What a sad story! Keen Aussie entertainment news aficionados will recognise Maria Menounos as a long standing celebrity news reporter. Now comes news she has been diagnosed with a brain tumour while her mother is fighting stage 4 brain cancer. Here is Maria in her own words, with news just in on her story:
In this breaking news piece in People magazine - this time, sadly, it's the reporter herself who is in "news just in". Here is the just in cover of People:
The mother of One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson - Johanna Deakin - has died from leukaemia, age just 43. Johannah, a mum of seven and a midwife, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of the blood cancer earlier this year and had been at Sheffield's Royal Hallamshire Hospital since May. In an emotional statement, Johannah's partner Dan, said she would "always look to put other people before herself". "She worked tirelessly on numerous charity campaigns, creating memories for many individuals and their families." Johanna became a grandmother at a young age earlier this year after Louis' ex Briana Jungwirth gave birth to his first child in January. Louis' One Direction bandmates sent their sympathies on Twitter, with Harry Styles remembering Johanna as his second mum.
@Louis_Tomlinson love you bro! All of your family is in my prayers. proud of your strength and know your mum is too x
Louis just performed at the UK edition of 'The X Factor' only days after his mum died, and as you can imagine, it was highly emotional. He sang 'Just Hold On':
Simon Cowell complimented Louis for his courage in performing.
"Louis, I have to say I've known you for six years. The bravery of what you've done. I respect you as an artist, as a person and your mum was so proud of you and she was so excited for the performance. She's looking down on you tonight," Simon said.
Hours before the show was due to start, Tomlinson addressed his 25 million Twitter followers with a brief message.
"All the support has been incredible! Let's do this together tonight."
The hashtag #RIPJohannah has trended worldwide on Twitter, with millions of social media users also sending their sympathies.
'The Bachelorette' Georgia Love has posted a loving tribute to her mother, who has died aged 60. Today, was the funeral for Georgia's beloved mother.
Georgia said on Instagram she is "utterly broken" by the death of mum Belinda, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer just six months ago. The news comes just days after the finale of the show with Love sharing a collage of photos with her mum, remarking how quickly her death came. "7 weeks ago we were sipping cocktails in Italy. 7 months ago you weren't even sick. How is it possible you're no longer here?" she wrote. "Mum, you were my first friend and my best friend, my rock, the one who knew me better than anyone in the world and who supported and backed me through every single thing I did." Here is that post:
Belinda has also called for an increased awareness of pancreatic cancer.
She said she is "so overwhelmed by the huge outpouring of love, support and condolences from all over the world since announcing the devastating news of my beautiful mum's passing.
I'm absolutely amazed by the number of messages I've received from others who've been through or are going through the same heartbreak, let alone from those who are just sending well wishes. Thank you to every single person who has shared even a single thought for me and my family."
Georgia has also used the heartfelt post to draw attention to pancreatic cancer, which her mother suffered from. She wrote "this is an absolutely awful time in our lives and we know the hurt will continue for a long time. But one thing my mum taught me was to believe in paying it forward and that from every negative can come even the slightest positive.
So I hope my family's gut wrenching loss can create some awareness of the brutal disease that is pancreatic cancer and hopefully do some good in helping to find a cure."
Georgia also highlighted November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, and encouraged readers to head to the Pancaresite to donate, with the honourable goal of supporting carers and families of those with the disease.
Her post concluded wing some sobering stats: there is a 7% survival rate for those diagnosed with the cancer. According to Pancare, that equates to a full 2,823 Aussies dying of the disease every year.
The interview with renowned Sydney PR Roxy Jacenko will screen on Sunday next week on '60 Minutes' Australia. A preview clip - where reporter Allison Langdon interviews Roxy on her life and what's been happening of late (with Roxy's husband Oliver Curtis serving time in prison, and Roxy's recent cancer diagnosis) - screened at the end of tonight's program. The clip is below. Roxy is no stranger to the Nine Network - she appeared on the network's 'Celebrity Apprentice' Australia several years ago, and made her mark at the time by stirring controversy with her forthright approach to business. Read more about Roxy's new battle HERE. And here is the trailer for the upcoming 60 Minutes interview:
LOVE this. In an exclusive interview 'The Daily Edition', Geeling Ng, star of David Bowie's 1983 hit video 'China Girl' spoke to the the gorgeous Sally Obermeder and Tom Williams, co-hosts of the show.
Hearing of his death, she said in the interview she was overcome with 'shock', because 'he was such a private person', she told 'The Daily Edition', which screens each weekday on Channel 7.
