Jason Manford claps back as ITV Starstruck viewers complain about the sound

first reported on Twitter by journalist Judd Legum of the newsletter Popular Information, strikes back against Chapek’s comments — in both a company-wide memo sent to Disney employees and subsequent remarks at the company’s annual shareholder meeting — purporting to stand with the company’s LGBTQ employees and the LGBTQ community more broadly.In the memo, issued earlier this week, Chapek defended the company’s decision not to issue a statement on the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill — a piece of “parental rights” legislation that seeks to keep parents informed of any changes in the way schools deal with their children, particularly with respect to affirming a child’s gender identity or sexual orientation without the parents’ knowledge.The bill explicitly bans teacher- or school-led discussions of LGBTQ-related topics up to the third grade, and requires that any conversations in older grades be age-appropriate and “developmentally appropriate.” But critics say that, in practice, given the pressure on teachers and the lack of support from administrators seeking to appease overly-sensitive or litigious parents, schools — and individual teachers — will preemptively censor student speech or LGBTQ-related content, even at the middle and high school levels. Chapek’s memo was issued in response to demonstrations by LGBTQ groups outside of Disney theme parks in Florida and California, as well as simmering discontent among employees, which stemmed not only from what critics characterized as a tepid response to the bill, but from an Orlando Sentinel report that Disney donated to every politician who sponsored and co-sponsored the legislation.In the internal memo, Chapek said the company “unequivocally” stands in support of its LGBTQ

Death in Paradise star expressed regret for leaving the show, saying he "regretted" leaving the show for Hollywood.Ralf played Johnny Keogh for six series of Two Pints, with the first series running from February 2001.During an interview with This Morning in September 2007 Ralf said that he would not be returning for the next series due to an overwhelming schedule.Due to this, his character was subsequently killed off the show.Speaking on The Two Pints podcast, with former co-star Will Mellor, Ralf expressed regret for not staying on the show.Hosts Adam Rowe and Dan Nightingale asked Ralf how he felt when he Two Pints and it carried on.Ralf replied: "It was gutting actually, a bit difficult."It's a weird one really."I look back now and I'm like yeah it feels like a mistake."Adam asked Ralf: "Was it your call?"Ralf hastily replied: "Yeah."Will interrupted telling the hosts "he went to Hollywood!"Ralf then continued to say that he did have "regrets" of the way he left the show.He continued: "We did some mad things on Two Pints and I don't think if I'm really honest that I appreciated how good it was at the time."Ralf recently made sure to jump to former co-star Sheridan Smith's defence after viewers joked she is “on TV more than the adverts”.On Saturday night, Sheridan made her debut as a judge on ITV’s new singing competition, Starstruck, where contestants transform into their favourite stars for the chance to win £50,000.As well as Starstruck, ITV drama, No Return, and Channel 5’s The Teacher were also on screens recently.The discussion began when fellow Starstruck judge, Jason Manford, condemned those who blasted Sheridan for being on TV so much.The comic wrote: "Seen a few comments about Sheridan being on TV a lot this

The explosion of shows featuring her in a prominent role demonstrated that 40-year-old Sheridan has come a long way since her early days as Janet Keogh in Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps.Many viewer comments suggest that, in spite of criticism, she has been largely successful at winning over the hearts of the public.One fan tweeted: @Sheridansmith1 thought I might have been all Sheridaned out after "Four Lives" and "The teacher" which were both awesome BTW but just finished watching "No Return" what a brilliant actress you are, such heartfelt and emotional scenes, keep up the good work."(sic)Meanwhile, another added: "She's on literally every channel at the moment and I'm here for it @Sheridansmith1."Recently the focus has been on Starstruck, the new contest which began last Saturday, seeing guests compete to become stars for one night only in front of the judging team.As the would-be stars undergo an epic transformation to embody their stage idols for the night, they are judged by a panel including not just Sheridan and Jason, but also Queen frontman Adam Lambert and show-stopper Beverley Knight.ITV summarises: "Leaving their day jobs behind, members of the public will be transformed into their most beloved music star for one night only."But they won’t be on stage alone."Instead, they’ll be teaming up as trios who all share the same love of a music icon to give the performance of a lifetime."With an expert glam team to oversee their extraordinary transformation, impressive staging and a spectacular sound and light show, our singing stars will be getting the complete ‘superstar experience'."Each episode will culminate in an exciting finale which sees the winning trio compete against each other for a place in

“TV has been renamed Smithbox.The licence fee has been scrapped, but we all have to pay a Sheridan Tax instead.”Dee typed: “Seen more of Sheridan Smith than my family recently.”David penned: “Hi, you’ve reached Sheridan Smith’s agent.“I can’t take your call right now but, whoever you are, she’ll do it.”Jason also took to the social media platform to defend his fellow judge, telling critics to “chill out”.He said: “Seen a few comments about Sheridan being on TV a lot this week.“It’s not [something] she is in charge of, she would have filmed those three excellent shows last year and some scheduler decided they went on this week.So, chill out.“Also, she’s excellent and you are lucky to have her.”

