EBANIE BRIDGES was forced to defend her relationship with Conor McGregor after partying in his pub.

The boxer and OnlyFans star visited Dublin last week for an epic knee-jerk in the Irish capital.

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Bridges met UFC legend McGregor at his pub, the Black Forge Inn.

And she even sank a pint of Forged Irish Stout – Notorious’ take on an iconic pint of Guinness.

Bridges seemed to be having a great time as she posed for several photos with McGregor.

But internet trolls soon started commenting, with one saying: ‘Out together AGAIN.’

This forced Bridges to defend her relationship with the married McGregor, replying: “That’s what friends do.”

The Australian powerhouse also revealed she is taking advice from McGregor about life after the ring.

She said Lucky block: “Conor’s team contacted me and asked me if I was going to the AJ fight and if I was interested in working together.

“He is so caring and he just wants everything to go well. He is very caring and he is clearly the life of the party.

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“While he’s doing all that, he’s definitely thinking about the others around him and just making sure everything is okay.

“He is kind, fun, supportive and very, very positive. I feel sorry for him in a way, especially in public.

“There’s so much pressure and he could probably never just be Conor McGregor.

“He always supports what I do, so fuck those haters. You look up to someone like him because of the brand he has built and the success he has achieved.

“I know I’ve put in a lot of work to be where I am today, so I can only imagine how much work he puts in.

“It’s really about being yourself, with a dash of extra.”

EBANIE BRIDGES partied with Conor McGregor at his pub in Dublin.

The boxer also left behind a pint of Forged Irish Stout, a McGregor beer brewed in the Irish capital.

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Bridges beamed as she posed for a photo alongside the former UFC champion, with the pair also joined by fellow boxer Jasmina Zapotoczna.

The Blonde Bomber appeared to enjoy her stout as she posed for more photos with glass in hand before meeting fans.

Bridges had a great time at McGregor’s Black Forge Inn and told her followers to visit the pub in Dublin.

She shared some photos from her evening on Instagram alongside the caption: “What an incredible evening with @thenotoriousmma and @jasmina.zapotoczna at the @theblackforgeinn

“Incredible food and atmosphere. Thank you for having me and thank you to everyone who came.

“If you haven’t been to The Black Forged Inn yet, YOU MUST GO. And don’t forget a pint of the @forgedirishstout I love Ireland ”

Bridges, 37, is an official partner of Forged Irish Stout after partnering with the brand in October.

McGregor and Bridges met earlier last year during Katie Taylor’s fight with Chantelle Cameron.

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And Bridges is confident she will work with McGregor for the rest of her career as the pair “get on really well”.

She said: “Obviously the collaboration between me and him goes a little deeper.

“I’m now a face for Forged Stout. I can also learn a lot from him when I’m done with boxing – and I find what he’s doing in business really inspiring.

“It was a given and we will work together for the rest of my career. We work very well together.

“I’m great for his brand and he’s great for my brand, and we get along really well.”

FRANKIE Bridge is not only loved for being one-fifth of popular girl band The Saturday’s, but she also has a huge fashion following on Instagram.

The former singer, who is now a panelist on Loose Women, regularly shares her top photos in a weekly section called ‘Frankie’s Faves’ – and fashion fans have been going crazy for a pair of River Island shoes they recently spotted in a photo.

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So if you have designer taste but not the bank balance to match, you might just want to listen!

That’s because the River Island ‘Black Studded Mary Jane Ballet Pumps’ look almost identical to a pair of £1,250 Miu Miu ballerinas.

But there is one big difference: the high price tag.

The high-street replica has a similar stud detail, but costs just £35, meaning you can save yourself a whopping £1.2k.

River Island’s bargain shoes also have a flat rubber sole, a PU upper and can be wiped clean with a damp cloth, which is useful given the wet weather of recent days.

However, it’s worth pointing out that the main difference between the luxury version and the dupes – apart from the price tag – is that Miu Miu’s ‘ballerinas embellished with logo straps’ have rhinestones instead of studs, and an elastic band instead of a buckle. .

The product description online reads: “Miu Miu puts a sparkling twist on the classic ballet pumps with this crystal-embellished eyelet leather pair.

“The style features a delicate bow detail and an elastic band that runs across the foot.”

In her Instagram post, fashionista Frankie paired the shoes with River Island’s ‘Blue High Waisted Relaxed Straight Crop Jeans’, which retail for £38, a £30 loose gray knitted jumper and a sweet yellow long button-up coat, priced at £75.

