• April 26, 2004
• Vol. 61
• No. 16

Scoop

WANTED: REAL DEALS

With reality shows the rage, celebs by the busload are pitching their behind-the-scenes stories

You might not see her crawling out of bed, baggy-eyed and without a hint of makeup, but Britney Spears wants you to see at least some version of the real person behind the pop star. The singer is pitching an unscripted, six-episode reality show series to the television networks. Tentatively titled On Tourage, it's being billed as a cross between MTV's Real World and the 1991 documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare, following Spears and her dancers on their six-week European tour. Spears would narrate the series and tote a digital camera herself.

She's not the only star wanting to give her public a glimpse behind the curtain—and cash in on today's most lucrative trend in television programming. Singer Aaron Carter was going to center a show around his family but, his lawyer says, "unfortunate circumstances within the family" changed his mind. He may now pitch a career-focused series. Bobby Brown figures his colorful life could make great TV: He has hired a production company to follow him and wife Whitney Houston around to film footage for his proposed reality show. So far the camera has captured a trip to an upscale steakhouse, the Palm, in Atlanta with the family dog Doogie, who dined on steak tartare. (They missed filming Houston's being stopped and issued a ticket for speeding after dropping her daughter off at school March 30.) Production company exec Ben Silverman, who develops reality television programming, thinks the Brown show will really take off. "You are going to be watching an unbelievable tornado," he says.

OTHER REALITY HOPEFULS
So who, besides Britney, Bobby and Aaron, is pitching reality shows? According to insiders: Anna Kournikova, Tiffani Thiessen, Tom Green, Jackie Chan, Tommy Lee, George Hamilton, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Andy Dick, Pauly Shore, Missy Elliot, Ross, The Tonight Show intern, Sylvester Stallone and Virgin CEO Sir Richard Branson.

Meet The Bachelor's Spy
All's fair in love and games—and certainly in the world of The Bachelor. Unbeknownst to the 24 bachelorettes vying for the heart of NFL quarterback Jesse Palmer, the 25-year-old hunk enlisted gal pal Jenny Schiralli, the wife of a good friend, to pose as one of the suitors. (Though Schiralli's identity was revealed to viewers in the April 14 episode, the bachelorettes were left in the dark.) She doesn't consider herself deceitful. "I prefer the term 'acting' as opposed to 'lying,' " says Schiralli, 26, who met Palmer at the University of Florida. "I feel toward Jesse like I feel towards a brother. 'You need this type of woman,' I've been telling him from day one." To get to know the women, Schiralli would "make pancakes for [them] and sit and talk." One of her favorites is Tara, 23, a contractor. "I thought she was perfect, the type of girl I would want to be friends with forever," Schiralli says. But does Palmer take her advice? Schiralli will only say, "My input did weigh on his decisions."

TRUMP AFTER APPRENTICE
Following the April 15 climax of his hit NBC series The Apprentice, should Donald Trump be sipping the $1,000 You're Hired cocktail (served at the Trump World Tower; recipe below) or quaffing a light beer? Trump, who has mastered the art of hyperbole, has estimated his self-worth at $6 billion. But a FORTUNE cover story recently questioned that figure. And while Trump has said he "is the highest-paid person on television," the Los Angeles Times reports that his salary was actually $50,000 per show this year, though it will double in the second season. And Trump's casino-hotel empire, about $1.8 billion in debt and sparking a bondholder revolt, may soon take on a financial partner that would reduce Trump's role there, along with his salary and perks. Still, nothing can stop the Trump promotional machine. In addition to marketing Apprentice T-shirts, coffee mugs and even used furniture, he is also going to auction off props from the show and other memorabilia on eBay to benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

So what if Trump's casino holdings in Atlantic City are almost $2 billion in debt? A You're Hired cocktail puts it all in perspective: 2 oz. L'Esprit de Courvoisier, 1½ oz. Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes, 1 oz. fresh grape juice, splash of fresh lemon juice, splash of simple syrup, 1½ oz. Dom Perignon.

