The parents and stepfather of Riley Strain heartbrokenly spoke out following the discovery of the college student’s body in the Cumberland River in Tennessee on Friday.

“I just ask that you mommas out there hug your babies tight tonight, please,” Riley’s mother, Michelle Whiteid, told reporters on Friday, according to Fox 17.

“Please for me, hug your babies tight tonight.”

Strain’s parents and several other family members wore green, Strain’s favorite color, to honor the University of Missouri student’s memory in the press conference.

Strain went missing earlier this month after being kicked out of a Nashville bar on a trip with his fraternity brothers.

Ryan Gilbert, Strain’s father, thanked the Nashville Police Department, the United Cajun Navy, the community, and his family back home for helping search for his son.

“It’s just unbelievable what they’ve done for us,” Gilbert said.

The finance major’s stepfather, Chris Whiteid, described the last two weeks as an “emotional roller-coaster.”

“We’re quite thankful for everything that you’ve done for our family. The grace that you’ve given us, it means a lot, more than you’ll ever know,” Chris Whiteid said.

“To the people of Nashville, I can’t thank you enough for the support, the love, the encouragement that you’ve shown myself and my wife. You don’t understand how much that meant to us in some of our darkest hours.”

Family, friends, and members of the Nashville community held a candlelight vigil to honor Strain’s family on Gay Street Friday night, one of the last locations where the 22-year-old was last seen.

In a statement provided to The Post Friday, Strain’s Fraternity, Delta Chi, spoke glowingly of their departed brother.

“The Delta Chi Fraternity is deeply saddened by the tragic passing of our esteemed fraternity brother, Riley Strain,” it wrote.

“Our hearts go out to Riley’s family and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time as we work to provide support and resources to all those affected by this tragedy.”

Strain vanished after he left country star Luke Bryan’s honky-tonk bar, Luke’s 32 Bridge, on March 8.

Over the next two weeks, authorities followed a breadcrumb trail of phone pings and grainy surveillance footage, even finding a bank card in his name on the river’s shore earlier this week.

Strain’s body was discovered floating in the river by a worker clearing debris from the shoreline of the Cumberland River at around 7:30 a.m., according to the Metropolitan Nashville Police.

The fire department worked quickly to remove the body from the water before cops confirmed it was the 22-year-old a few hours later.

No foul play is suspected, but an autopsy has been scheduled, police said.

Police Chief John Drake told reporters Strain had been wearing the same shirt, watch, and “other identifying items” that initially led investigators to believe they had found the missing student.

His body was found exactly two weeks after he was last seen.

Soap star Haley Pullos has blamed another driver for a wrong-way car crash that led to her DUI arrest — and asked a judge to dismiss his civil lawsuit over serious injuries.

Pullos, 25, known for playing Molly Lansing-Davis on “General Hospital,” was allegedly under the influence in April 2023 when she drove into oncoming traffic on a Pasadena freeway, flying over a barrier and slamming into the other car.

The actress denied responsibility for the crash and asked the Los Angeles Superior Court to dismiss driver Courtney Wilder’s civil lawsuit, according to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.

She argued that “the damages” were “proximately caused by either the sole negligent and/or intentional conduct of plaintiffs,” and that his recovery costs, “if any, should be reduced by an amount proportionate to the amount by which plaintiffs’ negligent.”

The “Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia” alum further claimed that any damages were out of her control and demanded all claims to be dismissed, according to the news outlet.

When firefighters freed the actress from the wreck, she allegedly became “violent” and shouted, “This is a $400 f–king shirt!”

Police reportedly discovered weed edibles and mini bottles of tequila inside Pullos’ car and authorities said she had the “smell of alcohol on her breath, slurred speech, and watery eyes.”

Pullos was charged with felony DUI causing injury, felony driving with a .08 percent blood-alcohol content causing injury, and misdemeanor hit-and-run resulting in property damage.

She also was accused of driving the wrong way on the freeway.

