World
‘Love Is Blind: U.K.’ Reveals Cast and Trailer as Hit Netflix Dating Show Moves Across the Pond
“Love Is Blind” is moving across the pond.
The U.K. version of the hit Netflix dating show revealed its full cast and trailer on Wednesday, teasing plenty of drama to come when the first episodes launch on Aug. 7.
“Love Is Blind: U.K.” shares the same synopsis as the U.S. version, following 30 singles who “have signed up for a less-conventional approach to modern dating, and will choose someone to marry without ever meeting them.” The singles hail from Dublin, London, Edinburgh and everywhere in between, range in age from 27 to 38 and include a chicken restaurateur, a techno DJ and a baby photographer.
“Over several weeks, the newly engaged couples will move in together, plan their wedding and find out if their physical connection matches their strong emotional bond developed in the Pods,” the synopsis continues. “When their wedding day arrives, will real-world realities and external factors push them apart, or will they marry the person they fell blindly in love with?”
“Love Is Blind: U.K.” is hosted by Matt and Emma Willis, who have been married since 2008 and share three children. Matt is best known as the singer of pop-punk band Busted, while Emma has presented “Big Brother” as well as the U.K. edition of Netflix competition series “The Circle.”
The 11-episode series premieres on Netflix Aug. 7 with four episodes. The next four will premiere on Aug. 14, and the last two on Aug. 21.
Watch the trailer for “Love Is Blind: U.K.” below and scroll down to meet the cast.
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Aaron
33, Milton Keynes, Chicken Restaurateur
@amurrell1
Since coming out of a long-term relationship, businessman Aaron has enjoyed being single, but the party lifestyle is starting to feel empty for him. He wants to find a partner to settle down with which would delight his close-knit family – Aaron’s role models are his own parents who have been together for 34 years and he is hoping to find a lasting love like theirs.
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Benaiah
33, Preston, Structural Landscaper
@benaiahgb
Globe-trotting Benaiah has been single for 11 years following a breakup he found difficult to recover from. He loves adventure and the outdoors but is yearning for a deeper connection with someone and finally feels ready to let his guard down and open up.
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Bobby
33, Staffordshire, Luxury Shopping Guide
@bobbyj4k
Losing his cousin Danny in tragic circumstances has made Bobby realize that life is too short to spend it alone. After travelling the world with his job, he is ready to find the right girl and settle back in the U.K. Spiritual Bobby writes and records his own music and says his mum is the most important person in his life.
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Catherine
29, Jersey, Dental Nurse
@catrichards94
Catherine reckons living on the small island of Jersey is hampering her chances of finding an eligible bachelor and she needs to cast her net further afield. Catherine was adopted as a baby and has never met a man who understands how this has shaped her life which has, in turn, impacted her relationships.
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Charlie
34, Hertfordshire, Gym General Manager
@charlie.mawson08
Cheeky chappy Charlie has been single for five years and is searching for a physical spark with someone who can also be his best friend. His mum is just as keen for him to settle down and even took over his dating apps last year in a bid to help him find love.
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Conor
31, Dublin, Health Food Business Owner
@griffindoor92
Cheeky, flirtatious and down to earth, Conor has been single for seven years. Since his last relationship ended, he has struggled to find anyone he can truly connect with. After losing his mum three years ago, he started his own health food business in her memory, determined to make her proud. Now he’s keen to start a family of his own.
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Demi
30, London, Safeguarding and Attendance Manager
@demisantanabrown
Sporty Demi loves boxing and playing football which she thinks some men are intimidated by. She says she’s used to guys seeing her only as a friend but then suddenly finding her attractive when she gets dressed up and puts some makeup on. Demi, who has mixed Caribbean and Maltese heritage, wants to meet someone, have kids and bag the fairytale ending.
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Ella
27, Derbyshire, Social Worker
@ellalilianaa
Fun-loving half-Italian Ella has tried many ways to meet a partner but without success. She was bullied in school and over the years this affected her confidence. Now, she works with young people and enjoys helping those going through the same experiences she had. Ella likes to play tennis, run, sing and bake in her spare time and says the family dog Dolly is her best friend.
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Elle
27, London, Graphic Designer
Elle was predominantly raised by her dad, who was her best friend and describes him as “husband goals”. Single for the last year, Elle has been dating but hasn’t been able to find someone who wants the same things out of life. She dreams of getting married and building a big family – something she never had.
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Freddie
32, Bolton, Funeral Director
@freddieppowell
Gym-loving Freddie was brought up by his mum and is very close to his brother Jack who has Down syndrome. He says the empathy their bond has instilled in him has helped in his career as a funeral director. A romantic at heart, Freddie doesn’t like being single and is hoping to find someone he can buy flowers for, take to dinner and travel the world with.
