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Millions of people are expected to hit airports and highways in record numbers over the Thanksgiving holiday

Richer Americans are curtailing their spending ahead of Black Friday, a worrisome sign for an economy that has

An 18-year-old was told her constant exhaustion was likely caused by depression and the stress of her A-levels – only to eventually be diagnosed with a debilitating chronic illness. Elizabeth Hope, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, experienced painful headaches and had begun falling asleep at 5pm every day while studying for her A-levels. “My mum would wake me for dinner and then I’d maybe do like an hour’s homework, which is absolutely not enough when you’re studying for your A-levels, and then fall asleep again,” the now-27-year-old recalls. When Hope said she needed to lie down during rehearsals for the school show and stopped going to cheerleading practice because she was too tired, her parents knew there was a serious problem. “To start off with, my parents thought ‘oh she just doesn’t want to go to school’,” she says. “But I started not being able to do the things that I enjoyed, so then we realised that something was very wrong.” She visited another doctor, who found Hope was experiencing myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome or ME, a long-term illness that affects the nervous and immune systems. People with ME can experience severe pain and fatigue, as well as a range of other symptoms, making everyday physical and mental tasks exhausting, according to the NHS. Hope was so exhausted that she struggled to leave the house without using a wheelchair. “I was literally stuck in my house,” she says. “We would maybe go out to one shop and then I would have to come home. Being able to use a wheelchair was amazing for me because I could go to two or three shops or go to the park and stuff like that.” A woman of 18 told by doctors that her constant exhaustion was likely depression and A-level exam stress, was diagnosed with a debilitating chronic illness which means she uses a wheelchair, but has overcome her adversity to become an award-winning wheelchair dancer and dancing instructor. “Struggling with loneliness,” she was “really unsure” when her mother suggested she attend a wheelchair dance class in Birmingham – but it turned out to be one of the best decisions she ever made. She learnt to manage her energy levels and “fell in love with dance”, and has since gone on to perform in her wheelchair at the 2022 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony and two cheerleading world championships. “I think for people with disabilities, it’s not like you can do whatever you want, because it’s not true, but you can do things in a different way,” she says. “But I love dancing and being able to share my passion with other people is just, yes, it’s really cool”. As a dancer, Hope was soon competing and joined another two dance groups, Sun Rae Inclusive Dance and Apt Dance Theatre. She went on to win the UK ParaDance National Championships with the group and came second in the solo contest after performing to Kylie Minogue’s 2018 song “Dancing”. She also found a cheerleading group and travelled to Florida in the US, where she went on to win the world championships in 2019, in the adaptive abilities category. In early 2022, Hope received a message from a friend suggesting that she apply for an assistant dance artist job with the national disability charity Sense. “They said you can apply with a cover letter and CV or via video,” she said. “So I basically made this video about how much I love dance.” To her surprise she was invited to attend a recruitment workshop. “I was like, that was fun, but I won’t get a job because all these people are way more qualified than me,” she said. “But then I got offered the job.” Hope was initially going to turn down the job because the working hours were more than she thought she could manage, but was told they would come up with a solution. She now teaches people with disabilities to dance, from non-verbal school groups to elderly people in care homes – including a 102-year-old. “It’s just about managing my energy and pain,” she says. “So for example, I rest a lot and only work one day a week. It’s just about pacing your activity more than anything else.” For more information on the accessible arts activities Sense offers, visit: sense.org.uk/our-services/arts-sports-activities-for-disabled-people/art-for-disabled-people/ Read More A$AP Rocky claims having a family with Rihanna is his ‘best’ collaboration Ashlyn Harris breaks silence on cheating rumours following Ali Krieger divorce I present my children on Instagram like a fairytale – I’m now rethinking A$AP Rocky claims having a family with Rihanna is his ‘best’ collaboration Ashlyn Harris breaks silence on cheating rumours following Ali Krieger divorce I present my children on Instagram like a fairytale – I’m now rethinking

