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DEAR DEIDRE: MY partner’s passing comment while we were kissing and cuddling turned my stomach – and made me seriously think about dumping him.

We were both getting turned on when he said I reminded him of his mum. To say it killed the moment is an understatement.

There is a significant age gap between us but I want to be his partner, not his mum.

Besides, I’ve met his mum. She might only be nine years older than me but she looks and acts like an old lady. I was insulted.

I am 41, he is 28 and we’ve always had a brilliant sex life.

We have been very happy for nine months and he made it clear he wanted me right from the start.

We see one another most days and our feelings have grown over the months.

He would love to move in with me but I worry about my children, who are only 18 and 15.

They get on well with him but I have concerns about our age gap.

He says I remind him of his mum because I make him feel loved and secure.

He insists he doesn’t see me as a mother figure. Still, I am worried about us living together.

If it doesn’t work, the emotional upheaval for me and my children would be devastating.

Are relationships like ours ever successful?

DEIDRE SAYS: There are lots of couples who do have happy, lasting relationships, despite their age difference.

While age gaps, where one partner is in their late teens or early twenties, raise serious concerns of a potential power imbalance in the relationship, your boyfriend is in his late-20s and will have significant life experience.

As for the future, there are no guarantees in relationships. He may change down the line. And, of course, so might you.

Many of us are drawn to people who remind us of a parent without realising it, primarily because we find them comfortable and familiar.

It is time to clear the air and discuss your concerns with your boyfriend.

The main issue for age-gap relationships is when the couple are at different life stages.

So talk about whether he wants marriage and children of his own. These are important issues to iron out before getting more involved.

My support pack Age Gaps – Do They Matter? will help.

FIANCÉE SCORED WITH RUGBY PAL

DEAR DEIDRE: I KNEW my fiancée got on well with a close friend of mine – but I didn’t think they would end up secretly having sex.

I’m 29, she is 26 and we’ve been together for four years. I met my friend through our local rugby team. My fiancée often comes to watch our games, standing on the touchline cheering us on.

The two of them got on well but nothing more. We have been talking about starting a family and decided over Christmas we would be happy if she got pregnant. But a short time later, she started to get depressed and upset.

I thought she’d changed her mind about wanting a baby, but then she broke down in tears and admitted she had cheated on me with my mate. I was gobsmacked, but she insisted it was a stupid mistake and she still loves me.

She has apologised numerous times but doesn’t show any real regret.

I can’t help but think if she really wanted to be with me, she would be begging for forgiveness.

But she refuses to talk about what they did.

I want to believe her when she says that it won’t happen again.

She has suggested we have some space apart, but surely we need to be spending more time together if we are going to make it through this.

DEIDRE SAYS: You’ve been doubly betrayed, but your girlfriend doesn’t seem to understand how shocked and hurt you are.

You are dealing with her infidelity, and also the fact she has sexual feelings for your friend.

It is possible to get over an infidelity but being apart will solve nothing. Is she suggesting having some “space” so she can back away if she has a change of heart?

She needs to be committed to your relationship and to reassure you that this is what she wants.

At the very least, she owes you honesty. My support pack Cheating – Can You Get Over It? will help.

HOPE FOR BABY IS IGNORED

DEAR DEIDRE: DESPITE always knowing I want more children, my partner keeps going on about having a vasectomy.

I am 34 and he is 35. We have been together for five years. He already has a daughter from his previous relationship and we have a son together.

They get on well together, but I would love my boy to have a full sibling.

I don’t like vasectomies because they go against nature. My partner just laughs when I tell him this.

He doesn’t seem to value my opinions or my feelings.

I am on the Pill but I feel as though he doesn’t trust me enough to take it.

I love him but he ignores my longing for another child. How do we get past this?

DEIDRE SAYS: While I understand your desire to have another baby, it wouldn’t be right to force this on him. It wouldn’t be fair to him or the child.

When one partner wants more children and the other doesn’t, it can be a deal breaker. Does your partner really want the snip? It’s all very well to talk about this but going through with it is a different matter.

