A man who “had anxiety all the time” because of his weight has lost more than 58.5kg after rediscovering his love of football and playing a weekly game of seven-a-side, and has now “gained a lot more confidence” and says his anxiety is “more controllable”. Kyle Bamford, 40, a scrap operative, who lives in Swansea, South Wales, with his wife Deborah, 41, and their three children, Caitlin, 18, Masie, 14, and Lola, 11, reached his heaviest weight in 2022, weighing around 161.5kg. At the time, he “suffered quite badly with depression”, “drank a lot”, comfort ate and even avoided socialising because he thought “people were judging (him)”. After coming across a friend’s social media post about Man V Fat, a weight loss programme that encourages overweight men to play football once a week, he had a “wake-up call” and decided to sign up. Since joining the club, in October 2022, Kyle has gone from a size XXXXXL to XL, lost 10 inches on his waist, and has lost 58.5kg – although, he still has to remind himself “that this is a big achievement”. Kyle admits that he still has “anxiety and nerves” but thinks it has got “a lot better” since losing weight. He has also noticed that the pain he was feeling “vanished overnight” and he can now do more things with his children – before, he was “too anxious” to go to theme parks with them as he was scared he could not fit on the rides. Kyle’s next goal is to get down to 99.9kg and he is considering playing football “competitively” once a week, as well as the weekly Man V Fat sessions. He told PA Real Life: “Before I lost weight, my wife said to me that when our kids grow up, I might not be able to do anything with them without getting out of breath. “I’d never go to theme parks, and I’d think of excuses because I was anxious of not fitting on the rides. “And now, I’ve got no problem with that. “My wife has also said that I’m more confident and she can notice that I’m happier too.” In early 2022, Kyle reached the heaviest weight he has ever been, weighing 161.5kg, with a BMI of 50.9 making him obese, and it began to take a toll on his mental health. He said: “I was just depressed and just had anxiety all the time. “I suffered quite badly with depression and I just drank a lot – eating was comforting more than anything. “I was quite anxious buying clothes and socialising, and I didn’t like seeing anyone from my past because I was smaller then. “I hated going to parties and things like that because I thought people were judging me.” In October 2022, one of his friends posted on Facebook about a weight loss programme called Man V Fat which involves overweight men playing football once a week. Kyle said: “I always enjoyed football and sports, and when I put the weight on, I fell out of love with it and lost interest in it. “When I saw my friend’s progress on Facebook, I couldn’t believe how much he had lost. “I signed up to Man V Fat when I was drunk and completely forgot about it. “When I got the call from them, I had a bit of anxiety and it was a bit of a shock but once I considered it, it felt like a wake-up call that I had to do something about my weight.” The following week, Kyle went to his first football session. He explained how the programme works: “At the start of the season, you register your weight and then you get weighed every week from then on. “You’re on a football team, and that gives you an incentive to lose weight because you play a 28-minute game of football, and if you have not lost weight, the other team gets points. “If you have lost weight, your team gets penalties.” After attending a few sessions, Kyle began to notice a difference in his weight and made small changes in his diet. He said: “My wife and I are very fussy, we like all the bad stuff really, to be honest. “But one thing I did do is cut out takeaways and pop, and I did see a big difference with just those two changes. “My guilty pleasure was on a weekend, after heavy drinking, I would order a takeaway, but I stopped doing that.” Kyle also started to track his calories on the MyFitnessPal app, and the more he lost, the more motivated he felt. He explained: “I stuck to MyFitnessPal religiously, and I think within the first month of joining Man V Fat, I was looking for excuses to quit. “I had all the negative thoughts go through my head, but I did stick at it. “I stepped on the scales a couple of weeks at a time, and I noticed my weight was dropping. “Something clicked in my head and I wanted to see how far I could go.” After 10 months of weekly football sessions and sticking to a calorie deficit, and now starting to go to the gym six times a week, Kyle has lost 58.5kg and is now 103.5kg. He said: “I always put myself down, and I have to remind myself that this is a big achievement. “I feel like I’ve gained a lot more confidence, but I still suffer with anxiety and nerves, but it’s a lot better and it’s a lot more controllable now. “I did suffer a lot of pain before I lost weight and it vanished overnight. “Now I go to parties and I definitely come out of my shell more easily.” Looking to the future, Kyle’s next goal is to get his weight down to double figures. He said: “I think 99.9kg is my goal – it will be hard but I think I can do it. “Now I’m back playing football I’m actually enjoying it again, and I’m looking to start playing competitively on a Saturday. “So at the age of 40, I think that is an achievement in itself because I feel like I can do it again.” Read More ‘I felt like a freak’: Woman’s bullying over skin blistering disorder Daniel Radcliffe credits his parents for helping him stay in shape What are the symptoms of prostate cancer and how common is it? ‘I felt like a freak’: Woman’s bullying over skin blistering disorder Daniel Radcliffe credits his parents for helping him stay in shape What are the symptoms of prostate cancer and how common is it?

