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Sports

Harry Styles rocks Daniel Ricciardo shirt amid McLaren contract saga

Harry Styles and Daniel Ricciardo.

As Daniel Ricciardo fights to keep his place on the Formula 1 grid, pop music icon Harry Styles has thrown his support behind the Australian driver.

Ricciardo became embroiled in F1’s mid-year silly season following reports he will be replaced by young compatriot Oscar Piastri at McLaren next year.

The news erupted last week after Fernando Alonso blindsided the F1 world when he jumped into Sebastian Vettel’s vacated seat at Aston Martin for 2023.

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Alpine then announced Piastri would be the man to replace Alonso, only for the Melburnian to reject the seat — a bold move for a man who is yet to drive in F1.

Now Ricciardo, who has one year remaining on his contract, has reportedly asked for a $21 million payout from McLaren for the early termination of his contract. The eight-figure payout would clear the way for McLaren to sign Piastri.

Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo and McLaren teammate Lando Norris. Photo by Jure Makovec / AFPSource: AFP

Nothing has gone right for Ricciardo this season – the Perth driver accumulated just 19 points before the mid-season break while McLaren teammate Lando Norris has managed 76.

However, Ricciardo has some high-profile celebrities in his corner.

On Sunday, an image of Styles donning a Daniel Ricciardo shirt circulated social media channels, inevitably sending the F1 community into a frenzy.

According to internet sleuths, the Ricciardo shirt went on sale during last October’s United States Grand Prix in Austin.

Earlier this year, Styles released his third full-length solo album “Harry’s House” to critical acclaim. He will also appear in Olivia Wilde’s upcoming psychological thriller “Don’t Worry Darling” alongside Florence Pugh.

Ricciardo has remained tight-lipped about his future in the sport and doesn’t appear bothered by the ongoing saga.

He is clearly enjoying his mid-season break, posting a photo of himself to Instagram smiling in a swimming pool.

If Piastri does indeed take his place at McLaren, Ricciardo’s most likely landing spot would be Alpine, the French team formerly known as Renault where he spent two seasons in 2019 and 2020.

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Categories
Entertainment

Daniel Andrews’ Olivia Newton-John Gaffe

Daniel Andrews' Olivia Newton-John Gaffe

Victorian Premier Dan Andrews has made an awkward gaffe while posting a tweet announcing a state memorial service for Olivia Newton-John that missed her name.

The iconic Australian singer, who starred in the hit musical Grease, died aged 73 at her home in southern California on Monday, after a long battle with breast cancer.

Ms Newton-John’s death triggered an outpouring of heartfelt condolences from celebrities and fans all over the world and prompted Mr Andrews to offer her family a state memorial service for the star.

“I’m so pleased that Olivia Newton-John’s family have accepted our offer of a State Memorial Service,” Mr Andrews’ official account tweeted.

The spelling error, in which an extra “w” was added to “Newton”, was quickly pointed out by followers who accused the premier of making the service about himself instead of honoring Ms Newton-John.

“It’s Newton NOT Newtown. With the amount we pay for your PR team they could get the spelling right,” one person wrote.

“Her name was Olivia NEWTON John. You’re absolutely embarrassing,” another posted.

Several Twitter users claimed that the error was disrespectful because it allegedly showed a lack of attention to detail.

“At least have the respect to spell her name correctly,” one wrote.

Olivia Newton-John. With respect Premier, please be mindful of the correct spelling,” another advised.

And: “You can’t even get her name right. So much for respect.”

Earlier, Mr Andrews said he spoke to Ms Newton-John’s niece, former Neighbors star, Tottie Goldsmith to discuss plans.

“I can update that I’ve spoken with Tottie Goldsmith this morning and she, on behalf of the family, have accepted my offer of a state service,” he said.

“This will be much more of a concert than a funeral, I think it will be a celebration of such a rich and generous life.

“As I said the other day, Olivia Newton-John was a very special person and to take her cancer journey and to turn that into more research, better treatment, better care and this focus on wellness, is such an amazing legacy and that’s why I think we all feel the pain of her passing.”

Mr Andrews said the family was touched by the Australian public’s outpouring of grief following Ms Newton-John’s death.

“There will be further discussions, those discussions have started today, but there will be further discussions in my department and the family about what’s appropriate,” he said.

“I think giving Melburnians and Victorians and indeed people who travel from other parts of the country and maybe even the world to be here to celebrate such an important, rich and generous life — that was the right thing to do.”

“And I must say, it’s very clear to me the family were quite touched by the prospect of Victorians being able to come together and celebrate Olivia’s life.”

The British-born actor and singer, who moved to Melbourne aged six, identified as Australian and became a devoted advocate for cancer research.

Her family will hold a private funeral for Ms Newton-John in the US – where she has lived for decades.

She is survived by husband John Easterling and daughter Chloe Lattanzi.

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Categories
Entertainment

Olivia Newton-John in flashback photo with Daryl Braithwaite

Olivia Newton-John in flashback photo with Daryl Braithwaite

What are the odds that two of Australia’s biggest music stars attended the same primary school together?

A school photo of the late Olivia Newton-John alongside horses hit maker Daryl Braithwaite has emerged, unearthing the little-known fact the duo attended school together.

Braithwaite, 73, shared the black-and-white class photo taken at Christ Church Grammar School in Melbourne in 1961 – some 15 years before Newton-John shot to global superstardom on grease.

“This is a lovely shot to look back at when Olivia was at (school) with all her friends back in 1961. Olivia is 2nd from the right and 3rd row from the bottom,” Braithwaite wrote.

He added: “She also loved all animals and was a beautiful soul who left a legacy that will last forever.”

Braithwaite has previously opened up about how the duo were briefly “boyfriend and girlfriend” while attending school, before Newton-John moved to London in her teens.

“She was one of the prettiest girls in the class, (we were) 11 or 12 I think,” he told The Morning Show in 2017.

“I don’t know how, we must have sat next to each other and thought, ‘Oh yeah that’s good’ and we were talking and then we held hands and then it was over.”

He further opened up about the pair being school sweethearts in an interview with now to lovein 2020.

“Olivia won’t mind saying that we did start out as boyfriend and girlfriend back when we were around 12 or 13 at the most,” he said.

“We held hands and we were in the same class. But then it all disintegrated. I think she left and went to England. I never actually knew that she could sing at the time.”

At the time, Braithwaite said the old friends were still connecting all these years later.

“It is one of those friendships where there was a decade, or maybe more, where we didn’t speak to each other, mainly because we were too busy or whatever, but over the last year or so I have made more contact with her than ever before, and she is lovely, she really is,” he said.

Newton-John died at her ranch in California on Tuesday aged 73, after a decades-long battle with breast cancer.

She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992. It went into remission but reappeared in 2013 and then again in 2017. At one point she said she was partly in “denial” about the disease, because if she dwelled upon it too much it would mean she wouldn’t “enjoy life”.

Her family, including husband John Easterling and daughter Chloe Lattanzi, have accepted Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ offer of a state funeral to honor her legacy and celebrate her life.

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