Estate agents have accused Rightmove of charging "unsustainable" fees, with some saying their charges have more than doubled in recent years.

The online listing portal is now being pursued in a class action, launched by accountant Jeremy Newman on behalf of potentially hundreds of estate agents.

The BBC understands a letter of claim has been sent to Rightmove seeking just under £1.5bn in damages, claiming the website has "abused a dominant position" in the online property portal market.

Rightmove said the claim was "without merit, and we will defend it vigorously", adding it is "confident in the value we provide to our partners and consumers."

The claim alleges that Rightmove has charged thousands of estate agents and new home developers excessive and unfair subscription fees, and action has been filed in the Competition Appeal Tribunal.

Newman claims hundreds of estate agents are reporting a rise in fees with little change in the services they are receiving while they have been "squeezed" over the past few years by flat property prices.

"Estate agents are having to employ fewer people because they can't afford them alongside their fees to Rightmove," said Newman, who is also a former Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) panel member. "As a result, their services can't be as effective."

'Charging too much'

Rightmove has consistently reported a profit margin of around 70%, making it one of the most profitable companies in the FTSE 100.

The company's own consumer research suggests it has an 80% share of time spent on property portals.

Newman said the class action was not about arguing Rightmove should not exist, as it has "an important function in the property market".

But he added: "Rightmove is exploiting a self-evident dominant market position, and are charging too much for it."

The BBC has reviewed evidence from five estate agents suggesting there have been sharp rises in fees.

Many other agents report that Rightmove is significantly more expensive than other platforms, yet acknowledge it delivers most of their leads.

Many say they are struggling to absorb the costs but feel they have little choice.

On its website, Rightmove claims it gives agents "access and brand exposure to the UK's largest and most engaged home-moving audience."

A Rightmove spokesperson said the firm was "confident in the value we provide to our partners and consumers, who are at the core of our business solutions and digital platform."

"As one of the most efficient parts of the UK housing market, we help people across the UK to move home by bringing buyers, sellers, renters, landlords and agents together.

"Our platform continues to provide a growing range of constantly evolving products and features which facilitate market transparency, liquidity and confidence."

'It's like David and Goliath'

Alisa Zotimova is founder of AZ Real Estate, a London-based Bespoke Property Consultants and Estate Agents.

Zotimova said her fees have "more than doubled" in seven years.

She started with a reduced promotional rate which later increased significantly.

Whilst this was "no secret", she described this rise as "unsustainable".

"You don't have to sign up but it feels like I'm pushed into a bit of a corner with my customers expecting me to use it," she said.

If smaller agents cannot afford these sorts of fees, Zotimova said that would have knock-on effects for the housing market.

"For buyers, sellers, tenants and landlords there will be higher fees, less choice of agents if smaller ones can't compete," she said.

When Zotimova heard about the legal action she decided she didn't want to opt out.

"It feels a bit David and Goliath, now it seems there is maybe a chance," she said.

'I'm charged over £5,000 a month'

Chris, who owns two estate agents in Northamptonshire, is being charged more than £5000 a month for a basic membership, allowing him to advertise about 30-50 properties online.

He says his fees are the equivalent of two full time members of staff salaries per month.

"It's a lot of money to find every single month," he said, adding that the costs ultimately get passed on to clients.

"When you're trying to run and operate a small business and a particular company has complete control of that business, is a challenge," Chris said.

He accepts Rightmove is the "number one portal" but said costs shouldn't be determined by the company.

"We just have to continue to cut back and make savings in other areas to facilitate the juggernaut that is Rightmove," he said.

'Value for money'

Andy Keogh, an estate agent in the Midlands, believes the platform gives "value for money". He said 80% of his leads come from Rightmove which has a "monopoly on the market".

From June, his fees will go up from £1710 to £1850 a month, for up to 40 properties in sales and lettings.

"If you don't like it, don't use them. Agents who are moaning would struggle with their business if they decided to come off it," Keogh said.

He acknowledged that for lettings, Zoopla is much cheaper, which charges £450-500 a month.

Around 2.7 million people are set to receive a pay rise this week as the national minimum wage goes up by 50p to £12.71 for over 21s.

Workers aged 18-20 will see an 85p rise to £10.85, and under-18s and apprentices will get 45p more to £8 an hour.

Campaigners have welcomed the increases, but businesses have said the higher wage bills will force them to increase prices or cut staff.

