Strictly’s first live week proved no celeb is bigger than the show

Sparkly hotpants, a stiff-as-a-board cha cha and a set malfunction involving a sparkly pink carousel horse. There’s only one show where you’ll see all of these things together: Strictly Come Dancing.

For many at home, the glitz, sequins and spray-tanned shimmying is a welcome distraction from the nights starting to draw in and the temperature dropping lower. For the second year running though, Strictly has started with a cloud hovering above it thanks to numerous controversies and unexpected exits.

To briefly recap, we’ve already seen two stars forced to pull out, scrutiny over Thomas Skinner’s place on the show, raised eyebrows over which pros are sitting on the sidelines, and the obligatory furore over who has already had dance training.

It’s not exactly the smooth start bosses will have been hoping for. But you wouldn’t have known it from the first live show. Strictly has always delivered escapism and week one showed that no matter what is going on behind-the-scenes, the Strictly cast and crew know the drill.

As is so often the case, it wasn’t the most talked-about celebs who delivered the most notable moments of the night. The best performances were the two jives: the first an energetic routine from Emmerdale actor Lewis Cope and Katya Jones. It seemed unbeatable until ex-England star Karen Carney and her partner Carlos Gu closed the show with a performance as close to flawless as you’ll ever see in week one.

At the other end of the scale, showbiz journalist Ross King delivered in entertainment (though not exactly skill) with a homage to Hollywood complete with a gigantic fur coat and Katy Perry soundtrack. Ever the diplomat, Motsi Mabuse summed it up as she reached for a metaphor to soften the blow: “There’s stairs to climb and we’ll climb them with you.” He wound up bottom of the leaderboard with a dismal 10.

One of the loveliest moments came as Gladiators tough guy Harry Aikines-Aryeetey – aka Nitro – delivered the gear change of the decade when he went from doing press-ups with his partner stood on his back to crying as he explained how much it means to take part in the show.

An honorable mention also has to go to La Voix, the RuPaul’s Drag Race queen who is surely the first Strictly contestant to be more camp than the show itself. In both the VT and the studio, every line she uttered was a perfectly-timed quip. After a malfunction meant her carousel horse couldn’t descend from the sky, she told Tess Daly: “I’m quite pleased though, when they said I was going to be suspended, I thought, ‘What have I said now?’.”

Another dose of camp came from the Aussie contingent, as Stefan Dennis – aka Paul Robinson from Neighbours – and his pro partner Dianne Buswell performed a foxtrot to the show’s iconic theme tune.

So what about this year’s most “controversial” star? Tom “Bosh!” Skinner has undoubtedly had the most press for a wide variety of reasons. On the night, his paso doble essentially consisted of stern marching and Amy Dowden doing her absolute most to keep things on track. While they ended up second from bottom, he wasn’t quite dreadful enough to go down in Strictly history alongside the likes of Anne Widdecombe or Jon Sergeant.

The only real issue is that with so many couples dancing, these first few live weeks can feel like a slog.

But Saturday night’s marathon episode was a reminder of something the BBC knows about its flagship programme: no matter how salacious the headlines, no Strictly star is bigger than the show. And isn’t it great to have it back?

Can your relationship survive the ‘swag gap’?

There’s one thing I’d bet money any self-assured person was told by their mum if someone didn’t like them at school: “They’re just jealous.” The phrase immediately bolsters confidence and short circuits insecurity by letting the person needing validation know that actually, they’re better than everyone who treats them poorly. The social media theory equivalent to this? Swag gap relationships. A ridiculous phrase – but those who’ve suffered them say the dynamic is something to beware of.

The term, which has rapidly grown in popularity on TikTok in recent weeks, with Julia Fox, model and former girlfriend of Kanye West, among adopters, denotes when a friend or date doesn’t reach the same levels of cool as you (whether that’s in terms of confidence, wardrobe, or career) and ultimately burns down the relationship by lashing out in envy or deploying insecure imitation. “You can’t date or be friends if there’s a swag gap because they’ll end up being jealous and psycho trying to become you,” preaches a girl in one video, now with over 142,000 likes of agreement. “Never again,” swear those affected in the comments.

