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The Duchess of Cambridge champions NHS wearing baby blue Tabitha Webb knit for latest virtual appearance

The Duchess has made an apparently seamless transition into her WFH wardrobe




in

I'm dreaming about swimming - the sense of power and peace

"Before lockdown I took swimming for granted. I didn't understand how much I'd miss it"




in

How to have 35 days off next year using just 15 days annual leave

We're already dreaming about our 2021 holidays




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Take it outside: the tech to bring your office to your garden

The smart gadgets you need to WFG




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Met Gala 2020: Vogue is hosting the first-ever virtual Met Gala on YouTube tonight

The online event will feature a DJ set by fashion favourite, Virgil Abloh




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Zoom-worthy bling: the 2020 jewellery trends to try now

With waist-up fashion high on the agenda, nailing the jewellery game is your one-way ticket to conference call chic




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Use mouthwash and floss before cleaning your teeth, says viral TikTok video - and experts agree

You've been doing it all wrong




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Outstanding Stays: RAAS Devigarh, Rajasthan

We could all do with a strong dose of escapism right now, so each week we'll be highlighting a banging boutique to bookmark for when the world presses play again




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Normal People ending: How the show's conclusion compares with the book

*Spoilers ahead* Don't go any further if you haven't finished Normal People yet...




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Suffering from a UTI? You can now diagnose it and receive treatment at home using your smartphone

Receive a test and treatment in the same day




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Aldi is looking for wine tasters to sample bottles for free

Where can we sign up?




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Forget banana bread: why we're turning to peanut butter in a time of crisis

Sales are soaring and recipes are going viral. We're going nuts for peanut butter, says Laura Hampson




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Daniel Radcliffe to narrate first chapter of Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone in new series

David Beckham, Dakota Fanning and Eddie Redmayne will also narrate chapters of the first book




in

Fake news in Covid-19: how misinformation is spreading online during the pandemic

During this pandemic, fake news has spread as fast as the virus itself. Amelia Heathman investigates why




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Facials in a box: the step-by-step salon skincare you can order to your door

An ideal way to glow from home




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Connell's chain: Normal People's protagonist has kicked off a major men's jewellery trend

Don't pretend you didn't notice it: that whisper-thin necklace glinting against Connell's chest




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Peanut raises £9.6 million to fund its mission to become the leading social network for women

The app now counts 1.6 million users




in

How to ace a virtual job interview, according to a career coach

Networking and expanding job opportunities during lockdown is easier than you think. Laura Hampson speaks to career coach and consultant, Hannah Salton to see how it's done




in

Has Heinz created the most frustrating jigsaw puzzle ever?

Heinz release jigsaw with all pieces coloured in its signature red hue




in

The 10 vintage Chanel pieces to buy now in the FarFetch sale

*Rushes to find purse*




in

Apps for parents: track feeding times and connect with other parents with these smart apps

Log on to lockdown lifelines for parents




in

Why you need Vitamin C in your quarantine skincare regime

It's a wonder ingredient – and not just for fending off illness




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Your ultimate guide to parenting in lockdown by the Scummy Mummies

Ellie Gibson and Helen Thorn from Scummy Mummies podcast give us their sage - and realistic - advice...




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Ruby Wax on mindfulness, mantras and virtually connecting in lockdown

'Practising mindfulness is like going to a gym, you have to exercise the muscle and it works with anxiety'




in

Reach for the stars to support midwives in this star jump challenge

Time to get moving again




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4 flat shoe styles to WFH in now

Ditch the slippers, your feet deserve better




in

The rainbow jewellery under £100 guaranteed to brighten your mood

These snazzy steals are guaranteed smile-inducers




in

Book review: Humankind by Rutger Bregman​

If only everyone was kinder we would all reap rewards




in

Book review: Looking for Eliza by Leaf Arbuthnot

A widow, a millennial and a cup of Lapsang tea




in

It's time to make do and mend: why now is the time to start sewing

Don't buy new — stitch it. Vicky Frost has a guide to becoming a sewing machine




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A ray of sunshine: where to get the Duchess of Cambridge's summer-ready look

It's time to embrace yellow




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A definitive guide to the books and literary references in Normal People

In a story about the challenges of communication, the characters in Normal People often find solace in reading




in

The best stretches and exercises for back pain, according to a physio

How to look after your body physically while WFH




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How to make your own VE Day bunting at home

Transform your home with these festive decorations




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What's the 100k in May challenge and how do I sign up?

