Sydney Jo's viral TikTok group chat drama, and Superman hits cinemas: What's coming up this week

42 minutes ago Share Save Noor Nanji • @NoorNanji Culture reporter Share Save

Sydney Jo / Warner Bros

This week, there's more drama among friends, as Sydney Jo's viral TikTok series about a girls' group chat returns for season 3. But that's not all the next seven days have in store. Superman hits the big screen, Last Pundit Standing drops on BBC iPlayer, and it's the Esports World Cup. Read on for what's coming up this week...

'The internet's favourite show'

It's scary just how relatable Sydney Jo's TikTok series is. The 27-year-old content creator from New York posted her first video, about friends communicating in a group chat, back in March. She told me me her social media account has blown up since then. We see the girls bicker, talk in side chats, and send passive aggressive messages to each other, something Sydney said is "a universal experience". "My friends, work colleagues and sisters all had similar stories about their texts and group chats," she said. "This is something that's only going to continue, as we start having bachelorettes and weddings." Sydney says she filmed the first episode hungover on a Sunday morning. But as her followers rocketed from 264,000 to 1.6 million in just a few months, she now has a huge fan base, with Today calling her series "the internet's favourite show". With season three now out, Sydney said we can expect more camaraderie, more feel good moments, but also more shared common enemies. She also hinted there could be a boys' group chat series next. "I didn't anticipate the male audience I would draw. I had a 50-year-old dad recognise me recently," she said.

Superman hits cinemas

Getty Images

James Gunn's hotly awaited reboot of Superman, a film that Hollywood is hoping can break the plague of "superhero fatigue", is out on Friday. American actor David Corenswet, 31, plays the Man of Steel in the movie that's intended to kick-start a new era for DC Studios, which writer-director Gunn and producer Peter Safran took over in 2022. Corenswet, who has previously appeared in TV series The Politician, Hollywood and We Own This City, is the fourth person to play the role in a major Superman movie, and the first for a decade. It also stars Rachel Brosnahan as the latest Lois Lane and British actor Nicholas Hoult as a bald and menacing Lex Luthor. DC has struggled to find major hits in recent years, with films like Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman 1984 and Joker: Folie à Deux - part of the wider DC stable - each earning less than $60m (£48m) at the North American box office. So there's a lot of anticipation to see how this film does - and to drum up excitement, a life-like Superman figure was seen suspended at the top of The Shard in London earlier this week as part of a one-day-only installation.

Think you're good at video games?

By Andrew Rogers, Newsbeat reporter

Well you’re almost certainly not as good as the professional players heading to Saudi Arabia for the Esports World Cup, which starts on Tuesday. Over seven weeks, the best in the world will compete for a record combined prize pot of $70m (£50m). Now in its second year, the EWC brings together 25 different esports into one event. That means games fighting games like Tekken 8, first person shooters such as Call of Duty, and battle arena juggernauts Dota 2 and League of Legends, will all be there. The format has encouraged some consolidation in the esports world, because the Club Competition encourages teams to field players in as many different games as possible. The team with the most points at the end gets a bonus $7m (£5m). Some fans and players haven't been keen on the EWC though. It's been criticised for taking place in a country where women have fewer rights and being gay is illegal. Others say only with Saudi Arabia's cash can esports grow and compete with traditional multi-sport events like the Olympics.

Finding the next football pundit

BBC/Boom Cymru TV Ltd & JLA Productions

On Monday, a new BBC competition series to find the next football pundit starts on iPlayer as well as on BBC YouTube and TikTok channels. Fronted by footballing legend Troy Deeney and YouTuber and presenter James Allcott, Last Pundit Standing follows 12 football fanatics as they compete to become BBC Sport's next big football content creator. Think the X-Factor meets the beautiful game, as they face a series of kick-off challenges in their bid to land their dream job. There will also be star guests, including Alex Scott, Rebecca Welch and Max Fosh, on hand to set tasks and offer expert insight. The seven-part competition series comes shortly after Gary Lineker left the broadcaster after apologising for sharing an antisemitic social media post. In May, he was presented with a commemorative cap and golden boot by pundits Alan Shearer and Micah Richards as he signed off from his final edition of Match of the Day after 26 years in the hot seat.

Other highlights this week

Nandy asks why nobody has been fired at BBC over Gaza film

A BBC spokesperson said on Saturday that findings of the review would be published "as soon as possible" but must be "thorough and follow a proper process".

