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Experts reveal German ‘doppelbett’ method will save your marriage & your sleep & no, it’s not moving into separate rooms
WHEN you commit to a relationship, you’re in it for the long haul.
But life’s hurdles can sometimes create distance, making it harder to stay connected.
Now, experts believe they’ve found a simple solution that could not only strengthen your relationship but also improve your sleep.
Introducing the German ‘doppelbett’ method – a sleep setup designed to reignite intimacy while ensuring both partners get the rest they need.
According to research by MattressOnline, four out of five couples admit that their partner disrupts their sleep.
As more people seek ways to avoid full-on sleep divorce and improve their rest in 2025, this two-mattress method is gaining attention.
The Sleep Geek, James Wilson, explains how this widely used European sleeping style can enhance both sleep quality and relationship harmony.
He also shares expert advice on how to introduce the idea to your partner – without any awkwardness.
“Forget fighting over the covers or feeling every toss and turn; German couples have mastered the art of sleeping together without disturbing each other,” he explains.
“Instead of one double mattress, they opt for two single ones within the same bed frame, paired with separate duvets for ultimate comfort and uninterrupted rest.
“Beyond solving the issue of stolen blankets, this setup allows each partner to choose a mattress tailored to their individual comfort preferences – supporting their body weight and sleeping style.
“One partner can choose a softer mattress, while the other opts for a firmer one—no compromise needed.
“A bed that fails to support your spine’s natural alignment can lead to discomfort, soreness, and even chronic pain; so this approach can significantly improve overall health.
“Another key benefit? Minimal movement disturbances. With separate mattresses and bottom sheets, one person’s tossing and turning won’t disrupt the other’s sleep.
“Well-rested couples tend to be happier, more patient, and communicate better.
“This setup is especially beneficial for partners with different sleep schedules.
Involving your partner in the process will help them see this isn’t about creating distance
James Wilson
“Whether one wakes up at dawn for work or the other is a night owl, this method dramatically reduces disturbances and helps prevent unnecessary arguments caused by sleep deprivation.
“While investing in a new mattress isn’t a small decision, this approach can help couples avoid resorting to a complete sleep divorce.
“You’re still sharing a bed—just with a little more personal space.
“You can still cuddle when you want and have those before-bed chats, but with enhanced comfort and choice, this sleeping style promotes the best possible rest.”
So, how do you introduce this idea to your partner without it feeling like a step back in intimacy?
A recent survey found that nearly two in five (37%) couples sleep in separate beds while on holiday – and report better sleep because of it. Why not bring that same comfort home?
James Wilson shares his top tips for approaching the conversation:
“Many worry this discussion could make them feel ‘less close,’ but research shows that sleeping apart can actually lead to healthier relationships. So, how do you bring it up?
The best sleep routine and environment
Thomas Høegh Reisenhus, TEMPUR® sleep specialist & sleep counsellor, reveals the key components of a good bedtime routine and environment...
A sure-fire way to facilitate a better night’s sleep is to practice good sleep hygiene.
Establish a sleep routine that works for you and stick to it.
This will help your body establish a consistent, natural sleep-wake cycle which can do wonders for your overall sleep quality.
As such, try to avoid making up for lost sleep with a lie-in.
Instead of sleeping in, spend your morning reading a book in bed or having a leisurely coffee in the kitchen.
Ensure that your bedroom, bedding, and sleepwear are fit for purpose too.
The ideal sleep environment is dark, quiet, and cool – much like a cave.
If you find unwelcome sources of light are keeping you up, consider investing in an eye mask or black-out curtains.
Adding soft furnishings can be a great way to reduce noise, with the surfaces having an absorptive quality, but if this doesn’t work, consider embracing a soothing soundtrack to block it out.
In terms of temperature, try to keep your bedroom at 18°C. You can further reduce the risk of waking up due to overheating by ensuring that all your bedding and sleepwear is made with natural, breathable materials such as cotton and linen.
Bear in mind that everyone is different; what might work for most, may not work for you!
Whilst knowing how much sleep you should get, how to overcome common barriers, and practicing good sleep hygiene can facilitate a great night’s sleep, if you continue to struggle with sleep or fatigue persistently, do not hesitate to visit a doctor or health professional for support.
“First, keep the conversation open-ended and assure them you’re happy to hear their thoughts.
“Involving your partner in the process will help them see this isn’t about creating distance—it’s about strengthening your relationship.
