RONNIE O’SULLIVAN competes today at one of snooker’s largest permanent venues – a venue that could become a future home to the World Championship.

The World Open, shelved for five years due to the Covid pandemic, will be held this week at the grand Yushan Sports Center in China’s Jiangxi province.

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A five-hour drive south-west of Shanghai, the Center claims to be the world’s first purpose-built venue designed specifically for billiards and snooker events.

The building, which looks like something out of Disneyland Paris, has a construction area of ​​35,500 square meters and is 25.7 meters high, the equivalent of an eight-storey building.

The arena for the cloth campaign has 3,000 permanent seats, but there is capacity for an additional 1,000 seats.

And should the Rocket go far this week – there’s £170,000 on the table for the winner on Sunday – there’s a good chance every seat will be filled.

The seven-time world champion will play Welshman Michael White in the first round on Tuesday and he already has more than £1 million in prize money on the table this year.

The sports center is the centerpiece of an ambitious project to form the Yushan International Billiards Culture City project, which is estimated to cost more than £200 million.

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), the sport’s governing body, claims the building has “high-quality maple flooring from Canada to prevent vibrations and ensure snooker tables remain stable at all times”.

These are said to be “the most advanced soundproofing materials to minimize distractions for the players.”

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LED screens are said to have been installed at each entrance so fans can follow the latest scores between frames.

And there are up to “45 bespoke rooms” suitable for snooker and other indoor sports.

There are also areas for the media, tournament staff, commentators and drug testers, while other facilities include a heated swimming pool, gym, children’s play area and fitness centre.

Jason Ferguson, president of WPBSA, said in September 2018 that China wants to make Yushan County a “home” for snooker.

And given the sheer size and scope of the Centre, this opens up the debate as to whether it would ever be a suitable venue for the World Championships.

Traditionalists might want to stay at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre, which opened its doors to action in 1977 and will celebrate its 50th anniversary of top-level snooker in 2027.

Yet the hall there can only accommodate fewer than 1,000 seats and the contract must be renewed in three years.

Although the BBC is still broadcasting the event, it will certainly remain in Britain, but there is talk of money in the corridors of power at Matchroom Sport.

Veteran sports promoter Barry Hearn, who founded the Essex-based organization in 1982, does not want to move the event away from Sheffield.

He has close ties there given his management of six-time world champion Steve Davis and the success of the product this century.

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Yet in recent years he has told the city council that he wants to see more investments in infrastructure and behind the scenes.

His son Eddie now runs the company and is not as involved in the day-to-day running of snooker. He is more hands-on with boxing.

So who knows? Perhaps one day during the World Snooker Tour, officials in Yushan will make a compelling argument that the sport’s flagship event could be held in their city in April and May. The building and facilities are all there.

That would have been an unthinkable prospect last year when 10 Chinese players were banned from the sport, two for life, for match-fixing offenses and corruption allegations.

But almost a year later, with the cheaters thrown out, a new breed of Chinese players is emerging.

And it only takes one of them, perhaps someone like Zhang Anda or Si Jiahui, to make that breakthrough at the highest level and the case for taking the Long Road to China becomes stronger.

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Instead of traveling to Disneyland, a Californian architect has built the happiest place on earth in his own backyard – and he’s letting visitors in for free.

David Sheegog, 65, has spent 25 years creating a miniature replica of a Disneyland railway in his modest backyard in the Anaheim Hills suburb, calling it Castle Peak and Thunder Railroad.

Sheegog grew up just steps from Disneyland watching the fireworks shows from his front yard with his parents, and when he had his own children he was inspired to create a magical experience for them.

He started with a model on his dining room table, but over the years he expanded to cover every inch of his garden, including Snow White’s house, Splash Mountain and Sleeping Beauty Castle.

He told DailyMail.com: ‘My favorite thing isn’t something we’ve built, it’s seeing people enjoy it. When we have open days and I see families interacting, sometimes I just sit on the couch and watch the people.”

A trained architect, Sheegog approached his dream with a meticulous, planned approach.

His first step was to ask his wife Frances if he could take over their backyard.

She agreed and instituted one rule: there had to be space in the middle for their now grown children to play.

Permission granted, he began designing.

