Kai Cenat praised Cinna for her “amazing” content while putting other female creators on blast and calling out their broadcasts.
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Kai Cenat praises Cinna in comparison to other female Twitch streamers
Kim Jong-Un bans Spurs and two other Premier League clubs from being shown in North Korea for bizarre reason
TYRANT Kim Jong-un has banned Tottenham Hotspur matches from being shown in North Korea.
His madcap regime insists no games involving teams with players from his hated neighbours are broadcast there — and Spurs are captained by South Korean icon Son Heung-min.
It means impoverished citizens allowed to watch Premier League games before the 5pm news do not get to see the erratic North London club on their screens.
But Jong-un may come to regret his ban on 32-year-old Son and his Spurs side as they take on the tubby despot’s favourite team Manchester United tomorrow.
A report also revealed coverage in North Korea of last year’s Premier League did not include Wolverhampton Wanderers because of their South Korean forward Hwang Hee-chan, or Brentford, who have his countryman, defender Kim Ji-soo.
Match coverage in the secretive state is shortened from 90 minutes to 60 and games are shown before news bulletins — and about four months after they are played.
With his team languishing 14th in the league, Tottenham fan Tom Bell said: “The way this season has gone for Spurs, North Koreans can count themselves lucky not being subjected to their games.”
The findings come in a report by the independent US think tank Stimson Center’s probe into North Korea.
State TV is rife with propaganda but sport is “one of the few moments each day when state TV is not trying to send an overt or underlying message to its viewers,” analysis found.
The Center’s Martyn Williams said: “We thought it was interesting.
“We just saw a lot of football on KCTV. It’s the main international sport they broadcast.”
The report says that in 2022, North Korean telly carried coverage of England’s top flight plus Germany’s Bundesliga, Spain’s La Liga, France’s Ligue 1 and Italy’s Serie A.
But the following year, KCTV settled the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League and the World Cup.
English football has also found fans among other dictators.
Late Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro was an Arsenal fan and Zimbabwe tyrant Robert Mugabe, who died in 2019, supported Chelsea.
- Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme – Sun Club.
I’m one-cap England star who ALWAYS had good games against Liverpool – they were just one of those teams I loved playing
FORMER Premier League star Matt Jarvis has lifted the lid on playing at Anfield and his love of coming up against Liverpool.
The one-cap England winger was part of the Wolves side that beat the Reds 1-0 back in 2010.
The shock three points helped the club narrowly avoid relegation that season, with Jarvis the star man.
He recalled to SunSport: “I always had great games against Liverpool — they were just one of those opponents I really enjoyed playing.
“I also couldn’t wait for matches at Anfield. It remains one of the most iconic football stadiums in the world.
“When people talk about being intimidated playing at Liverpool because of the ‘This Is Anfield’ sign in the tunnel, or hearing the Never Walk Alone anthem before the start, I never quite get it.
“For me it was the greatest incentive and sent my competitive and energy levels through the roof.
“We went into this game at the bottom of the table, four points adrift from safety, so this was a completely free hit for us. We had absolutely nothing to lose.
“I was lucky enough to play with a squad of players that season who had great character and who never knew when they were beaten.
“We also had a manager in Mick McCarthy who each and every player would run through brick walls for.
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“The greatest compliment I can pay Mick is that he was the best manager I played under.
“He was honest, would tell it to you straight, was always on the training field with his coaches and would give you every tool possible to make you better and win games of football.
“It’s also great to know that I was part of Mick’s one win at Anfield.
“The frustration leading up to this game was we had lost matches where we should have picked up points.
“But we finally got our rewards by picking up three points here.
“As soon as Stephen Ward had given us the lead just before the hour mark it was then a case of digging in and holding out.
“The stats show we had two shots on target in the match. But it doesn’t matter how few you have as long as you make them count more than the opposition.
“Ultimately this victory at Anfield was one of the key moments in us staying up.
“We spent something like 33 days on the bottom of the table that season — and 206 days in the bottom three. But the most important fact is we survived that season and were 17th when it mattered most on the last day of the 2010-11 campaign.
“I had spent most of that December out with an injury but came back on Boxing Day at home against Wigan, then played three days later at Liverpool followed by a match at West Ham 72 hours later.
“I came off with about a minute to go at Anfield knowing I would be at Upton Park on New Year’s Day.
“It’s wonderful in reflection to have won both the Supporters’ Player of the Year and the Players’ Player of the Year at Wolves in 2010-11.
“There is no greater honour than the fans and your peers voting for you. But was this the best season in my career?
“I never reflect on my best or worst seasons because I always gave as much as I could every time I played so I could never have regrets about whether I could have played better.”
