Even though Dancing With the Stars pro Karina Smirnoff just returned from a trip to Turks and Caicos with St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Brad Penny, she is hot to trot with John Stamos for the new season of the show, which begins March 22.
“I have a wish to dance with John Stamos,” Smirnoff told People Thursday at the opening of Haimov Jewelers in Miami. “I wanted him to be my celebrity partner. He finished Bye Bye Birdie on Broadway and he has had enough time to rest.”
Smirnoff says Stamos has been approached about competing on Dancing with the Stars but told her he needs a respite after his stint on Broadway that ended in November. Still, she is holding out hope that he’ll make the right decision.
“I am a workaholic and think he needs to dance with me,” she tells People. “I love 12 to 14 hour days of dancing, and I want to do it with John. He could be a great dancer.”
Smirnoff, who competed last season with Aaron Carter, looked tanned and healthy after her vacation in the Caribbean, where she sunned and ran on the beach in a colorful array of tiny bikinis, she said.
“Brad is a really good friend,” Smirnoff tells People. “We had a blast on the beach. He is amazing and a totally different kind of person who grew up in Oklahoma. He is a real gentleman.”
When Valerie Bertnelli joined Jenny Craig in March 2007, she had one goal in mind: lose 40 pounds. Not only did she shed the weight, she showed off her svelte new body in a bikini on the cover of People magazine!
Since then, the actress has written two books and released a fitness DVD. So what’s left? “For me, my 2010 goal, believe it or not, is to run the Boston marathon, four days before I turn 50!” says Bertinelli, who revealed her plan during a Jenny Craig press conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
Last year Valerie reached a previous goal of completing a half-marathon, but she’s still feeling the jitters when it comes to crossing the finish line at 26.2 miles. “I’m a little nervous. I’m a little excited. Just keep your fingers crossed and wish me luck,” said the actress, who was quick to offer encouragement to her fellow Jenny Craig spokespeople. “I wanted to take this opportunity to say to the gorgeous Sara Rue, congratulations. Girl, you go! I’m so very proud of you. And Jason [Alexander], Dude. I so knew you could do this and congrats to you too. And congrats for starting the new year off right.”
Touring with Nick Jonas was an eye-opening experience for Diane Birch.
Thanks to the teen idol’s rabid fans, the retro-pop singer-songwriter, 27, says she witnessed something “similar to Beatlemania” while on the road with Jonas, 17, earlier this year.
“I was really surprised at the craziness of the fans and how insane they are – and how genuinely sweet,” says the retro-pop singer-songwriter, 27, whose song “Valentino” is on the movie soundtrack to the upcoming Valentine’s Day. “They would spend hours in the freezing cold just to catch a glimpse of him.”
Birch logged some indoor quality with Jonas, whom she calls “super normal and super sweet.” And also very mature: “The first thing that really surprised me was how much of a leader and how much of a showman he was onstage,” she tells People. Offstage, she says, he’s “very quiet and serious.”
When not performing, the pair swapped “funny stories” during lunch breaks and even worked on a duet. “We spent a lot of time one day in his dressing room just playing around. I was playing keyboard and he was playing guitar and we were just trying to work out something, and that was pretty fun,” she recalls.
Selena Gomez Visits Backstage
Another highlight? Meeting fellow Jonas Brothers Joe, 20, and Kevin, 22, who came to one of their New York City shows. “They were so nice and down-to-earth,” she says. “To just see how normal they are, it was really cool.”
Birch also learned about a Jonas family tradition when Joe gave her boyfriend, art director and model Ariel Stark-Benz, a backstage embrace.
“We went to say goodbye and my boyfriend went to shake his hand and Joe gave him a hug. [It was] kind of awkward, and Joe was like, ‘We’re a hugging kind of family.’ It was really cute. Every time I saw them they were hugging and just really friendly.”
Nick’s brothers weren’t the only famous faces to pop up backstage.
Selena Gomez, Nick’s one-time – and rumored to be current – girlfriend “was there part of the time,” reveals Birch. “She seemed really cool. I think she’s pretty close to the family.”
Even though the tour with Jonas has ended, Birch hopes to hit the road again, this time to Europe to promote her CD Bible Belt.
Jonas, meanwhile, just released Who I Am, his first album with Nick Jonas & The Administration.
Kate Walsh and ex-husband Alex Young have finalized their divorce, Los Angeles records show, but the final who-gets-what will come down to a coin toss.
“One-half of the community property furniture and artwork to be divided by alternating picks after the flip of a coin to determine who will pick first,” their settlement agreement reads.
Young, a studio executive, will also receive $627,000 in the settlement as well as one-half of residuals for all work performed by the Private Practice star during their marriage. Walsh, 42, will be keeping ownership of a home, various bank accounts and a piano.
The couple exchanged vows in Sept. 2007 after a whirlwind romance, and were married for a year and two months. They have no children together.
Walsh has been linked since to camera operator Neil Andrea.
