Dead Pool 1st March 2026

Unbelievably, nobody scored this week. Surely one of us should have listed Ali Khamenei!!! With the dementia addled ginger nut in charge, this was surely on the cards! Anyhow, a missed opportunity for us, and the beginning of WWIII perhaps? Maybe this year could be the best scoring year ever! 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Maxi Shield, 51, Australian drag queen (RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under), throat cancer. 
• Dan Simmons, 77, American science fiction and horror writer (Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion, Song of Kali), complications from a stroke.  
• Robert Carradine, 71, American actor (Revenge of the Nerds, The Big Red One, Lizzie McGuire), suicide by hanging.  
• Sondra Lee, 97, American actress (Hello, Dolly!, Peter Pan, Sunday in New York) and singer.
• Oliver “Power” Grant, 52, American executive producer (Wu-Tang Clan). 
• Jeff Galloway, 80, American Olympic runner, stroke. 
• Rob Grant, 70, English comedy writer and television producer (Red Dwarf). 
• Neil Sedaka, 86, American singer (“Breaking Up Is Hard to Do“, “Laughter in the Rain“) and songwriter (“Love Will Keep Us Together“). 
• Lorraine Bayly, 89, Australian actress (The Sullivans, Neighbours, Carson’s Law).  
• Ali Khamenei, 86, ayatollah, supreme leader (since 1989). Assassination by missile strike.

In Other News

A silverback western lowland gorilla has died days after he was moved to a new home. Jock, 42, who spent the majority of his life at Bristol Zoo Project’s Clifton site, had a number of known conditions, but his health deteriorated 10 days after his relocation to a site near Cribbs Causeway. Sarah Gedman, curator of mammals at Bristol Zoo Project, said the “difficult decision” to peacefully euthanise Jock is a “testament to the deep bonds between him and the people who cared for him”. He was one of the oldest silverbacks in the UK and was part of a troop of eight at the zoo. “Jock’s legacy at Bristol Zoo, as a leader, father, and ambassador for his species, will live on through the gorillas he helped raise and the countless people he inspired,” she added. “His life was a reminder of both the beauty and fragility of wildlife, and the importance of conservation efforts everywhere.” Jock arrived at Clifton’s Bristol Zoo Gardens in 2003 and was a central figure in the zoo’s troop throughout his time there. He fathered several infants both at the zoo and through the European co-ordinated breeding programme for Critically Endangered western lowland gorillas. The gorillas had been looked after by keepers at the Clifton site since its closure in 2022. Just under two weeks ago, they moved into a new purpose-built African rainforest enclosure at the site near Cribbs Causeway. Vets and zookeepers have continued to monitor the gorillas since the move, but say a full review is needed to determine the cause of Jock’s illness. “The remaining members of our gorilla troop are safe and in good health, and our dedicated veterinary and animal care teams are closely monitoring their welfare, as the troop adjusts to Jock’s absence. Our entire team of colleagues and volunteers are devastated by this news,” Gedman added. Jock’s species typically lives between 35 and 40 years in the wild and is classified as critically endangered, largely due to threats such as poaching and habitat loss.  

Soham killer Ian Huntley remains in a serious condition in hospital, two days after he was attacked with a metal bar by another inmate at a maximum security prison. Durham Constabulary confirmed on Saturday morning that his condition had not changed overnight. A spokesperson stated: “The 52-year-old man remains in hospital in a serious condition, there have been no changes overnight.” The assault took place in the jail’s workshop. According to reports, triple killer Anthony Russell allegedly shouted “I’ve done it, I’ve done it” after Huntley, 52, was repeatedly smashed over the head at HMP Frankland, Durham, on Thursday morning. The force declined to identify the suspect but said on Thursday that a man in his mid-40s had been detained in the prison, but had not yet been arrested. Former caretaker Huntley killed 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman after they left a family barbecue to buy sweets in Soham, Cambridgeshire, on August 4 2002, then dumped their bodies in a ditch. Russell was sentenced to a whole life tariff in 2021 for the murders of Julie Williams, 58, and her son David Williams, 32, at separate flats in Coventry, and pregnant 31-year-old Nicole McGregor, who was found in woodland near Leamington Spa three days later. Russell also raped Ms McGregor. Thursday’s assault was the latest attempt on Huntley’s life and he was thought to have been kept under close observation to prevent similar attacks. In 2010, robber Damien Fowkes slashed him with a home-made weapon, causing a “severe, gaping cut to the left side of his neck” with a 7in (18cm) wound which required 21 stitches. Fowkes asked a prison officer: “Is he dead? I hope so.” He described Huntley as a “notorious child killer, both inside prison and in society in general”. Huntley is serving a life sentence with a recommendation that he serves at least 40 years for the Soham murders. 

