An Australian mother has warned parents about squishy toys after one reportedly burst in her 10-year-old son’s face, spraying an unknown substance into his eyes and leaving him vomiting.

Mason Bennett was visiting the Royal Adelaide Show on Friday when he stopped at a stall selling squishy balls and picked one up to inspect it. While playing with the toy, it suddenly exploded.

He began coughing and vomiting immediately after coming into contact with the substance inside the ball and was taken to hospital.

“He just squished it in his hand like any other kid would and the whole thing exploded straight over his whole entire face,” his mother, Amanda, told 7News.

“He was choking on it, finding it hard to breathe, constantly coughing, a little bit wheezy.”

Mason said: “I was going to see if I was going to buy one and it popped on me.”

Photos shared by Ms Bennett showed Mason shielding his eyes with one hand, with redness visible across his face.

Amanda said she did not know what caused her son’s reaction, but feared the toy may have been a counterfeit version of the popular NeeDoh stress-relief products. She said the stall owner was unable to provide packaging or a product code.

‘I asked the lady from the stall what was inside the squishy, and she said she had no idea,’ Ms Bennett said.

‘I’m extremely concerned because if they can’t tell you what the ingredient is, then they shouldn’t be selling them.’

After the toy burst, Ms Bennett said a stranger helped her treat Mason at the stall.

‘Luckily, a man behind us had a water bottle in his hand and… he was tipping that over Mason’s head while I grabbed some baby wipes and his twin brother was hitting him on the back to (dislodge) the squishy from his throat,’ she said.

The boy was discharged from hospital but was still coughing five days later. He returned to Noarlunga Hospital on Tuesday for X-rays to check whether the substance had entered his lungs. 

Ms Bennett is now warning other parents to be aware of similar toys as she called for tighter regulations.

‘Just be very cautious. The one that he was using had, like, a… netting-type plastic over the top of it. That was the one that he was testing at the show,’ she said.

‘I guess to parents, if you’re buying them, check like the packaging, check the ingredients, ask the vendor… what’s inside them.’

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The Daily Mail has contacted the Royal Adelaide Show for comment.

An organiser told 7News that the owner of the stall claimed she sold squishy toys from a reputable brand.

The scare comes just weeks after the Australian Border Force launched a crackdown on fake squishy toys entering the market, amid serious safety concerns.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has ongoing guidance for parents on squishy toys.

‘Some reports have raised concerns about harmful chemicals in these products,’ the watchdog says.

‘The ACCC is aware of reports that exposure to some squishy toys or (their) contents may irritate the skin or eyes, or cause symptoms such as nausea, headache or dizziness.’

Manufacturer Schylling, which produces the globally popular NeeDoh brand, has taken extensive measures to prevent counterfeit products entering the market. 

‘Counterfeit products and websites are coming through thick and fast for NeeDoh,’ Schylling’s Australian distributor William Valentine wrote in an email to retailers. 

‘I’m currently lodging documentation with Australian Customs, which allows them to seize goods at the Australian border for any importer other than us.

‘This should also drastically slow down any of this product reaching the stores.’

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission recently issued similar warnings about knockoff toys widely sold through online marketplaces, social media, discount stores and other retailers. 

Often designed to resemble animals, food and popular characters, the toys may also become dangerously hot when left in direct sunlight, inside a hot vehicle, near a heater or in another high-temperature environment.

The heat can cause a toy to burst, spraying scorching material onto the skin and causing severe burns.

Do you know more? Email kylie.stevens@dailymail.com.au 

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Karl Stefanovic has suffered an early and significant setback in his increasingly acrimonious podcast business split with Keshnee Kemp, after a judge blocked an alleged plan to remove his former partner from their company.

The dispute centres on the podcast venture the pair launched together. Following a breakdown in their working relationship over the show’s content, the former television star had reportedly intended to force Kemp out of the business at a 9am meeting scheduled for Friday.

That meeting was expected to become the flashpoint in the bitter feud between Stefanovic and Kemp, whose relationship with the presenter carries an added personal layer: she and his wife, Jasmine, have been friends since childhood.