Swag, short for swagger, was popularised over the last two decades by rappers like Jay-Z, Lil B, Soulja Boy and Gucci Mane, and later by Justin Bieber, who sparked a resurgence of the term among Gen Z with the release of his seventh studio album Swag in July. Nevertheless, even Bieber himself has been accused of having a “swag gap” with his wife Hailey Bieber recently, due to her dressing in a chic strapless red mini dress for an event in New York, while the singer trailed behind in a grey hoodie and matching jersey shorts. Before the release of his new music, Bieber appeared to be on a career hiatus, while Hailey landed a $1bn (£743m) deal for her beauty brand, Rhode.

Claiming you have a “swag gap” with someone and therefore can’t be friends or romantically involved because they’ll get jealous, initially, does sound outrageously self-absorbed. As a general rule, thinking you’re better than those around you usually means you’re obnoxious and lucky to have people in your life at all. But the true issue is not how cool a partner or friend presents to the outside world, but if they perceive themselves as failing in comparison to those around them and how that makes them treat others. Inferiority complexes can jump out in ugly ways. In fact, research found that men actively feel worse about themselves when their female partners succeed. Think of Andy’s boyfriend in the Devil Wears Prada. Or, Ross Geller to Rachel Green when she lands her dream job at Ralph Lauren after years of slogging it as a waitress in Friends.

As 26-year-old Aaliyah’s burgeoning journalism career took off, the guy she was dating seemed stuck at the bottom of the career ladder. “He was very insecure about what I was doing, events I was attending, the social circles I was in,” she says. “He couldn’t match up to that – and I wasn’t expecting him to. It’s just, the things I liked to do created this wedge between us. It ended up fizzling out because I felt like he was taking out his career frustrations on me,” she adds. “It was actually quite sad… I was seeing if I could build a life with this person but he just started to resent [me].”

Issy, a 25-year-old lawyer, can relate. She met her boyfriend when she was 16 – but in the time it took her to graduate from university with first class honours, complete a master’s degree and land her first job with a firm in London, he had done little to advance himself. “You cannot have a relationship with someone in a different league to you,” she says. “I did for eight-and-a-half years and it dragged me back for eight-and-a-half years. It was really frustrating.” Issy had weekly conversations asking her boyfriend how she could support him but he told her to leave him alone, moped, and then did nothing. “When the relationship ended, I was actually a bit relieved,” she says. “I thought I was going crazy and I wasn’t.”

Joanna Harrison, couples therapist and author of Five Arguments All Couples (Need To) Have, says she frequently sees couples in her consulting room who have different strengths and lean on each other to cover their weaknesses, whether that be social confidence, organisation, or tracking their finances. Dependence leads to problems when someone’s partner struggles with something that, to them, seems mind-bendingly easy. “This can lead to conflict,” Harrison says, adding that fighting about the issue can provide room for growth, empathy and understanding. Of course, if a partner refuses – or doesn’t try – to grow, there’s a limit to how compassionate their other half can be, particularly if they’re lashing out.

Hostility can be subtle, in friendships too, and may look like one person downplaying the other’s success, giving backhanded compliments or becoming needlessly competitive or cynical. You may have seen that in Seth (Jonah Hill) in Superbad, who belittles Evan getting into college because he doesn’t want him to leave him behind. Or, with Jessica in Twilight, who says at Bella’s wedding to Edward that it was confusing he “suddenly” liked her “even though she’s not the captain of the volleyball team” or “the president of the student council”. This saltiness is, of course, for comedic effect on screen, but can be harder to laugh off in real life.

When Aaliyah began to land exciting career opportunities to interview celebrities or appear in their reality TV shows, she hoped her friends would be supportive of her successes and celebrate them alongside her. But she quickly noticed “a hint of jealousy” emanating from one friend repeatedly. “I kept picking up on these sly digs,” she says. “As you grow up, you realise those comments are personal. There’s more behind them. So, I had to nip that friendship in the bud. We were drifting apart anyway but that sealed the deal.”

Michelle Elman, author of Bad Friend: Why Friendship Breakups Hurt and How to Heal, says cutting comments might make us uncomfortable but the best way to handle them is to confront them directly. Ask your friend what they actually meant by the catty comment they made. Flag that they upset you when they joked about your promotion instead of congratulating you. But if you set boundaries and they don’t listen, dismiss your feelings, and continue to behave in the same way, then it’s time to walk away. “You can ask whether there’s something you’re doing that’s making them feel insecure or jealous,” says Elman. “But at the end of the day, the only person who can change their behaviour is them.”