“Framing it as a trial can also help. Emphasise that it’s just an experiment to see if it improves your sleep and dynamic—nothing is set in stone.
“When discussing it, highlight the benefits. Maybe you’re a light sleeper, and separate mattresses could prevent motion transfer from waking you up at night.
The goal is to stay open to experimenting and finding what works best for both of you
James Wilson
“Remind them that 35% of couples already use ‘unusual’ sleeping habits, and more partners are embracing new methods.
“If you decide to try it, schedule regular check-ins to see how you’re both adjusting. Setting time aside for open discussions fosters a positive space for feedback and tweaks.
“As with any aspect of a relationship, flexibility is key. If this method doesn’t work, there are plenty of other ways to improve sleep – from earplugs to white noise machines.
“The goal is to stay open to experimenting and finding what works best for both of you.”
How bad sleep affects weight
Previously in The Sun, experts explained how sleep is closely linked with weight.
Disrupts hunger hormones
Ghrelin is a hormone released after the brain signals the stomach is empty, while leptin is released from fat cells to suppress hunger – and tell the brain it’s full.
Studies have shown that when you don’t get enough shut-eye, the body makes more ghrelin and less leptin – leaving you more hungry.
One study of 12 men led by University of Chicago showed two days of sleep deprivation drove leptin levels in the blood down by 18 per cent, while increasing ghrelin by 28 per cent.
The men reported a 24 per cent increase in their hunger and appetite compared to when they were given two restful nights.
More time to eat
The less you are asleep, the more you are awake. This gives more of an opportunity to eat.
In the modern day world, people are awake for up to 17 hours at a time – 7am till 12pm. It leaves a huge window for being awake and eating.
If you’re struggling with both your weight and sleep, try finishing your meals three to four hours before bed time. That might mean limiting your eating window from 9am until 6pm.
Reach for takeaways
If you have a weird sleeping pattern, chances are your eating schedule is also off-whack.
Struggling to sleep can see us turn to convenience – takeaways, ready meals, oven foods and more, whi;e being energised gives us more motivation to cook healthily.
Eat more calories than normal
Studies suggest that the less sleep you get, the more calorie-dense food you choose to eat.
One study in Chicago found that men ate more food at a buffet after four consecutive night’s of rough sleep compared with when they were rested.
They consumed around 340 calories more, mostly because they ate more snacks and carbohydrate-rich food.
Researchers from King’s College London also found that adults consumed an additional 385 calories – the equivalent of one and a half Mars Bars – on days after they were deprived of kip by combining the results of 11 previous studies.
More desire for food
Foods, especially those high in calories, are more appetising when we are sleep deprived because we subconsciously know they will boost our energy.
A German study showed the lengths sleepy people would go to for calorific snacks using 32 healthy men.
After a normal dinner and either a restful or restless night’s sleep, the men were given three Euros to spend on snacks and told to bid the maximum amount they were willing to spend on each item.
When sleep deprived. participants were willing to pay extra for the junk food items – which they were allowed to eat afterwards – suggesting a stronger desire.
Fat storage more likely
Scientists have warned that not getting enough sleep changes how the body deals with food, which could then lead to weight gain.
One study showed that men who ate a large bowl of chilli mac and cheese after four nights of bad sleep reacted differently to the food than those who were well-rested.
Researchers at Pennsylvania State University said blood tests showed lipids (fats) from foods were cleared faster, suggesting they were being stored almost instantly.
The process did not spring back to its normal rate even after the men were given a long night’s sleep.
Wimbledon champions Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf’s son Jaden, 23, set to make international debut in different sport
JADEN AGASSI is set to make his international debut in baseball.
The 23-year-old is the son of tennis legends Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf.
Between them, Jaden’s parents won 30 Grand Slam singles titles.
But their eldest child decided against following them into tennis, instead committing himself to baseball.
Born in Las Vegas, Jaden has been called up to represent Germany, his mother’s country, at upcoming World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in Tucson, Arizona.
Having played college baseball at USC, Jaden began turning out in the MLB Draft League after graduating last year.
At the time, he told WKBN: “Agassi is a very tennis last name, the goal is to try to make it a baseball one too.”
Upon his Germany call-up, Jaden spoke to the MLB website about his journey into baseball.
He said: “I started playing baseball when I was six-years-old in T-ball.
“I loved it. I’ve picked up a tennis racquet a good amount, but it was always hard for me to keep that ball in between the lines.
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“I just wanted to hit that thing as far as I could. Baseball had my love since day one.”