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England boss Gareth Southgate will be an interested spectator as the summer transfer window opens on June 14, with several members of his squad potentially on the move. Skipper Harry Kane’s future has been the subject of intense speculation in recent months amid Tottenham’s difficulties, and he is not alone. Here, the PA news agency takes a look at some of those whose club futures may lie elsewhere. Harry Maguire Manchester United defender Maguire has been one of Southgate’s most dependable performers in recent campaigns, but has slipped painfully down the pecking order under Erik ten Hag and has been warned his international place could be under threat. The 30-year-old, who cost United £80million when he joined them from Leicester in August 2019, has been linked with West Ham, but also with a loan move to Italy with Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Roma said to be eyeing his situation. Harry Kane Kane and Tottenham both have big decisions to make this summer after the club missed out on European football. The 29-year-old will enter the final year of his current contract and if he does not sign an extension, could leave for free in 12 months’ time. Manchester United are long-term admirers of the free-scoring striker – although it has been suggested Spurs would be unwilling to sell to a Premier League rival – while both Bayern Munich and Real Madrid have been credited with an interest. Mason Mount Midfielder Mount was caught up in the malaise which engulfed Chelsea during a chaotic season and six of his last seven appearances before injury ended his campaign prematurely came from the bench. The 24-year-old is out of contract next summer and new boss Mauricio Pochettino has a decision to make with Manchester United leading a posse of interested parties waiting in the wings. Declan Rice Rice’s reputation has continued to blossom despite what at times has been a difficult season for West Ham, and manager David Moyes is bracing himself. Arsenal and Bayern Munich have been linked with a summer move for the 24-year-old midfielder, with Manchester United and Chelsea also touted as possible destinations, while resurgent Newcastle could offer him Champions League football, but know they may not be able to compete financially as they attempt to comply with spending rules. James Maddison Maddison, another player with 12 months remaining on his contract, seemed destined to leave Leicester during the close season regardless of whether or not the Foxes retained their Premier League status. Newcastle pursued the 26-year-old playmaker doggedly last summed and remain keen on him as they strengthen for a European campaign, but they are likely to face competition with Manchester United and Tottenham rumoured to be among his suitors. Jude Bellingham Liverpool’s interest in Borussia Dortmund teenager Bellingham is long-standing, but reports from Spain have suggested his future could lie instead with Real Madrid. Manchester City and neighbours United have also been touted as potential buyers with the 19-year-old former Birmingham midfielder one of the hottest properties in European football. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live I am done – Edwin van der Sar ends long association with Ajax Chelsea appoint Chris Jurasek as chief exec with Tom Glick also leaving his role A look at the numbers behind England’s opening partnerships

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London holds a special place in the hearts of food enthusiasts. In the halcyon days of the UK’s place in the European Union, it could even be said that the capital was one of the best cities in Europe – if not the best – for food. Despite it being beaten out by Paris in the Michelin guide (the French capital boasts 119 Michelin stars compared to London’s 74), the city’s sheer diversity made it stand out, with nearly every cuisine under the sun available somewhere in its streets. But recently it hasn’t really felt this way, and the people have noticed. Last week, Lily Allen tweeted: “Having been in New York for most of the time since Covid, I’ve spent long enough away to notice how far the standards have slipped in London’s restaurant scene… Delivery food and takeaways are even worse. Dunno if it’s Brexit or ghost kitchens or inflation or