She wore a ‘grey melton’ baseball cap from the shop, £15, a black crinkle bumbag, £14.90, and a pair of chunky gold earrings, on sale for £12.

And it’s no surprise that fashion fans couldn’t get enough of her look, especially the shoes.

“I love the shoes!!” praised one.

A second wrote: “Obsessed with everything.”

And a third added: “Wow!!!! I love all this Frankie.

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An Indiana border town is undergoing a makeover after six decades of decline, earning it the nickname “Scary Gary.”

The now crime-ridden metropolis is named after attorney Elbert Henry Gary, who founded US Steel and built what remains the conglomerate's largest factory there in the summer of 1908.

Gary grew into a prosperous industrial powerhouse that provided the raw materials for many of America's bridges, tunnels and skyscrapers in the first half of the 20th century.

It is also known as the birthplace of Michael Jackson in 1958, and where he grew up with his brothers before they became the Jackson Five.

But the once booming city collapsed into chaos following the decline of the US steel industry in the 1970s, when foreign steel imports exceeded domestic production.

The total population fell from 180,000 people in 1960 to less than half that number today – and around 10,000 buildings now lie abandoned.

although Gary has long been a diverse city; the exodus also dramatically changed racial dynamics.

Much of the steelworkers who left were white, meaning the black and Hispanic share of the population rose from 21 percent in 1930 to about 87 percent in 2020.

The lack of local industry also led to rising poverty rates and violent crime, as recently chronicled by YouTube blogger Peter Santanello.

According to Neighborhood Scout, an average of 49 crimes per square kilometer are recorded there every year.

This dwarfs the national average of 27 crimes per square mile – and it is also a whopping 149 percent higher than the Indiana average of 20 crimes per square mile.

Residents told Santanello they are terrified to walk the streets at night for fear of being robbed – or even shot – amid a proliferation of dilapidated buildings and abandoned homes.

But the Rust Belt city has “the recipe for success” thanks to its strong infrastructure, according to new Democratic Mayor Eddie Melton.

“We need to change the narrative and make it clear to the world that Gary is open for business,” Melton told the newspaper New York Times.

Located on the shores of Lake Michigan, just across the Illinois border from Chicago, Gary has easy access to the arterial roads it once helped build.

It also borders a shipping port to the north and the Indiana Dunes National Park to the east, which attracts nearly three million tourists annually.

Melton's government has begun demolishing old buildings to make way for new developments, with plans to build a casino and a minor league baseball field.

Officials hope Gary will grow into an urban hub that will provide a cheaper alternative to neighboring Chicago, where rents have skyrocketed in recent years.

According to Zillow, the average home in the city currently costs just $69,725, a price that pales in comparison to the Chicago average of $279,118.

It's also much lower than the cost of buying a home in the nearby city of Fort Wayne, Indiana, which averages $215,237 per Zillow.

Nearby transportation systems are also getting a boost, including a $127 million grant for Interstates 80 and 94, which cross Gary.

Meanwhile, the South Shore Line, a commuter rail link that connects Chicago to cities in northwestern Indiana, will open a second set of tracks between Gary and Michigan City.

The Gary/Chicago International Airport also received a $6 million grant from the federal government, allowing it to add more cargo capacity, with the goal of becoming a logistics hub for the United Parcel Service.

However, officials who want to see improvements from within the city itself will also have to deal with Gary's status as a political outlier and border town, which has also historically held the city back.

As a smaller, predominantly Democratic city within a large conservative county within a Republican stronghold state, Gary officials were often stymied by more powerful lawmakers.

Gary has elected a string of Democratic mayors since 1943, while the Indiana Senate currently has 39 Republican members and 10 Democrats.

The Assembly has blocked several initiatives that would have allowed the city to expand its tax base — while also providing scarce funding due to corruption concerns, according to the NYT.

“Gary was held captive by what the other cities in his county wanted to do,” Paul Helmke, the former Republican mayor of Fort Wayne, told the newspaper.

The much-contested takeover of US Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel could also impact even more American jobs.

US Steel's largest plant, Gary Works, employs about 3,700 people – down from more than 30,000 at its peak.

Previous plans to transform Gary have also been shelved, including a multibillion-dollar plan to build a theme park based on the city's reputation as the birthplace of the Jackson Five.

“We certainly missed an opportunity to make it a Dollywood, a Graceland,” Chuck Hughes, president of the Gary Chamber of Commerce, told the NYT.

