The mother-daughter Halloween costume bit isn’t for everyone, but we think twinning is winning! If you’re struggling with ideas on what to dress up as this spooky season, why not cast your eye over some iconic pairings whose looks you can recreate with your little one. We’ve rounded up five iconic duos to dress up […]
The post Twinning is winning! Halloween costume inspiration for mother-daughter duos appeared first on RollerCoaster.
There’s nothing cosier than cuddling up with the kids on the couch to watch a family favourite- and this Sunday October 27 Ireland’s Fittest Family is back- just in time for the winter evenings. Everyone’s favourite celebrity judges Davy Fitzgerald, Anna Geary, Donncha O’Callaghan and Sonia O’Sullivan are back with host Laura Fox to put […]
The post Meet the first families vying to win the title of Ireland’s Fittest Family appeared first on RollerCoaster.
A WOMAN who suffered horrific abuse by the hands of her own father has revealed how she survived her traumatic childhood.
Jeni Haynes, who lives in Australia, shared how she developed over 2,500 personalities to cope with her father’s vile abuse that took place over countless years.
Jeni has opened up to 60 Minutes Australia on how her Dissociative Identity Disorder saved her and got her father convicted of the abuse he made her endure.
She said: “My dad inflicted, chose to inflict severe, sadistic, violent abuse that was completely unavoidable, unescapable and life threatening.
“And he did this, he chose to do this everyday of my entire childhood.”
Jeni took her father, Richard Haynes, to court for repeatedly raping and abusing her as a young girl reports the BBC.
And while Jeni was the only woman in the witness stand that day – the court heard testimonies from six different people.
To cope with the horror of her life, Jeni’s mind came up with an extraordinary way to protect her – creating new identities for her to detach from the pain.
The abuse she suffered was so extreme that Jeni says she developed over 2,500 personalities to cope – including a four-year-old girl called Symphony.
My dad’s abuse was calculated and it was planned. It was deliberate and he enjoyed every minute of it.
Jeni Haynes
It’s believed to be the first case in the world where a victim with diagnosed Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) – or Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) – has testified in their other personalities and secured a conviction.
“We weren’t scared. We had waited such a long time to tell everyone exactly what he did to us and now he couldn’t shut us up,” she said.
Speaking to the Australian TV show, Jeni, now a doctor and author revealed her father was ‘vile’ and made an ‘army‘ of personalities to protect herself and get him convicted for his monstrous crimes.
Jeni and her family moved from Bexleyheath in London to Australia when she was just four, but her father’s abuse had already begun.
The brave woman waived her anonymity rights, as a victim of abuse, so her father could be identified.
“My dad’s abuse was calculated and it was planned. It was deliberate and he enjoyed every minute of it,” Jeni told the court in a victim impact statement.
Jeni was also denied medical care for her injuries from beatings and sexual abuse, which have developed into serious lifelong conditions.
If you suspect a child is being abused or are seeking help for child abuse in the UK, there are several organisations and resources available:
It’s important to take action if you suspect a child is being abused. These organisations can provide guidance on what steps to take and offer the necessary support.
Now aged 54, Jeni has irreparable damage to her eyesight, jaw, bowel, anus and coccyx. These have required extensive surgeries including a colostomy operation in 2011.
The abuse would continue until Jeni was 11, when the family moved back to the UK. Her parents divorced shortly after, in 1984. She believes no-one, not even her mother, was aware of what she was going through.
Jeni first created Symphony, a four-year-old girl who, she says, exists in her own time reality.
She told the BBC he was in fact abusing symphony when he was abusing her.
But then Symphony also created personalities to help her cope with the abuse – thousands of them.
Jeni has revealed that there is one called Muscles – a teenager styled like Billy Idol. He is tall and wears clothes which show off his strong arms. He’s calm and protective.
Volcano who is very tall and strong, and clad from top to toe in black leather. He has bleached blond hair.
Jeni was allowed to testify in court as Symphony as well as five other personalities sharing the different types of abuse she endured – and finally, ten years after reporting the crimes got to see justice be served.
