WE tried a prototype of this car back in June.
We liked it.
But it was wrapped like a bicycle under the tree on Christmas morning.
Everyone knew exactly what it was. An SUV. It was pointless trying to disguise it.
Now Skoda has finally unwrapped Elroq, a smaller and cheaper electric Enyaq, and, for some odd reason, its fifth model to end with a “q”.
Kodiaq. Kamiq. Karoq. Enyaq. Elroq. There’s a dinky EV coming in 2026 . . . called Epiq.
All good Scrabble scores, I suppose.
Any road, here’s five things you need to know about Elroq:
PRICE: From £31,500. Which is actually £700 cheaper than a petrol Karoq with an automatic gearbox. Good start.
RANGE: Also good. The 77kWh battery will do up to 360 miles, much like a petrol car.
Even the smallest 52kWh battery will do 230 miles. You might need to recharge once a fortnight.
PRACTICALITY: Which is a Skoda trademark. Huge 470-litre boot, with low-loading floor, and reversible boot mat. One side hard plastic for wet dogs and wellies.
The other side carpet to stop things slipping about. The charging cable is stored in a net under the parcel shelf. Clever.
Even cleverer, the parcel shelf can be lowered and used as a divider between the Friday big shop and pushchairs.
CABIN: Much like an Enyaq, which I like, because it doesn’t feel too much of a leap from petrol to electric like the Volkswagen ID3.
It feels familiar.
There’s all sorts of tech in here, 13in touchscreen with reversing camera, head-up display, plus lots of responsible materials, lots of storage for slurpies and phones and bags and things.
LOOKS: That’s your call. But I quite like it. Elroq is the first car to feature Skoda’s new design direction.
The “tech deck” across the front hides some of the driver-assistance kit the law now demands.
Big on value, big on range, big on space
You might also notice S K O D A written on the lip of the bonnet – and on the steering wheel.
You won’t find a Skoda badge anywhere on this car, apart from on the wheels.
So there you have it. Elroq. Big on value, big on range, big on space.
Big Scrabble score.
FANS were left gasping “I thought he retired” as legendary Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler returned to UK screens.
The man known as the “Voice of the Premier League” left his role at Sky last year after 33 years in the beautiful game.
Tyler brought fans many memorable moments, including the famous Sergio Aguero line as Man City netted late goals to win their first Premier League title in 2011.
The ace’s absence was notable last term, with many lamenting his exit.
But contrary to belief, Tyler has not yet retired.
And he delighted fans by returning to screens for Sky rival TNT Sports.
Tyler delivered a passionate performance as he commentated on Atletico Madrid’s Champions League group stage defeat to Benfica.
And supporters quickly took to social media to express their surprise and delight.
One said: “I thought Martin Tyler had retired?”
Another declared: “Martin Tyler on TNT Sports, what on earth.”
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One added: “When you sign up Tyler it seems odd to relegate him to a game nobody is watching.”
However, it’s not the first time Tyler has appeared on TNT Sports.
Around Christmas last year, he took over commentary duties for the group game between Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk.
Tyler also works with the Premier League’s production team.
And he provides commentary for the worldwide feed of English top-flight games.
A NON-LEAGUE side have handed a career lifeline to the son of an Arsenal legend.
The 26-year-old had been without a club for four months after being released in the summer.
He left Bromley in June following their promotion to League Two, a year-and-a-half on from signing for the club.
Meanwhile, the attacking midfielder previously had a spell with Watford after arriving in England.
His new club have now handed him a chance to reignite his career, though, as he joins his fourth senior side.
National League South outfit Welling United confirmed his arrival on a free transfer on Wednesday.
The Wings have added Dutchman Mitchel Bergkamp, son of Gunners icon Dennis, to their ranks.
Rod Stringer’s side currently sit 18th in the sixth tier following a 6-0 loss to Boreham Wood in their last match.
Bergkamp could make his debut this weekend when his new club host Weston-super-Mare on Saturday afternoon.
He arrives after scoring once in 10 appearances for Bromley and also played for Dutch side Almere City before heading to England.
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His dad even coached him at Almere during a brief spell as the club’s under-21 assistant manager.
The ex-Ajax, Inter Milan and Netherlands forward is best known in England for his time in North London, though.
Bergkamp scored 120 goals in 422 appearances during 11 years at Highbury.
During that time, he also won 10 trophies including a trio of Premier League titles.
Since retiring aged 37 in 2006, he has held several coaching roles but has been away from the dugout since leaving Almere in 2019.
PHILLIP Schofield has recounted the exact moment his agent told him he had been ‘let go’ from This Morning.