Bhad Bhabie, real name Danielle Bregoli, has given a concerning update on her cancer as she told fans her doctor hadn’t given her good news. The rapper, 22,  announced in 2024 she’d been diagnosed with cancer after people started speculating about her weight loss and she wanted to head off the ‘worst narratives’ that were being whipped up around her. Now she’s posted an update on social media saying: “Bad news from my doctor yesterday, god has the last say so not my cancer.” She didn’t provide any further details on her condition. Back in November 2024 when she confirmed she had been diagnosed with cancer she had faced speculation over whether she had changed her eating habits or started taking weight loss drugs. However, Bregoli instead explained that her weight loss was as a result of treatment for cancer. “I’m sorry my cancer medicine made me lose weight,” she wrote on her Instagram story, before telling her millions of followers she was ‘slowly gaining it back’. Her mum Barbara also took aim at trolls who had suggested Danielle had been faking cancer, going on Instagram to tell them what was what. She wrote: “I pray to God one of your children never get cancer. I’ve had it twice. How dare you say my daughter’s faking this.” The mum also shared images of her own experience with cancer as she told people to ‘stop with your assumptions’. “For all those individuals commenting on cancer and cancer meds just bloating you this was me one year after my 1st diagnosis,” she had said as she shared a past image of herself. Bhad Bhabie first became famous at the age of 13 when she went on the talk show Dr Phil and became known as the girl who said ‘cash me outside’. She and her mum appeared on the episode titled ‘I Want to Give Up My Car-Stealing, Knife-Wielding, Twerking 13-Year-Old Daughter Who Tried to Frame Me for a Crime’. That’s quite a mouthful. Anyhow, Danielle said she hadn’t realised she’d become a meme as she was sent to a camp for troubled teens after her appearance on Dr Phil and was not thrilled to discover she was all over the internet. Speaking on the HighLowWithEmRata podcast, she said: “Imagine you get home from being in this fucking fucked up place for fucking six months and then you open your phone and go on Facebook and all you see is yourself, and you’re 13.”

On This Day

• 1692 – Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba are brought before local magistrates in Salem Village, Massachusetts, beginning what would become known as the Salem witch trials. 
• 1910 – The deadliest avalanche in United States history buries a Great Northern Railway train in northeastern King County, Washington, killing 96 people.
• 1953 – Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke and collapses; he dies four days later.
• 1966 – Venera 3 Soviet space probe crashes on Venus becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet’s surface. 
• 1998 – Titanic became the first film to gross over $1 billion worldwide.

Deaths

• 1244 – Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr, Welsh noble, son of Llywelyn the Great (born 1200).
• 2006 – Jack Wild, English actor (born 1952).
• 2024 – Iris Apfel,  American businesswoman, interior designer (born 1921).

Last Week’s Birthdays

Javier Bardem (57), Jensen Ackles (48), Ron Howard (72), Lupita Nyong’o (43), Dirk Benedict (81), Justin Bieber (32), John Turturro (69), Rae Dawn Chong (65), Kate Mara (43), Timothy Spall (69), Adam Baldwin (64), Bill Duke (83), Sean Astin (55), Anson Mount (53), Lee Evans (62), Edward James Olmos (79), Dakota Fanning (32), Emily Blunt (43), Josh Gad (45), Aziz Ansari (43), and Kelly Macdonald (50).