whatever, but it’s a terrible shame.” It’s evident from social media posts and online reviews that a lot of patrons feel the same. The restaurant industry has taken blow after blow in recent years, beginning with the UK’s messy divorce from the EU in 2016. And as it was trying to recover from Brexit, which resulted in increased costs, new bureaucracy and staff shortages, Covid hit. Restaurants were forced to shutter their doors for unknown periods of time, deal with confusing new rules, and magic whole new delivery systems out of thin air. Now, the industry is having to weather the cost of living crisis. In the face of all this, it might be a little cruel to denounce London’s usually thriving food landscape as “mediocre”. But, as painful as it might be, there is some truth to it. Ben Orpwood, a former contestant on the BBC reality series The Great British Menu, tells me that Allen’s observation, while perhaps a bit strongly worded, wasn’t completely wrong about the state of the industry. Orpwood, who was previously the executive chef at Gordon Ramsay’s Lucky Cat, has been cooking in some of the world’s finest kitchens for nearly two decades. But he says he’s never seen anything like the state of affairs at his latest opening, 20 Berkeley in Mayfair. “Normally when you first open a restaurant, the drop-off from the opening team [staff] is something like 20 per cent,” he explains. “You lose people who applied for something they’re not really ready for and opening week is very intense – so they go. But after we opened 20 Berkeley in June, apart from my core team, we had 100 per cent turnover. I’ve never seen anything like it.” He says that staff are leaving even with benefits like getting two meals a day, days and nights off, at least £13.50 an hour for employees with no prior experience, and a nice, conducive kitchen environment to work in – a far cry from the shouting and screaming he endured earlier in his career. “I had a pastry chef that left last week who worked 3pm-11pm, five days a week, no double shifts – he didn’t like how much work there was,” Orpwood marvels. “I can’t get my head around that mentality. The talent and the drive is just not there anymore, there are very few talented young chefs around and all the good restaurants are scrapping over them. When you’re going through that as a new restaurant, it makes it so much harder.” The chef, who has more than two decades of experience under his belt, explains that the aftermath of Brexit and Covid are primarily to blame. Brexit caused an exodus of EU citizens, many of whom questioned whether or not they were welcome in the UK. When Covid hit, more people returned to their home countries and discovered new work opportunities there, opting not to come back to British shores. “Then the government goes, ‘We’ll plug the shortage with young British workers’, except that they introduced needless academic requirements to apprenticeships with a minimum wage that people can’t pay their rent on,” Orpwood adds. The national minimum wage for apprentices aged 21 in their first year is £5.28 an hour, while the average rent for a room in London has rocketed to almost £1k a month. To say that we’re mediocre, I don’t really think it’s a fair reflection Ben Mulock Of course, some industry folk are more optimistic. Ben Mulock, executive chef of Balans, says: “The London food scene for me is still vibrant, it’s still innovative. We still have some great authenticity to it.” However, even the most positive outlook can’t ignore the biggest, most glaring problem restaurants currently face: the skills shortage. “I’ve been cooking since I was 14, and it’s never been like this throughout my entire career,” Mulock laments. “But we are striving and pushing our standards higher to try and give people the experience of years gone by with this new workforce. So, to say that we’re mediocre, I don’t really think it’s a fair reflection.” He adds that people who live in the capital have “some of the most discerning palates globally” and that feeding a London crowd “isn’t an easy thing to please”. “But when you get it right, it’s a wonderful, wonderful feeling,” he says. Perhaps, for anyone who lives outside of London, the bar has been set at an artificial high. Influencers invited to restaurants that have a marketing budget are more likely to post gushing