The alleged former ‘mistress’ of Gordon Ramsay has hit out at his Netflix documentary, branding it ‘fake and misleading.’

Being Gordon Ramsay follows the celebrity chef, 59, as he embarks upon his most ambitious project yet.

In the six-part docuseries, he attempts to balance family and professional life with the opening of an enormous new restaurant concept at 22 Bishopsgate – one of London’s tallest and most high-profile buildings.

At the same time, it demonstrates a softer-side to the fiery-tempered Hell’s Kitchen and MasterChef USA host.

Between navigating the setup of 22 Bishopsgate, the series sheds a light on Ramsay as husband to wife Tana, and father of their six children – Megan, 27, Holly and Jack, 26, Tilly, 24, Oscar, six, and Jesse, two.

One person who has taken umbrage with the series is Sarah Symonds, who claimed to have had a seven-year affair with the chef from 2001 to 2008.

Speaking to Daily Mail, 56-year-old Symonds described the series as ‘totally fake – just like him.’

She continued: ‘It was a glossed over, rehabilitated, glow-up version of a bully, cheat, liar and serial philanderer.’

Rejecting the show’s depiction of Ramsay as a devoted husband and family man, she added: ‘Gordon always acted like a single man, a man about town.

‘He was always available and always at the same social venues late at night as me.

‘He had the swagger and confidence of a man with no responsibilities, and the persona of a man who certainly wasn’t rushing home.’

Ramsay’s marriage was rocked in 2008, when Symonds came forward with allegations of a seven-year strong affair.

She said that she had been 31 and working in sales for an events and limo company in London when she first met Ramsay at London’s Chinawhite Nightclub.

She claimed that he had ‘no regard’ toward Tana, 51, implying that his marriage and family life were useful for his image.

‘He said that it just looked good if he was married, but that he was his own man,’ Symonds said.

After her allegations were first published in News of the World, Ramsay vehemently denied all claims – even telling the audience at the BBC Good Food Show in Birmingham: ‘If I was going to cheat it wouldn’t be with a complete slapper.’

That same year, Gordon and Tana went on to renew their vows in a show of public solidarity – while Symonds published her self-help book, Having An Affair?: A Handbook for the Other Woman.

Ramsay has continued to deny an affair with Symonds, and insists that he only ever met her four times.

In the wake of the allegations, Gordon and Tana went on to welcome sons Oscar and Jesse.

The pair also suffered a miscarriage in 2016, losing baby boy Rocky only five months into Tana’s pregnancy.

Speaking at the time, Gordon told HELLO!: ‘We were devastated, but thankfully we’re through the worst now. It could happen at any time to anyone. It has brought us all so much closer.’

Earlier this month, the Kitchen Nightmares host reflected on his first meeting with Tana, describing how he ‘stole’ her from the friend she’d been dating at the time.

Gordon told OK! magazine: ‘Tana was driving the car and I was sat in the back seat looking at my mate going, “Oh my god, your girlfriend is f****** gorgeous.”

‘She looked like a young Julia Roberts and she brought this level of excitement like no other. I’m not sure what Tana said when she met me, I got the feeling she wasn’t a big fan.’

Earlier this month, Ramsay was forced to answer against allegations that he’d ‘behaved like a bully’ toward son-in-law Adam Peaty’s parents.

In the wake of daughter Holly’s marriage to Olympic swimmer Peaty, reports emerged of a feud between the two families, with Peaty reportedly describing him as a ‘big bully.’

In response, Ramsay told The Sun: ‘I’m certainly not a bully,’ describing their claims as ‘appalling.’

While the Ramsays’ marriage may seem stronger than ever, Symonds has indicated that she is considering taking legal action against the Next Level Chef star.

She claims that the stress of their alleged affair and his repeated denials caused her to develop post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction issues.

‘If I read once more that this documentary is ‘unflinchingly honest’, I think I’ll scream,’ she said.

‘I am trying to heal, and then this appears everywhere. It makes me so angry.’

Metro.co.uk has contacted Gordon Ramsay’s representatives for comment on this story.

Being Gordon Ramsay is streaming now on Netflix UK.

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Yet another weekend has arrived with the weekly dilemma – what TV show should I binge while I’m lounging in bed?

(If, like me, you’re having a lazy Sunday indulging in a healthy dose of dolce far niente, that is).

There are plenty of new shows to check out on streaming platforms, such as The Night Agent season 3 on Netflix, which dropped this week to critical acclaim, and a gripping new Amazon Prime romance thriller.

However, there are also plenty of entertaining options ready for you to peruse on BBC iPlayer, particularly when you venture over to the TV thriller category.

So, if you’re after some recommendations of what to binge this weekend and you fancy a show that’s action-packed and full of suspense, here are seven of the best options on the Beeb.

The Tourist

No stranger to the thriller genre, The Tourist stars Jamie Dornan as an Irishman who mysteriously wakes up in an Australian hospital with amnesia.

‘The man’ embarks on a search for answers to uncover clues about his identity, and fans were gripped from the very start when the show premiered in 2024.

‘I really enjoyed it, found it gripping and could not wait for the next episode. The comedy bits were actually great, some bits went too dark. I really liked the leads and still find myself when I think back on it,’ RobotIcHead wrote on Reddit.

