This week, BBC Three’s Glow Up returns, with a new set of artists competing to become Britain’s next make-up star.
But that’s not all the week has in store.
Thunderbolts* hits cinemas, Another Simple Favour starring Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively is coming out, and Samantha Crain drops her new album.
Read on for what’s coming up this week…
Get ready for a Glow Up
From catwalk-ready looks to gory TV special effects, BBC Three’s Glow Up has seen it all.
The reality television show, hosted by model Leomie Anderson, sees aspiring make-up artists compete on various creative briefs and in challenges as they try to impress judges Dominic Skinner and Val Garland.
I’ve had a sneak preview of the new series, which starts on Wednesday, and can tell you that the contestants are thrown in at the deep end from the start.
Assignments include assisting on the set of HBO fantasy drama series House of The Dragon and working on a music video set with Nova Twins.
Val told me the talent this series “really takes makeup to another level”, and said people should “expect the unexpected”.
And there’s a career-making prize awaiting the winner: a contract assisting some of the world’s leading make-up artists.
Thunderbolts* hits cinemas
It’s a big week for Marvel fans, with Thunderbolts* landing in cinemas on Friday.
First reactions on social media have been positive, with many praising actress Florence Pugh for her role as assassin Yelena Belova.
Matt Neglia of Next Best Picture calls it “some of Marvel’s darkest material to date”, adding: “It very much belongs to Florence Pugh, who carries much of the dramatic weight of the movie on her back.”
Film writer Mia Pflüger also praised the 29-year-old, writing on X that “the future of the new superhero generation is in good hands with her”.
Pugh previously appeared as Yelena in 2021’s Black Widow movie and the Disney+ series Hawkeye.
In the new film, her character embarks on a dangerous mission to confront the darkest corners of her past, alongside a team comprising Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster and John Walker.
What everyone really wants to know, however, is what the asterisk is all about…
Another Simple Favour
On Thursday, black comedy mystery sequel Another Simple Favour is released on Prime Video.
It sees Stephanie Smothers (played by Anna Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) reunite on the island of Capri for Emily’s extravagant wedding to a rich Italian businessman.
So far, so good – but alongside the beautiful scenery and glamorous guests, murder and betrayal lie in wait.
There have been months of speculation about a feud bubbling between the film’s A-list co-stars but recently, the pair were seen posing and laughing together at the London screening, which went some way to dispelling the rumours.
Lively, of Gossip Girl fame, is separately locked in a dispute with her former It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni, with both sides denying allegations made in lawsuits they have filed against each other.
Samantha Crain’s new album
By Mark Savage, music correspondent
Contentment and creativity are awkward bedfellows. Conflict is a more reliable catalyst for music.
Just don’t tell Oklahoma singer-songwriter Samantha Crain, who’s about to release her seventh album, Gumshoe.
Full of bewildering beauty and life-affirming anthems, it was written over the last three years, as she unexpectedly fell in love.
“I spent much of my life as a lone wolf,” she tells BBC News, “so hyper-independent that it became a defining trait.”
“But as I explored vulnerability and reciprocity in my relationships, I realised… we can change by the minute, and that’s okay.
“In my ancestors’ Choctaw language, there are no words for ‘is’ or ‘are,’ reflecting their belief that people, animals, and plants are not permanent or static. That’s the biggest lesson of the past few years: I can be a lone wolf sometimes and still belong to a community.”
That realisation manifests in the lovestruck slacker rock of Dragonfly, and the finger-plucked Neptune Baby, with its refrain, “I’m a boat, and you are the water”.
Not that Crain’s relationship was all plain sailing. Her new partner struggles with addiction, and a track called Melatonin finds her listing the items she brought them in rehab – “mint choc-chip ice cream, cigarettes, a watch”.
“You got it bad, but you got me,” she reassures.
It’s an album of stunning poetic clarity and emotion – typified by the title track, an old-time country-rock ballad inspired by her love of detective novels.
“The word ‘Gumshoe’ has been in every writing notebook since I was a teenager,” she says. “After watching The Maltese Falcon, I considered how detached detective characters are and imagined two loners finding love.
“Instantly, gumshoe came to mind—the perfect word for a song about unravelling the mystery of relationships.”
