Further to this morning's heart wrenching revelation that style guru Carson Kressley had been dumped by his Aussie boyfriend via email, the lovely folks at SameSame.com.au have helpfully quoted more of Carson's former paramour George Maloukis's interview with 2Day FM.

George wouldn't be drawn into why he dumped him. "There were a lot of reasons why. I was annoyed with him for a number of things," he said on radio. Was he faithful to him? "I reckon that Carson was faithful to me. I was to him. I can't tell you the real reasons [for the break-up] I am going to give him the respect."

Give him the respect by blabbing on radio. Excellent! Carson must be tickled pink - as pink as those disturbing budgie smugglers!

If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that a football career doesn't last forever. But Foxtel's love does. Therefore, potential Mrs Craig Wing's must be stoked to hear that the South Sydney heartthrob has just inked a rather nice deal with the pay-TV gods.

Forget France - Rabbitohs pin-up Craig Wing has come up with a less dramatic way to top up his piggy bank after signing a long-term contract with Foxtel.

The pay-TV network has snared the best-looking bloke in league as its NRL ambassador, with a view to pushing him to spread his wings outside of Foxtel's sports coverage.

"It's exactly what I'm after - I've been wanting to get back into TV for a while so it's perfect," Wing said.

And, as with any story appearing on the news.com.au website, you can use this joyous occasion as an excuse to "See hot Craig Wing in the flesh". And why wouldn't you? Are you mad? It's a Friday afternoon! Straight women, gay men, and slightly tipsy lonely straight dudes (sorry, "league fans") should be clicking that goddamn link with fervour.

Oooer. If you were one of the unlucky punters who bought tickets to Albert Hammond Jr's Australian shows only to discover he was suffering from a deathly case of saunteringaroundtownwithamodel-itis and would not be flying Down Under, perhaps you comforted yourself by saying "Never fear! If anything can cheer me up, it's the knowledge that I have purchased tickets to The Great Escape festival, and I shall have a jolly good time there lighting joss sticks and listening to minstrels!" then I have terribly bad news for you.

A statement from the organisers...

Great Escape 2008 Cancelled

It is with considerable regret that we are announcing the cancellation of this year's Great Escape Festival.

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Look no further! Confidential have located the petite Italian minx Pia Miranda, star of Looking For Alibrandi and wife of Lo-Tel frontman Luke Hannigan, and she's now the face of jewelery dudes (I believe that's an industy term) Mazzucchelli.

The Looking For Alibrandi star, who told Confidential she keeps in work these days doing voiceovers rather than waiting tables, has taken a shine to a new gig, as an ambassador for high-end Mazzucchelli's jewellers.

"I am Italian so if you have too much gold on it's all a bit, you know," she said, laughing.

Stylish and worth the bucks?

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Beautiful, talented, and not-at-all-frightening television presenter (and pop star and actress) Natalie 'The Bass' Bassingthwaighte has confessed she was tormented by hideous bullies during her younger years!

The So You Think You Can Dance host clearly remembers being bullied at school and called names such as, "liquorice legs" and, "the young and the breastless".

"It made me feel really insecure and question who I was," she said.

"Could it be? That I am actually made of liquorice?"

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With a movie title like Journey To The Centre Of The Earth, they were begging for this.

Thanks John! And Monkeys For Helping!

It's not all water under the bridge between rap superstar Jay-Z and Oasis' very own King Of The Rhyming Dictionary Noel Gallagher, with Jay-Z obviously still sore about Noel's comments back in April that booking Jay-Z as the headliner for a guitar-based festival (?) like Glastonbury was 'wrong'.

Although Jay-Z had a cheeky pop at Noel Gallagher during his time onstage at Glasto (starting his set with his own rendition of Wonderwall), it's obviously not enough to make him feel like he's come out a winner in this feud. So he's had another bash at Noel during a concert at Madison Square Garden.

"That bloke from Oasis said I couldn't play guitar Somebody should have told him I'm a fucking rockstar!"

Your move, Gallagher.

· There's an art to gorging on a casino buffet dessert station, and YouTube's Feeder-Scene Queen Deidrababe is going to walk you through it, blondie by blondie. Deidra: You have a standing offer to do premiere spread reviews for us. [Deidrababe's YouTube Channel]
· Well, it seems someone heard our appeal to reason in the Trade Roundup today: Variety is reporting Brad Pitt has signed on for Inglorious Bastards. Pitt. Novak. Roth. The Weinsteins are back! [Variety]
· As Playgirl publishes its last hard edition, a gallery of some of their greatest covers. We know we've rubbed many a one out to Alan Thicke's sensual mullet and the sultry divorce-porn of Kramer Vs. Kramer. [GiggleSugar.com]
· Lil' Kim's karaoke party ends in the bludgeoning death of both a woman and at least one performance of "Don't Stop Believin'." [AP]
· Hey, look everyone! It's the new Quantum of Solace poster! [RR]

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Clothing Exchange! Katie Holmes isn't simply a robot with human emotions — no, she's also a style icon. Whether it's her sunglasses, hairstyles, or leggings, she's always been at the forefront of Scientologist chic...which is what made us question these baggy, rolled-up jeans she's been sporting lately while rehearsing for her Broadway debut. Now, finally, Us Weekly breaks the story wide open: Holmes is merely wearing the jeans of her husband, Tom Cruise — and isn't that the fun part of being a couple? As for the rolled-up ankles, we'll leave that to Us: "A reason Holmes has been rolling them up? She's 5'9" and Cruise is 5'7"."
[Us Weekly, Photo Credit: Splash]

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You may recall earlier in the year that Confidential attempted to start some sort of starlet prize fight by implying that up-and-comer Jessica Marais was "the new Cate Blanchett". Well, whether she is or isn't, Marais has gone and got herself a starring role in the new Seven drama, Packed To The Rafters (which I hope is the hard-hitting story of a family self-storage business in downtown Footsgray, but I suspect I will be disappointed):

"Serious television certainly helps revive your passion for theatre. It's been great fun, but I've definitely got the theatre bug back in me. I love the excitement, the spontaneity.

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Defamer Australia's fearless leader recently returned from New Zealand, and I was certain she was about to begin citizenship paperwork, such was her love for the land of the long white cloud. Well, hopefully this will give her a little pause for reminiscence - Christchurch police have put Robbie Coltrane on a wanted poster, since - like dentists - they can't show you the real face of the young criminal they are out to catch:

Highlights from the text are as follows:

'Because of the Children and Young Persons Act 1989 Police cannot show you a picture of the 16-year-old burglar operating in your neighbourhood,' it states.

'Robbie Coltrane is not the burglar but imagine him aged 16 with lank greasy hair and you have the picture.'

One woman said: 'I am wondering what Robbie Coltrane would look like as a 16-year-old. I'm also wondering how he would get through the window of my house.'

Poor old unlucky-in-love Carson Kressley - the Queer Eye/How To Look Good Naked host and stylist has been given the boot by his Australian boyfriend of eight months - you may recall he was the subject of an intensive investigative campaign, earlier in the year, courtesy of the Confidential crew - via email. Ouch, where's the love?

Sydney business manager George Maloukis admitted yesterday he regretted not telling the US star face-to-face their whirlwind, long-distance romance was over.

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Remember Jules Lund's effusive praise for Hole In The Wall ("It's absurd, it's silly, it's mindless, therefore I'm perfect to host it")? The idea of watching people leaping through person-shaped cut-outs in moving walls (you know, like that idiotic tampon commercial with the big molecular things floating in the street and the girls doing kung fu because they got their periods) doesn't exactly sound like a ratings winner, but that looks to be exactly what it is:

Nine's half-hour sneak peek of the happily and proudly ridiculous Hole In The Wall, hosted by Jules Lund, scored a healthy 1.55 million national viewers on Wednesday night.

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You know when Madonna's gimpish brother writes a scandalous tell-all about his sister, and even we—diehard Madonna fans for life, despite the fact that we can't particularly stand her—can't even be bothered to scan the dustcover, your little media ploy's in trouble. So you take measures. You adapt. You hop on the blogwagon! And that allows you to self-publish all the really scandalous stuff your publisher's legal department wouldn't let you put in print. Like this 1993 anecdote in which Madonna shits herself in her Dita costume during rehearsals for her Erotica tour:

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We jest with the post title, but it looks like wise rock photographer Daniel Boud's prediction has come true - award winning Australian rock group Wolfmother have called it a day.

Bass/keyboard player Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett have resigned from the band, effective immediately, leaving just singer/guitarist Andrew Stockdale. According to a statement on the band's website, Stockdale plans to find other musicians before making a new Wolfmother album.

"Wolfmother toured the world virtually non-stop through 2006 and early 2007 on the back of their acclaimed self titled debut album,'' the statement said. "Longstanding frictions within the group then led them to take an extended break during the second half of 2007 to consider their future.''

The final straw came at the weekend where Wolfmother headlined last Sunday at the Splendour In The Grass Festival in Byron Bay.

"Following that show Chris Ross decided to announce that he was leaving the band due to irreconcilable personal and musical differences,'' the statement said. "Myles Heskett has also decided to leave the band rather than continuing as part of a changed lineup.

It will certainly be interesting to hear what the next record the group (sans Heskett and Ross) puts out sounds like, now won't it? The break up doesn't sound all that friendly...

On the defensive after appearing in a Snickers commercial yanked for homophobia due to its swishy speedwalker, 80's icon Mr. T appeared on The O'Reilly Factor and made it up to gays everywhere the only way he knows how: with glorious, glorious camp. The arm-wrestling brawler immediately produced a long-winded, written defence which he then read from on air; highlights include the passages, "I have been pitying fools for 28 years, Biiiiiill," "Speedwalking is an Olympic sport," and desperate pleas for someone, anyone, to talk to "SPEEDWALKA!" for his reaction. T particularly triggered our sympathy (not pity, we leave that to the experts) when he whined, "On The A-Team, I called the bad guys a disgrace because they was harassin' helpless people. No problems. No complaints." Too true, T. Compared to GLAAD, those bad guy lobbyists really need to get it together. [Amy Proctor Blog]

You didn't think we'd post last week's Top Ten of the coolest male TV characters without following up with one dedicated to all the honeys, now, did you? And while our definitive men's list—checked and rechecked by a panel of TV experts canvassed at various local correctional facilities and gourmet coffee outlets—surprisingly met with some vocal opposition, we're confident its vagina-filled counterpart will please even the most persnickety of TV-lady lovers. There's only one way to know for sure, however. Click play, and decide for yourselves.

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Smokin': Those early estimates that pegged Pineapple Express for a superb $US10 million Wednesday opening may have turned out to be conservative. Another box-office observer sends word that the year's biggest stoner comedy/Franco-sex-appeal testimonial in fact raked in $US12.15 million in its first day — a fairly staggering figure for an R-rated comedy. Bowing on a Wednesday. In the first week of August. The revised tracking also suggests Express has enough momentum to wrest box-office superiority from The Dark Knight this weekend, but we're not so sure: The same tracking suggested The Mummy 3 would have similar success last weekend (it didn't), and in any case, Express will need all of its five-day numbers — as much as $US45 million by some estimates — just to beat Dark Knight's three-day figure. Check out tomorrow morning's Defamer Attractions column, where we'll call our official shot. [Fantasy Moguls]

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Que lastima! Has the Johansson-on-Cruz-on Bardem threesome from Vicky Cristina Barcelona been excised? Well, no, although that didn't stop New York's Vulture reporters from declaring, "As die-hard Allen fans who'd love to see one of his movies turn a profit for once, we're sad to report that all threesomes are implied and happen strictly off-camera," which spurred a distraught Gawker to post "Vicky Cristina Barcelona's Big Three-Way Lie."

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The Dark Knight may have its curse, Transformers 2 may have its star's busted hand and Terminator 4 may face the opprobrium of its own franchise anchor. But another summer blockbuster faces an unfortunate — if totally foreseeable — development of its own. Those viewers who remember Hancock's introductory action sequence may have been too rattled/busy/overwhelmed to have been paying attention to the subtitled conversation of its Asian bad guys, but nothing got past an eagle-eyed blogger who caught the slightly insensitive translation pictured here. Follow the jump for an enlarged image and a summary of one man's! total! outrage!

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· Meryl Streep is close to signing on to play the lead in Nancy Meyers's next comedy for Universal. Did we burn the Roxette-musical joke already? It seems we did. How about a subtle variation using Ace is Base songs instead? [Variety]
· "Newbie scribe" (not as fun to say as "Shia's pinkie") Jason Sullivan should give hope to all struggling, unproduced screenwriters with cars that don't exceed 45 mph: He sold his manchildren-go-to-camp movie to Columbia for six-figures. [THR]
· Ryan Seacrest has been named "permanent co-host" of ABC's Dick Clark's New Year's Strokin' Eve. [THR]
· Vicky Cristina Barcelona star Rebecca Hall has joined the cast of Dorian Gray. [Variety]
· Due to scheduling conflicts, Quentin Tarantino was unable to secure Jesus or Charlie Chaplin for Inglorious Bastards. B.J. Novak and Eli Roth, however, were more readily available. So what are you waiting for, Brad? Commit, already! [THR]

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Another day, another windfall of remakes, updates and adaptations requiring attention on our End of Ideas scorecard. It could be worse, we suppose, than Natalie Portman allegedly signing on for a graphic horror re-do, or yet another movie-to-TV serialization that could possibly make Dennis Hopper's own new show a folly in comparison. Even staffers at the LA Times are getting in on the recycling act today. It's never been hotter!

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There are a lot of places to start with this clip from last night's episode of Greatest American Dog: for example, though the on-screen chyron gives the dog's name as "Galaxy," we're pretty sure that owner JD variously calls for "Gutsy," "Curtsy," and "Koyaanisqatsi." More entertaining, though, than JD's strange names or his hip-hop/breakdancing routine with a nonplussed Galaxy are the reaction shots from the judges, which run the gamut from open-mouthed incredulity to a suspenseful, physical performance of, "Should I applaud? Yes? Both hands? No, just the one. How will I clap, then? Why, I'll just hit the table in a few sharp strokes like I'm a bad nanny." [CBS]

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We have wonderful news regarding Shia's pinkie! (Say those last two words three times fast. It's fun.) Contrary to Star magazine's distressing report, which described a tiny, ax-wielding medieval executioner stationed over the star's left hand just waiting for the word, it turns out he'll be able to keep all ten of his fingers after all. The LAT e-mailed Shia's rep Melissa Kates for confirmation.

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James Cameron's upcoming feature Avatar exists not merely to bring a motion-captured Michelle Rodriguez to a wider audience than ever before, but—if we are to believe what he tells us—to singlehandedly revolutionize the way we make, see, and even perceive of the movies. THR braved an interview with the director, who's too busy playing with his new toys to worry about losing his top-grossing-movie title to some gravel-voiced bat-creep. (Besides—by the time Avatar rolls around, the sweeping social revolution that accompanies it will render old notions of currency and spending completely obsolete. We'll be ranking the weekend box office in levels of Braincell Conversion Osmosis, or some other inconceivable economic unit of measurement.) But we digress; let's let Cameron describe some of the really-complicated-sounding rabbits he's got stuffed in his wizard hat:

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Hot on the heels of Simple Jack (the fake, controversy-baiting trailer from Tropic Thunder that was eventually yanked) comes the trailer for Teresa: The Making of a Saint, an NC-17 Mother Teresa biopic starring Transformers actress (and parrot lover) Megan Fox. But wait! Could this, too, be a fake trailer, what with its cast made up of Hollywood heavyweights like "Sir Ben Queensly"? Indeed, it's just the latest in Hollywood's brand-new obsession with fake ads for real movies, this one designed to draw buzz for the Vanity Fair-set roman à clef How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, starring Fox as actress "Sophie Maes." Forgive us, but we'd much rather see Teresa than the real movie it's designed to promote — especially if the saintly missionary arrives in Calcutta tossing off Diablo Cody-penned bon mots like, "Fried bologna is the bomb!"

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Days after implicating Mary-Kate Olsen but months after it began, the DEA inquiry into the death of Heath Ledger has finally wrapped, filing charges against exactly no one. Does it perhaps seem like the U.S. Attorney's Office spent an awful lot of time and money with nothing to show for it? According to TMZ, that's just the beginning — the gossip website alleges that DEA agents essentially used the Ledger investigation as an excuse to talk to supermodels, fly all over the country, and meet people from Hollywood:

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Well, it seems as though the SharkDevouringKittenGate scandal that swum up and bit Pineapple Express on its opening day (quick review: the T-shirt James Franco wears throughout the entire movie is accused of being a WOWCH label design from three years ago) has done little to scare moviegoers from these waters, as Nikki Finke is reporting the movie has taken $10 million yesterday; that's some kind of August record, she suggests vaguely while waving away thick clouds of ganja smoke and trying to look like she's enjoying the party. Approached for comment on the wardrobe controversy, meanwhile, Pineapple star James Franco had no patience for the allegations, telling the NY Daily News, "That's ridiculous...We completely created that shirt and that shark. David wanted me to wear a purple Monterey Bay T-shirt with a whale on it. I said I wasn't into the whale shirt, so he came up with his own design, which was the shark."

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For all the talk about Sir Ben Kingsley's sex scenes with Penelope Cruz and Patricia Clarkson, the new film Elegy arguably features an even more up-front intimacy between the Oscar-winner and Dennis Hopper — Kingsley's sidekick in academia who counsels him through an intense romantic relationship with an ex-student (played by Cruz). We won't spoil it for you; let it suffice to say the role is Hopper's latest in a marathon of work that has seen three films released this year and finds the 72-year-old halfway through shooting Starz' adaptation of the Paul Haggis film Crash. We tracked Hopper down this week to run through Elegy, Crash and the 50-plus turbulent years that preceded them — all in five convenient questions (and a few surprisingly candid replies) after the jump.

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