Richard Haynes pleaded guilty to more than two dozen child sexual abuse charges
Jeni sat metres away from her father in court to see him sentenced to 45 years. Haynes, who is suffering from poor health, will serve at least 33 years before he is eligible for parole.
The clip was shared on their TikTok account and was watched by more than 2 million people.
People were moved by Jeni’s story, which left them heartbroken for her.
One person wrote: “God bless you Jeni.”
Another commented: “You are an amazing survivor Jeni. I wish you all the best in your life.”
“Her brain was the only one trying to protect her,” penned a third.
Meanwhile a fourth said: “It’s amazing how the brain tries to protect you as much as it can.”
“The poor poor woman. We truly failed her,” claimed a fifth.
Someone else added: “People need to understand this is real and more than life-impacting. These dear folks need support and understanding all their lives.”
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MARRIED at First sight star Peggy Lawrence has been rushed to hospital as she shares a photo from the urgent care unit.
The 33-year-old captioned the picture which, was posted as a reel, “Happy Monday to me, what am I like,” followed by a sad face emoji.
Although the reality star is yet to reveal why she’s in there, its fair to say that 2024 has been a tumultuous time for the star.
Earlier this year we revealed how the star had ended her relationship with George Berthonneau with whom she was paired on the reality show, after she discovered that he’d been cheating on her.
But George has since denied her claims and maintains that he was faithful throughout.
Peggy, who says she went on the programme to find true love, announced their split on Valentine’s Day this year and relations between the pair quickly soured on social media.
In an explosive new interview with The Sun, Peggy has hit out at her ex after their relationship came crumbling down – and insists it was his decision to split.
She says: “George ended things with me on the 30th January so for him to come out and say he was blindsided by my Instagram post is a load of rubbish.
“I wasn’t going to say anything about what he put me through but enough is enough and everyone deserves to know the truth.
“I never wanted to do a story about our relationship. I wanted to remain dignified but after he made up all that rubbish about me, I just want everyone to know the truth. I was heartbroken.”
Georges denies being unfaithful, with a source close to him saying he didn’t split with Peggy and “she just presumed”.
Peggy claims she first thought he was cheating in December of last year when he took his ex-girlfriend to an event – and pretended she was one of his male friends.
Shortly afterwards he took her to Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland, but it was when he went to a Christmas party without Peggy, that she started to grow really suspicious.
She explains: “Every time I’m out he tells me ‘you must message me when you’re home.’ This night he never messaged me to say he was back at the hotel.
“I said ‘shall I meet you at the hotel’ and he was like, no, no, no I won’t be back until late’. He messaged me the next morning apologising that he didn’t message me.
“He denied spending the night with her. I was crying my eyes out.
“At this point I didn’t know it was his ex-girlfriend!”
A few days later Peggy confronted him about it, and he admitted he had slept with the woman in the past.
“The anxiety of it all was impacting my mental health so I had to ask him what was wrong. He wasn’t messaging me back and was distant,” she says.
“Georges tells me he’s unhappy. I asked him ‘are you happy with us and our relationship? And he said ‘I don’t know’ it was him saying no. It was like a dagger to my heart and I said this to him on the phone to the point where I had to call him back because I was upset.”
She says he refused to see her after that and told his friends and family it was over – something he denies.
Peggy is still coming to terms with the split and admits: “I don’t have time to waste. I want a family and I want to get married.”
A WOMAN has revealed that she quit her job and moved full time into a van after her mental health took a turn for the worse.
Emily loves living in her tiny camper-van, but freezing winter temperatures and a lack of space means that it can sometimes be a struggle.
Just a year and a half ago, Emily was a teacher in a primary school, but she said that the job completely drained her mental health.
“It was the worst it had ever been in my entire life”, she said.
She decided to switch careers, and after gaining a yoga qualification, set up her own company, and began to teach classes.
However, her yoga teaching job doesn’t pay as much, so in order to sustain her lifestyle, she decided to ditch the apartment she shared with her husband, and buy a van.
Despite the small space, Emily, who shares the van with her dog Remy, said that she doesn’t feel like she’s missing out on anything that she used to have in her apartment.
