Ben Flajnik makes his debut as The Bachelor January 2, and if this three-minute preview is any indication, we may be in for the wildest season in Bachelor history. Okay, yes, Chris Harrison says that every season. But we’re serious here! Ben, who was famously rejected by Bachelorette star Ashley Hebert , certainly looks like he has his hands full with these 25 fame-seeking aspiring trophy wives … The Bachelor 2012 Preview Wow. Just a couple of observations / questions we have after that … “When I’m with this woman, I find myself starting to fall in love.” – Ben Flajnik . Nice to see he’s reading the same recycled scripts as every Bachelor . Do the story editors trying to spice up the show in its 16th season by adding a ton of profanity, or are the girls just badasses who are ad-libbing? Between the California winemaker digging up dirt, driving a tractor, and lugging lumber, this has to be the best Bachelor pre-roll footage ever. That clip of Ben quasi-telling off Ashley is the best. Was that a gratuitous half-naked a$$ shot? January 2 can’t get here fast enough!
This Thanksgiving, Lindsay Lohan is taking the time out to recognize the family, friends, and fans that love her, and the opportunities she still has in life. It’s not quite New Year’s, but she’s already resolved to spend the holidays basking in the support of those close to her and leave her legal woes in the past. “Lindsay is being thankful for her family, her fans and for the great year that lies ahead,” Lohan’s rep, Steve Honig, said today, regarding Linds’ plans. One thing she has to look forward to right away? After Thanksgiving, Lilo will promote her nude Playboy spread, in which she will channel Marilyn Monroe . Her cut from that naked venture? Nearly a million dollars. “Lindsay completed a successful photo shoot for Playboy and will be on the cover of the January / February issue, which hits newsstands in late December.” “The pictorial is absolutely fantastic and very tasteful, and will be accompanied by an interview that will let readers see another side of Lindsay,” Honig said . As opposed to her back side, and her front side, etc., etc. As for Thanksgiving, she’ll be spending it with her mom, Dina, sister Ali and two brothers, but, for obvious reasons, not her derelict of society dad Michael. He’ll be cooling his ass in rehab for the time being. Probably a good thing, since every time he drinks, it seems Kate Major calls 911 (she’s in rehab now too). Lindsay Lohan in Playboy sounds …
Kailyn Lowry of Teen Mom 2 is putting her unplanned pregnancy to good use. The youngster has launched a kids clothing line named after the main little man in her life – 22-month-old son, Isaac – who is also the face of the collection! The Isaac Elliott Collection by Little Miss Cupcake features onesies fashioned into vests and tuxedos. Seriously. Check out two pics of the lil’ fella modeling: The response to Kailyn’s new venture has been very positive so far. “I’m overwhelmed with all the sweet things people are saying,” she tweeted after the Isaac Elliott Collection got some radio shout-outs in her native Pennsylvania. “Thank you all for the support. Isaac & I love you all. :o)” Best of luck to Kailyn Lowry while she works on her other full-time job – being a parent – as well as getting her bachelor’s degree in social work. Talk about busy! She’ll also be on Teen Mom Season 2 Dec. 6. Here’s the trailer: Teen Mom 2 Season 2 Trailer
Chris Evans, Ryan Gosling and Liam Hemsworth also make 2011 list. Bradley Cooper Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/ Getty Images Bradley Cooper may find himself in a hot-guy hangover this morning. On Wednesday (November 16), People named the movie star 2011’s Sexiest Man Alive . Beating out the likes of Chris Evans, Ryan Gosling, George Clooney and Liam Hemsworth, the 36-year-old actor tells the magazine he’s a bit surprised by the recognition over his good looks. “I think it’s really cool that a guy who doesn’t look like a model can have this [title],” he said. “I think I’m a decent-looking guy. Sometimes I can look great, and other times, I look horrifying.” He added, “I’m waiting for Dax Shepard to come out, and that it’s an episode of ‘Punk’d.’ ” This year has been kind to the actor, who starred in blockbusters like “The Hangover Part II” and “Limitless.” Though he is currently single, Cooper has been linked to some of Hollywood’s A-list ladies including Renee Zellweger and, most recently, Jennifer Lopez. Of his bachelor status, he said, “If you’re a single man and you happen to be in this business, you’re deemed a player. But I don’t see myself as a ladies’ man.” These days, the woman who might be most excited to learn about his status is the one and only Mrs. Cooper. “First thing I thought was, ‘My mother is going to be so happy,’ ” the actor shared. Cooper’s not the only mama’s boy on the list. Evans also opened up about his mom in the issue, saying, “We’re incredibly tight. Mom can hang — she’s on the level.” And, humility certainly seems to be a trait shared by many of the hotties on this year’s list. “Community” star Joel McHale had this to say about making the list: “I made it because there were a lot of people who were out of town.” Do you agree with People ? Sound off below!
