A Worsley lad has turned his passion for cleaning into a successful business with the support of his local community and a few famous faces.
15-year-old Zykiah Ditchett from Boothstown showed an interest in cleaning from a young age, but after concerns were raised by loved ones over his “constant” cleaning at home, he was eventually diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) at aged 13.
To help nurture his love for cleaning, but in a bid to get him outside more, Zykiah was given a car valeting set for Christmas.
He soon began to use his kit to clean relative’s cars for just £5 each time, but after he discovered his passion had a chance of becoming a blossoming business, Zykiah – who is a pupil at Culcheth High School, in Warrington – asked if he could clean neighbour’s vehicles too, and so his mum, Jo Ditchett, reached out to the community by posting to a local Facebook group to see if anyone was interested.
And the community showed up in style.
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Jo asked those who want their car cleaning leave their vehicle outside the family home, and just hours after the post went live, dozens of cars lined the quiet street to show their support.
After a successful start to life for Zykiah’s venture – named Dirt2Clean Manchester – it didn’t take long for local Boothstown pub Coal & Cotton to offer him a permanent base to work from at weekends after reaching out to the family saying they were “really impressed” by his work.
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Now, two years on, Zykiah’s business is booming like never before and has even attracted the custom of plenty of famous faces, with the youngster cleaning the cars of huge stars including current and ex-Manchester United players Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, and Scott McTominay, as well as former-Love Island contestants like Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury, and plenty of other big names.
After being diagnosed with OCD, Zykiah was given a car valeting set for Christmas to help nurture his cleaning passion / Credit: Instagram (@dirt2cleanmanchester)
Zykiah’s business is booming like never before, and has even attracted the custom of plenty of famous faces / Credit: Instagram (@dirt2cleanmanchester)
“Anyone who has a high-performance car comes to him, but he does all cars, and he’s all self-taught too – he’s never done a course, he’s done it all online, and has designed his own flyers.
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“A lot of young lads message him asking how he started.”
Jo continued: “He had a bucket and sponge for the whole year before he knew how to use a valeting kit [and] he went on Instagram and YouTube, or any channel he could to watch the process.”
Zykiah hopes to one day own a car valeting company in his own name, with branches right across the UK – but for now, his family feels “so proud” of where he is at.
Jo concluded: “We support him fully – we know he’s going to do well and continue.”
You can find out more about Dirt2Clean Manchester here.
Featured Image – Dirt2Clean Manchester
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BBC is casting for next series of The Traitors and wants Mancs who are ‘good at lying’ to apply
Emily Sergeant
The BBC is currently casting for the next series of The Traitors, and is looking for some deceptive Mancs to take part.
The Traitors is pretty much a cultural phenomenon at this point, let’s be honest.
Producers describe it as a ‘game of trust and treachery’, and there’s always plenty of twists, turns, shocks, and surprises along the way – but do you reckon you’ve got what it takes to play? If so, the BBC is currently casting for the next series of the popular show, and is calling on people in Greater Manchester and across the UK to apply.
Applications are currently open to ‘fun, smart, and strategic players’ who are over 18 years of age and have the right to legally reside in the UK.
The first series of the smash-hit BBC reality competition show proved pretty popular when it premiered back in 2022, but the second series took things to a whole new level, and truly seemed to capture the attentions of the nation like no other – with millions of viewers tuning in to watch the three episodes each week.
Currently, you may be one of the millions watching The Celebrity Traitors, which airs each week on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
But in case you haven’t seen it, The Traitors is, put simply, a competition series that’s built on strategy, suspicion, and deception, where a team of players are tasked with competing in a series of missions – with the more missions they complete successfully, the bigger the prize pot gets.
However, hidden among the players are the ‘Traitors’, who meet in secret and decide who to eliminate from their fellow players known as the ‘Faithfuls’.
The aim for the ‘Traitors’ is to stay undetected until the end, while the aim for the ‘Faithfuls’ is to banish all of the Traitors before the game ends.
Up for it? You have until 31 May 2026 to get your applications in online here.
Featured Image – BBC / Studio Lambert Assossiates
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Tom Aspinall to undergo more eye tests after injury sees title defence fight end in no-contest
Danny Jones
Manc MMA fighter Tom Aspinall is said to need further eye tests after an injury saw his title defence against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 end in a no-contest.
The Atherton-born UFC star was set to face the Frenchman former Muay Thai pro, 35, in the first competitive match since being declared the undisputed heavyweight champion earlier this year.
Aspinall was handed the belt by default after fighting legend Jon Jones retired from the sport, only to seemingly put himself back in training and the testing pool not long after.
Ultimately, the local athlete was unable to fully demonstrate why he’s found himself top dog in the division after an eye-poke from Gane saw Tom unable to continue. Brace yourselves: it’s rather unpleasant to watch…
Unsurprisingly, UFC fans are still wrapped up in fierce debate online, with many arguing whether or not the fight should have been stopped despite Aspinall making it clear he could no longer see properly after the illegal move.
In fact, Aspinall’s father and trainer, Andy, told various media that Tom was still unable to see out of his right eye as an ambulance quickly took him to a nearby hospital following the abandoned bout at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
Nevertheless, plenty are questioning the ins and outs of the moment, with some believing that Aspinall was supposedly looking for “a way out” after the early rounds against Gane, while plenty more are wondering whether the eye poke was even ‘accidental’.
The Wigan native gave fight fans plenty of grief back, though, expressing his shock at those up in the stands booing and asking what else they expected him to do.
It was in front of his opponent’s home crowd in Paris, in fairness, but he and his fans were left, nevertheless, disappointed by the reaction following what is an extremely serious injury.
You only have to hear Michael Bisping talk about losing his right eye to know how much it changed his life, and Aspinall actually referenced the fellow Northerner in the aftermath of the eye poke, stating, “I really respect what Bisping has done; he’s done more than I would.
“I wouldn’t carry on fighting with one eye. No chance.”
While doctors have so far assured that there should be no permanent ocular damage, both pain and precaution are inevitable; it will be some time before Aspinall gets back in the octagon, and who knows when we can expect a rematch against Ciryl Gane.
You can watch the highlights before it was called early HERE, and see the ‘Honey Badger’s reaction after the fact on this official Tom Apsinall YouTube down below.
Emily Sergeant -
25th October 2021 