We are living in an age of intense comparison, encouraged by gloat-heavy social media platforms like Instagram (for holidays, babies, engagements and home ownership) and LinkedIn (for shiny new job announcements and mega-promotions). Even if you feel glad for your friend when they get good news, after your nose has been rubbed in it with post after post, that initial support can sour. Notably, in a recent survey, a huge 93 per cent of Gen Z said they feel pressure to compare themselves to others online. Meanwhile, 89 per cent said this sizing up ultimately led them to feel unsatisfied with their own lives. “Jealous or insecure thoughts are normal,” says Elman. “To act on them is a different issue.”

Although both Aaliyah and Issy say they’re too scarred by their past experiences to ever enter into a romantic swag gap relationship again, neither woman would avoid a new friendship with someone not moving in the same circles. “I’ve got friends in a lot of different industries,” says Aaliyah. “If you’re true friends, you’re going to be happy for each other. Secret jealousy and envy is the problem. If I’m winning, I want all my friends to win. So, if you’re giving me a negative vibe, then maybe it’s just your problem.”

Paul Roberts, One Direction and Harry Styles, dies aged 52

Paul Roberts, one of the UK’s most in-demand choreographers who worked with One Direction, Harry Styles, Katy Perry and Sir Paul McCartney, has died aged 52.

The news was announced in a post by his partner, Phil Griffin, from his official Instagram page, disclosing that Roberts died on Saturday evening (27 September) after a “courageous battle with cancer”.

“Paul passed away gently at home, surrounded by his family,” the statement said.

“His departure, much like his life, was filled with grace.”

For over 25 years, Roberts worked with some of the world’s biggest music stars, helping them choreograph routines for videos and live tours, as well as stage work for dance and theatre groups.

He devised the choreography for One Direction videos such as “Kiss You”, “Steal My Girl” and “Best Song Ever”, and also worked on the Spice Girls reunion tour and the critically adored TV series I Hate Suzie, starring Billie Piper.

“It was always really interesting working with One Direction,” he told the BBC in a 2021 interview. “I knew very early on that there was a magic about them and I could see they had other skill-sets aside from being this very good-looking five-piece, and then four-piece, band.

“In personal moments you got to see them flourish. They’d mess around doing silly dance moves but I’d think, ‘Actually if you wanted to dance really well you sure as hell could do it.’”

Roberts famously worked with Styles on the routine for the award-winning visuals to his solo single, “Treat People With Kindness”, which featured a dance routine with Styles and Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

It was filmed shortly before the start of the Covid pandemic in February 2020, with Roberts telling the BBC the team who worked on the video “didn’t know how lucky we were”.

“Looking back it was about three weeks before the world started to burn,” he said. “Maybe that’s partly why people are loving it now – the video has such a carefree sense to it.”

He praised Styles for being “amazingly devoted” to the entire endeavour: “He’d be shooting the ‘Watermelon Sugar’ promo in Malibu and they’d wrap at 8pm but he’d get in a car and come to the studio and we’d rehearse moves until gone midnight.”

The end result, he said, was something with nostalgia for “a time where you could be in a club and socialise with friends with no social distancing. I think the chemistry Harry and Phoebe have together just oozes joy. And for most people joy is in short supply.”

The news of his death has prompted a flood of tributes from former collaborators, friends and fans.

Lottie Tomlinson, sister of Styles’s former bandmate and solo artist Louis Tomlinson, shared a heartbroken emoji, while Tomlinson and Niall Horan’s publicist Simon Jones commented: “So sad to hear this news about such an incredible person. Sending much love and light.”

Guitarist and music director Dan Richards, who also worked with One Direction, said: “Such sad news, Paul was one of the best, always such a great person to be around. My condolences to his family! RIP mate.”

Ian “H” Watkins of the pop group Steps said: “Devastated. What an incredible human Paul was. Sending [tons] of love.”

Spice Girls star Emma Bunton said: “My heart is broken… being in his company was my happy place. Thinking of you @thephilgriffin sending love to you and all his family.”

Craig David called him an “angel” while Pixie Lott wrote: “What an amazing, special, talented, one of a kind, glowing man. I treasure our times so so much and am absolutely heartbroken.”

Pop singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor wrote: “That is so sad. Paul was so special. So talented, yes, but also warm and sweet and thoughtful and fun. I’m so sorry to hear he’s not here any more. Sending lots of love to all who knew him.”

The Independent has contacted Styles’s representative for comment.

Roberts is survived by his partner, artist and photographer Phil Griffin.