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Jake
32, Leicestershire, Civil Engineer
@jake.shill
Sensitive Jake is the agony uncle for all his friends and admits to being “soppy” when in a relationship. After going through a breakup and losing his mum, Jake realised that he is eager to settle down and start a family. Jake says he is ready to find the one and is known for falling in love quickly.
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Jasmine
29, London, Mental Health Nurse
@thejaycee_
All Jasmine’s friends have settled down, but she has been steadfastly single for four years and says she never gets approached. She describes her childhood as a “rollercoaster” due to moving from Norwich to the Philippines when she was 8. Jasmine wants to walk down the aisle and thinks she’d make a good wife.
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Joanes
31, Luton, Resident Service Manager
@joanes11
Salsa king Joanes prefers old school romance to playing text tennis and mind games. Born in Angola, he moved to the U.K. when he was 1 and says it’s important to him that any future partner loves to travel and experience different cultures. Joanes is known to charm the ladies with his linguistic skills but is ultimately hoping to meet someone who shares his Christian values.
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Jordan
33, Surrey, Fashion Tech Founder
@jordybaker
Sharp-dressing business owner Jordan is slow to build trust in a relationship and doesn’t take chances, which is where he feels he may have been going wrong in the past. After watching his friends start to settle down and have families, Jordan thinks now might be the time to throw caution to the wind and take a risk on love.
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Lisa
34, Edinburgh, Baby Photographer
@lisahendrie
Lisa falls in love easily but is tired of being judged for her looks. She is looking for a relationship of substance that’s all about what’s on the inside. As a photographer specializing in newborn shoots, Lisa finds herself getting broody and longing for a baby of her own.
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Maria
30, Southampton, Makeup Artist
@mariabenkh
Maria is hoping for a traditional relationship and is looking for a man who can protect and care for her. She’s a fiery, outgoing and passionate woman who speaks her mind. Maria’s dad died in 2020 and losing him has been the biggest personal challenge she’s had to face so far.
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Natasha
32, Cheshire, Career Coordinator
@tashwaters
Since splitting from her long-term partner two and a half years ago, a heavier Tash felt it was time she motivated herself to have a more healthy lifestyle and stay fit and is now keen to meet her “forever person.” She says she frequently gets friend-zoned by guys but looks to her parents, who have been married for 42 years, and hopes to have that for herself one day.
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Nicole
29, Surrey, Head of Brand and Marketing
@theholisticnicole
Nicole was previously married but divorced shortly after and as a result threw herself into her career. She was raised Catholic and still believes there is life after divorce. She still hasn’t given up on love and is hoping to be second-time lucky! Nicole has mixed Ghanaian and Lebanese heritage and has lived in Ghana but is now settled in the U.K.
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Olivia
28, London, Creative Project Director
@LivLavelle
Olivia puts being single down to the fact she’s spent years being extremely work-focused. However, after living and working in L.A., she is now back in the U.K. and feels ready to share her life. Since her last relationship ended, Olivia has taken time to get to know herself and is hoping to find true love.
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Ollie
32, London, Software Sales
@ollie1sutherland
Smooth talker Ollie hasn’t been in a serious relationship for six years. He admits that he often goes for the “Instagram hot” girls and it never develops into anything deep or meaningful. Ollie says he’s now ready to fall in love with someone’s heart rather than their looks – his nights out are now turning into friends’ weddings and he wishes he had a plus one.
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Priya
37, Berkshire, Procurement Manager
@priyanka__grewal
Priya has been engaged before – but only for 24 hours, calling it off after realizing she’d made a mistake. She feels now might be the time to step back into the dating world and explore her options. She is looking to build a lasting connection with someone that goes beyond their physical attributes. Priya’s parents had an arranged marriage and she sees them as a prime example of a loving relationship.
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Ria
34, London, Commercial Contracts Manager
@reelouise31
Ria is ready to meet someone but feels she’s exhausted all the options – apart from “Love Is Blind.” Ria has five nieces and nephews who she adores and she loves being the cool aunty, but she’s tired of friends and family asking when she’s going to settle down herself.
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Richie
30, Gloucestershire, Sports Turf Maintenance Director
@trickyy
Sports-mad Richie admits to needing a lot of reassurance from a partner and describes himself as caring with a lot of love to give. Any love interest coming into Richie’s life would have to get along with his sister who is also his best friend and confidant.
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Ryan
31, Edinburgh, Techno DJ and Cellist
@thescottishkorean
Korean-born musician Ryan has been single for two years, having struggled to hold down a relationship because of his lifestyle which involves late nights and travel. He has dated older women in the past and at 6ft 3in tends to be attracted to tall girls, although he is open to anything the pods might have to offer. He is hoping “Love Is Blind” will help him find someone who values commitment as much as he does.