Wolves’ trip to Anfield
“Looking ahead to Sunday’s game at Anfield you could almost mirror our build-up to the game 14 years ago to this Wolves side.
“For them, it’s a free hit just like it was for us. No one is expecting anything other than a home win.
“But I have been saying for the last few weeks this Wolves side is more than capable and in Matheus Cunha they possess arguably the best player in the Premier League outside the ‘big six’ teams. When he is on the pitch his inspiration to the rest is a huge weapon.
“On the back of two successive 2-0 wins against Villa and Blackburn, who knows?
“If they can hold out at Liverpool and nick a goal like we did back then — and have the little bit of luck along the way that you always need — this is a Wolves team more than capable of surprising the league leaders.”
I’m a master forger charging thousands for copycats so good experts can’t spot them…my customers aren’t who you think
DAVID HENTY’S neat, whitewashed bungalow is easy to find – there’s a blue “English Heritage” plaque on the wall bearing his name.
When he opens the front door to greet me, I have to ask: “I thought you had to be dead to get a blue plaque?”
“Ah, it’s a forgery,” comes the reply.
Of course it is. The plaque even states: “David Henty, The world’s number one art forger.”
Stepping inside the house, near Brighton, it soon becomes clear that it is a well deserved accolade.
On one wall of the entrance lobby hangs an imitation of Van Gogh’s Irises, and below it a double of Vincent’s vase of 15 Sunflowers — the original now on display in London’s National Gallery.
On the other wall are copies of two paintings by Italian master Caravaggio.
Through the open door of the spare bedroom, I spot the Mona Lisa.
Perched against the wall of another room are a Rembrandt and a Picasso. On the stair down to his workroom hangs a Banksy.
David, 67, says: “I don’t know what the other artists think because they’re dead, but Banksy — he’s not happy with me.”
‘Rolex and sports cars’
“Are you a copyist?”, I ask. He replies with a smile: “Nah, me? I’m a forger. I’ve painted more Lowrys than Lowry himself.”
On an easel in his workroom there are two pictures of grim mills and matchstick people that look like they were painted by Manchester’s most celebrated artist, LS Lowry.
David reckons he has created about 1,000 replicas of the painter’s work — and even gifted me one.
He had put the finishing touches that morning to his latest Lowrys, on authentic 1960s hardboard.
Now, he has switched his attention to a huge nude by the Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani — who died penniless in 1920 — which could make him as much as £25,000.
Palette in hand, he says: “The real one sold for more than 150million dollars. Imagine having that on your wall — you’d be terrified.”
David reveals that many people who commission him to make fakes are owners of the genuine paintings.
He says: “A guy wanted to fly me from Biggin Hill in Kent down to Monaco for the day to look at a Picasso he’s got over his mantelpiece.
The real one sold for more than 150million dollars. Imagine having that on your wall — you’d be terrified
David Henty
“But he’s got young kids and they’re playing football and stuff. He wanted me to copy the Picasso, so he could put the genuine one somewhere safe and hang mine in the room instead.”
When I ask about the most expensive painting he has ever sold, David admits: “One of Boris Johnson’s pals commissioned me to paint Caravaggio’s The Supper At Emmaus.
“It’s a massive painting that hangs in the National Gallery. We’d agreed on 100 grand but, in the end, he only paid me £50,000.”
Still, not bad for a man who has never had an art lesson and only began painting to fill his time in prison — where he was serving a five-year stretch for forgery.
It was the early Nineties, Hong Kong was soon to be handed back to China and there was a huge demand for fake British passports.
As part of a £3million scam, David managed to forge the security features on the old black British passports.
But the printer the gang had roped into their scam unwittingly included two mistakes — putting “Magesty” instead of “Majesty” and missing a letter “N” out of Britannic.
But father-of-two David says: “Apart from the spelling mistakes, the police reckon they were among the best forgeries that they’d ever seen, and apparently there’s a copy of one in Scotland Yard’s Black Museum.”
In Lewes jail, East Sussex, David wandered into the prisoners’ art class to pass the time.
The son of a dodgy antique dealer, he says: “I went to just read about art because I used to like buying and selling it. I always had an eye.
“But the teacher said, ‘It’s not a library. If you come here you’ve got to paint’. There was a two-page supplement in the paper with photographs of these dark paintings by Walter Sickert, who may have been Jack The Ripper.
“I painted one of those and put it in the pottery kiln next door, to age it. On a prison visit, I gave it to my brothers, who were antique dealers, and they got £1,000 for it.
