A huge new wellbeing festival is heading to Manchester this summer, with Gemma Atkinson as a headliner.
The Manchester Wellbeing Festival will take over the enormous space at Manchester Central for a weekend focused on health and happiness.
Taking place over the weekend of 11 and 12 June, the huge event will feature talks, fitness classes and more.
The line-up includes TV personalities, influencers, authors, scientists, doctors, fitness instructors, therapists and yogis.
Dr Alex George. Credit: Manchester Wellbeing Festival
One of the biggest names will be Bury’s Gemma Atkinson, an actress, fitness guru and Hits Radio host.
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Gemma will share advice on how to feel stronger, healthier, more confident and comfortable in your own body.
Former Geordie Shore star Vicky Pattison will also appear to chat about her book The Secret to Happy, followed by a signing.
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Manchester Central. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Women’s Health columnist, author and personal trainer Alice Liveing will kickstart each day of the festival with a strength workout, as well as interviewing special guests.
Another familiar face will be Dr Alex George, formerly of Love Island fame and now a TV presenter, doctor and UK Government ambassador for mental health – he’ll be addressing modern health issues and signing copies of his book Live Well Every Day.
DJ Fat Tony will tell stories of hedonism and self-destruction, as well as of recovery, redemption and friendship, while This Morning‘s agony couple The Speakmans will share secrets to unshakeable confidence.
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Alice Liveing
Dr Hazel Wallace
Dr Hazel Wallace, aka The Food Medic, is joining the bill to discuss female health with her forthcoming book The Female Factor, including advice for women on nutrition, sleep, hormones, PMS, periods and the menopause.
TikTok star and A&E doctor Emeka Okorocha will be offering up simple lifestyle advice for mind and body, and Sober Girl Society founder Millie Gooch will show how to go sober in a world obsessed with booze.
Completing the line-up is Faisal Abdalla (who has trained Harry Styles and Ellie Goulding) with a workout, and Hussain Manawer (who has worked with Marcus Rashford, Anthony Joshua and the Royal Family) with a discussion on surviving depression and grief.
You’ll be able to take on a barre class with Sophie Ritchie’s Disco Barre, or do yoga with either The Kilted Yogi aka Finlay Wilson, Braxton, or Sasha Bates.
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Manchester’s leading fitness studio Blok will host classes to suit every level too.
The brand new Manchester Wellbeing Festival will take place at Manchester Central on 11 and 12 June.
Manchester favourites hosting a heartwarming festive social for those alone this Christmas
Danny Jones
Beloved Manchester bar and cafe, Haunt, have announced that they will be hosting a special social to spread some much-needed seasonal cheer to those who are spending Christmas apart from their families and/or friends this year.
Wholesome stuff from a wholesome bunch.
That’s right, friendly neighbourhood ghosts Haunt will be putting on a little free shindig for the 2025 festive period in an effort not only to share the typical kindness with locals based in and around the city centre but to help create “a sense of community, no matter what your situation”.
Announcing the completely open-to-the-public Christmas Eve party over the weekend, the team are looking to provide those who might otherwise be lonely or struggle during the holidays with a warm, arms-wide welcome, plus plenty more.
Writing on their social media account this past Sunday, bar manager JJ said: “People, it’s time to connect this Christmas! We will be providing free coffee and sweet treats from 12-5pm on Christmas Eve, as well as some games and workshops.
“We’ve put a lot of work into this, so it would be amazing to see as many of you there as possible! Also need this to reach the people that need an event like this most, so please share and repost.
“As always, look out for your people, I wouldn’t be anywhere without mine – JJ xoxo”
Come on, who doesn’t love seeing heartwarming stuff like this on their feed, especially when it comes to a time of year where so many suffer quietly amid the majority having a good time?
This isn’t the first time they’ve held a pop-up that’s caught our attention in 2025, either; it was only last month that we were surprised to stumble on a mini padel court in the middle of the room.
Once again, there’ll be brews and fresh bakes, as well as plenty of other activities to keep people entertained on the night.
As described in their post, Christmas can be tough for a lot of people, and if they can make even just one person looking for some kindness and companionship feel better for a few hours this year, then they’ll have done above and beyond their job.
It goes without saying that we love seeing local businesses taking the social and community side of their work like this to heart and putting in serious effort to make a difference.
Well done to JJ, the Chosen Family support group, and everyone at Haunt for setting this up; if you know anyone who might be interested in coming along, please do pass on the information.
You can grab your free tickets via Eventbrite right HERE, and maybe we’ll see some of you there.
Featured Images — The Manc Group/Haunt (via Instagram)
What's On
The full lineup for the Strictly Live tour has been revealed
Danny Jones
Yes, ballroom lovers, it’s here: the full lineup of dancers for the ‘Strictly Come Dancing Live’ tour has finally and officially been revealed.
It feels like fans have been waiting ages to find out the entire roster for the Strictly Live tour next year, with only limited waves having been released thus far.
However, the patience has paid off, and we now know who’ll be starring both on the stage and on down on the floors of some of Britain’s most beloved venues, including our very own AO Arena.
You can see the latest raft of additions down below.
As you can see, the final four couples who complete the next Strictly Live tour lineup for 2026 are social media personality George Clarke, Emmerdale face Lewis Cope, former footballer Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, and another actor in Layton Williams.
This quality quartet will be paired up with Alexis Warr, Katya Jones, Lauren Oakley and Nikita Kuzmin, respectively; it has already been confirmed that much-loved trio Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood will be returning as judges, with Janette Manrara remaining as host.
Strictly‘s still ongoing season – the 23rd in the show’s history – is due to conclude this weekend, following the final on Saturday night (20 December), and it remains to be seen which of the current cast will be crowned champion, with several of those above and below now signed up for the live tour.
The rest of the Strictly Live dancers for 2026 here:
Harry Aikines-Aryeetey aka ‘Nitro’
Alex Kingston
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Balvinder Sopal
George Clarke
La Voix
Chris Robshaw
Ellie Goldstein
Thomas Skinner
Vicky Pattison
Stefan Dennis
Ross King
Karen Carney
Lewis Cope
Amber Davies
It isn’t guaranteed that each of these contestants will be taking part in EVERY single one of the tour dates, but either way, you’ve still got ‘The Professionals’ to come next spring, too.
The annual Strictly Come Dancing UK tour has become a firm fan favourite, not only among die-hard viewers of the BBC show but lovers of live entertainment in general.
Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and others confirmed the dates for their live shows earlier this year, with the AO set to host the two days’ worth of moves across Saturday, 31 January and Sunday, 1 February.
Hosting both normal evening shows as well as matinee slots, it’s simply up to you at what time of day you fancy panto-booing Craig…
If you’re interested in securing tickets for the typically fabulous festivals, you can grab yours HERE.
Daisy Jackson -
27th April 2022 