Another user called aduong recommended bingeing the whole show over a weekend, adding that Jamie ‘carries the show through and through’.

The Fall

This year will mark a decade since the enthralling crime drama The Fall came to an end, starring Gillian Anderson as Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson, and Jamie Dornan as serial killer Paul Spector.

The programme received a spate of accolades during its three-season run, including a best lead actor win for Jamie at the Irish Film and Television Awards in 2014.

Discussing the thriller, Sex Education star Gillian praised how ‘unpredictable’ creator Allan Cubitt’s writing is in the script.

‘No matter how many conversations we might have prior to the series about what might or might not happen, what ends up on the page is so much more interesting, unlikely, unsettling and out of left field than pretty much anything I could have come up with,’ she said.

The Night Manager

The Night Manager finally returned for a second season at the start of this year after a decade-long hiatus – and what a comeback it was.

Tom Hiddleston made a suave return as Jonathan Pine, a former hotel night manager-turned-spy, who discovers that his fight against the big baddie Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie) is far from over.

The gripping espionage drama will be returning for a third and final season after the devastating events of the season two finale. (Spoilers on the link below – you have been warned).

Discussing drawing The Night Manager to a close with season three, writer David Farr told Metro: ‘I feel like really good television has a shape and a structure and knows when it’s best to end. It feels like this has kind of got that epic trilogy feel to it. At the moment, I’m pretty clear about that myself.

‘It isn’t an ongoing detective thing, it just isn’t that kind of piece. It is a story of, fundamentally, a relationship between two men, this very strange relationship. A battle of, you could say, good versus evil, but, of course, it’s more complex than that.

‘But there is some element of that, isn’t there, at a very simple level? It needs to obey that, and it needs to resolve in a way that hopefully satisfies at least some people.’

Doctor Foster

The psychological thriller Doctor Foster originally premiered in 2015, introducing viewers to Suranne Jones’ lead character Gemma Foster.

Gemma suspects that her husband Simon (Bertie Carvel) is having an affair, and season one sees her life unravel as she uncovers a web of lies.

While the second season aired in 2017, it’s been claimed that a third is in the works.

‘There was always a sense of unfinished business with Doctor Foster, as the storyline could easily roll on and on,’ a source told The Sun.

‘It went out on a massive high, too, with around eight million tuning in every week to watch the drama unfold between the three lead characters.’

The Missing

Before Baptiste, which starred Tchéky Karyo as the French detective Julien Baptiste, came The Missing, the show in which his character was first introduced.

In season one of the anthology series, James Nesbitt and Frances O’Connor play Tony and Emily Hughes, whose son has gone missing.

It boasts a 96% Rotten Tomatoes score, with Robert Lloyd from the Los Angeles Times writing: ‘It is eight hours long, and I watched it all in a single sitting.’

Season two, which stars David Morrissey as Captain Sam Webster
Keeley Hawes as Gemma Webster, a couple whose daughter goes missing, scored even higher on the review aggregate site, with a rating of 96%.

‘A sobering, haunting and profoundly complex, yet profoundly human, crime drama. It is recommended with a caveat – it is at times shockingly dark and will disturb you to your bones,’ John Doyle wrote for Globe and Mail.

Happy Valley is widely regarded as one of the best British TV dramas of all time. And with good reason.

People across the country were glued to their screens when the final episode of this ‘masterpiece’ of television aired in 2023, with Sarah Lancashire and James Norton.

Metro‘s review read at the time: ‘No one, surely, could have been prepared for how the events unfolded as Sally Wainwright once again subverted the audience’s expectations.’

Writing on Reddit, a fan named SarcasticDevil stated: ‘It was incredible, just like pretty much every episode in the entire series.

‘Maybe it’ll never get much traction outside of the UK but it’s one of the very best dramas I’ve ever seen, and with possibly the strongest lead performance in anything ever.’

Hillbert also shared: ‘Alongside all the many, many acting plaudits, this was an absolute masterclass in how to tie up a finale. Pretty much all loose ends were sorted in a realistic and tonally perfect way.’

Created by Neil Cross in 2010, Luther – starring Idris Elba as the titular detective chief inspector John Luther – aired for five seasons until 2019.

However, the Luther franchise has since continued with feature films, with the first, titled Luther: The Fallen Sun, coming out in 2023.

A second film is in the pipeline, which will see Ruth Wilson return as the psychopath and murderer Alice Morgan.

‘Neil has yet again, created a wonderfully dark tale to bring us all back together,’ said director Jamie Payne.

‘It’s a true joy to be back on the streets of Lutherland with the supreme talents that are Idris Elba and Dermot Crowley.

‘I am also thrilled to be reunited with the brilliant and dangerous Alice Morgan played by the extraordinarily talented Ruth Wilson.’

You can stream all of the TV shows mentioned above on BBC iPlayer.

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A reader puts the blame for Xbox’s current problems squarely on Microsoft, blaming management failures, a lack of vision, and unwillingness to take risks.

It was November 2001 when Microsoft entered the gaming console arena. The green, cyberpunk style dashboard was dazzling, and it had one true game-changer: Halo: Combat Evolved. Players could battle grunting aliens across vast landscapes and drive amazing vehicles. Not only did this elevate the game to new heights, but it also drew huge crowds to the console.