The Low Pay Commission, the government agency which recommended the increases, said previous minimum wage rises for over-21s had "not had a significant negative impact on jobs".

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said wages were going up "for the lowest paid" but said the government "must go further to bear down on costs".

Spencer Bowman is the managing director of of Mettricks, a chain of four coffee shops in Southampton. He says he would normally be "thrilled" to pay staff more, but "the cost increases have got to be sustainable".

"There's nothing that I'd want more than to ensure that my team can earn a really fair amount of money for a fair day's work. And it's been one of my long-term ambitions to see hospitality workers, my employees, paid far more."

But Spencer says his business is being squeezed from every angle – as well as minimum wage, he has had increases in business rates, national insurance, and statutory sick pay. He also expects energy bills to go up because of the war in the Middle East.

"We're running on a minimum number of staff on shift. We can't run on fewer people," he says.

"If something doesn't give somewhere, we will be closing sites.

"It doesn't make any sense. Revenue is up. Our customer numbers are up. But our costs everywhere have hit a point where we're not financially sustainable and if that continues, there's only one outcome for that."

The minimum wage increases are on top of a 6.7% rise for over-21s and a 16.3% rise for 18 to 20-year-olds respectively last year, when there was also a rise in employers' National Insurance contributions.

Ministers are considering slowing down plans to pay adults of all ages the same minimum wage.

Labour committed in their election manifesto to remove "discretionary age bands" and increase the wages of 18 to 20-year-olds so they are paid the same as those over 21.

Ifunanya Ezechukwu, 25, calls the minimum wage rise a "step in the right direction".

"Especially with the cost of living being really bad, people need more money so they can actually afford the basics," she tells BBC Newsbeat.

She doesn't think employers paying staff more will necessarily translate to fewer job opportunities.

"I feel like they're probably just going to up the prices of their services, so I don't think there'll be less job opportunities," she says.

"I just feel like some things might get more expensive, which is unfortunate, and then the cycle just continues."

Alex McCarthy, a university student who works part-time in a pub, says he is feeling "very, very happy" about the rise.

But the 18-year-old says it probably won't be enough for some of his friends, who are working while living at university but are still struggling to do weekly shops and are having to borrow money off their parents.

Amelia Evans, 18, believes the rise is necessary because "everything is going up in price". But she is concerned it will limit her job opportunities.

"So far this year I think I've done maybe 20 applications, and haven't got any. I feel like it's going to impact me even more now."

When Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the increases in the Budget last year, she said the cost of living was still the biggest issue for working people.

"The economy isn't working well enough for those on the lowest incomes," she added.

At the time, the Treasury said the new minimum wage rates for 2026 struck a balance between "the needs of workers, the affordability for businesses and the opportunities for employment".

The Living Wage Foundation has welcomed the rises but says they do not go far enough.

The Foundation calculates what is known as the Real Living Wage, which it says is a more accurate reflection of the cost of living in the UK. It currently stands at £13.45 across the UK and £14.80 in London.

Kate Chapman, the executive director of the Living Wage Foundation, said one in seven businesses now pay the Real Living Wage.

"That's because they know the Living Wage is good for people, good for society and good for business," she said.

The British Chamber of Commerce has said that tax and labour costs are the biggest concerns for British businesses.

In its quarterly survey of 4,000 firms, 73% said labour costs are putting pressure on them to raise prices.

Additional reporting by Georgia Levy-Collins, Lizzy Bella, and Jemma Crew

Several household bills have gone up in April - although energy costs have fallen for now.

At the same time, minimum wage has gone up and and there are upcoming increases in benefits for many lower-income billpayers.

Prescription charges in England have also been frozen, and councils will be able to give cash payouts people struggling with the rising cost of living from a Crisis and Resilience Fund.

Here's a guide to the bill changes and how they affect you.

1. Household energy bills

Typical household energy bills have fallen by 7% between April and July, following a shake-up in charges by the government.

Nearly everyone in England, Wales and Scotland is benefiting from the cut irrespective of their tariff, although the amounts will vary between households.

For a household on a tariff governed by regulator Ofgem's price cap, and using a typical amount of gas and electricity, the annual bill will drop to £1,641.

The bill drop will only be temporary. The impact of the Iran war means that prices will increase sharply in July.

The latest forecast by analysts at energy consultancy Cornwall Insight suggests the household with typical energy use will pay £1,929 a year from July, an 18% rise.

2. Council tax

Council tax is a compulsory charge on properties in England, Scotland and Wales.