reviews, complete with mouthwatering visuals as they stuff their gobs. Meanwhile, restaurant critics for broadsheets have been recently criticised for platforming establishments in more affluent areas, or only if they’ve been invited. Given some publications don’t pay for reviewers’ meals, this is unavoidable – but it generates a false economy in which readers believe those are the best places to eat. In his essay “London Finds Itself”, Vittles editor Jonathan Nunn wrote about the decline of reviews and the rise of simplified maps that pinpoint places to eat, which also manifests itself in lists. It’s why the algorithm adores those “10 stunning places to eat in London” videos, and why publications are desperate to churn out recommendation lists. He wrote: “The review is too discursive, too expensive to produce, written by people who demand to be paid properly. Far better to shop it all out to a freelancer who can google a bunch of stuff and stitch it together without context.” One has to wonder if this, too, has contributed to restaurants falling short of expectations – perhaps no one is looking closely enough. But Hugh Smithson-Wright, a communications specialist for restaurants, says that the food scene is no more mediocre than it’s ever been; in fact, there have always been plenty of middling eateries around. “Not everyone can be so great,” he says. “Some of my favourite restaurants have been places where food is absolutely fine.” But there’s a distinction to be made here. “Fine is OK if it’s not costing you a lot of money. Expensive is fine if the food is incredible. But now, with everything being so much more expensive for everyone on every income level, the places that are fine are getting more expensive, with smaller portions and cheaper produce, and that’s what we’re not tolerating.” Smithson-Wright points to the fate of Prezzo as a perfect example of this reduced level of tolerance. In April, the Italian restaurant chain closed 46 of its 143 branches and said it was due to soaring energy and food costs – but Smithson-Wright adds that its uninspired food was also a factor. “Prezzo was only fine – it wasn’t great or innovative, but as those prices go up, OK is not good enough. It’s these types of mid-range restaurants, whether chains or independent, that will find they have nowhere to go. They can’t suddenly make their food luxurious, and equally, they can’t suddenly charge the prices they perhaps need to be charging to keep the lights on.” Price is a painful topic right now, resulting in a bitter stand-off between some patrons and restaurateurs. But Britons have historically been averse to paying more for their food, lulled into a false sense of security by the cut-throat price war between supermarkets. Or a sense of: if I can spend less than £5 on a Sainsbury’s ready meal, why are restaurants charging three, four, or five times that for a main course? But, as Smithson-Wright points out, the “bravest thing a restaurant can do is charge what they need to” without fear of empty seats. “In some ways, restaurants punish themselves by not charging what they should and now they’re stuck in a mediocrity trap,” he says. “And they’re not helped by the psychological barrier people have over what they will pay for things.” So what does this mean for the future of food in London? The restaurant industry, as a whole, isn’t about to die any time soon. As Orpwood says, this is a resilient industry and will “just get on with it” until it comes out the other side with hopefully greener grass. Smithson-Wright adds that the current situation sounds a death knell for mid-level restaurants, many of which will not survive this period. But Mullock tries to offer a sunnier disposition. “The London food scene is alive and it’s doing some really good things. Everyone’s just pursuing deliciousness.” Read More Sorry lads, we just can’t afford any more reckless, middle-aged adventurers The dish that defines me: Alex Outhwaite’s Vietnamese bun cha Nappy changes and tantrums over Michael Gove: I took my one-year-old to a music festival Sunak rules out any new EU trade deal that undermines Brexit freedoms Tory MP broke rules over £150,000 loan from Russian businessman What is the future of the Conservative Party?

Here's a breakdown of all of the maps players can expect to see in the Dark and Darker Alpha Playtest #3.