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Real Life

‘NO ONE REALLY UNDERSTANDS THE PRESSURE OF BEING A YOUNG FOOTBALLER’

In 2018, a then 19-year-old Joel Whittingham walks into the Wolverhampton Wanderers offices awaiting the verdict of his contract extension. As he approaches the managerial quarters, he notices his peers looking dishevelled as they exit the area. Upon stepping in, he finds out the team – the family – that he had been a part of […]

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Real Life

‘SEE THE PEOPLE YOU TRUST LOSE TRUST IN EACH OTHER IS SOUL CRUSHING’

Walking back home from school, a then 14-year-old Arun Tagger sees his door fly open. A number of bags and a phone rocket out of it – shortly thereafter, his dad. Arun rushes to his mum, frantically trying to find out what’s happening. His mum points at his dad and says a single word that changes him forever. “Cheater”… 

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Health Real Life

‘Autism has made who I am today, I’d be worse off without it’

It’s A-Level results day, 2019. Callum Redding enters the hall, waiting timidly for his results to be given to him. As he opens the envelope, he begins to panic – thoughts of his dad and his partner ridiculing him of his autism plagued his mind. But all of those negative thoughts disappeared as soon as he saw that he had received the highest possible grades in his course… 

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Real Life

‘when I look into my daughter’s eyes – I see her dead mother’

After tucking his then 1-year-old daughter, Shanice Powell, into bed, Remaeo Powell leaves the room and takes a seat on the sofa. As he sits, he places his elbows on his knees and his hands on his head. Tears begin to flow down his arms. While this a celebration of his daughter’s life – it is one celebrated without her mother due to her passing at her birth…

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Opinions

How to master the art of letting go

And not be haunted by things from our past Do you ever get flashbacks of things that you have done or said in the past, and you are so embarrassed that it makes you physically cringe? Me too. ALL. THE. TIME. You can just be going about your day, when something completely random will trigger […]

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Entertainment Health Opinions

7 signs you’re in a toxic relationship

1.THE DOUBLE STANDARD– They will  tear you down for your decision making. Something as small as deciding to go on a night out. Yet, they will make similar decisions, proving you are not equals in the relationship…

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Health Real Life

‘People hated me because I blurred the lines of gender’

Sam Cutbush, 21, from Essex, has always faced brutal judgment on his gender identity. Sam  discusses with Claudia Montague the relentless harassment he faced, causing lifelong damage to his mental health. Sam, aged eight, happily walked back from his friend’s fancy dress party with his mum, excitably dancing along the road in his pink and […]

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Real Life

‘I will forgive, but never forget what Dad done’

Teacher, Georgina Banks, 25, often reflects on her upsetting childhood. She discusses with Claudia Montague the chaotic relationship with her father, and her struggle to forgive his ultimate betrayal from over 20 years ago. Georgina stared intensely at the letter in front of her. She re-read every word with careful inspection. The letter was addressed […]

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Health

‘Mum was completely ripped away from us’

As a probation officer, Natasha Bristow, hears about crime daily. But the crime that haunts her, is the tragic death of her mum, at the hands of a reckless man. She tells Claudia Montague her heart-wrenching story. Natasha stared at the dark, tattered box placed neatly on her bed. It was a habit she had […]

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Health

‘As I got older, I got used to it – their hits didn’t hurt anymore’

19-year-old *Ethan Hart tells Millie Steptoe of the abuse he suffered throughout his childhood at the hands of his parents and how he was forced to be independent from a young age in order to survive and to become successful in his life. ‘Get me some water’ Ethan’s dad asked him when he came home from work […]