File this under Couples You Never Saw Coming: Emily Maynard and Jeremy Shockey of The Bachelor and Carolina Panthers, respectively, are totally dating! After announcing her split from her fiance Brad Womack in June, the ABC reality show’s fan favorite has moved on to the four-time Pro Bowl NFL tight end. How the heck did that come about? The only downside we can see? Emily not being The Bachelorette in 2012! “They were set up on a blind date,” by a mutual friend on the Panthers staff, according to Us . Their first date? At BLT Steak in Charlotte’s Ritz-Carlton hotel. Sounds like it went pretty darn well. “They’ve been out five times since,” says a pal of Emily Maynard , the single mother of six-year-old Ricki. “She thinks Jeremy is nice, but she’s just having fun!” That’s a good thing. That stiff Brad Womack really wasn’t much in the way of fun … or genuine emotion. He may or may not have been a cyborg, actually. For those who don’t know Jeremy Shockey, the Oklahoma native spent six years making headlines on and off the field as
Feng Luoyu rose to infamy in her native China in 2009 after handing out fliers in Shanghai in an attempt to snare a husband. But her list of demands was extreme – and offended many in her country, where women are a minority and competition for wives is fierce. She#39;s China#39;s answer to Bachelor Pad villain Vienna Girardi. But in New York, where she#39;s started a new life, Feng Luoyu, 26, can go about her life as a manicurist without raising a single eyebrow. “He must be a post-graduate o
Shayne Lamas and Nik Richie are a couple of fame whores. Even so, naming your kid Press? Almost unfathomable. But that’s not even all. The two are reportedly in talks with a management company for Press. Now. Trying to ink a deal for said unborn child to sign talent agency two months before he or she even leaves Shayne’s female parts? We’re at a loss for words. Z Group has made a formal offer to represent the baby and would receive 15 percent of whatever the kid makes in an entertainment job (down the line). That includes as a writer, editor, performer, musician artist, etc. Pretty amazing move, although we’re curious if it involves elementary school plays. Shayne, who won The Bachelor and was engaged to Matt Grant for like 12 hours, and Nik, who runs The Dirty (dot) com, married the night they met. Astoundingly, they are still together after over a year. [Photo: WENN.com]
‘There is still more work for us to do,’ the band says in a statement. By Jocelyn Vena No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani Photo: Bryan Bedder/ Getty Images Considering how long No Doubt fans have been waiting for the release of their next album, it should come as no surprise that they’ll have to wait a little longer. The group took to their official site this week to let fans know it’s going to take a little longer than planned before they drop anything new. “Ideally our new record would be coming out this year but it’s just not ready yet,” the statement reads. “We don’t want to rush this album just to get it out. This collection of songs means everything to us and our only priority right now is to make sure that it’s the best album we can possibly make. There is still more work for us to do. …” The band noted that while no new music will be coming out in 2011, it’s been a big year for them in other ways. “The past twelve months have been eventful; we performed for Paul McCartney and President Obama at the Kennedy Center Honors, three beautiful new No Doubt babies were born, and we’ve recorded in studios all over Los Angeles.” They added at the end of the statement that the delay will actually benefit fans. “We love our fans and are doing this for your ears and want you to know how much we appreciate your patience and support,” they wrote. “There have been some stories circulating about us collaborating with outside producers and artists. Please don’t believe anything you hear unless it comes from us.” The group has been keeping fans up-to-date on the progress of the album through interviews and on Twitter . It will be their first studio release since 2001’s Rock Steady . Related Artists No Doubt
Ballad ‘Up in Flames’ is the final song the band recorded for their upcoming album Mylo Xyloto. By Gil Kaufman Chris Martin Photo: Joe Fox/ WireImage AUSTIN, Texas — For any English band, playing this Texas hipster mecca’s long-running PBS music show “Austin City Limits” is a big checkmark on the rock-and-roll bucket list. Coldplay got their second hash mark on Thursday night, taping a 90-minute special edition of the 37-year-old show just 24 hours before they take the stage for a much bigger crowd just around the corner at Zilker Park as part of the three-day Austin City Limits festival. Like plugging in at New York’s Radio City or Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, it’s the kind of honor that most bands would kill for just once. Only this time, unlike their 2005 appearance, there was also some “Masterpiece Theater”-style acting involved, as they were taping a show intended to