REALITY'S NEW TWO: Jen and Bill
Say hello to the latest made-from-TV romance: The Bachelor's Jen Schefft and The Apprentice's Bill Rancic. The reality show veterans, who met at a charity event, have shared intimate dinners together in Chicago, where they both live and work. "They look like they're a good match," says a source close to the pair, who confirms they are dating. "They definitely have a lot in common." It wasn't long ago that Schefft, 27, was enamored of another reality show hunk, her Bachelor fiancé, California vintner Andrew Firestone, 28. The couple ended their 10-month engagement last December. Since then Schefft, a special-events coordinator, kept a low profile until she met Rancic, 32, the founder of an online cigar club. Last week Rancic told PEOPLE, "I think a girl's personality is what's really attractive." Rancic also hinted at his dating style: Perhaps Schefft shouldn't expect too many extravagant dates, particularly like the ones she experienced on The Bachelor. "I'd probably just want to stay home and cook for a girl," says Rancic, whose specialty is seared tuna and wasabi mashed potatoes. "I'm a pretty low-key kind of guy." Will this reality romance last? "They're having a lot of fun together," says the source, "but it's still early in the game."

Sandra's Biker
Sandra Bullock's love life appears to be firing on all cylinders with Jesse James, motorbike builder and host of the Discovery Channel's Monster Garage. Bullock, 39, and James, 35, who is separated from his porn-star wife Janine Linde-mulder, attended a drag race this month in Las Vegas, where Bullock is filming the sequel to Miss Congeniality. Says an acquaintance: "It's probably opposites attracting. Maybe she likes the bad-boy image."

LOPEZ ON LOPEZ
Jennifer Lopez made two important points when she taped Inside the Actors Studio in New York April 12: First, the name J.Lo is a no-go. "It's not me, Jennifer," she declared. But she definitely likes romantic comedies. "We believe in fairy tales," she said. "We want to find Prince Charming." She didn't say whether he fits the bill, but Marc Anthony did watch the interview from the sidelines, then joined Lopez at the restaurant Downtown Cipriani. The two entered and left separately before heading to the Peninsula Hotel afterward, making separate entrances there too.

POP QUIZ

Jennifer Garner
In the film 13 Going on 30, Jennifer Garner plays Jenna Rink, a 13-year-old who ages 17 years overnight thanks to extra-potent wishing dust. Garner, 32, who recently starred in a third season of the TV spy drama Alias, will next start shooting Elektra, a feature based on her character in 2003's hit Daredevil. She spoke about living, and reliving, those awkward years.

What were you like at the age of 13?

Pretty happy. I was in the band and a ballet dancer. I could not have been less into clothes. I wore blue eye shadow and had huge glasses. I thought they were bitchin'.

You played the saxophone in high school. Were you a band geek?

I was. I was proud of it. I picked it up again a couple of years ago and I sound god-awful now!

Jennifer vs. Jenna: Contrast and compare.

She is dying to be cooler and I didn't care. I had a group of friends and even though they weren't the popular kids, they were fine with me. We had a great time. In pictures of my eighth-grade birthday party, we were really a motley crew.

Where did you think you'd be at 30?

A doctor, author or lawyer. Never an actor. Back then it just seemed like there was this magical planet where Happy Days was made. It truly didn't occur to me that it was something I could do.

Any tricks to playing a 13-year-old?

All of us have our inner 13-year-old. They are sophisticated and capable of adult conversation—then they surprise you by being children and goofy and dramatic. So it was constantly making sure that I didn't go too far in any one direction. But we were all 13 once, so it is not foreign. It's not like I was hanging out with gorillas.

Do girls really stuff their bras like that?

I didn't have a bra-stuffing incident, but for my first boy-girl party, I set my hair with my mom's hot rollers. When they came out, half was curly and half was stick straight. It was absolute devastation.

Ever have a Rick Springfield crush, like Jenna's?

Not Rick Springfield. There is a gap between Scott Baio and Tom Cruise, and I don't remember who filled it.

When did you get the Talk?

My best friend gave me the Talk with Donny and Marie [Osmond] dolls. I was 8 or 9, I guess.

Who was your Chris Grandy, the unattainably cool guy in the film?

Nathan Brown. I also had a crush on this guy Tim Miller, who was the trumpet player in the band. I didn't get my first kiss till 15. It was a guy named Matt, and he broke up with me the next day because he said I was a prude. I didn't know what a prude was. But you know what? I was a prude.

When did you change from awkward teen to glamor-puss?

When I went through hair and makeup this morning.

But seriously...

It never occurred to me that the way I looked had changed until one point doing something onstage in college. I was all done up and there was a picture in the paper comparing me to Geena Davis. It made me realize that I could clean up, which is a really empowering thing to know.