He said: ‘We were homeschooling our children and I thought the railway might interest them and be something they would want to pursue.

“As they got older, I thought they might be interested in electronics or gardening. It was intended as a kind of living laboratory.

“But it turned out they were all more interested in playing with their friends, so it became Dad’s project.”

He told the Orange County Register, “I built a model of the whole thing that took up our dining room for a year. We had to eat in the kitchen.’

Luckily, the entire Sheegog family is obsessed with Disney. Sheegog once worked at Disneyland on Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes and the couple even named their daughter after Ariel from The Little Mermaid.

Initially, Sheegog started with a commercially produced model train set, which he modified to create detailed miniatures of all five Disneyland trains.

He was so obsessed with details that he even color-matched the paint samples to the real trains.

Sheegog had high ambitions for his designs, he said The LA times: ‘Most garden railways I’d seen, people had bought ready-made kits of little plastic buildings that were all about 12 inches by 8 inches.

‘They look like ready-made little buildings, like a barber shop. No.’

He added: ‘I wanted to build this from scratch and wanted them to be impressive, about six feet wide and four feet high. Or in the case of one of our castles, 2 meters high.

“I had to plan these and determine where the main buildings would be.”

He started construction in 1999 and showed the first version to his friends and family in 2000.

As the project has expanded over the years, its techniques have become increasingly high-tech.

Some features he built from sets, others he created from scratch, and some he 3D printed in recent years.

He added Sleeping Beauty Castle, the Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain and Snow White’s village, as well as references to almost every Disney or Pixar film from 1937 to 2021.

The couple don’t like to discuss the cost of construction, but estimate it came to about the same price as installing a swimming pool.

He told the LA Times, “We’re not rich people here, and I’m trying to find a way to retire because there’s no way to do that right now.”

Occasionally visitors ask how much it would cost to hire him to build a Sleeping Beauty Castle for them.

He said, “They think you can do it for $300 or $400, and I say, ‘It’ll probably cost about $70,000 to rebuild that thing.’ It takes someone six months of their life to build that.”

In 2015, Sheegog and his wife began opening their garden to the public for a few weekends a year, with tickets selling out almost immediately.

Admission is free, partly because the family does not want to attract the attention of corporate lawyers.

He told the LA Times: ‘There was a woman here once, and she was almost a hundred. She worked at the park on opening day, when Walt Disney was there, and worked at the park her entire life.

“She had a whole crowd around her just listening to stories about what it was like. She started to cry. While she was talking, she relived her life when she was twenty years old, her first love, where she met her husband.

“All these memories are coming back, and a lot of people who come here are like that because we’re in Anaheim.”

Although Sheegog hopes to retire this year, he has no plans to halt the project’s expansion.

He designs two interactive experiences, complete with laser shows, hologram animations and live actors.

He said: ‘We grew up with the park and it has a certain sentimental place in your psyche. People just want to be there, and our place provides an outlet for that.”

As a former resident of the French capital, where famously smooth waiters can down your croque monsieur to the accompaniment of an unintelligible grunt, I was intrigued when Disneyland debuted in Paris in 1992.

Within weeks I had taken my daughter, Lili, to the Disneyland Hotel and now, over thirty years later – and after the two-year renovation – here we are again, along with Lili’s children, Bodhi, five, and Cosmo, two.

Arriving at the station, the sight of the palatial pink fairytale hotel sends a shiver of excitement through excited wannabe pirates and princesses.

And Disneyland Hotel is still the flagship place to stay.

While Smarties for breakfast are Lili’s dominant memory, I recall sections of pleated curtains, ruffles and questionable carpets reminiscent of a Cincinnati convention center, conveying an unapologetically American ethos.

Today, a 12,000 piece Bohemian crystal chandelier dangles above the vast multi-height reception room, manufactured by one of the 200 or so French and European companies involved in the revamp.

The swimming pool is crowned with a new conservatory, a children’s club offers childcare and My Royal Dream stylists transform children into Disney characters.

Princesses are everywhere.

The upper floors are dedicated to the Castle Club, where 41 rooms and 18 themed suites offer ultimate opulence for children.