This is the best time of year to discover new recipes. As the days get shorter and colder, a glossy new cookbook – and all the food-related inspiration that comes with it – can be just the thing you need. And there are plenty of new releases to sink your teeth into – whether you want to transport yourself to a sunnier country, settle down with some comfort food – or even get a head start on Christmas shopping. Some of the biggest names in food – including chef and former Saturday Kitchen presenter James Martin, BBC stalwarts the Hairy Bikers, and cult restaurateur Russell Norman – have new cookbooks out – and this is what you can expect from each of them. 1. ‘James Martin’s Spanish Adventure’ by James Martin If you were captivated by James Martin’s 20-part ITV series taking a culinary tour around Spain – from the Michelin-starred restaurants of San Sebastian to the local markets of Santiago de Compostela – you’ll want to pick up the accompanying cookbook. One of Martin’s favourite areas in the country is Toledo, “a special ancient city right in the middle of Spain”, he notes. “It’s famous for great produce including game, saffron, honey, olive oil, garlic and the list goes on.” Yorkshire-born Martin says he first fell in love with Spanish food when he came to London as a young chef, and wanted to dedicate this book to the cuisine because he “wanted people to know about the people, the fantastic variety of landscapes, and the spectacular produce available”, he says. “They have the best markets in Europe and the range of ingredients is fabulous – the seafood, the meat, the vegetables and the fruit.” In the cookbook, Martin highlights that Spanish cuisine is far more than just paella and sangria. There are plenty of recipes for traditional dishes – including tapas bites, croquetas, empanadas, Seville pork with patatas bravas and burnt Basque cheesecake – as well as classic Spanish ingredients (such as chorizo, olives and plenty of seafood). While Spain is predominantly known for meat and fish, Martin also shows some of the beautiful ways the country uses vegetables too – such as a dish for deep-fried aubergines drizzled with honey and served with a tomato sauce, and salt-baked celeriac with new potatoes and salsa. Valencia beans and red prawns “Located on the east coast, the 2,000-year-old city of Valencia boasts wide sandy beaches, striking architecture, a buzzing food scene and culture,” says Martin. “It has its own language (a dialect of Catalan) and unique cuisine, with a focus on rice, seafood and meat. This dish showcases red prawns on a bed of white beans and vegetables.” Serves: 2 Ingredients: 75ml olive oil, plus extra for drizzling 2 garlic cloves, chopped 1 onion, diced ¼ leek, diced ½ carrot, peeled and diced ¼ green pepper, cored, deseeded and diced 3 bay leaves 2 whole smoked chilli peppers (or a pinch of chilli flakes) 300g cooked butter beans Splash of white wine Small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped 8 red prawns, split lengthways Sea salt Method: 1. If you want to use a BBQ, heat a BBQ until hot and the coals are white. 2. Heat a medium paella pan and, when hot, add the oil, then add the garlic, all the vegetables, the bay leaves and the smoked peppers. Cook for two to three minutes, then stir in the beans, 50 millilitres of water and the wine and cook for three to four minutes. Season with salt and finish with the parsley. 3. Meanwhile, pop the prawns onto the BBQ, drizzle with oil and season with salt, then cook for two to three minutes until charred, turning once or twice. Alternatively, grill on high for three to four minutes. 