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To lose weight fast, some stars turn to low-calorie detox plans

By Ericka Sóuter

Fitting into slinky summer gear is no easy feat. That’s why, when stars need help sipping, they start sipping! The latest wave of juice-based detox diets – consisting of tonics such as pulverized kale, coconut milk and spicy lemonade – claims to speed up weight loss, increase energy and rid the body of toxins.  “They result was…amazing,” Gwyneth Paltrow, 37, who followed organic Avenue’s five-day cleanse, wrote in her Goop newsletter. Another devotee? First lady Michelle Obama, 46, who recently fashioned her own two-day plan, eating only fruits and vegetables for meals. “[Cleanses] help me clean out my palate,” she has said. Of course, drawbacks exist, “If you don’t get enough calories, your metabolism may slow, so once the cleanse is over, you can gain the weight back,” says NYC-based nutritionist Tanya Zuckerbrot (skinnyinthecity.com). Us reviews the regimens celebs rely on.

Organic Avenue

Degree of Difficulty: 2 out of 5

The Skinny

The five-day L.O.V.E. Easy cleanse (2,000 calories a day of juice and raw food) can help you shed up to 2 pounds each day, says staff consultant Mia Andres. How does it taste? “Coconut Mylk and the Cacao Smoothie were so delicious,” Paltro wrote. ($350, organicavenue.com)

A Day’s Sample Menu

To start, 1 ounce of Chlorophyll Elixir followed by 1 pint of grapefruit juice and a pint of Young LOVE Juice (cucumber, celery, spinach). To eat? Sunflower falafel with tahini sauce, cauliflower couscous salad and chocolate mousse. Finally, Green Milk (almonds, cucumber, celery).

Expert Analysis

“Cutting process food inspires healthy eating, but it’s pricey,” Zuckerbrot says.

Dr. Bo’s Magic Pak

Degree of Difficulty: 5 out of 5

The Skinny

This 10-day detox of supplements and low-carb meals consists of just 800 calories a day, and devotees (who have included Jessica Alba and Rebecca Romijn) are advised to get three colonics while one the plan. “You can lose up to 15 pounds,” creator Dr. Bo Wagner tells Us. ($107, drbowagner.com)

A Day’s Sample Menu

Garden of Plenty shake for breakfast; salad, steamed veggies and chicken or quinoa for lunch and dinner; plus, a variety of Wagner’s nutritional supplements, including Colon Magic (with psyllium).

Expert Analysis

“You get to eat real food, but 800 calories a day is too few,” warns Zuckerbrot

iZO Foundation Cleanse

Degree of Difficulty: 5 out of 5

The Skinny

Like juice? It’s a must on this five-day diet, which counts Reese Witherspoon, Emily Deschanel and Sanaa Lathan as fans. Each day, you guzzle 12 raw, organic blends for a total of 900 calories. The payoff: You’ll peel off up to 10 pounds, founder Timothy Martin tells Us. ($100 a day, izocleanse.com)

A Day’s Sample Menu

Two pints of iZo Juice Red (with parsley and beets); a pint each of Juice Green (with cucumber and ginger), lemonade (with cayenne pepper), SuperGreen (with algae), iZo Pro (with almond milk) and six other iZo blends; 10 iZo herbal laxatives.

Expert Analysis

“It’s low in sugar, but you’ll gain weight once you return to solid food,” Zuckerbrot says.

Tracey Anderson’s Baby Food Cleanse

Degree of Difficulty: 3 out of 5

The Skinny

Infants may be chubby, but eating like one for six days could help you shed 5 pounds. This 1,200-calorie-a day plan used by Courteney Cox and Shakira has eight different purees. “It’s delicious,” the creator, trainer Tracy Anderson, tells Us. “Everyone loses like crazy on it!” ($350, tracyandersonmethod.com)

A Day’s Sample Menu

Eight ounces each of kiwi basil puree, apple blueberry sauce, mango salsa, carrot puree with edamame, roasted winter squash with cranberries, spinach beet salad and chocolate chestnut pudding; a pint of roasted chicken and vegetable soup.