At the Royal Buffet, Bodhi and Cosmo are entranced by Mickey and Minnie, just as their mother had been, while La Table de Lumière, inspired by the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, where Belle and her prince stopped by our table for a chat, told a remarkably high level of cuisine.

Inside the park, which has welcomed 375 million visitors since our first visit, much was recognizable, including the queues, although buying Premier Access to skip them remains an option.

Cosmo’s favorite attraction is It’s A Small World, introduced by Uncle Walt himself in 1964. I’m never sure what he’s telling me, but it could be this way; ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!’.

In 2002, a completely new park appeared, Walt Disney Studios, within which the Marvel Avengers Campus was launched in 2022, with ultra-modern attractions such as Spider-Man WEB Adventure and Avengers Assemble: Flight Force, which required the rearrangement of my internal organs.

Overall, Disneyland Paris – and especially the Disneyland Hotel – is an enticing mix of the best that America and France have to offer.

Live the difference and pass the Smarties.

Bradley Cooper was back on dad duty on Tuesday when he took daughter Lea de Seine to Disneyland in Anaheim, California, after another Oscar loss.

The Maestro star, 49, stayed comfortable as he arrived at the Happiest Place on Earth, wearing a white long-sleeved shirt, black puffer vest, gray sweatpants and Nike sneakers.

The actor – who recently admitted he struggled to “really love Lea” during the first eight months after her birth – shielded his eyes with sunglasses.

Meanwhile, Lea, six – who he shares with Russian model’s ex-girlfriend Irina Shayk, 38 – looked adorable in a tie-dye jumper, navy blue skirt and black boots.

It comes after Bradley’s Academy Awards losing streak reached double figures on Sunday after he was snubbed for the twelfth time.

Cooper has been nominated twelve times – four for best actor – but has not yet won the golden statue.

He earned three nominations for his film Maestro – best picture, best actor, best original screenplay – but went home empty-handed.

It was revealed on Tuesday that Cooper’s apparently inconsistent political stance on the Middle East conflict is ‘partly responsible’ for Maestro’s blatant ‘left out’ during awards season, insiders claim.

Cooper — who brought along his mother Gloria Campano as his Oscar date — seemed primed for a string of accolades when it was announced he would write, direct and star in the Netflix biopic about the life of legendary composer Leonard Bernstein.

But the actor, who is dating Palestinian-American supermodel Gigi Hadid, 28, lost out at the BAFTAs, Golden Globes and SAG Awards before failing to take the coveted gongs for Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay or Best Film during Sunday night’s Oscars.

His ‘flip-flop’ over his support for Israel is believed to have played a role in his twelfth Oscars, with some reportedly feeling he should have remained ‘neutral’ rather than wading into the conflict.

“Bradley’s criticism of his support for Israel was partly to blame for him being left out of this awards season,” a source told DailyMail.com exclusively. “It didn’t match his message for this film.”

Cooper was one of hundreds of celebrities who signed a letter in October calling for the release of hostages taken by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Just days later, he also signed an open letter to Joe Biden asking the president to call for a ceasefire in Israel and Palestine, and an end to the “devastating loss of life and the unfolding horrors’ in both countries.

“Whether it’s out of support for his girlfriend or his true beliefs, he signed his name to both letters,” the insider continued. ‘You cannot support Israel and then support Palestine. He should have remained neutral.”

Bradley’s first hurdle to achieving awards success came before the film’s release, when controversy arose over his performance in the biopic.

The Silver Linings Playbook actor has faced strong backlash for using a prosthetic nose, a decision labeled “problematic” by Hollywood Reporter’s chief TV critic Daniel Fienberg.

Others called it “anti-Semitic” and accused him of “Jew-face.”

However, Bernstein’s children said they had no problem with the prosthesis and that their father wouldn’t have one either.

Awards season buzz increased amid the growing conflict in the Middle East, with Cooper’s girlfriend Hadid sparking a backlash when she used her platform to speak out in defense of the Palestinian people.

She accused Israel of the “kidnapping, rape, humiliation, torture and murder of Palestinians” and falsely portrayed Palestinian terrorist Ahmed Manasra as a “child prisoner of war” in an online post.

The model – whose father is Palestinian – later apologized for her ‘mistake’, which she said was careless.

