Actor James Norton has signed a deal expected to reach £1 million to star in the Marks & Spencer Christmas advertising campaign.
The 41-year-old star of Grantchester and Happy Valley, where he played psychopath Tommy Lee Royce, signed the contract about a week ago. He is expected to film in a festive sweater in the coming weeks after recently declaring himself too old to play James Bond.
Norton worked with Giorgio Armani last year, having partnered with the label since 2023. His selection marks a shift for Marks & Spencer after a turbulent festive period last year.
In summer 2025, the retailer hired The White Lotus actress Aimee Lou Wood to front its festive campaign. However, after filming concluded, executives decided to change direction.
Wood, born in Stockport, rose to fame in the Netflix comedy drama Sex Education before playing Chelsea in the third season of The White Lotus. She has never commented publicly on being dropped from the campaign.
An M&S spokesman said: "We really enjoyed working with Aimee Lou Wood during the early stages of this year's Christmas campaign, she brought great energy and creativity to the process. As the campaign evolved, we started to embed a new product-focused strategy under new leadership."
The spokesman added: "So, rather than a single-hero advert, the campaign was reshaped around a series of festive films and influencer content-drops aligned to key seasonal shopping moments, from gifting and hosting to partywear, delivered through a social-first, multi-channel approach across social media, digital, out-of-home and print."
The 2025 festive campaign featured dancers performing to the Snap! song Rhythm Is A Dancer on a snowy street. Norton's hiring represents a reversal of that social media-first approach.
Marks & Spencer also runs a separate Christmas food campaign starring Dawn French as a fairy, though it is unclear whether that campaign will return. Previous festive campaigns featured Hannah Waddingham, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Zawe Ashton, Holly Willoughby, and model David Gandy.
Marks and Spencer Financial Performance
In January, Marks & Spencer reported that strong demand for Christmas food offset falling fashion sales during the festive period amid declining High Street footfall. Food sales rose by 6.6 per cent in the 13 weeks to December 27, while fashion, home, and beauty sales fell by 2.5 per cent.
The retailer stated the sales decline was partly due to fallout from a spring 2025 cyber attack that disabled its online business for six weeks. Overall High Street spending remained low last Christmas due to food inflation and high living costs.
Lauren Sanchez Bezos Backlash
Author Amy Chozick has addressed the public criticism directed at Lauren Sanchez Bezos, wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Chozick profiled Sanchez Bezos in the New York Times earlier this year and has written a novel, With Friends Like You, which is being adapted into a film.
Chozick stated: "I was not surprised by the anti-Lauren backlash. I think there is so much anger towards the uber bro class of tech oligarchs."
Chozick added: "There are a lot of opinions out there which are nothing to do with who she is as a person. She may be a fun hang, but that doesn't detract from how triggering it is for people who can't pay their bills to see these people living it up on a gigantic yacht."
Chozick noted that Sanchez Bezos contrasts with traditional expectations of wealth. "Also I think she does not look like what you think a billionaire's wife should look like. There is no quiet luxury here. There was a tacit agreement for years that you could be as wealthy as you liked, as long as you didn't look like you were having too much fun. Look at how Mark Zuckerberg used to conduct himself."
Chozick added: "Now you have someone who is not at all apologetic about it, and this is at the moment that AI is coming for your job."
Samara Weaving X-Men Casting
Actress Samara Weaving has been lined up to play telepathic mutant Emma Frost in a reboot of the X-Men film franchise. Weaving, whose uncle Hugo Weaving played Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger, first gained fame on the Australian soap opera Home And Away.
The upcoming film, scheduled for release in 2028, will feature a new young cast. It stars Stranger Things actress Sadie Sink as Jean Grey and Obsession actress Inde Navarrette as Mystique.
Film rights for X-Men previously belonged to 20th Century Fox before Disney acquired the company seven years ago. Disney also holds the rights to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Fox produced seven X-Men films and three Wolverine movies. The final installment was Dark Phoenix in summer 2019, in which Jean Grey turns rogue.
Ted Lasso Accent Struggles
Ted Lasso actors Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt have admitted using subtitles to understand British accents despite years of filming in the United Kingdom. The new season of the show began streaming on Apple TV on Wednesday.
Hunt, who plays Coach Beard in the series set in Richmond in south west London, recalled watching a music documentary. Hunt said: "When my wife wanted to watch the Oasis documentary, we got two minutes in before she says: 'I'm doing subtitles. I can't understand these dudes at all.' I said: 'Yeah, you and me both, and I've lived there.'"
Sudeikis added: "My father needs help with some of the British accents and yeah, I benefit from that."
Strictly Come Dancing Age Controversy
A row over age discrimination has broken out among professional dancers on Strictly Come Dancing following a cast overhaul. The BBC announced five new professional dancers: Aleksandra Isaeva, Cristian Priori, Lethabo Monametsi, Maddie Ingoldsby, and Mark Karmalita.
Aleksandra Isaeva, a 22-year-old Ukrainian Latin dance champion, joins the show as 36-year-old dancer Nadiya Bychkova exits. Italian dancer Cristian Priori, who is Isaeva's professional partner, replaces Gorka Marquez.
Longest-serving professional Karen Hauer, aged 44, is also leaving the show, alongside Luba Mushtuk, aged 36, and Michelle Tsiakkas, aged 30. Rehearsals for the upcoming series begin later this month.
A source reported anger in the dancers' WhatsApp group over the changes. The source said: "The mood is bitter in the pro dancers' WhatsApp group with a lot of talk about age bias and age discrimination. The feeling is that it's been brutal. Someone said that the show was now going to be 'Strictly Clone Dancing'."
The changes form part of a strategy to align the show with TikTok, following the approach of American show Dancing With The Stars. Presenters Josh Widdicombe, Johannes Radebe, and Emma Willis take over hosting duties following the departures of Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.
Boring Not Com Unmasking
An online dispute has emerged after the identity behind the satirical Instagram account Boring Not Com was revealed. The account spent two years publishing commentary and gossip about the fashion industry, parodying the account Style Not Com.
Journalist Lauren Sherman unmasked British stylist and photographer Rasharn Agyemang as the account owner in the newsletter Puck. Following the disclosure, Boring Not Com accused Sherman of being obsessed and ruining the fun.
Jesse Eisenberg London Film Festival Premiere
Actor and director Jesse Eisenberg will travel to London in October when his new film, The Debut, closes the 70th London Film Festival. Eisenberg previously earned an Oscar nomination for his screenplay A Real Pain, which followed cousins traveling through Poland.
The Debut stars Julianne Moore as a shy woman auditioning at a community theatre, alongside Paul Giamatti as the director who casts her.
Moore praised the script, stating: "I probably can count on two hands the scripts that I have read in my career that just made me electrified and this was one of them." Moore added: "Jesse really is an assured, wonderful film-maker."
Tracy-Ann Oberman Theatre Roles
Actress Tracy-Ann Oberman is continuing to adapt classic male theatre roles into female leads for herself. In 2023, Oberman played Shylock in Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice.
Oberman will next take the lead role in Noel Coward's Present Laughter, playing matinee idol Garry Essendine as a diva named Geri. The production runs at the Theatre Royal Bath from August 27 to September 5 before launching a tour across the United Kingdom.