Selena Gomez marries Benny Blanco in intimate Santa Barbara ceremony

US pop star Selena Gomez has married music producer Benny Blanco in a ceremony in Santa Barbara, California.

The singer, 33, shared photos to Instagram that showed her wearing a white halter-neck gown with Blanco in a dark tuxedo, adding their wedding date – 9.27.25 – as the caption.

Blanco, 37, real name Benjamin Levin, commented on the post: “My wife in real life.”

According to Vogue magazine, the couple exchanged vows on Saturday (27 September) in front of around 170 guests, including her close friend and fellow pop star Taylor Swift, actor Paul Rudd, and Gomez’s Only Murders in the Building co-stars, Steve Martin and Martin Short.

Among the other attendees were Ed Sheeran, Paris Hilton and Ashley Park. Gomez previously told Drew Barrymore on The Drew Barrymore Show that Short was due to give a speech while Martin would “probably pull out his banjo”.

The weekend of celebrations reportedly kicked off with a rehearsal dinner on Friday at a mansion in the private community of Hope Ranch, while the ceremony itself took place at Sea Crest Nursery.

Gomez and Blanco announced their engagement in December 2024 after a year of dating. The pop star shared photos of her ring, featuring a marquise diamond set on a gold band accented with tiny diamonds.

The ring appeared to be a nod to Gomez’s 2015 hit song “Good For You,” in which she sings the lyrics “on her marquise diamonds”. She captioned the Instagram post: “Forever begins now.”

The couple had already known each other for some time before they began dating, with Blanco producing Gomez’s hits “Same Old Love” and “Kill ‘Em with Kindness” in 2015, and 2016’s “Trust Nobody”.

They were reunited for the 2019 track “I Can’t Get Enough” with J Balvin and Tainy; Blanco also produced Gomez’s song “Single Soon”. The couple released a collaborative album, I Said I Love You First, earlier this year.

Gomez celebrated her engagement during a bachelorette trip with friends in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, while Blanco reportedly enjoyed a party in Las Vegas.

Blanco has also worked with artists including Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Halsey, Rihanna and Camila Cabello.

Meanwhile, Gomez has released a number of successful solo albums while also achieving acclaim as an actor in films including 2012’s Spring Breakers and 2016’s The Fundamentals of Caring.

Last year, she starred in the Oscar-nominated Spanish-language musical crime film, Emilia Pérez, and in the Disney Channel sequel Wizards Beyond Waverly Place.

She also has a number of business ventures, including the cosmetics brand Rare Beauty that, in September last year, was credited for making Gomez one of the world’s youngest self-made billionaires, according to Bloomberg.

The vital next step for women’s rugby after England’s World Cup win

As Zoe Aldcroft hoisted the Women’s World Cup high into the Twickenham air, England’s towering captain looked around and could hardly believe her eyes. It had been a day of disbelief from start to finish, the Red Roses not quite sure how to process the party that they had created. Afterwards, the players spoke of struggling to hold their emotions in check as they saw thousands upon thousands of fans fighting for space on the balconies all the way up the Twickenham tiers, clawing and clambering to the front as they craved a look at their heroes.

“The most emotional part was stepping off of the bus and seeing the amount of people in the stands and I was like ‘oh my goodness this is it’,” Aldcroft beamed. “Coming out to 82,000 people it was unbelievable. You could hear them supporting us throughout the whole game.”

By the time the redesigned trophy was in Aldcroft’s hands, there had been plenty of post-match pomp and ceremony as individual gongs were distributed but nary a single seat had been vacated. Head coach John Mitchell and his side had spoken repeatedly of what it would mean to fill the green seats of the grand old ground and, with ambition fulfilled, they were not going to empty quickly as the revelry began.

“It was actually insane,” hooker Amy Cokayne gushed, shortly before Hannah Botterman poured a beer down her back to throw her off her speaking stride. “When they told us three years ago that the aim was to sell out Twickenham, we all laughed in the meeting. For it to be pulled off, and get that many people was amazing.”

It really was a special day for the sport, to cap a transformative tournament. The ambition set by the organisers, and England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU) long beforehand, had been high, a huge jump from the record previous crowd of 58,498 to a capacity crowd, but for months and months there had been little doubt that they would achieve their goal – provided, of course, that the players took care of their business and made it to the final.