4. To serve, remove the smoked peppers (if using) from the beans and then pile the prawns on top of the beans and drizzle with extra olive oil if desired. ‘James Martin’s Spanish Adventure’ by James Martin (Quadrille, £27) 2. ‘The Hairy Bikers’ Ultimate Comfort Food’ by Si King and Dave Myers It’s hard to believe Dave Myers and Si King – otherwise known as the Hairy Bikers – have been on our screens for nearly two decades, with their first BBC show airing in 2004. They’ve written plenty of cookbooks over the years – dedicated to everything from Mediterranean food to curries – and their latest is all about comfort food. In the introduction, the duo think back to what comfort food meant to them growing up – for Myers, it’s a classic chip butty, and King picks out his mother’s curries and casseroles. British classics like these permeate the book – including beef and barley stew, sausage rolls and lemon drizzle cake – but there’s a definite international flavour, with dishes inspired by Myers and King’s travels all over the world. Think soba noodles with miso mushrooms, Szechuan lamb bao buns, chipotle prawn tacos and more. While comfort food might make you think of heavy, rich dishes you want to curl up in the winter with – and those recipes are represented – there’s also a wider picture of ‘comfort’ and what it means throughout the year. Lighter recipes such as the teriyaki chicken salad and Spanish-style roasted vegetables with halloumi will bring just as much joy in the summertime. Chocolate eclairs “Possibly everyone’s top teatime pleasure, eclairs are a bit of work, but are so worth it,” say Myers and King. “Just picture yourself biting into that beautiful choux pastry filled with cream and spread with chocolate.” Makes: about 8-12 Ingredients: For the choux pastry: 115g plain flour 100g butter 2 tsp caster sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract Pinch of salt 3 eggs, well beaten 1 tbsp icing sugar For the filling: 300ml double cream 1 tbsp icing sugar ½ tsp vanilla extract For the chocolate glaze: 100g dark chocolate (or 50g dark chocolate and 50g milk chocolate) 50g whipping cream 50g butter 25g golden syrup Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and line two baking trays with baking parchment. Sift the flour on to another piece of baking parchment. 2. Put the butter, sugar, and vanilla extract in a pan with 225 millilitres of water and a generous pinch of salt. Heat gently until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved, then turn up the heat until the mixture is boiling. Remove the pan from the heat. 3. Pull up the sides of the baking parchment and slide the flour into the butter and sugar mixture. Stir the flour into the wet ingredients to form a thick paste which should come away from the sides of the pan in one solid mass. Put the pan back over a gentle heat and continue stirring with a wooden spoon for two or three minutes, until the mixture is slightly steaming and leaves a floury residue on the base of the pan. 4. Leave to cool for a couple of minutes, then beat for a couple of minutes more. You can then transfer the dough to a stand mixer or use electric beaters if you prefer. You will see steam escape from the dough at this point. Keep beating until the steam has subsided. 5. Gradually work in the eggs, just a couple of tablespoons at a time, until you have a thick glossy dough – it needs to be quite stiff and firm enough for you to draw your finger through it without the sides falling back in. The dough initially breaks up a lot, but eventually it will come together again. 6. Fit a large star or plain round nozzle into a piping bag and scoop the dough into the bag. If you don’t have a nozzle, simply snip off the end of the bag off – the hole should be about 2.5cm wide. 7. Pipe tiny amounts of the dough under the corners of the baking parchment on the trays to keep the parchment in place. For large eclairs, pipe eight lines of dough, as evenly as possible, on to the baking trays, making each one about 15cm long. To make sure they don’t spread to an oval shape, pipe them slightly wider at each end. To make slightly smaller eclairs, pipe 12 lines of about 10cm long. Wet your fingers and smooth out the ends of the eclairs if peaks have formed. If you haven’t used a star nozzle, run a fork along the length of each one. 8. Dust the eclairs with the icing sugar – this will help them darken and crisp up in the oven. Bake for 25 minutes by which time they should have formed a crust. Use a skewer to poke holes in each end of the eclairs so steam can escape from their centres, then continue to bake for another eight to 10 minutes. Turn the oven off and leave the door ajar. Leave the eclairs in the oven for about half an hour – this will help make sure they are crisp all the way through. 