Expert Analysis

“It’s high in vitamins and antioxidants,” says Zuckerbrot. “But it lacks protein.”

Are Cleanses Risky?

They can be? Plans with fewer than 1,200 calories a day don’t have enough nutrients. One effect? Dehydration, says NYC-based Dr. Louis Aronne. And since you can develop headaches and nausea, Dr. Keith DeOrio advises checking with a doctor before trying a cleanse.

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Baby After 40!

Age is just a number! Hollywood’s “miracle” moms beat the odds

By Ericka Sóuter

Looking a decade younger on the red carpet isn’t the only way stars defy age. Mariah Carey, Kelly Preston and Celine Dion are all expecting babies after age 40 – when the odds of conceiving and delivering a healthy baby plummet. “At 40, there’s only a 10 percent chance of conception, and at 45, just 2 percent,” Alan B. Cooperman, director of reproductive endocrinology at L.A.’s Mount Sinai Medical Center tells Us. As Dion expecting twins, gushes to Us, “I am so fortunate.”

No kidding. The truth is, to conceive, many older moms undergo fertility treatments, and their age exposes them to risks such as preterm labor, dangerously high brood pressure and diabetes. “It’s costly and tough on your body,” Marcia Cross, who had twins at 44, has said.

Baby Steps

Dion is one of the few celebs to openly discuss her in vitro procedures (six, at roughly $12,000 each), in which a fertilized egg is implanted into the womb. Another well-kept secret: With chances of birth defects increasing as eggs age, some opt to use donors. “Many [45-year-olds] are not using their own egg,” Halle Berry, who had daughter Nahla at 40, has said. “Nobody talks about that.”

For Berry, who has called motherhood “profound” and “the most important thing we do,” any struggle is worth it. But, she warns, “don’t look at celebrities who are doing it and think, Oh, it’s easy. It’s really not.”

MARIAH CAREY, 40

Bombarded with baby rumors since he wed Carey in 2008, Nick Cannon, 29, confided to Us in May: “I always said we’d have kids when thing slow down, and they’re starting to slow down.” Still in the early stages of pregnancy, “Nick and Mariah are being very secretive about it,” says a source close to the pair, who are probably aware of the risks they face. “They are thrilled though nervous about it, so they are not saying anything yet.”

CELINE DION, 42

After learning she was pregnant with twins, Dion told a Montreal newspaper: “There were truly great emotions after all our efforts.” Indeed, it has been a difficult year for the singer, who miscarried after one IVF, a risk that increases with age. “After 40, it is harder to get pregnant and to stay pregnant,” fertility expert Alan B Cooperman tells Us. Now 15 weeks along, Dion and husband René Angélil, 68, are excited to find out the sex of the babies later this month, “I have no regrets,” she tells Us.

KELLY PRESTON, 47

“She takes good care of herself,” Preston’s mom, Linda Carlson, tells Us. “She is in good health.” After announcing her pregnancy at age 47, Preston and husband John Travolta, 56, shot down rumors she was carrying twins but remained mum on whether she had used fertility treatments. No wonder there was speculation: Chances of having multiples goes up naturally after age 35, as well as from IVF.

Bringing Home Baby

Pregnancy isn’t the only means by which over-40 stars are expanding their broods. Sheryl Crow, 48, just adopted a second son Levi James, born April 30. “Sheryl loves being a mom,” says a pal of the singer, who brought home son Wyatt, 3, in 2007. “It’s made her a better person. Her life is very full now.” And when Sarah Jessica Parker, 45, had trouble conceiving, she and husband Matthew Broderick, 48, turned to a surrogate. “It’s a total blessing,” the actress, already mom to James, 7, tells Us of 11-month-old twins Marion and Tabitha. “We’re thrilled.”