Tell him that being denied another child will hurt you deeply.

Ask him why he is so against the idea and make sure he understands that a vasectomy is final.

THE World Open is underway in Yushan, with some huge names eyeing the £175,000 jackpot.

Later today, Judd Trump takes on Long Zehuang in the last-64 of the tournament.

The World No1 is eyeing up a stunning three-peat in the World Open, having the last two editions of the tournament in 2019 and 2024.

• Start time: From 1.30am GMT
• TV channel: TNT Sports 3
• Live stream: discovery+

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THE six Premier League clubs still active in Europe now know their round of 16 opponents.

Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa will participate in the Champions League knockout stage in March while Tottenham and Manchester United are set to resume their Europa League campaigns – Chelsea remain favourites to win the Conference League.

Reuters

Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa will resume their Champions League campaigns in March[/caption]

The European competitions always have a significant bearing on Dream Team and managers should target these fixtures in the near future.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

• PSG v Liverpool
• PSV Eindhoven v Arsenal
• Clun Brugge v Aston Villa

Arne Slot’s reward for topping the league phase is meeting with the best team in France – Ousmane Dembele and company beat Brest 10-0 on aggregate in the play-offs.

The Gunners will face the current Dutch champions, who edged out Juventus in the play-offs.

PSV have won just one of their six league games since the turn of the year.

Unai Emery will be quietly confident after the Villains were drawn against the team that finished 24th in the league phase, although Club Brugge did bear Villa 1-0 in Belgium back in November.

Liverpool and Aston Villa will meet in the quarter-finals if both sides progress beyond the last 16.

If Arsenal get past PSV, they will play the winners of Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid.

SEE THE FULL CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ROUND OF 16 DRAW HERE.

Reuters

EUROPA LEAGUE

• AZ Alkmaar v Tottenham
• Real Sociedad v Manchester United

Like their North London rivals, Spurs have been drawn against Dutch opposition.

AZ lost to Ange Postecoglou’s side in North London in late October and ultimately finished 19th in the league phase.

The Red Devils’ goal-shy opponents are currently 11th in La Liga having lost four of their last five league games.

At the risk of getting far too ahead of the game, Spurs and Man United wouldn’t meet until the final…

SEE THE FULL EUROPA LEAGUE ROUND OF 16 DRAWS HERE.

CONFERENCE LEAGUE

• Chelsea v Copenhagen

SEE THE FULL CONFERENCE LEAGUE ROUND OF 16 DRAW HERE.

PA

Chelsea are favourites to win the Conference League[/caption]

All the last 16 first legs will take place in Gameweek 26 with the second legs to follow in Gameweek 27.

Consequently, Aston Villa and Man United will be the only teams to fulfil two fixtures in Gameweek 26; the Villains will also host Cardiff in the FA Cup fifth round while the Red Devils will welcome Fulham to Old Trafford in the same competition.

All six clubs will then double up in Gameweek 27 as the second legs of the European ties will follow a full round of league fixtures.

GAMEWEEK 27 DOUBLE HEADERS

• LIVERPOOL vs Southampton & PSG
• ARSENAL vs Manchester United & PSV
• ASTON VILLA vs Brentford & Club Brugge
• TOTTENHAM vs Bournemouth & AZ Alkmaar
• MANCHESTER UNITED vs Arsenal & Real Sociedad
• CHELSEA vs Leicester & Copenhagen

PA

Palmer is now available for selection in Europe[/caption]

It’s worth noting that Cole Palmer has been added to the Blues’ Conference League squad for the knockout phase.

The England international wasn’t included in Enzo Maresca’s squad for the league phase of the competition with the Italian tactician citing “load management” but it seems Dream Team’s leading midfielder will have a part to play on Thursday nights going forward.

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IN the coming days councils across Scotland are expected to vote for hefty rises in council tax.

Some of the larger authorities, like Glasgow and Edinburgh, have announced bumper double figure hikes already with others due to follow suit.

But why are Scots being hammered with the increases and what does it mean for services?

Today Professor Mairi Spowage, from Strathclyde University’s Fraser of Allander Institute, explains why councils are still struggling despite the planned hike – and why the tax must be reformed.

