Celebrity Gossip

[Perdita]

Mel B has split from her film producer husband Stephen Belafonte, it has been revealed.

Belafonte, who married the former Spice Girl in 2007, is said to be talking to lawyers in LA about a divorce.

He told The Mirror: "Dude, it's over. Mel's coming back to the UK soon - but I won’t be coming with her. There's been problems lately. I don't know what's happening."

A friend of the singer said: "They've not been happy for a long time and there's been rowing. Mel's been talking about getting out. They're still talking to see if things can be worked out.

"But she's making plans to come back to the UK on a more permanent basis. Stephen hasn't been mentioned as joining her and has been consulting lawyers.

"Part of the problem is jealousy. They are both livid when the other one gets attention from another person. They constantly want to know where the other one is. It's been an ongoing problem right from the start."

The couple both have children from previous relationships.

[tammyy2j]

Mel B has split from her film producer husband Stephen Belafonte, it has been revealed.

Belafonte, who married the former Spice Girl in 2007, is said to be talking to lawyers in LA about a divorce.

He told The Mirror: \"Dude, it's over. Mel's coming back to the UK soon - but I won’t be coming with her. There's been problems lately. I don't know what's happening.\"

A friend of the singer said: \"They've not been happy for a long time and there's been rowing. Mel's been talking about getting out. They're still talking to see if things can be worked out.

\"But she's making plans to come back to the UK on a more permanent basis. Stephen hasn't been mentioned as joining her and has been consulting lawyers.

\"Part of the problem is jealousy. They are both livid when the other one gets attention from another person. They constantly want to know where the other one is. It's been an ongoing problem right from the start.\"

The couple both have children from previous relationships.

They thought it was all over... but it isn't now! Mel B and husband Stephen Belafonte have kissed and made up after one of the shortest splits in celebrity-land.

Just 72 hours after calling time on their three-year marriage, the couple had a change of heart. They thought twice after an, er, Spicy session - or three - in the bedroom. We can't keep up... clearly not a problem film producer Stephen has.

Our insider reveals: "Mel and Steve had an almighty row last week concerning a problematic family member.

"For about 24 hours, it was over between then. But they remained in contact and went out for lunch for a heart to heart, where everything pretty much got sorted.

"It's not all a bed of roses at the minute, but they want to make a go of it.

"That said, they went out on Saturday night to let their hair down and let off steam.

"They ended up going home early, with Stephen telling a friend yesterday: "We did it three times... I'd say we are back on track!" So would we.

Mel and Stephen, both 35, dressed up to the nines for their night out at West Hollywood's trendy Voyeur bar.

Necking champers and lemon drop cocktails, the pair spent much of the evening kissing before returning to their £6million mansion for a night of passion.

Of course, their reconciliation couldn't have happened at a better time.

The shy and retiring couple - who once revealed they enjoyed nookie five times a day - are about to start promoting their new Stateside reality show, The Mel B project. In the series, aired by the US Style network, viewers will see them playing happy families with their kids.

Our source adds: "Mel and Stephen are a fiery couple. It's what makes them tick.

"But they resolved the argument the best way they know how - in the bedroom.

"Whether they'll make it long-term, it's a case of watch this space. They're not going to make any drastic decisions while the series is still to run."


http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/...#ixzz0y6JCeqMo

[Perdita]

Michael Douglas said on Tuesday he felt optimistic about recovering from throat cancer but drew gasps when he told a television audience he had the most advanced stage.

The 65-year-old "Wall Street" actor told TV talk-show host David Letterman that a biopsy indicated that his cancer was at stage IV, which he described as "intense, and so they've got to go at it ..."

Letterman asked whether stage IV was a good diagnosis.

"Um no," Douglas replied, according to a transcript provided by CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman."

Stage IV cancer has spread far beyond the original tumour and is usually impossible to cure.

"No, you like to be down at stage I ... but it has not -- the big thing you're always worried about is it spreading ... and the expectations are good ...

"The percentages are very good," Douglas added. "I would hate to say, but right now, it looks like it should be 80 percent, and with certain hospitals and everything, it does improve."

According to the National Cancer Institute, patients with stage IV head and neck caner usually undergo surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

Douglas told Letterman that his cancer was caused by his drinking and smoking.

He said his throat had been bothering him for a while, and a multitude of doctors put him through a battery of tests in the early summer, but had found nothing.

After a summer break, he underwent a biopsy, which revealed his advanced cancer.