9. To make the filling, whip the cream until it is stiff, then fold in the icing sugar and vanilla extract. Chill for half an hour. 10. For the glaze, put the chocolate, cream, butter and golden syrup into a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Melt together gently to make a fairly thin ganache. 11. To fill the eclairs, cut three holes in the base of each one. Fill a piping bag with the cream and pipe it into the holes. Squeeze the eclairs lightly – they should feel nicely full. Dip each filled eclair in the chocolate glaze – this gives a much better coverage than trying to spread it – then leave them in the fridge to set. These are best eaten on the same day they are made as the pastry will eventually soften, but they will keep for up to 48 hours. ‘The Hairy Bikers: Ultimate Comfort Food’ by Si King and Dave Myers (Seven Dials, £25) 3. ‘Brutto’ by Russell Norman Russell Norman’s debut cookbook, Polpo, won the Inaugural Waterstones Book of the Year back in 2012, and anything the London restaurateur has done since has always been hotly anticipated. For his latest cookbook, Norman has turned his sights on Florence. Named after one of his London restaurants, “brutto” is the Italian word for ugly, and references the Italian expression, “brutto ma buono” – ugly but good. Tuscan cuisine is known for meat, offal, game and beans, Norman explains in the introduction – and these are all represented in the cookbook, albeit with a few more veggie options than you might seen in a traditional Florentine kitchen. You’ll learn a lot about food in Florence from Brutto – such as the city’s passion for wine bars, where antipasti such as coccoli (fried dough balls served with prosciutto and soft cheese) and deep-fried courgette flowers are served. Some of the recipes are Italian classics you’ll know about – such as tagliatelle with ragu and asparagus risotto – and others are more unusual, deeper dives into Italian cuisine – think Florentine-style fried chicken or an oven-baked spinach dish cooked with eggs, cream, Parmesan and a dash of nutmeg. Tuscan food is largely known as peasant food – meaning it’s relatively cheap and easy to make, while still being packed full of flavour. Spinach and ricotta dumplings “Gnudi translates as ‘naked’, as these little dumplings are the most nude and simple form of homemade pasta you can make,” says Norman. “The combination of spinach and ricotta is a very traditional marriage and appears in much of the pasta of the region, in ravioli and crespelle for example. It’s a very satisfying process, and easy enough for children to help with in the kitchen if you want to encourage an early interest in Italian cooking for little chefs.” Serves: 4 Ingredients: 500g baby spinach leaves, washed 50g ‘00’ flour 250g ricotta 1 large free-range egg, beaten 150g grated parmesan Flaky sea salt Black pepper ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg 250g semolina 100g butter A large handful of sage leaves Method: 1. Steam the spinach for three minutes over a large pan of boiling water. Thoroughly drain and squeeze to remove the excess water, then chop the leaves finely. Set aside. 2. Mix the flour with the ricotta in a large bowl until it resembles lumpy breadcrumbs. Stir in the egg and two-thirds of the Parmesan. Add a pinch of salt, a twist of black pepper, the nutmeg and then add the spinach. Combine thoroughly with a wooden spoon or with your hands. 3. Put half the semolina into a bowl and shake the rest on to a baking sheet or a tray. Take small lumps of the flour, egg and spinach mixture and form them into small balls by rolling them between your palms, to the size of large olives. Turn each ball through the bowl of semolina, then place on the tray you’ve prepared with the rest of the semolina. When finished, you should have 24–30 little balls. 4. Fill a very large pan with water and bring to a rolling boil. Place the gnudi in the boiling water as quickly as possible, bringing it back to the boil on the highest heat, and continue to simmer for about three minutes. 5. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over a medium heat, melt the butter and add the sage leaves. When it bubbles, reduce to a very low heat. This should take no more than two minutes, while the gnudi are cooking. 