“We had so many pots and pans we never used, and now we have one pot and one pan, and it’s everything we need”, she told the Tiny Home Tours YouTube channel.
Emily’s husband occasionally lives with her in the camper-van, but mostly lives in his car, as he travels around in his job as a mountaineering guide.
The van was £8,800 off Facebook Marketplace, and had previously only been used for hunting, meaning that it was in a great condition.
Emily then spent £3800 renovating it and turning it into her dream van.
When she first moved into her new home, back in January, the weather was freezing, and she struggled to stay warm.
However, she now has a propane heater that keeps her toasty all throughout the winte.
To power the appliances in the van, Emily has installed solar panels on the roof, meaning that her van is able to run off grid.
And despite her bed being much smaller than the one she used to have in her apartment, Emily said that it is the most comfortable mattress she has ever had.
IF you are looking to live in a van to save money or travel, you'll be pleased to know that there are no UK laws stopping you.
However, you must ensure your vehicle has passed its MOT and is fully road legal.
There could also be restrictions on where you can park up to sleep in your van.
For example, local authorities place restrictions on certain streets or lay-bys, and you could be fined if you spend the night there.
It could also be unsafe to stop in certain locations, particularly at night-time.
Check the The Highway Code guide for guidance.
“I sleep better here than I have ever slept anywhere”, she said.
She added that her van even has a skylight in it, which has allowed her to see the Northern Lights whilst lying in bed.
Emily said that she has been criticised for having a dog living with her in the van, but she insisted that Remy leads a happy lifestyle.
“She spends most of her time outside and is running around the woods”, she said.
Emily said that her change of lifestyle has allowed her to become much happier, meaning that she has the energy to try and make other people feel happier as well.
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EMILY Atack made her return for TV for her first daytime interview since giving birth.
The actress, who gave birth to son Barney in June with her scientist boyfriend Dr Alistair Garner, joined Loose Women on Monday.
Emily, 34, opened up about life as a new mum and said she “can’t look at him without sobbing”.
She told the panel: “I’m not going to be a perfect parent, there’s no such thing as a perfect parent.
“But this is my chance, there is so many more reasons that I’m going to keep campaigning, I want my son to grow up in a world where women are treated better.
“But thinking about it now, when he’s going to get his first girlfriend or boyfriend ‘no he’s mine’.
“It’s my chance to educate in the best way I can, I won’t get it perfect all the time.
“I think I’ll be a good mum, I’m a good mum.
“I love him so much.
“The other day I looked at him and my partner in bed and I was going off to promote Rivals and I was like ‘life doesn’t get better than this’.”
The actress goes totally naked as she plays tennis in the sexy show Rivals, now airing on Disney+.
It’s an adaption of Dame Jilly Cooper‘s award-winning novel focusing on the ruthless world of independent TV in 1986.
“We all had so much fun doing it, the world needs this at the moment, it’s escapism,” she said on the ITV show.
She shared: “I read the script and obviously they said there was going to be a lot of nudity and I said ‘Disney, there’s no way on earth you’re going to get be playing tennis’, it was the best job I’ve done in my life.”
Coleen Nolan asked if she was nervous about the sex scenes, with the star replying: “I was fine with it, it’s so funny, people always go ‘you need to pick a lane and say you can’t play these kind of roles but also campaign against sexual violence against women.
“People think you can’t do both.
“I’m really trying to hammer this message home, yes you can, I’m exactly where I’m meant to be in a professional environment, obviously in the past it wasn’t always that way but we have intimacy coordinators, it’s heavily choreographed and we’re all having a very nice time, because we’re professional and safe.”
In the fictional county of Rutshire, a long-standing rivalry between a Tory Member of Parliament and the controller of Corinium Television is about to boil over – with shocking consequences.
The show stars a whole host of British TV favourites, including former EastEnders star Danny Dyer, Doctor Who’s David Tennant and Skins heartthrob Luke Pasqualino.
Episode one of Rivals opens with Alex Hassell‘s character Rupert Campbell Black having a loud, passionate romp on board the iconic Concorde.
