If you’ve immersed yourself in all things Christmas in recent weeks, whether it’s eating non-stop festive food or binge-watching anything with a bough of holly on the cover, you might also have felt the simmering rage induced by A Kindhearted Christmas.
This typical Hallmark movie, starring 90210’s Jennie Garth, follows its lead character as she spreads festive cheer around her picturesque town through anonymous gifts.
While she hopes to remain the town’s well-wishing Secret Santa, she risks exposing herself when she starts to fall for a local news anchor.
So far, so tacky (which is exactly what a Christmas film should be).
But it’s not the wishy-washy script or woeful audience reviews (27% on Rotten Tomatoes) that has sent Brits into a fiery rage.
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It’s one particular scene of A Kindhearted Christmas, about an hour in, when the starring couple pull Christmas crackers together.
But rather than the traditional way, where you share a cracker with someone else and tug it to see who wins the bigger half, usually elbowing someone in the head in the process, they… pull the crackers by themselves (?!).
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In the scene, lead character Jamie is having a romantic dinner with Scott (Cameron Mathison), when he presents her with a pair of novelty Christmas crackers.
“These are Christmas crackers from England,” he tells her.
“Typically, you open them before the meal, but my parents always used to make us wait until dessert.
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“I’m gonna show you how to do it.”
Americans pulling Christmas crackers in A Kindhearted Christmas. Credit: Netflix
Strap in guys because he’s about to explain exactly how NOT to pull a Christmas cracker.
“So you go in here and you find the little tab,” (here he shoves his fingers into the hollow handle of the cracker), “And I’m gonna show you right here why they call them a cracker.
“Make sure you squeeze them hard, and then on the count of three, everyone pulls at the same time.
“There it is, you see, isn’t that good?”
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The sight of two people pulling Christmas crackers on their own might be the most bleak thing we’ve seen all season – and of course, other viewers have agreed.
When one person shared the clip on TikTok, Specsavers replied: “What have we just seen…”
Someone else said: “Hang on America doesn’t have them and this is how they think we open them. I’m confused about where they got this info from.”
One comment reads: “The whole of England is so confused right now.”
Someone shared: “‘We should add a scene with British Christmas crackers!’ ‘OK, but how do you open them?’ ‘Who cares!'”
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One person said on X: “So the scene with the christmas crackers in A Kindhearted Christmas is just ridiculous. It just shows that absolutely zero research was done at all. I can not believe the movie was released with that scene left in. I hope the director is embarrassed.”
@netflix@NetflixUK . So the scene with the christmas crackers in A Kindhearted Christmas is just ridiculous. It just shows that absolutely zero research was done at all. I can not believe the movie was released with that scene left in. I hope the director is embarrassed.
Someone else said: “I’m watching A Kindhearted Christmas and they’re trying to claim you pull Christmas crackers with yourself… Nooo the whole point is it’s a fight to the death”
Another wrote: “Thank you for the nod to the British tradition of Christmas crackers, but you broke hearts everywhere here by having them pull their own!”
And someone posted: “Watching A Kindhearted Christmas on @NetflixUK. Do Americans really not know how to pull Christmas crackers?” (Technically, they are Canadian).
Manchester Remembers Foundation announces its return for a special anniversary charity match
Danny Jones
The Manchester Remembers Foundation has announced the return of its charity football game in 2027, which will coincide with a special anniversary close to all Mancunians.
For those unaware, the MCR Remembers charity matches were set up in memory of the Manchester Arena victims, helping raise funds for the families of the 22 who sadly died in the attack.
While the fifth iteration of what started out as an annual vision, set for this past summer, was sadly cancelled back in May and the Foundation itself seemingly shut down, the co-founders have decided they’re not ready for it all to end just yet.
Somewhat quietly confirming the return of the fundraising footy match on social media, the next fixture will be returning next year, which marks a full decade since the tragedy.
Folks, having time to reflect we’ve decided that we just couldn’t go out like we did. No matter how difficult things get we have to keep going.
We are planning a spectacular return for the 10th anniversary in 2027. Plans and talks to begin shortly pic.twitter.com/ZRTmAJalov
— The McrRemembers Foundation™️⚽️🐝 (@McrRemembers) October 2, 2025
Writing a slightly lengthier statement on Instagram, MCR Remembers creators Aaron Lee and Paul Corrigan said: “No matter how difficult things get and how little support we get from people in positions to help, we have to keep going.
“We take inspiration from the brave and courageous people who were so closely involved with the arena attack. We will continue to remember those affected and celebrate their legacy.