Wilder claimed the former child actress had been drinking before the crash and in a new complaint ​added the owners of a Pasadena lounge as a defendant.

Pullos has pleaded not guilty in the criminal case but may change it in hopes of getting less than three years in the slammer, or possibly no prison time at all, the Daily Mail reported recently.

Her attorneys told Judge Terry Smerling that they were working on a “potential settlement,” according to the outlet.

The judge reportedly scheduled another hearing for April 8, saying it “should be the last.”

Deputy District Attorney Melany Avanessians told Smerling that if no plea agreement is in place by then, “we will send her to a preliminary hearing,” the Daily Mail reported.

Former talk show host Wendy Williams revealed in her new documentary that she used to down an entire bottle of vodka while lying in bed all day.

In one scene of “Where’s Wendy Williams?”, the 59-year-old is confronted by her manager, Will Selby, who inquires about an empty vodka bottle in her room, per the Daily Mail.

“So, did you eat something, or did you have a liquid lunch,” Selby asks the legendary television personality, who is seen lying in a pink bathrobe in her cheetah-print bed. “Because I came into your room, and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, I happened to notice one of your specialty items.”

“Did you drink this all today,” he further probes.

“Yes,” Williams responds before quickly changing her answer to “no.”

“I don’t know if you need this right now,” Selby adds soothingly.

“I’m not drunk,” protests Williams.

“I never said you was drunk, but I just don’t know if this is a good idea,” Selby says. “So, you think you’re perfectly fine having as many drinks as you want?”

“Perfectly,” an irate Williams retorts before adding “f–k you!”

Selby, pleading to “keep it cool,” tells Williams that he was planning to move the bottle downstairs — a decision that did not sit well with the daytime TV icon.

“Keep it there,” Williams pleads to her manager.

During an on-camera interview, Selby revealed that he doesn’t “know how much alcohol she consumes.”

“I don’t know how much alcohol she consumes, but I threw the damn liquor away,” he said speaking to the camera. “And I’m just gonna be honest with you. I don’t know if it’s gonna stop her.”

“I never feel powerless, but I do feel like I just need help because I can’t do this alone,” Selby laments. “I would be lying to you if I would think that I could conquer alcoholism alone.”

Following the interview, Williams is asked point blank if she plans to stop drinking.

“No,” she responds. ”Will [Selby] drinks. We all drink — why can’t I?”

The shocking scene from the explosive documentary comes days after Williams herself revealed that she had been diagnosed with primary aggressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia.

“On behalf of Wendy Williams Hunter, her care team is sharing this very personal update with her cherished fans, friends and supporters to correct inaccurate and hurtful rumors about her health,” read a statement released Thursday morning.

“As Wendy’s fans are aware, in the past she has been open with the public about her medical
struggles with Graves’ Disease and Lymphedema as well as other significant challenges related
to her health,” it continued. “Over the past few years, questions have been raised at times about Wendy’s ability to process information and many have speculated about Wendy’s condition, particularly when she began to lose words, act erratically at times, and have difficulty understanding financial transactions.

“In 2023, after undergoing a battery of medical tests, Wendy was officially diagnosed with
primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) … [they] have already presented significant hurdles in Wendy’s life.”

Aphasia is a symptom marked by difficulty with language and communication while FTD, a progressive disorder, impacts behavior and cognitive functions.

Bruce Willis is currently battling the same two medical issues. He retired from acting in 2022 due to his aphasia and was diagnosed with FTD in 2023.

Williams later issued her statement regarding her diagnosis.

“I want to say I have immense gratitude for the love and kind words I have received after sharing my diagnosis of Aphasia and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). Let me say, wow! Your response has been overwhelming,” Williams told People on Friday.

“The messages shared with me have touched me, reminding me of the power of unity and the need for compassion,” she continued.

“I hope that others with FTD may benefit from my story. I want to also thank the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration for their kind words of support and their extraordinary efforts to raise awareness of FTD.”