Hadid said she wanted to “show the ways in which international law is being violated by the Israeli government,” and said that a Palestinian child arrested by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would be treated differently than an Israeli child arrested by the IDF is stopped. ‘

“Unfortunately, I used the wrong example to make that point, and I regret it,” she continued.

“I understand that the power of my platform comes with enormous responsibility.

‘I’m human and I make mistakes. But I also hold myself responsible for those mistakes.’

NASA’s next lunar rover is nearing completion as the US ramps up efforts for a third moon landing attempt this year.

The US and China are competing for the moon’s mysterious south pole, which both countries say is the most feasible location for a permanent moon base.

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After a fiery failure and a botched landing, the US’s third lunar robot is set to roll out to the launch pad in 2024.

NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover – known as VIPER – will begin its journey to the moon later this year.

“All VIPER flight instruments have been installed and the rover is more than 80% built!” VIPER project manager Dan Andrews wrote in a NASA blog message earlier this week.

“This is a major achievement and shows the great progress being made by the dedicated VIPER team, who are excited to see the rover come together.”

VIPER will land near the moon’s south pole with the mission to search for water-based ice and other resources to aid future astronauts on the Artemis III mission.

Artemis III is currently scheduled to launch in 2026.

US vs China

The ongoing saber-rattling between the US and China has led to a renaissance of the space race of the 1960s.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson has long viewed China as the most capable adversary to set foot on the moon by the end of this decade.

But a task that may be more difficult than transporting people to the moon is building a sustainable infrastructure where people can survive off-planet.

And China – not surprisingly – has big plans for this.

A research paper from scientists at the China National Space Administration earlier this week revealed that the country plans to build a moon base the size of Disneyland.

An “all-seeing” Skynet CCTV system with more than 600 million cameras will be installed inside the base, presumably on Beijing’s orders, to spy on Chinese citizens on Earth.

The planned moon base has a radius of 6 km and includes a command center, a power plant, a communications center, scientific facilities and a fleet of robots.

It will even have its own remote sensing, navigation and communications satellites.

China hopes to start construction of the moon base within the next few years and have a stripped-down version of the outpost by 2028.

In January, Nelson said he believed China’s “race” to the moon’s south pole was over.

The NASA chief announced that the agency is now targeting September 2026 for its Artemis III mission, the first human mission on the moon since Apollo 17.

“I’m not concerned that China will land before us,” Nelson told reporters at the time.

“I think China has a very aggressive plan. I think they would want to land before us because that could give them a PR coup.

‘But the fact is that I don’t think that will be the case.

“I think it’s true that their announced date is getting earlier and earlier.

“But specifically, as we land in September ’26, that will be the first landing.”

Nelson fears China will violate the 1967 Outer Space Treaty if Beijing were to beat Washington at the post.

Patrick Mahomes went to Disneyland after his Super Bowl LVIII victory – just like any quarterback would do.

The Kansas City Chiefs star, 28, was photographed at the park on Monday, February 12, with his wife, Brittany Mahomes, and their two children, Sterling, 2, and Bronze, 14 months.

Not only did Patrick pose with his family, but the NFL star also took some photos with Mickey Mouse and even appeared on a Chiefs float driving down Main Street, which was decorated with white, yellow and red balloons. “Disneyland welcomes Super Bowl LVIII Champions,” read a sign in the parade as Patrick waved to Disneyland visitors.

Brittany also shared photos of herself at Disneyland via Instagram Stories. In one fell swoop, she and daughter Sterling were sitting with Minnie Mouse. Within a second, the mother-of-two had son Bronze strapped to her chest.

After the Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, February 11, Patrick shot the traditional post-Super Bowl ad for the park. (The Chiefs won Super Bowl LVIII 25-22 in overtime.)

“Patrick Mahomes, you and the Kansas City Chiefs just won the Super Bowl,” a voiceover said: in the clip shared by Disney Parks on Monday. “What are you going to do next?”

Brittney and Patrick jumped up and down with their two children as they replied, “We're going to Disneyland.”

Super Bowl LVIII became Patrick's third Super Bowl victory. He has also been named the game's MVP after all three appearances. (Patrick and the Chiefs also won the Super Bowl in 2020 and 2023.)

