THE Muppets Studio has blamed “unacceptable business conduct” for its dismissal of Steve Whitmire as the long-time performer of Kermit the Frog.

This explanation on Monday follows Whitmire’s emotional blog post last week after his firing was made public.

He said he learned last October that the role of Kermit would be recast.

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SINGER Ed Sheeran has shared a picture of his next TV venture – as a character on The Simpsons.

He posted the image of the signature yellow character with red hair and a hat, clutching a juice box, on Instagram and wrote: “This year continues to be equally surreal and amazing. Watch out for this one, me and Lisa have a whole thing going on x”.

The news follows his recently unveiled cameo in the new series of Game Of Thrones, which divided opinion among the show’s loyal fans.

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MARY Portas has said she hopes she can avoid being interviewed by BBC Radio 4’s John Humphrys.

The retail expert and TV presenter praised Mishal Husain, who is one of the hosts of Radio 4’s Today, while revealing she is keen to steer clear of a chat with Humphrys, also a Today host.

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LOVE Island’s Mike Thalassitis has said that he believes he and Tyla Carr are a more compatible couple than Olivia Attwood and Chris Hughes, despite their exit from the show.

Thalassitis and Carr were dumped during Monday’s episode of the ITV2 dating programme after a public vote showed they were the least popular pair on the island.

Having previously been eliminated, Thalassitis recently returned for a brief stint in the show and quickly sparked up a romance with Carr, who was single after her relationship with former islander Jonny Mitchell fell apart.

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He said he thinks Hughes and Attwood – with whom he had a brief dalliance during his first time on the show, before she chose Hughes – are not as well-suited and that he does not like her.