“I continue to need personal space and peace to thrive. Please just know that your positivity and encouragement are deeply appreciated,” Williams concludes.

A man who stabbed a Seattle Marriot guest last year applauded the judge at his sentencing for putting him behind bars for two years — telling him that he was “right to give me time in prison.”

Job Quimpo, 43, was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to undergo mental health and substance abuse treatment after he agreed to a plea deal for the stabbing and attempted mugging of Josh Pond last May, KOMO News reported Tuesday.

“You were right to give me time in prison,” Quimpo told the judge during the hearing earlier this month. Please be merciful, I was under the influence.”

“I’m just glad to see Mr. Pond recovered pretty good… I’m sorry to Josh Pond sincerely,” he told the victim, who attended the hearing.

Prosecutors said Quimpo confronted Pond as the man was waiting for a rideshare car outside the Marriott hotel.

Pond, an attorney who was in the city to attend some legal meetings, told the court that Quimpo demanded he give up his cellphone, and then he proceeded to stab the lawyer twice in the back.

“It was clearly close or had impacted my kidneys… one more millimeter, one more pound of force, or even just a sharper knife would have pierced my kidney,” Pond testified. “It would have resulted in a life threatening and at least a life-long injury.”

After stabbing Pond, Quimpo engaged in a standoff with police, yelling “I will not go to jail,” before he was taken into custody by the SWAT team.

Despite the injury and emotional impact the incident had on him and his family, Pond said he was pleased with the court’s sentence and asked Quimpo to use the prison time and court-ordered treatment to better himself.

“I hope and pray for a good recovery for Mr. Quimpo on all fronts – substance, mental health, and as a human .. whether or not 27 months is the right amount, I’ll defer to yourself, your honor, but I am very glad there is treatment,” Pond said during the hearing.

The conviction is only the latest for Quimpo, who has a history of arrests in King County.

Court records show Quimpo has been previously convicted of assault, burglary, criminal trespass, resisting arrest, obstruction, carrying a concealed dangerous knife, use of drug paraphernalia, criminal solicitation, theft and malicious mischief.

Pond’s stabbing came amid soaring crime rates in Seattle last year, which prompted more than a quarter-million residents to begin considering moving away from the Emerald City, according to the Seattle Times.

Dolly Parton will always love you, Elle King.

The 78-year-old country icon finally addressed the “Ex’s & Oh’s” singer’s drunken birthday tribute at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee.

“Elle is really a great artist,” Parton told “Extra” of King, 34, who told the audience last month that she was “f—king hammered” while performing Parton’s “Marry Me.”

“She’s a great girl, and she’s been going through of hard things lately,” Parton continued. “She just had a little too much to drink, so let’s just forgive that and forget it and move on, ’cause she felt worse than anyone ever could.”

The Post has contacted reps for King for comment.

King’s drunken performance quickly went viral on TikTok. Fan-captured clips caught her slurring her words during the Parton cover, as well as making up her own lyrics to the classic song.

“I don’t know the lyrics to these things in this f–king town,” King sang. “Don’t tell Dolly ’cause it’s her birthday.

“Everyone’s like, ‘Holy s–t, we bought tickets to this s–t.’ I’m not even going to lie,” she said while putting her hands in her pockets. “Holy s–t. I’m not even going to f–king lie. Y’all bought tickets for this s–t?”

The “America’s Sweetheart” singer then told the unimpressed crowd that they “ain’t gettin’ your money back.”

“I’ll tell you one thing more. Hi, my name is Elle King and I’m f–king hammered,” she added.

The singer has yet to address the incident, but she mysteriously postponed her upcoming concerts for later this year.

King previously battled substance abuse following her divorce from Andrew Ferguson in 2017.

“I was partying so hard to numb emotions that I couldn’t handle at the time,” she told People magazine in 2018. “I realized it was just prolonging the inevitable of dealing with them. And what you have to do, unfortunately, is just feel them, and that sucks.”

