WHEN Erika Roe whipped her top off and streaked across the pitch during an England versus Australia rugby match at Twickenham in January 1982, she made headlines around the world.
She was only 24 at the time and the sight of her buxom curves racing around the pitch lifted the spirits of all who saw her, while England went on to win the match 15-11.
Now, 43 years on, Erika – who has been dubbed “the most famous British streaker ever” – says: “It was an impulse. I was at the rugby with my sister and a group of her friends.
“One of the guys had the hots for me and was irritating me so I left the stands to wander down to the pitch.
“I’d visited the beer tent – but I wasn’t slaughtered. At half time the crowd appeared bored by a man dressed as a gorilla trying to entertain them.
“Then someone shouted ‘Doesn’t someone streak now?’
“If I’d given it a thought it wouldn’t have happened, but I found myself taking off my top and bra and racing across the pitch.
Everyone seems to be naked [now]… They’ve all got their t**s, bums and tummies hanging out all the time. There are no boundaries
Erika Roe
“I heard the crowd roaring and presumed the match had restarted, I turned around but the players were still chatting and I realised they were cheering for me. It was fantastic, such a buzz.”
Erika was giggling as she was escorted off the pitch by a policeman, his helmet covering her breasts, and taken to the police station.
Fortunately, buoyed up by England’s victory, she wasn’t fined and was free to go to the pub with her friends to celebrate.
She did temporarily lose her job at a book shop in Petersfield, Hampshire, over the stunt – but was given a second chance by her boss.
Despite myriad offers to capitalise on her fame – including thousands from adult magazine Penthouse to be their centrefold – Erika has largely turned her back on it.
She did appear on The Island with Bear Grylls in 2016, but now lives simply in the Algarve in Portugal in a converted goat house.
And she acknowledges that anyone streaking now would barely create a ripple of interest.
Champions League streaker Kinsey Wolanksi is one of the very few streakers to make a name for themselves since Erika, and has 4million Instagram followers after her stunt at the 2019 final to promote her boyfriend’s adult website.
But Erika wouldn’t encourage others to follow her now.
“What’s the point? There would be no excitement – everyone seems to be naked, everywhere,” she says.
“They’ve all got their t**s, bums and tummies hanging out all the time. There are no boundaries, we’re inundated with nudity.
“Even celebrities are constantly showing their knickers and bras. It’s a shame, there’s no mystique any more, no one special like Audrey Hepburn.
I’m closer to 70 then 60, I’ve got grey hair, but I know I still look good, because I’m real – I get 33-year-old men chasing after me
Erika Roe
“And everyone wants to be famous and will do anything to get there. It seems like a very false life played out on social media.
“I was on a plane the other day watching a girl in front of me going through her holiday pictures, she was editing them and putting different backgrounds on, it was all a lie.
“On another occasion I was in a public loo and watched a girl taking endless photos of herself, fiddling with her hair and different poses, clicking away.
“I just thought what a waste of a life – worrying what people think about your appearance. And the girls aren’t sexy anyway, they all look the same with bloated lips, false boobs and too much make-up.
“I’m closer to 70 then 60, I’ve got grey hair, but I know I still look good, because I’m real – I get 33-year-old men chasing after me.”
Despite this Erika has largely been single for the past 20 years, bar a few liaisons.
“Men can’t handle me,” she says, “I’m a very strong character and very outspoken. I’d love to fall in love again – but there are very few real men around.
“I don’t mean macho men, but big hunky, hot, screwable men, with a strong personality who know how to appreciate a strong woman.”
Thus far Erika hasn’t found lasting love. Three years after her infamous streak, aged 27, she became a single mum to her now 40-year-old daughter.
She then went on to to marry her ex-husband and 36 years ago moved to Portugal and had two more children, now aged 35 and 30, but sadly she split up with her husband in 2005.
She says: “I don’t fall in love often but when I do I fall hard. When my husband left me I was devastated, it felt like the end of the world, it was the hardest time in my life.
“My children saw me through it. At the time we owned a farm and I stayed there, working all the hours god gives.”
Now Erika lives a happy but unconventional life in a tiny converted goat house.
