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NEED TO KNOW

• On an episode of The SHE Word podcast, Miss Universe Malta titleholder Julia Ann Cluett reflected on the sacrifices she made to win her national pageant and compete at Miss Universe

• Cluett shared that she was laid off from her job two days before she was crowned Miss Universe Malta in July 2025

• Between her duties as a national winner and her participation on the international stage in November, Cluett said she was without income for a total of seven months

Miss Universe Malta winnerJulia Ann Cluettis pulling back the curtain on the not-so-glamorous side of preparing to take a pageant stage.

Cluett was one of three beauty queens who appeared on an episode ofThe SHE Wordpodcast on Thursday, Feb. 19. Host Sasha Vella also welcomed Ella Gatt Baldacchino, who won Miss Universe Malta in 2023, and Miss Grand International Malta Shailey Micallef.

The group discussed a variety of issues and topics associated with their experiences, including struggles with body image and balancing pageantry with personal and career pursuits. At one point, Vella asked the women about what they feel people don't see from the outside looking in.

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Cluett was quick to list time, effort, dedication and money as things contestants need to have and give to be competitive on a pageant stage. She referenced her own circumstances in July 2025, when she was laid off from her job shortly before winning her national preliminary for Miss Universe, which was held months later.

"I was made redundant two days before the Miss Universe Malta competition," Cluett recounted. "I was even in the process of looking for and getting an apartment at the time, so I lost everything."

She added, "I won Miss Universe Malta, and I'm super, super grateful, don't get me wrong, but there were a lot of things that were ... on my checklist of what I wanted to do that I lost."

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Cluett said she remained unemployed for another seven months while preparing to compete at the international level. The titleholder explained that she wasn't able to find work as she fulfilled her commitments, first to her reign as Miss Universe Malta, which required her to travel on tour, then to represent the country atMiss Universe in Thailandfor three weeks in November.

"What company is going to be like, 'Yes, of course, start with us, and then in September, you leave for two weeks, and then leave for another three weeks in November, it's totally fine.' No one wanted to do that," said Cluett, who has experience working as a psychologist. "I ended up having to sacrifice my job, an apartment, an income in order to be Miss Universe Malta."

The mental health advocate says she didn't take the decision to proceed lightly. Cluett ended up having a notably successful run in Thailand, where she was one of the top 12 finalists from around the world.

She was also named Miss Universe Europe and Middle East, but she still remembers the difficult lead-up to the competition.

"There were a lot of moments where I was like, 'How am I going to do this? How am I going to get through this?' But you have to," Cluett said on the podcast.

Despite all the challenges, Cluett never considered relinquishing her national title and spot at Miss Universe.

"I was like, 'I'm never going to get this opportunity again,'" Cluett reflected. "It was my time."

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NEED TO KNOW

• Bob Barker served as host of The Price Is Right for 35 years, from 1972 to 2007

• Rod Roddy became the show's announcer after being among those who auditioned for the gig after the death of original announcer Johnny Olson in Oct. 1985

• Friend of Roddy opened up about the evolving relationship between Barker and the announcer for an episode of Nostalgia Tonight with Joe Sibilia

There was a lot going on behind the scenes ofThe Price Is Right.

When Rod Roddy came into the game show family in 1986, he had big shoes to fill. The show's original announcer, Johnny Olson, had died in Oct. 1985. Olson had a special bond with hostBob Barker. Early on, Roddy and Barker got along well.

Roddy's friend, fellow announcer Randy West, talked about the tides turning during an appearance onNostalgia Tonight with Joe Sibilia.

"If I may be so bold and disrespectful, Bob Barker liked him because he was not a leading man. Bob, as he was getting on in years, always the alpha male on any show that he did, was very conscious of his appearance and certainly didn't want a leading man type to be competing with," West shared.

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"And Rod, of course, offered no threat for his leading man appearance. So he liked Rod for his second banana look. They liked him for his delivery and his style of voice."

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After over a decade of working together, the shift between the two became palpable for those around the production.

"They were great for the first... 13 or 14 [years]. That was great and they fit together perfectly, top banana and sidekick. It was wonderful. But... there was a strained relationship between the two of them as the years went on," West noted.

"Toward the end, there was not a lot of off-air camaraderie. They were not in a position... Barker would never dismiss Rod from the show because he was such a fan favorite. He was an integral part of the program, but no, they were not friends at the end, and that was a great frustration to Rod, who would talk about it with me. He didn't want to be on anybody's bad side and he felt bad that the relationship had evolved to where they took him off the air."

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While Roddy remained on the show, camera shots of him were limited, which "upset Rod," especially because there was "no single incident" that changed the dynamic between host and announcer.

Craig Kilmore, who hostedThe Late Late Showalso recalled hearing of discord between Barker and Roddy.

"I think one of his friends told me some of the problems with Bob, but Rod didn't really complain about it. But I do know that there was some friction."

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Timothée Chalametsays directorChristopher Nolanjust made him feel much younger than his 30 years.

Chalamet recalled a happy reunion with the director of sci-fi dramaInterstellarat a recent screening of the film that they both attended. He shared the experience during a screening for another of his films,Call Me by Your Name,both part of a career retrospective of the Oscar nominee's work held by American Cinematheque and Cinespia in Los Angeles.

"The whole experience with Nolan, I felt totally like 17 again," Chalamet said at the Feb. 13 event. "I went home, it was shocking ...That was a crazy car ride home for me. I was like, 'Holy sh---, I feel like, you know, the 13 years that elapsed haven't elapsed.'"

Chalamet was still a teenager when he worked with Nolan on the 2014 film. He played Tom, the son ofMatthew McConaughey's Cooper, one of the astronauts sent to identify a new home for humankind.

"We were taking pictures together," Chalamet said of the filmmaker, "and he throws me in a headlock and starts giving me a noogie. I'm like, 'Holy sh---, Chris Nolan's hitting me with a noogie right now.'"

He reminded the Oscar-winning director that he was an adult now. But Nolan was unmoved.

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"I said to him, 'Chris, I'm a 30-year-old man,'" Chalamet shared.

He said Nolan had responded, "Not to me, you're not."

Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with ourEW Dispatch newsletter.The men really bonded over their experience making the movie, which also starred Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Ellen Burstyn, John Lithgow, Mackenzie Foy, and David Oyelowo. It was awarded an Oscar in the category of Best Achievement in Visual Effects.

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Interstellarwas particularly important to Chalamet, who had yet to star in the films he's best known for today, such asCall Me by Your Name(2017),Little Women(2019),Wonka(2023),A Complete Unknown(2024), and last year'sMarty Surpreme, for which he isnominatedfor his third acting Oscar at the March 15 ceremony.

"Though my role is not enormous inInterstellar— I think I was number 12 on the call sheet — this film came to me at a time in life, in my career, where things were certainly not set yet," Chalamet said at theInterstellarscreening. "And it's remained my favorite project I've ever been in. It's the film I've seen the most of, of all the films ever made in human history."

Next up, Chalamet will star inDune: Part Three, which is scheduled to arrive in theaters Dec. 18.

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