'I sort of didn’t believe it for a while but obviously it’s true.'
She said she'd been a Bowie fan all her life.
'The first album I ever bought was Ziggy Stardust and Spiders from Mars so to actually meet the man in person I was totally star struck and for once I just couldn’t get any words out. It was quite amazing.
Shannen Doherty is battling breast cancer, she reveals to PEOPLE exclusively. "Yes, I have breast cancer, and I am currently undergoing treatment," the actress said in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE.
"I am continuing to eat right, exercise and stay very positive about my life," she continued. "I am thankful to my family, friends and doctors for their support and, of course, my fans who have stood by me."
Shannen, 44, was forced to disclose the illness after legal documents surfaced on celeb news site TMZ, revealing that she was suing her former business manager for failing to pay her insurance premiums, allowing her health insurance to lapse, during which time she did not receive medical care.
According to the lawsuit, the actress, who is married to photographer Kurt Iswarienko, was first diagnosed in March 2015. She "discovered that she had invasive breast cancer metastatic to at least one lymph node," the lawsuit reveals, and "was informed that her cancer had spread during 2014 (when she was uninsured)."
This is so, SO beautiful. To celebrate his wife Giuliana Rancic's last day at her role as co-anchor of E! News, Bill Rancic penned a beautiful love letter to his wife. Gosh, what a guy!
Bill and Giuliana Rancic: Getty Images
The couple, who have been married for several years, have chronicled their life on the reality TV show 'Giuliana & Bill', and subsequently have been very open about their struggles with fertility (they have since had a beautiful son Duke, who is now age 2), are the modern day version of a loved up and very successful couple, who always have each others' back.
He says in the letter:
"People don't give Giuliana enough credit, she's got a master's degree in journalism, she's brilliant and just gets it," the doting hubby writes in the post titled "Giuliana: Why I'm So Proud." "The rest is history. From that point on, she took control and turned things around. That's what the greats do. They don't hesitate, they just know, it's incredible." Under the heading, 'The Real Giuliana', he says:
A month after we started dating, I was hooked. I got her to come to Chicago and we took a motorcycle ride, but got caught in the rain 30 miles from my house. We were soaking wet, it was an absolute downpour. We parked in some strip mall and I said, “Let’s go in and let’s buy some towels.” She goes, “No, let’s just borrow them.”
We dried off in the store and put the towels back. I understand I’ll probably be getting a bill from Crate & Barrel after telling that story, but it’ll be worth every penny and more, even with interest. I think anyone reading this who’s in love can relate that it was just a moment that was so romantic, funny, and most of all, real!
I said to myself, “Damn, she’s frugal too, a woman after my own heart!” It’s the kind of story that you only see in movies, but I’m telling you, I thought right then and there, “I’m in love.”
Looking back, it was only a special moment because it was with her. That’s love, the person makes the moment, not the other way around.
Giuliana, 40, and her entrepreneur husband Bill, 44 (he won the very first 'The Apprentice' on US TV), alsoreceived praise from her husband on how she has used her public platform and her personal struggles to help others. That, she has done. Read more about that here.
This just in. A petition regarding Belle Gibson has just gone live. Started tonight by Stefanie Spinks, after the '60 Minutes' Belle Gibson interview by Tara Brown, here is what she says:
Belle Gibson is playing us for fools - she fed us false claims of cancer survival, a neglected childhood and the healing powers of organic foods. Now she continues to obtain money off her fraudulent lies - with 60 minutes paying her a reported $45,000 in an interview to air this Sunday.
Countless loved ones have lost their lives to cancer - having fought their honest battle with legitimate grace. But Belle Gibson was a fake who took our honest money to hear her “inspiring story”, promising $300,000 would be donated to cancer charities - but not one charity received a cent from her.
What’s more Belle has managed to avoid being charged by the Victorian Police and now continues to make money off the back of her dishonesty & fraud. It just disgusts me - to promote herself on this falsehood is unthinkable, hurtful and deeply offensive to legitimate cancer sufferers.
By accepting $45,000 for her interview, Belle is sending the message that people can profit off stealing, lying and taking advantage of peoples good intentions.
Belle, it may be impossible for you to undo the damage your lies created, but you can certainly start at charity donations. I am calling on you, Belle Gibson to donate the money received for the 60 minutes interview to cancer research, putting it on public record how sorry you are to those you hurt.
Move over, the Ice Bucket Challenge. A new 'challenge' has arrived.
It's the 'Hold a Coke With Your Boobs Challenge.'
Yup.
