Hassaan

The sad thing is that this could have been avoided had Macklemore not been ousted in the first place.

This has turned out to be a bit of a PR nightmare. I mean, perhaps inevitably so, but all his openers have dropped out.

I have seen a lot of "I already didn't like him/I knew why I didn't like him" though which I feel takes away from the situation at hand and is unnecessary. The only thing I don't understand (and this is not wilful ignorance; I'm genuinely trying to wrap my head around it) is why him not speaking out more forthrightly as a public figure makes him complicit. It seems quite black-and-white to say "if you don't speak out, you're supporting the killing of children" which I don't think is fair. Maybe by taking the stance he did, he misjudged how that would go down though.

Ed's statement is more pointedly a "response" statement in the sense that he's having to set the record straight. Admittedly Macklemore too but in a different way. I'm not sure what would be gained from that apart from people engaging in screaming matches and implying that he's responsible for everything. That's pretty much what they're doing already.

To be fair, regardless of how much you disagree with what he's said, he's entitled to do that. The internet is not a good place for this sort of thing to play out (we all know that) and the sort of things people will be saying in the comments aren't actually going to have anything resembling a positive impact.

I don't expect the SA version to return for a few years (if it ever does).

We've only seen the rewind be used once so far but I don't know if it has elevated the show at all. What I will say is that, perhaps unlike what the lockdown button sounds like, or previously the block, it was more about the act than the coaches.

Or available? I doubt it's a lack of willingness. I think having the big names at the top surely allows them to bring in a few others.

My broader problem with people on the left is that they're more bothered about infighting and making sure everyone is absolutely perfect, while the right can congregate simply based on a hatred of migrants (or whatever). We can't tear someone to shreds cos they're not progressive enough and then act surprised at Reform gaining popularity.

You know what? It actually doesn't shock me. The last 10 years or so has shown me that there's no limits as to how low people will go. I also don't believe this will actually affect Reform at all. Their voter base are the types to not have any issue with this sort of thing.

I hope she sues.

Yes, although that is largely iPlayer. The audience on the night has been just over 1 million.

One thing I'd do differently is get recordings of all the performances that are actually going to get aired onto Spotify pretty soon after the show finishes airing. At least if anyone wants to download or stream or whatever, they can. The only reason they never did that before now (in terms of making them chart eligible too) was because they wanted to "protect the integrity of the competition" but The Voice did it while they were on the BBC.

It's not directly comparable to The X Factor for a number of reasons, but that does get grouped in with these conversations of how much "meaner" telly was in the mid 2000s. That's broadly the point I was making. The X Factor has had its issues both on-screen and off-screen, but I think the off-screen issues need to be separated from "this was X Factor's fault" and "this was the management's fault" because they get blurred half the time.

I mean, other shows that were part of that somewhat toxic 2000s landscape have returned. Big Brother and The Weakest Link to name a few. What's stopping them making The X Factor work, if they really thought about it? What they really need is people in charge who actually understand the essence of the format.

It's basically a visualised podcast. They're pretty much all doing it now - Love Island, Apprentice, Traitors, probably I'm a Celebrity too. It's cheaper and probably will do just as well viewership wise.

I think the rewind thing is a much better addition than the Block button. Okay, it was amusing to see it pretty much always used on Olly (albeit a bit unfair) but I don't think it ever really did anything for the show. I'm liking Kelly on it so far and some good voices.

I have a soft spot for it because it's one of the last remaining big studio sitcoms on air anywhere in the world (aside from the UK/US anyway). I think in terms of the storylines and the big slapstick pieces, their best days are behind them. Part of my issue is that every episode they do now often feels like they try to cram in every character (especially when it's just the two specials) so it leaves the half-hour episode feeling quite disjointed. Surely the Daily Mail reading or Brexit/Reform-voting lot wouldn't be too fond of an Irish man dressing up as a woman?

I mean, he does have a sizeable car collection so it makes some sense from that perspective. I would be leaning towards people with a greater breadth of knowledge of cars - rather than TV stars who just happen to like cars (and I say that as someone who grew to like the Freddie/Paddy/Chris years) - but I think that sort of swing would be harder for the BBC than it would be for Amazon.

Which is your opinion and that is fine. Do you not see how "laughing" at my comment can seem a bit mean-spirited?

I enjoyed this. It's the first new BBC1 comedy I've really liked since The Cleaner. I agree with the others that I wasn't particularly interested in the side characters. EDIT: @Summer FRUITS!!!!! what's funny?

I have no strong opinions on them as individuals, I just hope that the British press leave them alone. Though I highly doubt they'll learn anything from what's happened, not just from back when Meghan was here but the Jason Arday stuff.

I'd be happier if my parents stopped using TikTok, in all honesty. Maybe they'll stop getting medical advice from there... though they're still on Facebook.

As of April 2025, a total of five people have received enhanced PIP for acne. It's clearly in severe cases.

What do they really hope to achieve with that?