In 2004, Microsoft dropped the price of the Xbox to an affordable £149. Sales increased, and Microsoft had established itself as a major player in the industry.

The Xbox 360 followed and held a firm grip on the market, even with the infamous Red Ring of Death incidents. It seemed Microsoft was poised to do for gaming what it had done for operating systems and office software – but that changed. You could blame Nintendo or PlayStation for focusing solely on consoles, rather than trying to turn them into all-singing, all-dancing media hubs.

In 2017, Microsoft launched Game Pass, positioning it as the ‘Netflix of gaming’. But Netflix does not release brand new, unproven films on the platform immediately after production. How can a studio make real profit that way?

Instead, Microsoft thought it clever to release major games like Starfield on Game Pass on day one, rather than waiting at least eight months to a year. With over 10 million players engaging with these titles but only an estimated 1 to 2 million Xbox users purchasing the actual product, out of a 34 million strong userbase, this represents a major shortfall.

Microsoft is not destroying its Xbox base through a lack of games, but through a lack of foresight. Day one releases should not exist on any gaming streaming service. Xbox titles should launch traditionally, for at least eight months to a year before being added to Game Pass.

Xbox is being suffocated by Microsoft, kept afloat only by PlayStation and PC purchases – and perhaps soon by the Nintendo Switch 2 platform. It is sad to see. Within five years, I believe the Xbox platform may cease to exist – not because of its fanbase, but because its owner has never truly learned how to compete in the gaming space.

Look at Sony and Nintendo: gaming consoles are not PCs. Streaming should give players choice, but it should not starve production studios of the glory – and profitability – of successful launches. You may disagree with this article, but you will likely agree that Microsoft is losing with Xbox; not because of the fanbase, but because Microsoft itself is no longer a fan of the Xbox.

Maybe I sound harsh, but I remember the original Xbox. Microsoft promised a multiplayer experience. One example was a game called Brute Force, a brilliant title where you control four characters on a mission. It had four-player local support, but everyone was waiting for the Xbox Live add-on. Microsoft again underdelivered, not realising that adding this component would have boosted sales and expanded its catalogue of exclusive titles. Instead, they prioritised the Halo explosion.

Look at Nintendo and Sony: they protect exclusives because good products sell consoles. Consider No Man’s Sky – not exclusive to any platform – but the studio persisted despite a rough launch. Their belief in the project created growth in a small but talented production team. I mention this because Microsoft has repeatedly given up on gaming projects, stifling the growth of Xbox exclusives.

Perfect Dark was cancelled – a perfect example of Microsoft destroying its own platform. With over a million units sold on the original Xbox, cancelling a sequel makes little sense. A return on DLC and season passes could have bolstered profits and helped sell the Xbox Series X in solid numbers.

Microsoft owns Activision, which promised exclusive games for Xbox, but instead the company cancelled titles as the new owner. Did you know Microsoft lost $300 million putting Call of Duty on Game Pass? Someone should have been held accountable for that decision.

Microsoft is destroying the Xbox – not because it can, but because it lacks vision. Leaders like Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, Elon Musk (yes, I said it), and Bill Gates understood customer needs and delivered great products that were also profitable. Xbox, unfortunately, will fade because no one at Microsoft is taking bold enough risks.

Goodbye, Xbox. It’s sad to see the Chief Master lose the fight.

By reader S.D.E Wilson

The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot.

Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk or use our Submit Stuff page and you won’t need to send an email.

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Britain’s Got Talent returns tonight for the 2026 series – but Bruno Tonioli won’t be on the judging panel.

Instead, he’s been replaced by musician, YouTuber and former professional boxer KSI on a permanent basis, after he previously appeared as a guest judge.

The former Strictly Come Dancing judge hopped, skipped, and jumped from the BBC show over to the ITV reality competition series in 2023, where he took over for David Walliams, ultimately featuring in three seasons.

Alesha Dixon has been on the show since 2012, while both Amanda Holden and Simon Cowell have been on the show since it began in 2007.

The professional dancer, 69, had never watched the Ant and Dec-helmed talent competition before he came on board as part of the panel alongside Cowell, Holden, and Dixon, but quickly found his feet. So why did he decide to leave?

Why did Bruno Tonioli quit Britain’s Got Talent?

Speaking to his followers, Tonioli confirmed that his exit was due to scheduling conflicts with Dancing With The Stars in the US, which he has been involved in since 2005.

In a statement, Bruno said: ‘After three incredible series, I’ve sadly had to walk away from a job which has opened my eyes to so much incredible talent and step down as a judge on BGT.

‘And whilst I look forward to filming a new series of Dancing with the Stars in the US, I will miss the chaos and joy that BGT brings, as well as all the wonderful people I’ve had the privilege of working with.

‘They truly are a brilliant team who make brilliant television, and I know KSI will be a fantastic judge too, as he’s already proven this year.’

Fellow DWTS judge Derek Hough joked in the comments: ‘You’re all ours. Muahahahah.’ He is also joined by Carrie Ann Inaba and hosts  Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough on the show.