Before the game, Patrick addressed ongoing speculation that the Chiefs were in their villainous era due to back-to-back Super Bowl appearances — which have since become back-to-back wins.

“I think I just enjoy winning. If you win a lot and are therefore a bad guy, then that's fine with me,” Patrick said during a press conference on February 7. “But in the end I'm going to enjoy the game and try to win as much as possible.”

Sports reporter Stephen A. Smith also had a lot to say about Patrick's playing skills after the Chiefs' win on Sunday.

“Patrick Mahomes just reminded the world that he's on a different level than everyone else right now,” Smith said during a Monday appearance on Good Morning America. “It's that simple: He was absolutely phenomenal when it mattered most, and that's why the Kansas City Chiefs are back-to-back Super Bowl champions.”

• Disneyland enthusiast Amber Wainwright shared her five recommendations
• She advised against overdressing and spending too much time eating
• Amber also suggested that guests could enjoy other attractions in addition to the park attractions

By Nova M Bajamonti for Dailymail.Com

Published: 12:37 EST, February 2, 2024 | Updated: 12:47 EST, February 2, 2024

By Sam Joseph Semon for Dailymail.com

Published: 9:30 PM EST, January 8, 2024 | Updated: 10:09 PM EST, January 8, 2024

Paris Hilton treated her son Phoenix to his first visit to Disneyland and shared the family outing on social media on Sunday.

The 42-year-old socialite posted several photos to Instagram on Sunday of toddler Phoenix, who was born via surrogacy in January and wore personalized Mickey Mouse ears.

“Taking baby P to @Disneyland for his very first adventure was a dream come true,” Paris wrote in the caption to her nearly 26 million followers.

‘Absolutely magical and incredibly heartwarming. Watching his excitement and awe at every new sight and sound, it becomes clear why this place is known as the happiest place on earth. These precious moments of pure joy and wonder will remain in my heart forever,” added Paris, who wore an all-black outfit.

She concluded with a message: “It’s moments like these that make life so beautiful and remind us why Disneyland truly is the happiest place on earth #CutesieCrew #SlivingMom.”

Paris was joined by her husband Carter Reum, 42, along with her sister Nicky Hilton, 40, and Nicky’s daughters Lily-Grace and Teddy.

Carter and Paris also have daughter London, whom they welcomed via surrogacy in November.

Paris kept her daughter a secret from her family until she introduced them to her on Thanksgiving.

During an episode of her I am Paris podcast, the TV star revealed that she always wanted to have a daughter named London.

She said: ‘I’ve always wanted to name my daughter London. I had actually chosen that name for a long time, probably more than ten years. I’ve always wanted London. I love that name for my daughter.”

The new mother is gearing up for her children’s very first Christmas and, as is typical in Paris, she’s holding nothing back.

The Simple Life alum shared her first family Christmas card earlier this week.

“Carter and I couldn’t wait to take our very first holiday photo with Phoenix and London as a family of four,” she told People.

“I’ve always dreamed of this moment and we can’t wait to start our own family traditions, celebrate the holidays and ring in the new year,” she added.

“I feel so lucky and blessed to have this beautiful family and this beautiful life together,” she said.

But before she became a mother, she was a celebutante known for her bubblegum pink looks.

“I was going for the Barbiecore vibes before the word Barbiecore even existed,” she explained in British Vogue’s Life in Looks video this fall.

“I invented it,” she insisted. ‘Barbie is my idol. She is such an icon. I’ve looked up to her all my life.’

To prove her point, Paris pointed to the photo of her wearing a deep pink minidress to the opening of the Maxim Lounge in Las Vegas in 2001. She completed the look with a handbag featuring a photo of a Barbie doll.

“This was a pink Versace dress that Donatella gave me and my pink Barbie bag that I got at FAO Schwartz in New York,” Paris added.

She then discussed a few other red carpet looks from that era, which often featured her favorite accessory: Tinkerbell the dog.

“When I moved to New York, I didn’t have a stylist, an agent, a publicist, none of that. “I did it all by myself and I loved taking my little Tinkerbell everywhere,” she said.

“It was so much fun dressing her because she looked like my first daughter. She was my best friend, my sidekick, my other half. I miss her so much.’