Over-40 Stats

• Births by U.S. women 40 to 44 are up 4 percent
• Twelve percent of fertility treatments on women 41 to 42 resulted in births
• About 11 percent of 41-year-olds trying IVF use their own eggs

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The Battle Over Casey

Cut off by her family, heiress Johnson died while searching for the fame that eluded her. Inside her sad last days

By Ericka Sóuter

There was on thing the $13 billion Johnson & Johnson fortune couldn’t buy heiress Casey Johnson: stardom. “I kick myself in the butt every day,” she once said of turning down pal Paris Hilton’s invitation to costar on The Simple Life, the Fox series that made Hilton and Nicole Richie household names. A pal says of Johnson, who was fond dead at age 30 in the guesthouse of a family friend in Los Angeles January 4: “In her mind, that remained one of the biggest mistakes she ever made. She had everything but couldn’t buy herself the fame she wanted.”

In a sad twist of fate, her death is what has finally brought the Manhattan-bred Johnson, daughter of New York Jets owner Woody Johnson and his ex-wife, Sale, the media spotlight she so craved. The tawdry details of her demise – her body lay for four days before it was discovered – grabbed headlines. And though some friends insist Johnson’s type 1 diabetes was to blame (cause of death had not been declared), according to a source, the heiress had gone to rehab most recently in August for drug and alcohol addiction.

Also fueling her posthumous notoriety: her recent engagement to D-list reality star Tia Tequila (née Nguyen). A huge internet presence with an “army” of followers, she spurred a Hollywood catfight with her relentless stream of tweets attacking both the “nasty girls” she claims used her beloved and the “homophobic” family that is keeping her away. As Johnson’s estranged family brought the body back east for burial, Tequila Twittered: “If I was a GUY as her fiancé, I wouldn’t be treated like this. They did NOT like lesbians. Neither did Nicky Hilton, Caney told me. SAD!” Asking for “a measure of privacy,” the family has said it will not comment.

Fall From Grace

By her own admission, Johnson grew up thoroughly spoiled. She got her first Chanel bag at age 12 and a $17,000 Cartier watch at 15. After dropping out of Brown University in her first year, she headed to L.A., becoming known as the party-girl pal of Hilton, Richie and others. In 2006, she scandalized her family by accusing, in an NYC tabloid, her 56-year-old aunt Libet of stealing her 38-year-old boyfriend, John Dee. (“An old woman with a lot of money is a very powerful aphrodisiac,” she said.)

Living in Squalor

An aspiring actress, Johnson dabbled in the family business, attempting to launch a skincare line in 2007.  But friends say she had not concept pf how to manage money. “Casey was given an allowance of $35,000 to $40,000 a month,” says a friend. “She would go through it and constantly borrowed money from people.”

She also fell prey to opportunists who loved her money more than they loved her. “I’ve had a lot of people us me,” she has said. “I’m so unaware of things like that.”

Perhaps seeking unconditional love, she was inspired by family friend Diandra Douglas (Michael Douglas’ ex) to adopt from Kazakhstan in 2007. Admiring Douglas’ blonde, blue-eyed daughter, she said, “I thought, Oh, my gosh, this is what I’m going to do.” But a friend says she was a less than attentive mother: “If Ava woke up crying or fussing, she’d buzz her full-time nanny on the intercom. She was never alone with her daughter, ever.”

Increasingly, friends say, Johnson’s behavior grew erratic. A pal recalls her turbulent relationship with Filthy Rich vet Courtenay Semel, daughter of Yahoo CEO Terry Semel, whom she dated in 2008. “Casey would wake Courtenay up and ask her who she was. She’d accuse her of being an intruder and call the police.”

In November, she was arrested for robbing an ex-gal pal, former U.K. Make Me a Supermodel contestant Jasmine Lennard – allegedly taking, among other things, Trashy Lingerie underwear, jewelry and a vintage fur coat (and leaving behind a used sex toy). Out on $20,000 bail, the heiress denied the charges, saying, “It is not true.”

Within the past two years, her family, hoping to curb her wild behavior, cut her off. (“It’s not like I got arrested for prostitution of a DUI,” Johnson told Page Six Magazine). Her mother, Sale, took custody of Ava. And by the time of Johnson’s death, she was destitute, say friends. A pal describes the L.A. house where she lived before the family friend took her in as “disgusting. The dirty dishes and the trash, it was bad.” Recalls another, “She trashed a house she was renting a few years ago – she cut the phone and electrical wires in the entire house.”