On his Germany call-up, he added: “I’m so excited. It’s been a dream of mine since I was a little boy to compete on an international scale.
“[I want to] make my mum proud, make Germany proud and do them right.”
The qualifiers are set to get underway on March 2.
Agassi and Graf began dating after the 1999 French Open.
They married in 2001, the year that Jaden was born.
The tennis power couple subsequently had a daughter in 2003, named Jaz Elle Agassi.
The duo have seldom been involved in pro tennis since their respective retirements, although Agassi did coach Novak Djokovic for a spell between 2017 and 2018.
Kemi Badenoch attends secret dinner with wealthy Labour backer as party tries to woo back big bosses
KEMI Badenoch attended a secret dinner with a megabucks Labour supporter – as the party scrambles to woo back big bosses.
The Tory leader went to Middlesbrough FC owner Steve Gibson’s mansion in North Yorkshire on Thursday night along with around 15 other guests.
Mr Gibson – who has an estimated net worth of £640million – backed Labour last year and was once a councillor for the party.
But it is claimed he is unhappy with the PM’s tax rises and support for a new football regulator.
Ms Badenoch is said to have wooed potential donors with an impassioned pitch on backing business and getting tough on criminals.
One attendee told The Sun: “People know this is a tough time for the Conservatives and there were some proper questions, but Kemi was on punchy form.
“She knocked it out of the park on backing business and putting thugs behind bars for longer, which the room loved.
“I think she silenced the doubters and she undoubtedly won people over – the type of people who can give the party significant support.”
Mr Gibson is supported Labour in the Teesside Mayoralty last year, although has described himself as a floating voter.
He told TeessideLive: “I can’t see how the Tories are going to come back in a generation, and they don’t deserve to.”
Sources said the dinner was attended by local bosses and arranged by Tory Treasury Lord Stuart Marks who is scrambling to raise cash.
The party is in desperate need of donors after running dry their coffers during an election where big money flocked to Labour and subsequently Reform.
Conservative head office yesterday told staff of a round of job cuts, with the party already running a skeleton crew because of a lack of funds.
The Conservative Party declined to comment.
Does Vlad fear Trump? Russian state media handed Soviet-style directive to ‘stop talking about Don & make him look weak’
THE Kremlin has reportedly given the Russian state media a Soviet-style guide to stop talking about Donald Trump and make him “look weak”.
The highly-controlled media outlets have been ordered not to show Trump as a “strong leader” who is capable of putting an end to the Ukraine war.
The Soviet-style guide also asks the Russian media to stop using Trump’s name in media reports.
And they must report that Putin is the one controlling the peace deal narrative and taking charge of any interactions with Trump.
They should emphasise that Putin will get what he wants from any talks.
One source from Russia said: ” “In that scenario, the [Russian] president would be the side guided by someone else, and therefore the weak side,” said a source.”
Political experts say these propaganda orders from the Russian government seem to show Putin’s fear of Trump who has made it his priority to put an end to the war.
The dictator is said to be “concerned” that Russians may begin to perceive Trump as a more proactive and decisive politician than Putin.
A report from Russian independent media said: “[The Kremlin] demands to emphasise that the outcome of any talks with their American counterpart depends on the Russian president.
“The Kremlin does not want Trump to be presented to Russian citizens as a ‘strong leader capable of changing the situation’.
“The [Russian] president would be…the weak party.
“So it turns out that Putin couldn’t do it, but Trump could. No one needs that kind of picture.”
One Russian news outlet reported that “Trump agreed with Putin” on Ukraine.
Another outlet Moskovsky Komsomolets wrote that Trump is interested in making peace “just like Putin”.
Editors are also ordered to avoid portraying Trump as a clean brush sweeping away the old order, in case it gives Russians any ideas about Putin’s regime which has ruled for a quarter of a century.
It comes as Putin agreed the “war must end” after Donald Trump went past Ukraine and European leaders to do business directly with the Kremlin.
The chat is believed to be Putin’s first confirmed direct contact with a US president since the start of the war in February 2022.
The call reportedly lasted for around an hour and a half, according to the Kremlin.
They said the topics centred on sorting out “peaceful negotiations” to end the Ukraine conflict.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the Russian president invited Trump to visit Moscow with American officials soon.
Trump has repeatedly claimed in the past the war “never would have happened” if he had been president when Putin first threatened to invade.
Kyiv later confirmed a call had also taken place between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump.
Zelensky posted a defiant message on X after the call.
