Entertainment
Frankie Muniz Says His Character in ‘Malcolm in the Middle’ ‘Sucked’ (Exclusive)
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Frankie Muniz is sharing his honest opinion of his titular character on Malcolm in the Middle.
The actor, 39, starred in the 2000s sitcom for all seven seasons, and he spoke with PEOPLE about news of its upcoming revival ahead of the 25th anniversary later this year. Although the series ended in 2006, Muniz says it wasn’t until eight years ago that he and his wife Paige finally watched all the episodes — and he realized Malcolm wasn’t that great of a guy.
“She looked at me at the very end and she goes, ‘You weren’t acting at all. You are literally Malcolm,’” he recalls. “And I’m like, ‘I don’t know how to take that because Malcolm sucked.’ He was the worst character on that show!”
Saeed Adyani/20th Century Fox Tv/Kobal/Shutterstock
Despite his feelings about Malcolm, Muniz notes that he is “obviously so thrilled” for the reboot and is eager “to get back on set with everybody.”
“We started talking about [a reboot] literally 10 years ago — me and [costar] Bryan Cranston — and slowly been working at it and it’s finally a reality,” he reveals. “So I’m really excited. I had to do some chemistry reads. I can’t tell you with what characters, but new characters that would be on the show. And it was so weird to go back and be with Linwood Boomer, the creator, and Ken Kwapis, the director, and be back in that mindset.”
“Oddly, it was right at home,” Muniz adds.
Disney+ announced the four-episode Malcolm in the Middle revival in December 2024, which Muniz followed with a video featuring him, Cranston and Kaczmarek celebrating the news.
“I have been waiting for this moment for 18 years,” he said. “Let’s find out where Malcolm and his family are now.”
“25 years since we premiered Malcolm in the Middle. I’m so excited… that I may have peed just a little bit,” Cranston, 68, joked before Kaczmarek, also 68, added, “What a delight that I get to yell at that kid again! We’re very, very excited about coming back together and seeing what this family has been up to.”
The reboot will show Malcolm and his daughter as they are “drawn into the family’s chaos when Hal (Cranston) and Lois (Kaczmarek) demand his presence for their 40th wedding anniversary party,” according to a press release.
“Malcolm in the Middle is a landmark sitcom that captured the essence of family life with humor, heart and relatability,” Ayo Davis, president of Disney Branded Television, said in a statement at the time of the announcement. “Its hilarious and heartfelt portrayal of a lovably chaotic family resonated with audiences of all ages, and we’re so excited to welcome the original cast back to bring that magic to life again. With Linwood Boomer and the creative team at the helm, these new episodes will have all the laughs, pranks, and mayhem fans loved — along with a few surprises that remind us why this show is so timeless.”
“Malcolm in the Middle literally changed the face of the television comedy landscape when it premiered two decades ago, redefining what the genre could be,” Karey Burke, president of 20th Television, added. “When Linwood Boomer suggested it might be time to bring everyone’s favorite dysfunctional family back for a bit of a reunion, we couldn’t think of a more iconic and influential series to revisit, along with a truly brilliant cast to reunite.”
Entertainment
Ariana Grande goes Instagram-official with on-again boyfriend Ricky Alvarez after announcing break from the spotlight

Ariana Grande officially hard-launched her on-again boyfriend, Ricky Alvarez, on Instagram.
The “Petals” songstress took to the platform Wednesday to share several loved-up photos with the dancer, including a cozy mirror snap that showed his arm wrapped around her shoulder.
While Grande only showed herself and Alvarez from the neck down, she didn’t shy away from tagging him.
A second blurry snap showed the couple hugging, as the Grammy winner, 33, appeared to be wearing purple fairy wings.
Grande included several selfies and photos of her dogs in the sweet photo dump, which she simply captioned, “🌱 ! ♡.”
As for Alvarez, 35, he reshared a photo of the pop star sporting a “Petal” T-shirt via his Instagram Stories Wednesday.