Why can’t Bruno Tolioni do Britain’s Got Talent and Dancing with the Stars?

Britain’s Got Talent will resume filming this year, with the next season launching on ITV in 2026. Meanwhile, the next season of DWTS starts on September 16 for season 34.

Bruno’s exit was first reported in July when The Sun shared that it was looking difficult to juggle both shows for him.

Last year, KSI stood in for Bruno for some auditions in order for him to make it over to the States for Dancing With The Stars.

This year, after auditions were rescheduled to autumn, the clash became simply unavoidable.

The departure echoes similar reasons for leaving Strictly a few years ago, after trying to balance both shows, both sides of the Atlantic became increasingly difficult.

He told Daily Mail at the time: ‘There is no animosity, it was a mutual decision with both of us saying, ‘Listen, this is not going to work like it used to.’

‘I just couldn’t do the flying anymore. I don’t know how I survived that schedule. To be honest, it’s a miracle.’

Celebrating his promotion, KSI (one of the sidemen boasting over 25 million subscribers on YouTube) said: ‘I’m so grateful and happy to be a part of the Britain’s Got Talent team for another season. I had such a good time last year, and I can’t wait to see some more top talent.

‘I’m full of energy, ready to go, and can’t wait to make this the most entertaining BGT season ever. Let’s do this.’

Not only is KSI popular among the younger demographic, but it was his golden buzzer recipient, magician Harry Moulding, who ultimately swept to victory in the latest season.

An earlier version of this article was originally published on September 3 2025.

Britain’s Got Talent returns tonight at 7pm on ITV1 and ITVX.

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Great British Bake Off star Nadiya Hussain has turned her back on showbusiness and is now working as a teaching assistant after the BBC axed her cookery show last year.

The TV chef, 41 was one of the biggest breakout stars of Bake Off following her win in the sixth series in 2015, going on to front several shows for the broadcaster, including the award-nominated Nadiya Chronicles, Nadiya Bakes and Nadiya’s Fast Flavours.

After the BBC’s decision to drop her – something she still ‘doesn’t know why’ happened – Nadiya said she’d been courted with other offers from the likes of ITV and Channel 4.

However, she’s chosen to pursue a career in teaching instead – despite feeling ‘judged’ by some for doing so.

‘I’m currently working as a teaching assistant at a lovely little primary school. The plan is to hopefully gain some training and maybe in the future become a teacher,’ she told Woman & Home magazine.

‘I had to do an application form, an interview, go in and sit in with the kids and see how they reacted to me. I did get people ringing me, saying, “Sorry, is this actually the Nadiya Hussain?” and I’m like, “Yes, it is and I am looking for a job and I would like an opportunity”.’

Nadiya shared that she was ‘really enjoying being in an environment where I’m not the centre of it’, even though friends and loved ones had questioned her for taking a step backwards, as they see it.

However she brainstormed her career move with the support of her husband Abdal, knowing she could be faced with a fork in the road.

‘There have been lots of tears, sadness and judgement. People [close to me] have asked, “Why would you go from being here, right at the top to being at the bottom?” but I don’t see it that way,’ the TV star and author, who received an MBE in the 2020 New Year Honours, added.

‘Just because I’m famous doesn’t mean I’m at the top. I have been at my lowest at the top.’

She also insisted that since she started working at the school, she’s ‘had some of my highest moments’ because ‘nothing beats’ helping the kids she works with feel safe and achieve their goals.

When it came to the BBC cancelling her show, Nadiya revealed she had a ‘gut feeling that something wasn’t right’ after 10 years of a regular schedule between her TV work and cookbooks.

She was informed by her agent that the BBC would not be commissioning her to do another TV show and has still not received an explanation as to why from her previous employers.

The former Junior Bake Off judge said: ‘I appreciate that it’s an industry, it’s a business and it’s about making money, but I still don’t know [why they’ve let me go] because I haven’t had a conversation with anyone.

‘There are no answers, no closure.’

In a statement at the time, a BBC spokesman said: ‘After several wonderful series we have made the difficult decision not to commission another cookery show with Nadiya Hussain at the moment.

‘Nadiya remains a much-valued part of the BBC family, and we look forward to working together on future projects.’

At the time the TV personality took to social media to explain that she had always been made to ‘feel grateful’ for the opportunities she received, which added an ‘invisible pressure’ to not voice her frustrations or her desire for more.

And while she is not interested in TV work right now, Nadiya knows what would pique her interest to return, including more creative input in cookery shows.

She’s also interested in creating travelogues and documentaries ‘about issues that matter’, following her 2019 BBC One documentary Nadiya: Anxiety and Me.

The April issue of woman&home is on sale on February 26.

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Microsoft’s head of gaming, Phil Spencer, is leaving the software maker following a 38-year tenure, as the company’s Xbox business faces increased challenges.

“Last year, Phil Spencer made the decision to retire from the company, and since then we’ve been talking about succession planning,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote in a memo to employees that was published on Friday. “I want to thank Phil for his extraordinary leadership and partnership.”

Spencer’s exit follows the departures of business development chief Chris Young and GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke in 2025. Charlie Bell, who had been Microsoft’s most high-ranking security leader, switched to an individual contributor role earlier this month.