• Check our map to see how your council tax could rise

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IN the news in recent days have been announcements by councils all over Scotland of council tax rises for the coming financial year.

Some councils, including East Lothian and the Scottish Borders, have confirmed double digit 10 per cent rises, with more expected to follow suit in the coming days.

Far from being additional investment that the councils can use to bolster or improve existing services, many councils are putting these increases in place to ensure that existing services can survive.

Indeed, in many areas it may well be that citizens see their services scaled back as bills go up, due to the increased costs of delivering services and the extra demand on statutory services like social care.

The Scottish Government, for its part, has said that local government has been given a record amount of funding for 2025-26 in the most recent budget. Specifically, the Finance Secretary said that, in the light of this, there should be no need for local government to implement large increases in council tax.

Let’s leave aside the reaction from the Scottish Government if the UK Government was to say something similar about the taxes within the control of the Scottish Parliament – council tax is a local tax and the level is for councils to set out.

The Scottish Government has put in place council tax freezes for 11 of the last 15 years by making a pot of money available to councils conditional on them agreeing to freeze the tax.

The Scottish Government claims that this covers the cost of the freeze, but it is not only the annual increase that councils have missed out on, it is also the compounded effect of the freeze over time.

Some key figures tell the story of what has happened to council tax and local government funding in recent years.

Several years of Council Tax freezes have eroded the value of the council tax collected by local authorities. The average amount of council tax per household was £980 in 2007-08; if this had simply increased by the rate of inflation since then, it would have been £1,494 per year by 2024-25, compared to the actual figure of £1,310, some 14 per cent lower. So the purchasing power of this tax has fallen over the years.

Given that council tax has been roughly 20 per cent of local government budgets for the last decade, this underlines the reduction of purchasing power in the local government budget overall.

The priority of local government in the Scottish Budget has also changed, although we should recognise that this has happened at the same time that the powers of the Scottish Government has changed.

In 2015-16, local government made up 29 per cent of the Scottish budget, compared to 24 per cent by 2023-24.

Given the additional responsibilities being given to local government (including ring-fencing of funding for e.g. early years provision), and increasing demand for their services in the face of this reduced purchasing power, it seems inevitable – despite (as described by COSLA) a “better” funding settlement from the Scottish Government this year – that councils would be seeking to increase the revenue they are raising from council tax.

The Accounts Commission recently set out the dire state of local authority finances, with many breaking even in the most recent year by dipping into reserves. This situation was unlikely to be sustainable.

The focus today and for the next few weeks will be on the rises imposed by individual councils and everyone waiting for the new council tax bills to hit their doormat.

But, as we discuss council tax, let’s not forget about the outdated nature of the tax calculations and how it must be reformed to make it more fair.

Whichever rates and bands are used for such a tax, it is completely unacceptable that more than half of households are in the wrong band due to the outdated valuations that are used (from 1991).

We would and should not accept that we were paying the wrong amount of income tax because the government had our wages wrong.

Perhaps the tax increasing in amount will also spur politicians into action to actually revalue the taxbase and ensure people are paying the correct amounts.

Sure – there will be winners and losers – but let’s remember as many people will be paying too much tax as too little.

AN army of nudists is set to descend on a remote Scottish train station from an iconic film.

Corrour in the Scottish Highlands found fame after it was featured in a famous scene in hit movie Trainspotting.

Alamy

Corrour in the Highlands found fame after it was featured in Trainspotting[/caption]

Getty

The event will see 20 nudists stay in a hostel and wander around naked[/caption]

It’s the most remote rail station in Britain and can only be reached by train or by foot or cycle.

Now the isolated location is to play host to a “Scottish Highland Adventure” organised by British Naturism – the UK’s largest organisation of its kind.

The event will see around 20 nudists stay in a hostel and wander around completely naked at the start of June, reports Mail Online.

The organisation said: “During the weekend we will have exclusive use of the Loch Ossian hostel in the central Highlands, providing direct access to the hills and lower-level tracks for naturist walking. The area is also full of lochs and rivers for skinny dipping.