That, equally, perhaps should not have been doubted. The Red Roses were clear that they had saved their best for last, finally finding the sort of dominant performance that they had lacked at times in the World Cup to blow Canada away. It was a tour de force forged on set-piece strength, particularly at the scrum, where England contorted Canadian bodies every which way to turn the screw. Tactically, they were excellent, too, going to a contestable kicking game and not affording Canada stable platforms – Mitchell reflected afterwards that he had felt that the runners-up had rather been allowed to strut their stuff too often by opposition during the tournament. Around the corner, where Canada had been so impactful in making dents, England were super physical, illustrating the difference between they and other sides.

Which perhaps speaks to a vital next step for the women’s game. The decider, like England’s semi-final success over France, was perhaps more closely contested than it appears – Canada knocking on five metres from the line while Botterman was still in the sin bin was a huge moment – yet only a few times did they appear properly in peril. Their near misses in the last two finals had created a degree of doubt and debate over whether the Red Roses could handle the big stage but they rose to the occasion, again leaving the rest trailing in their wake.

The £15m a year that the RFU now invests in the women’s game is far more than that of their rivals; a day like Saturday at Twickenham perhaps proves it worth it. At the grassroots level, no doubt a World Cup win could drive fresh interest and start journeys for the Red Roses of the future – the talent pool from which international women’s rugby players are picked remains relatively small. To that end, the development of Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) into the world’s leading domestic league has aided others as well as England, but the strength in depth it gives Mitchell and his staff means that a second-string side could have contended at this tournament.

“I love seeing 100 English girls playing in PWR, and I’d love to see more,” the head coach said. “The league is a great competition because we are playing against other world-class opposition, but we’ve got to be mindful that we’ve got to grow English players. If you look at the 32 players that have accomplished greatness, to me it has only come because of the depth we’ve created and we have to make sure the pathway is enhanced even further as a result of this performance. We can dominate the world for a long time – but the world is going to get better.”

No doubt, there are some who fear this win could catalyse England to even greater success. Their dominance is more of a concern for the Women’s Six Nations rather than the World Cup, and has not yet proven to be an inhibiter on crowds, but it is surely incumbent upon their rivals to now invest more heavily to try to stay with them and create more compelling contests. Much has been said about Canada’s crowdfunding to try and win the tournament, but perhaps not enough of how they have boxed clever to attempt to mix it with the heavyweights. With smart coaching, huge buy-in from squad and union and a sprinkling of world-class players, it shows even a little more investment can go a long way.

Take, too, South Africa, who have an array of athletes to suggest rapid growth in the coming years, and Australia, to whom the baton is now passed as hosts of the next World Cup. They have the benefit of being established men’s rugby powerhouses – while the USA do not, World Rugby are desperate to unlock that audience and believe they can perhaps fill a gap in a slightly saturated market by providing a highly-physical female professional sport with no women’s NFL equivalent. These will be crucial years.

Closer to home, news of Scotland’s revamped contractual structure is welcome, though the process to get to this point and exact nature of the new deals has clearly caused problems. Talent regeneration is a concern; Wales are feeling that. Of the home nations, Ireland feel closest to breaking into the top tier after their own struggles of a couple of years ago.

But the pace-setters and ceiling-breakers will remain England for a long while. As 32 became 33 on Saturday evening and the unbeaten run went on, it was wondered what we will talk about if their dominance continues with the World Cup hoodoo banished. Perhaps it is to simply recognise a great team enjoying the sort of stage they deserved in front of an adoring, ever-swelling public – let us hope the others catch up in time but for now there is plenty to celebrate about England’s success.

E.ON Next/Independent EV Index: Prices down 7.7 per cent

Electric car prices are dropping fast, according to the first publication of the E.ON Next/The Independent EV Price Index.

The energy giant and media company have combined to produce the UK’s first-ever electric car price index that measures real-world prices (including available discounts) on every EV on sale in the UK.

The first E.ON Next/The Independent EV Price Index has revealed that over the past twelve months the median price of an EV has fallen by 7.7 per cent, a figure of £3,750.

Month-on-month, there’s been a sizeable drop of £1,228 or 2.7 per cent, thanks to the introduction of the government’s electric car grant and the additional discounts car makers introduced while waiting for the grant to be implemented.

The biggest year-on-year drop has been in the competitive small electric SUV segment – including cars like the Citroen e-C4, Mercedes EQA, Peugeot 2008 and BMW iX1 – where a drop of £5,827 or 13 per cent has been seen. Larger medium-sized electric SUVs – like the Audi Q4 e-Tron, Ford Explorer, Nissan Ariya and Skoda Enyaq – show a similarly-large year-on-year drop of £4,666 or 9.8 per cent.