Revenue from video games at Microsoft declined about 10% in the December quarter from a year earlier, a steeper drop than the company expected, while total revenue grew nearly 17%. Microsoft announced an unspecified impairment charge in its gaming business in January.

The company made a $75 billion bet to expand its games business with the 2023 acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and it released Call of Duty titles as a cloud service. But current generation Xbox consoles haven’t been as popular as Sony’s PlayStation or Nintendo’s Switch, and Microsoft has shuttered studios working on new games.

Nadella said in the memo that Spencer, who took charge of Xbox in 2014 after running the company’s gaming studios, nearly tripled Microsoft’s gaming business, in part through acquisitions like Activision Blizzard. Spencer also pushed for Microsoft to take over Minecraft developer Mojang.

“Over 38 years at Microsoft, including 12 years leading Gaming, Phil helped transform what we do and how we do it,” Nadella wrote.

After Nadella became CEO in 2014, Sony was selling more consoles than Microsoft, and investors had floated the idea of spinning out consumer assets such as Xbox. Analyst Rick Sherlund of Nomura estimated that the division could lose more than $1 billion for the year.

“The question is, do we go forward with Xbox?” Spencer said in a 2020 interview with gaming website Shacknews. Spencer said he persuaded Nadella to bring hardware, software and game-development groups into one organization.

Asha Sharma, who joined Microsoft in 2024 from Instacart, will take over for Spencer, becoming CEO of gaming and reporting to Nadella. Until now, she has been president of product in Microsoft’s Core AI business, which former Meta executive Jay Parikh runs. Before arriving at Instacart in 2021 and serving as operating chief, Sharma spent four years as a vice president of product and engineering at Meta and two years in marketing at Microsoft.

“We will recommit to our core Xbox fans and players, those who have invested with us for the past 25 years, and to the developers who build the expansive universes and experiences that are embraced by players across the world,” Sharma wrote in a message to Microsoft’s gaming employees.

She has worked on artificial intelligence products such as the Foundry for incorporating AI models into third-party applications.

“As monetization and AI evolve and influence this future, we will not chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop,” Sharma wrote. “Games are and always will be art, crafted by humans, and created with the most innovative technology provided by us.” 

Sharma said Microsoft will renew its commitment to console gaming. Microsoft’s original Xbox came out in 2001.

Matt Booty, head of Microsoft’s gaming studios, will report to Sharma as executive vice president and chief content officer.

“Together, Asha and Matt have the right combination of consumer product leadership and gaming depth to push our platform innovation and content pipeline forward,” Nadella wrote.

Sarah Bond, president and operating chief of the Xbox unit, will leave Microsoft.

“I’ve had the privilege of spending time with Asha over the last few weeks as we’ve planned for this transition, and I’ve seen firsthand her deep commitment to our players, developers, and brand,” Bond told Xbox employees in a message she also posted to LinkedIn. “She brings deep technology and commerce experience, along with a strong track record of building and scaling platforms that the world uses. Xbox deserves this.”

Bond and Spencer both said they will advise Sharma on the transition.

WATCH: Microsoft is still a buy for the longer term investor, says CFRA’s Sam Stovall

It was one of the most influential games of the PlayStation 1 era but how does Metal Gear Solid stand up almost three decades later? A reader is surprised to find out.

Alaska – Bering Sea. A submarine cuts through the murky ocean depths. Tonally and in terms of production values the score that plays infers that you’re watching a scene from a Hollywood action movie. But this isn’t a movie, although in many respects you get the impression that it wants to be. What I’ve described is the opening cut scene of Metal Gear Solid, a game that I adored many years ago. Since I still have my original twin disc copy of the game I thought I’d replay it from start to finish on a PlayStation 2 [presumably via The Essential Collection – GC]. Would this much revered classic be as good as I remembered?

You are Solid Snake. Your mission: infiltrate a terrorist stronghold, free a couple of hostages and investigate a possible nuclear threat. Do this with the clothes on your back, a CODEC receiver/transmitter, a scope, and a packet of cigarettes. For this mission weapons and equipment are OSP – on-site procurement. In terms of real-world logic our hero’s initial loadout is ludicrous. However, starting out with close to no items in your inventory does turn the game into a big treasure hunt. And in this case that treasure is military hardware: thermal goggles, chaff grenades, C4 explosive, Stinger missiles…

Replaying Metal Gear Solid it took me a while to adjust to the top-down view that it uses, which when compared to the presentation of modern big budget games seems basic and regressive, but provided that you make use of the radar in the top right corner of the screen the gameplay of Metal Gear Solid still works perfectly. Nearly three decades have passed and yet Shadow Moses Island prevails as a wonderous gaming world to immerse yourself in. Who cares about blocky graphics when the interactive picture those graphics paint is so atmospheric and nuanced?

While you sneak around the overrun military base, patrolling enemies yawn, stretch, fall asleep, and follow any footprints in the snow that Snake makes. The warmth of an enemy’s breath shows up as mist. Make a guard suspicious and a question mark appears above their head. Alert a guard and their heightened awareness is indicated by the now iconic exclamation mark.

On this playthrough I surprised some mice in an air vent. Little exclamation marks appeared above the rodents’ heads when they saw me and scurried off. Half the fun of Metal Gear Solid, and the franchise overall, is discovering these quirky and innovative details.

