April 2007 News Archive

We've already heard from Jaclyn Smith in regard to her show, Shear Genius.

Now, the star of Work Out, Jackie Warner, has written a blog about the most recent episode of that fun show. Here it is, courtesy of the official Bravo website:

Working out is very emotional for most people...skinny, heavy, man, woman. The mind body connection is very strong - meaning what we feel about others and ourselves is directly manifested in our bodies.

I make every client burst into tears. No, not because I am mean but because after so many years I have become adept at identifying core emotional issues and I address them head on. This skill comes partly from growing up with a mentally ill parent.

I feel that this was Erika's episode. She looks beautiful as "Angelina" and she deals so well with Meagan, her SkyLab client. Erica is what I call a career trainer and she has been with me the longest. She embodies what an exceptional trainer should be -- highly skilled, hard working, supportive yet tough and an example for clients to look up to.

The grocery trip lasted three hours and was a blast! It's one of my favorite things to do with clients. It's so important for them to show me what THEY like to eat, and then I can make small changes or guide them in a smarter direction. I want people to understand that there are so many tasty healthy options out there and to also know that many of the foods they think are good for them are causing weight gain and depression. The SkyLab clients learned ALL about the evil of SUGAR! So my job is done! Haha!

Don't get me started with America's addiction to sugar!

I had a rough childhood (shocker) and the way I dealt with it was to go everyday after school to my local convenience store and buy bags of candy. I ate so much sugar growing up that I joke with my mom that my growth was stunted (both my parents are quite a bit taller). The two most important things to always consider when eating food are calorie content and sugar content.

Go buy "Sugar Blues" by William Duffy. It was first book of its kind and a really fun read

If I had known how hard it would be to create a grassroots clothing line, I probably would have waited until the show wrapped. I had no idea how hard that would be. And people have asked why I didn't blow up at Steve when the clothing wasn't right. He's a personal friend of mine, and I didn't want to blow up at him on TV, nor would I have done that to anyone. It would have been humiliating. For the record, I did, off-camera, sever that relationship.

I wasn't nearly as nervous as I looked at the meeting with the Paiva people. They have never been anything but great and supportive and I love working with them. And the really good news is that the line will be out at the end of June.

When Lauren Conrad burst on to the reality TV scene, the SoCal cutie had a unique style - casual chic style - that fashion fans immediately latched on to. The Laguna Beach star (and season one narrator) became the idol of many thousands of young viewers.

After a season on Laguna Beach and some time away at college, LC adopted a more clean, collegiate look. Her taste has become more mature, thanks in part to her time as an intern at Teen Vogue, which we know about from her Laguna Beach spin-off, The Hills.

As Lauren has learned, love interests (Jason Wahler, Brody Jenner) and even friends (Heidi Montag, Spencer Pratt) may come and go, but good clothes will never let you down! LC's fashion passion reached new heights earlier this year when she launched her own clothing line!

We're eagerly looking forward to the personal and professional life of Lauren Conrad on season 3 of The Hills. This MTV mainstay is a Scoop favorite.

Mookie Lee's time on Survivor: Fiji brought up a number of questions. Why did he tell Dreamz about the hidden immunity idol? Did he believe Dreamz when he said he'd been backstabbed too? Can he justify going through Yau-Man's bag? Mookie, who bid farewell to the show last week, was kind enough to answer all of this and more in an interview with Reality News Online. Excerpts below.

Q: What was your strategy going into the game?

Mookie: I really didn't have a specific strategy. I think the dynamic of the game changes constantly. They always have different twists. I'm normally a perceptive person, so I [planned to use that]. I defintely didn't want to be that person who puts their foot forward and is on the chopping block, but given the scenario, I was able to adjust and be the person who led a team and then adjust and let other people step forward.

Q: Alex claimed this week that you wanted to go. And I heard from others way back in the Ravu days that you said similar things. Did you really want to go?

Mookie: Obviously, back in the Ravu days, it was out of frustration that I would speak my mind. But my heart wanted to be in it and it showed in how competitive I was. And in being creative, like in the last episode. I may say things out of frustration, but in the end, I have the will to win. I stayed long enough to prove I am a competitor. I definitely showed I wanted to be there.

Q: Why did you tell Dreamz about the idol, especially after Edgardo and Alex asked you not to?

Continue Reading...