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Sabrina
35, Belfast, Director of Marketing and Communications
@sabrinavittoriaegerton
Unlucky in love Sabrina is hoping to meet the man of her dreams in the experiment. She hasn’t had much luck with men in her dating life which has led to her being hyper independent. Sabrina believes the pods will give her an opportunity to get deep with men from the get-go. She hopes to find someone who has worked through their own issues and wants to grow with her to be the best versions of themselves.
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Sam
31, London, Product Design Manager
@sam_klein
Sam believes his progression up the career ladder has come at a cost as it’s left little time for love. Having had his heart broken twice, he is hoping that the next person to come into his life will be third time lucky. Privately-educated Sam enjoys traveling and says he often feels the pressure from his mum to find The One.
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Sharlotte
35, London, Global Communications Director
@sharlotteritchie
High-flyer Sharlotte feels her career has gotten in the way of her love life and has found that men are intimidated by her success. Single for eight years, she was briefly engaged to the guy she was with from the age of 19, but knew deep down they had grown apart and fallen out of love. Sharlotte’s twin sister has recently moved in with her boyfriend and so her desire to find her own Mr Right is now stronger than ever.
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Shirley
27, London, Junior Doctor
@shirleybekker
Shirley admits that in the past she has enjoyed the thrill of the chase but tends to fall for men who are emotionally unavailable. This is something she’s working on and she realizes now that she wants a partner she can build a life with and hopes to start a family as soon as possible. Born in the Netherlands, she came to the U.K. as a young girl and has recently graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in medicine.
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Steven
37, London, Gym Owner
@stvnsmthy
Steven has been single for four months following a whirlwind romance which ended when she moved back to the States. Loyal, thoughtful and ambitious, this Brummie lad is only interested in relationships he sees as leading to marriage, knows exactly what he wants and refuses to compromise when it comes to love.
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Tom
38, London, PR and Advertising Consultant
@stroudtom
Tom has been single for six years and says his 30s have been focused on personal growth and preparing to settle down. He is a self-confessed mummy’s boy but has worked hard to build a successful career in PR and advertising and is now ready to fall in love and share his life with someone special.
World
NATO head and Trump meet in Florida for talks on global security
BRUSSELS (AP) — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and the head of NATO have met for talks on global security, the military alliance said Saturday.
In a brief statement, NATO said Trump and its secretary general, Mark Rutte, met on Friday in Palm Beach, Florida.
“They discussed the range of global security issues facing the Alliance,” the statement said without giving details.
It appeared to be Rutte’s first meeting with Trump since his Nov. 5 election. Rutte had previously congratulated Trump and said “his leadership will again be key to keeping our Alliance strong” and that he looked forward to working with him.
Trump has for years expressed skepticism about the Western alliance and complained about the defense spending of many of its member nations, which he regarded as too low. He depicted NATO allies as leeches on the U.S. military and openly questioned the value of the alliance that has defined American foreign policy for decades. He threatened not to defend NATO members that fail to meet defense-spending goals.
Rutte and his team also met Trump’s pick as national security adviser, U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz, and other members of the president-elect’s national security team, the NATO statement said.
Rutte took over at the helm of NATO in October.
World
US scrambles as drones shape the landscape of war: 'the future is here'
FIRST ON FOX: The U.S. Army this week took steps to advance American military capabilities by ordering close to 12,000 surveillance drones small enough to fit in a backpack as the reality of battle shifts in favor of electronic warfare.
Conflicts around the globe, particularly the war in Ukraine, have drastically changed how major nations think about conducting war, explained drone expert and former U.S. Army intelligence and special operations soldier Brett Velicovich to Fox News Digital.
The nearly three-year-long war in Ukraine has often depicted scenes not witnessed since World War II, with children loaded onto trains, veins of trenches scarring the eastern front and renewed concern over how the geopolitics of this conflict could ensnare the entire Western world.
1,000 DAYS OF WAR IN UKRAINE AS ZELENSKYY DOUBLES DOWN ON AERIAL OPTIONS WITH ATACMS, DRONES AND MISSILES
But Ukraine’s scrappy response to its often outnumbered and at times outgunned reality has completely changed how major nations look at the modern-day battlefield.
“Think about how we fought wars in the past,” Velicovich, a Fox News contributor, said, pointing to the Vietnam War. “When you were fighting the enemy over that trench line, you didn’t know who was over that hill. You saw a red hat and you fired at it.”
“Now you have the ability to see what’s over that hill and maneuver your forces quickly based on that,” he added.
A report by The Wall Street Journal this week said the U.S. Army secured potentially its largest-ever purchase of small surveillance drones from Red Cat Holding’s Utah-based Teal Drones.
This move is a significant step that the U.S. has been eyeing for more than a decade after terrorists first began employing small-drone tactics against the U.S. military in the Middle East.
