Simone Biles recently got emotional about her experience at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo on *The Today Show—*in fact, she says she’s “still scared” to do gymnastics.  

As you may remember, Biles removed herself from the gymnastics team competition at the Tokyo Olympics over the summer, citing that she needed to focus on her mental health and that her mind and body were not in sync. Biles later said she had the twisties, a condition athletes can experience when they lose air awareness that puts them at high risk for injury when they land. 

Simone Biles got emotional speaking about how the twisties impacted her during a segment with Hoda Kotb on the Thursday, October 21 episode of Today. Kotb asked Biles if she still has the twisties while on the road and performing for the Gold Over America Tour.

“I don’t twist. I do … my signature moves on the floor, but that’s never affected me,” Biles replied. “Everything else just, like, weighs so heavy, and I watch the girls do it and it’s just, it’s not the same.”

Biles added, while holding back tears, “To do something that I’ve done forever and just not be able to do it because of everything I’ve gone through is really crazy because I love this sport so much. But it’s hard. I’m sorry. And I don’t think people understand the magnitude of what I go through.”

After Biles quit the competition, some uninformed people online called her a quitter. In response, Biles explained the twisties in detail on her Instagram story. “For anyone saying I quit: I didn’t quit, my mind & body are simply not in sync as you can see here. I don’t think you realize how dangerous this is on hard/competition surface nor do I have to explain why I put health first.”

While the twisties have been difficult, Biles is proud that she can be a leader and encourage others to be open about their mental health. “For so many years, to go through everything that I’ve gone through, put on a front, I’m proud of myself and I’m happy I can be a leader for the survivors and bring courage to everybody speaking up,” Biles said. “So I’m happy to be a voice for them. But we go through our own things. It’s hard. The twisting once I got back will come back, but I’m still scared to do gymnastics.” 

You can watch the interview here:

If there was one woman you looked up to coming of age as a young Black girl in the 2000s, it was Eve. With divine bone structure, a powerful short blonde haircut, and bars for days, Eve was like the beautiful, tough older sister we all wish we had.

She dropped her debut album, Let There Be Eve…Ruff Ryders’ First Lady, in 1999. It charted number one on the Billboard 200, making the Philly native the third female rapper to achieve the accolade. What followed was a career that places Eve as an undeniable icon in the rap game. “Who’s That Girl,” the first single from her 2001 album Scorpion, was listed number 97 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop; in that same year, she won the BET award for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist. Eve also took home a Grammy in 2002 for her song featuring Gwen Stefani, “Let Me Blow Ya Mind,” for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.

But Eve didn’t just stop at music. After starring in hits like Barbershop and appearing in other movies like Charlie’s Angels, she dropped her eponymous comedy sitcom Eve on UPN. In 2014, Eve became a co-host on talk show The Talk and just last year received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination along with her Talk co-stars.

Now married with four stepchildren, Eve is living in the UK and still doing what she does best: living her life to the fullest. The rap queen returned to the screen on October 19 in Queens, a new ABC series starring Eve, Naturi Naughton, Brandy, and Nadine Velazquez as former girl group members trying to recapture the height of their glory days.

And 20 years after the release of Scorpion, Eve spoke with Glamour about some of her most memorable rap moments. For the latest edition of 5 Songs, 5 Stories, the rapper talks about how some of her favorite songs came to be.

“Let Me Blow Ya Mind” featuring Gwen Stefani

Considered one of the most successful rap/pop collaborations of all time, “Let Me Blow Ya Mind” propelled Eve into an entirely new musical orbit. Her lyrics tackle what it means to be mainstream and the longevity of her rap career. Eve took home a Grammy for the song and the music video won an MTV Video Award.

Meghan Markle opened up about the difficulties from her childhood and the challenges of being a parent in a letter to Congress.

In it, Markle asked Congress to support paid parental leave policies in support of President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda. The letter, published by Paid Leave For All, asks Congress to understand the needs of Americans who often have to choose work over their children or make sacrifices in their careers to care for their children. The pandemic has made these choices even more difficult.