She continued: “I thought that by doing drugs it would buy me time to feeling better. And when that wasn’t working, I just realized I was in this other cycle, and that I was creating it myself. And I realized I needed to cut all the darkness out of my life.”

In 2022, King, who has a son, Lucky, 2, with fiancé Dan Tooker, told the San Diego Union Tribune that she had better control over her drinking.

“The music I made stone cold sober and organically has been some of my favorite music I’ve ever created. It doesn’t mean I’m not proud of the music I made when I wasn’t completely sober, but do I want to go back in time to who I was and give her a hug? Yeah, I do,” she told the outlet at the time. “Everything is about moving forward. But at the same time, I really like to drink and sing. I don’t want to get as drunk as I used to.”

King added: “My band did tell me when I was sober and eight months pregnant: ‘Elle, we’ve never seen you sing so good.’”

Your social media is probably flooded with self-improvement posts right now. 

Maybe even a couple of announcements from loved ones saying they’re staying sober for the whole month of January. 

Around the world, the tradition is growing in popularity. 

In the UK, where the campaign started in 2013, more than 8.5 million people said they planned to stay off the booze for a month this year, according to a poll run by Alcohol Change UK. In 2013, only 4,000 signed up for the challenge. 

But how much difference can a teetotal month make to our health? 

The dangers of alcohol consumption are well established, with alcohol abuse among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, according to The Lancet.

Almost one in five Europeans reported having heavy drinking episodes – more than six units of alcohol in one sitting – at least once a month in 2019.

Long-term excessive alcohol consumption increases your risk of:

• Cirrhosis of the liver
• Cancer, particularly breast cancer and esophageal cancer
• Heart failure
• High blood pressure

There is no safe level of drinking, say the World Health Organisation. Avoiding alcohol is the only way to avoid its damaging effects.

Observing Dry January has been shown to impart significant health benefits, according to multiple studies.

Two of them were carried out by Dr Rajiv Jalan, professor of hepatology at University College London (UCL). Although not a randomised study, Jalan said the results were striking.

“The most important one that we saw in patients was the feeling of energy, as well as increased concentration and sleep. Most of them lost weight, nearly 2 to 3 kilograms over one month,” he told Euronews referring to a study he conducted on a small group of staff from the New Scientist magazine in 2013.

In 2018, Dr Jalan completed new research on a larger group of hospital workers who decided to partake in the challenge compared to other individuals who did not. 

“We followed people up after three to six months to ask what impact Dry January had on them. And in general terms, they felt so good in this month that they were more scared to drink during the week. In the following six months, their alcohol consumption stayed low,” he explained. 

The only downside Jalan found was that people said: “They felt they were boring company at parties.”

A negative boomerang effect?

However, a2021 study found that Dry January could trigger a negative boomerang effect like a restrictive diet. 

The British Liver Trust suggests staying off the booze two or three days every week, allowing the liver to recover regularly, rather than abstaining for one month and then going back to old habits. 

But Joe Marley, Director of Communications at Alcohol Change UK, says studies have shown otherwise.

“It’s a little bit of a myth that people kind of boomerang when they take part in Dry January. Seven in ten people are drinking more mindfully, in a healthier way, even six months down the line. So there’s not really any evidence for that cliff edge at the end of January that people kind of fall back into old habits,” he told Euronews. 

Is there anyone who shouldn’t partake in Dry January?

According to all the experts we talked to, the campaign is meant for social drinkers, not for people seeking recovery from alcohol abuse. 

“If you are physically dependent on alcohol to the point where you would experience dangerous withdrawal symptoms, then Dry January isn’t right for you. It could be life-threatening. If you think that you’re in that scenario, it’s still possible to take control of your drinking, but you need to have a conversation with your GP,” warned Marley.

It’s wine o’clock somewhere.