It is rising by an average of 4.9% for households in England. That means the average council tax for a Band D property in England will increase to £2,392 a year, up £111 on last year.

Many councils are allowed to increase bills by up to 5%, but seven have been given government permission to implement bigger hikes to help address a "challenging financial position".

There are some exemptions and discounts, for example for someone living alone and homes occupied only by students, which helps lower the cost for some.

A host of local authorities in Scotland have increased council tax sharply.

Wales now sees a 4.9% average increase in council tax.

Northern Ireland uses a domestic rates system instead of council tax. All of Northern Ireland's councils have reported increases in their district rates.

3. Water bills

The average annual water bill in England and Wales has increased by £33 to £639, according to industry trade body, Water UK.

The amounts vary sharply in different areas, and come after hefty rises in large parts of the country a year ago.

Water bills in Scotland have risen by an average of £42 a year (up 8.7%), taking the average bill to £532 a year.

Consumer groups say people can cut bills by checking if they are eligible for discounted tariffs, trialling a water meter, and by saving water, for example, by setting a time limit on showers.

4. Internet and TV

BT, EE, Plusnet and Virgin Media are all hiking broadband prices by £4 a month, Sky by £3, and Vodafone by £3.50 - adding nearly £50 per year to bills.

Additionally, one in four broadband customers are out of contract, paying up to £9 per month more than those in contract.

Mobile phone providers also tend to have mid-contact price rises written into contracts, so many billpayers face increases.

The cost of a TV licence has increased from £174.50 to £180 a year.

5. Car tax

Standard Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), for cars registered after April 2017, has increased from £195 to £200.

The exact amount for your vehicle excise duty will depend on the year your car was registered.

It applies to all fuel types, including electric vehicles which lost their tax-free status last year.

In addition, an annual supplement of £440 should be paid on cars with a list price of more than £40,000, or £50,000 for EVs.

6. Air passenger duty

Air Passenger Duty is a tax on flights which depart from the UK, paid by aircraft operators. The cost is usually passed onto passengers with their ticket price.

The duty is increasing across most fare bands, with different amounts charged dependant on the distance of the flight.

7. Hidden tax rises

The government has kept in place the freeze on tax thresholds on income tax.

This means more people start paying tax - or move into higher tax brackets - as wages rise.

The Conservatives initially froze thresholds until 2028-29 and then in November Labour extended that until 2031.

The move raises additional revenue to pay for public services but is often called a stealth tax by economists because it increases the tax take without a government having to put up rates.

The BBC has created a calculator to see how your pay could be affected.

The calculator applies to employees in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Tax bands in Scotland are different, and self-employed workers are taxed differently.

As the war in the Middle East enters its second month, choking the world's energy supply and sending oil prices soaring, China is trying to step in as a peacemaker.

It comes as President Donald Trump says US military action in Iran could end in "two to three weeks", but there is no clear sense yet of how that will happen or what comes after.

China joins Pakistan, which has emerged as an unlikely mediator in the US-Israel war against Iran. Officials in Beijing and Islamabad have presented a five-point plan with the aim of bringing about a ceasefire and re-opening the vital Strait of Hormuz.

Pakistan, which has been a US ally in the past, seems to have won over Trump to mediate this conflict.

Beijing, however, is entering the fray as a rival to Washington, and ahead of a crucial trade talks between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump next month.

China's backing on this is "very important," says Zhu Yongbiao, a Middle East expert and director of the Centre for Afghanistan Studies at Lanzhou University.

"Morally, politically and diplomatically, China is providing comprehensive support with the hope that Pakistan can play a more distinctive role."

It is also a turnaround for Beijing, whose official response to the war has so far been quite muted. So why is China stepping in now?

The peace plan was drafted after Pakistan's foreign minister flew to Beijing to ask for Chinese support for the country's efforts to negotiate an end to this conflict.

His efforts appear to have worked. China's Foreign Ministry said the two were making "new efforts towards advocating for peace." The joint statement agreed that dialogue and diplomacy were "the only viable option to resolve conflicts", and it called for waterways, including the blockaded strait, to be protected.

It's not just about oil, although that will be a concern. China, the biggest importer of crude oil in the world, has enough stockpiled to get it through the next few months.

Beijing will likely have decided to play the role of peacemaker because the war in Iran jeopardises something Xi covets: stability. China needs a stable global economy as it is heavily reliant on selling goods around the world as it tries to revive an ailing domestic economy.