“I had lots of time to perfect my craft. I was full-time at the art class, then I went back to my cell and I’d be up till midnight working. It was like school. Every two or three weeks, I’d give my brothers a few paintings and they’d take them up to Bermondsey antiques market [in London] and different places and sell them.”
But after doing his porridge, David ended up back behind bars — this time for stealing cars.
David, who was nicked on Spain’s Costa del Crime, says: “We had a contact in London who was nicking brand-new Toyotas and four-wheel drives from the docks.
“We were getting £30,000 to £40,000 for them. In my best week, I made over 50 grand. Me and my mate made so much money, we had diamond Rolex watches and were driving Mercedes sports cars. I don’t drink, but one night we ended up buying this nightclub. Eventually, we got nicked because the police thought we were selling drugs. Then they found out the truth.”
David spent a year in Madrid’s maximum-security jail awaiting extradition over the car crimes, where his cellmate was James Hurley, the man suspected of masterminding the Millennium Dome diamond heist.
‘Unscrupulous people’
He says: “There was a Mafia guy — Vincenzo — who was fighting extradition back to Italy. He was trying to paint a picture of his wife but he was a terrible painter.
“He couldn’t speak English, I couldn’t speak Italian, but I painted his wife half a dozen times and ended up doing portraits of all the members of his family. Then I started creating fake Van Goghs and Vincenzo sold them.”
Eventually, back in the UK, David was sentenced to two-and-a-half years, but walked free from court due to time served.
He began making copies of famous paintings and flogging them on eBay.
To bullet-proof himself and stay on the right side of the law, he described his forged pieces as “in the style of”.
David says: “That was it — I was flying. I did the research to make sure they were actually good fakes.
“I started noticing my paintings were going through the auctions.
“One of them was on the front page of an auction catalogue. The painting even had D. Henty written in pencil on the back — I didn’t write it — but it went through as an original and sold. There’s some unscrupulous people about, you know. Meanwhile, I was making so much money from eBay that I got nicked by the tax-man, who phoned me up and wanted 80 grand.
“I ended up having to settle and have been paying tax ever since.”
David’s fake paintings on eBay were exposed by a posh national newspaper, but he simply started up again as “David Diamond”.
A year later, he was exposed again — but the publicity only brought him more customers and even a sell-out exhibition of his work.
While researching one of his books, author Peter James, creator of Queen Camilla’s favourite fictional detective, Superintendent Roy Grace, was looking for an art forger to quiz.
The cop who had nicked David for the passport scam introduced the two men, who have since become firm friends.
Peter even bought one of David’s fake Lowrys and, when Bargain Hunt’s Tim Wonnacott saw the picture, he was unable to confirm it was a forgery.
So, when Peter was writing his novel Picture You Dead, he asked David to create a “lost” painting by 18th-century French artist Jean- Honore Fragonard — that was so good it could not be exposed as a fake.
He says: “Peter wanted to know every detail about art forgery — how you get the correct paints, where the canvas comes from, how you can beat an X-ray.
“I created a painting for him that would have been worth £20million if it was real.
“Pablo Picasso once said, ‘Good artists copy, great artists steal’ . . . I do both.”
IN THE FRAME FOR TV DRAMA
PICTURE You Dead is being filmed for the new series of TV’s Grace, starring John Simm.
It is also a stage play – currently touring the UK – which tells how an unsuspecting couple unwittingly buy a “long-lost” masterpiece at a car boot sale.
However, as word spreads of their dream find, it quickly turns into their worst nightmare.
Only Detective Superintendent Roy Grace can stop them from paying the ultimate price.
Former Coronation Street actor Peter Ash plays an art forger based on David Henty.
David, who was brought up on a Brighton council estate, says: “It is surreal – Peter playing me with a beard and a northern accent.
“He’s quite a cheeky chappy so I think he’ll be a good match.”
Peter – who starred as Paul Foreman in Corrie – says: “David Henty has led an incredibly fascinating life. To be playing a character based on his story is a unique opportunity.
“The audiences are already loving it.”
- The Picture You Dead UK tour runs until July 26. For tickets see peterjames.com.
Bafta bosses put ‘ring of steel’ around Sunday’s ceremony after YouTube prankster stormed the stage in 2024
WITH huge names including Ariana Grande, Orlando Bloom, Demi Moore and Timothee Chalamet preparing to descend on the EE Film Baftas tomorrow afternoon, organisers are taking no risks when it comes to security.
Last year a YouTube prankster, who is so inconsequential it’s not worth naming them, managed to get up on stage alongside Christopher Nolan and Cillian Murphy as they collected the Best Picture award for Oppenheimer.
Insiders tell me the embarrassing stunt won’t be repeated this year, after Bafta bosses put a ring of steel around the ceremony at London’s Festival Hall, with extra security guards and checks for all the guests, including VIPs.