He expressed frustration with the doctors who could not find anything, "because I was on it early in the summer and started complaining about something, but they couldn't see it then."

Douglas is married to actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, with whom he has two children, Dylan, 10, and Carys, 7.

[Perdita]

Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor was returned to the hospital after slipping into unconsciousness on Tuesday following a series of health-related setbacks since breaking her hip in July.

Gabor, 93, was in "a great deal of pain" Tuesday morning and her husband, Frederick Prinz von Anhalt, found her to be "not responsive," her spokesman, John Blanchette, told Reuters.

Von Anhalt called an ambulance to take his wife to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Centre, where doctors were able to stabilise her condition. No further details were available.

Earlier in August, Gabor was given last rites by a priest at the same hospital.

At that time, doctors wanted to perform surgery on her liver that would give her a 50-50 chance of survival, but the couple decided "she wanted to spend her final days at home," according to Blanchette. She returned to her Bel Air mansion in mid-August.

The Hungarian-born Gabor, whose string of movies, television shows and wealthy husbands dates to the 1950s, broke her hip on July 17 when she fell out of bed while watching the TV game show "Jeopardy." She had surgery to replace the hip two days later.

She has appeared in more than 30 movies, and her penchant for calling everyone "dah-ling" in her Hungarian accent made her a well-known Hollywood personality.

Along with her two glamorous sisters Eva and Magda, Gabor made several appearances on radio and television shows in the 1950s and 1960s. She appeared in the movie "Moulin Rouge," followed by "Lili" and later "Touch of Evil."

Gabor and von Anhalt have been married for 24 years. Before him, she was married eight times to a string of husbands that included a Turkish diplomat and the hotel magnate Conrad Hilton.

[tammyy2j]

It really is over, folks - Cheryl and Ashley Cole will complete their divorce proceedings this morning. The couple, who announced their separation back in February, will have their case heard in the High Court at 10am today. It will be listed as CAC v AC in reference to the couple's initials, but neither star is expected to show up for the hearing. The judge is already predicted to grant Cheryl a decree nisi that will end the couple's four-year union.

A source close to Cheryl told reporters: "Cheryl is in the States but is watching things very closely. She is relieved and pleased things have progressed significantly since her illness. She just wants to move on with her life and getting the divorce done will end a very painful chapter."

[Perdita]

The veteran Liberal Democrat politician Sir Cyril Smith has died at the age of 82, the party has confirmed.

Sir Cyril represented the constituency of Rochdale as an MP, both for the Liberal Party and the Liberal Democrats, for 20 years.

He was one of the party's most recognisable and high-profile figures, retiring from Parliament in 1992.

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said Sir Cyril was a "larger-than-life" character who would be missed.

Sir Cyril was chief whip during Jeremy Thorpe's turbulent leadership of the party in the 1970s.

A Lib Dem spokesman said Sir Cyril had been ill for many months and had died on Friday morning, with members of his family by his bedside.

Fiercely independent and blunt-speaking, Sir Cyril frequently clashed with his party over issues such as capital punishment, nuclear weapons and abortion.

He was sceptical about the party's merger with the SDP in the 1980s as well as its pact with Labour in the 1970s which kept Jim Callaghan's government in office.

He was a Labour supporter in his youth, defecting to the Liberals after serving as mayor of his birthplace, Rochdale.

After winning a by-election in 1972, he went on to play a key role in holding the party together during the 1970s amid allegations about Mr Thorpe's private life, which subsequently led the leader to resign.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

Rochdale and Britain have sadly lost one of their great MPs, and I think we can safely say there will never be an MP quite like Cyril Smith again”

End Quote Nick Clegg Lib Dem leader

Sir Cyril was made an MBE for his public services in 1966 and was knighted in 1988.

His brother Norman told the Press Association news agency: "Cyril passed away peacefully this morning with members of his family around him. I couldn't have asked for a better brother."

Deputy Prime Minister Mr Clegg said he was saddened to hear of the death of the "true Liberal" who was a friend to "everybody in Rochdale".

He said: "Cyril Smith was a larger-than-life character and one of the most recognisable and likeable politicians of his day."

He added: "Cyril was a colourful politician who kept the flame of Liberalism alive when the party was much smaller than it is today.

"Rochdale and Britain have sadly lost one of their great MPs, and I think we can safely say there will never be an MP quite like Cyril Smith again."