"If the rest of the world begins to slow down economically because of an energy shock, that's going to be tough for China's factories and exporters," says Matt Pottinger, Chairman of the Foundation for Defense of Democracy's China Program.

"That's why I think when I see China's foreign minister just this week advising Iran that we need to find a way to end this war, I think there's some sincerity there. I think that Beijing is a little bit worried about where this could lead if it turns into a real energy shock that is protracted."

There are already fears that China's industrial heartland, which serves as the factory of the world, will be impacted in the long term if this crisis continues.

Paying a higher price for oil affects the whole supply chain, from the plastics needed to make toys and games, to the raw materials for modern synthetic fabrics, to the hundreds of components that go into phones, electric cars and semiconductors.

The US trade war with China during Trump's first term led many business owners across the country to look for new markets around the world.

As a result, China's exports to the Middle East grew nearly twice as fast as its exports to the rest of the world last year. The region has become the fastest growing market for electric cars, and China is also the largest investor in desalination in the Middle East, where potable water is scarce.

The Power Construction Corporation of China has projects in Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Oman and Iraq.

As a result of its economic ties, China has cultivated relationships across the region with both US allies, such as Saudi Arabia, and foes, such as Iran.

Tehran and Beijing have a partnership dating back decades. China is Iran's leading trade partner and it buys around 80% of Iranian oil.

The Chinese government has played the role of peacemaker in the Middle East before, with limited success.

In 2023 it brokered a deal between bitter rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, which lave long stood on opposing sides in proxy wars in the Middle East. They severed ties in 2016 when Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shia Muslim scholar, triggering protests in Iran with crowds attacking its embassy in Tehran.

After China took up the mantel as mediator, the two sides agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations. This was in China's interest. Beijing will have hoped that better diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran would reduce the likelihood for regional tensions.

A year later, Beijing played host to the leaders of 14 Palestinian factions, including Fatah and Hamas. The talks resulted in a national unity government for the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

The declaration was more an expression of intent rather than a comprehensive agreement, but once again, it highlighted the role China can play in the region, and its interest in stability in the Middle East.

China's partnerships across the world come with no security guarantees or military backing.

For Beijing, its economy comes first - and it is this economic interdependence with countries across the region which gives it leverage and helps it project some influence.

"China is cautious about being drawn into broader conflicts," says Zhu. "Its priority, both domestically and in foreign policy, is economic development. There is a broad consensus that China shouldn't recklessly get involved in a war."

But this approach has its limits. China doesn't have the military capabilities in the region to step in even if it wished to do so.

The US has bases in each of the Gulf states. China's closest base is in Djibouti in East Africa and was only established in 2017. It is a logistics hub for anti-piracy operations rather than a base for projecting power.

During the Israel-Iran war in 2025, China stayed on the sidelines and offered minimal support revealing the limitations of its role as a partner.

As for this latest peace plan, both the US and Iran have yet to respond, but pushing forward this initiative allows Xi to play the role of neutral broker and peacemaker - and once again stand in contrast to the leader of the other major superpower, the US.

Beijing's credibility to portray itself as a pragmatic international player comes with plenty of caveats. Its alignment with Russia has consistently sparked questions about its neutrality. Its increasing control of Hong Kong and its repeated threats to take self-governed Taiwan by force if required are still huge concerns.

And China's authoritarian leaders avoid any discussion about human rights, and never condemn regimes for rights abuses or misuse of power. All of this makes it President Xi an unlikely spokesperson for a global rules-based order.

But China is a powerful global player driven by strategic interests. It has shown it has some influence in the Middle East, and it certainly has ambitions to gain more leverage in the future.

Any support the government offers to help people with high energy bills pushed up by the Iran war would be based on household income, the chancellor has told the BBC.

Wholesale oil and gas prices have soared over the past month, with supply from the Middle East severely disrupted. While household energy bills are set to fall in April under Ofgem's price cap, there is likely to be a big jump over the summer.

Rachel Reeves said it was "too early" to say exactly who would get help but hinted any support would not arrive until the autumn.

However, she refused to promise any immediate support for drivers, emphasising the need to keep the public finances under control.

Last week, Reeves confirmed that any help with gas and electricity bills would be targeted at "those who need it most", rather than the universal support that was rolled out by Liz Truss's government in 2022.

