celebrities

Now You Too Can Go Dancing With the Stars

December 3, 2010 at 10:02 am , by Sonia Harmon

Looking for a fun way to get in shape? The new Dancing with the Stars workout DVDs may be right up your alley. Three DWTS dancing pros—Chelsie Hightower, Kym Johnson and Edyta Sliwinska—take you through routines inspired by the show, including tango, ballroom and swing dance themes. No partner is necessary, so you can let loose and practice your moves at home without worrying about anyone else. “If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to dance, you can do this and get a great workout at the same time,” says Chelsie. “It’s the closest you’re going to get to having a dancer’s body without taking dance classes for eight hours a week.” Take your pick from two 50 minute-long workout DVDs: Fat-Burning Cardio Dance and Ballroom Buns and Abs, which at $15 each, are just enough to get you moving in no time.

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Can This Marriage Be Saved? Celeb Divorce Edition

November 18, 2010 at 3:52 pm , by Jennifer Castoro

As you may have heard, Eva Longoria Parker and Tony Parker’s marriage is the latest in the constant stream of celeb unions to bite the marital dust. Most of the time, we’re not too concerned about the state of Hollywood affairs, though they do make for good lunchtime/elliptical machine reading. But this latest casualty has us feeling a little bummed. Of course, celebrity marriages exist somewhere in the realm of hobbits and Cullins, where mythical “people” (who may or may not be real) live in huge gated houses with nannies and gobs of money that they spend all day counting, when not filming sequels or voiceovers to Applebee’s commercials. But to us, this marriage seemed at least a little bit more . . . normal. As with Courtney Cox and David Arquette, who seem to be in limbo, or Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon, it’s sad to see the demise of a partnership that seemed to be a loving and mostly healthy one. If Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson or Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn call it quits, we might as well abandon the whole thing.

Of course, there are unique (and odd) pressures on high-profile couples that we normal folks can’t really appreciate. Personally, if I saw a photo of my guy with his arm around some starlet hussy, I’d probably get pretty peeved, too. And then there’s the point that no one else can truly understand the inner workings of another person’s marriage. Half the time it seems like couples who divorce have no idea what hit them, as if they took a nap and woke up spouseless, in court and craving cookies and a hug.

So tell us, what do you think about the latest celeb divorces? Do you feel for Eva and Courtney et al, (or Tony and David et al) or do you just not care at all? Are there any celeb marriages you’d be sad to see end?

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Claire Robinson’s 5 Tips for Planning the Perfect Holiday Party

November 15, 2010 at 9:30 am , by Sonia Harmon

Are you in holiday party planning mode yet? Don’t stress, Food Network’s Claire Robinson is here to help! In our December 2010/January 2011 issue she offers five easy-to-make appetizer recipes from her book, 5 Ingredient Fix—now she’s sharing her five tips for planning a successful holiday party.

Offer a variety of foods. “With most meals, you’ll never please everybody,” she says. “But the great thing about appetizers and hors d’oeuvres is that it’s your one chance to have little bites of food that please everybody.” Claire likes to offer meat and vegetarian options, as well as hot and cold food that you can either dip or pop into your mouth.

Keep the atmosphere relaxed and casual. “I find that the best holiday parties are the ones that are a little more low-key. You can let the food be fancy or let guests dress up if they want, but just let it be a casual event and everybody can have a good time.”

Have drinks and at least one appetizer ready for when guests arrive. “I always like to have a signature cocktail and one nibble ready ahead of time to greet people with, because even if you’re wrapping up in the kitchen, there’s still one thing that’s ready to go.”

Spread the appetizer plates around the room. “I like to place the appetizers in a few different spots, because there’s nothing worse than everybody hovering over one bowl of nuts. It also helps keep your guests moving around the room.”

Don’t be afraid to make your own centerpieces. “It could be as simple as filling a vase with a bunch of inexpensive candy canes instead of spending a fortune on flowers. I’ve done everything from putting extra baguettes in big vases to putting fresh herbs in small glasses on the center of the table.”

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The Band Perry’s Pumpkin Pie

November 10, 2010 at 10:37 am , by Sonia Harmon

Kimberly, Reid and Neil Perry have lots to be thankful for. The twenty-something siblings from Mobile, Alabama make up country music’s hot new act, The Band Perry. They’re currently on tour with Alan Jackson, and just last month their self-titled album debuted at #2 on Billboard’s Country Chart. Tonight the band is nominated for Vocal Group of the Year at the Country Music Awards—not too shabby considering that last year, they watched the show from a hotel room.

In a few weeks, the band will spend Thanksgiving—their favorite holiday—in Tennessee with family and friends. We asked them to share their must-have Thanksgiving recipe (and—bonus!—we got the funny story that goes along with it).

