Love Island winner Amber Davies has been cast in the iconic role of Elle Woods for a new UK and Ireland touring production of Legally Blonde The Musical. The 28-year-old actress, who rose to fame after winning the ITV dating show in 2017, will lead the production beginning in February next year at Leicester's Curve Theatre before embarking on a nationwide tour that will continue into 2027.

Davies expressed her excitement about the role, stating: "I'm absolutely thrilled to be playing the iconic role of Elle Woods in ROYO and Curve's new production of Legally Blonde. As a huge fan of the film and the musical, this part is the role of a lifetime, and I am honoured to be stepping into Elle's perfect heels." The Welsh actress has established a successful stage career since her reality television breakthrough, with recent credits including roles in The Great Gatsby, Pretty Woman, and Back to the Future The Musical.

The production will be directed by Curve's artistic director Nikolai Foster, known for his work on Kinky Boots and The Wizard of Oz, with choreography by Leah Hill. The creative team also includes musical supervisor Matt Spencer-Smith, set designer Colin Richmond, lighting designer Ben Cracknell, and sound designer Adam Fisher. Based on Amanda Browning's novel and the 2001 film starring Reese Witherspoon, the musical features original music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin.

The tour will visit multiple cities across the UK and Ireland throughout 2026 and 2027, including Southampton, Birmingham, and York, before concluding its run at Theatre Royal Brighton from December 15, 2026, to January 2, 2027. Producers have noted that Davies will not appear in matinee performances on December 17 and December 31 during the Brighton engagement. Tickets for the production are available through ATGtickets.com.

Families of the 29 victims killed in the 1994 Chinook helicopter crash are escalating their decades-long fight for answers, preparing to deliver a petition with more than 47,000 signatures to Downing Street demanding a public inquiry. The Chinook Justice Campaign has published 110 "critical questions" they want answered about the tragedy that claimed the lives of 25 intelligence experts and four special forces crew members when the aircraft crashed on the Mull of Kintyre on June 2, 1994.

The campaign comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer rejected calls for a judge-led inquiry into the incident, prompting families to declare they will "see the UK government in court." Among those delivering the petition on Tuesday are brothers Andy and Matt Tobias from Watford, whose father John Tobias was killed in the crash. The petition delivery will be accompanied by an attempt to deliver a letter directly to the Ministry of Defence.

Central to the families' concerns are questions about mission authorization, aircraft selection, and whether those on board were properly warned of risks. The campaign has gained momentum amid revelations that key documents related to the crash have been sealed until 2094—a century after the incident occurred. David Hill, technical expert for the Chinook Justice Campaign, characterized the government's position as "a betrayal by the state of them and their loved ones."

The crash investigation has followed a contentious path over the past three decades. Initial findings blamed pilot error for the tragedy, but this conclusion was overturned in 2011. The continuing secrecy surrounding the incident has drawn criticism from campaigners who argue it "undermines trust not only in the MoD but in the government itself." As families prepare to confront the government directly, the case represents one of Britain's longest-running military accountability battles.