“The Baftas are taking no risks after last year and security at tomorrow’s event has never been tighter,” my insider said.
“Everyone going in and out of Festival Hall will be checked and there are more security guards on call.
“It’ll basically be the safest place to be in London because of the amount of eyes on it.
“Security is upped by the stage too and with all the checks, no one who isn’t officially invited won’t be getting in. They are taking no chances.”
Following the daft episode in 2024, Bafta said: “A social media prankster was removed by security last night after joining the winners of the final award on stage.
“We are taking this very seriously, and don’t wish to grant him any publicity by commenting further.”
It’s one of my favourite nights in the showbiz calendar and last year I spent the evening rubbing shoulders with celebrities including Ryan Reynolds, David Beckham and Paul Mescal.
This year’s guest list is even more star-studded than normal and I can’t wait to bring you all the gossip from the night on Monday, with an after-party special on Tuesday.
Once I’ve shaken off my hangover, of course.
Ed’s fresh start as a Play boy
ED SHEERAN is gearing up to release a new album and begin his next chapter.
We might not have long for the record, called Play.
He is expected to follow Play with the release of Pause, Rewind, Forward and Stop – which are all tattoos he has.
Ed has changed his profile photo on social media to mark the beginning of his next era, and promised a fan the first album is coming “soon”.
Ed is on the penultimate leg of his +–=÷× World Tour and will have a break in March and April to promote the record, or wait until it ends in September.
I’m hoping the music comes sooner, rather than later.
Harriet chills as host
TELLY host Harriet Rose may have just landed a cool gig as a host of ITV’s Brits pre-party show – but she’s happier that she can now afford a fancy fridge.
In an exclusive chat with Bizarre, she said: “I feel really lucky. I’ve experienced loads of love from what I’ve been doing and I was able to buy myself a new fridge so life is good.
“Honestly for my whole life I’ve wanted a posh fridge. It has an ice dispenser. I’m living the dream. If I was to achieve anything this year I’d love to do a bit of acting.
“I went to uni and studied acting so I could be the next someone really good at acting . . . Toni Collette.”
Harriet, who has been confirmed as co-host of The BRITs 2025: The Warm-Up with Munya Chawawa on ITV2 on February 27, also presents The Masked Singer spin-off show The After Mask.
And she admitted she sympathised with Macy Gray after the soul star stormed off in a strop after being voted off last month.
Harriet, below, said: “It’s such a fun show to do I’m not surprised she was gutted. She’s a legend and it was one of those moments I went, ‘Yeah I get it’.”
She was speaking while being recognised at the annual Attitude 101 event, sponsored by Bentley, which celebrates LGBTQ+ industry leaders.
She was there, but etiquette expert William Hanson who was also featured on the list, was called out by Attitude owner Darren Styles because he “ironically did not reply to his invitation.”
Singer Olly Alexander was honoured at the event but pulled out of doing a speech and refused to speak to journalists after his new album Polari went into the charts at No17 yesterday.
Awkward.
Retro Sam takes the Mick
SAM FOX headed back to the Eighties as she puffed on a cig while filming a sketch for The Brit Awards.
The singer and former Page Three girl recreated her pink hair from the infamous 1989 ceremony, when she hosted with Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood.
Sam was joined by a Mick lookalike on a London street in the capital as she worked on the skit.
It will involve this year’s host Jack Whitehall, with Sam and replica Mick pretending to be in the Squid Games as they mock their presenting debacle.
She and Mick went down in history for all the wrong reasons, as guests missed their cues, lines were fluffed and a pre-recorded speech from Michael Jackson was missed altogether.
Lady Shady Gaga
LADY GAGA channelled her inner Neo from The Matrix in these sunglasses after finishing rehearsals for Saturday Night Live in New York.
The US singer, whose new single Abracadabra is at No3, performed alongside guests including Jack White and Miley Cyrus last night for the TV comedy show’s 50th birthday.
Before the performance, Gaga appeared on YouTube talk show Hot Ones.
She revealed that she considered quitting her music career, adding: “There were definitely times where I felt like maybe I should walk away.”
Gaga, who will release her album Mayhem on March 7, also looked back on the hard graft it took to make it.
She said: “I would knock on door after door and say, ‘Can I please play here?’ Or I would call and pretend I was my manager. I would tell people, ‘She’s so hot right now’.”
JAMES BAY won the Brits Rising Star award a decade ago and has befriended this year’s winner, Myles Smith.
He welcomed Myles on stage at his Wembley Arena show on Thursday to sing Let It Go.