In a new interview with BBC Breakfast, she said: "I want to learn the lessons of the past because when Russia invaded Ukraine, the richest, the best-off third of households got more than a third of the support. That makes no sense at all."

Reeves acknowledged that gas usage would go up in the autumn – when Ofgem's current price cap for households in England, Scotland and Wales expires. The next price cap is yet to be announced but is expected to increase significantly.

"From July to September, gas usage, especially by families and pensioners, is the lowest of any months of the year because it is the summer months," she said.

When asked if support could go beyond people who receive benefits, Reeves said: "We're looking at ways in which we can support people based on their household income."

But the chancellor refused to commit to cutting fuel duty or VAT on petrol, saying she had to be "careful" with promises to lower prices for everyone because it risked pushing up inflation, interest rates and taxes in the future.

She added that the best way to bring prices down for people was for the conflict to come to an end and for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen. The Strait is a key waterway that usually carries a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas but has been effectively closed since the war began.

"That is why Keir Starmer is absolutely right to not get us dragged into a war that we didn't start because of the impact it has on people here at home," she said.

The Conservatives have called on the government to remove VAT from household energy bills for the next three years to help ease the cost of living.

Reform UK has also promised to scrap VAT and green levies on household energy bills if the party were to win power.

The Liberal Democrats have said they would cut household energy bills by changing how new renewable projects are paid for, in order to break the link between gas prices and energy costs.

The Green Party has said ministers should guarantee bills will not rise in July, when the price cap is updated, with the costs funded by hiking taxes on capital gains, and tightening an existing tax on energy firms' profits.

Plaid Cymru has also called for broader direct support for households when bills rise above the current price cap. It also supports long-term investment in renewables to break the link between electricity and gas prices.

The SNP argues that Holyrood should control energy policy and claims that independence is the best route to lowering Scotland's energy bills.

"People going up to the Moon is kind of cool," eight-year-old Isiah says.

He is among the 400,000 people expected to cram the causeways, beaches and motel balconies of Florida's Space Coast for the launch attempt of Artemis II tonight.

They will watch as four astronauts blast into space in the hope of flying around the Moon and potentially travelling further from Earth than anyone has ever been before.

Nasa's 10-day test flight will not land on the Moon. However, the crew may witness views of the lunar landscapes that have never been seen by human eyes.

Amanda Garcia has travelled more than 1,000 miles from New Mexico to witness the launch. "I'm pretty excited about it," she tells us.

"I came out here to see it, and I heard it's gonna be a great show. A lot of people are going to be here."

Beyond the Kennedy Space Centre launch site, along the lagoon and beaches of Titusville and Cocoa Beach, bars are advertising "moonshots" and hotels are warning guests to expect long delays getting to and from viewing spots.

Local officials talk of a "historic influx" of tourists and an economic impact of around $160m (£121m), putting traffic plans in place for a night when the highway lights will compete with the glow of floodlit launch towers as well as camper van barbecues.

A mile or so from the pads where Artemis II will light up the sky, Brenda Mulberry, owner of Space Shirts, has been selling Nasa T-shirts and souvenirs for 40 years.

In her small shop on Merritt Island, racks of orange, blue and black T-shirts depict hand drawn rockets, mission patches and moonscapes, ready for the crowds who arrive on regular launch days. But this launch is different, she tells us. "We've wanted to go back to the Moon since the '70s. People are excited. People are beyond excited," she said.

Brenda says she has stocked up for the biggest surge of customers she has ever seen.

"I want to have the first T-shirt shop on the Moon," she says. "Because if you've been there, you get the T-shirt, right?" she adds, laughing.

Future Artemis missions plan to land humans on the Moon for the first time since 1972. But this time, the goal is to build a permanent Moon base to exploit its natural resources and provide a springboard for an attempt to reach Mars.

Artemis II's mission commander, Reid Wiseman, said he hoped the effort to return to the Moon would inspire a new generation.

"In our lifetime, we've looked at the Moon knowing that people had been there. And now in the Artemis generation, kids will walk out and look at the Moon going, we are there. We are there now, and we are going further into our solar system."

Tonight, all attention will turn to Launch Pad 39B - the same historic stretch of concrete from which the US Apollo programme first landed men on the Moon in 1969. Standing on the pad is Nasa's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

At 98m (321ft) tall, the white and orange giant is the heaviest rocket the agency has ever launched. At its top sits Orion, a capsule about the size of a small van, where the four astronauts will spend the next 10 days in close proximity. It will be the first time the capsule has been put through its paces with a human crew on board.

