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ANANDA Lewis, the Talk show and 90s MTV host, has died after a long battle with breast cancer.

Her sister confirmed the news today in a heartbreaking post on Instagram.

She said: “She’s free and in his heavenly arms. Lord, rest her soul.”

In 2020, Ananda revealed she had been diagnosed with stage three cancer.

She said she had not been getting regular mammograms due to a fear of radiation.

In 2024, the late TV host revealed her cancer had reached stage four after she went against medical advice and refused a double mastectomy.

At the time she said her plan was to remove “excessive toxins” out of her body but later admitted she had made a mistake.

She told CNN: “My plan at first was to get out excessive toxins in my body.

“I felt like my body is intelligent, I know that to be true. Our bodies are brilliantly made.

“I decided to keep my tumor and try to work it out of my body a different way. . . . I wish I could go back. It’s important for me to admit where I went wrong with this.”

Ananda rose to fame in the late 90s when she landed a role as one of MTV’s VJ’s where she hosted the likes of Total Request Live and Hot Zone.

In 1999, The New York Times described her as “the hip-hop generation’s reigning It Girl.”

She left MTV in 2001 to host her own talk show, The Ananda Lewis Show.

The TV star was born in Los Angeles in 1973. Her parents divorced when she was just two, an experience she said affected her relationship with her mum as an adult.

Following the divorce, she and her sister moved in with their grandparents where Ananda went on to attend an arts high school.

After graduating Howard University in 1995 she landed her first job as the host of BET’s Teen Summit during which time she interviewed then First Lady Hillary Clinton.

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TAKING a progesterone-only contraceptive pill for more than five years is linked to an increased risk of a life-threatening brain tumour, say scientists.

Desogestrel is a synthetic progestogen hormone used in oral contraceptives, specifically the progestogen-only pill (POP) or mini-pill.

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While it offers several benefits beyond preventing pregnancy, such as regulating the menstrual cycle, reducing heavy or painful periods, new research suggests taking it continuously for more than five years is linked to a small increased risk of developing an intracranial meningioma.

An intracranial meningioma is a tumour that develops from the meninges, the layers of tissue that cover the brain and spinal cord. 

These tumours are typically benign (non-cancerous) and slow-growing.

But they can be life-threatening depending on size, location, and growth rate.

The tumours are more common in older women, but previous studies lack information on the specific type of progestogen used – and risk has not been measured for continuous, current, and long term use.

In the study from France published by The BMJ, researchers set out to assess the real-life risk of the brain tumour and short-term (less than a year) and prolonged (one to seven or more years) use of oral contraceptives containing desogestrel 75µg, levonorgestrel 30µg, or levonorgestrel 50-150 µg combined with oestrogen.

Their findings were based on data from the French national health data system (SNDS) for 8,391 women who had undergone surgery for intracranial meningioma in 2020-2023.

Each case was matched to 10 control women without meningioma of the same age and area of residence. 

The results showed a small increased risk associated with use of desogestrel for more than five continuous years.

An increased risk wasn’t found for shorter durations or when desogestrel had been discontinued for more than one year.

The risk was greater in women older than 45 and after prolonged use of one of the known high risk progestogens before desogestrel.

Although the researchers added the risk disappeared one year after stopping taking the pill.

It was estimated that 67,000 women would need to use desogestrel for one woman to need surgery for intracranial meningioma, and 17,000 women if current use was for more than five years. 

No increased risk was found for levonorgestrel, alone or combined with oestrogen, regardless of duration of use.

The researchers suggested desogestrel be discontinued if an intracranial meningioma is identified and patients monitored rather than undergoing immediate surgery.

An advert for the chocolate bar Twix has been banned for ‘encouraging dangerous driving’.

The short ad features a man who is involved in a high-speed car chase who crashes.

However, as he makes an impact with the other driver, his caramel-coloured car is sandwiched on top of another, like a Twix.

Following five complaints the advert was deemed ‘irresponsible’ and was pulled from the air.

Mars-Wrigley own Twix, along with other confectionary brands such as Snickers, M&M’s and Milky Way.

The company has claimed that the ad had a ‘cinematic presentation’ and was set in a ‘world that was absurd, fantastical and removed from reality’.

This was a view that was echoed by Clearcast, who is the non-governmental organisation that approves adverts.

However, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that in its current form it ‘condoned unsafe driving’.

ASA claimed that the first half of the video ‘appeared likely to breach the legal requirements of the Highway Code’ despite it featuring fantastical elements.

An ’emphasis on speed’ as well as ‘visible skid marks’ also helped contribute to the decision to ban it.

Mars defended the advert, saying the cars were ‘shot driving at lawful speeds and any emulation would only reflect the legal and safe driving presented’, the BBC report.

After the cars crash together, a Twix bar falls through the sunroofs of the two cars before they drive off together, still attached.

Accompanying this is a tagline which reads ‘two is more than one’.

In the ASA official ruling, it tells Mars ‘not tocondone or encourage irresponsible driving that was likely to breach the legal requirements of the Highway Code in their ads.

This comes after a Next advert was banned earlier this year because of a single complaint over how the model looked – deeming it ‘irresponsible’.

The online ad for the clothing giant featured a model who was described as ‘unhealthily thin’ and also admitted digitally altering the image.

The camera angle and styling highlighted the slimness of her leg, the ASA said.

The model was sitting on a wooden block and her legs were extended towards the camera.

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