THE MATCH GAME
Romance is never simple in the world of celebrity couples. There are denials and deceptions. Rumors and reconciliation. And—sometimes—ah, love. Here's a guide to the couples du jour
JUDE & SIENNA
With his marriage to actress Sadie Frost, 38, over last month, Law, 30, is spending time with Miller, 20, a Pirelli calendar girl and actress. They reportedly met on the set of a remake of the 1966 classic Alfie and will be together this fall in Manhattan, where filming will continue.
SHERYL & LANCE
Armstrong, 32, and Crow, 41, were "chumming around" Oct. 4 at Andre Agassi's kids' benefit in Vegas, where he auctioned off a bicycle ride and she performed. The couple have been dating, reports Extra, but Crow's rep had no comment; Armstrong's did not return calls. A friend of Armstrong's wife, Kristin, 32, says during their divorce, "neither [Lance nor Kristin] is going to be public about a relationship."
JACK & KIMBERLY
The leggy 24-year-old daughter of Rod Stewart and Osbourne, 18, son of Ozzy, were recently snapped kissing at a Malibu mall. Say what? Turns out the two aren't really an item. According to a rep for Osbourne, they just decided to "have some fun for the cameras." And for those who insist that pictures don't lie, the rep adds, "They're just friends, really."
KEIRA & DEL
Britain's Sunday Mirror reported Nov. 2 that Knightley, the beauty from Pirates of the Caribbean and Bend It Like Beckham, recently ended her two-year romance with Synnott, a British actor she met while filming a 2001 TV movie, and took up with model Jamie Dorman. The paper claimed that Synnott was so devastated that a concerned Knightley rushed to his side. She reportedly warned Dorman to stay away while she ministered to Del. His rep says, "I don't comment on their personal lives." Neither does Knightley's agent. As for her career, Knightley will next be seen onscreen in Love Actually.
NAOMI & HEATH
Aussie heartthrob Ledger, 24, reconciled with Watts, 35, after a brief split. "The question is, were they really apart?" asks Ledger's rep, adding cryptically, "They were, geographically." And now? "They're talking, they're seeing each other...it's a beautiful thing."
LIZ & ARUN
A British report says Hurley and Nayar, a textile heir, planned a wedding, then canceled. Not so. Liz and Arun "are highly amused to be told that their wedding is now off," jokes her rep.
Julia Goes on 31 Dates
Julia Roberts is Miss October 2004—but Playboy hasn't scored a Hollywood coup. Roberts, an avowed animal lover, graces the 10th month of a calendar produced by the Four Corners Animal League in Taos, N.Mex., where she owns a ranch. The actress, who is pictured with Orsa and Fatima and a bashful third critter (Julia has adopted nine dogs from local shelters), is one of several locals who lent their images to the $10 calendar. Proceeds will help pay for spaying, neutering and programs to stop animal abuse. The star, who turned 36 on Oct. 28, agreed to participate as long as her image was not used on the cover or in advertising.
The Crying Game...Or Reality Bites
The premise was simple and, in the current era of humiliation TV, brilliant: Have a group of suitors vie for the love of a beautiful woman—only to learn, in the final episode, that she is actually a he. In fact, the charade worked so well that the program, There's Something About Miriam, made for British television, may never air. Several eager contestants, competing for a $16,000 prize, were happily lured into giving "Miriam," a stunning pre-op transsexual, intimate massages, caresses, kisses and even love poems. When she finally lifted her skirt to reveal her knickers—and a less-than-feminine silhouette—the suitors were very, very not amused. "They were tricked and were shaking and crying," claims their lawyer Rod Christie-Miller, who says the men, who have so far chosen to remain anonymous, will sue if Britain's Sky One channel airs the episodes. For now, the shows have been taken off the November schedule.
SURVIVOR'S HAIRY PLOTTER?
It must be magic—or an utter disdain of razors. How else to explain the resemblance between lovable Survivor scruff Rupert Boneham and Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), Harry Potter's groundskeeper?
The smoking gun
My Feet are Cold, and I Wish You Were Here
Gwyneth Paltrow may favor macrobiotic soybean tea, but the band her boyfriend Chris Martin fronts prefers more conventional libations, according to their 2003 backstage rider (which can be viewed on www.thesmokinggun.com The British rock quartet requires concert promoters to stock their dressing room with vodka, Red Bull, wine—though "NOT CHARDONNAY!"—and "cold, strong" lagers, but "NOT U.S. BEERS." It's the other demands that make you wonder, including eight pairs of "dark, cotton socks size 9-11," and eight "stamped, local postcards" from Boise, Cleveland, Oklahoma City and every other tour stop.
POP QUIZ
Paul Bettany
A Beautiful Mind costars Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly, both 32, welcomed their first child, Stellan, on Aug. 5. Bettany, who stars with Russell Crowe in Master and Commander, talked to Scoop about fatherhood.
Have you talked to Russell about all this? He's going to be a new dad too.
He busted into one of my interviews today and said, "We have got to have a chat." I am only 2½ months into it, so I don't really have any advice for him other than "Get sleep now."
How do you and Jennifer divide up the responsibilities with the baby?
The baby sleeps with us, so we both wake up when he cries. And then he feeds and we go back to sleep.
What trait of yours do you hope he inherits?
That's really tough. I hope he takes a lot after his mother. I am glad he has a penis, because he is a boy. I hope he doesn't waste a lot of his 20s waking up in gardens like I did.
Will your son be raised American or European?
He is going to be raised everywhere. He will be brought up in Mexico, in America, in Toronto...
You talk with passion about having a child. Are you rushing to have more?
I would like to set up a factory and just have so many children. I mean, my fantasy is that I am enormously fat and old and I have loads of grandchildren climbing over my enormously fat belly. So, yes, I would like to have loads of kids.
How does Jennifer feel?
She is quite keen on the idea. It's the being pregnant...she sort of gets the short end of the stick on that one. If I could, I would do it for her.
So it's all good?
It's the most fantastic thing in the world. There are very few downsides. I hold him, burp him, kiss his face. I take off a nappy—or diaper as you call it—and my son poos on me and I am like, "Yeah! You can poo! You are a genius child." Not being disgusted by the poo thing is a big shock.
ON THE BLOCK
GEORGE SLEPT HERE
PRICE: $1.2 Million
PLACE: East Hampton, N.Y.
SPECS: Politico George Stephanopoulos and his talk show host wife, Ali Wentworth, have elected to sell the two-story house they owned for almost 12 months. With 2,000 sq. ft. the restored getaway features three bedrooms, a sunroom, a pool and a Democratic pedigree: John F. Kennedy Jr. rented the same house in the '80s.
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