This time around I had problems defeating each and every boss in this game, I expect due to a substantial lack of practise. But the rogue elements of Foxhound are so atypical and entertaining that even when they kill you it’s hard to resent them. The game certainly wouldn’t be the same without their presence.

For instance, Cyborg Ninja still made an impression on me, or rather his introduction did. Walking down a corridor littered with bleeding corpses flung this way and that you feel like you’ve mistakenly strayed into a survival horror game. This part of Snake’s mission flags up another recognisable trait of the Metal Gear franchise, for better or for worse: tonal inconsistency.

Those melodramatic cries on the cool-looking Game Over screen. SNAAAAKE! Are those outbursts meant to be funny? They made me laugh every time I heard them.

Then you’ll get characters that appear to fall in love over the space of an hour or so, having never met. Otacon and Sniper Wolf. This entirely one-sided romance is so phoney, and yet the game tries to tug on our emotional heart strings when one of them dies.

Snake himself seems like a decent bloke. A moral, modest underdog and so it’s easy to side with him. And then the expert operative tells Meryl that she’s got a great butt. Wow. With chat up lines like that Snake how can any woman resist you?

Predictably, since I haven’t attempted this sneaking mission for at least a couple of decades, I had trouble beating Metal Gear Rex near the end of the game. This boss battle has two phases. In-between the first phase and the second phase there’s a cut scene that you’re forced to watch again and again if you keep losing the fight. I couldn’t skip this moment, which made it seem like a sadistic punishment for dying.

After finishing Metal Gear Solid I wanted to play through the game again. To me that’s clear evidence of its quality. The good parts of Solid Snake’s PlayStation debut certainly outweigh what’s bad. But what’s bad about the game is bad with a capital B or rather misjudged to an extent that these flaws clearly stand out.

Saying that, even after recently experiencing them I can tolerate Metal Gear Solid’s annoyances because they’re counteracted with flashes of genius. The location of Meryl’s CODEC frequency. Homing in on your target in first person view with a Nikita remote-controlled missile. Psycho Mantis breaking down the fourth wall and messing with your game console. Cooling down and heating up the PAL card. What other game allows you to sneak around and fast travel inside a cardboard box?

All of that gaming gold is probably worth having to read your way through line after line of CODEC exposition. And sweet as she is, I wish Mei Ling would learn the value of concise verbal exchanges during an active mission. Yes, Mei Ling, I want to save. That’s kind of why I called you. No, please don’t tell me another Chinese proverb, unless it’s one about the benefits of radio silence.

By reader Michael Veal (@msv858)

The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

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Every awards season, the same question comes round: do voters actually watch the films? 

That suspicion increased after the reported Oscars scandal where it emerged that many Academy members hadn’t actually seen most of the films they were voting on – I mean, The Brutalist and Dune Part 2 were soooo long, right? Everyone assumed the same must be true of Bafta. 

As a Metro film critic and a Bafta voting member, I’m here to tell you how it all actually happens – from the inside.

First, a confession: no one watches every eligible film. This year, 221 films were officially submitted for Bafta consideration. I only watched 112 of them. And I watch films for a living. This Sunday, when I attend the Baftas ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall hosted by Alan Cumming and surrounded by stars like Timothee Chalamet and Jessie Buckley alongside a multitude of talented filmmakers, I doubt a single person has watched every entry submitted. No one watches all 221 – that’s honestly not the point.

Yet what Bafta does require is considerably more rigorous than you might expect.

What happens during the Bafta voting process?

This week, when I submitted my final vote, it took a good half an hour. I had to individually verify how many of the 43 finalists I’d seen, else I would be locked out of some of the 23 categories. And that was just the tip of the Bafta-berg. The reality is that the Bafta Film Awards voting process requires many, many hours of dedication across many months.

Here’s something almost no one outside the membership knows. In early November, before you cast a single vote, Bafta assigns you a randomised group of 15 films to watch. This is specifically designed to level the playing field – so that big-budget films with multi-million-pound awards campaigns don’t dominate. Every voter, regardless of their connections in the industry, is required to engage with those 15 titles.

From then voting consists of three distinct rounds: longlisting, nominations, and winners. Each round has its own rules, its own eligible films, and in some cases, its own specialist voters.

The some 8,300 members of Bafta’s global voting membership don’t vote on everything. Specialist groups – known as Chapters – handle certain categories based on professional expertise.

For example, if you are a director or an editor, you can opt in to vote as part of that Chapter. In most categories, the final round is decided by the wider film-voting membership — though a few awards, like outstanding debut and children’s & family film, are jury-decided all the way through.

The one rule that rules them all is: if you haven’t seen a film, you can’t vote on it.

Who actually checks that you have actually seen the films?

Every qualifying film is made available on Bafta View, the organisation’s secure, private online streaming platform, which means you can watch from anywhere in the world, at any time – though there are also industry screenings you can attend in person if you are based in London.

Bafta can see whether you’ve pressed play on the Bafta View portal, but they can’t crawl into your living room and physically verify you watched every minute with your eyes open. And they can’t tell which films you’ve watched on other platforms or in person. So there is still an element of trust involved. Which, in my experience, is one taken seriously, given the voting body is made up of professional filmmakers and craftspeople.