Myles will be back on stage a fortnight today when he performs at the Brit Awards.
He’s already had hits Stargazing and Nice To Meet You, and I see a career as bright as James’.
SELENA GOMEZ has announced a new album with fiancé Benny Blanco.
I Said I Love You First will be out on March 1.
As we revealed earlier this week, Selena has now released the lead single, Scared Of Loving You, which is the first song off the collaboration record.
A rep for the couple said: “The album chronicles their entire story – before they met, falling in love and looking to what the future holds.”
It sounds soppy – and not for people like me, whose boyfriends forgot Valentine’s Day.
Love you Lotts
FAME and romance don’t often go hand in hand. But this lot want you to know just how loved-up they are.
David Beckham shared this cute throwback snap of himself and Posh, while Love Islander Jack Fincham‘s girlfriend, ex-Towie star Chloe Brockett, pouted for England in this cosy selfie.
Helen Flanagan shared a shot of her and boyfriend Robbie Talbot posing on a winter’s walk.
Towie’s Gemma Collins shared a throwback snap of her and fiancé Rami Hawash.
Meanwhile, Pixie Lott, who is married to model Oliver Cheshire, gave a surprise performance at Coventry Cathedral during a Valentine’s Day event, where 80 couples renewed their commitment to each other.
Sabrina’s swipe at ex Barry
SABRINA CARPENTER has made her thoughts on ex-fella Barry Keoghan perfectly clear – by killing him off in her new video.
They split in December after almost a year, with the Oscar-nominated actor having appeared in the video to her No1 Please Please Please.
But she released a new version yesterday featuring Dolly Parton, and is seen with a man’s body dressed the same way Barry was in the original clip.
The remixed track is on the deluxe copy of album Short N’ Sweet, and sits alongside a handful of new songs.
Hinting at their split on Busy Woman, Sabrina sings: “I’m so mature, collected, and sensible, except when I get hit with rejection.
“To turn me down, well, that’s just unethical. I’ll turn into someone you’re scared to know.”
On 15 Minutes, she jokes about getting with as many men as possible during her time in the limelight.
She sings: “I can do a lot with 15 minutes – lot of pretty boys, lot of funny business. Take a couple bucks, turn ’em into millions. You, you, you know I can do a lot with 15 minutes.”
And she adds: “Only gonna take two to make you finish.
“P**s some people off, show ’em what they’re missin’.”
Don’t mess with her.
‘It’s the most effective’ – hack to de-ice windscreen uses kitchen cupboard essential everyone already owns
DRIVERS are being urged to try a simple 30p hack to quickly de-ice their windscreen as temperatures drop this winter.
Motoring experts have revealed that common household items, including salt and lemon, can help remove ice from windshields in the morning.
These everyday ingredients offer a cost-effective and efficient solution for dealing with frost car windows.
One of the easiest ways to de-ice your windscreen is by sprinkling a small amount of salt onto the icy surface.
The salt works by lowering the freezing point of water, helping to melt the ice more quickly.
Adding a few drops of lemon juice can enhance the effect by preventing the salt from refreezing in extremely cold conditions.
For those looking to prevent ice from forming overnight, experts suggest rubbing half an onion or a potato on the windscreen before parking up for the night.
This simple trick creates a protective layer that helps frost from sticking to the glass.
John Wilmot, CEO of LeaseLoco.com and motoring expert, said: “Temperatures are dropping again this January, which means more mornings of scraping ice off the car.
“We all know how frustrating it is when you’re in a hurry and have to wait for your windscreen to clear.
“Ice scrapers and de-icers can take up to 15 minutes to work, which is a hassle when time is tight.
“That’s why we’ve put together some quick and effective methods using household staples like salt, onions, and sandwich bags to make the process easier.”
This clever de-icing trick suggested by LeaseLoco is not only affordable but also a great way to speed up your morning routine, ensuring a safer and stress-free drive in winter conditions.
Other hacks include filling a sealable plastic bag with warm (not hot) water and gently rubbing it across the frozen glass.
The warmth will help melt the ice without damaging your windscreen.
If you prefer a tool, Halfords sells a budget-friendly 3-in-1 ice scraper for just £1.79.
It has a plastic head for scraping ice, a rubber blade to wipe off water, and a foam strip to keep the glass dry and prevent refreezing.
For an even cheaper option, B&M has a similar tool for just £1.
To stop ice from forming in the first place?
A simple way is to cover your windscreen overnight.
This stops moisture from settling on the glass, preventing frost build up.
One common mistake people make is pouring boiling water on their windscreen to melt the ice quickly.
This can be dangerous because sudden temperature changes can cause the glass to crack or even shatter.