Stefanovic was reportedly set to rely on the backing of longtime friend Anthony Bell, who owns a 10 per cent stake, in an effort to remove Kemp as a director of 123 Podcast Pty Ltd.

According to the Daily Mail, Stefanovic and Bell would have held a combined 55 per cent voting majority. The plan was allegedly to appoint Stefanovic’s longtime manager, Sharon Finnigan, as Kemp’s replacement.

However, NSW Supreme Court Justice David “The Hammer” Hammerschlag intervened on Tuesday, preventing the proposed meeting from going ahead and issuing an injunction against Stefanovic convening it.

Kemp’s media and commercial litigation lawyer, Monica Allen of Blackbay Lawyers, lodged an urgent application late on Monday. Justice Hammerschlag granted the order, restraining Stefanovic, his company and the podcast business from convening or holding the meeting proposed for September 18.

The court order also stops Stefanovic from calling a vote to remove Keshnee Deborah Ibrahim, Kemp’s married name, from her position as a company director.

The Daily Mail understands that Kemp brought the urgent legal action against Stefanovic moving against her in the belief that she would receive ‘minimal recompense’ for the company she started with him.

The proposed action to remove Kemp with the help of Bell was, she argued, before her interest in the business had been independently valued.

Celebrity accountant Bell – a longtime friend of Stefanovic as well as acting as his business adviser – owns the minority shareholding via his company Bell Resources.

He was not officially involved in the dispute, however Stefanovic’s power grab was expected to tap into their longstanding alliance.

Instead, Justice Hammerschlag ordered both Stefanovic and Kemp to jointly appoint an independent expert to value the business.

Keshnee’s substantive application alleging ‘oppressive’ conduct by Karl is listed for final hearing on October 13 2026.

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A court document seen by the Daily Mail described Stefanovic’s conduct dating back to August as ‘unfairly prejudicial or discriminatory’.

The long term relationship with Keshnee broke down following his shock sacking from Nine’s Today show on June 25.

Stefanovic lost his job and seven-figure salary after Nine bosses drew a line in the sand over his podcast interview with UK far-right figure Tommy Robinson.

Kemp had proposed splitting from the podcast, twice resulting in the appointment of an independent valuer for 123 Podcast. But Stefanovic backed away from progressing a valuation.

On Tuesday, Stefanovic’s barrister Samuel Murray told the Supreme Court that he wished to confine his valuation to the August 7, 2026 date from when the dispute began.

This was after weeks of negotiation over that date had failed.

Monica Allen, for Keshnee Kemp, said that the podcast had originated when Karl had approached her to build and operate the business.

While he was the talent, it is understood Kemp did ‘the heavy lifting’, building a substantial audience, sponsorship and commercial opportunities while Stefanovic was still at Channel Nine’s Today Show.

Kemp has worked in senior positions at Nine and Pacific Magazines, edited major titles owned by ACP, Bauer and Are magazines and in roles such as Woolworth’s head of content.

The court heard on Tuesday that the relationship between Kemp and Stefanovic had ‘irretrievably broken down’ and that a buy-out of shares was an appropriate resolution, if the parties could agree on a valuer.  

Justice Hammerschlag set down a hearing for October 13, but said that if the parties wanted to meanwhile attend ‘some sort of mediation. I’m happy to do that. If you can’t agree you can come back.’ 

Residents of a quiet village cul-de-sac are embroiled in a parking dispute with developers over plans for a housing estate on land behind their homes.

Angry neighbours living beside the proposed development say they are leaving their vehicles outside their properties to prevent builders and construction equipment from gaining access.

Developer Owl Properties says it has a legal right to enter the land from Pippin Walk in Drakes Broughton, Worcestershire, but residents have so far declined requests to move their cars.

Homeowners and social housing tenants in the area have accused the firm of “bullying and intimidation” and say they are determined not to back down.

People living next to the proposed 30-home development have been told not to park at the entrance to the site, although they say they have nowhere else to leave their vehicles.

Geraldine Price, 70, a disabled NHS administrator, said she and her husband Alan, 75, a retired labourer, could lose the gravel and grass frontage of the bungalow where they have lived for three years if access is granted.