It's not too late to join




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Best independent online wine delivery in London

London's wine shops and bars have shifted their booze online to beat the crippling financial effects of coronavirus. Abbie Moulton on the new way to drink responsibly...




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Intermittent fasting: everything you need to know

Think time-restricted eating is just another diet trend? Think again...




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Gyms 'may stay closed until autumn,' as industry body publishes guidelines for fitness studios to open safely

A ban on sweat towels could be introduced under new guidelines from ukactive




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Michelle Obama explains how her fashion has changed since leaving the White House in Netflix's Becoming film

The former First Lady has always been a believer that being highly educated and having an interest in high fashion don't have to be mutually exclusive




in

Happity at home: the platform keeping toddlers entertained with live-streamed classes

From learning Spanish to playing music, Happity is helping to keep toddlers occupied at home




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Outstanding Stays: Can Bordoy, Palma

We could all do with a strong dose of escapism right now, so each week we'll be highlighting a banging boutique to bookmark for when the world presses play again




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Women's running hats: should you wear a hat while working out?

Work up a sweat while protecting your locks




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Watch this exclusive performance of If The World Was Ending with JP Saxe and hear the love story behind it

For the latest episode of At Home With...JP Saxe opens up about his song with girlfriend Julia Michaels and challenges Amira Hashish to sing her verse of If The World Was Ending




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10 cookbooks the ES team has been using religiously during lockdown

From Ayurvedic cooking to traybake heroes, these are the cookbooks we've turned to over the last seven weeks




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Motsi Mabuse: ‘People didn't expect black people in ballgowns’

Strictly’s newest judge learned to stick up for herself in apartheid-era South Africa. She talks racism, the ‘rift’ with her sister Oti – and learning to dance amid knife fights

Motsi Mabuse is remembering the rough dance halls of apartheid-era South Africa and the shocking sights she would see as she took her first tentative steps across their floors. “When we had competitions,” she says, “we didn’t have security and people would be drunk and starting fights. We were just kids and we’d watch people with knives running through while we were in the middle of a routine. Compared to that, Strictly isn’t so difficult.”

Mabuse, the newest judge on Strictly Come Dancing, first fell for the glitterball world at the age of nine after watching couples waltz, swing and cha-cha-cha while on holiday in Durban. “What I love about my parents is that they didn’t say: ‘Oh, you can’t do that.’ They found a way. But we had a lot of backlash, being the only black kids. People would laugh at us and call us names. We were bullied, but we just kept on coming back – and then we beat them.”

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Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special 2019 – live

Merry Christmas, glitterati! It’s a cracker of a lineup, but who will win that most sparkling of festive prizes, the Silver Star? Join us to find out

Afternoon all, hope you’re having a lovely Christmas day.

There’s no official liveblog for today’s Strictly Christmas special, but we’ve opened a blog so you can add your special brand of festive sparkle in the comments below. It’s a Christmas cracker of a lineup, featuring lots of our favourites from previous years – Chizzy Akudolu, Debbie McGee, Gemma Atkinson, Joe Sugg, Mark Wright and Richard Arnold. It’s also very much a couples’ choice – both Gemma and Joe will be dancing with their real-life partners Gorka and Dianne, which is all rather lovely.

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Having a laugh: is this the end for clowning?

The massive popularity of horror films like Joker and It have been a real downer for happy, family clowns. Mark Wilding hears how the entertainers are fighting back

In the corner of Matthew Indge’s kitchen is a photograph of the entertainer Kerby Drill. For many years, Drill was both a clown and a comic voice of authority. He toured the nation’s schools and appeared on television shows, often promoting road safety, until he passed away last year, aged 97. Indge describes him as his “clown hero”, but he recognises that Drill represents a very different era of clowning. “The truth is,” Indge says, “these days, I don’t know if kids are going to listen to a clown saying be careful on the road.”