The 62-year-old had hosted the flagship ITV programme for 21 years before being axed by bosses last year.
During the final episode of his Channel 5 show Cast Away, Phil revealed he was apparently sacked for his paedophile brother’s crimes.
Timothy Schofield was found guilty last year of 11 counts of child sex abuse.
Before admitting to his affair with a young runner on This Morning, Schofe claims his agent told him a decision had been made to drop him over the publicity of his brother’s trial.
He said: “That’s it, it’s done. You’re not going back on Monday. What? Because of what?
“I think it’s the publicity though. That’s got nothing to do with me. That has nothing to do with me. Why would I be sacked for something that somebody else did?
“I’ve just been fired. Because of him. Because I was becoming more of a story than the programme. It was better for the show, better for the channel.
“And I agreed to say that I’d resigned because… It would be neater for everybody. I was always open and honest with everyone at work about what was happening with my brother.
I was fired for the bad publicity. For someone else’s crime.
“And the thing is, about a week later, I blew my own wheels off with everything else, because I thought the only way to even begin to put this right for everybody is to do a full mea culpa. I came clean about my affair.
“What people don’t realise is, I wasn’t fired from this morning when I admitted lying. It was before. Because of someone I used to call brother. But that is my last story.”
However, an ITV insider this week rubbished Phil’s claims and branded him a ‘liar’.
They told The Mirror: “Phillip’s new comments are simply untrue, he is lying again.”
“We stood by him through his brother’s court case and he then stepped away when things became too much,” the source said.
“He then admitted himself he had been lying about an affair and he resigned from ITV altogether.
“We didn’t sack him, he lied to us and then he resigned, there is not much else to say and we as a network just want to move on.”
By Rod McPhee
OVER three nights – and three hour-long episodes – Phillip Schofield has been bearing his soul in new Channel 5 show Cast Away.
And it’s basically a chance for the former This Morning host to explain the circumstances that saw him leave the show last year.
To put it mildly, he left under something of a cloud, admitting he’d had a fling with a much younger runner on the programme. But in the C5 show he presents his own versions of events – one which is at odds with the narrative that emerged at the time.
He was portrayed as a man who’d had an “unwise” affair, who’d resigned as a result and had let many of his colleagues down.
But in Cast Away Philip insists he was fired by ITV and not for the affair, but because of the bad publicity that surrounded the crimes of his paedophile brother. He summed it up best when he claimed he’d been “pushed under a bus.”
After watching Cast Away what you’re left with is something rather confusing, however.
Did Philip think he’d done something wrong by having the fling with the runner, or not? For example, he said he wouldn’t have been slammed for it quite so much if it were a heterosexual fling.
He said he: “would have received a pat on the back for having an affair with a woman.” This infers that the only thing wrong with it was that it was a same sex fling. So why does he also say: “I will be forever sorry. I screwed up. I made a mistake.”
The answer, I suspect, is that the whole affair was a murky business. There were so many blurred lines around appropriateness, professionalism and honesty.
The only firm conclusion you can draw from the show is that Phillip himself isn’t ENTIRELY sure to what extent He was guilty of wrongdoing.
Amid the confusion, what will the viewing public think? I suspect that this will leave those who disliked Phillip to feel even more suspicious of him.
Those who backed him, will feel reassured too. But those who still aren’t sure what to think will be none-the-wiser – and I’m not sure if that’s what Phillip would have wanted.
HARARE - Fresh from his stint on America’s Got Talent, Zimbabwean comedian Learnmore Jonasi is set to thrill his local fans when he performs at Theatre in the Park at Harare Gardens on Thursday evening.
The post Learnmore Jonasi set for Theatre in the Park bow before international tour appeared first on Nehanda Radio.
MODEL Christen Goff frills fans in a racy red bikini — and shows why she’s the mane attraction for her husband.
The 31-year-old is married to Detroit Lions American football star quarterback Jared Goff, 29.
He popped the question in 2022, but they didn’t get hitched until June this year.
Christen is also an actress and starred in 2019 sci-fi movie Auggie.
She plays an avatar who becomes the obsession of a retired older man after he puts on virtual reality glasses.
Easy to see how he lost focus.
Speaking to People Magazine ahead of the wedding, Jared said: “This summer we’re getting married in California, and we’re very excited.
“California is where I grew up and live currently, and my fiancée is from just outside of Los Angeles so she was born and raised there as well.
“So we have some pretty good roots there.”
“It’s been a long time coming, and now you can see it on the horizon, and I know she’s excited,” he continued.
“I know she’s doing a lot of the planning.
“I haven’t been much involved and hopefully get back involved a little bit now, but it’ll be really fun.”