“The remote location of the hostel means that we can be naked throughout the building and the grounds. It also has direct access to Loch Ossian for swimming and we will be able to walk there naked direct from the hostel.”

Bunk bed berths for the event have already sold out, while visitors also have the option to wild camp.

Situated on the West Highland Railway and built in the 19th Century, Corrour is located near Loch Ossian at the edge of Rannoch Moor.

The station was originally built as a stopping point however passenger numbers increased as grouse season arrived.

And the spot became famous after Ewan McGregor declared “It’s s***e being Scottish” in the 1996 flick Trainspotting.

The restaurant has three B&B rooms available to stay in which were opened in 2016.

It’s not a criminal offence to strip off in public, but all that changes if your actions alarm or distress those around you.

Police Scotland guidance states cops should take no action when individuals are naked in public and there is “no clear sexual motive or behaviour and no disorderly conduct, harassment or other offences”.

If this is found to be the case, you could be charged with breach of the peace.

Last year, we told how prude locals called in cops to try and stop a nude swim at a remote beach.

THE Chase is getting a big shakeup for a show special – as questions are overhauled after 15 years.

The hit series – which launched on ITV in 2009 – has produced 17 regular and 14 celebrity series to date.

ITV

The Chase is getting a shakeup this week for a special episode[/caption]

ITV

ITV bosses will air a special Oscars special this Friday – with the questions themed around the ceremony[/caption]

ITV

The four contestants competing are named after nominated hopefuls Demi Moore, Karla Sofía Gascón, Timothée Chalamet and Adrien Brody[/caption]

But this week show bosses are changing up the quiz show for a special Oscars episode.

As usual, The Chase fans will watch four new contestants – but they’ll be put under pressure with questions themed around the star-studded ceremony.

A telly mole said: “ITV are going big on the Oscars again this year and getting The Chase crew involved.

“Starting with the contestants – who are named after nominated hopefuls Demi Moore, Karla Sofía Gascón, Timothée Chalamet and Adrien Brody.

“They’ll be up against Shaun Wallace, aka The Dark Destroyer, who has been brushing up on his Oscars knowledge.”

The Sun isn’t spoiling the result of the special, so fans can enjoy in full on Friday, December 28th.

Full coverage of the Oscars will air on ITV1 and ITVX from 10:30pm with Jonathan Ross.

Meanwhile, last month we revealed how the Oscars was on the verge of being cancelled for the first time in its 96th year history.

Bosses were considering the move due to the devastating LA wildfires that have wreaked havoc.

An insider said: “The board’s main concern at this time is to not look like they are celebrating while many Los Angelenos are dealing with heartbreak and unimaginable loss.

“And certainly, even if the fires went out in the next week, the reality is that the city is still hurting and will be dealing with that pain for months.

“So the hierarchy decided that the focus will be support and fundraising when the right opportunities present themselves.”

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ITV has thrown Coronation Street fans into turmoil once again with yet another schedule shake-up – leaving viewers fuming as the soap is pulled from the air.

With major sporting events taking priority, ITV has continually ripped up the schedules which has seen Corrie booted from its usual timeslots.

ITV

Getty

With major sporting events taking priority on ITV[/caption]

No episode will be broadcast this Friday evening at 8pm with coverage of the FA Cup live Aston Villa vs Cardiff City.

However, Corrie fans won’t have lost out on the episode altogether as they will be able to watch the next dramatic instalment from the cobbles a day earlier instead.

An additional trip to Weatherfield will be screened on Thursday this week to make up for Friday’s missing episode.

This week, fans of Coronation Street will see the truth about Daisy Midgley’s baby daddy as she makes a jaw-dropping confession.

And Ken Barlow is rushed to hospital in shocking scenes after collapsing in agony – but what’s behind his sudden health scare?

As the iconic character faces a life-threatening crisis, could this be the turning point that uncovers Cassie’s web of lies?

Meanwhile, Kevin Webster lashes out after receiving devastating health news.

