One of the hottest actors on the planet right now, Aimee Lou Wood, has described her perfect day out in Manchester – and this woman really knows her stuff.
The Stockport-born actor is currently starring in The White Lotus, which will air its final episode of the season this weekend.
And in an interview with Elle, the 31-year-old star has spilled the beans on how she’d spend the ‘ultimate day out’ in Manchester.
The local lass has shouted out several independent businesses across Ancoats and the Northern Quarter, including some Manc favourites too.
Aimee Lou Wood said her perfect Manchester day would start with coffee and breakfast at Idle Hands, an independent coffee shop that’s also famed for its brunches and its pies.
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She said in her interview that it does the ‘best’ coffee, adding: “And they also have cherry pie, which is really delicious, which I try not to have for breakfast. I try and have an actual breakfast meal.
“They have this thing called divorced eggs. I would eat the divorced eggs and then possibly have the cherry pie.”
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Idle HandsKerb wine bar in AncoatsErst in AncoatsThe Norah Store in AncoatsSome of the Manchester spots Aimee Lou Wood recommended. Credit: The Manc Group
From there, Aimee Lou said she’d hit the many, many vintage shops around the Northern Quarter, name-checking favourites like Blue Rinse, Cow, and Pop Boutique.
“They always have amazing leather jackets and that’s my fixation, is leather jackets,” she said.
She then told Elle: “Later on in the day, I would stay in the Northern Quarter, but then maybe I would go to Ancoats, which is really really cool now, and I would go to Erst, which is an amazing restaurant. It’s the bread. The bread there is just so good.
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“But also, ooh, my friend’s shop! The Norah Store, which is in Ancoats, which is an incredible little shop, and then next door to it is this little wine bar, natural wine bar, called Kerb.
“And that is kind of the perfect day. It’s an amazing day.”
Aimee Lou Wood also said: “I love Manchester, so much.”
Jane McDonald announces huge new arena tour, with gig in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
National treasure Jane McDonald has just announced a brand-new arena tour, including a show here in Manchester.
The singing sensation has shared details of a new UK tour and album for 2026, with the Living The Dream tour hitting 19 stages.
Jane McDonald, star of stage and screen, will be performing at the AO Arena in Manchester next September, following the release of her new album in the spring.
Living The Dream is her 11th studio album, and boasts nine original songs plus four re-workings of country classics.
Jane has been a British icon ever since she appeared in the BBC docusoap The Cruise back in 1998.
Since then she’s sold out some of the world’s most iconic venues, including the Royal Albert Hall and the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
As well as her singing and stage career, she’s known for her TV work including the BAFTA Award-winning Channel 5 series Cruising with Jane McDonald, Celebrity Gogglebox with best friend Sue Ravey on Celebrity Gogglebox, and her starring position on Loose Women.
She’s also recently launched her sold-out cruise charter, Cruise with Jane McDonald, with a seven-night round-trip for 1,400 fans planned for next October.
Before heading out on tour, TV audiences will also see Jane undertaking an ocean expedition for Jane McDonald: From Pole to Pole, where she’ll be travelling from the Antarctic to the Arctic.
In May 2026 Jane will headline the main stage at Mighty Hoopla festival in London in her first ever festival headline appearance.
Making the announcement, Jane said: “It’s true, I am officially Living The Dream so what better way to celebrate that than with a new album and a new tour.
“I love Country music and I love partying with you so I want to bring that together by bringing you some exciting new music along with the songs you know and love.
“We had brilliant fun on the last tour and we’re stepping it up a notch this time to visit even bigger venues so buckle up and let’s make even more memories together.”
Jane McDonald will play the AO Arena in Manchester on Thursday 10 September.
Tickets will go on sale at 10am on Friday 28 November HERE, but you can pre-order Jane’s album HERE for access to the pre-sale.
Bongo’s Bingo is hosting a series of special ‘Christmas Cracker’ and New Year’s shows
Danny Jones
Britain’s beloved Bongo’s Bingo is hosting a series of massive end-of-season specials to ring in the new year, announcing a number of their famous ‘Christmas Cracker’ and festive parties.
They’re also holding a ‘Big Fat Bingo of the Year’ (we don’t see any trademark issues whatsoever…), including one for NYE.
As one of the best nights out, not just in the North but in the country, they’re hoping to send you into 2026 singing, dancing, laughing, and hopefully with some lasting memories and maybe a prize or two.
Confirming the latest raft of shows starting this month, you can expect all the usual Bongo’s madness and more, plus all the bells and whistles, as well as plenty of tinsel and holiday cheer.
We’d love a new hoover for Christmas, to be fair. (Credit: Press shot)
Returning to Albert Hall as it regularly does throughout the rest of the calendar, Bongo’s Bingo is promising to give Manchester a Christmas and New Year’s period they’ll never forget.
As they put it, the hosts will be “transporting everyone back to the time when coloured tree lights and flammable tinsel ruled supreme, because the halcyon days of turkey with all the trimmings, mini bottles of Babycham and not a naughty elf in sight are BACK big time at Bongo’s Bingo.”
Bloomin’ ‘eck, they don’t half know how to get a crowd fired up even before they’re in the room, do they?
Set to deliver all the best festive tunes, “dodgy Santa Clauses” – their words, not ours – as well as plenty of foil hats fresh from the Christmas cracker, they’ll be partying with us Mancs multiple times throughout December, not to mention a bonus show at the end of November as we fully swap autumn for winter.
As for the ‘Twixmas’/’Christmas gooch’ period (again, not our words…), the format will then switch to the Big Fat Bingo of the Year, with quiz elements featuring all the biggest memes, tunes and cultural moments of 2025.
You can see the full list of Bongo’s Bingo festive dates for 2025 down below:
Bongo’s Bingo Christmas Cracker and Big Fat Bingo of the Year dates
Christmas Cracker
November – Fri, 28
December – Sat 6 Dec (day and night), Sat 20 Dec, Sun 21 (day), Mon 22 and Tues 23
Big Fat Bingo Of The Year
Sat, 27 Dec (day and night), Sun 28 (day) and NYE 2025
If you’re interested in booking onto Bongo’s Bingo this Christmas and/or New Year’s, you can find out more information and grab your tickets right HERE.
Daisy Jackson -
4th April 2025 