Naman Ramachandran U.K. broadcaster ITV has recommissioned Argonon Group company Bandicoot Scotland to produce two more seasons of hit music reality show “The Masked Singer U.K.” Both seasons will have eight 90-minute episodes each.The third series concluded on Saturday with a season high of 7.8 million viewers, accounting for a 45% share of total viewing, with younger viewers — 46.6% of the available 16-34 demographic — also tuning into ITV for the show.

TAKING his place on the left-hand side of an all-star panel of judges, Jason Manford is firmly in the “Simon Cowell chair” for new ITV talent show Starstruck. But unlike the music mogul, the 40-year-old comic has no need for extra lighting, harsh put-downs or a cushion to prop him up — the similarities end at his seating position. And Jason insists that Starstruck — a revamped version of Nineties favourite Stars In Their Eyes which hits screens tonight — is nothing like “Mr Nasty” Simon’s most famous show, The X Factor.

Jason Manford told TV viewers to 'chill out' as he defended Starstruck co-star Sheridan Smith.

Sheridan Smith's appearance on the show. The Doncaster actress was one of four who made up the judging panel on the show which has been likened to Stars In Their Eyes.

Death In Paradise actor Ralf Little, 42, has jumped to Sheridan Smith’s defence after viewers joked she is “on TV more than the adverts”. On Saturday night, Sheridan made her debut as a judge on ITV’s new singing competition, Starstruck, where contestants transform into their favourite stars for the chance to win £50,000.Some viewers took to Twitter to share their frustrations that three of Sheridan’s shows had aired in the space of a few weeks.As well as Starstruck, ITV drama, No Return, and Channel 5’s The Teacher were also on screens recently.Twitter user, Emily said: “Sheridan Smith is on TV more than the adverts.”Lee joked: “The year is 2031.Sheridan Smith is now on every programme on British television.TV has been renamed Smithbox.The licence fee has been scrapped, but we all have to pay a Sheridan Tax instead.”Dee said: “Seen more of Sheridan Smith than my family recently.”And David quipped: “Hi, you’ve reached Sheridan Smith’s agent.

STARSTRUCK judge Jason Manford has defended his new ITV show after fans claimed it is a rip off of Stars In Your Eyes. The comic made light of the comparison, calling anyone who didn't spot the similarities "thick".

SHERIDAN Smith has been furiously defended by her Starstruck co-star after backlash from fans. Some viewers last night pointed out the actress, 40, has dominated television in recent weeks.

SHERIDAN Smith fans think she is on every show on the telly at the moment – after she appeared as a judge on Starstruck. The 40-year-old joined Jason Manford, Adam Lambert and Beverly Knight on the panel for new the ITV singing contest, which sees four sets of superfans impersonating stars.

STARSTRUCK viewers were left baffled by the new ITV singing show - claiming it was a "rip off" of 90s classic Stars In Their Eyes. The singing programme, hosted by popstar Olly Murs, sees ordinary members of the public transformed into some of the world’s biggest music icons.

Ariana Grande song on ITV's Starstruck.The dad-of-six was reminded of the time he grew tearful with his four girls as they watched Ariana perform at the One Love concert in June 2017 - following the tragic Manchester Arena Attack.The comedian is a judge on the new ITV talent show, which sees super-fans take to the stage and emulate their biggest musical idols.Saturday night's (February 12) show, hosted by singer Olly Murs, saw trios take to the stage to cover hits from Lady Gaga, Queen, Marvin Gaye and Ariana Grande.However, when Team Ariana, made up of Connie, Ellis, and Abi, sung the US pop star's hit song One Last Time, Jason was visibly moved by the rendition.After they performed it, Jason opened up about what the song meant to him and his family.It was phenomenal. Absolutely brilliant.

Singer Natalie Imbruglia was crowned the winner of The Masked Singer UK after she was unveiled as Panda on the hit ITV show. The Australian-British songwriter and actress, who has hits including Torn, Shiver and Wrong Impression, floored Mo Gilligan, Rita Ora, Jonathan Ross, Davina McCall and guest judge Joss Stone during the final on Saturday 12 February.

The Masked Singer character Panda has finally been unveiled as Natalie Imbruglia after an exciting final, which saw them face off against Robobunny and Mushroom and win the crown.For weeks now, fans of the ITV show have been speculating about who Panda could be, after the cute character wowed with their beautiful singing voice.And now countless fans are sure to be feeling smug with themselves after they guessed correctly.