I had the privilege of seeing Dear John on Wednesday, and it was such an amazing movie – I chose it as my movie pick for this Friday.
Directed by Lasse Hallström and based on the novel by best-selling author Nicholas Sparks, DEAR JOHN tells the story of John Tyree (Channing Tatum), a young soldier home on leave, and Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried), the idealistic college student he falls in love with during her spring vacation. Over the next seven tumultuous years, the couple is separated by John’s increasingly dangerous deployments. While meeting only sporadically, they stay in touch by sending a continuous stream of love letters overseas–correspondence that eventually triggers fateful consequences.
I was very skeptical going into this movie. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much. Nicholas Sparks’ last book-turned-movie was Night’s in Rodanthe, and I thought that was a terrible movie! I adored The Notebook, so I was hoping Dear John would fall somewhere in between. I can happily say that Dear John may be my new favorite Nicholas Sparks movie.
I didn’t read the book (his books are waaaaaaaaaaay too sappy for me), so I can’t report how accurate the movie is to the book. But what I can say – is that I absolutely adored this movie from beginning to end. The chemistry between Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried is so real, you can almost feel it. You can feel the love they share, you get goosebumps, you get sad, you get happy – right along with them.
Can I just stop and talk about how beautiful Channing Tatum is? Hot dang, is he hot – or what! The movie opens with him surfing – and wow! He’s gorgeous! And luckily for us (and him) he’s quite a great actor! You wouldn’t think so – coming from his previous movies…but move over world! We will be seeing quite a bit more of Channing! And that’s fine by me.
Amanda Seyfried is as gorgeous as ever as Savannah. Does this Mamma Mia star get any prettier? She is beautiful, and has those soulful eyes that suck you in. She played the role of Savannah beautifully, and I can’t wait to see more of her in the future! (Love her on Big Love!)
There are two different relationships going on in Dear John. One between John and Savannah – but the story that is equally as moving, is the story between John and his dad. The relationship is so beautiful, it unfolds like a flower – until the end, when it is unbelievably moving. (Moved me to tears.)
Another thing I loved about this movie was the music. The music was so fitting and beautiful! After the movie was over, I knew I had to buy the soundtrack – which I did (and you can buy it here on iTunes). Songs from Joshua Radin, The Swell Season and Fink help tell this beautiful story, and will leave you wanting to hear all the songs again. Bonus: Amanda Seyfried has a song on the album titled “Little House” and it’s beautiful!
Bottom Line: Your man may not appreciate this movie, but all you girls out there are going to love this. If you liked The Notebook, I think you’re going to love this movie. You’ll have to tell me what you think!
Staying In? Rent: Whip It!
Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) lives in small-town Texas and yearns to break free of her mother’s (Marcia Gay Harden) world of beauty pageants and conformity. Bliss sees her chance when she meets the Hurl Scouts, a roller-derby team; she tries out for the team and wins a slot, lying to her parents about her new hobby. Bliss finds friendship and freedom with her teammates, but a conflict between a championship game and the Bluebonnet beauty pageant threatens to spill her secret.
The movie stars Ellen Page as Bliss, a unhappy teen stuck in the small town of Bodeen, Texas. She has a pageant obsessed mom, played by Marcia Gay Harden and an ex-football star father, played wonderfully by Daniel Stern. (He’s such a great actor, he needs to do more!)
While on a shopping trip with her mother in Austin, Texas, Bliss is introduced to roller derby, and instantly falls in love. What happens next is awfully predictable, but is also completely fun and exciting. Bliss is torn between pleasing her mother by competing in a beauty pageant, and competing with the roller derby team Hurl Scouts. Gee, I wonder what happens!
I think first time director Drew Barrymore did a brilliant job – but my only complaint is that Drew should not have starred in the movie. Her character, a stoner named Smashley Simpson was completely unbelieveble and bordered on annoying. With that said, I totally enjoyed watching Juliette Lewis as the badass, and Jimmy Fallon as the hilarious announcer. PS: Singer-songwriter Landon Pigg made his acting debut as Bliss’ rocker – love interest. I have his album sitting here on my desk – I’ll write that review up soon.
Bottom line – you should definitely check out Whip It! It’s so much fun! I loved it – and will totally be seeing it again!
Reese Witherspoon and Bradley Cooper are attached to star in the romantic comedy, “This Means War,” for 20th Century Fox. McG (“Terminator Salvation,” the “Charlie’s Angels” movies) is in talks to direct.
“War” tells the tale of two best friends, inseparable since childhood, who fall in love with the same woman (Witherspoon). The two men’s bond disintegrates and their ensuing battle escalates to mammoth proportions, with New York City demolished in their wake.
Fox picked up the script back in 1998, with the project seeing its share of producers, directors such as Gore Verbinski and stars such as Martin Lawrence come and go. With McG taking the director’s chair, it seems as if the long-gestating project is finally on track to getting made.