“We are planning a spectacular return for the 10th anniversary in 2027. Plans and talks to begin shortly We will reassess after that event. As always, thank you to those that stuck by us. We see you, and we appreciate every single one of you. Stay tuned. Aaron / Paul.”
Lee – a local and a former police officer on 22 May 2017 – set up the organisation with his friend and fellow fundraiser (10 marathons in 10 months) with the aim of not only honouring those lost but also to help raise vital funds for their families and native bereavement charities.
They’re two incredibly inspiring individuals who have done a lot to help those in and around Greater Manchester, as well as keep that date in our heads and hearts.
Although information is still scarce in these early stages, The MCR Remembers Foundation has assured that details regarding exactly when and where the game is set to take place will be shared over the coming week and months.
It goes without saying that we here at The Manc are glad to see the moving charity match being confirmed for a comeback, even if it’s only for a one-off, and can’t wait to see which ex-pros and celebrity players get involved.
Then again, who knows? A successful return could signal the start of a fully-fledged revival, and we sincerely hope it does.
Watch this space and see you next year for the anniversary edition of Manchester Remembers 2027.
The ‘most complained-about’ show in Britain over the last five years has been revealed
Danny Jones
The TV show with the most complaints in Britain over the past half-decade has seemingly been confirmed, and we can’t exactly say it’s given everyone watching a good morning…
Yes, it’s GMB.
Well, that’s according to research by Aura Print, anyway; they dug down into the official Ofcom data to try and discover which British TV programme got the most complaints – an unwanted accolade that was earned quite comfortably by Good Morning Britain.
This might not come as too much of a surprise to many of you, especially regular viewers over the last few years, with GMB often popping up in headlines alongside phrases like ‘viewers complain’ and ‘Ofcom’. Either way, here’s what the study found:
Rank
Programme
Service
Number of complaints (2021-2025)
1
Good Morning Britain
ITV1
91,890
2
Love Island
ITV2
66,252
3
Julia Hartley-Brewer
TalkTV
18,525
4
Dan Wootton Tonight
GB News
9,207
5
King Charles III: The Coronation
ITV1
8,389
6
This Morning
ITV
7,387
7
Celebrities: What’s Happened to Your Face?
Channel 5
7,082
8
Oprah with Meghan and Harry
ITV
6,456
9
I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!
ITV1
6,203
10
Jeremy Vine
Channel 5
4,982
11
Big Brother
ITV1 / ITV2
4,678
12
Lorraine
ITV
4,675
13
Breakfast with Kay Burley
Sky News
3,467
14
Emmerdale
ITV1
2,405
15
Vanessa
5
1,986
16
Loose Women
ITV
1,799
17
Married at First Sight UK
E4
1,748
18
Coronation Street
ITV
1,348
19
Lee Anderson’s Real World
GB News
1,668
20
Friday Night Live
Channel 4
1,630
21
Headliners
GB News
1,498
22
Ant Payne
Capital FM
1,430
23
Naked Education
Channel 4
1,413
24
The Brit Awards
ITV1
1,157
25
Today with Samantha Washington
Sky News
1,270
As you can see, GMB has racked up nearly 92,000 complaints over the past five years, which is well over 25k more than the next most inflammatory.
The rest of the top five is also made up of other mainstream news commentary programmes (four out of five), bar the second runner-up in Love Island, with 66,252.
It’s also worth noting that ITV is the most complained-about broadcaster of any network on the list. GB News came in second with three different shows on the list: Dan Wootton Tonight, Lee Anderson’s Real World and Headliners.
Certainly not surprising whatsoever was the particular episode that received the most complaints of all those in the history of Good Morning Britain, which went out on 8 March 2021.
In case you haven’t guessed which one this is already, it was the infamous Piers Morgan episode discussing Meghan Markle’s mental health, which was reported to Ofcom a whopping 57,973 times.
This feels like a lifetime ago, but we remember it receiving most Ofcom complaints Britain had ever seen at the time.
Yes, more than half of the complaints they have ever received come after ONE viral moment.
In terms of particularly divisive presenters, second only to Piers Morgan, Julia Hartley-Brewer was the next most complained-about presenter, racking up a total of 18,500 complaints.
GB News’ Dan Wootton came in at number three with 9,207 complaints, but also worth noting that plenty of what most would consider popular mainstream entertainment IPs like I’m A Celeb and Big Brother racked up over 10k collectively during this period.
You can find the full breakdown of Ofcom data from 2021-2025 right HERE.
Daisy Jackson -
28th December 2024 
