Six the musical always ends on a high note, but there was extra cause for celebration on Saturday night's closing performance at Leeds Grand.
Actor Natalie Pilkington was performing in the Leeds show of Tudor musical Six when her boyfriend jumped up on stage to pop the question.
All seemed normal as usual, with Henry VIII's six wives all high-kicking about the stage in their grand finale, when suddenly a suited chap appeared from the wings holding a microphone.
His name, Andy McGuire. His purpose? To deliver a romantic proposal that would bring the "feelgood factor back into theatre" after the events endured over the past year.
After making a short speech that took in the highs and lows of the past 16 months, Andy then went down on one knee to propose - popping the question to his beau, still in costume as Anne Boleyn.
When she said yes, the theatre erupted in applause and the cast showered the pair in confetti. Andy, meanwhile, can be seen fist-pumping the air in celebration as Natalie leans in towards him.
In his speech, McGuire told how he and Pilkington met through their work in the theatre four and a half years ago - sharing with the crowd that both she and the other actors in Six had desperately missed being on stage during the pandemic.
The morning after the romantic proposal, a newly engaged Pilkinton tweeted:
“Still cannot get over last night! I’m so overwhelmed with all your lovely messages & tweets I promise I’ve read every single one! OMG I’M ENGAGED!” Leeds Grand toasted the couple on Twitter with the message: “What a way to end the week!”
As a "swing" performer, Pilkington understudies several roles on the UK tour of Six. This weekend just gone, she was playing the role of Anne Boleyn.
Six The Musical has now closed at Leeds Grand, and is now running at Blackpool's Opera House until 10th July.
Leeds Bradford Airport is set for a standstill as almost 130 workers are set to take industrial action over pay.
If you're planning on catching a flight from Leeds Bradford Airport, then you may want to double check the date.
The Unite members planning on going on strike are a mixture of air traffic control workers, customer experience staff, security staff and cleaners.
The workers involved in the dispute have recently come out of a four-year pay deal, with some of the departments having fallen behind other airports in equivalent roles.
Pay talks have been happening since December 2025, with the airport's formal offer not going far enough to address the lack of pay parity.
Strikes will take place from 03:00 Friday 16 October to 06:00 Sunday 18 October for hourly paid staff and from 06:00 Friday 16 October to 06:00 Sunday 18 October for air traffic control workers.
Strike will mean the entire airport will shut down.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Leeds Bradford Airport is very profitable and can more than afford to come back to the table with an offer that doesn't fall short of our members' expectations.
"Our hardworking members should not be paid less than those doing the same jobs at other airports. Workers taking action at Leeds Bradford Airport have Unite's full support in their fight for fairer pay."
Unite regional officer Neil Whitaker said: "We know people who have flights planned to and from Leeds Bradford Airport will be concerned to hear of industrial action, however our members have no choice but to strike.
"The airport is profitable, passenger numbers are growing and our members are a major part of its success. They deserve a fair pay rise, and management must come back to the table to deliver this."
Leeds pizza shop hailed ‘exceptional’ and ‘best in the UK’ by major reviewer
Clementine Hall
A Leeds pizza takeaway has received a glowing review from popular review duo.
Edges Pizza opened up their first permanent spot in Leeds back in June this year, after making a name for themselves slinging out pizzas at multiple pop-ups across the city.
Owners Grace and Edge from Harrogate opened Edges Pizza two years ago, taking inspiration from trips to New York over the years.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Their pizzas are a love letter to the class New York slice, think thin and crispy rather than chewy and floppy. But above all else, think absolutely delicious.
And now, they've caught the attention of a major review page, with Bite Twice Food Reviews (a page with almost 300k followers) paying Edges a visit.
The food review duo of Gerry del Guercio and Paul Delany popped up in Holbeck beneath the arches to get their hands on a pizza, and the outcome is brilliant.
In the video, Bite Twice said that the pizza is 'f**cking exceptional' and up there with 'one of the best pizzas in the UK'.
Before even taking a bite, they said: "On aesthetic, I don't think anywhere in the UK is doing pizza like this".
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Then after the first bite, they go on to say: "There are very few pizzas in the UK that create this, I’m a little bit blown away".
As Londoners themselves, they go on to say that Edges is 'easily hitting with the best that we’ve got down south'.
And if that's not high praise enough, they sign off the video saying: "Leeds has got an absolute gem. I give this a stamp so hard my foot went through the pizza. Edges. Don Level."
Georgina Pellant -
7th July 2021 