Former Lib Dem MP Paul Rowen, who lost his Rochdale seat to Labour at the election, said Sir Cyril would be sadly missed by people in the town and across the country.

"He has been a truly amazing ambassador for our town," he said. "He was towering figure for our party and led us through difficult times."

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Steel of Aikwood said Sir Cyril was a pioneer who served the party "diligently".

"Cyril was first and foremost Mr Rochdale," he said.

"His by-election picked up the Liberal Party from the disastrous 1970 election when we had only six seats, and started our recovery.

"His was also our first breakthrough in the industrial north of England."


BBC News

RIP Cyril Smith

[Perdita]

A ROCK star has been killed by a 50-stone bale of hay rolling down a hill.

Electric Light Orchestra cellist Mike Edwards, 62,was killed after the giant bale careered through a field and over a hedge, landing on top of his van.

It is thought to have rolled then gathered pace before flying 15ft through the air and into the path of traffic on Friday.

Police were yesterday interviewing the farmer who owns the Devon field.

Steve Walker, of the Devon and Cornwall police traffic unit, said: “This was a tragic accident and we have now identified the victim as Michael Edwards, a founder member of ELO.”

The police said Edwards, of Totnes, Devon, had no immediate family so they were making an appeal for any relatives.

ELO had hits with Roll Over Beethoven and Don’t Bring Me Down.

His eccentric playing included plucking the strings with a grapefruit.

He quit to become a Buddhist and changed his name to Deva Pramada.
“We have used photographs and YouTube footage to identify him but we now need help contacting his family for formal identification.

“We don’t believe he was ever married and we have identified an ex girlfriend but she is currently abroad.

“We think he may have a brother called David in the Yorkshire area and we obviously need to contact him.

“Michael has no immediate family but we believe he may have taught some cello in Devon and would ask his students to contact us if they know of any relations.”

What a tragic accident, RIP Michael

[tammyy2j]

Rich Cronin, the lead singer and founder of the late-1990s boy band LFO, has passed away after a long battle with leukemia, according to reports from TMZ and E! News. He was 35. LFO, or the Lyte Funky Ones, were best known for the 1999 beach-y hit “Summer Girls,” which included the renown of-the-moment lyric penned by Cronin, “I like girls that wear Abercrombie & Fitch.” The video for their follow-up, “Girls on TV,” featured Cronin’s then-girlfriend Jennifer Love Hewitt. The band split in 2002. In 2005, Cronin was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia. Two years later, his cancer in remission, Cronin — along with former boy banders Jeff Timmons (of 98 Degrees), Bryan Abrams (of Color Me Badd), and Chris Kirkpatrick (of ’N Sync) — starred in the VH1 reality series Mission: Man Band, about the quartet’s struggle to start up a new band.

Kirkpatrick updated his Facebook profile today with the message “RIP to a great friend Rich C.” Lance Bass also posted to Twitter with the message, ”Sad sad day that Rich Cronin died – was an amazing guy.”

In 2006, Cronin, looking back on his career, told EW, “I am truly thankful for the success I had. And if it happens again, that’d be really nice. I’m just that same guy writing pop songs to make people happy. And I still only like girls in Abercrombie & Fitch.”

RIP

[Perdita]

Sophie Dahl and Jamie Cullum have announced that they are expecting their first child together.

The couple, who got married in a private ceremony last year, revealed that they are "delighted" with news that the model is four months pregnant.

According to the Daily Mail, the pair released a statement saying: "In response to a number of recent inquiries, Jamie Cullum and Sophie Dahl are delighted to confirm that Sophie is four months pregnant.

"There will be no further comment at this time."

Dahl starred in her own cookery show, The Delicious Miss Dahl earlier this year, but it was axed after one series.

[tammyy2j]

Oscar-nominated actor Kevin McCarthy, known for his roles in Death of a Salesman and Invasion of the Body Snatchers died Saturday in Hyannis, Mass., according to the New York Times. He was 96 years old, and no cause of death was immediately reported. McCarthy first portrayed Biff in the 1949 London stage version of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman before scoring an Oscar nod for doing the role in the 1951 film version. His most remembered part, however, was s Mile Bennell, a doctor in cult sci-fi flick Invasion of the Body Snatchers who tries to escape the movie’s infamous “podification” alongside a divorcée played by Dana Wynter. The film had a humble, low-budget B movie beginning, but went on to be selected for the National Film Registry in 1994, and the American Film Institute named it one of the Top 10 science fiction films of all time in 2008.