OAPs shun garden gnomes and fluffy loo seats

Pensioners relaxing on a pier — (Image credit: Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images)

Pensioners are shunning patterned carpets, flowery wallpaper and avocado-coloured bathroom sets, with many of the stereotypes about the homes of older people no longer holding true, said The Times. A study by the retirement property developer McCarthy Stone found that most pensioners now consider items such as doilies, tea cosies and garden gnomes “outdated”. Nearly four in five over-65s said they would be embarrassed to have a fluffy loo seat cover in their home.

Hollywood star appears on Derry Girls

Liam Neeson makes a surprise appearance in the new series of the hit comedy Derry Girls, reported The Guardian. The Oscar-nominated Northern Irish actor, 69, played a police inspector in the Channel 4 sitcom. After the episode was broadcast, the show’s creator, Lisa McGee, tweeted that the crew’s code name for Neeson on set was “the big fella”, a secret she said was arguably quite “easily cracked”.

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Lab-grown caviar to reduce prices

A British company is promising to slash caviar prices by creating the world’s first lab-grown version. The process will avoid the wait of up to 14 years that some species of sturgeon require to reach maturity and lay the eggs which make up the delicacy, said The Times. Ken Benning, the founder of Caviar Biotec, said he believes it will become increasingly “socially unacceptable” to eat conventionally harvested caviar in the future.