And, to be fair, compared to the Oscars, Bafta has been tightening this stuff for a while. After its 2020 review, Bafta introduced required ‘conscious voter’ training for all voting members.

The American Academy’s equivalent move is newer: a category-by-category viewing requirement was approved in 2025 and takes effect for the 98th Oscars this March meaning the online ballot unlocks on a category-by-category basis once members’ viewing is verified.

Is the system perfect? Nothing is. Can people still cheat and click they’ve seen a film when they haven’t? Honest answer: yes, but it’s an effort and it involves multiple checks.

This year, on each Baftas voting round I had to individually verify each film I’d watched. Of the 43 nominees on my final ballot I’d only actually seen 35, which meant I had to abstain from certain categories. And that’s how it should be. Not telling you which ones I’d missed, but if you feel anyone was robbed on Sunday night, you can bring your beef to me.

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The Friday letters page has some choice words to say about Sony’s handling of the PS5 generation, as one reader thinks Mario Kart Arcade is a bad game.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Wasted generation
Just seen the news that Sony is shutting down Bluepoint Games and I’m appalled. That team put out nothing but top quality games and were specialists in remakes, which we’ve had more and more of recently, so you would’ve thought they’d be extra valuable to Sony right now.

Instead, we just see continued short-sighted, bone-headed decision making from Sony, who have been awful this whole generation. The PlayStation 5 has been a disaster and I’m not confident that Sony has any kind of plan to avoid permeant decline, all the while shutting down more and more developers. I definitely would be polishing up my CV if I worked at Bungie or Bend Studio.

The obsession with live service games, which clearly hasn’t ended at all, has been such a disaster. Not just in terms of failed games (remember, Concord cost $400 million!) but a whole wasted generation, where developers have had no time to make anything else, and are now being shut down before they have the chance anyway.

I detest Sony for how they’re handling all this, and I say that as someone that’s owned an original PlayStation console and everything else since. They shut down one of their best developers just so they could look good to their investors for five minutes and it’s obvious they’ll happily sacrifice more for the same reason.
Cranston

Pity the poor exec
Thank goodness that Hermen Hulst, Head of Worldwide Studios at PlayStation from 2019-2024, is here to protect the company from ‘changing player behaviours’ and ‘rising development costs’ by shuttering one of their most renowned studios.

Absolutely nothing else he could’ve done since 2019, to give players the type of games they expect from PlayStation. Nope, we all wanted 12 live service games, from studios who specialise in single-player games, so it’s our fault for changing our minds…

PlayStation has been on the slide since they consolidated and moved their headquarters to the USA. They’ve lost almost all of the riskiness and playfulness that made them successful in the first place. Hope the Bluepoint employees bounce back quickly.
Magnumstache

Never-ending Kratos
I was really hoping that Santa Monica Studio would be working on a new IP or sci-fi game but it really doesn’t sound like that’s what’s going on. I loved the last two God Of War games but the story’s over and I have very little confidence that there’s a good plan for what happens next.

Cory Barlog said he didn’t make the Norse games a trilogy because he didn’t want to work on the same story for 15 years but here we are and it’s looking very much like he’s just going straight back to God Of War.

I know the next game is meant to be a spin-off but how different is it going to be really? Unless it’s a flight sim or something it’s just going to be more of the same and that’s a shame.
Coolsbane

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Experimental reasoning
It does make me laugh that Todd Howard has now publicly admitted that people find Starfield boring, but I’m sure he doesn’t really understand why. How someone of his supposed experience could have put out such a dull, badly made game I don’t know. He’s just lucky the Fallout TV show was a hit, as otherwise I think he would’ve fond himself out the door.

No one would love The Elder Scrolls 6 to be great more than me, but Bethesda is too high on its own supply nowadays and I really have much less confidence in them than I used to. He tries to paint Starfield as some big, risky experiment but all they do was take all the best bits out of Skyrim and replace it with nothing.

I’m not really sure what he’s on about with Fallout 76 either. It’s just a bog standard MMO cobbled together with left over bits from Fallout 4. It’s those two games that made me start to think less of Bethesda, not because they were risky ventures but because they were lazy cash grabs.
Shortround

Kart it off
I always wondered why Nintendo bothered with the Mario Kart arcade games. They weren’t very good, because they let Bandai Namco make them, and it hardly seems like Mario Kart is a series they have to get people interested in or promote. It’s not exactly an unknown brand, is it?

Putting Pac-Man in was extra weird too, as even though he’s a cartoon character he still looks out of place. Anyway, I still gave it a go. But paying £1 to play one race of the worst Mario Kart ever isn’t something I’d want to do again.
Biter

Bad business
The gaming world can truly change on a dime. Bluepoint Games has been shut down by Sony. After giving us fans a brilliant remake of Demon’s Souls and Shadow Of The Colossus, Sony has closed down the studio. One of their most revered, to say the least. It’s out of nowhere and quite a baffling decision. From what I understand, the studio was to create a video game based on an original IP and not another remake. So why Sony have chosen to erase that prospective idea is beyond my understanding.