The data for the E.ON Next/The Independent EV Price Index has been compiled by auto industry market insight and pricing data specialists Insider Car Deals. The prices quoted are median prices sourced from Insider Car Deal’s mystery shopping and market research analysis and are based on real-world discounts offered, including any incentives given as part of finance packages.

As well as analysing prices, the E.ON Next/The Independent EV Price Index has also revealed an increase of 25 per cent in the number of electric cars available in the UK over the past year. At the time of research there were 111 electric vehicle models available in the UK, with that number increasing all the time.

When various trim levels and different battery options are taken into account across all available models, there is a choice of 1,029 different electric car choices for UK car buyers – up 32 per cent year-on-year.

The research has also shown that median PCP (Personal Contract Purchase) monthly payments for electric cars have dropped by £55 a month, or 10.8 per cent compared with a year ago. Again, the biggest drop is in the small electric SUV segment, were median monthly payments are down £76 or 16.6 per cent per month.

The quoted PCP terms are based on discounted transaction prices, manufacturer’s APR and GFV and standardised at four years, 8,000-10,000 miles per year and a 15 per cent customer deposit (plus any manufacturer deposit contribution). Where a manufacturer imposes a maximum term of 42 or 36 months, that shorter term is used instead.

One standout deal uncovered by the E.ON Next/The Independent EV Price Index research was for a Vauxhall Mokka 115kW Ultimate 54kWh, with total discount and finance savings of 36.4 per cent (£13,524). That brings the price down to just £24,580, or a possible £292 a month on Vauxhall’s PCP finance plan.

The research also highlighted the difference in average PCP APR finance rates available on electric cars versus hybrid and internal combustion engine (ICE) models. Buyers of EVs will, on average, benefit from PCP APRs that are 3.1 per cent lower than they are for ICE models and 2.2 per cent for hybrids. The average PCP APR for an electric car currently sits at 3.5 per cent.

At the time of research, nine car makers were offering zero per cent finance – the same number as this time last year, although the brands have changed. The scale of finance deposit contributions on electric vehicles has also been revealed with the highest seen being £7,750.

The Simpsons didn’t predict the modern world – it shaped it

Tonight, the longest-running sitcom in American history returns. But does anybody care? After 36 seasons (soon to be 37), 36 years, and nearly 800 episodes, The Simpsons has transformed from a global phenomenon to a (yellow) part of the cultural wallpaper. Today, the seminal animated sitcom is mostly discussed by nostalgic obsessives rerunning the show’s “golden era”, or else in TikTok videos and lighthearted news articles discussing some uncanny cultural “prediction” from a bygone episode – be that the election of US President Donald Trump, the Ebola virus outbreak or Germany winning the World Cup.

Many believe the show has declined in quality, and it’s true that recent episodes don’t live up to the seven-odd years of the “golden era”. But then again, what does? As Homer Simpson himself quips: “Everyone knows rock attained perfection in 1974. It’s a scientific fact.”

If the show does struggle to make an impact now, it only has its own success to blame. After all, The Simpsons hasn’t so much predicted modern times as it has shaped them – and shaped how we interact with them.

American journalist Alan Siegel has charted the story of The Simpsons’ rise in a new book, Stupid TV, Be More Funny: How the Golden Era of The Simpsons Changed TV and America Forever. For him, as he states within the book’s introduction, the series was nothing short of revolutionary. “It was so radically different from everything else on TV that it hooked us,” he writes. “It wormed its way into our collective consciousness, influencing American culture in ways that nothing ever has.”

The Simpsons is rarely discussed as a spinoff, but it technically qualifies as one – it started its life as a series of shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987, before launching as its own series two years later. Its initial team was a ragtag bunch of animators and sitcom writers, armed with grievances over the tired conventions of US television. Experienced bigwig James L Brooks, sitcom maven Sam Simon (Taxi; Cheers),underground American cartoonist Matt Groening, Saturday Night Live tearaway George Meyer, and the enigmatic curmudgeon John Swartzwelder were among the cohort. The show was taken on by Fox – then a new, fledgling network – but no one involved thought they were embarking on a project that would span more than a few years. Let alone four decades.