Mike Tindall has divulged the nickname he has for Prince William and he believes the Prince of Wales is an epic fail when it comes to throwing back a few beers with the boys.

The former rugby player — who is the husband of Zara Tindall, Princess Anne’s youngest child — revealed the moniker on an episode of fellow sportsman Rob Burrow’s podcast “Seven.”

The 45-year-old joked that he loves to call King Charles’ eldest son, 41, “One Pint Willy.”

Tindall quipped: “He is known to me as ‘One Pint Willy’ because he is not the best of drinkers.

“Coming from a sport where it is built on the social aspect and a couple of beers being sunk quite often. That is one I will give away for the Prince of Wales,” he went on.

“Oh my God. It’s out there now. Sorry sir,” he added.

Zara, 42, also appeared on the radio show and couldn’t help but laugh at the nickname.

“Oh my God. You are in so much trouble,” the equestrian giggled.

Zara, who is William’s cousin and a niece of King Charles, married Tindall in 2011 after dating for eight years.

They have three children: Mia, 9, Lena, 5, and Lucas, 2.

On an episode of the reality show “I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!” Tindall revealed a funny, yet embarrassing, moment he endured when he encountered the princess, 73.

The ex-World Cup winner recalled feeling some shame after “slut dropping” in front of Anne.

The red-faced moment occurred at Zara’s ’70s-themed 30th birthday party.

“I was dancing on the dance floor, I had like flares on, full outfit but it was quite tight, nothing ever fits – rugby player’s bum and legs – so I was dancing with my mother-in-law and I did a slut drop in front of my mother-in-law,” Tindall said on the show.

He continued: “Ripped my trousers, straight in front of her. It happened to be that the boxers that I had on at that time said ‘nibble my nuts.’ ”

“As I’ve turned round, she’s gone, ‘I’d rather not.’ I’ve gone, ‘I’m going,’ and walked off,” Tindall said.

Zara and her man were also present for Charles’ coronation in May.

However, the ex-athlete was annoyed at the time with his seat placement at the illustrious event at Westminster Abbey.

“It was unbelievable to be sat where we were,” he scoffed in an episode of his podcast, “The Good, The Bad & The Rugby.”

“Quite frustrating that you couldn’t see around the corner, but you had the TV there, and obviously everything that went on sort of [in the] back and front.”

A woman accused of hosting parties for her teenage son and his friends in Northern California where she encouraged them to drink and sexually assault intoxicated girls was charged Monday with more than five dozen felony and misdemeanor counts.

Shannon Marie O’Connor, 49, was indicted by a grand jury in Santa Clara County on 63 charges including child endangerment for furnishing alcohol to minors and aiding and abetting sexual assault, the Mercury News reported.

Seventeen alleged victims testified at the grand jury hearing, the paper said.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether O’Çonnor, who was ordered to remain in jail without bail, had an attorney who could speak to the charges.

Prosecutors contend that O’Connor staged six alcohol-fueled parties in 2020 at her-then home in Los Gatos and other places.

Prosecutors allege she bought beer, vodka, whiskey and other liquor and encouraged the teens, who were mostly 14 and 15, to drink to the point of unconsciousness.

She also told them to keep the gatherings a secret and on several occasions helped teens sneak out of their homes in the middle of the night to attend them, according to court documents.

At a December 2020 party, O’Connor allegedly handed a condom to a boy and pushed him into a room with an intoxicated girl. Both were minors.

The girl was able to get away and locked herself in the bathroom, authorities said in court filings.

During a New Year’s Eve party at her home with about five 14-year-olds, O’Connor allegedly watched and laughed as a drunk teen sexually battered a young girl in bed, authorities alleged.

In another case, she allegedly brought a drunk teen into a bedroom at her home where he sexually assaulted an intoxicated 14-year-old girl.

That girl told investigators that at another party she was so drunk she almost drowned in a hot tub, according to the court filings.

O’Connor was arrested in 2021 in Ada County, Idaho, where she was living at the time.