Somehow, in this 'message', is the plea for those who upload a video to also donate to Breast Cancer Research Center. Taking off in Europe, behind this YouTube campaign is Elite Talent Referral, an adult entertainment talent scouting agency - but they DO encourage you to donate to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The Breast Cancer Research Foundation reached out to Esquire.com to clarify that the organisation does not support this campaign, does not have any additional information about it on its website, and does plan on accepting any donations from this campaign. You can follow the campaign on Facebook here. And yes… here are the videos:
'Beard Season' is upon us.
Haven't heard about this men's health campaign yet? Well, you will soon.
Thanks to a going-viral clip from this morning's Today show, where Lisa Wilkinson said she "I'll grow a beard, because it's in my genes"(PR GOLD! You can watch the whole clip here) this fantastic campaign is now firmly on our radars… and hopefully, on your man's face!
It's a campaign encouraging men to grow beards is raising awareness of melanoma, and to promote getting your skin checked. What started as a group of friends growing a beard every winter has grown into a national campaign to get Australians to check their skin for melanoma. Founded by friends of Wes Bonny, a 26 year old who died of a melanoma in 2010 - he is this ad, below - Jimmy Niggles is founder and greatest advocate, and has been campaigning ever since to prompt everyone to get their skin checked, one beard at a time. The campaign was started when, at Wes' wake, old farmers at the bar were sporting some "wizard, farmer beards" which got them thinking: "Why don't blokes our age do this?" "Every winter since then our mates have been growing beards and getting their skin checked and then using their beard's to challenge as many people as they can," Niggles said. To get your skin checked go to melanoma.org.au or talk to a qualified health pro on 13 11 20.
So, men: grow your beards!
Says the site Beard Season: Cultivating a fine field of facial follicles is something every man should aspire to, especially when it has the power to save lives. How? Well… Melanoma is one of the deadliest cancers in the world, killing over 46,000 people a year. One of these people was our friend Wes Bonny, who lost his life to melanoma at the age of 26. At his wake a group of us decided to start something to encourage people to have more regular skinchecks - a vital piece of the puzzle when it comes to early detection. Below is a photo of the late Wes Bonny, who appears in the heartbreaking ads for skin cancer (gosh, every time I see this ad it absolutely crushes me to watch his family, and especially his parents, especially right at the end, when you see that the power of no words and grief amongst family can speak volumes):
They continue:
What we started became Beard Season - a non profit charity responsible for a global movement made up of tens of thousands of ambassadors who are helping our message grow stronger with every conversation their beards are helping to sprout. By joining us on this quest your facial fuzz could become the most glorious golden fleece in the universe (especially for those who book a skin check because of it).
So dear friend, it is time to retire your razor and tuck away your trimmer. By summoning the spirits of vikings, lumberjacks and sea captains deep within our chin roots, we can all grow together to make Beard Season be everything it can lusciously be. It would be an honour to have you on board. STEP 2
Get a skin check.
Enter your zip/post code and then select a clinic. (On the site you can choose the clinic closest to you which comes up in the search). Or, simply visit your family GP and make sure they do a thorough examination. Many melanomas are mis-diagnosed so it is important you see a specialist who knows what they are doing.
STEP 3
Spread the word. Your Beard Season mission is use your beard to
convince as many people as possible to book a skin check for melanoma.
We’ve met so many people who have found something
which could have killed them were it not for this friendly advice. It’s
seriously amazing. Start with your family, your friends, people you work with
and especially those people who compliment you on your beard.
To document your journey, take a photo with
everyone you’ve challenged doing the #BeardSeasonPoint, then share your photo
on social media with the hashtag #BeardSeason.
There’ll be parties, prizes and challenges as each
winter unfolds, so stay tuned through social media and let us know how you’re
flying the Beard Season flag (unless of course you’re pioneering unseen
lands beyond the realms of technology, wherein a charcoal sketch on a piece of
rolled parchment in a cork sealed bottle or attached to the leg of a falcon
will do just fine).
Oh and ladies… you’re super
important to Beard Season too.
If you have a man-friend please encourage their
Beard Season exploits. It may be a little prickly at first but it will soon
smooth out into a nice heavenly thicket (or so I’m told). The more confident
your man is with his beard growing skills the more prouldy he will wear it. If you’re single, encourage gentlemen sporting
beards you may spot at the bar with a wink and a chilled scotch. Then harass
him until he has a photo with you – which you will eagerly share and tag us. To
make these photos extra spectacular you could tie your hair under your chin
into what’s now known as the #BeardSeasonBob. Don’t be shy.
It’s all happening folks.
It certainly is. Head to the site (link above) for more. And follow them on Instagram here.