On paper, The Simpsons was one more family sitcom in an era when television was teeming with them. It would have been no revolutionary feat, were it not for a few things. Firstly, it was animated, which opened up a world of potential for visual humour – just about anything the team could dream up from their soda-encrusted writers’ room, dubbed the “Simpsons Motel” at Fox’s studios in Los Angeles. TV animation was historically a medium aimed at children, and in transposing a more adult-themed sitcom to the artform, it charted new and fertile comic territory. Many of the immediately famous moments from these early seasons – such as Homer trying to jump Springfield Gorge on a skateboard, you wouldn’t see that in The Cosby Show – were only feasible in the medium of animation. “The writers knew the tropes of traditional sitcoms, and they wanted to blow them up,” Siegel says.

Then there was the show’s rebellious streak – fuelled by a naivety surrounding the show. The writers sincerely thought it’d be a short gig. “We’re 13 [episodes] and out,” early and integral showrunner Sam Simon told the team in its first season. They were also armed with a greenlight from the Fox execs that they wouldn’t interfere with storylines or jokes – carte blanche that most modern shows can only dream about.

This freedom was embodied in Bart, who emerged as the main character for those earliest seasons. In an era of Urkels and Cosbys, Bart was a true rebel and a perfect distillation of MTV-era youth. His rebellious nature even struck fear into the heart of the American government – George Bush Sr’s drug czar had choice words about the “little spikehead” in 1990, and federal agents even scored millions of dollars worth of bootleg Bart Simpson merch in a series of raids. The show rode “Bartmania” in those early days, before settling into a more family and society-oriented story structure.

As refreshing as this anti-authoritarian streak was, Siegel’s book shows us where it might have come from. The roots of it can be seen in creator Matt Groening’s subversive comic strip, Life in Hell – an eccentrically subversive publication showing the hijinx of rabbits Binky and Bongo and a gay couple who wear fezzes.

But the show was also shaped by unexpected antecedents. Beloved comedian and golden-era Simpsons writer Conan O’Brien highlights Adam West’s campy 1960s Batman series. It’s cringe-inducing by today’s standards, but the writers found that, behind the “Pow!” and “Biff!”, there was something interesting at play in characters such as Commissioner Gordon, Gotham’s own Police Chief Wiggum. Moving past pure rebellion, Siegel pinpoints the episode “Homer’s Phobia” as the one where he first cottoned on to the show’s sociological nuance. The episode, which featured a guest appearance from John Waters, skewers homophobia and features Springfield’s gay steel mill-turned nightclub.

Julie Prescott, writer of a later Halloween episode and co-host of a now-completed popular podcast series, Round Springfield, points to a seventh-season episode in which Marge, the family’s matriarch, falls in with a country club crowd. “Framing that story around Marge rather than Bart and Lisa was a welcome twist,” she says, allowing for class-divide commentary rather than simple playground politics.

Allie Goertz, her podcast co-host and former editor of MAD magazine, mentions “Lisa the Iconoclast”, an exploration of historical revisionism through the lens of hometown “hero” Jebediah Springfield. Episodes like these showed audiences that there were jokes to be found within the serious folds of serious issues. “To me, those early episodes that were ahead of their time are much more impressive than the single gotcha moments,” he says.

A good chunk of the credit for the show’s comedic nous and esoteric references must go to the hermetic writer John Swartzwelder, whom Siegel refers to as “comedy writing’s Paul Bunyan”. Much ink has been spilt over Swartzwelder’s enigmatic nature, his infamous rant about the sorry state of TV during a job interview with David Letterman, and his steadfast refusal to be interviewed or photographed. There was an agonising team behind many of the most loved jokes, but it’s fair to say Homer is at his Homerest when the cantankerous Swartzwelder wields the pen: “So [you’re] a graduate student huh? How come you guys can go to the moon but you can’t make my shoes smell good?”

Fellow writer George Meyer described Swartzwelder’s best jokes as the “horrifying” contrasted by the “banal” – a forebearer of much of the humour found online today, shared through memes. When something terrible happens (say, a global pandemic), it’s not long before your social media fills with images and videos you might describe as Swartzweldian – a reaction to events with some detached satirical approach. It’s a part of how we comprehend the often horrific world around us.

