded CDs? I feel like one for "3 Words" in 2029 for its 20th anniversary would do quite well. Plus it'd be fairly low commitment for her in terms of promo, and you could easily fill out a second CD with the B-sides and remixes from that era, maybe some demos that didn't make the final cut as well.

My one has allSTARS* on the cover. Because they're for life, not just for Halloween 🎃👻

He's doing an album launch show at Kentish Town Forum on 8th December. On sale next Friday: InstagramOlly Murs on Instagram: "BIG NEWS‼️Guys, I’m going to be...1,126 likes, 43 comments - ollymurs on October 24, 2025: "BIG NEWS‼️Guys, I’m going to be playing a show at the O2 Forum Kentish Town in London, on December 8th to celebrate the release of Knees Up...

So yeah. This absolutely should have been second single. Proper "In Case You Didn't Know" album era vibes!

I think one other thing, and I forget who said it but someone shared a screenshot off X earlier. Almost as important as getting the right replacements for Tess and Claudia is who they book on as contestants next series. Whilst I'm not a fan of The Traitors (it's literally Big Brother with cloaks and candles), you look at who has been on the celebrity version that's currently on. It's proper names; Stephen Fry, Alan Carr, Tom Daley. That's the sort of calibre they need rather than a Gladiator and a few Love Island / influencer people few have heard of. Because I haven't actually bothered with this series so far, and if you've not got at least one name you recognise and want to follow, you're in trouble. (That said, Alex Kingston off ER is fabulous with Johannes from the clips I've seen on YouTube).

I mean. Very good shout, although I suspect even he might be bowing out of his chat show before too much longer (and in a roundabout way, Claudia would be his ideal replacement. She did an excellent job filling in for him during lockdown). I mean one shout to fill Claudia's role for me would be someone like either Mel Giedroyc or Sue Perkins. They've got the same warmth and humour she has.

I mean the show jumped the shark for me with Aston Merrygold-gate in 2017, but I can't help but think this will be the beginning of the end for the show. It's one thing if you've got a show that's only been around a couple of years and one presenter or two as in this case moves on. But Strictly is one of those shows that has been a constant for just over two decades. Tess and Claudia are its cornerstones, and they are leaving at a point where the show is at a radically different one to that when say, Bruce Forsyth bowed out and Claudia took over. The narrative around it media wise is a lot less favourable than it was as well. The Popbitch newsletter that went out today seems to suggest they're wanting to leave before the ship starts taking on more water, so to speak. With all the scandals that have emerged inside the last year or so which have tainted it for quite a few, that's not surprising. You add in that viewing habits are changing with more linear channels having to adapt to survive the march of streaming, and I think beyond this series it's probably got two, maybe three more series left in it. I think a lot of it will hinge on who replaces them both. Tess you can just about replace with anyone, but Claudia for her wit and ability to ad-lib (not to mention her fringe) alone is going to be harder to replace.

"Run This Town" is out at midnight. Also he's posted about some big announcement he's making tomorrow (probably either signings or a tour or both):

Same, I ordered and got the Christmas card too 🎅🏻

I've just clocked wind of this cause I'm not on TikTok. Is he seriously being dragged over hot coals for saying "Hello" at the start of the song? What a bunch of losers 😒

He teased one of the other songs on his Instagram channel a couple of days ago, called "Run This Town". Sounds really good. What's slightly more concerning is that "Bonkers" has done absolutely nothing so far. Radio 2 haven't even playlisted it compared to the support they gave "Save Me", and all it seems to be at the centre of is a load of poorly written Mirror online articles citing Reddit and X threads saying it's the worst song of the year (it isn't). Although I am questioning whether it was the right single choice.

Looks as if we're hearing more on Thursday!