Looks like So You Think You Can Dance, America's Got Talent and the several Mark Burnett reality TV shows slated for this summer are going to have some super company.

The Sci Fi Channel has announced that the second season premiere of Who Wants to be a Superhero? - the hit comic book-themed reality TV show that searches for America's next great crime-fighter - will premiere on Wednesday, July 25 at 9 p.m.

In its second season, Who Wants to Be a Superhero? will expand from six to 10 one-hour episodes. Similar to its first season, the second installment will feature legendary comic-book creator and Marvel Comics founder Stan Lee as he tries to find a next generation superhero among a group of contestants who create an alter ego, all the while living together and competing in challenges.

Who Wants to Be a Superhero? will conclude with the winner's character being immortalized in its own comic book by the great Stan Lee.

Casting to find various caped crusaders and masked martyrs for Who Wants to be a Superhero? 2 recently concluded. Applicants were asked to dress in costume, reveal the true nature of their powers, and invoke the noble code by which they live.

Sci Fi Channel renewed Who Wants to be a Superhero? for a second season last October, as its first season averaged 1.5 million viewers.

Matthew Atherton was crowned the winner of Who Wants to be a Superhero?'s first season. "Feedback," Atherton's alter-ego, is a software engineer who got caught in an explosion that riddled his body with hi-tech cellular shrapnel and led him to discover his body now generates a feedback field that shuts down electronic equipment and can absorb powers of video game characters.

Sci Fi Channel also announced Derren Brown Project, a new reality TV series starring British mentalist Derren Brown, will premiere on Wednesday, July 25 at 10 p.m. immediately following Who Wants to be a Superhero?'s season debut.

In addition, new episodes of Ghost Hunters will begin airing on Wednesday, June 6 at 9 p.m. and will be followed by the premiere of Destination Truth, a new Sci Fi Investigates - like reality TV show that investigates some of the world's most talked about and unexplained stories, at 10 p.m.

Donald Trump gave $10,000 to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California to help pay off campaign debts a little more than a month after Mr. Schwarzenegger appeared as a guest star on Mr. Trump's television program The Apprentice: Los Angeles, according to a campaign filing.

In an episode broadcast on March 18, Mr. Schwarzenegger played host to five of the show's contestants in his private conference room at the Capitol.

The governor denies any link between the donation and the television appearance, but some political watchdog groups are skeptical.

"He's clearly using his personal friendships and his celebrity to pay off his campaign debt, and that's just wrong," said Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a group that tracks campaign donations.

A Schwarzenegger spokeswoman, Julie Soderlund, said the April 20 donation was not connected to the governor's appearance on the The Apprentice. The taping took place earlier in the year, but Ms. Soderlund was unsure of the date.

The Donald could not be reached for comment at his company's headquarters in New York.

The donation was Mr. Trump's first to Mr. Schwarzenegger, whom he described as a great friend when he told a group of contestants that they would meet him as a reward for winning a competition.

We understand that this headline is about as groundbreaking as "Katie Price has large boobs," but we still felt the need to report on the recent ranking of Heidi Klum in a magazine survey.

Indeed, the star of Project Runway can now consider herself a favorite of FHM readers, as well. In the publication's annual poll, the beauty was considered the 46th Sexiest Woman in the World.

We'd rank Klum a lot higher, but it's just nice to see her recognized at all. But don't be surprised, FHM, if Tim Gunn calls and lets you have it for not showing Heidi enough love.

Famed reality TV producer Mark Burnett and former Touched By An Angel star Roma Downey were wed in a private ceremony at their home in Malibu, Calif., on Saturday afternoon.

"It was wonderful to have shared our big day with our family. Roma, myself, our children and our parents," Burnett, producing two summer reality shows - On the Lot on FOX and Pirate Master on CBS - told People magazine.

"It was so meaningful and so intimate."

On a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Burnett, 46, and Downey, 47, said their vows in a ceremony officiated by Downey's Angel costar, Della Reese, 75, who's an ordained minister.

Burnett's sons from a previous marriage, James, 13 and Cameron, 10, acted as best man and ring bearer, respectively. Cameron was also ring bearer at the wedding of Donald Trump - star and Burnett's co-executive producer on The Apprentice - to Melania Knauss in January 2005.

Downey's daughter from a previous marriage, Reilly, 10, was a bridesmaid.