Later he’s seen with Inbetweeners star Emily‘s character Sarah Stratton who strips off for a game of naked tennis with Rupert.
While clever camera angles are used to protect Emily’s modesty, Hassell bares all for the racy scene.
It’s one of the sauciest moments of the cheeky eight-parter.
Emily — better known as Charlotte in The Inbetweeners — is married to Deputy Prime Minister Paul Stratton, but is also having a good knockabout with the central character, Tory MP Rupert Campbell-Black, played by Alex Hassell.
Though he’s naked too, when visitors turn up at his mansion, he doesn’t cover up like Sarah.
Instead, he stands there proudly holding his racket and demands to know: “Who the f* are you and why are you here?”
The sex continues as a five-minute saucy montage sees Decland and Maude, played by Aidan Turner and Victoria Smurfitt, have loud sex after an argument.
Their kids – who can hear their frolicking – turn up the music to drown out their bonk against the dresser.
TAYLOR Swift has revealed massive news regarding what she’ll do for the conclusion of her iconic Eras Tour.
The 14-time Grammy winner revealed her next career move as part of an exclusive announcement on Good Morning America last week.
Swift shared that she will be become an author to the surprise of fans.
The So Long, London singer will officially release her career’s very first book.
Swift’s book will be about the Eras Tour, which she calls “the most wonderous tour of her life.
It will feature 256 pages of never-before-seen photos from the tour and “stories and memories from Taylor herself.”
Swift will also release physical copies of the complete anthology of her popular album The Torture Poets Department.
The two products will be Target exclusives and available for fans to order beginning on Black Friday.
The ABC morning program broadcast GMA gave Swifties the excitement on Tuesday morning as they teased “the announcement from the popstar turning the page on a new era.”
The news comes after years in which fans begged the musician to release a book.
The Eras Tour is reported as the highest-grossing concert tour of all time, garnering more than $1 billion in ticket sales.
Swift has been performing the Eras Tour for the last year across the globe.
Early this year, she performed in Japan and quickly flew to Las Vegas to watch her boyfriend and NFL star Travis Kelce play in the Super Bowl.
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end has returned the favor and has appeared at numerous Swift concerts, including a London leg during the summer.
She appeared at 13 Chiefs games last year after her relationship with Kelce started last summer.
Swift has been to three Chiefs games this season.
Over the weekend, Swift performed her Eras Tour in Miami.
She will perform in New Orleans, Indianapolis, Toronto, and Vancouver before ending the tour on December 8.
Kelce, meanwhile, played in the Chiefs’ Week 7 game versus the San Francisco 49ers.
Kansas City won the rematch of February’s Super Bowl as they remain undefeated at 6-0.
Kelce posted just four receptions for 17 yards in the contest.
His underwhelming performance comes after recording nine receptions for 70 in the Chiefs’ Week 5 victory over the New Orleans Saints
Swift was in attendance at the Monday Night Football Matchup.
A MUM claims to have crossed the gates of heaven after she slipped into a coma following a horrifying near-death experience.
Amber Cavanagh loved her moment on the “other side” so much that she no longer fears death.
“I looked like the best version of myself and had everyone I had ever loved that was no longer with us around me – including my childhood dogs,” she said.
The 43-year-old was watching a film with her family when she suddenly developed an “excruciating” migraine.
She had taken herself to bed before she woke up a few hours later completely paralysed and blind in one eye.
Terrified, she banged on the wall to alert her husband, Michael, 41, who immediately called for an ambulance, rushing her to hospital.
At first, she thought the whole ordeal in December 2021 was a “dream”.
But as she arrived at the hospital, reality set in.
The mum-of-two, who was semi-conscious, was suffering from a double stroke and intense brain bleed.
A stroke is a very serious condition where the blood supply to part of your brain is cut off.
To stop the bleeding, she was given a blood-clotting drug with a 50 per cent survival rate due to its intense effects on the body.
Sadly, this didn’t work and she was life-flighted to another hospital nearby for emergency brain surgery.