“No one wants peace more than Ukraine. Together with the US, we are charting our next steps to stop Russian aggression and ensure a lasting, reliable peace,” he said.
“As President Trump said, let’s get it done.”
The conversation lasted an hour and immediately followed Trump’s chat with Putin.
Trump left a similarly glowing review of the chat with Ukraine’s leader as he said the “conversation went very well.”
WAR & PEACE
President Zelensky today met up with US Vice President JD Vance in Munich for crunch talks over ending the war.
They were seen speaking together alongside both Washington and Kyiv delegations as they discussed the latest developments in the bloody conflict.
Footage of the historic meeting saw Donald Trump’s number two explain that the goal remains the same between both America and Ukraine – to stop the war.
He said: “Fundamentally, the goal is as President Trump outlined – that we want the war to come to a close.
“We want the killing to stop but we want to achieve a durable lasting peace, not the kind of peace that’s going to have Eastern Europe in conflict just a couple of years down the road.”
He also vowed that the two nations would continue to have conversations in the coming days, weeks and months.
Zelensky echoed these thoughts as he thanked America for their support.
The heroic leader said he hopes to continue on with the positive conversations as they prepare a “plan on how to stop Putin and finish the war”.
Both Vance and Zelensky have already spent the day voicing their hopes over a potential deal between Kyiv, Moscow and now Washington.
Zelesnky warned the West that Vladimir Putin is preparing to unleash a war against Nato in the next 12 months.
Paul McKenna reveals he was ‘waking up at midday and drinking’ as he ‘didn’t care if he lived’ in secret battle
HYPNOTIST Paul McKenna has admitted that he suffered from depression so badly that he didn’t care if he lived or died.
The best-selling author revealed that it was triggered by working with suicidal people whose way of thinking began to rub off on him.
But he insisted that instead of viewing the experience as a negative he saw it as a gift, as he’d been able to turn it into a product and help other people going through depression.
Paul, who has since penned the books Freedom from Anxiety and I Can make You Happy said: “I have been depressed.
“Years ago, when my father died and I was doing a study for the military into PTSD, I was working a lot with depressed and suicidal people and got infected with that mindsight and it was pretty awful.
“I got to a point where I didn’t care whether I lived or died,” he told Kaye Adams on her How to be 60 podcast. “I’d get up at midday, I was drinking heavily and friends said: ‘you’ve got to turn this around’.
“And I made a conscious choice. I went: ‘actually I don’t want this.’ And that’s hard for people who are depressed.
“What I found after I’d been there myself was, I was able to help people who were depressed with much greater success, so it was a gift.
“Very often when I’ve been through something terrible, I’ve been able to use it to help other people, or even turn it into a product, so that’s one of the positive ways to look at it.”
Paul also told how he had used his subconscious in order to find the love of his life.
The therapist married for the first time at 53 after tying the knot with his former PA Kate Davey in 2016.
He told Kaye Adams that the reason he had taken so long to settle down was because he was dating women that he found attractive, rather than women he really liked.
It took a friend, who was a life coach, to point out where he was going wrong.
Paul, who previously dated TV presenter Penny Smith and models Clare Staples and Liz Fuller, explained: “He said: ‘I’ve noticed you date some nice women, but you don’t like them really.’
“I said: ‘what’s that got to do with it?’ He said: ‘stupid thinking. What you’ve got to do is think who do you love to be with and who are you attracted to.’
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans for free on 116123.
“Being a hypnotist, I thought – I’ll put these two suggestions in to my subconscious and see what happens and it drew this Excel spreadsheet and at the top of it was Kate.
“I went– ooh, that’s awkward, because Kate had started as my assistant and ended up running all the companies, so we worked together.
“A few days later we were in my kitchen and we’d polished off the best part of a bottle of wine and I said: ‘tell me something about you that I don’t know,’ and she said: ‘I love you.’ I said: ‘oh my God, I feel the same, this is extraordinary.'”
Paul made his name as a DJ on Capital FM and Radio 1 during the 1980s and early ‘90s, before becoming a successful hypnotherapist.
I was working a lot with depressed and suicidal people and got infected with that mindsight
Paul McKenna
His self-help books have grossed more than 17m in the UK alone.
But he told How to be 60 that despite selling millions of book teaching people how to be smarter, richer and more successful, he no longer puts a lot of emphasis on these things now that he is 61.
He explained that he had imagined himself at the end of his life and then asked himself what he wished he had done more and less of.