“Over the past 20 months, the pandemic has exposed long-existing fault lines in our communities,” Markle wrote. “At an alarming rate, millions of women dropped out of the workforce, staying home with their kids as schools and daycares were closed, and looking after loved ones full-time. The working mom or parent is facing the conflict of being present or being paid. The sacrifice of either comes at a great cost.”

Markle then went into more detail about her own parents, who had to make similar sacrifices. “I grew up on the $4.99 salad bar at Sizzler — it may have cost less back then (to be honest, I can’t remember) — but what I do remember was the feeling: I knew how hard my parents worked to afford this because even at five bucks, eating out was something special, and I felt lucky. Even [saving money] was a luxury — because usually it was about making ends meet and having enough to pay my rent and put gas in my car.”

Markle addressed the challenges she and Prince Harry have faced as parents, while also recognizing the privilege to have the opportunity to take time off from their careers following the birth of their daughter, Lili, in June, a luxury that most Americans do not have. 

“In June, my husband and I welcomed our second child. Like any parents, we were overjoyed. Like many parents, we were overwhelmed. Like fewer parents, we weren’t confronted with the harsh reality of either spending those first few critical months with our baby or going back to work. We knew we could take her home and in that vital (and sacred) stage, devote any and everything to our kids and to our family. We knew that by doing so we wouldn’t have to make impossible choices about childcare, work, and medical care that so many have to make every single day,” she wrote.

When Lili was born in June, the couple took time off from their nonprofit, Archwell. 

“Paid leave should be a national right, rather than a patchwork option limited to those whose employers have policies in place, or those who live in one of the few states where a leave program exists,” Meghan Markle continued. “This is about putting families above politics.”

The 2021 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is just a few weeks away, and we’re already excited to see the balloons, floats and performances. After going virtual last year because of the pandemic (the event was still held, but without a crowd), this year it will return in its full form. 

We know you’re going to want to watch it live, if for nothing else, then at least to understand the memes and tweets. Also, there will be a Baby Yoda balloon, and no one wants to miss that. Move over Santa, because Grogu is the new Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade King. 

“We applaud Macy’s work to creatively continue this beloved tradition last year and look forward to welcoming back parade-watchers to experience it safely, live, and in-person this November,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement.

But how to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade?

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade begins at 9 a.m. and ends at 12 p.m. in all time zones. In case you missed the first airing because of peeling potatoes or tending to a turkey or a needy relative, you can catch the rerun of the parade at 2 p.m. 

You can watch the 95th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade live on NBC. If you don’t have a TV, you can live stream the parade on NBC’s website or on the NBC App but you’ll need a TV provider to get access to the stream. Or, if it’s convenient, you could watch the parade from the Manhattan curb because spectators are once again welcome this year after last year’s ban due to the pandemic. 

If you’re a cable cutter, there are still plenty of options to stream the parade. First, you could beg a friend or relative to give you their TV provider information. If they do, you can thank them—it is Thanksgiving, after all. If that’s not an option, you can sign up for a free trial of services like Hulu + Live TV, which adds a live TV feature to your Hulu account. Currently, Hulu allows users a 7-day Hulu + Live free trial, then it will charge you for the service. It’s like having cable again, but on Hulu. YouTube TV is a similar service that also provides a free trial to new subscribers (so if you did this same thing last Thanksgiving, you won’t get another free trial). For YouTube TV, free trial time varies depending on the option you select. 

As for Peacock, it’s still up in the air. NBC’s streaming service doesn’t carry live coverage of all their programming, but in the past they’ve let users watch events like SNL live…so, it might happen! We expect an announcement on that closer to the date and will update when more information is available.

And after it’s all done, we suggest turning on one of the best Thanksgiving movies for families, firing up our Thanksgiving music playlist, or checking out some Thanksgiving shows.