Lenny Rush, the Bafta-winning child actor, is set to make history as the first child presenter of the BBC’s charity fundraiser for Children in Need on Friday night. Rush, 14, who has a form of dwarfism known as Spondyloepiphyseal Dysplasia congenita (Harry Potter actor Warwick Davis has the same condition), started off his acting career with a number of appearances in children’s television, including CBeebies series Apple Tree House and CBBC’s Dodger and The Dumping Ground – the latter of which is an expansion of the Tracy Beaker franchise. He's also worked on a few productions by writer Jack Thorne, including on his retelling of A Christmas Carol at London’s Old Vic Theatre and his BBC series Best Interests. Rush is an award winner, too, having won the gong for best male comedy performance in Daisy May Cooper’s Am I Being Unreasonable?. As for future roles, he’s set to appear alongside 15th Doctor and Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa in the next series of Doctor Who, playing the character of Morris once David Tennant’s 60th anniversary specials are out of the way. Speaking of Doctor Who, a special ‘minisode’ of the fantasy series will air during Friday’s TV event, starring Tennant who has returned to the fan favourite programme as the Fourteenth Doctor. Rush will co-present Children in Need alongside sports personalities Ade Adepitan and Alex Scott, and comedians Mel Giedroyc, Jason Manford and Chris Ramsey. The teenager said of the presenting role: “It’s an honour and a thrill to be the first child presenter for Children in Need. I can’t wait to feel the buzz of a live show and to help raise money for children and young people across the UK facing disadvantages. “I’m so excited.” Children in Need will be broadcast live from Salford and gets underway from 7pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Kim Kardashian initially planned on attending the 2023 Met Gala with a very unusual plus one – the late Karl Lagerfeld’s cat, Choupette. During an episode of The Kardashians, the 43-year-old reality star made the revelation about who she’d be attending the fashion extravaganza with. “I am going to the Met with Karl Lagerfeld’s cat as my date, and I’m so excited,” she said while on a trip to Paris, documented before the 2023 New York event which was in honour of Lagerfeld. While she said her trip to Paris gave her the “perfect” opportunity to “come and meet Choupette”, she confessed that she was “nervous” about that introduction. “I feel like I’m going on a blind date,” she added. As she reflected on her time working with the late fashion designer, she also acknowledged what “an honour it is to bring his baby” to the Met Gala. As Choupette was brought over to Kardashian, she gently petted the animal and called her “beautiful”. However, Choupette started to hiss at Kardashian, who responded by moving her hand away. “It’s OK, I act like that sometimes too,” she added. Kardashian also acknowledged that the cat may take some time to cosy up to her. “I think Choupette is playing hard to get,” she said during a confessional interview. “Maybe she just has to warm up, you know?” After The Kardashians star described the pet as “feisty” when they were meeting, she also shared her concerns about Choupette not being comfortable around her at all. “Choupette is really key to my whole vibe for the Met Gala this year,” she added during the confessional interview. “So if we don’t vibe, I don’t know what I’m gonna do. I just hope she warms up to me…cause this wouldn’t be cute.” When Kardashian tried to pet Choupette, and said “please don’t bite me,” the cat once again hissed at her. “Choupette, can I touch you?” the reality star asked, while gently putting her hand toward the pet. “Okay, we’ll chill.” After the cat proceeded to hiss at Kardashian multiple times, the KKW Beauty founder made her decision. “I’m getting a little bit nervous, and I think I just fully wanna pivot,” she said. “There’s so many factors that I think could be negative, especially with the cameras and the people, even if she’s scared of the camera and not me.” She added: “I don’t think it’s fair for Choupette. So I think I realised really quickly that…Choupette, we’re not a match. So I am not bringing her to the Met.” When Kardashian had the opportunity to actually hold the cat in her arms, Choupette once again hissed at her. Back in April, Kardashian shared her first selfie on Instagram with the cat. “Had a date with @choupetteofficiel in Paris. We then spent some time at @karllagerfeld’s office to get a little inspiration for the Met,” she wrote in the caption. Although the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star didn’t bring Lagerfeld’s cat to the fashion event this year, she did walk the red carpet in an extravagant outfit. For the occasion, she wore a nude bodysuit and was covered head-to-toe in a series of pearl necklaces. The look – which was designed by Schiaparelli’s creative director, Daniel Roseberry – was also completed with a white, floor-length coat. To follow the theme of the Met Gala, many famous faces honoured Lagerfeld by dressing up as Choupette, as actor Jared Leto wore a giant white fluffy cat costume. Doja Cat also wore cat-inspired prosthetics on her face, cat-eye make-up, and a diamond hanging on her forehead. Read More Geri Halliwell says Spice Girls fan Kim Kardashian would be called ‘Smart Spice’ Kourtney Kardashian jokes about rows with Kim in birthday message North West announces she has dyslexia during a TikTok livestream Kim Kardashian ‘scared out of her mind’ to tell Kanye West about male nanny The blunt text Kanye West got from Julia Fox when he tried to get her to sign an NDA ‘A healthier addiction than drugs’: How Elton John got hooked on photography

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Hillary Clinton mocked Vladimir Putin on Tuesday for his concerns about Nato’s expansion and said the Russian president “brought it on himself” with his invasion of Ukraine. "Defending democracy in Ukraine, expanding Nato – just as an aside, too bad Vladimir, you brought it on yourself," the former US secretary of state said, prompting laughter and applause. Ms Clinton was speaking at the State Department where she unveiled her official portrait and addressed current and former officials in the ornate Benjamin Franklin State Dining room. "We always said, ‘people are not forced to join Nato. People choose and want to join Nato,’" she added. The top leader also took shots at the policies of Republican former president Donald Trump, who defeated her in the 2016 US presidential election. She added that there may have been questions raised on Washington’s ability to gather support for its aid for Ukraine to fend off Russian invasion due to Mr Trump’s legacy of alienating allies. "People might have doubted that because we had burned so many bridges with our allies and our friends," she said. "Reinstating a foreign policy... that actually brings people to us, not pushes them away, would have been thought to be extremely difficult. And indeed it was, but it was accomplished," she said and thanked her successor secretary of state Antony Blinken for "helping to restore America’s standing". Ms Clinton said the current Biden administration pursued many of the priorities of the Obama administration, in which she was the top US diplomat. Talking about the common Biden and Obama priorities, she described the mutual concerns of "expanding Nato, facing down Russian aggression and managing the challenges from China" as she took a dig at the Russian president who has long complained of Nato’s expansion in Europe and blamed it as a motive for his invasion of Ukraine. The top former official joked that it had been a long time since she had seen the portrait, which depicted her gazing into the distance against the backdrop of an enlarged American flag. "Between Covid, between not wanting to finish it during the prior administration," she said with a meaningful glance at the audience, drawing laughter, "it’s been a while. And I am going to be probably as surprised as all of you". Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin planning new ‘assault units’ despite Moscow’s ‘mobilisation issues’ Ukrainian forces ‘enjoy success’ near Bakhmut as Putin deploys reserves Hillary Clinton makes quip about Trump administration as her portrait is unveiled Donald Trump’s play for union votes leaves the GOP in a confusing spot once again

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