The Masked Singer.Despite being five months pregnant at the time, Joss was eventually crowned the winner of the hit ITV programme after belting out songs including I Wanna Dance with Somebody, originally by Whitney Houston,Ahead of tonight's grand finale, Joss appeared on BBC Breakfast with Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty, reflecting on her experience as a contestant, before taking to the judging panel.But the decision to take part was helped by the fact she was pregnant, Joss claimed to the news anchors.She said: "I had the call, I was like two months pregnant with Violet, so that's my timeline and I remember I got on the call with all these people from The Masked Singer and they were asking me if I'd do this show."I thought 'yes, because when my baby is out, whoever that baby is, is going to find this really funny', so I thought 'definitely'."Joss continued: "That was a decision making thing for me, let's do something really funny and really silly that a kid will like."I don't think I realised until I got to the show what it was really was, I kind of misunderstood it but I had so much fun."Tonight will ditch her iconic Sausage costume as she gives her verdict on the 2022 finalists - Mushroom, Panda and Robobunny.The soul singer is not the only familiar face returning to the wacky guessing game show, with series one champion and Girls Aloud icon Nicola Roberts, comedian Jason Manford and JLS star Aston Merrygold will duet with the remaining contestants.An insider told The Sun: "All four celebrities were sensational finalists on the first two series, so this almost feels like an all-stars episode to see out the ­current season with a bang."It's going to be hilarious to see Jason return to wear his Hedgehog outfit,

Fancy watching Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga and Marvin Gaye on the same show? Of course you do. It can’t happen in real life, but ITV’s latest Saturday night extravaganza, Starstruck, offers the next best thing.

The Masked Singer fans will discover who Mushroom, RoboBunny and Panda really are this weekend - with Saturday (February 12) playing host to the show's grand final.But to help you out, the clever team behind the smash ITV show have given us exclusive new clues as to the characters’ true identities.So here they are - along with other pointers and guesses from the TV judges and viewers.Can you beat Jonathan Ross, who has topped his rivals Davina McCall, Mo Gilligan and Rita Ora by guessing three celebrities correctly this series?Jonathan joked about his success: "I’ve been paying attention to the clues and then you’ve got to also never, ever, ever listen to Rita Ora."Also helping the panel out in the final is last year’s winner Joss Stone (who was Sausage).There is also a treat for the finalists as - in a series first - they will get to duet with some old faces from the past.Robobunny will be joined by Queen Bee (Nicola Roberts) to sing Aretha Franklin and George Michael’s I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me).Panda will team up with Hedgehog (Jason Manford) for Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston’s It Takes TwoAnd Mushroom gets to sing with Robin (Aston Merrygold) on Rihanna’s We Found Love.New clue: Will I win on Saturday? It wouldn’t be the first time funnily enough.Other series clues: She likes to start new things, took the panel "back to school" with one performance, has planted themselves in the woods "far from home", may have her own perfume, wants to "bring peace and love, man", showed us two pints of milk and had the letter W planted in bushes around her.Guesses so far: Charlotte Church, Sia, Rebel Wilson, Vicky McClure, Aisling Bea, Lily Allen and Willow SmithNew clue: The Masked Singer has been one helluva ride but I can’t wait

Kate Garraway has seemingly let slip that she knows some top secret Masked Singer information ahead of the final this weekend.The 54-year-old presenter was left red-faced on Thursday (February 10) as she spoke to ITV star Lorraine Kelly about what is coming up on her self-titled talk show.Lorraine told Kate and Ben Shephard that Masked Singer host Joel Dommett was appearing on her program to share some backstage gossip ahead of Saturday's grand finale.The Scottish broadcaster teased on Good Morning Britain: "There might be somebody you may recognise from Masked Singer on aswell.Kate said: "I think we might know i'm excited."A confused Ben asked: "You know?"Kate replied: "Yeah" before stumbling and adding "Ah I don't know."The flustered TV star added: "I think I might know but I don't know if i'm meant to know or not know."Ben and Lorraine giggled as the watched Kate panic about her slip-up.

Sometimes coming runner-up in a competition can actually be the best thing – just ask Olly Murs. Not only has the charismatic 37-year-old racked up countless catchy hits since coming second on The X Factor in 2009, but he’s added another string to his bow by becoming a popular coach on The Voice UK Now, after a presenting stint on The X Factor alongside his late friend Caroline Flack, Olly is having a second shot at hosting.This time, it’s ITV’s new entertainment juggernaut, Starstruck – a Stars In Their Eyes reboot.The show sees three contestants all transform into the same music icon in a bid to impress the all-star judging panel – Sheridan Smith, Adam Lambert, Beverley Knight and Jason Manford. Get exclusive celebrity stories and fabulous photoshoots straight to your inbox with OK!'s daily newsletter.