“The first time I did it, I thought – I wished I’d loved more, laughed more, been less competitive and realised that there was so much stuff to enjoy and I wasn’t because I was overly ambitious and just obsessed with obtaining more stuff and status,” he said.
“I went – right, I’ve got to calm down endless goal-setting and achieving. When I’m really old I’m not going to wish I had another car or more money. Maybe I should enjoy more of what I have.
“So, I shifted from being all about goals – got to achieve this, got to achieve that and if I didn’t, I could really get quite upset – to more of a value-driven life.
“I would like to think that I’ve evolved in a positive way. That I’m maybe kinder than I used to be. I’m certainly more relaxed than I used to be.”
Major retailer to shut popular shop this weekend as 33 to close this month
A MAJOR retailer will shut a popular shop this weekend as 33 stores are set to close this month.
Homebase will close its branch in Sudbury in just a matter of days, according to reports in the Sudbury Mercury.
The outlet stated that closing down have appeared in the window of the Sudbury Homebase stating that there are only a few days before the store closes down.
One local also said they visited the shop recently and there was
“literally nothing left”.
The Sun has contacted Homebase for comment.
It comes as after Homebase revealed 33 stores would close this month after crashing into administration.
At the time, it marked the Sudbury branch as one of the stores impacted.
Administrators for the retailer Teneo previously confirmed which branches would shut permanently in weeks.
These include:
- Abington
- Alnwick
- Antrim
- Barnstaple
- Basildon Vange
- Belfast
- Branksome
- Cannock
- Chester
- Chichester Discovery Park
- Craigavon
- Daventry
- Derby Kingsway
- Folkestone
- Galwally
- Gateshead
- Glenrothes
- Harlow
- Herne Bay
- Hove
- Inverurie
- Ledbury
- Lewes
- Luton
- Newcastle Under Lyme
- Norwich Hall Road
- Norwich Sprowston
- Nottingham Arnold
- Saffron Walden
- Selly Oak
- Sleaford
- Sudbury
- Waltham Cross
It comes after 13 of the DIY chain’s branches shut for good in January.
Homebase fell into administration in November, with up to 70 of the struggling DIY chain’s branches bought by CDS Superstores, now trading as Wilko, The Range and Homebase.
But that left around 74 branches at risk of closure if no buyers could be found to take them on.
Teneo has confirmed 13 branches closed last month, including in London, Coventry and Bradford.
Now, the 33 shutting this month will take the full list of branches closing to 52, after six shut before the end of 2024.
Of the 74 sites put up for sale by Teneo, Sainsbury’s is expected to buy three more stores, after securing 10 earlier in 2024.
Last month, B&Q agreed to buy five branches. This suggests around four stores out of the list of 74 are at risk of closure still.
What is happening to the stores bought by CDS?
CDS Superstores previously said it would buy up to 70 Homebase shops.
It has also taken on the Homebase brand and relaunched its website with thousands of products up for sale.
It is re-purposing and opening some of the former Homebase stores under its The Range brand.
The new stores will feature products usually found in The Range but some will also contain “Garden Centres by Homebase”.
Others will feature “Kitchens by Homebase” spaces.
The hybrid branches have already started opening with CDS saying it wants to open three a week over the coming months.
The company plans to open at least 50 before the end of April.
CDS has already confirmed nine former Homebase locations out of the up to 70 which have opened.
Stores have opened in Birmingham, Felixstowe and Blyth.
Pictures of one of the new stores in Bournemouth were revealed earlier this month when it opened.
CDS said the move to take on up to 70 Homebase sites would see 1,600 staff keep their jobs.
RETAIL PAIN IN 2025
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
Research by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than half of companies plan to raise prices by early April.
A survey of more than 4,800 firms found that 55% expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll conducted in the latter half of 2024.
Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: “The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025.”
Professor Bamfield has also warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
“By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer’s household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020.”
Watch Thierry Henry torment his opponent in Match for Hope to win penalty in cheekiest way
ARSENAL legend Thierry Henry has rolled back the years – at the expense of influencer Tobi Brown.
The Gunners legend, 47, is playing for Team KSI in the 2025 Match for Hope.
https://twitter.com/luxcurv/status/1890455508227666118
Henry joined a host of fellow legends for the charity event in Qatar.
And the 47-year-old showed off some of the flair that made him one of the Prem’s best-ever players.
With his side leading 3-2 just before the break, Henry began doing keepy-ups as he took on YouTube star Brown.