Enter Tequila

The reality starlet seemed to offer hope. Weeks after connecting through mutual friends (they both dated Semel), they announced their engagement via webcast December 9. The clip featured Tequila eaving a 17-carat diamond ring and bragging of her “bazillionaire” fiancée while an out-of-it Johnson looked on. Shocked friends called it a publicity stunt. “Casey was at rock bottom, looking for someone to love her, and Tila promised fame and money,” says the friends.

No Tequila, who Twittered that she wants to adopt Ava (whom she’s never met), is keeping her “wifey’s” memory, as well as her own publicity, alive with her posts and rants – against Nicky Hilton and Phillips, and the Johnsons for not inviting her to the funeral. Still, CNN canceled Tequila’s January 12 appearance on Larry King Live.

As for Johnson, neighbor Richard Kramer remembers her as adorable but lost. “Casey was really like a broken bird,” he tells Us. “If only someone had taken her under their wing.”

Also in this article…

Where Will Ava Go?

Two years after adopting daughter Ava, no 3, from Kazakhstan, Casey Johnson gave up custody to her mother Sale Johnson (godmother is Nicky Hilton). “Casey loved Ava but couldn’t handle her,” says an insider. “She knew it, everyone knew it. Sale just said, ‘Ava is coming to live with me,’ and that was that. She handed her over to her mom. It wasn’t a dramatic thing, Casey couldn’t provide for her and she wanted the best for Ava.” But not all friends agree. “Casey has given her daughter up to the same mother who raised her?” worries a pal. “Hopefully she won’t make the same mistakes.”

Where Were Her Friends?

The socialite counted movie stars and blue bloods alike in her inner circle. Though friends with Paris and Nicky Hilton since her childhood on NYC’s Upper East Side, “they had grown apart over the years because of Casey’s erratic behavior,” says an acquaintance. Several sources say she began drinking heavily, using cocaine and abusing prescription drugs. Still, her pals did not abandon her without a fight. “Several members of the Hilton family were asked to participate in an intervention for Casey to stop drinking and drugging, but Casey refused,” says the acquaintance. Concludes another pal, “She and Nicky were best friends, but there wasn’t much more Nicky could do. There comes a point where you can’t stand by anymore and watch what’s happening.”

Was It Love?

“We were so in love,” blogged Tequila of her “wife.” But a Johnson pal isn’t buying it, telling Us: “That engagement was such a joke.” The Shot at Love star burned up the Web with more than 160 tweets in seven days defying her naysayers.

“RIP CASEY NGUYEN…I LOVE YOU. LIFE GOES ONB UT YOU WILL ALWAYS BE IN MY HEART…ALWAYS FOREVER UNTIL I SEE YOU AGAIN IN HEAVEN”

“PPL say I need 2 get off twitter & grieve with friends and family…WHERE? I DONT HAVE ANY! Casey was my only family & my Dogs! Worst day ever”

“No point in wasting negative energy on negative people. It gets you NOWHERE! READY FOR MY GOOD NEWS NOW?????”

The fashion! The friendships! The fun, fresh storylines! As the long-awaited sequel starts filming, Us has the 411

By Ericka Sóuter

Fasten you Manolo Blahniks! On September 1, Sarah Jessica Parker ignited a Big Apple frenzy when she slipped back into Carrie Bradshaw’s stilettos for the hotly anticipate Sex and the City movie sequel (due May 28, 2010). Set to shoot for 75 days in Manhattan, Morocco and Monaco, the fab four—Parker, 44, Kim Cattrall, 53, Kristin Davis, 44, and Cynthia Nixon, 43—“are so happy and excited to get back together,” Davis tells Us. And, to be sure, so are the fans: The first big screen installment based on the HBO series that ran from 1998 to 2004, had the best R-rated comedy opening ever and grossed a staggering $415 million worldwide. Says Davis, “The first movie was all pent-up things we hadn’t finished in the show. Now, we’re just starting fresh, in a way. It’s a new adventure!” Indeed, costar Willie Garson (who plays Carrie’s gay BFF, Stanford Blatch) promises Us “fun, fun, fun! It’s a celebration and, once again, it truly is for the audience.” Want to know more, Sex addicts? Us answers your burning questions.