“It’s a nightmare for anyone who enjoys the peace and quiet of living around here,” she told the Daily Mail. “We face the prospect of never being able to open our front sitting room windows and losing the pavement and gravel frontage at the side of our home to make way for widening the road.”

“The housing association and the developer have been knocking on our doors and telling us to move our cars which have always been legitimately parked outside our homes since we signed our tenancy agreement.”

‘The bullying tactics have upset us and made us feel really upset. The idea of having cars and people going by inches from our front window is horrendous. It’s not just about privacy but genuine fears about health and safety.’

The row started after an independent landowner sold the field earmarked for development to Owl Properties.

The deal included a legally recognised easement agreement believed to have existed since 2017 when housing provider Sanctuary bought a separate development site which Pippin Walk is now part of.

Builder Martin Huxley, 49, who has rented his home in the cul-de-sac from Sanctuary for nearly four years, said tenants and private owners should have been told about the easement agreement when they moved on to the estate.

‘Most of the houses were empty round here when I moved in and Sanctuary have been telling us the roads and pavements would be completed and adopted by the local authority ever since but nothing has been done.

‘Owl had a road access point on the other side of the field in Stonebow Road turned down by the planning authority so now they are trying to use our cul-de-sac instead.

‘The first thing the people living here knew anything about an easement agreement was a few months ago when representatives from Sanctuary and Owl started visiting homes and telling people they would have to move their cars because this was going to be the only access to the new housing estate.

‘Since then, some elderly and disabled residents have been told to park on gravel right at the end of the road which have just been marked out with yellow paint.

‘I have an autistic son and there’s a lady living in the road with a disabled daughter but no one is taking into account how we are going to manage when traffic and building vehicles start using it.

‘Some residents are going to be losing part of their house frontages and even some are having drain covers moved from the road into their gardens.

‘Being approached out of the blue and told you no longer have the right to park outside your own home has felt really intimidating.’

Mr Huxley is now chairing a newly formed residents’ association to fight Owl Properties’ plans to use the access and has even discussed asking the developer to sell them the land.

‘It just seems like we’ve been bull-dozed into accepting this which some residents even feel is possibly because we are housing association tenants rather than private owners and don’t deserve a proper consultation,’ he said.

Retired school worker Tracy Price, 61, told how some residents felt betrayed by the housing association.

‘I’m a blue badge holder and use a walker because of my arthritis so living in a quiet little road where no vehicles come up and down is perfect for me,’ she said.

‘I chose to live in a cul-de-sac after moving from the main road in Drakes Broughton because I didn’t want to worry about congestion and traffic. It feels like this has been a fait accompli.’

A homeowner, who did not want to be named, has parked next to the development access site since she moved in three years ago and said it was ‘ridiculous’ to increase traffic in a narrow road without any consideration of safety.

‘If 30 houses are proposed, there could be 60 vehicles coming and going within a few centimetres of our homes,’ she said.

‘And that’s not even taking into account the aggregate and building disruption we are going to have to put up with over the next year. I’m not moving my car.’

A spokesperson for Sanctuary said: ‘The development being accessed via Pippin Walk is not a Sanctuary site and the decision to approve the access route was taken by the Local Planning Authority.

‘While we have asked residents of Pippin Walk to ensure the road is kept clear in line with the developer’s legal right to enter their site, and to protect emergency vehicle access, we are not proposing legal action in relation to this matter unless a further review is required in the future.’

Owl Properties said the developer would not be commenting on the matter.

And a spokesman for Wychavon District Council, which granted the development plans, also declined to comment – citing how the situation was a ‘land dispute and not a planning issue’.

Amanda Seyfried and Thomas Sadoski have ended their marriage after nine years together.

The 40-year-old Mamma Mia! actress and Sadoski, 50, confirmed that they had already been living separately for some time in a joint statement shared with PEOPLE on Tuesday.

‘We have been separated for a while, and it’s proven to be the right move for us and our family unit. We’ve got each other forever—and it’s GOOD,’ the former couple said.

Seyfried and the actor share two children: nine-year-old daughter Nina and five-year-old son Thomas.