According to Velicovich, who routinely visits Ukraine to advise on drone technology, the U.S. is trailing its top adversaries like Russia and China when it comes investment in drone capabilities.
US BRIEFED UKRAINE AHEAD OF PUTIN’S ‘EXPERIMENTAL INTERMEDIATE-RANGE BALLISTIC’ ATTACK
While the U.S. invested heavily in sophisticated systems like Predator and Reaper drones — which are multimillion-dollar systems designed for intelligence collection and lengthy navigation flight times and possess missile strike capabilities — it is the small, cheaply made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) which are changing battlefield dynamics.
“These handheld, small UAS systems that you are able to take a drone with a bomb strapped to it [have become] basically an artillery shell now. It’s guided artillery shells,” Velicovich said in reference to Unmanned Aircraft Systems, which include not only the UAV, but also the controller manned from the ground. “Frankly, it’s changing how countries are going to fight wars in the future, and the U.S. has been so slow to get ahead of this.”
It has reportedly taken the U.S. Army some 15 years to start beefing up its Short Range Reconnaissance program with these backpack-sized drones, in part because there was a mental hurdle the Department of Defense needed to push through.
“It’s the mentality of senior leaders,” Velicovich explained. “These guys are hardened battle infantry guys. They didn’t grow up with fancy technology.”
“It really takes a lot of people understanding, changing their thought process. And that’s happening now because of the accelerating war in Ukraine, where they’ve seen how effective drones are,” he said, noting that drones can no longer be dismissed as gimmicks or toys of the future.
“Now it’s real. Now it’s here, the future is here,” Velicovich said. “We will never fight another war without drones.”
Teal Drones worked to develop a UAS system based on battlefield needs identified by the U.S. Army, and eventually created the drone that has been dubbed the Black Widow, explained Red Cat CEO Jeff Thompson to Fox News Digital.
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO ANNOUNCE $275 MILLION UKRAINE WEAPONS PACKAGE THIS WEEK
This sophisticated system is capable of being operated by a single man, can resist Russian jammers, has strike capabilities, and can fly in GPS-denied zones — an important factor that has been highlighted by the war in Ukraine.
“The Short Range Reconnaissance drone is really going to be able to help the warfighter be more lethal and be a safer soldier,” Thompson said.
The U.S. Army greenlighted the purchase of nearly 12,000 drones. Each soldier kitted out with the Black Widow technology will be given what is called a “system,” which includes two drones and one controller — all of which can fit in one’s rucksack.
Each system, including the drones and controller, costs the U.S. government about $45,000.
But, as Johnson pointed out, Ukraine’s armed forces are going through about 10,000 drones a month — which suggests the U.S. will need to acquire far more than 12,000 drones.
The war in Ukraine has shown that affordably made drones, particularly FPV drones, which stands for “first-person view,” can be made for as low as $1,000 a drone and frequently strapped with explosives and utilized as kamikaze drones.
But drone warfare is about significantly more than sheer quantity — it’s a “power game.”
“This is a cat and mouse game,” Velicovich said, explaining that drone and counter-drone technology, like jamming systems, are constantly evolving. “This is playing out at a level that most people don’t realize.”
“It’s like we were almost peering into the future,” he continued. “We are seeing what’s happening on the ground now, there in Ukraine, and eventually we’ll have to fight a war similar to it, and we just need to be ready.”
World
At least 11 killed and dozens injured in Israeli strikes on Beirut
The strikes came a day after heavy bombardment of Beirut’s southern suburbs and as heavy ground fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants continues in southern Lebanon, with Israeli troops pushing further into the country.
At least 11 people were killed and dozens more injured after Israeli airstrikes devastated parts of central Beirut on Saturday – with diplomats scrambling to broker a ceasefire in the country.
The strike destroyed an eight-story building, leaving a crater in the ground, and was the fourth on the Lebanese capital in less than a week.
Lebanon’s civil defence said the death toll was provisional as emergency responders were still digging through the rubble looking for survivors.
A separate drone strike in the southern port city of Tyre killed one person and injured another, according to the country’s National News Agency.
Israel’s military did not issue a warning for residents to evacuate prior to the strikes in central Beirut and would not comment on those strikes or on the one in Tyre.
The news comes as heavy ground fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants continues in southern Lebanon, with Israeli troops pushing farther from the border.
US envoy Amos Hochstein travelled to the region this week in an attempt to broker a ceasefire deal to end the more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which escalated into full-on war over the last two months.
More than 3,500 people have been killed and over 15,000 wounded by Israeli bombardment in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese health ministry. 1.2 million people, or a quarter of the Lebanese population, were reportedly displaced by the fighting.
On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by rockets, drones and missiles in northern Israel and in fighting in Lebanon.
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