“I’m as batty as a brush,” she says, proudly. “ I like dancing around my house listening to loud rock music and exercise constantly and I love my life.
“I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I’d capitalised on all the interest and gone down the celebrity route.
“But even if I was rich I doubt I’d live any differently – maybe I’d have bought a safer car than my old banger! But I can’t think of anything worse than a fancy house with gold taps in the bathroom.
“My life is simple, renovating the property and letting out the house for Airbnb guests – I do everything from chopping trees, to painting the chimney. I’m always on the move.”
Though she rarely watches TV she’ll be watching the Six Nations this month, admitting she loves the hunky rugby players.
She adds wistfully, “It’s impossible to get tickets to watch it live. But if people invited me I’d be there like a shot.
“Last time I went I was taken into a private room, full of rugby players and I went all melty – they were lovely. I found it astonishing that they were the ones asking me for selfies. It would be lovely to go back…”
Round 1
France v Wales | January 31 at 8.15pm | ITV
Scotland v Italy | February 1 at 2.15pm | BBC
Ireland v England | February 1 at 4.45pm | ITV
Round 2
Italy v Wales | February 8 at 2.15pm | ITV
England v France | February 8 at 4.45pm | ITV
Scotland v Ireland | February 9 at 3pm | BBC
Round 3
Wales v Ireland | February 22 at 2.15pm | BBC
England v Scotland | February 22 at 4.45pm | ITV
Italy v France | February 23 at 3pm | ITV
Round 4
Ireland v France | March 8 at 2.15pm | ITV
Scotland v Wales | March 8 at 4.45pm | BBC
England v Italy | March 9 at 3pm | ITV
Round 5
Italy v Ireland | March 15 at 2.15pm | ITV
Wales v England | March 15 at 4.45pm | BBC
France v Scotland | March 15 at 8pm | ITV
BOXING legend Mike Tyson has denied he is suffering from Parkinson’s disease – after a now-retracted claim from Jake Paul.
The Problem Child beat Iron Mike in November with a unanimous points victory in their eight-round boxing bout.
Tyson, 58, overcame various health scares in the lead-up to the fight.
The former heavyweight world champion even admitted he “almost died” and required “eight blood transfusions” last June.
An ulcer issue caused the initial fight date to be postponed to November.
Tyson was able to step into the ring in Dallas – although he struggled to cope with his opponent 30 years his junior.
Paul appeared to make the wild allegation that Tyson was struggling with Parkinson’s over the weekend.
Speaking to Adin Ross on a Kick live stream, the YouTuber, 28, claimed: “Ayahuasca is really good for your brain as well.
“And same with toad. Toad cured Tyson’s Parkinson’s so that he could come back and fight.”
Asked how toad is taken, Paul added: “You smoke it.”
Following the claim, Tyson’s representatives denied that the former heavyweight world champion has Parkinson’s disease.
A spokesperson told TMZ: “Mike is happy and perfectly healthy.
“He doesn’t have Parkinson’s or any other illness.”
Paul himself took to X and claimed he “misspoke” during the livestream.
He wrote: “Bruh…Mike Tyson didn’t have no Parkinsons..WTF.
“Why the f*** is the internet so stupid for. I misspoke.
“Meant he used toad to heal his pain. He has spoken about it many times. Just like I do. Just like many do.”
According to the NHS, Parkinson’s is a condition in which parts of the brain become progressively damaged over many years.
It is caused by a loss of nerve cells which in turn leads to a reduction of the chemical dopamine and affects men slightly more than women, especially those over 50.
The neurological condition can lead to various symptoms including involuntary shaking and tremors, slow movement, stiff rigidity of muscles, balance difficulties and memory problems.
There is not currently a known cure for Parkinson’s disease although medication, physiotherapy and surgery can help relieve symptoms.
Boxing legend Muhammad Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1984 aged 42 and lived with the condition until his death 32 years later in 2016.
Tyson was paid around £16million for the Paul fight, which was shown to over 100 million viewers on Netflix.
The Baddest Man on the Planet, 58, admitted last month he has still not fully recovered from the bout.
Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological condition, meaning that it causes problems in the brain and gets worse over time.
It affects around 153,000 people in the UK.
People with Parkinson’s don’t have enough of the chemical dopamine because some of the nerve cells that make it have stopped working.
This can cause a range of more than 40 symptoms, but the three main ones are:
Other common signs include:
The four main ways of managing Parkinson’s include medication, staying active, exploring occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech and language therapy, and monitoring symptoms.
Source: Parkinson’s UK and NHS
RACING fans are urging a Cheltenham Festival name change to honour late jockey Michael O’Sullivan.
The sport is in mourning after the 24-year-old Festival-winning rider died in the early hours of Sunday morning.
O’Sullivan burst into the big time with a day one double at Cheltenham in 2023.
He won the curtain-raising Supreme Novices’ Hurdle on trainer Barry Connell’s 9-2 Marine Nationale.
And followed it up with an 18-1 victory on Gordon Elliott’s Jazzy Matty in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle.
Cheltenham keeps some race names sacred but others are open to change.
Last year’s Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle was renamed in honour of Jack de Bromhead, the son of trainer Henry who died aged 13 in a pony racing accident.
The Supreme is currently known as the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.
But punters are pleading with Festival bosses to rename it Michael O’Sullivan’s Supreme Novices’ Hurdle to mark his greatest achievement in the saddle.
Racing in Ireland will come to a standstill this week to remember O’Sullivan.
He suffered injuries in a final-fence fall at Thurles on February 6 and never regained consciousness.
There will be no racing on Monday and Tuesday ahead of O’Sullivan’s funeral in Cork on Wednesday.
His family recently spoke of their pride in not just the jockey but the exceptional young man he had become.
A post on rip.ie read: “On Sunday, February 16th, 2025 after a trojan battle to recover from injuries sustained in a fall, Michael died peacefully a few days short of his 25th birthday, surrounded by his heartbroken parents Bernie (née Goulding) and William, brother Alan, partner Charlotte and extended family.
“Michael had accomplished so much in his short life.
“As a family we are so incredibly proud not only of his achievements in the saddle, but of the extraordinary young man he had become.
“He was full of kindness, integrity, ambition and love, always striving to be the best person he could be.
“Michael will be very sadly missed by Bernie, William, Alan, “Granny Mary”, aunts Kathleen, Marie, Anne, Marguerite and Marie, uncles Connie, Willie, Sean, Andy, Patsy, Eugene, Patrick and Michael, aunt-in-laws, uncle-in-laws, cousins, Charlotte, his many friends as well as his weigh room colleagues and the wider racing community.”
A GARDA station in Clondalkin was evacuated last night after a “suspect device” was found nearby.
A member of the public discovered the device at a nearby location and brought it to Clondalkin Garda Station.
The station was subsequently evacuated and a cordon was put in place.
The Irish Defence Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal team attended the scene.
The device was made safe and will now be sent for a technical examination.
Clondalkin Garda Station has since reopened.
In a statement a Garda spokesperson said: “Yesterday evening, Sunday, 16th February 2025, a member of the public entered the public office of Clondalkin Garda Station with a suspect device found at a nearby location.
“As a precaution, the Garda Station was closed and a cordon was put in place. The Irish Defence Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal attended and the device was made safe.
“The device will be sent for technical examination.
“An Garda Siochana has no further information at this time.
“Clondalkin Garda Station has fully reopened.”
In an unrelated incident, two men have been arrested in connection with the fatal stabbing of an asylum seeker after a rap gig in Dublin.
Quham Babatunde was stabbed to the chest and suffered other wounds to the body in Dublin city centre’s South Anne Street in the early hours of Saturday morning.
One man was arrested following searches in Dublin this morning.
A second man was arrested in Belfast by PSNI officers in connection with the death of Mr Babatunde.
The suspect is being detained at a police station in the Northern Ireland.
A garda spokesperson said: “Gardai have arrested a man as part of the investigation into the fatal assault on Anne Street/Duke Lane Upper, Dublin 2 in the early hours of this morning Saturday 15th February 2025.
“The man, aged in his 20s, was arrested following searches in Dublin this morning, Monday 17th February 2025.