He also reposted Grande’s second photo of them hugging.
Last month, Page Six exclusively confirmed that Grande and Alvarez, who dated from 2015 to 2016, had rekindled their romance following her breakup with Ethan Slater after three years together.
“But she isn’t rushing back into the relationship,” an insider told us. “She has a lot on her plate at the moment and is still incredibly busy with her tour schedule, so they’re taking things one step at a time.”
The source explained that Alvarez “has remained close with Ariana’s family over the years, and that’s something she really appreciates.”
“He has also made an effort to show up and support her while she’s on tour, which hasn’t gone unnoticed,” the insider continued.
The “7 Rings” singer embarked on the “Eternal Sunshine” tour in June, and Alvarez was notably in attendance at several shows.
Insiders told Page Six that Grande has been leaning on her beau, who has been “super supportive” of her, as she prepares to take a step back from the limelight when she wraps up her tour in September.
According to her rep, she will take a “much-deserved break” after enduring “endless, ongoing public scrutiny.”
Another source told Page Six that the “Yes, And?” singer also plans on spending her time off with Alvarez, along with her family and friends.
Grande and Alvarez met in 2014 when the latter became her backup dancer. Alvarez later joined Grande on the 2015 Honeymoon Tour.
Entertainment
‘Roseanne’ star defends sitcom’ axing over comedian’s tweets

Former child star Michael Fishman became emotional while laying out his thoughts on the “Roseanne” reboot’s cancellation back in 2018.
Fishman — who played the title character’s son, DJ Conner, on the beloved sitcom — shared a social media comment regarding the years-old controversy, which saw Roseanne Barr fired from her own revival series after a string of controversial tweets.
“The reboot got canceled because Roseanne made the usual jokes a comedian makes but America decided to backstab Roseanne,” the comment read atop an Instagram reel shared Monday.
“At the time the LGBTQ and woke crap took over and started destroying anything it could. Roseanne was one of the people that all of a sudden got flack for remaining to be a edgy comedian,” it continued. “Funny thing is even if she was racist, she had already said more egregious jokes and nobody batted an eye before.”
Fishman responded directly to the comment on camera, saying, “I get this every day. I get these kinds of ignorant and inaccurate comments daily,” he began, appearing to be exhausted by the sentiment.
“Mostly, I try to ignore them. For over eight years, I’ve been dealing with it quietly,” he continued. “Usually, I don’t respond.”
The actor, now 44, went on, noting, “After eight years, turning the other cheek really isn’t helping.”
“So, I guess the world failed to learn the lesson. So I’m going to point out. We are perpetuating a lie, and people are using a political smokescreen to justify the indefensible,” he said, referencing how Barr called her own actions “indefensible” in an apology at the time.
Back in 2018, Barr was brought to task in the court of public opinion for publicly sharing a polarizing tweet comparing former President Barack Obama’s advisor, Valerie Jarrett, to an “ape.”
The comedian, now 73, defended herself at the time by claiming she’d been on a sleep aid called Ambien and didn’t know that she thought Jarrett was white. She also later blamed God. Ultimately, the show’s reboot was axed by ABC before a second season could materialize.
It was quickly retooled as “The Conners” — without Barr — and that sitcom lasted seven seasons, ending in 2025.
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“Those justifications, they’re leading to real consequences. Real crimes,” Fishman said, referencing current-day tragedies involving the deaths of black Americans like Tasia Fortune, Trey Reed and Nolan Wells.
“Dehumanizing people is never a joke,” he noted. “See, when we’re onstage as comedians, or on camera, we have the freedom to say whatever we want. But that doesn’t mean there’s no responsibility and no consequences.”
“The brilliant comedians help us laugh at the darkest, darkest topics,” he went on. “Sadly, in this case, there was no joke. And the show was rightfully canceled. It’s the last time I’m really gonna go into this.”