By A. James for Daily Mail Australia

Published: 10:10 PM EST, December 15, 2023 | Updated: 03:04 EST, December 16, 2023

Omid Scobie has denied his new book Endgame is ‘Harry and Meghan’s’ and instead claimed it will tell the ‘current state of the British Royal Family’. 

It comes hours after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex distanced themselves from the book, with insiders indicating to MailOnline they had nothing to do with it. 

Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr Scobie wrote: ‘And let’s get this nonsense out the way – #ENDGAME is about the current state of the British Royal Family. 

‘It’s not ”Harry and Meghan’s book”, I’m not ”Meg’s pal”, the Sussexes have nothing to do with it, their story is a small part of a much bigger one you can read in 12 days.’ 

Experts said that the Sussexes’ favoured royal reporter’s new biography is threatening a potential thawing in relations between the King and his youngest son. 

Reactions to the post from social media users varied, with one person writing: ‘Oh, so not like the last book then.’ Another person wrote: ‘Preach! Set them straight.’  

MailOnline understands that Meghan and Harry categorically deny any suggestion they are ‘affiliated’ with the book or that Mr Scobie, who has been friendly with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and co-wrote their biography Finding Freedom, is part of the ‘Sussex Camp’.

The denial came after Harry and Meghan’s olive branch to the King on his 75th birthday.

Harry is believed to have telephoned his father on Tuesday – and they have reportedly agreed to chat again next week. The Duchess of Sussex is also said to have spoken to her father-in-law from their home in California while the couple’s children Archie, four, and Lilibet, two, recorded a video of themselves singing happy birthday to their grandfather.

24 hours later excerpts of Mr Scobie’s book were shared with People in the US, including claims that Harry ‘remained in the dark’ about the Queen’s health in her final moments.

It also alleges that it was Meghan who urged Harry to answer his phone when Charles called him on an ‘unknown number’ to reveal that the Queen was close to death, before also asking that Meghan should stay away from Balmoral.

Mr Scobie writes: ‘Charles had cited ‘protocol,’ but the reality was that Kate chose to stay back to pick up the children from their first day at a new school. ‘They just didn’t want Meghan there,’ said a former Palace aide. Meghan, a friend added, ‘could sense she wasn’t wanted’.’

The book also claims Prince William ignored Harry’s texts, forcing him to charter his own plane. ‘William clearly didn’t want to see his brother’, Endgame says.

Mr Scobie’s decision to piggyback the release of his new book on the King’s 75th birthday and the sixth and final series of The Crown was branded ‘deplorable’ today.

Royal journalist and author Phil Dampier told MailOnline: ‘We all know that Scobie is their mouthpiece and he gets his information directly or indirectly from the Sussexes, so anything which is hurtful to Charles, Camilla or William and Kate, will just make things much worse. Let’s put it this way – I can’t see Harry and Meghan coming over for a family Christmas’.

He added: ‘The King has always left the door open for his son and will continue to do so. But in reality if there are more serious allegations in Scobie’s book it will set back any chance of a reconciliation’.

Royal courtiers are said to be furious over the claims made by Harry and Meghan’s biographer Omid Scobie, who alleges that the Prince William ignored the Duke of Sussex’s calls as he raced to be at the Queen’s bedside in Scotland in September last year. Mr Scobie , who has been friendly with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and co-wrote their biography Finding Freedom, could be cut loose by the Sussexes and their circle, it has been claimed.

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams said: ‘The timing of this is utterly deplorable. I think the Sussexes will have to think hard about whether or not Scobie is their spokesman or their friend. It will be interesting to see if Harry and Meghan will still want to be associated with Scobie after this’.

He added: ‘Of course, the fact that it’s been leaked to People magazine makes one wonder what’s been going on behind the scenes’.

Royal insiders have torn into Mr Scobie’s claims that Prince William ignored his brother’s calls as the late Queen lay dying in Balmoral last year. 

Royal courtiers are said to be furious over the claims made by Harry and Meghan’s biographer Omid Scobie, who alleges that the Prince of Wales ignored the Duke of Sussex’s calls as he raced to be at the Queen’s bedside in Scotland in September last year.  

A Royal insider told the Mirror: ‘It appears no matter what happens behind closed doors, even in a time of such pain and grief, that where the Royal Family are concerned it will one day emerge. 

‘Nothing is off limits with William and Kate appearing to be this author’s number one target. It only takes a few months for the knives to come out again and the wounds to be opened up’. 