“A second man has been arrested in Belfast by the PSNI and is detained at a Police Station in the Northern Ireland.
“The post mortem of the deceased has been completed, the results of which are not being released for operational reasons.”
THREE popular winter sun destinations will no longer have flights with TUI Airways.
The tour operator is scrapping flights from the UK to Costa Rica, St Lucia and Orlando.
The London Gatwick to Costa Rica route will be scrapped from April, according to Travel Gossip.
Last year, around 50,000 Brits visited Costa Rica, an increase of five per cent.
The current flight, which lands at Liberia Airport, is the only direct flight option from the UK.
Having only relaunched as a winter flight route post-pandemic (despite previously offering a summer flight schedule,) Brits will have to join a connecting flight instead.
This takes the flight time from around 10 hours to 18 hours.
Or, British Airways offers direct flights during the winter season from November to March, to San Jose Airport instead.
TUI’s St Lucia flights from London Gatwick will also stop from the end of May.
TUI first launched flights to St Lucia from both London Gatwick and Manchester airports in 2020.
However, Saint Lucia Tourism Authority (SLTA) said that they would see the “same arrival numbers” with flights offered by other airlines.
They added: “With daily flights to the island with British Airways from Gatwick airport and three flights a weeks on Virgin Atlantic from London Heathrow, Saint Lucia will remain well served from the UK market.”
TUI will still be offering holiday packages to both St Lucia and Costa Rica, but flights will no longer be with TUI Airways.
And TUI also appears to have removed their Birmingham to Orlando flight route from October.
Sun Travel has contacted TUI for comment.
Last April, TUI scrapped it’s Manchester to Cuba direct service.
But the tour operator has also launched a number of new flights.
Last year, TUI relaunched flights from Southampton for the first time in 15 years.
Other new flights include new routes from Cardiff to Fuerteventura, and to Luxor from both Manchester and London Gatwick.
And TUI has said more Brits are flocking to destinations like Egypt, Bulgaria and Albania with Spain being “full” this summer.
Sebastien Ebel, TUI Group chief executive, said: “In summer, there is high demand for Bulgaria, Tunisia and Egypt, so there are changes in demand patterns.
“Majorca will be full in summer, the Canaries are full in winter, but there is enough choice for customers to find the right vacation.”
AN Irish driving instructor has revealed an easy mistake you must avoid during the test – as it may stop you from passing.
Lyle, known on TikTok as @Lyletheinstructor, is a hugely popular instructor with over 70,000 followers on the platform.
And he took to TikTok to warn novice drivers about a simple mistake that could prevent them from passing the exam.
Lyle said: “This is one of the easiest mistakes you can make in your driving test, so make sure you don’t do this on the day of your test.
“I was just out on a lesson when a student asked me what’s the difference between a stop sign and a yield sign.”
A stop sign means you must come to a complete stop before proceeding.
You must also check for any oncoming traffic or pedestrians before moving forward.
On the other hand, a yield sign means you need to slow down and give way to any traffic that has the right of way.
While you don’t have to stop completely at a yield sign, you must be prepared to stop if necessary.
Lyle told his followers that the key difference is that a stop sign requires a full stop, while a yield sign only asks you to give way when needed.
He said: “At a stop sign, even if there is nobody around – you need to absolutely stop, 0km.
“It’s as simple as that; don’t make that mistake—it’s a really easy one to make.
“Make sure that you stop the car and then move if it’s a stop sign or a stop line.”
In the Irish driving test, failing to understand or properly respond to road signs can lead to failure of the test.
These types of errors are known as dangerous faults because they directly relate to road safety and could cause serious harm to yourself or other road users.
This comes after another TikToker warned drivers to check their L plates before heading to the exam.
@Next_level_driving_school on TikTok shares useful tips and tricks on their page.
Faded L plates could give your driving instructor a reason to cancel your test, and you may lose out on the money.
He said: “Probably better off not turning up to your test with faded L plates because your test might not go ahead, and it will be a waste of €85.”
“So make sure your L plates are in good condition and not faded, so the tester doesn’t refuse to take your test.”