In an interview with The Times, Nandy said "people must be accountable for the decisions that were taken" and she was "exasperated" by the time taken to carry out the review.

It comes ahead of a review expected to be published next week into Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone, which was pulled from iPlayer in February.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has questioned why nobody has been fired at the BBC over its decision to air a Gaza documentary that featured the son of a Hamas official.

In February the BBC apologised over "serious flaws" in the making of the programme about children's lives in Gaza, after it was revealed its 13-year-old narrator was the son of a Hamas minister.

The review is being headed by Peter Johnston, the BBC's director of editorial complaints and reviews, which is independent of BBC News and reports directly to director general Tim Davie.

It is expected to determine whether any editorial guidelines were broken and if any disciplinary action is needed.

The BBC will also undertake a full audit of expenditure on the programme.

Nandy said she needed an "adequate explanation" about what had happened, which she had not yet had from Davie or BBC chairman Samir Shah.

If nobody was fired over the incident, Nandy said she wanted "an explanation as to why not".

A BBC spokesperson said: "The findings of the review will be published as soon as possible.

"As we have said previously, it is vital that this work is done as quickly as possible, but it must also be thorough and follow a proper process."

Last month, the BBC decided not to broadcast a separate documentary from another independent production company about doctors working in Gaza due to impartiality concerns it had surrounding the production. It was later aired on Channel 4 instead.

Nandy added that BBC leadership had to "get a grip on it" following the live Glastonbury broadcast of punk-duo band Bob Vylan.

As was the case in Perth on Wednesday, there was a late change for the Lions, Henry Pollock withdrawing with a tight calf as a precaution.

That resulted in captain Tadhg Beirne moving from lock to blindside flanker, with Scott Cummings being promoted from the bench.

That also meant winger Duhan van der Merwe being brought into the 23 for an unexpected chance.

In many ways it was a repeat of what had gone before with the 2025 Lions, with lots of possession, lots of promising field position but not nearly enough to show for it.

The mistake count was off the scale. The amount of dropped balls and turnovers lost was concerning for a team that is now four games into the tour and with the Test series looming large in just two weeks' time.

They had the Waratahs scrum in trouble for much of the evening - a rare positive - but their handling errors checked their progress and their discipline weakened badly.

At times it felt as if they were firing it around indiscriminately with little thought about building pressure and momentum. Against a notably weakened Waratahs side, it was pretty underwhelming.

The Lions had made a promising start when Sione Tuipulotu came up as first receiver and found his Scotland and Glasgow midfield partner Jones on his shoulder.

Jones glided over with ease and when Smith converted, it all looked pretty promising at that point.

Despite that good start, there was a desperation to their play that led to errors. They were lateral and error-prone - and with each bout of Lions' angst, the Waratahs' belief started to rise.

Midway through the first half they set up camp in the Lions 22, one penalty giving way to another then another. In that passage the tourists were penalised four times, but escaped a yellow card. The majority of the crowd inside Allianz Stadium did not approve, to say the least.

The Waratahs thought they had punished the Lions when Charlie Gamble blasted over in the corner, but the home side were penalised for obstruction. It was another lucky escape for the Lions following the avoidance of yellow card.

Jones got his second try when the siege was lifted, his lovely footwork from close range taking him outside his defender. Smith's conversion put a gloss on the scoreboard, which read 14-0 to the Lions.

That did not last. The next time the Waratahs had a chance, they took it. Taniela Tupou and Rob Leota did brilliantly in the lead-up as they put Lancaster in down the left.

Keenan, in an awful moment on a rough night for the Ireland full-back, missed his tackle and Lancaster scored. The try was a touch fortunate. It looked mightily as if Mack Hansen had been taken out illegally earlier in the move.

They struck again early in the second half when hooker Dobbins got on the end of a rumble and reached out to score. Again, the Waratahs failed with the extras, which was just as well for the Lions. They were leading by just 14-10 and toiling badly.

Mitchell, who was excellent, dummied his way over for the Lions' third after the Waratahs made a mess of a tap penalty.

Mitchell was clinical in taking his chance and Smith added the conversion.

Things were beginning to look a little more like it but then the error mountain came again. Turnover upon turnover, scattergun stuff after scattergun stuff.

The victory was secured, but the Wallabies watching on will have enjoyed every second of it with the first Test in a fortnight's time.