International Insider: Disney Reaches For The Star; Brexit Visa Crisis; Hollywood Heads Down Under

K.J. Yossman As BBC Studios gears up for its annual showcase, where it introduces its upcoming hot projects to international buyers, U.K.-based Jonathan Blyth, BBC Studios’ director of comedy, and Kelly Miller, BBC Studios’ Los Angeles-based senior VP of scripted strategy, sat down with Variety to discuss what’s on their comedy slate, working with streamers and the biggest challenges they’re currently facing.What do you look for in a comedy?Kelly Miller (KM): It’s all about authentic storytelling, that lived-in experience, a talent who has something to say. Those are the comedies and the shows that are most resonant with audiences around the world, but particularly here in the U.S.Jonathan Blyth (JB): Talent is very much at the heart — front and centre.

The Tinder Swindler subject Shimon Hayut has said the women in the Netflix documentary “weren’t conned”.Hayut, who also went by the alias Simon Leviev in the recent film, recently spoke to Inside Edition about the allegations levelled against him by several women who met him on Tinder.The first part of the interview aired yesterday (February 21) with a second part due to be released today (February 22), also featuring Hayut’s girlfriend Kate Konlin.“I’m not this monster,” Hayut said of the claims of The Tinder Swindler. “I was just a single guy that wanted to meet some girls on Tinder.”The Netflix documentary alleges that Hayut convinced women he was the son and heir of diamond mogul Lev Leviev, before reportedly conning them out of millions of dollars.“They weren’t conned and they weren’t threatened,” Hayut said of the women featured in the doc, and said of the claims he was the son of Leviev: “No I am not, and I never presented myself [as such].”He went on to say he didn’t “feel bad” for the women who accused him as the allegatiosn were false, and said he is “a legit businessman” in terms of justifying his current lavish lifestyle.Hayut added: “I want to clear my name, I want to say to the world, this is not true.”Victims Cecilie Fjellhøy, Ayleen Koeleman and Pernilla Sjoholm recently set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to repay their debts after being conned.“You’re probably here because you’ve heard about our story, and we appreciate you taking the time to search and find this page,” they wrote.“The past few days have been a whirlwind, and we three (Ayleen, Pernilla and Cecilie) have been completely shocked and floored by the flood of compassion and support from everyone.

Pale Waves have announced new dates for their shows in Dublin and Belfast.

Prominent Australian TV Executive and philanthropist Neil Balnaves has died aged 77 in a boating accident, his foundation has said.

America’s Got Talent judges have paid tribute to series star Jane Marczewski, who died on Sunday 19 February after being diagnosed with cancer. She was 31.

The Mysterious Girl singer celebrated Valentine's with wife Emily last week. Writing in his New magazine column Peter said : "Valentine’s for us is all about time together, we got each other a few little bits but the most special for me was the card Emily got me. " Peter added: "As part of this beautiful card, was hidden 12 things you love about your partner and she hid each one in different locations, and I had to find them.

Coronation Street star Kimberly Hart-Simpson has recently revealed she is returning to the soap.

A lad pointed a BB gun at a college student who had a ‘silly’ argument with his girlfriend before firing at him.

Rio Ferdinand has praised Manchester United starlet Anthony Elanga for seizing the initiative during his early days with the first-team squad.

Chris Sutton believes Manchester City could regret signing Jack Grealish rather than Harry Kane last summer by the end of the season.

The much awaited all-British heavyweight championship fight between Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte has now been confirmed with Whyte signing his contract.

Oti Mabuse has announced she is leaving Strictly Come Dancing after seven years.

Ex-England and Man United footballer David Beckham has splashed out on a lavish £5m super yacht, which he helped design! The multi-millionaire, 46, has enjoyed many sea-bound adventures with music legend Sir Elton John - so it’s no surprise he’s coughed up the cash to treat Victoria and the kids. It’s a whopping 100ft vessel which sources told the Sun: “It’s pretty plush by anyone’s standards.

Voluminous, extravagant hairstyles are always on the cards for RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants, but Michelle Keegan is giving our Drag Race UK Versus The World queens a run for their money with her guest judge look – well, if running were possible in 8-inch heels. The actress transformed her lengths with the help of hairspray and secrets (likely in the form of backcombing and extensions) to get ready for her one-off panel appearance.The full episode is yet to air, but we have been treated to an advance teaser where Michelle is shown looking nothing short of fierce with a voluminous updo.

Kate Garraway has given an update on her husband Derek Draper’s health while revealing she’s managed to sleep for the first time in two years after taking a break from caring for her ill husband. Derek, 54, contracted Covid-19 in April 2020 and went on to spend over a year in hospital battling the virus. Since leaving hospital, Derek has needed 24 hour care from home, a large majority of which has been done by devoted wife, Kate, also 54.

Eamonn Holmes has rushed to the defence of Rylan Clark after an online troll accused the former X Factor star of faking illness. Rylan sparked concern last week after sharing a snap of himself in hospital, and has since gave a health update to his fans and said he was “resting”. His most recent trip to hospital came after he received medical attention last month following his split from husband Dan Neal last year.

Holly Willoughby made a super stylish return to ITV's This Morning as she and co-host Phillip Schofield returned from their week off from the show. Starting the week off by embracing a Spring-inspired look the mum-of-three stunning in a short floral mini dress from Whistles.

Good Morning Britain viewers were taken aback as Richard Madeley got stuck straight in to an interview with John Barrowman.

EXCLUSIVE: UK distributor and producer Signature Entertainment has appointed Ben Jacques to the newly created role of Head Of UK Production.

EXCLUSIVE: All3Media-backed Little Dot Studios’ Head of Arts Catherine Bray has departed to focus on UK indie Loop.

BBC One’s The A Word spin-off Ralph & Katie, which was created by a group of disabled writers overseen by Peter Bowker, has entered production in Manchester and the Lake District.

ITV Studios Strikes Major CBC Content Deal

KERRY Katona got candid about her body image issues and said that its got so bad she cries looking at herself in the mirror "every day". The former Atomic Kitten star, 41, admitted she feels "really uncomfortable in her own skin" despite living a healthy lifestyle.

KELVIN Fletcher and his family were forced to sit in their car last night after a huge power cut at their home. The actor, pregnant wife Liz and their young children Milo and Marnie kept warm on their driveway while they waited for the outage to end so that they could watch the final episode of their BBC show Kelvin's Big Farming Adventure.

KATE Garraway said she broke down in tears seeing husband Derek Draper hugging their son Billy for the first time since his devastating Covid battle. An exclusive clip from new documentary Caring For Derek aired on Good Morning Britain today showing Derek, 54, lifting his arm to embrace his son.

CELEBRITY SAS: Who Dares Wins' head soldier Ant Middleton revealed his most nail-biting mission yet as stars were set alight after being covered in petrol. The gritty reality series, currently airing in Australia, escalated a notch with the latest hell-raising challenge.

Good day, International Insider readers, Jake Kanter here. Take a walk with me through some of the global film and TV stories you need to read this week. Want to get in touch? I’m on jkanter@deadline.com, or my DMs are open on Twitter. And sign up here to get this delivered to your inbox every Friday.