6. The gnudi will float to the surface when they are ready. Turn off the heat, remove them with a slotted spoon and drain the excess water on kitchen paper. Place on four warmed plates, pour the butter and sage over the top, then evenly distribute the remaining Parmesan. Add a flourish of black pepper. ‘Brutto’ by Russell Norman (Ebury Press, £32) Read More From a £22 bag of pasta to £28 sandwich – why do they cost so much? How to host a dinner party for under £2 per portion Pearly Cow, Margate, restaurant review: Go for the steak, but stay for the potatoes Three authentic Thai recipes to try at home What does Saturday Kitchen’s Matt Tebbutt cook at home? Three recipes that prove traditional Irish food is better than you think

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes opened as the top film in US and Canadian

It’s officially spooky season, the time to play those creepy, crawly, jump scare-y games. You

ASAP Rocky has gushed over his family with Rihanna, calling it the “best” collaboration of his career. On Friday 17 November, the 35-year-old rapper sat down with Complex during the launch of Puma’s new partnership with Formula One, in which A$AP Rocky served as creative director for the collection. When asked whether he and Rihanna will collaborate for a future Puma fashion collection, the “Praise The Lord” rapper pointed out that the proud parents have already done the most important collaboration ever. “If me and my lady was to collab what could we team up and just f***ing just smash and go crazy on?” he asked. “I think we do a real great job at collaborating and making children. I think that’s our best creation so far.” “Nothing is better than that out there, any design,” the “Sundress” singer continued. However, Rocky also gave a shout-out to “a ghost designer named God” who he said “shaped everything” for their family of four. “I mean we had a third designer come and help, a ghost designer named God, you know, and shaped everything and we had these beautiful angels. So that’s the best collaboration,” he said. While the couple have only collaborated on one song together, 2011’s “Cockiness (Love It) Remix”, Rihanna was featured in the music video for Rocky’s “DMB” in May 2022. His latest comments come as the couple - who have been dating since late 2020 - were in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the arrival of the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix. In addition to Rihanna and Rocky, fellow star-studded attendees included Brad Pitt, Kylie Minogue, Paris Hilton, and David Beckham. Rocky, real name Rakim Mayers, was announced as creative director of Puma’s new partnership with F1 in October. The “F**kin’ Problems” rapper and the Fenty Beauty founder attended a pop-up event for the fashion collection on Friday in Las Vegas, where Rihanna wore a long leather coat, black pumps, and silver accessories. Meanwhile, Rocky was dressed in pieces from the collaboration, including neon-green Puma gloves and matching sneakers. The A-list couple secretly welcomed their second child together in August this year. According to TMZ, Rihanna gave birth to another baby boy on 3 August in Los Angeles. It was later revealed that they named their newborn son Riot Rose Mayers. Rihanna and Rocky previously welcomed their first son, RZA Athelston Mayers - named in tribute to Wu-Tang Clan leader RZA - in May 2022. This isn’t the first time the “No Limit” rapper has gushed over his family. Two months before she welcomed baby Riot Rose, Rocky referred to Rihanna as his “wife” during a concert in Cannes, France. While performing at the Spotify Beach concert for the 2023 Cannes Lions Festival, he took a moment to dedicate a song to his partner of three years. “I’d like to dedicate this song to my beautiful wife in the motherf***ing building! I love her!” Rocky said, before performing his 2022 track “DMB”. Meanwhile, a then-pregnant Rihanna watched him perform while dressed in a sheer, vintage Jean Paul Gaultier dress over a sequined bikini. Back in February, Rihanna confirmed she was pregnant for the second time during her Super Bowl halftime show performance. Read More Ashlyn Harris breaks silence on cheating rumours following Ali Krieger divorce I present my children on Instagram like a fairytale – I’m now rethinking Will an adaptogen a day keep the doctor away this winter?

