With around 80,000 new and returning students set to arrive in the city over these new few weeks, some famous Manchester faces have a word or two for them.
The freshers experience is set to be a very different this year amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
With nightclubs still closed and strict social distancing measures in place in bars – as well as the new rule of six and reports of a 10pm curfew expected to be announced by the government in due course – usual bar crawls and club nights are out of the question.
Concerns surrounding the potential breaching of these current local lockdown restrictions by students is what has prompted a number of famous faces to step in.
Radio DJ Gemma Atkinson, presenter Vernon Kay, Coronation Street actresses Catherine Tyldesley and Brooke Vincent, boxer Anthony Crolla, and reality TV star Scott Thomas are among the Manchester celebrities who have posted videos on social media urging students to “think twice” before hosting or attending any house parties or large gatherings.
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The celebrities involved were approached by Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and Night Time Economy Advisor Sacha Lord to drive home the importance of following the latest government guidance.
Are you a Fresher or a student returning to Greater Manchester? Over the next few days, we have some important messaging from some familiar local faces. pic.twitter.com/lcLFesGIAa
Well-known Boltonian TV presenter Vernon Kay said: “It’s important that we get our region back on its feet, and if you’re thinking about hosting a party or going to a student party, please think twice about doing it.
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“As you’ve heard, Bolton is on its knees and Greater Manchester is struggling, we need to get the cities up and running again and we can do this by preventing the spread of COVID-19.
“If you do your bit, it will have a massive knock-on effect for everyone else.
“Stay safe, enjoy it, I’m very jealous that my further education was many many many years ago, and I enjoyed every minute of it, so you do the same.”
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Another message from a friendly face. If you are a Fresher, or a student returning to Greater Manchester, please do your bit. pic.twitter.com/itKHcPz8zE
Corrie co-star Catherine Tyldesley asked students to “sit tight” and added: “We know all the clubs are shut and yeah, it’s depressing, but please please please help protect our amazing city by not hosting or attending house parties.
“Help slow down the virus, because the quicker we do that, the quicker the clubs can open and we can have a belting time.”
Brooke Vincent said: “I know it’s a little bit rubbish and not the start of your uni year that you expected. Manchester at the minute is really really trying to get back on track, to recover, and we need your help.
“If this was another time I’d be at the house parties myself, on the table, with a drink in my hand, but we need to keep everyone safe.
“I assure you, once everything is up and running, I’m pretty damn sure Manchester will do an amazing celebration and you guys can get fully involved.”
Hits Radio Manchester presenter Gemma Atkinson admitted that things were “a little bit difficult”, but urged people to support each other and said: “Please don’t be that person who has these house parties, it’s not worth it.
“This city needs to get back to normal.
“Let’s all do each other proud and keep safe.”
Scott Thomas – Love Island star, social media figure and director of Manchester-based PR agency The Social PR – addressed students saying: “You must be buzzing, but we must keep our city safe.
“Be patient.
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“The more patient we are, the quicker we will recover.”
These urgent messages of warning to students come after the UK government announced last month that police in England have been given the power to distribute fines to the organisers of illegal gatherings.
Those responsible could be hit with five-figure penalties for playing their part in arranging events with more than 30 people.
For the latest information, guidance and support during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the UK, please do refer to official sources at gov.uk/coronavirus.
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Liam Gallagher says he’s ‘ready’ to make a surprise appearance at the World Cup final
Danny Jones
Liam Gallagher has said that he is “ready” to play at the World Cup final should England make it all the way to the last two later this month.
He may have just been having some fun on social media as usual, but you never know – after all, we never actually thought we’d see him and his brother reconcile, but look how that turned out…
In his words, he may have “Irish blood”, but the Manchester-born Britpop and rock icon has an English heart, and after one person online said it’d only be right for him to fly out for the conclusive fixture if Thomas Tuchel’s side make it all the way, he gave a typically off-the-cuff response:
You could argue there’s not much in this besides an impromptu comment from a famously keyboard-happy lead singer, but stranger things have happened.