Fishman allowed in his commentary that “good people make mistakes,” and confessed that he “love[s] the one who made this mistake” and “always will.”
“I’ll always have compassion and love [for Barr], and I’ve shown it continuously and she helped the world understand that good people can make mistakes,” he said.
“But there was no joke. There was only damage and dehumanizing — and perpetuating racial tropes leads to real-world consequences,” he added in part.
“And the only people who are backstabbed were the people who were targeted by the statements. And those who became collateral damage from it,” he said.
Fishman then addressed those who had defended racist comments online or shared their own.
“Be smart enough to just shut the hell up,” the actor concluded the upload. “Don’t finish the statement, don’t hit send and certainly don’t rage against anybody else. Because words have real-world consequences, and some of us deal with them every day. That’s freedom of speech.”
Fishman captioned the reel, “Humanity crumbles when justify dehumanization and stay silent to suffering, inequality, exclusion, and oppression. We can do better. I was shaped by the show I grew up on. Now I am building bigger. Words have consequences.”
A rep for Barr did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment on Tuesday evening.
Back in 2018, Barr addressed the controversial tweets multiple times, apologizing and insisting that it was politically, and not racially, motivated.
The social media rant was “about asking for accountability from the previous administration about the Iran deal, which Valerie Jarrett is the author of, and that was what was in my head,” Barr said in a 2018 interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
She added that her initial reaction to the public outcry “was shock that they were saying it was racial, when it’s political.”
In a separate 2018 podcast interview with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, Barr said, “I have to face that it hurt people.”
“When you hurt people even unwillingly there’s no excuse. I don’t want to run off and blather on with excuses,” she added. “But I apologize to anyone who thought, or felt offended and who thought that I meant something that I, in fact, did not mean. It was my own ignorance, and there’s no excuse for that ignorance.”
Entertainment
Lizzo models teeny purple string bikini to ring in ‘Fat Liberation Month’

Lizzo has a message for her “ladies over 200.”
The “About Damn Time” singer celebrated “Fat Liberation Month” on Instagram Sunday, posing poolside in a sparkly purple two-piece from her Yitty Swim line.
Lizzo, 38, wore the brand’s Swim Luxe Triangle Bikini Top ($44.95) and matching side-tie thong bottoms ($39.95), finishing the look with oversized Gucci shield sunglasses.
She tipped her face toward the sun in one shot, her copper curls loose down her back. A cheeky Story upload captured her glancing over her shoulder to show off the thong bottoms.
“Happy Fat Liberation Month 💕 calling all my ladies over 200 go outside n POP sumthin🙏🏾,” she captioned the post.
Followers piled into the comments to co-sign the message. “Lizzo said confidence all month long! Love the energy. 🙌✨” wrote one, while another added, “Curvalicious!!! Get it Lizzo!”
The Grammy winner launched Yitty as a size-inclusive shapewear label in 2022, later expanding into swim.
She wore one of her own Yitty designs on the July Sports Illustrated Swimsuit digital cover — a moment she said she’d been manifesting for years.
“When I was younger, I saw it and never imagined somebody with my body type would be on the cover,” she told the publication. “It’s just incredible to see how we’ve redefined sexy, redefined confidence and redefined what a swimsuit body is since I was a kid.”
The singer — whose fifth studio album, “Bitch,” dropped in May — has been open about her fluctuating weight over the past few years, which included dropping 60 pounds after starting her wellness journey in fall 2023.
She also put 20 pounds back on this year — a decision she said was fully intentional.
“I wanted to get thicker. I wanted to get juicier and thicker, and I did,” she told SI.
In an August 2025 interview with Women’s Health, she made clear her message wasn’t tied to the number on her scale.
“Body positivity has nothing to do with staying the same,” she told the outlet. “Body positivity is the radical act of daring to exist loudly and proudly in a society that told you you shouldn’t exist.”
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