Tobi – known as TBJZL – was bamboozled by the Frenchman’s fast feet.
He lunged forward to try and tackle, with his arms flailing about in the process.
Henry waited for Bown to commit and then attempted to cross, with the ball striking Tobi’s arm.
The referee immediately pointed to the penalty spot, with Henry producing a trademark grin for the cameras.
One fan responded: “Thierry Henry with the masterclass! Tobi didn’t stand a chance there!”
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Another said: “Pure filth.”
While a third argued: “i know its a charity game, but how is that a pen?”
Earlier in the contest, Team KSI went behind after a bizarre head-loss from their captain.
KSI put through his own goal under no pressure from the opposition, crumpling to his knees in embarrassment.
Fans were quick to brand his effort the “worst own goal ever.”
The Match for Hope aims to raise money for an estimated 70,000 schoolchildren in countries around the world.
It sees teams of both influencers and ex-pros go head-to-head, with Henry, Alexander Del Piero and David Silva all involved this year.
Last year’s edition raised more than £7million for charity.
Team GB legend and former Strictly star Roger Black undergoes open heart surgery on condition he’s had for 47 YEARS
FORMER Olympian Roger Black has undergone open heart surgery on a condition he has lived with for 47 years.
The Team GB legend is a two-time 4x400m relay world champion and he won two silver medals at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Black, 58, battled a congenital heart condition throughout his glittering career.
But the athlete underwent surgery last month after his health took a turn for the worse.
Black said on Instagram: “Three weeks ago I had open heart surgery to replace my aortic valve and repair my aortic root.
“My ‘incompetent’ bicuspid aortic valve was discovered when I was 11-years-old and for the last 47 years I have been looked after by the cardiac team at Southampton General Hospital.
“At my annual check-up last summer it was clear that things had deteriorated despite me having no obvious symptoms.
‘It was a shock but deep down I knew this day would come even though I never allowed my heart disease to define me and prevent me from pursuing my athletic career.
“Thank you to Mr Tsang and all the medical team in Southampton who cared for me during what was a tough time in hospital. I am forever grateful.
“Most of all thank you to my wife Jules who was there when I woke up in intensive care 11 hours after surgery and has cared for me every day in recovery.
“Each day has been about small steps – yesterday was a big milestone as we walked to the top of St Martha’s Hill… our special place.”
After retiring from athletics, Black worked as a pundit for the BBC as well as appearing on Strictly Come Dancing in 2004, where he partnered pro Camilla Dallerup.
The former runner also reached the Masterchef final in 2006, losing to rugby hero Matt Dawson.
Black is a father of three, having twin boys George and Max with wife Julia Burgess.
He also has a daughter Isabelle from his previous marriage to Elsa Devassoigne.
When Black was diagnosed with congenital heart disease aged 11, he was initially banned from playing sport.
He eventually got back into playing rugby before switching to athletics aged 18.
Black’s health has worsened in recent years and he no longer exercises intensely due to his condition.
Taylor Swift takes another record off Madonna after latest live album storms to top of the charts
TAYLOR Swift has overtaken Madonna to become the female artist with most UK No 1 albums in history.
The superstar singer, 35, has landed her 13th number one album thanks to the re-release of her 2019 record Lover (Live From Paris) on vinyl.
In comparison, Madonna, 66, has had 12 UK chart topping albums — her most recent being 2012’s MDNA.
Taylor is now equal with Elvis Presley who also has 13 UK No 1 albums to his name.
Only Robbie Williams and The Beatles are ahead of her with 15 UK chart-topping albums.
Taylor’s latest No 1 album is a live recording of her one-off gig at Olympia in the French capital in 2019.
She released special edition vinyls of the record to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
Lover (Live From Paris) now has the UK’s biggest first-week sales for a live album in more than ten years.
Prior to that George Michael held the title with Symphonica, released in March 2014.
Lover (Live From Paris) has also claimed the biggest total weekly sales for a live vinyl album this century.
Seemingly competing with herself, Lover (Live From Paris) is the first album to go to number one only on pure sales since Taylor’s sixth album Reputation, released in November 2017.
The Sun’s Bizarre was at Taylor’s Paris gig in 2019.
We called it “confirmation of her status as the consummate modern pop superstar”.
As well as working on her 12th studio album, Taylor is also lining up re-recordings of Reputation and her self-titled debut from 2006.
With so many records in the works, Taylor could end 2025 as the artist with the most UK No 1 albums of all time.
