Ricky Gervais, Greg James, and Aymeric Laporte are among the famous names to react after Twitter blue ticks are removed.
In case you missed it, Twitter CEO Elon Musk confirmed last week that all celebrities, public figures, and other ‘legacy verified’ accounts were to be stripped of their blue tick verification symbols on Thursday 20 April, unless they pay for the newly-launched “premium subscription service” Twitter Blue.
The social media platform first introduced the now-famous ‘blue tick’ verification symbol all the way back in 2009 so that individuals, businesses, organisations, and accounts of notability could prove their identity – but in recent months, after the highly-publicised takeover by multi-billionaire founder and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk, Twitter users will have likely noticed the colour of a lot of these verification symbols for certain official accounts changing from blue to grey/silver and gold.
At the start of 2023, Twitter began rolling out a grey tick verification mark for government-related accounts, and a golden tick mark for companies.
The classic ‘blue tick’, according to a statement on the Twitter website, was then left to mean that the account was either ‘legacy verified’, or that the account has an active subscription to Twitter Blue and meets the platform’s eligibility requirements.
Although Musk’s past antics and previous comments may have lead many to questioning whether or not he was serious about the date blue ticks would be removed, it was, in fact, genuine as hundreds of thousands of accounts began losing their verifications yesterday.
And lots of celebrities had something to say about it.
I lost my blue tick but your rocket blew up so who’s the real loser
Comedian and actor Ricky Gervais, BBC Radio 1 presenter Greg James, Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte, and Game of Thrones actor John Bradley were among some of the famous names to take to Twitter to tweet their hilarious reactions to the loss of their blue ticks.
“I lost my blue tick but your rocket blew up so who’s the real loser,” Greg James said comically, pointing to the failed SpaceX rocket launch attempt only a few hours earlier.
Ricky Gervais shared one of his well-known bathtub pictures with the caption: “My blue tick has gone. I’m not sure if I’m really me or not.”
Aymeric Laporte seemed a bit confused with his reaction: “Damn Elon what did u do lol”, while John Bradley took a moment to look ahead to Manchester United‘s then-upcoming UEFA Europa League match with his tweet: “Blue tick may have gone but it could be worse. At least United are still in the Europa League.
“This tweet could have a shelf life of 2 sweet hours.”
And he was right as that obviously didn’t age well considering the Reds were defeated, quite spectacularly, by Sevilla 0-3 last night.
Halle Berry, Henry Winkler, Ciara, and Finneas are among the other famous names to tweet their reactions.
Man City star Jack Grealish reveals the two players who inspired his loan move to Everton
Danny Jones
England international Jack Grealish has revealed the two ex-players that inspired him to join Everton FC on loan from Manchester City.
The fan favourite, who joined Man City as Britain’s first-ever £100 million player back in 2021, has struggled to find a regular spot in Pep Guardiola‘s starting XI since arriving at the Etihad Stadium, but has already won all there is to win at the English club level in his time there.
Now 29 years old – largely considered well within the prime years for a footballer, if not soon to be exiting it – the next few seasons are likely to prove crucial for the Birmingham-born star.
With that in mind, Grealish has now completed his loan transition from City to Everton and has revealed that, besides the history and passionate supporters, two former legends played a big part in influencing his decision to say yes.
"My two favourite English players ever are Wayne Rooney and Paul Gascoigne and I know they both wore number 18 here."
Much like many footy fans from the past couple of generations, the Aston Villa product admitted that Wayne Rooney and Paul Gascoigne are two of his favourite sportsmen of all time.
While the Man United legend went on to notch the biggest achievements of his career here in Manchester, he started out life and his professional career as a teenager in the blue half of Liverpool, coming through as one of the club’s most exciting prospects ever.
As explained above, the now-loaned-out attacking midfielder also revealed that picking the number 18 was a tap-in, not only because it was Rooney’s first shirt but also that of another fellow retired Toffee and English footballing icon in Gazza, who played 32 times for the club towards the end of his playing days.
There aren’t many clubs and/or shirts that could convince a modern-day Premier League star to swap the number 10 at Treble-winning ‘four-midables’, Man City; aside from the obvious increase in playing time, there seems to be some genuine heart and sentimentality behind the switch.
Whether or not it will prove to be the right next step for the talented dribbler and creative attacking talent, only time will tell.
Is it the right move for the England international? ⚖️#MCFC#Transfers
Not too long after being reinstated as Everton manager himself, David Moyes is also said to have played a significant role in convincing Grealish to make the move to Merseyside.
The fact that the Three Lions regular has serious “ambition” to get back in the squad for the upcoming World Cup, having been left “heartbroken” as he missed out on Euro 2024, made Moyes’ sales pitch a fairly straightforward one: ‘come be the main man and fight your way back into the selection’.
It’s said that the deal includes an option to buy for approximately £50m (half the price his parent club paid a then-record sum for him), and his new team are expected to pay a big chunk of his reported £300k-a-week wages – with overall outgoings potentially reaching more than £12m after the loan fee.
You can see Grealish’s first interview in the darker shade of blue down below.
Here’s what Grealish had to say on his loan move to Everton for the 2025/26 season.
Classic gameshow Wheel of Fortune is looking for Mancs to take part in next reboot series
Emily Sergeant
Classic gameshow Wheel of Fortune is looking for Mancs to take part in the next series of the popular reboot.
In case you missed it, Wheel of Fortune returned to ITV for eight hour-long episodes – which included two celebrity specials – back in 2024, with beloved and seasoned BAFTA-winning TV host Graham Norton fronting the revival, and just like the original run, the reboot proved to be very popular with audiences.
Not familiar with the show?
Based on the successful global brand, and modelled on the still-ongoing American show of the same name, the original British version of Wheel of Fortune first aired all the way back 1988, and went on to run for a whopping 14 series and 746 episodes before ending 2001.
Classic gameshow Wheel of Fortune is looking for Mancs to take part in the next reboot series / Credit: ITV / ITVX
The show’s premise is basically based around a giant carnival wheel that the contestants have to spin to win themselves a life-changing cash prize.
Just like the original, the reboot is also a ‘thrilling game of skill and luck’.
In each episode, the turn of the wheel secures contestants a cash value before they pick a letter to help them solve the puzzle, where, for every correct letter they reveal in the puzzle, they win multiples of that amount.
A casting call for the upcoming series on the ITV website reads: “We’re looking for contestants to take part in this brand-new series of the classic gameshow, Wheel of Fortune. If you love solving word puzzles and would like a chance to spin the wheel and win big cash prizes, then please apply now.”
Fancy it then? You’ll just need to be over 18 years old and a legal resident of the UK to apply, so if you reckon you’ve got what it takes, then you can find out more and stick an application in before the closing date of 19 September 2025.
Emily Sergeant -
21st April 2023 