Thanksgiving is a food-focused occasion, with friends and families gathering to gorge on traditional dishes such as roast turkey, stuffing, sweet potato and pumpkin pie. For those who follow vegan or vegetarian diets, it can therefore be quite difficult to navigate the dinner table when the annual harvest holiday comes around. Fortunately, there are numerous vegan and vegetarian alternatives to the traditional animal-based offerings. From lentil loaf to pumpkin pie, here are some of the best vegan and vegetarian recipes for you to try this Thanksgiving: Starters Stuffed mini pumpkins Make the most of the proclivity of pumpkins that have been grown over the autumn with this inventive recipe by Tieghan Gerard, creator of Half Baked Harvest. In her recipe, Gerard stuffs the pumpkins with nutty wild rice and shredded Brussels sprouts, before roasting them in the oven. Gerard recommends baking the pumpkins for around 10 to 20 minutes before serving them hot for all the family to enjoy. Grain-filled soup For a healthy soup with a burst of flavour, try this spicy grain soup recipe by chef Mary Ellen Diaz, from the First Slice soup kitchen. This soup recipe combines ingredients including barley, brown rice, bulgur, garlic, chilies, shiitake mushrooms and black beans for a healthy concoction. Arugula and wild rice salad Kathryne Taylor, creator of popular vegetarian food blog Cookie and Kate, has created a recipe for an arugula and wild rice salad that will provide your Thanksgiving guests with a refreshing and tasty start to their meal. This salad features ingredients including wild rice, almonds, arugula, cranberries, crumbled feta and honey syrup. Mains Butternut squash risotto Butternut squash is a quintessentially autumnal ingredient, perfectly apt for the Thanksgiving table. This Everyday Food recipe shared by Martha Stewart takes 45 minutes to make and combines Arborio rice with garlic cloves, olive oil, fresh thyme, white wine, vegetable broth and butternut squash. Jumbo stuffed pasta shells Angela Liddon, founder of Oh She Glows, specialises in creating inventive and delicious plant-based recipes. This recipe for pasta shells stuffed with an assortment of vegetables and fresh herbs was inspired by Terry Walters, author of the Clean Food cookbook. Liddon uses tofu to create a vegan mixture that tastes like ricotta, which she uses to stuff the pasta shells. Glazed lentil, walnut and apple loaf Another recipe that Liddon has adapted from Walters is the glazed lentil walnut and apple loaf, a dish that will provide Thanksgiving guests with a treat that's both savoury and sweet. Liddon combines ingredients including uncooked green lentils, finely chopped walnuts, garlic cloves, diced sweet onions and raisins among others to create the unconventional loaf. Desserts Vegan pumpkin pie It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a serving of pumpkin pie. Jessica Hylton-Leckie, founder of vegan food blog Jessica in the Kitchen, has devised a vegan pumpkin pie recipe that's sugar-free, gluten-free and made with all natural ingredients. Cranberry apple crisp Make the most of fresh autumn fruits with this innovative vegan and gluten-free cranberry apple crisp recipe by Jessica in the Kitchen. The dessert dish is best served warm with a dollop of dairy-free ice cream added on top. Vegan pumpkin cheesecake swirl brownies These vegan pumpkin cheesecake swirl brownies look mouth-wateringly good and are likely to delight friends and family galore. Hylton-Leckie uses a combination of vegan cream cheese, pumpkin puree, coconut sugar, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract and an egg yolk substitute for the pumpkin cheesecake swirl portion of the recipe. The vegan brownie is made from vegan chocolate chips, oat flour, sea salt, baking soda, flax eggs, coconut sugar, coconut oil, water and vanilla extract. Read More Vegetarian and vegan alternatives to classic Thanksgiving recipes Does turkey really make you tired? Best time to host Thanksgiving dinner Martha Stewart reveals why she ‘cancelled’ Thanksgiving this year Why do Americans celebrate Thanksgiving? Full list of US 2023 federal holiday dates From a race to a movie day, Friendsgiving celebrations that aren’t a sit-down dinner

A small Connecticut newspaper founded earlier this year with Ralph Nader's help has succumbed to financial problems and will be shutting down

A good book packs power

Kim Kardashian has angered Greenpeace for using the climate crisis as a "punchline" in an advertisement for the "nipple bra" that is part of her SKIMS clothing line.

