Rebecca Cook
Rebecca Cook treats television as a live beat rather than a static listings page, reporting and reviewing the shows, personalities and cultural flashpoints that define contemporary entertainment for Metro’s audience. Her work centres on high-profile scripted series, reality formats and documentaries, and she routinely connects those stories to wider pop culture moments and live entertainment when they touch television and its stars. She writes with a critic’s eye and a reporter’s sense of timing, moving between fast-turn news pieces, features and star-rated reviews across streaming and broadcast.
Television news and streaming coverage
Cook’s day-to-day output on Metro’s entertainment desk is dominated by television news, with a particular focus on streaming thrillers, crime dramas and format-driven reality shows. She covers developments around series such as the espionage drama Slow Horses, including articles on future plot plans and season renewals that highlight how a show’s long-term narrative arc shapes audience anticipation. Headlines on reality formats like Celebrity Traitors are written in narrative terms, framing Ross Kemp’s paranoia as a story element that could “blow up in his face” and signalling the kind of character-driven angle she brings to unscripted television. She also covers prestige documentaries and specials for major platforms, as seen in her coverage of Netflix’s forthcoming Matthew Perry documentary, where the emotional tone of the project and its likely impact on fans are foregrounded. Alongside television, she picks up newsier entertainment angles around music tours, such as the piece on Take That adopting heatwave stadium rules first popularised by Harry Styles, using tour logistics and crowd safety as a way into a broader story about how performers respond to extreme conditions.
TV reviews and critical voice
Cook is an established television critic whose reviews contribute to the ratings tracked by Rotten Tomatoes for both Metro and her previous outlet, Digital Spy. Her TV work includes star-rated assessments of series such as The Beauty season 1 and Hijack season 2, where she focuses on tonal shifts between seasons, the balance of grit and lightness, and whether a showrunner’s creative decisions meet her expectations for the material.
The language of these reviews is direct and metaphor-rich, and she does not hesitate to call out creators when a project falls short, making clear that audiences “deserve” better when she judges a series to be underpowered. At the same time, her review of Slow Horses demonstrates an ability to balance enthusiasm with critique, awarding four stars while noting that the season does not always reach the impeccable standard the show has set for itself and becomes repetitive in places.
Her portfolio also extends into adjacent documentary film, including works like Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards, indicating that she treats televised documentaries and feature-length investigations as part of the same critical landscape.
Celebrity, documentaries and pop culture stories
Cook often builds her coverage around the intersection of television with celebrity narratives and public perception. Her writing on the Matthew Perry documentary homes in on how the project is likely to feel “heartbreaking,” foregrounding the emotional weight of revisiting a beloved actor’s life and struggles through a streaming lens.
In documentary and docu-drama reviews, including coverage of figures such as Huw Edwards, she pays close attention to how programmes frame reputations and controversies, treating these works as both entertainment and media critique. Reality formats and celebrity-led shows receive similar treatment: pieces on Celebrity Traitors focus less on game mechanics than on paranoia, trust and character dynamics, again placing personality at the centre of the story.
Her music-tour reporting, including the Take That heatwave rules story, likewise follows how star decisions ripple out to fans and venues, connecting television, live performance and fandom into a coherent pop culture beat.
Background in digital entertainment journalism
Cook currently serves as a senior TV reporter at Metro, a role she stepped into after working as deputy TV editor at Digital Spy, where she focused on television and entertainment coverage. Her appointment to the senior role at Metro was publicly announced, underscoring that television is her defined beat within the entertainment team.
Before moving into senior positions in TV-focused outlets, she reported across news and features for regional and digital publications, building experience in fast-turn online journalism and audience-focused storytelling. Across Metro and Digital Spy, her bylines span news pieces, interviews, explainers and reviews, which has made her a recognisable name on Rotten Tomatoes and other aggregators tracking television criticism.
This combination of newsroom experience and visible critical work informs her current output, where she treats each show both as a story to cover and as a piece of craft to evaluate.
4 more entertainment journalists.
Abbie Bray
Abbie Bray reports on how television affects the people on screen and the viewers at home. She is acting head of Screen Time, working across national and regional titles on dramas, soaps, factual entertainment and live broadcasts. Her focus includes Death in Paradise, Beyond Paradise, Vera and Midsomer Murders, as well as Gardeners’ World, Our Yorkshire Farm, Countryfile, Garden Rescue and A Place in the Sun. She also covers presenters, long-running series, sports broadcasts, viewer complaints and Ofcom scrutiny. Before Screen Time, she was a TV reporter for Metro and the Daily Express, then held weekend TV editor, assistant TV editor and deputy showbiz editor roles. Her reporting links TV formats to grief, career changes, casting, audience reaction and the personal stakes behind live coverage.
Adam Bloodworth
Adam Bloodworth covers how culture, nightlife and luxury spaces shape modern entertainment and everyday life. He is a Features Journalist and Deputy Life&Style Editor at City A.M., where he has written and commissioned culture and lifestyle features since 2022. He is also Deputy Editor of City A.M. The Magazine. His beat includes film, TV, music, theatre, things to do, restaurants, hotels, members’ clubs, fashion and LGBTQ storytelling. He has written for The Telegraph, The Independent, VICE, Metro and HuffPost UK. He reviews gigs, theatre and restaurants, profiles venues and reports on live-music infrastructure. His work often combines criticism with first-person experience, judging places and performances by their atmosphere, stories and audience experience. He also interviews public figures and appears as an on-air commentator.
Adam England
Adam England stands out for linking celebrity news to wider trends in music, sport, health and everyday life. He is a writer-reporter on the news team at People, where he covers entertainment, culture and lifestyle through timely stories and evergreen explainers. His work has appeared in publications including The Guardian, The Independent, Vice, Dazed, Healthline and Verywell Mind. He writes about music, screen entertainment, celebrity careers, fan communities, sport, cultural history, mental health, travel, pets, relationships and social affairs. His explainers include the 2023 NFL Draft and Bruce Lee’s death. He also reports on sensitive celebrity health stories, such as Lionel Richie cutting a concert short after feeling dizzy. His reporting is clear, factual and service-driven. He strips back jargon and mythology, uses lived experience and expert input where relevant, and avoids sensationalism.
Adam White
Adam White is features editor across culture and lifestyle at The Independent. He writes and commissions long-form features, essays and interviews on film, television, music and entertainment. His work examines how fame, fandom and taste shape contemporary culture, from streaming thrillers and celebrity disclosure to festivals, live music and creative careers. His writing has appeared in Dazed, Huck, i-D, Playboy, The Telegraph, The i, Little White Lies, The Quietus and Nylon. He uses a strong, voice-led style that combines reporting, observation and personal immersion. His streaming coverage treats television as something experienced as much as watched. His celebrity essays connect star narratives to wider questions about privacy and public image. His festival writing focuses on audiences and live events as cultural rituals. His interviews with film-makers and authors rely on rapport, extended stories and reflection.