Rip-Off Britain presenter Angela Rippon features on most of Saturday’s front pages as she was announced as Strictly Come Dancing’s oldest contestant at the age of 78. The TV star admits the prospect is a “scary one” in the Mirror’s write-up. The tabloid’s main story is about Lee Ryan, who in 1995 clinched a £6.5m lotto jackpot and who now works as a decorator doing up a posh home in Chiswick, west London. He tells the paper he is a “spiritual billionaire” and is the happiest he has ever been.
Angela Rippon is pictured again on the Daily Express front page, alongside the tabloid’s lead story on claims that victims of the “state pension injustice” will see some hope after losing out on £1bn worth of payouts. More than 230,000 women are thought to have been underpaid their state pension. King Charles features at the top of the masthead, as he plans to have a quiet moment of reflection a year after his mother died in September, according to the paper.
International students could squeeze out UK applicants to university science courses, according to the lead story in the Times. The paper says a higher share of overseas applicants could be admitted to help cover costs of expensive maths and engineering programmes. Below that, a striking image of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex accompanies claims other celebrities are “cautious” about being seen as close to the couple.
Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker is the main feature on the front of Saturday’s Daily Telegraph as the TV host and former England forward tells the broadsheet he was applauded in his local M&S in Barnes after being briefly suspended by the BBC in March. Elsewhere on the front page, a quirky Matt cartoon pokes fun at Donald Trump’s 2024 election campaign, repeating his previous pledge to build a wall – but with his speech bubble emanating from inside what appears to be a prison.
Comedians share horror stories in Saturday’s Guardian as the paper previews this month’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which got underway on Friday. The paper’s lead story focuses on warnings from experts that England’s childcare sector risks becoming a “playground for private equity”.
Following on from Thursday’s interest rates rise, the lead story in Saturday’s i newspaper is an interview with the Bank of England governor, who says high street banks need to do more to help savers by passing on interest rate increases to their customers. The paper also looks ahead to the Community Shield – often seen as the curtain raiser to the new football league season – as Arsenal look to go one step further with Declan Rice in their ranks.
For the second time this week, Meghan Markle features on the front of the Daily Mail. But what catches the eye at the top of the front page is a huge bumper preview ahead of the new Premier League season, which is due to kick off next week. The lead story focuses on an investigation which alleges Albanian people-smuggling gangs have been providing return journeys from the UK to help criminals escape, using what it describes as “brazen TikTok adverts”.
Finally, the Daily Star’s splash story features Joe Pasquale opening up about being rushed to hospital after being “nearly killed” in a freak accident. The comic needed seven stitches to his leg after impaling himself on the bone of a moose’s antlers in Skegness. Barbie fever continues to dominate cinemas, but the tabloid claims the film is responsible for a different kind of fever… a rise in coronavirus cases, it alleges.
The front pages of Saturday’s newspapers feature a variety of stories, although a few – including the Daily Express – carry an image of Angela Rippon after the TV presenter confirmed she would be taking to the dancefloor for the next series of Strictly Come Dancing.
Elsewhere, answering readers’ questions in the i newspaper, the Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey says high street banks should be doing more to pass on interest rate rises to savers.
Lottery winner Lee Ryan, who scooped the jackpot in 1995, is in the Daily Mirror telling the tabloid about his current life as a painter and decorator working on a home in west London.
Image source, PA Media
Angela Rippon (left) and Amanda Abbington (centre) were announced as contestants on the next series of Strictly Come Dancing.
The Times leads on a warning from experts that middle-class students face losing out on places at top universities because of growing numbers of students from abroad.
On the front of the the Daily Telegraph, it reports on plans for regional gender identity clinics which are being set up by the NHS in England. For the first time, the paper says, a minimum age for referral has been set, at seven years old.
The Daily Mail has carried out an investigation into people smugglers – who it claims are “cashing in twice” – by bringing migrants into Britain, and helping criminals flee across the English Channel.
Finally, the Daily Star features a story from comedian Joe Pasquale who opens up about “narrowly avoiding death” after being impaled by a moose’s antler in Skegness.
