What’s Hot – 13/01/23

This blog is a Harry free zone (our eyeballs and ears can’t take anymore) so don’t say we don’t do anything for you. And luckily there has actually been some other news (I know right) this week we can cast our eyes over.

Love Island, Golden Globes and the greatest ever British player(?) retires from the beautiful game.

New Year, New Islanders, NEW RULES

The Winter Love Island contestants have been announced and are creating quite the buzz (as per). For those who don’t know ( firstly have you been under a rock), Love Island puts a group of young singles in a villa where they are filmed 24/7 in the hopes of finding love and coming home with a £50,000 prize.

This year, the debate around the mental health safety of the contestants continues so, for the first year ever, the Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts of the contestants will be frozen. Previously, contestants have nominated a friend or family member to control their accounts on their behalf. This new rule has been implemented in an attempt to control the amount of public scrutiny and sadly hate directed at the contestants. Though this sounds like a smart idea, we do wonder if the lack of social media will deter viewers from sharing their views… or if they will move to other social media sites like TikTok.

Islanders will also be given training and guidance around mutually respectful behaviour in relationships. They will also receive training on how to use inclusive language regarding disability, sexuality, race and ethnicity, and microaggressions. It is definitely refreshing to see Love Island stepping up their game to promote inclusivity and protecting the mental health of their contestants. However, there are still some areas where Love Island needs to do better in our opinion and we will be keeping an eye on how the series plays out.

Golden Globes 

We officially declare “good vibes only” in 2023 and who better to lead us all through the next 12 months than Jennifer Coolidge? Her renaissance began in season 1 of The White Lotus but has since catapulted – and maybe hit its peak (so far, we believe there is so much more to come) – at the Golden Globes on Sunday night.

She stole the show, winning Best Supporting Actress, thanking director Mike White for changing her life, telling him ‘you make people want to live longer and I didn’t… I MEAN!

The Golden Globes are a tricky one, their recent history is controversial to say the very least, with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association being accused of ethical lapses and criticised for their lack of diversity.

But this year certainly felt like a return to form, or at least a return to the slightly drunk Aunty to the sensible Oscars form of old. It’s a little looser and with guests being able to drink, things have been known to get a little messy.

The aforementioned Mike White took home the gong for Best Limited Series, and slurred his way through an acceptance speech, boldly pointing out that many actors in the room had passed on his now very successful show.

Eddie Murphy showed comedians how it’s done with an extremely well-done joke about the Will Smith Oscar’s slap and host Jerrod Carmichael didn’t hold back.

But it’s our Jennifer who stole the show, that clip of her dancing on the red carpet is the energy we’re bringing to the year.

Bye bye Bale

Gareth Bale’s strange career came to an end this week when he announced his retirement from the game at the early – these days, at least – age of 33. Surely the greatest Welsh player of all time, and perhaps even the greatest British player of all time, and yet maligned by many – not least the Real Madrid fanbase.

“Wales, Golf, Madrid. In that order.” definitely didn’t do him any favours in the Spanish capital but Bale’s electric pace and incredibly culture left foot took the King’s favourite club to three La Liga titles, a Copa del Rey and – most impressively – five! Champions League titles.

Five Champions League titles. To put that into perspective, after Real Madrid on 14 titles, the next most successful club in the competition AC Milan has won 7 titles in its 123-year history. Bale and Madrid won five in nine seasons.

It’s an interesting quirk of this great sporting isle that our most successful talents can so often become unpopular in their own ways – Murray, Hamilton, Beckham, to name a handful.

That said, there is no doubt that Bales legacy in Wales and the wider football community away from Madrid is very much positive and admired. An incredible talent.