Celebrity Gossip

A young actress who starred in the BBC drama Belonging has been found hanged, police confirmed to the corporation.
Stephanie Parker, 22, played Stacey Weaver for six years in the long-running TV programme, which came to an end last Thursday, and appeared in Casualty and in Radio 4 dramas.
Parker's body was found on open ground near Pontypridd on Saturday morning. Agent Mark Jermin said: "Our thoughts are with the family and it is really sad. She was a great talent and we are really shocked."
Clare Hudson, BBC Wales's head of English language programmes, said everyone at BBC Wales was shocked by the tragedy.
"Stephanie's talent played a major part in making Belonging the success it was and I'm sure that the programme's fans will be shocked by this untimely news," she said. "Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this very difficult time."

Comic Russell Brand has made a controversial return to British radio - by leaving voicemails for new U.S. president Barack Obama with his pal and co-host Noel Gallagher.

Last year Brand quit his BBC Radio 2 gig after he and fellow broadcaster Jonathan Ross were slammed for leaving "grossly offensive" messages on former Fawlty Towers star Andrew Sachs' answer machine during a live broadcast.

The pair discussed Brand's fling with the 78-year-old's granddaughter Georgina Baillie.

And Brand couldn't resist some more phone pranks as he braved the airwaves again on Sunday night for a one-off show on the U.K.'s Talksport radio with his friend Gallagher - calling America's leader and leaving a message asking which soccer team the politician supports.

And the star, who pre-recorded the show on Saturday, also called Ross and joked about the uproar their last radio appearance caused in the British press.

Ross asked Brand, "You're not back on the radio, are you?"

Earlier this month the BBC was fined $107,000 (£150,000) by media watchdog Ofcom for the pair's "offensive, humiliating and demeaning" conduct.

Grey's Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo will visiting hospital for real in nine months time - the actress is pregnant with her first child.

The star and husband Chris Ivey are starting a family, according to Pompeo's representative.

Publicist Jennifer Allen tells People.com, "It's great news. They're ecstatic."

The couple has been married since 2007. They began dating in 2003 after meeting in a supermarket.

Cult author J.G. Ballard has died following a longrunning battle with ill health. He was 78.

The novelist, most famous for writing Crash and Empire of the Sun, on which the 1987 Steven Spielberg movie was based, passed away on Sunday.

His agent, Margaret Hanbury, confirmed his death, stating Ballard had been ill "for several years".

Empire of the Sun was his most revered work, based on his childhood in a Japanese prison camp in China, and was transformed into a big screen film starring Christian Bale and John Malkovich.

He penned 15 novels and a selection of short stories throughout his career, which started when he moved to Britain from Shanghai, China in the 1960s.

Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders are to become the second UK double act to be presented with a BAFTA fellowship.
The comedy duo will follow in the footsteps of Morecambe and Wise when they are presented with the honour at the Academy's 2009 television awards later this month, says the BBC.
French and Saunders are known for their BBC sketch show as well as Absolutely Fabulous and The Vicar Of Dibley. Joanna Lumley, who starred in Absolutely Fabulous, said: "It is brilliant news. I obviously know them and adore them and I can't think of anyone more worthy of the honour."
Vicar Of Dibley creator Richard Curtis called the pair the UK's "best ever double act".
"The great thing about French and Saunders is that they have never lost that edginess and weirdness. You often watch them and think they are profoundly strange," he said.

Kristen Bell has slammed Russell Brand for his prank phone calls to Fawlty Towers star Andrew Sachs - insisting she would have "beaten him up" if the comic had played the joke on her family.

Last year Brand quit his British radio show after he and fellow broadcaster Jonathan Ross were heavily criticised for leaving "grossly offensive" messages on TV star Sachs' answer machine during a live broadcast.

The pair discussed Brand's fling with the 78-year-old's granddaughter Georgina Baillie.

But Bell wouldn't have tolerated her Forgetting Sarah Marshall co-star's behaviour if he had done the same to her relatives.

She says, "If Russell had left a message on my grandfather’s answerphone I’d have beaten him up.

"It doesn’t surprise me that he did it, as Russell’s whole thing is to push the envelope. Hopefully, he’ll have learned the error of his ways."

Peepshow director Jerry Mitchell's goal when he welcomed the starlet Saturday to the premiere of his sexy Las Vegas musical, which now stars Dancing with the Stars vets Melanie Brown. and Kelly Monaco. Lohan is in talks to replace Monaco, who wants to return to General Hospital when her Peepshow contract ends, Fox News reports.

In the meantime, the prospect is only fueling the show's buzz.

The 22-year-old Lohan, who sings and dances as well as acts, has befriended Brown, and the former Scary Spice is pushing the Mean Girl for the role. The two chatted early into Sunday morning at the show's after-party, according to Fox.

Lohan would play "Bo Peep," a timid girl who becomes a sexually confident woman with the help of the Diva (Brown) and countless topless beauties. The role doesn't require Lohan to appear topless herself, and though Brown and Monaco are scantily-clad, neither goes topless.

Others Fox reported to be in the running for the role are Holly Madison and Brooke Burke, yet more Dancing stars.

Lohan isn't a compete stranger to the world of erotic dance: She played a stripper in 2007's I Know Who Killed Me.

Dedicated human rights campaigner Mia Farrow has declared herself on hunger strike in recognition of the starving people dying in war-torn Sudan.

The actress, a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador, will risk her own life by drinking only water from the end of April in a bid to show "solidarity" with the people in the devastated Darfur region.

The star hopes the act will highlight her personal disgust at world leaders, who she claims have failed to take action to stop the bloodshed in the country.

In an official statement, Farrow says, "On April 27 I will begin a fast of water only in solidarity with the people of Darfur and as a personal expression of outrage at a world that is somehow able to stand by and watch innocent men, women and children needlessly die of starvation, thirst and disease."

The Rosemary's Child star will continue her hunger strike as long as possible, with doctors warning the actress can only stay alive for three weeks without food due to her slender frame.

Farrow has long helmed a campaign to highlight the plight of the people of Sudan, whose president, Omar al-Beshir, has been accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

At a party last night to celebrate the release of the final part of Jade's autobiography, the BB star's close friend Danny Hayward confirmed that a Jade musical will definitely happen. Talking to ITN On, Danny said, "Various projects we’ve got in the pipeline is a musical we’ve got coming out in about four months time. It's going to be the story of her life and we’re going to be on the search for who is going to play Jade." Victoria Hayward went on to add, "Obviously, there is nobody else I’m sure in this world quite like Jade, but hopefully we’ll have a panel of not only creative experts but people that were close to Jade to be able to pick somebody that has to be able to dance and sing – because Jade could sing, she had a fabulous voice – and to act, obviously, to play the part of Jade and to have that extra special kind of sparkle she had."

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Britney Spears has denied reports that she is expecting her third baby.

Pregnancy rumours surrounding the 27-year-old began circulating after US radio presenter and American Idol host Ryan Seacrest apparently hinted that the singer could be preparing for a new arrival.

Spears's spokesman Adam Leber told celebrity blogger Perez Hilton that there is no truth to the rumours.

"She's absolutely not pregnant. I have no idea where this ridiculous rumour came from," he said, adding: "Ryan has communication with our camp and could have checked this before saying it."

Spears, who has two children from her marriage to Kevin Federline, is apparently still struggling to overcome their failed relationship.