As well as being a clear precursor to (and influence on) modern internet humour, The Simpsons was also a harbinger of one the web’s less amusing sides – vicious online debates about pop culture. As Siegel details in his book, an early Simpsons forum called alt.tv.simpsons became a popular place to discuss – and often trash – the show in the 1990s. “It was one of the best shows in the history of TV. And yet people were saying it’s going in the toilet,” Siegel laughs. “When you put people in an online space with anonymity, they are going to get angry. Talk about prescience.”

As the years went by, The Simpsons went from must-see watercooler television to comfort watch, to guilty pleasure, before settling now into a state of simply “being on”. Celebrity guest stars – once a pioneering strength of the show, with great early-season turns from people such as Dustin Hoffman and Rodney Dangerfield – became overused and slapdash as the show grew older. A writing style aimed at mainstream younger audiences dulled the immaculate glow the show once had. The switch from animated cels to digitised method after season 12 stole the show’s literal glow, replacing it with a cold facsimile.

Even now, though, The Simpsons is at no risk of falling into obscurity. Puffed-up “predictions” may be what grabs the headlines, but the truth is that The Simpsons achieved a more difficult task – understanding its own present, and therefore securing the show’s future for many years. There are yellow, four-fingered prints all over our world. “It transcended everything before it,” Siegel says. “There aren’t too many times you can achieve that.”

‘Stupid TV, Be More Funny: How the Golden Era of The Simpsons Changed TV and America Forever’ by Alan Siegel is out now, published by Little, Brown & Company; ‘The Simpsons’ is available to stream in the UK on Disney+

Jaguar Land Rover given £1.5bn loan guarantee to keep afloat until Christmas

Ministers have stepped in to provide an emergency bailout to Jaguar Land Rover after the motor manufacturer was left reeling by a massive cyber attack.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced that she will provide the motor giant a £1.5bn loan guarantee to give it time to recover from the attack and protect the companies in its supply chain which have also been hit hard.

The move comes as Labour opens its conference in Liverpool with Keir Starmer and his government under pressure to show they can govern effectively.

Ms Reeves said: “Jaguar Land Rover is an iconic British company which employs tens of thousands of people – a jewel in the crown of our economy.

“Today we are protecting thousands of those jobs with up to £1.5bn in additional private finance, helping them support their supply chain and protect a vital part of the British car industry.”

The announcement follows business secretary Peter Kyle’s visit to JLR and supply chain firm Webasto this week.

The decisive action builds on the government’s commitment to the UK auto sector through the modern industrial strategy to boost growth and good jobs.

JLR was struck by hackers last month, forcing a halt to production and threatening the future of its supply chain.

It later emerged that the company was not insured for cyber attacks, leaving it struggling to get back on its feet.

The loan from a commercial bank, backed by the Export Development Guarantee (EDG) provided by export credit agency UK Export Finance, will be paid back over five years and bolster JLR’s cash reserves so it can support its supply chain which has been greatly impacted by the shutdown.

Mr Kyle said: “This cyber attack was not only an assault on an iconic British brand, but on our world-leading automotive sector and the men and women whose livelihoods depend on it.

“Following our decisive action, this loan guarantee will help support the supply chain and protect skilled jobs in the West Midlands, Merseyside and throughout the UK.”

The government also recently gave Ford motor company in the UK a £1bn loan guarantee to help deal with the effect of Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Mr Kyle said: “We’re backing our automotive sector for the long-term through our modern industrial strategy and the landmark trade deals we’ve signed to boost exports.”

With plants in Solihull and Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, plus Halewood in Merseyside, JLR is one of the UK’s largest exporters, employing 34,000 directly in its UK operations.

It also operates the largest supply chain in the UK automotive sector, much of it made up of small and medium-sized enterprises, and employing around 120,000 people.

West Midlands mayor Richard Parker said: “This support is vital to the West Midlands – it will keep people in work, protect the smaller firms that rely on JLR and give our region the stability it needs while production is paused.

“I’ll keep working hard with ministers and industry to safeguard jobs and make sure our world-class automotive sector comes through this stronger.”

The support follows several significant actions by government in recent months to back the UK’s automotive sector, including securing landmark trade deals with India and the US to turbocharge export opportunities for UK companies by slashing tariffs.

The government also launched an electric car grant to support the transition to zero-emission vehicles and incentivise sustainable manufacturing, and slashed industrial electricity costs for thousands of companies through the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme, as part of the modern industrial strategy.

The strategy also committed £2bn capital and research and development (R&D) funding for the auto sector to 2030, and an additional £500m to extend the R&D support for the industry to 2035.