Ashlyn Harris has addressed rumours she cheated on ex-wife Ali Krieger amid her new rumoured romance with Sophia Bush. The former US National Women’s Soccer Team player took to her Instagram on 18 November to share a lengthy statement following her divorce from Krieger. In her post, Harris denied cheating rumours and revealed how the subsequent “online hate” has negatively impacted her mental health. “Several weeks ago, a process that had been ongoing privately for some time became public,” Harris began. “Ending a relationship after almost 13 years of friendship, teammate-ship, marriage and co-parenting (many of them good years) is a decision that was not made lightly.” “We agreed to centre our children, continue therapy, separate, and to move forward with our lives. Two happy families are always better than one unhappy one. This process is never easy, but we were making our way through,” she continued. Harris explained that the former couple were advised by their agents and representation to keep news of their split private until after Krieger finished her NWSL season earlier this month. However, the 38-year-old athlete revealed that “a leak (a betrayal of our deepest confidence) made that impossible”. “The online hate that has happened since has been one of the most personally devastating experiences of my life,” Harris said. While she noted that she was encouraged “not to feed the beast” of negative online comments, Harris maintained that the past few weeks have “devastated my mental health”. She added: “This has been brutal.” Harris claimed that she has received online death threats since her divorce, as well as comments from trolls criticising her two children - daughter Sloane, two, and one-year-old son Ocean - who she shares with Krieger. “Words matter. The cheering on abuse, the people clamoring to encourage me to commit suicide, and the cruel words spoken about my children and who I am as a mother? Those words matter,” she said. “Someday my kids are going to be able to read the hate that strangers on the internet wrote, all because those strangers had an unsolicited opinion on my health and happiness? What are we doing here?” Harris then addressed why she and Krieger split after four years of marriage, writing: “People have run with a narrative that’s unbearably painful. Not all marriages last forever. Ours did not. For many reasons.” The former soccer pro admitted that the “false narratives” surrounding her marriage may be “juicier or make a better headline”, but the rumours that she cheated on Krieger were “simply not true”. “Let me be clear: I did not step out on my marriage. I was always faithful in my marriage, if not always totally happy. Like in many partnerships, there was work and therapy and processing done. None of this happened on a whim,” Harris said. “We spent the entire summer working to tackle the separation and divorce steps outlined for us by our therapists, lawyers, and our shared agency.” The former USWNT star explained how by “finally choosing my own health and happiness”, she has also “chosen a better future for my kids”. However, Harris claimed that she’s had “an entire community turn on me” in the wake of her divorce. “I’ve spent my whole career trying to build an inclusive space where people can show up as themselves and where they know they will be safe,” she continued. “Right now, it feels like the entire community has poured gasoline on me and lit the matches. So many of you, including people who stand publicly as anti-bullying advocates, have cheered this on like bloodsport. As though a family in transition is on opposing teams. Like a divorce is a battle, one person stands to win.” Harris wrote that her number one priority is her children, and being a “good co-parent” with Krieger. “Despite this current darkness, there have been years of love between us. And our kids are the best part of it all,” she said. “They deserve two healthy and happy parents, and that’s what matters most. We are all in pain.” The retired soccer pro concluded her statement by reminding people that “bullying anyone about a personal decision, especially when that bullying is rooted in lies, really hurts”. “I’m hoping that instead of continuing this cruelty you can remember the simple truth that I’m a human being, a mom, and a good person just trying my best. I’d appreciate if you could take a breath and treat me and my family with some humanity,” she finished her statement. It was reported in October that Harris had filed for divorce from Krieger after nearly four years of marriage. The ex-goalkeeper filed the court documents in Florida’s Seminole County on 19 September. According to ESPN, the co-parents are required to decide on a parenting plan for their two adopted children. The soccer duo first met in 2010 while playing for the USWNT. Harris and Krieger were engaged in 2019 and tied the knot in Miami on 28 December that same year. Now, Harris is reportedly datingOne Tree Hill alum Sophia Bush, who also filed for divorce from husband Grant Hughes after just 13 months of marriage. “After being friends for years, and running in the same social circles, Sophia and Ashlyn went out on their first dinner date a couple of weeks ago,” a source told People last month. “This is so recent, and they are both beginning new chapters.” Meanwhile, a representative for Hughes told Page Six that he is happy for the new couple following his divorce from Bush. “Grant will always want the best for Sophia, and is supportive of all that makes her happy and fulfilled,” they told the outlet. Bush was previously married to her One Tree Hill co-star Chad Michael Murray from 2005 to 2006. Read More I present my children on Instagram like a fairytale – I’m now rethinking Will an adaptogen a day keep the doctor away this winter? Naomi Watts admits mid-thirties menopause felt like ‘the end of my worth’ I present my children on Instagram like a fairytale – I’m now rethinking Will an adaptogen a day keep the doctor away this winter? Naomi Watts admits mid-thirties menopause felt like ‘the end of my worth’