Then again, we hadn’t heard any news, updates or any information from them in a long time, so perhaps it was inevitable. I suppose the silence was a reckoning or rather an ill omen in the shadows. I really would have liked to see what Bluepoint were making or what was cooking behind the scenes. To see the creativity floating around, but it either happens with a new studio that is formed, or it remains a what if?

It worked for Sandfall Games. After they broke away from Ubisoft, we were presented with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and the rest is history. So maybe the developers still have a semblance of a future. What that will be is unclear at this moment, so who knows what is next?

On another note, it’s a week from tomorrow that Resident Evil Requiem releases. A funny anecdote is that I pre-ordered it for £47.99, on Amazon. I take another look and it’s suddenly £59.95. Talk about a lucky move. It looks absolutely fantastic and since Leon Kennedy is my favourite male gaming character, I hope it reviews well.
Shahzaib Sadiq

Two for two
I want to recommend Pure Pool Pro on PlayStation 5. It’s a really fun game with excellent physics. It looks great and has an enjoyable career mode and trophies.

It’s only the second game I’ve bought for the PlayStation 5 after Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots. Keep up the good work.
EricBIG777 (PSN ID)

GC: Thank you.

Actually final
RE: Ochreblue. I find it hard to imagine, after the Final Fantasy 7 remakes have been completed, that another remake of a fan favourite would be made anytime soon, at least on the scale of Final Fantasy 7’s budget.

I think that so much money has backed these three massive games that it would seem nonsensical to risk another big venture so soon, due to what the actual returns were from a financial point of view. I can imagine that it would have needed a lot more sales to accommodate a reason to make, let’s say the sixth or ninth Final Fantasy games in the series, even if they definitely do deserve one.

Possibly a remastered version of Chrono Trigger would be interesting, with a fresh lick of paint and a new up-to-date remake of the original soundtrack would be a great winner for me and other fans. No need to go and rebuild everything like the FFVII Remake, but way simpler using artwork that is skilfully applied to the cute looking world whilst keeping the atmosphere peak.

But we definitely have to get into our minds that the Final Fantasy 7 remakes could be the ultimate Final Fantasies, encapsulating everything from the original and introducing so much more.

This asks the question of how powerful do the next generation of consoles really need to be and have graphical qualities reached their zenith yet? GTA 6 will probably be that zenith but it’ll be pretty obvious that GTA 6 will be earning a hefty profit when the sale figures start coming in.

But definitely it will be an exception compared to other big releases, who will be relatively successful but with way less titles being sold. Let’s see what happens over this year and the next.
Alucard

Inbox also-rans
Sony shut down Bluepoint Games? Make it make sense! Surely they should be remaking Bloodborne?
Zombiekicker

One positive thing about all these console delays is that parents could be saved the £400 to £1,000 yearly scramble to get a new toy for their spoiled kids.
Bobwallett

GC: Who is spending £1,000 on new consoles every year?

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

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The developer responsible for remakes of Shadow Of The Colossus and Demon’s Souls has suddenly been closed, with the loss of over 70 jobs.

You’d never know at a glance, but the video games industry is in dire trouble at the moment. Just this week we’ve had suggestions that the memory crisis, which could make it impossible to manufacture gaming hardware in bulk, could last up to a decade, while at the same time gaming is increasingly losing out to things like gambling and porn in terms of how people spend their time and money.

As if to underline the issue, it’s been revealed that Sony is to shut down Bluepoint Games, the studio they bought five years ago and which specialises in remasters and remakes.

Bluepoint has been around for 20 years but after the remake of Demon’s Souls, for the launch of the PlayStation 5, they’ve haven’t announced any new games.

Behind the scenes, it’s been rumoured that they, like most of Sony’s other first party studios, were put to work on a live service game – thought to be part of the God Of War franchise – but it was later believed to be one of two projects cancelled by Sony last year.

Whether they were about to realise their dream of working on a big budget new IP, as they originally intended to do after Demon’s Souls, is unknown, but in recent months they were hiring for people to work on some sort of third person action game.

Sony has made no public annoucement about the closure, but it was first reported by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, with the text of an email from PlayStation CEO Hermen Hulst later appearing on ResetEra.

‘We’re operating in an increasingly challenging industry environment. Rising development costs, slowed industry growth, changing player behaviour, and broader economic headwinds are making it harder to build games sustainably,’ wrote Hulst.

‘To navigate this reality, we need to continue adapting and evolving. We’ve taken a close look at our business to ensure we’re delivering today while still well-positioned for the future. As a result, we will be closing Bluepoint Games in March.

‘This decision was not made lightly. Bluepoint is an incredibly talented team and their technical expertise has delivered exceptional experiences for the PlayStation community. I want to thank everyone at Bluepoint for their creativity, craftsmanship, and commitment to quality. Where possible, we will work to find opportunities for some impacted employees within our global network of studios.’

In addition to various remasters, remakes, and ports Bluepoint also worked as a support studio for God of War Ragnarök, which is presumably why their live service game was based on the franchise.

As awful as the news is, it may only be the tip of the iceberg as far as Sony closures go, with many already worrying about the future of Destiny maker Bungie and Days Gone developer Bend Studio, who haven’t released a single new game this generation.

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