Indge has been clowning for 32 years, since he was eight years old. In a way that wasn’t necessary for Drill, Indge must now take steps to prove to his audiences that he doesn’t represent a dark and sinister threat. When we meet, he’s preparing for a performance as Zaz the Clown at a five-year-old’s birthday party, and “just to save me any problems,” he says, “I’ll make up in front of the kids” – an attempt to provide reassurance that there’s a benign performer behind the mask.

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Tune-free pop and the new Katie Hopkins: our 2020 celebrity predictions

What does our crystal ball say the new year will bring for celebs? Sex tapes, terrible singing and off-the-cuff sofa jokes that ignite the far right. Sounds great!

There are two ways to spend New Year’s Eve, as best as I can tell: you either dirty the floor of a house party and spend the smallest of the small hours running desperately out of drinkable alcohol until you realise it’s 7am and the sun is up and you just watched yourself pour Pepsi Max into half a cup of Bailey’s until they both curdled into a sort of vomitty pâté; or you watched Jools at home with a blanket over your legs, in bed with your teeth brushed by 10 past 12. You get absolutely zero points for guessing which one of the two I saw the new year in with. My body is still shaking.

Fair to say, too, that celebrities have yet to emerge blinkingly into the new decade. In the Christmas lull, the famous go into one of two modes of hibernation: either posting a succession of matching-pyjama family selfies in million-pound mansions that are identically decorated with plush beige carpets and tasteful but anonymous tonal greys; or going on holiday somewhere unthinkably lush and posting: “How’s the weather back home!” while sizzling in a hammock over aquamarine Maldivian waters. What I am saying is that there is no news, all right, and we can’t spend 1,200 words having a go at Cats again, so we simply have to preview the year 2020 and have a stab at guessing what the world of fame has for us. Is it a cop-out? Or is it actually quite a decent effort for someone who still has “brandy” in his system and who many doctors would advise shouldn’t be sitting upright at this still-early stage in his hangover? Well exactly. Let’s get on with it.

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Dancing on Ice’s first same-sex partnership is a milestone we should celebrate

H from Steps brought tears to the judges’ eyes with his performance. Now, more than ever, we must cherish these moments of LGBTQ visibility

One of the most peculiar aspects of realising that you are LGBTQ is the loneliness. Your immediate family is unlikely to belong to the minority you may feel you have been arbitrarily parachuted into. You may be fortunate that they have supportive attitudes; many are not. The odds are that you have heard derogatory terms about LGBTQ people thrown around the playground not once or twice but like confetti. On TV and film screens, on advertising billboards, in magazines and in books, society’s expectations about settling down with someone of a different gender will bellow at you. You may struggle to come out to yourself, let alone anyone else, and fear judgment and rejection.

That is why major cultural events, such as the first same-sex performance on ITV’s Dancing on Ice last night, are so important: they can be lifelines for the closeted, whether they are aged 13 or 78. Acceptance for LGBTQ people struggling with their sexuality is like water to a sponge: anything that showcases and values our existence has a profound impact. That’s why H from Steps – one half of the couple – told the judges that it was emotional, in part because “it means so much to so many people and the world is ready for this”. It’s why the actor John Barrowman broke down in tears “because of seeing two men who represent someone who is like me and to skate as well as you did”. What’s all the fuss, the usual suspects will cry, but it matters precisely because society, and particularly currently emboldened bigots, makes such a fuss about anyone who deviates from a heterosexual norm.

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Netflix is reducing streaming quality amid coronavirus. How will it affect viewing in Australia?

Netflix is cutting down traffic to ease internet capacity as more people work from home. Here’s what it means for Australians’ streaming experience

Netflix has agreed to reduce the data it uses to stream movies and TV shows across Australia as more and more people are working from home due to the coronavirus shutdown. But what will it mean for your viewing habits while you’re staying at home?

Related: Australian government asks Netflix and Stan to reduce data to avoid broadband overload

Related: As cinemas go dark, the film industry may go straight to Netflix

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