There are many famous names writers and editors known for their regular contributions to the right wing popularist newspaper group the Daily Mail.

Liz Jones, Amanda Platell, Jan Moir, Janet Street Porter, Bel Mooney, Tom Parker Bowles and in the world of politics commentary there are few so brutal as Richard Littlejohn, Sarah Vine and Quentin Letts. Depending on which side of UK politics you sit. Whilst broadly conservative myself I haven’t been a subscriber to the Daily Mail until recently.

The reason I signed up online, a friend of mine had an article published I wanted to support, read and comment on her contribution. I was also curious to see the celebrity gossip columns and culture articles to see if the writing and entertainment segments appealed to me.

I didn’t get very far. The very first article I read online was an expose of Ice Instigator and Donald Trump right hand woman Kristy Noem’s husband Bryon Noem an insurance agency owner and former First Gentleman of South Dakota.

The Daily Mail investigation published on March 31, 2026, revealed leaked photos and messages showing Bryon Noem, husband of Kristi Noem, wearing tight green leggings and pink hotpants as part of an alleged "bimbofication" fetish. The report alleged that over $25,000 was spent on online interactions with fetish models, raising potential security concerns regarding blackmail.

Was this in the public interest I guess so, but you know that feeling when you see something you just can’t unsee, and those feelings of cringe, ick, not remotely interested, what’s the point of this take over, that happened to me immediately after subscribing.

I wanted to unsubscribe. Even though I had 6 months I think for a pound or two a month I knew I wasn’t going back. The Daily Mail just wasn’t for me. Not because I am a prude, I am just not interested in that kind of “sexy” risky behaviour news about people pretending to be something they are not. We all know when you look below the surface most people in the public eye or not have dark secrets, perhaps not to the extent of dressing up in fake over sized breasts and pink hot pants but I’ve lived long enough to know what Bryon Noem was up to is not that unusual.

I caught a normal guy in Marks and Spencer’s carpark getting off with a sex worker on his phone while his wife did the shopping the other day. It took a while for him to realise I was sitting parked next to him observing him. He dropped the phone when he did.

So whilst these things are not that shocking it’s not my kind of news.

When I tried to cancel my subscription I discovered you cannot just do it online like signing up. There’s a separate place that handles cancellations. A phone line and an online chat. Initially I chose the chat but it took about 30 minutes of answering questions why I was cancelling and trying to convince me to keep the subscription in place to enjoy all the puzzles, games and added value in the paper.

Eventually the sales person gave up and agreed to allow me to cancel.

Except it didn’t happen. For a further 3 months the nominal amount £1.99 or something like that maybe £0.99 pence came out of my bank. Of course I wasn’t bothered about the few quid it was just the annoyance of the time I’d wasted and the hassle of getting the blooming thing cancelled.

This time I decided to call them. It took me a while to get through. This time there was a nonchalant apology, you cancelled and for some unknown reason it didn’t happen. Sorry about that.

I did get the money back a couple of weeks later, like I say definitely less than a tenner maybe even less than a fiver but it was the hoops I had to jump through to get myself out of the subscription that was frustrating.

I am sure most people wouldn’t have even spotted to few quid here and there leaving their account, but when I think about that being multiplied by a million or two that’s a good earner.

My advice if you’ve subscribed to The Mail and then cancelled, check your bank, you may still be paying for something you don’t want.

I haven’t included a link to try and cancel. You might end up with a chat box that charges you to speak to a customer service provider. This a third party business charging people to cancel. Yep. I know. I suggest just calling, 0345 071 2721, they want to have the chance to convince you to stay so don’t make cancelling straightforward at all.