If all goes to schedule, the rocket will launch between 18:24-20:24 local time (23:24-01:24 BST) on Wednesday.

The astronauts who will strap into Orion about four hours before launch have spent years training together.

Up front, on the left hand side will be Wiseman, the Artemis II commander, while pilot Victor Glover will sit beside him. Behind them will be Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, a Canadian fighter pilot turned astronaut. This will be his first trip into space.

After reaching orbit, Orion spends its first day in high Earth orbit practising manual flying and testing life support before shaping its path towards the Moon.

On Day 2, a long trans-lunar injection burn puts the spacecraft onto a free return trajectory that would naturally loop it around the Moon and back to Earth, with small correction burns fine tuning the course.

Each day of the mission involves different tests and challenges for the crew.

Day 6 stands out because Orion is due to fly around the far side of the moon. All radio contact will be lost for about 40 minutes, meaning flight controllers won't know what is happening on board.

Orion will be travelling about 4,000–6,000 miles above the Moon's surface and may slightly exceed Apollo 13's record distance of about 250,000 miles (400,000km) from Earth, depending on the exact trajectory.

In the days that follow, Orion will be pulled naturally back towards Earth by the same free return trajectory that sent it out, with small course adjustment burns ensuring the capsule hits the atmosphere at just the right angle.

On the final day, the crew will strap in for the most brutal part of the trip: re-entry into Earth's atmosphere at about 25,000mph (40,000 km/h), when Orion's heat shield must again face temperatures hot enough to char rock.

After the first uncrewed test flight, Artemis I, engineers found that chunks of the heat shield's coating had cracked and broken away during a two‑stage "skip" re‑entry manoeuvre. This saw the capsule dip into the upper atmosphere, briefly climb again, then plunge back in so as to best cope with the heat, G-forces and splashdown accuracy needed.

For Artemis II they are keeping this two‑step re-entry, but changing the angle and timing so Orion spends less time in the initial, gentler dip. Modelling suggests this should reduce the heating and loads that caused extra charring, but this will be the first time the revised descent is flown with a crew.

If Artemis II is a success, the next time the Space Coast fills up like this it will be for another test flight – another step closer to people actually walking on the Moon again, half a century after the last footprints were made.

And somewhere between the marsh grass and the launch pads, there will almost certainly be someone wearing one of Brenda Mulberry's shirts, already dreaming of the day when her logo appears not just on Florida cotton, but in a photograph taken on the Moon.

Rapper Megan Thee Stallion had to be taken to hospital mid-way through her performance of Moulin Rouge! The Musical, in New York on Tuesday night, her representative has confirmed.

"Megan started feeling very ill and was promptly transported to a local hospital, where her symptoms are currently being evaluated," the spokesperson told US media outlets.

"We will share additional updates as more information becomes available."

The musician, 31, is performing as Zidler – the show's eccentric master of ceremonies – marking her highly anticipated Broadway debut.

Her hair stylist, Kellon Deryck, wrote on X: "Everyone say a prayer for Megan, we are all at the hospital."

Megan Thee Stallion, whose real name is Megan Pete, is scheduled to play Zidler until 17 May, the Moulin Rouge website says. Ahead of her premiere, she expressed excitement for briefly substituting concerts with theatre performances.

'HOTTIES IM ON BROADWAY!!" she wrote on social media after her first performance on 24 March, referencing her fanbase, called the "hotties".

Megan Thee Stallion is best-known for hits including Savage, WAP and Body.

In 2021, she won three Grammy awards for Best Rap Song, Best New Artist and Best Rap Performance. The following year she was nominated for Album of the Year.

Harold Zidler was first played by Danny Burstein in the original Broadway cast of Moulin Rouge, and won a coveted Tony award in 2020 for it. More recently, celebrity drag artist Bob the Drag Queen played Zidler in the musical for eight weeks earlier this year.

The BBC has contacted Megan Thee Stallion's team for comment.

Nasa's target of a March launch for the first crewed mission around the Moon in more than 50 years has been delayed after a fault was detected.

Nasa had set a target of 6 March, but 24 hours later said the newly discovered fault made a March launch "out of consideration".

The Artemis II mission, which will last about 10 days, could take its astronauts further into space than anyone has been before.

It aims to set the stage for an eventual human landing on the lunar surface for the first time since the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 70s.

When will Artemis II launch?