What will the sequel be about?

Expect SATC2 to tackle familiar territory—man trouble, shopping and a woman’s right to sleep around—but with new twists. (Warning: Spoilers ahead!)

Charlotte must face the realities of parenthood after achieving her lifelong dream of family (at the end of SATC 1, she gave birth to Rose, who joined adopted big sis Lily). “She has two kids now,” says Davis. “We’ll have to see what that’s like for her.” Meanwhile, fellow mom Miranda (reunited with husband Steve, played by David Eigenberg) confronts her workaholism. Says an insider, “Her job always came first for her, and she finds she’s becoming that woman she always looked down on: the woman who puts her family first.”

Samantha’s move back to NYC from Malibu proves a success: The PR powerhouse reigns over her expanding reigns over her expanding empire in an all-white office with a stunning Time Square view. Her major issue? Dealing with ex Smith Jerrod (Jason Lewis). Yes, Jason is back!” confirms a source. But are Sam and Smith back on? Unclear. “Smith has become a famous movie star, so we’ll see how that plays out and how that affects their relationship.” A casting notice also claims she’ll have to cope with downsizing her spending after some of her investments get wiped out.

As for Carrie, few details have leaded about the main star’s story line, but one SATC casting notice officer up this shocking possibility: “Bit loses a lot of money and takes a job in London, living alone in a one-bedroom apartment. Big gets really low and ends up in bed with another woman. After she leaves him, Carrie discovers she is pregnant.” Implausible? It’s anyone’s guess—but with the perennial single girl finally hitched, the challenges of married life are sure to be fodder for the film. Only one things for sure, an SATC source says: It won’t be predictable.”

Will the recession figure into the story line?

Yes. “If you think about the show, we always tried to be in sync with New York and the country,” Davis says. “It’s not like we tried to pretend 9/11 didn’t happen. That would be crazy!” Indeed, there’s already one sign the label-loving ladies are scaling back: They’re recycling outfits. In one scene, Carrie dons a 2000 Dior collection dress worn in season three.

But promise me: Will the fashion still be fierce?

No doubt! “If anything, it should be more fun,” the film’s costume designer, Patricia Field, tells Us. “Because when you’re in a recession, what do you want? You want to have a good time!” (Parker has already been seen pairing a Dior dress with $1,785 Christian Louboutin shoes, and accessorizing a Halston dress with $1,500 Chanel clutch.)

As for trends? “White plays a big role in general, because the movie takes place over seven weeks in the summer,” says Field. “But it won’t only be white dresses! I’m going for a new look, new elements, on these familiar girls.” And while Field says she isn’t planning any iconic fashion moments á la SATC 1’s Dior gladiators, she tells Us, “I’m sure there will be some standouts that will unfold as the movie films.”

Has there been any drama on the set?

Not the kind of yesteryear. After a years-long clash of egos, culminating in Catrall delaying SATC 1 over salary disputes, Cattrall and Parker hove buried the hatchet. In fact, says a Parker pal, “they’ve been texting and e-mailing all summer. They’re excited about working together.” The biggest issue so far, actually, has been the crush of paparazzi. Filming September 4, Parker stopped a take by exclaiming with irritation, “I hear clicking!”

What are the actresses like off-camera?

As the set’s social butterfly, parker 9who’s also a co-producer, a.k.a boss) “goes out of her way to say hello to everyone and remembers every name,” says a crewmember. Cattrall, though, “sweet and professional,” says a source, largely keeps to herself between takes. Nixon is “they type of person who focuses on acting like a craft,” says another, while Davis admits to being similar to her romantic, conservative alter ego: “Just the other day, I was flipping channels,” she says, “and my Kyle [MacLachlan] wedding was on TV. It was so pretty. Oh, the petals! I was so excited.”

Who else is returning—and who isn’t?