air on New Year’s Eve. That time-travel twist required a bit of cold-weather thinking in the midst of one of the hottest summers in Lone Star State history. As they’ve done all year at other festival appearances, the band mixed such crowd favorites as “The Scientist” with half a dozen new songs, including one singer Chris Martin said they just finished last month. (And, as they’ve been doing on this tour, this was all after they walked out to the theme from “Back to the Future”; see above time-travel reference.) Martin started the night at the piano for the album’s gentle coda, which segued right into the driving, triumphant “Hurts Like Heaven,” during which the room filled with candy-colored laser blasts from a pair of neon target set pieces at the back of the stage. The new downtown 2,700-capacity “Limits” studio was decked out like a neon blacklight wonderland, with audience members handed paint-splashed T-shirts as they walked in, which were to be kept under wraps until a big reveal later in the show. The band’s gear was also colorized, with brightly hued chalk-like scribblings covering their amps, piano and drums. It’s hard to describe the rush of watching a band that plays to tens of thousands on stages so tall you have to crane your neck to see them from the front row as they plug in and play just a few feet off the ground, easily within arm’s reach. And if you thought “Yellow” sounded huge in a field with 30,000 of your closest friends, imagine what it’s like when you can count the veins popping on Martin’s forehead. For the new, ripping, U2-esque “Major Minor,” I took a trip up to the control room and watched as the show’s director called out rapid-fire cues while watching a bank of 28 monitors. You can’t get a better feel for the band’s subtle, easy dynamic than watching isolated hi-def close-ups of all four members loping their way through “Lost!” and observing the unspoken internal rhythm that makes their shows so seamless. Drummer Will Champion cranked it up for “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face,” whip-cracking his kit with abandon as if for a moment he thought he was in the Foo Fighters. Ever polite, Martin apologized for being so sweaty — joking that his profuse perspiration is the very thing keeping his band off “The Bachelor” — before he unwrapped the world debut of the final song they finished for their upcoming album Mylo Xyloto . He said the gentle ballad “Up in Flames” — which features a memorable falsetto chorus and hypnotic tick-tock rhythm — was completed just five weeks earlier, just in the nick of time to make the cut. That tune moved into another new mellow one, the acoustic “Us Against the World,” which Martin started over again after dropping a barrage of not-safe-for-PBS f-bombs following a guitar mishap. The second time he got it right, as Champion joined him in perfect harmony on the line “slow it down,” with guitarist Jonny Buckland adding in some tasteful, sustained-note Morse code soloing. It wasn’t quiet for long, though, as “Politik” exploded with driving drums and piano. By the time Martin tinkled out the first notes of “Viva La Vida” on the piano, the audience was already whoa-oh-oooh-ing along. As it cranked up, they were on their feet, ecstatically clapping and singing along as the song built to its familiar crescendo. When the whoa-ooohs really kicked in, Martin jumped up on the drum riser and bounced on his toes, his arms held up like a triumphant prizefighter. With the crowd decked out in their paint-splashed T-shirts, Martin counted down to midnight, pretending it was cold outside, even though everyone in the chilly studio knew 85-degree nighttime swelter shortly awaited them. Confetti canons shot out paper butterflies and three screens covered the Day-Glo toys that descended for the new tune “Charlie Brown,” whose final line, fittingly, is about glowing in the dark. The set crashed to a close with another fresh track, the dark, funky “Paradise,” which seems ripe for a beat-heavy remix (perhaps with a hip-hop break from pal Jay-Z?). The encore rolled out the driving 1-2-3 punch of the swelling “Clocks,” slow-burn epic “Fix You” and recent uplifting single “Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall,” which had Martin pogoing along with, and for a brief moment in the middle of, the ecstatic audience. It was one of those special nights when a band with a major arsenal finds a way to take its giant energy and squeeze it down into a much smaller space, without losing any of their arena-packing magic. Related Artists Coldplay
Before their victory was announced, the entrepreneur Michael Stagliano, 27, found out on camera that aspiring author Holly Durst, 28, was newly engaged to fellow contestant Blake Julian. Michael Stagliano may have won Bachelor Pad with his former fiancée Holly Durst, but the finale proved to be as complicated as it was celebratory. Still recovering from the shock they#39;d heard only an hour before, they spoke with us exclusively at the finale#39;s taping last week in their hometown of Los Ang