But throughout all of this, her family assumed she couldn’t hear them – but she could, leaving Amber “petrified”.
She said: “It was horrific.
“It was looking more than likely that I was going to die.
“I heard the nurses tell my kids: ‘Say everything you want now to your mum, as you probably won’t see her again.’
“I was literally scared to death, and I was non-verbal, everyone thought I was just mumbling in a state of unconsciousness.
“When really, I was trying to talk to them to find out what was going on.
A near death experience (NDE) is classified as a life-transforming experience that can occur under extreme conditions in which no sensory experiences should be possible, medics at the University of Virginia state.
These conditions could include trauma, ceasing of brain activity, deep general anaesthesia or cardiac arrest, they said.
These experiences can differ from one person to another and in many cases, the experts said patients having an NDE will feel very comfortable and free of pain.
You might also experience a sensation of leaving the body, with some being able to see their physical body while floating above it.
Others may experience their mind functioning more clearly and rapidly than usual
“I heard everyone saying their goodbyes and crying, not knowing I was still in there.
“It’s still, to this day, one of the most terrifying things I have ever experienced.”
While in the helicopter, she recalls taking one last glimpse at the sun before shutting her eyes.
When opening them again, she was in another dimension.
Amber said: “I could see my physical body beneath me, but I could also see my kids being driven by their grandparents to the hospital.
“I could see my husband weeping over my body.
“There was no going toward the light, or people calling me – I was just watching over everything and everyone.
“It sounds bad, but I wasn’t scared for my family, as I knew everything was going to be OK.
“There was no who, what, why, when or where to answer anymore, I just knew everything.
“Around me was an incredible garden, where I could really feel the grass beneath my feet.
“Then, I saw all my loved ones to the right, every version of me; past, present and future to the left and my guides stood right in front of me.
“I spoke telepathically to everyone, including my nan and grandma.
“Even my dogs from childhood surrounded me. I could touch them, but I didn’t as that wasn’t why I was there.
“But there was such a deep-rooted feeling of pure comfort.
“Knowing I had to leave this place that had an overwhelming glow of loving light was so difficult.”
A WOMAN claims to have gone to heaven and met God as she slipped in a coma following a horrifying near-death experience.
Mariandree Cárdenas was working from home one day when she felt her throat start to close up and began choking.
Her hands began twitching and she felt like her face was “falling asleep”.
Mariandree realised she could no longer speak.
She managed to text her mother and brother for help, who rushed over and found her unconscious.
The 24-year-old – who was diagnosed with severe asthma as a child – was taken to hospital, where doctors were forced to intubate her and later place her in a coma.
As her body lay unconscious in her hospital bed, Mariandree claimed her mind was far from quiet.
“I couldn’t hear almost anything anymore and my body no longer responded,” Mariandree, a graphic designer, told What’s The Jam.
“The last thing I heard was a nurse or doctor say the phrase ‘she left us’.
“And in the blink of an eye I stopped being on Earth and appeared somewhere else.”
Amber says her guides told her about the two outcomes.
If she stayed, her family would suffer and they would have to overcome the intense grief of losing her so soon.
But if she returned to her physical body, she would face a gruelling recovery journey – and would regret the decision.
However, she knew her time wasn’t up yet.
Amber closed her eyes and suddenly, she was back in her own body again.
For the next two weeks, she remained in hospital, but medics were adamant she would need to be in care for the rest of her life.
Miraculously, the mum was talking and moving within hours.
She said: “They still don’t understand it.
“My doctor says I’m his ‘miraculous patient’ as I didn’t even need the surgery as they planned.
“Yes, there was a lot of damage to my body and brain, but I was alive – and that was the main thing.”
Over the course of 10 weeks, she had to relearn all her basic functions, including how to walk, talk and eat.
Now, while she’s still numb in the right side of her body, life has gone back to somewhat normal again.
However, her experience has taught her a valuable lesson and it’s changed her outlook on life.
Amber hopes her story will help people feel less afraid of dying and help us realise that we’re never truly alone.