Repairs can be costly, and flying glass can be hazardous.
Chelsea fans fume at ‘amateur ownership’ as key man goes off with ‘hamstring injury’ 19 minutes into Brighton clash
NONI MADUEKE has been substituted after pulling up with an injury just 19 minutes into Chelsea’s clash with Brighton.
The England international, 22, signalled that he wanted to go off with what appeared to be a hamstring issue.
The winger sat on the turf in clear discomfort before receiving medical attention.
He was then replaced by substitute Jadon Sancho.
Madueke has been a regular for Chelsea this season, starting 18 of their 25 Premier League games.
Fans watching on at home fumed at the Blues’ lack of other available options – blaming their board.
One wrote: “Madueke injured. That’s what you get for not signing anyone and letting players leave for peanuts. Amateur ownership.”
While a second blasted: “Noni Madueke hamstring… Thanks Chelsea sporting directors!”
Another moaned: “Just end the season.”
Chelsea were already without forwards Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu.
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While Mykhailo Mudryk is suspended.
And the Blues recently allowed Joao Felix to join AC Milan on loan.
Enzo Maresca‘s side have won just two of their last eight Premier League matches.
While last time out they were dumped out of the FA Cup by the Seagulls.
Shortly after losing Madueke to injury, they fell behind – with Kaoru Mitoma firing Brighton into the lead.
Yankuba Minteh then made it 2-0 before half-time.
Madueke had been being watched by England boss Thomas Tuchel.
The German is set to take charge of his first games as Three Lions manager next month.
I was by Rob’s bed when he gave me a sign he couldn’t go on… holding him as he passed was agony, says Lindsey Burrow
IT was the moment Lindsey Burrow knew that her rugby hero husband had succumbed to the disease that left him a prisoner in his own body.
Trapped in a silent world, unable to communicate and paralysed by motor neurone disease, Rob, 41, lay hooked up to a hospital ventilator after developing pneumonia.
The sportsman, who helped raise more than £20million for MND charities after being diagnosed with the devastating condition four years earlier, was determinedly refusing medication, physio or even a sip of water.
With her heart breaking, Lindsey took a deep breath and asked her childhood sweetheart: “Rob, I know you’re really tired. Have you had enough?”
After a few moments, punctuated only by the whirring of hospital machines, Rob cast his eyes to the left.
It was his simple way of communicating — left for yes, right for no.
The man who had stormed rugby league as its smallest player at 5ft 5in, who had put himself front and centre to raise awareness of MND, hiding his pain behind a trademark smile, could go on no longer.
“I wanted to cry,” says Lindsey.
“I knew what I was asking and I needed to know that it was really what he wanted.
“I just held him in my arms for a long time until he fell asleep. I thought I might howl with the pain but he’d had enough. He’d fought his battle.”
POIGNANT MEMORIES
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Lindsey today reveals her family’s last days with Rob, who became the face of MND, a rare condition that affects the brain and nerves, causing weakness and muscle-wasting.
Despite their sorrow, she tells how the family were able to make eternal, poignant memories in the days leading up to Rob’s death on June 2 last year.
The night before Rob died, Lindsey placed a DVD player in his room at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield, West Yorks, so they could watch their wedding video one final time.
On the TV Lindsey looked resplendent in a white gown and tiara as she and Rob whirled their way through their first dance, (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life, from the movie Dirty Dancing.
Then the couple’s children, Macy, 13, Maya, nine, and Jackson, six, gently painted their dad’s fingers with rainbow-coloured ink so they could capture his imprints for memory books.
Lindsey, 42, says: “We found a way to make those last hours memorable.
“Rob and I, with his mum Irene and sisters Claire and Joanne, watched our wedding video and we teased him about his dancing.
“The girls were at a musical show they had spent months rehearsing. Rob had indicated he still wanted them to go.
“When they came back, the girls and Jackson sat with their dad as he watched a recording of their performances.
“It really lifted Rob. He had a big smile, watching the girls on stage, and they came back from the show that night and painted his fingers. Rob was very drowsy but was still with us. He just wanted to spend as long as he could with the children.
“Macy made a little tree picture out of his fingerprints. The nurses had given the children tiny knitted hearts and bears which they used to surround his tree.
“He still managed to smile right to the very end. He always had that infectious smile and just set an example to us all — he gave hope to so many.”
Lindsey has written a book about her life with Rob, called Take Care, which is being exclusively serialised in The Sun.
It seemed unimaginable to the couple’s families that Rob, the indomitable scrum-half for Leeds Rhinos, could fall victim to such a terrible condition, so his diagnosis in December 2019 came as a massive shock.