Kanye West’s wife Bianca Censori wore a figure-hugging ivory leotard as she visited Disneyland on Thursday with the rapper and his 10-year-old daughter North.

Bianca, who has built a reputation for her stunning outfits, didn’t seem bothered by the fact that her plunging neckline left a generous helping of cleavage.

It was a very unusual outfit to model at the Anaheim, California amusement park, which is mainly visited by children.

Censori added yellow boots that resembled high socks.

West also stood out because he had a gray shirt over his head, covering his face from the nose down.

North wore a shirt with the late rapper Tupac Shakur on the front.

The 46-year-old rapper shares Noord and his three other children Sint, eight. Chicago, five, and Psalm, four, with his ex-wife Kim Kardashian.

This comes after West sparked controversy by wearing a KKK-style hood on stage near Noord.

But little North seemed to be bonding with her new stepmother at Disneyland, holding hands with Bianca as they strolled through the area.

After Disneyland, Kanye and North were in Las Vegas at a listening party for his new album Vultures – on which the little girl makes her rap debut.

North has a verse on the song You Don’t Want (North Interlude), prompting her to be hailed on social media as the “princess of rap.”

Kanye collaborated with Ty Dolla $ign on Vultures, and the two men launched the album at a listening party in Miami, where North took the stage to mime her verse.

The musician was branded a ‘disgusting human being’ by fans after the rapper wore a black Ku Klux Klan-style hood in his latest attempt to shock, just weeks after he was criticized for anti-Semitic lyrics at the Miami listening event.

The 46-year-old artist donned a cloth head covering with a point at the top as he and Dolla $ign performed their controversial song Vultures, which features vile lyrics about a Jewish woman.

Vultures contains the ‘offensive’ text: ‘How am I anti-Semitic? I just fucked a Jewish motherfucker.”

North was on stage at the time.

Another listening party took place later that week in Las Vegas, and Kanye was spotted signing autographs for fans as he and North left the event.

The trip to Disneyland comes months after Kim sensationally revealed that Kanye was living in an apartment with no security and no chef or babysitter.

During an episode of The Kardashians, the SKIMS billionaire revealed her ex-husband’s simpler new lifestyle, minus the luxury trappings they shared in their $60 million Calabasas complex.

Kim, who managed the mansion when they divorced, said: ‘Up north she goes to her father and says, ‘Daddy is the best. He has everything figured out. He doesn’t have a babysitter. He doesn’t have a chef. He has no security. He lives in an apartment.”

“And she starts crying, ‘Why don’t you have an apartment? I can’t believe we don’t have an apartment.’

Kanye is now legally married to Bianca. She got married under a confidential marriage license in December 2022, just a month after Kimye’s divorce was finalized.

Their union was not made public and there was speculation about their relationship status for months.

Earlier this year, a source exclusively told DailyMail.com: ‘They are in love. I can assure you they are very much married.”

The bizarre couple made headlines worldwide last summer, including when they were banned by a Venetian shipping company for committing ‘obscenities’ on board.

It was previously reported that West and Censori shared an apartment in the West Hollywood section of Los Angeles, paying $20,000 a month in a luxury building.

The building’s amenities include a “heated swimming pool, rooftop café, private cinema, valet parking, bar and lounge area and 24-hour concierge service,” reports Page six in May.

Construction on Kanye’s $60 million mansion in Malibu was halted after the rapper dissolved his construction company that handled the project amid his financial troubles due to his public anti-Semitic comments.

Neighbors from Malibu told TMZ in April that his mansion was “left to the side” and that they “hadn’t seen anyone in months.”

His anti-Semitic rants also led to the loss of approximately $1.6 billion of his net worth and him being dropped from Forbes’ billionaires list. CBS News recently reported.

West also owns land in Calabasas, as well as a sprawling ranch in Wyoming, where he spent much of his time in the final days of his marriage to Kim.

In the episode, Kim’s sister Kourtney admits that her kids say the same kind of things about her ex Scott Disick’s house.

‘They do that with Scott too, like: ‘Dad has the best house. Your house is worthless. He has the best house, it’s not super big, the atmosphere is better.’ I feel like it all depends on which parent is more involved,” says Kourtney.