“On the other side, there’s a squad of loved ones cheering us on every day,” she said.
Since the experience, Amber and her family re “much closer” and don’t take life “as seriously.”
She said: “It’s made me appreciate the beauty of life and has given me a new perspective.
“I am human, so I’m fearful I will have another stroke again, but I’m not afraid of dying anymore.
“I do worry I’ll leave my kids too soon, as they’ve been through enough and I want to see them grow up.
“But it’s something I’ll never regret going through, it’s given me a chance to grieve the old me and welcome this new chapter.
“I’ve found that life is school, but that place is home – I’ve been given the gift of seeing my life from a completely different view point.
“Sometimes, when I’m having a tough day, I’ll close my eyes and remember feeling the grass under my feet.
“I question then if I made the right decision, but I know I was given the choice to spread the message that we’re all here for a reason.”
SONIC X Shadow Generations felt like a game that was created specifically with me in mind.
The original Sonic Generations is my favourite 3D Sonic game, and one of the few that managed to capture the innovation and joy of the 2D Mega Drive games.
Each stage in Sonic Generations is based on a fan-favourite level from another Sonic game, such as Green Hill Zone, Chemical Plant Zone, and City Escape.
They each have a ‘classic’ and ‘modern’ reimagining as well as eight challenge levels providing plenty of variety.
Challenges are very diverse, and you can grab special power ups, have one of Sonic’s friends to help out, take part in a no-hit challenge, among many more types.
There were also great upgrades for going above and beyond, including new abilities and skills you could equip for fully completing levels and challenges.
I say all of this because Shadow Generations has none of these things, and it feels like the developers fundamentally misunderstood what made the original Sonic game so good.
Firstly, there is no ‘classic’ Shadow. All of the levels are in the ‘modern’ style and there are only six of them.
During the main story there are also only two challenge levels per stage, and you have to beat all of them to complete the game.
The hub world is also in 3D instead of the original’s 2D, I assume in an effort to capture the magic from Sonic Frontiers.
However, there is a lot of verticality in the level and Shadow is far more unpredictable than Sonic to control.
Add to that his new powers which are equally unwieldy, and the buggy nature where you clip through the floor, and it’s intensely frustrating to navigate.
There is no real reward for pushing yourself to fully complete levels. You can unlock some art and music tracks, but it doesn’t give you any skills to make Shadow easier to control.
Compared to Sonic, his movement is very slippery, and you’ll often overshoot your mark or skid over platforms.
This wouldn’t be so much of a problem if the levels were well designed, but unlike Sonic Generations, there are few fail safes if you fall off the edge.
Sonic levels are built with verticality and alternate paths, but if Shadow falls off, it’s usually back to the last checkpoint.
In Sonic Generations you face Shadow a few times, and in Shadow Generations it makes you think you’ll face off against Sonic too.
However, these are just fake outs, as you simply watch those levels play out with no control over Shadow.
Shadow Generations takes just three to four hours to complete and feels completely underwhelming.
There are also no levels from Shadow’s main game, Shadow the Hedgehog, to unlock. There aren’t even any levels based on levels from Shadow the Hedgehog.
In the original Generations you could unlock the entirety of Sonic the Hedgehog, which was a delightful bonus for your hard work.
This has been stripped from the remaster, removing one of the things that made Sonic Generations so special.
Sonic Generations is still a great game, but the changes made in the remaster feel all over the place.
The removal of Sonic the Hedgehog is the worst of these, but others feel like no thought went into them.
There are cute Chao hidden in every level, and fans have begged for the return of Chao Garden.
But the Chao just float around near the levels and you can’t really interact with them.
The removal of lives would have been a great change, but then they couldn’t even be bothered to remove the extra lives skills from the Skill Shop.
This makes the balancing of the points you receive completely uneven, and you can unlock all the other skills as soon as you get them.
Overall, Shadow Generations is a huge disappointment, with Shadow’s new story being short, frustrating, and completely missing the point of the original.
Sonic Generations is still a great game, but if you’ve played the original, then you can definitely skip this release.
If you want to read more game reviews, check out our Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred review.
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