They were most recently photographed together on January 9, when Sadoski attended a Chateau Marmont celebration in Los Angeles for Seyfried’s Golden Globe nomination for The Testament of Ann Lee.

The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for both Seyfried and Sadoski for further comment.

Seyfried also appeared to show that the estranged spouses remain on good terms, posting a photo of Sadoski to her Instagram Stories on Tuesday.

In the image, Sadoski was seated at a table with a bearded dragon resting on his shoulder. ‘@thomassadoski is a #reptiledad,’ Seyfried wrote alongside the snapshot.

The actress went on to share a poignant quote about living fully, forgiving others and keeping your heart open.

‘Defend you heart, do whatever it takes to keep it open despite what it has been through. Forgive, not just others, but yourself, as well,’ part of the quote read. ‘Yes yes yes,’ Seyfried wrote underneath.

She also posted a cryptic quote which read: ‘There’s really not a difficult thing unless you decide it’s a difficult thing. Otherwise, it’s just the next thing you’re figuring out.’ 

It’s unclear exactly how long the pair have been separated, but during their last public appearance in January, they appeared close as they posed for photos together. 

In January, Seyfried told Vogue that Sadoski ‘sacrifices a lot for me’ amid her busy career. 

‘He also knows that, in this moment, the opportunities I’m being afforded are insane,’ she added. 

The duo met in 2015 while starring together in the off-Broadway play The Way We Get By. 

Seyfried previously shared that they were both in ‘bad relationships’ when they first met. 

The two crossed paths again while filming The Last Word, where they played love interests. Just months later, they were dating in real life. 

They tied the knot during a private ceremony in California back in March 2017, just days before the birth of their daughter. 

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Recounting her wedding day, she told Net-A-Porter’s digital magazine PorterEdit in 2018: ‘We got married in Topanga, March last year. Just the two of us. And afterwards, I was like, “Can we just go to Cheebo?” It was awesome.’

For Seyfried, it wasn’t at all a difficult decision to eschew the glitz and glamour of an extravagant wedding – the kind embraced by so many of her contemporaries in Hollywood – as she’s used to playing dress-up so frequently in film.

‘I get married all the time,’ she said. ‘I was in a wedding dress last week! I also go to premieres where people take my picture. I just don’t care about all that stuff.’

The star, who was nine months pregnant at the time she tied the knot, had very practical reasons for wanting to get married ahead of giving birth. 

She explained: ‘I really wanted to have rings on in the hospital, you know? And what if something goes wrong, and he’s not legally my husband?’ 

Seyfried, who has previously dated her Mamma Mia! co-star Dominic Cooper and actor Justin Long, also revealed that she was impressed when she first met Sadoski, because they were both in ‘bad relationships – but he didn’t flirt with her.

She said of the timing of their first meeting: ‘We were both in bad relationships…[Thomas] never flirted, never disrespected his wife. That was another reason why I thought, later on, that I could marry him.’

And once Sadoski ended his eight-year marriage to casting director Kimberly Hope, Seyfried shared that it made things ‘healthy’ and ‘freeing’ when they started dating in early 2016.

‘It was amazing,’ she said. ‘It felt healthy and freeing and clean. We can tell the story without any guilt.’

At the time Seyfried also admitted that her husband’s age is exactly what drew her to him, telling PorterEdit: ‘I told my husband: “If you were any younger, I wouldn’t have married you.”‘

Sadoski also spoke about their wedding and his ‘love’ and ‘respect’ for Seyfried while appearing on The Late Late Show with James Corden in 2017.

‘We eloped. We just took off into the country with an officiant and, just the two of us, and we did our thing,’ he said.

‘Listen, she’s the person that I love, admire, respect most in the world,’ he added.

He added that the ceremony ‘was beautiful. It was everything that it should be.’

He also said that the two wrote their own vows. ‘It was just the two of us talking to each other. Then we went out to dinner. We had a great day. It was perfect.’

Throughout their marriage, Seyfried and Sadoski kept their family life mostly out of the spotlight, embracing a quiet life on their farm in upstate New York.

Seyfried has occasionally given fans glimpses into their private life via her social media, sharing photos of their farm and animals.

The actress was recently pictured attending the premiere of The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd solo at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 13.