He was 37 with three children under the age of eight when told he might have only two years to live.
The causes of MND are largely unknown — something Rob became keenly aware of after his diagnosis, pushing himself uncomfortably into the public eye to raise awareness.
I thought I might howl with the pain but he’d had enough. He’d fought his battle
Lindsey Burrow
Within weeks of his diagnosis, he “banked” recordings of his voice for a synthetic speech machine so he could communicate with loved ones.
Operated by eye movements, it was similar to that used by fellow MND sufferer Professor Stephen Hawking.
Rob’s courage saw him awarded an MBE in 2022 and he and rugby pal Kevin Sinfield, who has run thousands of miles to fundraise for research and patient support, received CBE honours from Prince William in January last year.
In May 2023, the friends shared an incredible moment when Kevin pushed his pal around the Leeds Marathon course before carrying him over the finishing line.
The images went around the world, becoming a symbol of enduring hope, and Lindsey says: “Rob was really brave and courageous to share his story.
“He was such a private family man, so for him to open his doors and let the world see just how brutal MND is — it takes a really rare person to do that.
“He wanted to do it to raise awareness for the bricklayer, the postman, for the people who had the disease but didn’t have a voice.”
In Take Care, Lindsey tells how Rob’s health started to deteriorate further in March last year.
He had been able to send Lindsey texts, but they began to become muddled, and by May he could no longer message her, leaving her feeling extremely lonely.
Lindsey, an NHS physiotherapist, writes in her book: “I missed hearing Rob steady me when I was worried about one of the kids or feeling tired after a long day of difficult consultations at work.
“I missed hearing him kid around with the girls or speaking softly to Jackson.
“I missed hearing him laugh. I felt lonely — but it was nothing compared to Rob’s isolation in a prison of his own silence and stillness.
“MND is brutal. It ravages its victims, mentally and emotionally. Even Rob, with his mighty heroism, finally began to buckle.”
In mid-April 2024, while he could still text, Rob typed a message to his wife which read: “I’m finding it hard to fight MND.”
Lindsey writes: “It came out of the blue and my heart cracked a little as I read the seven words. I walked across to Rob, feeling the magnitude of the moment when I saw he had become tearful.
“It was the first time he had cried in years.”
She begged Rob to keep fighting, reminding him of his strength and positivity, saying: “Hold on darling, OK?”
She writes: “Rob’s pale blue eyes brimmed with anguish. But he knew I needed an answer and after a long pause, he turned his gaze to the left. And then I felt my breaking heart soar when he smiled.”
Despite his indefatigable nature, by May, just weeks before Rob’s death, Lindsey says she sensed the family had entered a “dark zone, a limbo between life and death”.
Yet Rob insisted on still going for days out with his children whenever he was up to it and the couple shared a special moment with the kids a week before he died.
Rob had lived downstairs at their home in Pontefract, West Yorks, for two years after it became too much for Lindsey to carry him up to their bed every night.
But sensing they were on borrowed time, that night she carried him upstairs to their home cinema room to watch the Timothee Chalamet movie Wonka together.
Lindsey writes: “I knew Rob was too unwell to watch another film ever again. But the last movie of his life, at home with me and the kids in our new cinema room, felt as special as it was moving.”
The next day Rob was taken into hospital for the final time.
BORROWED TIME
Today, as Lindsey sits surrounded by their beautiful children, she still misses Rob acutely.
She says: “It’s been a really tough time. We always knew the day would come… but he had such a fighting spirit that he was never going to give in until his last breath.
“We knew it would come — but lived in hope it wouldn’t.
“It’s the simple things I miss, like I think, ‘I’ll just message Rob’, or I walk in and expect his machine to ask if I’ve had a good day, or tell the kids he loves them.
“But in true Rob spirit, he taught us how to live in the moment and make the most of life, and despite his suffering, he showed us how to be positive, how to be brave.
“I feel I owe it to him to continue his legacy. Rob would not want us to be sad all the time.
“He never had any self-pity, he never felt sorry for himself and I am determined to make Rob proud and continue to raise awareness and fundraise for this terrible disease.”
Lindsey says Macy, Maya and Jackson — who is the image of his dad — keep her going every day. “They wake up every morning with beautiful smiles,” she says.
“The children were always at the centre of everything Rob and I did, and they will always be.
“I want to give them the happiest childhood and my job now is to bring them up exactly as Rob would have wanted.”
He still managed to smile right to the very end. He always had that infectious smile and just set an example to us all.
Lindsey Burrow
Asked if she could ever imagine remarrying, Lindsey looks away before saying sadly: “There will never be anyone other than Rob.
“We were childhood sweethearts and had known each other since we were teenagers.