Also in attendance were Mark Burnett's father, Archie, 83, dressed in a traditional kilt, and his stepmother, Jean; for Downey, Reese and her husband, Franklin, stood in for her parents, both of whom have passed.

At the end of the 30-minute ceremony, which included family reading passages from novels and poems, a small plane that Downey had hired as a surprise for the Survivor creator flew overhead with a banner that read:

"... and they lived happily ever after."

Retreating to their backyard, the family settled into a seafood reception with shrimp cocktail, fresh lobster salad and broiled lobster tails.

The couple, who had been neighbors in Malibu for years before they started dating in January of 2004, became engaged last November on a Thanksgiving family vacation in Zihuatenejo, Mexico.

The traveling will continue as the pair leaves on a 10-day honeymoon to Jordan, where Lawrence of Arabia was filmed, and London.

Congratulations to Mark and Roma in marking the second amazing marriage in the reality TV universe this month!

In the penultimate week of this season's Amazing Race, we were left with three teams heading into next Sunday's season finale.

Before a pairing could be eliminated, however, squads had to navigate their way around the jungles of Guam to carry out local military missions.

With Oswald and Danny likely to say goodbye - due to their 30-minute penalty unless they win this stage - the pressure was really on. Did they overcome it? Who will we see next week on the show? And who do you wish to be crowned champion?

Check out our episode guide for this week's Amazing Race now.

Did you catch this week's Shear Genius installment, Show Me Your Genius?

If not, you can see what went down - and who was voted out - by reading our episode guide.

Below, though, what better source to hear about the show from than its host, Jaclyn Smith? She wrote the following blog on the Bravo official website:

What a wonderful opportunity the contestants were given to learn from one of the greats -- and to learn her signature style, no less. I was puzzled that Lacey decided to do her own take on the "Sally shag." Her cut was nice but it didn't even resemble the shag. You can make it your own after you really know how to do it.

After doing their own shag, I think the stylists realized that it really is a precision cut. You have to know where to slice in because that's what gives it the modern edge. Tyson did great, he really got it. Sally was right when she said that people would pay $600 for that cut. And she should know!

The Long to Short challenge was my personal favorite because of the unconventional tools. All the stylists were brilliant. It's hard enough to do a great cut with good scissors, nevermind garden shears and box cutters. I had a lot of favorites in this one. Evangelin was great; it was so daring of her to pick the hedge clippers. I was in awe â€" I wouldn't want anyone to touch my hair with those.

I applaud her because she wanted to take the most challenging tool. They all stayed cool under the pressure of using unconventional tools. I would have panicked having to put hedge clippers to someone's head. Theodore was one of my favorites -- so I hated to see him go. He is extremely talented and has a bright future ahead of him. I think all good things about Theodore; he's on his way. It is interesting watching the challenges.

They are sort of like a marathon; it really takes you inside the moment. You are watching the stylists make decisions and act on them and sometimes they lose out at something that they are great at because they don't deal with the pressure or they don't handle time well. But that's life; there is always unexpected terrain to go over.

When you're a low-rent reality TV star and looking to make a name for yourself... you damn well better look good. After all, no one's going to make you a trophy wife or give you a million bucks based on your brains or personality. Well, Survivor is a bit different. But whatever.

Here's a few reality TV fashion highs and lows from the past week ...

Pumkin (Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School)

Yes, the incorrectly spelled "Pumkin" revealed last week it was her right to fight! However, showing her back side and revealing what kind of undies she prefers? Yeah. This is a fashion don't. Keep your panties hidden, babe. Mo'Nique would surely concur.

Schatar (Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School)

Look. Ladies. If we are going to try and impress Mr. Winery himself, don't you think you should wear heels that you can actually walk in? Seriously, girl. Lose the heels, try flats. Do something. So you can walk. God.

Amber Alchalabi (The Bachelor)

One way to insure you will be getting a rose: go on a solo date, jump in a hot tub wearing a cute little bikini and shake that thang! Obviously, Andy Baldwin wants to hit that piece. Therefore, this is a fashion "do." Amber Alchalabi might not receive such a positive response from her home town, though.

Yau Man (Survivor)

Another fashion "do," as you don't have to be Jeff Probst to know that a hat is a must-have item on the islands.

Yau Man knows how to rock that hat, which is one of the reasons for his success in Fiji. He is always cool, calm and collected on Survivor - more so than the just-departed Mookie - and there's no doubt that this stylin' and practical head accessory has something to do with it.