Jon Bon Jovi has finally spoken out publicly after his son and Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown announced their engagement.
It’s fair to say the showbiz world blew up a bit when the British actress, who is best-known for her starring role as Eleven on Netflix’s hit show Stranger Things, hopped on social media to casually announce one Tuesday morning that wedding bells were ringing.
The 19-year-old confirmed that her boyfriend, 20-year-old Jake Bongiovi, had popped the question and the two were now engaged.
The young star took to Instagram to share a beaming black and white photo showing off a huge ring on her left hand and her now-fiancé embracing her – with the confirming caption: “I’ve loved you three summers now, honey, I want ’em all.”
Jake also proclaimed it was “forever” for the pair in a series of engagement announcement pictures he shared on his Instagram.
The couple are believed to have been in a relationship for three years, and struck up their romance after connecting on Instagram.
Of course, given the fact that many would consider the relationship to be in the relatively early stages, and the fact that Millie Bobby Brown is a child star who first rose to stardom after appearing on our screens at the age of 11, the engagement was slammed by fans.
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Their young age, though, was what appeared to draw the most public criticism.
But aside from the age of the pair, the other major talking point was that many were shocked to learn that Jake Bongiovi is, in fact, the son of rockstar Jon Bon Jovi – which left many questioning what the legendary Bon Jovi frontman thought of the engagement, and if he would ever publicly address the situation at any point.
Now, Jon has spoken out to have his say on everything during an interview with SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live yesterday.
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When host Andy Cohen asked the 61-year-old rocker if he was worried about Jake and Millie getting engaged at such a young age, Jon responded that he “doesn’t know if age matters”.
He explained: “If you find the right partner and you grow together, I think that would be my advice really, growing together is wise. I think that all of my kids have found the people that they think they can grow together with, and we like them all.”
The rockstar also added that Millie is “wonderful”.
“Her whole family are great, and Jake is very, very happy,” Jon concluded.
Jon Bon Jovi’s decision not to buy into the public concern of his son’s engagement will likely make sense to fans who know the musician himself found love at a young age and married his high school sweetheart, Dorothea.
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Jon and Dorothea have four children together, with Jake being the second youngest.
Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty
Daisy Jackson
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure, weeks after the doors to the premium fitness facility mysteriously closed.
Around a fortnight ago, members began to arrive to their classes to find the gym on Ducie Street locked up and a forfeiture notice on the door – but at the time, Blok said that it was fighting to reopen.
Sadly, in an email sent to members today, its founder has confirmed that the studio is now permanently closed.
Blok – which has several very successful sites down in London – said that its relationship with its landlord has ‘broken down to a point where trust has been lost’.
The gym wrote that it’s been left with ‘no workable way forward’.
They said: “BLOK Manchester was a space built by our loyal and dedicated community. Whether you joined us for one class or one hundred, we are deeply grateful. You helped create something genuinely special in an incredible city.”
In the immediate future, they said they’ll be supporting the team of fantastic trainers who worked here, as well as looking after members.
Members will be contacted within a few hours with options and refunds owed.
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group
CEO and founder Ed Stanbury said: “While this marks the end of a chapter, we don’t see it as the end of our story in Manchester. We’re already speaking with developers about potential future sites and remain committed to returning to the city when the time is right.
“Thank you for being part of our story so far. Let’s shape the future of wellness. The mission continues.”
Commenting on Blok’s Instagram post – its first in almost a fortnight – people have been sharing their sadness at the closure of its Manchester site.
One person wrote: “beautiful space, beautiful staff and beautiful community.”
Another said: “Sending love to all the instructors !! :(((( gutted”
Someone else commented: “THE BEST CLASSES. I’m gutted.”
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Emily Sergeant -
3rd May 2023 