For instance, it may have come after a gradually increasing barrage of old tweets, pestering and a bit of positive peer pressure in full view of the public eye, but we did at long last get to witness an Oasis reunion with the ‘Live ’25’ world tour; however surreal it felt, it’s soon set to be relived in a documentary.
This reply comes as a response to LG’s initial post on X, in which he wrote: “It’s hard work that singing Harry Kane cmon ENGLAND cmon WONDERWALL.”
It also isn’t the only time he stoked the fire of this still only pie-in-the-sky idea, either, as after another user similarly asked if he’d fly out and sing it at the final, he simply responded, “Oh I’ll show Harry how it’s done.”
He’s not the only one to have made a rather big public proclamation this tournament, either.
The England and Man United legend set himself up for a fall.
As for the 53-year-old musician, he also jokingly quipped at the expense of those less keen on the idea with just as straightforward a clap-back: “Stop crying your heart out.”
Now, obviously, we’re taking this one with a big pinch of salt (enough to season ‘some lasagneee’, you could say), but who knows? There’s been plenty of big and strange showbiz stuff happening at this year’s competition in North America.
Maybe we all need to just keep tagging the Burnage boys, FIFA, England and the official World Cup page as much and hope for at least some kind of Oasis-centric surprise.
Come on, just imagine how much this would go OFF if even one of the Gallagher brothers was in the crowd, let alone this unthinkable hypothetical…
ITV to be bought out by Sky in transformational British broadcasting deal worth £1.6 billion
Danny Jones
In a watershed moment for British broadcasting, Sky has reached a transformational agreement worth more than £1.6 billion to buy out ITV in a landmark takeover deal.
With Sky already owned by US telecommunications corporation Comcast, this is set to be one of the biggest shakeups in TV and streaming for some time.
Talks actually started last November, but the process to complete a buyout like this has obviously taken a significant amount of time and money already.
It’s also worth noting that the deal is still pending full approval from the relevant regulators; nevertheless, it’s fair to say that it could change the face of the British media giants – who are based here in Greater Manchester over at MediaCity – but might signal a significant overhaul of our media landscape.
The Sky Group have assured there will be no immediate change to popular shows and will not be put behind a paywall at present (for now, anyway), with ITV still under a free-to-air service until 2034 as part of its public licensing contract.
Aquisitons/mergers of this size like this don’t come around very often, at least not across this side of the pond, with the growing Disney’s growing multinational monopolisation being one of the biggest examples of conglomerates mopping up major networks and huge brands over the past decade.
Writing in a statement, Sky said: “The UK media market is undergoing a profound and rapid transformation, and as competition for audiences intensifies, scale matters more than ever in order to compete with global streaming giants and YouTube in the UK.
“Viewers will continue to enjoy the shows they know and love, such as Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Love Island, I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, This Morning, Loose Women, Lorraine and News at Ten – alongside major live sporting events.”
That lattermost example feels particularly poignant at the moment, as this also means that the likes of ITV’s impressive World Cup coverage will come under the Sky umbrella in the near future.
ITV agrees sale of media and entertainment business to Sky for up to £1.6bnhttps://t.co/UtgO9REejy
It’s being seen as an ambitious attempt to shake up traditional terrestrial telly and digital platforms, with the ‘old guard’, as it were, having to move forward and fast to keep up with the mercurial market becoming evermore dominated by streaming services.
Of course, there are plenty raising questions and concerns over yet another domestic institution becoming deeper and deeper entwined with big American business; on the other hand, former ITV chairman Sir Peter Bazalgette, who still owns shares, says the deal was “essential” for its survival.
ITV will also receive £1.2bn in cash and Sky’s Love Productions business in return for ownership of their media and entertainment arm, whose shows include the Great British Bake Off.
Moving forward, ITV will also get a further £200m in 2028 if they meet revenue targets when it comes to advertising, with Sky promising to spend over £2.1bn on content from ITV Studios over a five-year period. You can read the full update from ITV right HERE.
Emily Sergeant -
21st September 2020 
