Jersey Shore

PEOPLE EXCLUSIVE: Meet Snooki’s New Boyfriend!

February 9, 2010


Just a month ago, Snooki told PEOPLE that she was looking for love. Well, it seems she got her wish: Just a week or so ago, the Jersey Shore breakout star started dating 21-year-old Emilio Masella, a personal trainer at the Gold’s Gym in New Haven, Conn.

“We met on Facebook over a year ago,” Masella tells PEOPLE exclusively. “We started talking online again before the show even started airing and started hanging out again.”

Just a few days ago, Masella said he and Snooki (real name: Nicole Polizzi), 22, began dating exclusively.

“We have a lot in common,” he says. “I think our features… It’s really weird but we do [look alike]. It’s cute though!”

In their spare time, the couple goes to parties and clubs for her official appearances, but, “When she’s not working, we watch movies and relax so she can be normal for once. … We wanted to go see Dear John but we didn’t have time!”

And that’s how Masella prefers it. Though he’s OK with the amount of attention his famous girlfriend gets, he admits that “after awhile, it does get annoying, but it’s all right — it’s kind of expected.”

Despite all the fame and flashbulbs that surround Snooki, Masella says he likes her for who she is — not the character portrayed on the MTV reality show.

“Honestly, I think that what they show on the show, that’s not really her,” he says. “She’s actually really sweet and down-to-earth but the show makes her look like she’s a crazy party girl. It doesn’t show her other side.”

“She really just speaks what on her mind — she tells it how it is, which is nice,” he adds. Plus, “She talks to me for me, a lot of girls hit on me for how I look, but she actually got to know me.”

Masella also says that while he’s just now begun calling her his “girlfriend,” he’s already met her parents (yup, dad approves!) and the two have already discussed Masella possibly appearing on season two of Jersey Shore.

“She already told me she wants me to,” he says. “I would want to see her — being away for a month, that’s kind of a long time. I definitely would want to go see her.”

–Lesley Messer

Splash News Online

American Idol

Ellen Reveals Her Approach to American Idol – and Simon Cowell

February 9, 2010

Ellen DeGeneres isn’t denying speculation that she and Simon Cowell butted heads while taping American Idol in recent weeks. In fact, she says the judges’ contrasting styles is part of what makes the show so compelling.

“Everyone’s making such a big deal about the tension,” Idol’s newest judge told Ryan Seacrest on his KIIS-FM radio show Tuesday. “You know, there’s been a lot of fun on that panel. Kara [DioGuardi]’s been great, and Randy [Jackson]’s been great. And I think it was either Wednesday or Tuesday, Simon was great.”

All joking aside, DeGeneres said of Cowell: “I think he’s a funny guy and I think he’s a smart guy. I like Simon. He’s going to be a challenge. He’s Simon, and I’m me. We are completely different people. We’ll see how it goes.” Read the rest of this entry »

Lost

SPOILER ALERT: Emilie de Ravin Spills Lost Secrets

February 9, 2010

Lost’s final season continues Tuesday with a Kate-centric outing that promises not only to shed more light on the mysteries surrounding the freckled fugitive (Evangeline Lilly) but also the back-with-a-vengeance Claire (Emilie de Ravin).

The two characters’ journeys have long been intertwined, thanks to the child they both love: Aaron. Kate stepped up to raise the son Claire gave birth to on the island after the single mom disappeared — and briefly resurfaced in Jacob’s cabin — during season 4. And judging from last week’s premiere — when a handcuffed Kate hijacked Claire’s cab in a desperate attempt to elude the U.S. Marshall intent on bringing her to justice — not even the new flash-sideways can keep the two women out of each other’s lives. Read the rest of this entry »

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Survivor, TV News

Jeff Probst Returns As Survivor Host

February 9, 2010

The host has spoken! Jeff Probst is staying on Survivor for its 21st and 22nd seasons, he tells PEOPLE.

“After 10 years and 20 seasons, it felt like a prudent and thoughtful thing to take a moment and breathe and think, ‘what’s next for me?’” says Probst, 47. “But I started to come back to the same conclusion, which was I am not finished with Survivor yet. It’s the right way to go.”

Helping him make the decision was a good working experience on the latest edition, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, which premieres Feb. 11 (8 p.m. EST) on CBS. “I think Heroes vs. Villains is going to satisfy on every level,” he says, “so what’s inspiring about that is we are coming off Samoa with Russell and a season with 20 returning all-stars, so we have to do something special with 21 and 22. We have to be on our game and get very creative, so that is very exciting.”

It also helped to have a reunion celebration for the 10 years the show has been on. “It really hit me when I walked in to the party a month ago and saw the logos for the 20 seasons on the wall,” Probst says. “That was a really great kick in the pants for me to say, ‘Don’t be embarrassed to be proud of what the team has accomplished.’ Twenty seasons is a lot of television. I am very much aware that I have one of the top 10 jobs on television. I get it.” Read the rest of this entry »

The Bachelor

Jake’s Bachelor Blog: ‘My Heart Stopped’ When Ali Left

February 9, 2010

Hello All!

This week was incredible. Each of the four families I met were great but I have to admit — I was a little nervous!