His harrowing new storyline has seen the mechanic diagnosed with testicular cancer.

Having found a lump on his testicles, Kevin got himself tested after a pep talk from his best mate Tim Metcalfe.

Things appear to be getting worse, as the soap legend is set to receive more bad news in scenes yet to air.

His wife Abi offers to cancel her therapy session, in order to spend the afternoon with him – but Kevin won’t allow it.

Tim later finds Kevin in the garage and after offering support, Kevin’s hurt becomes anger.

In another heartbreaking storyline, Kevin’s sister Debbie is set to be diagnosed with dementia.

Viewers were left stunned when it was revealed last year how the legendary character was being killed off.

This arc will mark the end of actress Sue Devaney’s time in the ITV soap.

A source told Metro “It’s one of the show’s biggest storylines of the year and a real chance for Sue to finally get her time in the spotlight.

“It will just be devastating for fans that it will effectively be her final storyline.”

Coronation Street continues on ITV1 and ITVX.

ITV

Daisy finally confirms who the father is – but is it Daniel’s or Kit’s?[/caption]

ITV

Ken reaches for the phone but suddenly collapses in agony and is rushed to hospital[/caption]

ITV

Kevin’s heartbreaking testicular cancer storyline continues[/caption]

REAL MADRID’S city rivals have unveiled plans to build a “little Bernabeu”.

LaLiga side Getafe are set to partially demolish and rebuild their Estadio Coliseum home ground.

IDOM / GVS / Getafe CF

Getafe are planning to build a new Estadio Coliseum[/caption]

IDOM / GVS / Getafe CF

Images released by the club show what the modernisation will look like[/caption]

Getty

There is no roof on the current ground[/caption]

The current stadium, which is 15 miles away from the iconic Bernabeu, holds 16,500 fans.

But Getafe are set to modernise it and increase the capacity by 3,000.

They have plans to add a huge screen on the exterior, install a new roof to cover every fan on the terraces and put in 69 new state-of-the-art VIP boxes.

The stunning project will take two years to build and cost £39million.

Getafe face having to play away from the Estadio Coliseum while the work is being done.

The Madrid-based side have not confirmed their temporary location – but club president Angel Torres has promised big things.

He said: “It will be beautiful, modern, a small Bernabeu.”

The build is set to begin at the end of the season but could be abandoned if Getafe are relegated from LaLiga.

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They sit seven points above the drop zone and there is confidence they will maintain their top-flight status for an eighth successive year.

Getafe’s ground was known as the Coliseum Alfonso Perez from its opening in 1989 until 2023.

But the former Spain striker, who never actually played for Getafe, was stripped of the privilege after comments he made about women’s football.

Getty

Getafe’s chief has promised it will be like a mini Bernabeu[/caption]

THE WORLD OPEN has returned in Yushan, China, with players all vying for a HUGE prize fund.

Kyren Wilson will be looking for a successful tournament after his shock exit from the Welsh Open in the second round.

Taka G Wu/Alamy Live New

Every Second Media/Alamy Live News

Judd Trump returns to action after missing the recent Home Nations Series event in Llandudno.

The World No 1 will be looking to take home the huge jackpot from China as he aims to secure his spot at the top of the rankings.

What is the prize fund at World Open snooker 2025?

Players will all be going for their share of £825,000.

The prize fun will be split between 64 players, with the winner getting £175,000, and the highest break earning £5000.

The full prize fund is as follows:

• Winner: £175,000
• Runner-up: £75,000
• Semi-final: £33,000
• Quarter-final: £22,000
• Last 16: £14,000
• Last 32: £9,000
• Last 64: £5,000
• Highest break: £5,000
• Total: £825,000

When is World Open snooker 2025 and how to watch it

• The World Open snooker 2025 will take place between Sunday, February 23 and Saturday, March 1.
• The event will be broadcast live on Eurosport 1 and TNT Sports 3.
• From Thursday, February 28, Eurosport channels close down meaning TNT Sports 3 will be the only TV channel broadcasting the World Open.
• TNT Sports customers can live stream the tournament via the discovery+ app/website.