With a March launch no longer being considered, the next possible dates are April 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

A potential February launch was ruled out after a pre‑flight test - known as a wet dress rehearsal - was cut short when hydrogen rocket fuel leaked from an umbilical connection linking the launch tower to the rocket.

Beyond resolving the technical issues, mission planners also have to wait until the Moon is in the right part of its orbit, so launch windows are timed accordingly.

In practice, this creates a pattern of roughly one week at the start of each month when the rocket can be pointed in the right direction, followed by about three weeks with no launch opportunities.

Who are the Artemis II crew?

Artemis II's crew of four is made up of Nasa commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Christina Koch. A second mission specialist, Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency, will also be on board.

Wiseman is a US Navy veteran of 27 years. A pilot and engineer, he lives in Baltimore, Maryland. He was selected as an astronaut by Nasa in 2009 and served as Flight Engineer aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for Expedition 41 in 2014.

Glover was selected as a Nasa astronaut in 2013. He previously served as the pilot of SpaceX Crew-1 and holds three master's degrees. He was born in California and is married with four children.

Koch grew up in Michigan and became an astronaut in 2013. She worked on the International Space Station in 2019, setting a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. She also participated in the first all-female spacewalk.

Hansen joined the Canadian Space Agency in 2009 after a career as a fighter pilot. He became the first Canadian to lead astronaut training at Nasa's Johnson Space Centre and will be the first Canadian to go to the Moon.

What will the Artemis crew do during the Moon mission?

The mission involves the first crewed flight of Nasa's gigantic Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion space capsule.

Once they are safely in orbit, the astronauts will test how the Orion handles. This will involve manually flying the capsule in Earth orbit to practise steering and lining up the spacecraft for future Moon landings.

They will then head out to a point thousands of kilometres beyond the Moon to check Orion's life‑support, propulsion, power and navigation systems.

The crew will also act as medical test subjects, sending back data and imagery from deep space.

They will work in a small cabin in weightlessness. Radiation levels will be higher than on the ISS, which is in low‑Earth orbit, but still safe.

On return to Earth, the astronauts will experience a bumpy return through the atmosphere and a splashdown off the west coast of the US, in the Pacific.

Will Artemis II land on the Moon?

No. This mission is to lay the ground for a lunar landing by astronauts in the Artemis III mission.

Nasa says the launch of Artemis III will take place by 2028. But experts believe that is a very ambitious timeline.

The final choice of a spacecraft to take the crew down to the lunar surface has not yet been made. It will either be SpaceX's Starship lander or a craft designed by Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin.

New spacesuits made by US company Axiom are also not ready.

When Artemis III finally flies, the astronauts will be heading to the Moon's south pole.

After this, the aim is to have a sustained human presence on the Moon.

Artemis IV and V will begin building Gateway, a small space station circling the Moon. That will be followed by more Moon landings, extra sections being added to Gateway, and new robotic rovers operating on the surface.

More countries will be involved in keeping people living and working on and around the Moon for longer periods.

When was the last Moon mission?

The last crewed Moon mission was Apollo 17, which landed in December 1972 and returned to Earth later that month.

In all, 24 astronauts have travelled to the Moon and 12 of them have walked on its surface, all during the Apollo programme. Of the 24 to have been to the Moon, just five are still alive.

America first went in the 1960s, primarily to beat the Soviet Union to assert its geopolitical and technological dominance. Once that goal was achieved, political enthusiasm and public interest ebbed, as did the money for future Moonshots.

The Artemis programme grew out of a desire to return humans to the Moon, but this time for a longer-term presence built around new technology and commercial partnerships.

Do other countries plan to send astronauts to the Moon?

Several other countries have ambitions to put people on the Moon in the 2030s.​

European astronauts are set to join later Artemis missions and Japan has also secured seats.

China is building its own craft, targeting a first landing near the Moon's south pole by 2030.

Russia continues to talk about flying cosmonauts to the surface and building a small base sometime between about 2030 and 2035. However, sanctions, funding pressures and technical setbacks mean its timetable is highly optimistic.

India has also expressed ambitions to one day see its own astronauts walking on the Moon.

Following the success of Chandrayaan 3's landing near the lunar south pole in August 2023, India's space agency set out a goal of sending astronauts to the Moon by about 2040. This would be part of a push to move its human spaceflight programme beyond low Earth orbit.

Additional reporting by Kevin Church and Emily Selvadurai.