Kimberly’s (then Reid’s, then Neil’s) Traditional Pumpkin Pie

“We got the recipe from a great aunt of ours, who’s now passed away, but was almost like a grandmother to us. She was an amazing cook and one of her favorite recipes was pumpkin pie. I’ve made it since I was 10 years old. I called it ‘Kimberly’s Traditional Pumpkin Pie,’ and we had it every Thanksgiving. Read more

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Patricia Heaton on life in The Middle

November 3, 2010 at 4:37 pm , by Sonia Harmon

She may just be the most relatable character on TV. As Frankie Heck on the ABC hit show, The Middle, Patricia Heaton spends her days juggling three kids, a full-time job, and a sweet-but-not-always-helpful hubbie. The show is set in Orson, Indiana. Ironic, given that Heaton herself grew up in the Midwest (Ohio), has four boys of her own, and is a self-admitted workaholic. We talked to Heaton about her own life in the middle, as well as her participation in CNN’s heroes tribute this Thanksgiving.

Is it fun revisiting your family roots, by doing a show set in the Midwest?
I’m thrilled! I don’t think there’s been a show that’s represented my “peeps” since Rosanne, where it’s just hard-working middle class people. If you are a mom with kids and you’re trying to work outside the home–as most moms are–it’s hard to juggle everything regardless of where you are socioeconomically. Everyone struggles with trying to be there for their family and their spouse, while bringing in money. The writers are all from the Midwest, too. A lot of the episodes get us all talking about what we did when we grew up.

Does that inspire ideas for future story lines?

Actually, we recently did an episode about a foreign exchange student that was inspired by my life. I got an email from my son’s school saying they needed host families for some Japanese foreign exchange students and I really wanted to do it because when I was a kid we had exchange students visit our neighborhood and it was so exciting. My sons were like, “We’re going to have a stranger living in our house for 10 days? No way!” But I thought it was going to be great and of course, I just got a very quiet teenager from Japan, who stared at us for 10 days. I even brought him to the set—which I could tell he was excited about—but his face never changed! And I thought, “Can you imagine if the Heck family had a foreign exchange student come and visit them?” So we recently aired that episode, which people just went crazy for, I got all kinds of emails about it. Read more

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Get-Fit Clicks

November 2, 2010 at 2:10 pm , by jbrown

* Behind the infomercial: Will the Bender Ball workout give you killer abs? (Fit Bottomed Girls)

* Non-fattening uses for all that leftover Halloween candy (LilSugar)

* If you’ve already eaten too much of that leftover Halloween candy, check out these easy ways to burn it off (Fitness)

* Satiric or not, I don’t think the world needs an “I Heart Anorexia” tee (New York Daily News)

* Wow! Check out Wynonna Judd’s 55-pound weight loss (Fit Celeb)

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5 Things We Love About Gilles Marini

October 29, 2010 at 2:48 pm , by Sonia Harmon

He had a steamy role in the first Sex and the City movie, and then showed his smooth moves on season eight of Dancing with the Stars, but now French model and actor Gilles Marini is settling into his role as Luc Laurent on the ABC drama Brothers and Sisters. On Monday, you can catch his guest gig on the 200th episode of Dancing with the Stars (this time he’ll be doing the judging.) We recently met with Marini—who was in New York filming an episode of the USA series Royal Pains—and quizzed him on everything from his rise to fame to his baking skills. We quickly discovered there’s much more to love about him than just his looks.

1. He doesn’t give up. When Marini moved from France to Miami, he arrived with only $400, a few belongings in a backpack and a dream of being an actor. He barely knew English, but he didn’t let that hold him back: “If you want something, you can make yourself understood. You point at things, and you smile, and you’re like, ‘I’m an idiot!’ and people love you.”

2. He knows his way around the kitchen. Marini worked in his father’s bakery until he was 19 years old, and now he regularly whips up treats with his kids at home. “I make a lot of French yogurt cakes. It’s so simple, my four-year-old does it all the time.”

3. He’s an animal lover. The Frenchman has an especially soft spot for French bulldogs (how patriotic!). “That is the only dog I will ever have for the rest of my life. They are not dogs; they feel they are human. And they are so ugly that they are cute!”

4. He’s always believed in giving back. Education, Haiti relief, and working with kids are just a few of the causes he supports. He also regularly works with cancer associations and participates in Rally for Kids with Cancer. “I really do that because it makes me feel happy,” he says. “That makes me feel a part of the world more than my work.”

5. He has a sense of humor. “Every actor on Brothers and Sisters has an Oscar, Golden Globe or Emmy…I won the Best Rear of the Year from Bravo in 2008!”

Photo by Alexandra Nataf.

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