“There’s only one Rob Burrow, isn’t there? They don’t make them like Rob any more.”
- Take Care: A Memoir Of Love, Family & Never Giving Up, by Lindsey Burrow, is published by Century on February 27, priced £22. © Lindsey Burrow 2025.
What is motor neurone disease?
MOTOR neurone disease (MND) is a rare condition that affects the brain and nerves, according to the NHS.
It causes weakness that gets worse over time, and there is currently no cure for MND.
Up to 5,000 adults in the UK are affected by the condition, with one in 300 at risk during their lifetimes, data from Brain Tumour Research states.
It slowly robs patients of the ability to walk, talk and eat, although every sufferer is different.
Celebrities who have been diagnosed with the condition include English rugby league player Rob Burrow and the former Bradford City footballer Stephen Darby, both of whom had to retire from their sporting careers early.
Many people associate motor neurone disease (MND) with the scientist Stephen Hawking, who lived with the condition for more than 50 years.
There are many form of MND, which is an umbrella term. Some have a life expectancy of just a few months, while other forms of the disease don’t affect lifespan.
It is usually diagnosed in people over the age of 50, and men are at more risk than women. But many people outside of this are affected.
Brighton vs Chelsea LIVE SCORE: Kaoru Mitoma scores after OUTRAGEOUS touch as Seagulls take lead against Blues – latest
KAORU MITOMA gave Brighton the lead after a BRILLIANT touch and finish against Chelsea!
The two sides met just six days ago, with Georginio Rutter and Karou Mitoma firing the Seagulls to a 2-1 win in the FA Cup fourth round.
Chelsea will be out for revenge this evening as they look to secure back-to-back wins in the Premier League.
Brighton are looking to end their run of two straight defeats and push up the table towards the European spots.
- Kick off time: 8pm GMT
- TV channel: Sky Sports Main Event
- Live stream: NOW/Sky Sports app
- Brighton team: Verbruggen, Lamptey, Webster, Georginio, Minteh, Welbeck, Baleba, Mitoma, Van Hecke, Veltman, Hinshelwood.
- Chelsea team: Jorgensen, Gusto, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella, Caicedo, Enzo, Madueke, Palmer, Neto, Nkunku.
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Elon Musk to build 100mph ‘Dubai Loop’ mega tunnel to get passengers ANYWHERE they need to go in 6minutes
ELON Musk has announced he will build a mega tunnel loop under Dubai where cars zip along at 100mph and passengers can get anywhere in 6 minutes.
The billionaire tech tycoon unveiled the plans alongside UAE‘s AI minister Omar Al Olama on the final day of the World Governments Summit.
One of his companies has signed a deal to build an ambitious new project that will revolutionise how people travel in the UAE city.
The loop will be constructed by Elon’s The Boring Company – already known for its tunnelling prowess.
Their most famous subterranean system lies beneath Las Vegas, where passengers are shuttled around in Musk’s Tesla vehicles.
Musk was characteristically hyped his newest scheme, and said: “Once people try it out, they’re going to say: ‘Wow, it’s really cool.’ It’s going to seem so obvious in retrospect.”
He said his vision is for a “wormhole” under Dubai, allowing people to go “from one part of the city, boom, and you’re at another part of the city”.
The sprawling tunnel network, called the Dubai Loop, will extend for 17km below ground, and host a fleet of driverless vehicles.
It will shift up to 20,000 passengers each hour from more than 100 stations to major transport hubs and landmarks.
As Dubai’s population continues to bloom, the city is seeking innovative ways of dealing with overcrowding and sustainability.
Transportation is an area particularly groaning under the weight of the thousands of people flooding in each year, so Elon’s project is timely.
Digging down rather than building up is seen as a good way to deal with those considerations.
By ferrying people around underground, the new network will reduce surface congestion – instead of snarling things up further.
And there is another key benefit of the proposal: passengers will be sheltered from the blistering heat and other harsh conditions.
Elon pointed out that everything is much cooler below ground, so passengers won’t be stuck in stuffy, sweltering cabins.
He added: “If you have bad weather, like let’s say there’s a blizzard or a sandstorm, well, now nobody can fly. None of these problems exist with underground travel.”
“We have a demonstration case of this in Las Vegas, connecting the whole city with all of the big hotels and the convention centre, the airport and everything.”
Olama said the project would ease-up Dubai’s “most densely populated areas for people to go from point to point, in a seamless manner”.
He promised that he and Elon would ride in the first pod when the project is completed.
The Dubai government said the deal was a partnership to “study the implementation of the Dubai Loop” – and shared a picture of Dubai’s Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan overseeing the signing of it.