In an excerpt of his latest book, Endgame, Mr Scobie alleges that Prince Harry was ‘kept in the dark’ about the Queen’s health in the hours before she died, and that Prince William feels that he has ‘lost Harry and doesn’t want to know this version of him’.

Mr Scobie, who previously released a biography on the Sussexes titled ‘Finding Freedom,’ said Harry, 39, and his 42-year-old wife Meghan had ‘no idea’ the Royal Family were preparing for the Queen’s death last year. 

In Endgame, Mr Scobie recounts how the Sussexes had visited the UK for a series of engagements in September 2022 when the palace announced that Queen Elizabeth had been advised by her doctors to rest.  

He writes: ‘By the next morning, the Sussexes had no idea that Buckingham Palace was already planning for the Queen’s final hours and the first days of the monarchy’s new era — until the duke’s phone started ringing. An unknown number. He usually ignored those.’

Meghan told her husband to pick up the phone and he accepted the call ‘just before it stopped’, the author wrote. 

He continues: ‘Harry hadn’t spoken to his father much that year, but this was not the time for any father-and-son tension. Charles told him he and Camilla were about to leave Dumfries House for Balmoral, where Princess Anne was already by the Queen’s side. He told Harry to make his way to Scotland immediately.’

Harry sent a text message to his brother William asking how he and Kate planned to Scotland and whether they could travel together but got no response, Mr Scobie claims. 

He was later told Harry had managed to secure a flight with his uncles Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.

‘It was upsetting to witness,’ Mr Scobie claims he was told by a source close to the Sussexes. ‘[Harry] was completely by himself on this.’ 

Mr Scobie alleges that Palace ‘sources’ briefed certain newspapers that Charles had personally shared the news of the Queen’s illness with his son. He quoted a friend of the duke who said this left Harry ‘crushed’.

The journalists makes fresh claims about the damaged relationship between William and Harry. 

The author also suggests William and Harry’s relationship is beyond repair because the Prince of Wales sees his brother as a ‘defector’

And in the extract shared with People, he claims ‘there is no going back’ for the brothers and ‘absolutely nothing has changed’ since the Duke of Sussex released Spare earlier this year.

A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace refused to comment on Endgame, due to be released on November 28, when approached by MailOnline. 

The latest bombshell accusations come just hours after Harry ad his father shared ‘cordial’ 75th birthday call.

Harry is believed to have phoned his father on his special day yesterday to wish him Happy Birthday – in a call thought to be the estranged royals’ first phone chat in six months.

King Charles and Harry are understood to have had minimal contact for months, particularly since the release of Harry’s tell-all memoir Spare, published in January, and a Netflix series, which was released the month prior to that. 

Meghan Markle is also said to have spoken to her father-in-law to pass on her wishes from California. And the couple’s children Archie and Lilibet recorded a video of themselves singing happy birthday to their grandfather, the Telegraph newspaper reported.  

The report claimed Charles and Harry will speak again next week after their call marked a ‘shift’ in tone and a ‘turning point’ between the pair.

Harry and Meghan previously said they had ‘no contact’ from Buckingham Palace about an invitation to Charles’ 75th evening birthday event.

The Sunday Times reported that Prince Harry had turned down an invitation to the birthday bash.

But a source close to the Sussexes told MailOnline they were not invited to Charles’s party.

‘They had not received any invitation and were unaware of any celebrations until the stories came out,’ the insider previously said, adding: ‘I’m sure the Duke will find a way to reach out privately to wish His Majesty a happy birthday like he has always done’. 

Buckingham Palace previously refused to discuss the King’s plans. 

Buckingham Palace refused to comment  on reports the father and son spoke for the King’s birthday and are due to speak again next week when contacted by MailOnline. 

MailOnline has also contacted representatives for Prince Harry for comment

Meanwhile the Prince and Princess of Wales were seen enjoying a late night out as they departed Clarence House close to midnight after King Charles’s glittering 75th birthday party last night. 

They were joined at the monarch’s birthday celebration by his niece Princess Beatrice, Princess Margaret’s daughter Lady Sarah Chatto and Princess Anne’s daughter Zara Tindall and her husband Mike Tindall.   

Lady Susan Hussey, 84, the former lady-in-waiting to the late Queen Elizabeth II, was also in attendance, sporting an elegant blue shimmering gown, while Jools Holland also made an appearance. 

Other family members attending Charles’ birthday event also included the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, and David Armstrong-Jones, the 2nd Earl of Snowdon, the son of the late Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones.