What birthday gift do you get for the woman who has everything? If you’re David Beckham shopping for wife Victoria, you don’t spring for some fine wine, you pick up the entire winery. To celebrate Posh’s 34th birthday, Becks picked up the tab on a multimillion dollar vineyard in Napa Valley.
Seems like a grand gesture, even by Beckham standards, so what gives? Full Disclosure reports that the vineyard was meant to keep Victoria busy. “David feels like Victoria needs something to do other than shopping and going to parties,” a source told Full Disclosure. “He is hoping she will get into the wine business and settle into some kind of regular routine.”
Another source close to the Beckhams told us having a vineyard is also meant to keep Victoria happy stateside. “Her experience in the States hasn’t been what she hoped for. Her clothing line never took off, she doesn’t have loads of girlfriends,” said the source. “David doesn’t miss the level of fame he had in England, Victoria does.”
Maybe this will be a good distraction.
Swayze heading to workJust months ago it was announced that Patrick Swayze was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Now comes news that the “Dirty Dancing” star is well enough that his planned drama series, “The Beast,” will go into production this summer, reports the New York Times.
Swayze, who only a few months ago was found to have a life-threatening case of pancreatic cancer, has recovered enough that his planned drama series for the A&E network will start filming this August, with him in the starring role.
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Playing together
The pilot for the A&E series was filmed in January, before Swayze’s diagnosis. The Times reports that the network was just a day away from announcing the decision to go ahead with the series when Swayze, who plays an FBI agent in the series, called in March to say that he’d been given the ominous diagnosis.
Drama at Tony Awards
There might be some potential drama at the June 15 Tony awards, and not the kind that's scripted. “Gypsy” star Patti LuPone, who is nominated for leading actress in a musical, and fellow leading actress nominee Faith Prince of “A Catered Affair,” have a long-standing rivalry that might require some careful planning when it comes to choreographing arrivals to the show.
A source familiar with the rivalry says it began back in 2001 when LuPone and Prince both appeared in the revival of “Noises Off.” LuPone, according to the source, once refused to join her fellow castmates onstage in an effort to collect money for Broadway Cares, and the experience left her fellow actors, especially Prince, “horrified.”
Hopefully time has healed those wounds.
‘The Mole’: Burning questions answered “The Mole” has finally returned, and because we’re so thrilled to have the show back (the second episode airs on CBS Monday night), Scoop approached Andy Dehnart, msnbc.com contributor and editor of realityblurred.com, to get some burning questions out of the way.
It’s been so long since we’ve seen an old-fashioned written exam (or at least the electronic version of one), it was easy to forget the details about elimination. What happens if there’s a tie? Easy answer, said Dehnart. The time it takes to complete the quiz is used as a tiebreaker. “It pays to be fast,” he answered. “Past reunions have revealed that players just barely escaped elimination because of the tiebreaker.”
And what about revealing the votes? In the season premiere it seemed very TV friendly to have the eliminated contestant revealed toward the end. That was just good production luck, said Dehnart.
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Celebrity Sightings
“As far as I can tell, the order that they reveal the votes is predetermined, but it has nothing at all to do with their quiz scores. It's sort of ‘The Mole’s’ version of Jeff Probst’s arranging of votes (he organizes them so that he reveals them in the most dramatic order possible),” said Dehnart.
And what about that touch screen? Not only does it really make us yearn for past host Anderson Cooper’s hunting and pecking at the keyboard (and it was the best use of a computer monitor since the days of “Doogie Howser, M.D.”), but it doesn’t even seem like a real touch screen. Dehnart agreed. He wrote on his blog, “… either he’s using the world’s least responsive touch screen or the whole thing is fake fake fake.”
Can the producers find out who handles the “Wheel of Fortune” electronics? Vanna White’s seem to work pretty well. Maybe it’s not too late for an upgrade.
Weekend box office Although it seemed like the weekend box office had the potential to be close this past weekend, family-friendly flick “Kung Fu Panda” easily took over the No. 1 spot. The animated film made a healthy $60 million, while the Adam Sandler movie, “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan,” made $40 million. “Indiana Jones” made $22.8 million in its third week out and squeaked by “Sex and the City,” which made $21.3 million. Not bad for the chick flick, considering “Indy” is playing in more than 800 more theaters than “SATC.”
Celebrity sightings In New York: Ashanti attended the Step Up Women’s Network’s 10th Annual Inspiration Awards on May 29. … On June 3, Tyson Beckford and Lance Bass stopped by the Bryant Park Hotel, which hosted the Bravo A-List Awards. That same night at the Central Park Zoo, former Vice President Al Gore and his wife Tipper attended The Wildlife Conservation Society’s Safari India Gala to raise money to help the tigers. … Kate Hudson was spotted running down 49th street in a black track suit on June 4 while filming her new movie, “Bride Wars.” Also that day, Seann William Scott was on hand at Gen Art’s preview of his new movie, “The Promotion.” … Taryn Manning was at Kobe Club June 5 to celebrate the opening of their East Hampton locale. ... Julia Roberts was at the Heartland Brewery just off Rockefeller Plaza June 5. The star gamely posed for a few cell-phone photos with tourists before leaving. Kim Cattrell was at the Hampton's Magazine dinner party at the Empire Hotel Rooftop May 29.
L.A.: On May 29 Tommy Lee and Adrian Grenier showed their support for the Planet Green party sponsored by VeeV. Ludacris performed at the event. … Ciara stopped in the Thompson Xchange on June 2.
In Nashville: Jessica Simpson has been out and about in Nashville promoting her new country music record. She was spotted in East Nashville’s trendy club/restaurant Mad Donna’s on June 7.
In Las Vegas: Paris Hilton, who is in Vegas shooting scenes for her upcoming reality show, “My New BFF,” was spotted with Benji Madden and Nicky Hilton celebrating the birthday of “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” actor Danny A. Abeckaser at the Bank Nightclub on June 7. … Jamie Lynn Siegler, Rob Iler and Seth Meyers were also there.
Abroad: Dita von Teese was among the celebs spotted having an ice massage at Cannes Film Festival on May 29. ... In Moscow, Eva Longoria, Tony Parker and Natalia Vodianova attended the June 5 opening of Jacob and Co.