New York City was a great place to visit first. Gia was completely energized being back in New York City and it really showed that she was finally in a comfortable, familiar environment. We had so much fun on our date! I loved sightseeing by boat, which was something I had never done there. Gia has a very loving family but I was wondering whether or not they would accept a Southern guy. Surprisingly, I had a lot in common with her dad. Her mom was very curious as to how I could be falling in love with Gia and three other women at the same time and it was clear it made her uncomfortable. Apparently, it made her need tarot cards! Let me just say, tarot cards are not my forte at all, but I played along. One thing that you didn’t get to see on Monday night was Gia’s mom explaining to me that it had been years since she had read someone’s cards. That’s why she employed the help of Reading Tarot Cards For Dummies. I about died laughing when she pulled that book out! I love Gia’s mom! That was definitely a highlight of the evening. Read the rest of this entry »

TV News

Super Bowl Eclipses M*A*S*H Finale as Most-Watched TV Show

February 8, 2010

A long-standing television record was rewritten last night, as CBS’s broadcast of Super Bowl XLIV became the most-watched TV program in history.

Nielsen says 106.5 million TV viewers watched the New Orleans Saints defeat the Indianapolis Colts, according to reports by the Associated Press. That surpasses the 105.97 million who watched the series finale of M*A*S*H on Feb. 28, 1983, which was also aired on CBS.

The previous record viewership for a Super Bowl was set just last year, when 98.7 million people watched the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals.

See how the stars celebrated the big game.

While Drew Brees and Peyton Manning certainly attracted plenty of attention on Sunday night, Hawkeye and Klinger can be comfortable knowing their mark was made in an era with fewer TV sets and a smaller population. –Tim Nudd

Tell us: What was your favorite Super Bowl moment? Saints or Colts?

Andy Lyons/Getty

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America's Next Top Model

Vogue’s André Leon Talley Joins America’s Next Top Model

February 8, 2010

It took a while, but after 13 cycles of America’s Next Top Model, Tyra Banks has finally convinced Vogue editor-at-large André Leon Talley to take a seat at the judges’ table.

Talley, 60, a heavyweight in the fashion world for decades, was one of the first people Banks approached eight years ago when she was planning Top Model. “At that point, I said no because it was the beginning. I was thinking I wanted to see where it goes,” he tells Women’s Wear Daily.

Of course, the show has been a sensation. And now Talley, who says he’s never actually seen the show, has signed up for three cycles — beginning with cycle 14, which premieres March 10 on the CW. At the judges’ table, he succeeds runway coach J. Alexander, who will focus again on working with the contestants.

“I felt maybe I could contribute something to it that had not been on the show,” Talley says. “I just felt that it was a way to step out of the box and associate myself with a very important American success story, a very important brand — Tyra Banks.”

For her part, Banks says Talley will help steer the show in a more high-fashion direction. “André speaks about fashion and he has such a passion, and the words — the adverbs, the adjectives — he uses!” she says. “I know it’s going to make the viewer at home go, ‘Wowww.’” She adds, “It might go over their head, but he’s educating them about a time, bringing them back to a place when fashion was life.” –Tim Nudd

Jemal Countess/WireImage; Johnny Nunez/WireImage

TV News

PEOPLE TV Critic Picks Best Super Bowl Ads

February 8, 2010

The stakes are so high for commericals aired during the big game. In the course of an ordinary broadcast, they’re just meant to register as discreet wrinkles in the memory. But on Super Bowl Sunday they’re expected to be events in themselves. Poor little guys! This wasn’t a great year, overall — heavier on wrinkles than events. The promo for the Late Show that had Oprah wedged between a bickering Jay Leno and David Letterman certainly got people talking, but the basic question it raised — why is Leno doing an ad for Letterman?! — created a nagging frustration that psychologists call cognitive dissonance. Commercials shouldn’t do that.

Here are the ones that worked best for me:

“Joyride Dream” for Kia: Close to wonderful. A bunch of human-sized toys live out their wildest dreams of adventure in a Kia Sorento as they head for Vegas. A sock monkey makes snow angels, jet-skis, rides an electric bronco and gets a tattoo stitched into his arm. Great song choice backing the ad: The Heavy’s “How You Like Me Now.” Read the rest of this entry »

The Bachelor

The Bachelor’s Corrie Is ‘Proud’ to Be a Virgin

February 5, 2010

She finally scored her first one-on-one date, but Corrie Adamson, 23, could never quite catch up in the race for Bachelor Jake’s heart. The wardrobe consultant from Birmingham, Ala., spoke with PEOPLE about her lack of aggression, the controversial Vienna and whether she regrets admitting her virginity on TV. –Carrie Bell

You complained you were always a step behind the others.
Jake and I had only one date. Our one-on-one was very much a first date. My feelings for him were not extremely developed and I was behind the other girls. There were a lot of strong personalities there and they dominated our [group] time with Jake. I’m not loud and look-at-me so I don’t think Jake got to see how much I laugh or how easygoing I am. In his defense, how hard is it to pay attention to eight girls at one time?

Should you have pursued him more aggressively?
It isn’t really my personality to go after a guy. I let them come after me. I was just being myself. In general, there isn’t anything I’d do too differently. I got to the top five [not] chasing after him and there were girls who were chasing and got sent home before me. He’ll be a catch for whoever he ends up with, but I don’t think I was the girl for Jake. We just didn’t click. Read the rest of this entry »

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Dancing with the Stars

Karina Smirnoff’s Dream Dancing Partner Is John Stamos

February 5, 2010

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. Read the rest of this entry »

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