All the major supporting cast is locked in, including Mario Cantone as Charlotte’s dishy pal Anthony; Eigenberg as Steve; Evan handler as Charlotte’s hubby, Harry Goldenblatt; and, of course, Noth as Mr. Big. (A source says Big was worried about being too big; After gaining weight for a Broadway role earlier this year, “Chris was in a panic to get in shape for the movie. He hit the gym and went for hikes” in L.A.’s Runyon Canyon.) Not expected on-set: Gilles Marini as Samantha’s sexy Malibu neighbor, Dante (“The script took a different direction,” he tells Us), and Jennifer Hudson, who welcome her first child, David, on August 10.

Are the four main stars as close as they are in the movie?

Not quite. Notes a source, “they don’t socialize all that much because they are all juggling busy lives; kids, traveling, projects, relationships. It’s hard!”

Off-set, Parker lives a low-key life in NYC’s West Village with husband Matthew Broderick, 47. She hasn’t yet brought her twins, Marion and Tabitha (born June 22 via surrogate), to set, but she’s been known to frequent hip kids’ clothing shop Dig Og Mig and is often seen taking strolls with son James, 6. “She sings songs with him,” says a local shopkeeper. “They’re wonderful parents. Nice people.”

As for her costars: Nixon announced her engagement to girlfriend Christine Marinoni in May; Cattrall, who split from chef Alan Wyse, 30, in July, “is enjoying being single,” says a pal. Davis, aside from working on her Kristin Davis Collection fashion line, found love with fashion photographer Russell James. “They actually met a few years ago when he shot her for an ad campaign,” says a confidant, “but they were in a different place then. They started dating six months ago – and she does want kids someday.” The pal notes that, among the lead stars, Davis and Nixon are closest. “There is a genuine, deep friendship between them.”

But by all accounts, all four are thrilled about their reunion. “It’s beyond exciting for them,” says a source. “They’ve known each other so long, they’ve been together though life’s ups and downs – and that history means they’ll always be friends.” Indeed, says Davis, “the best thing about this is getting to be with your girlfriends for 18 hours a day, and eating lunch and dinner together every day, which nobody gets to do in their lives.”

What’s Making Your Stomach Fat?

Chewing gum! Swigging soda! Staying up late!

Diet and fitness pros reveal the everyday habits that can sabotage a sexy midsection

By Ericka Sóuter

Even with personal chefs and trainers at their disposal, celebrities aren’t immune to belly bulge. “I have to work out really hard so my stomach won’t stick out,” Fergie tells Us. But hitting the gym isn’t enough, as experts reveal here.

POOR FOOD CHOICES

Salt-heavy and starchy foods bring on bloat fast. Instead, opt for water-based fruits and veggies, seafood high in omega-3 fatty acids and whole grains like millet. “But more importantly, it’s portion size,” A.J Johnson, who has trained Gabrielle Union. “Excess food becomes weight gain.”

TOO LITTLE SLEEP

“Sleep produces hormones that help the body burn fat more effectively,” says celeb nutritionist Oz Garcia. Anything short of eight hours, the metabolism gets out of whack.

STRESSFUL SITUATIONS

Added stress increases cortisol levels, a hormone that traps fat around the midsection. “Try aerobic exercise three times a week or more,” says Dr. David Herber, director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition. “It’s a stress reducer.”

SODA

“I cut out soda and it dropped pounds really fast,” Dancing With the Stars’ Lacey Schwimmer tells Us. And it’s not just regular soda that’s to blame. Some studies show that the artificial sweetener in diet soda (and candy and gum) cause the body to secret insulin, says Garcia, which increases your appetite and makes you gain weight.

DOING CRUNCHES INCORRECTLY

Get tips from a trainer on doing abs moves correctly, or “constantly contract your core by pulling you belly button toward your back,” advises Johnson. “You can do this sitting in traffic or at your desk.”

CHEWING GUM

“Substitute gum-chewing for eating a snack, and you can save calories,” says Heber. But Garcia warns, “chewing and not actually eating triggers hunger for many people.”

Foods to Eat

halibut, salmon, tuna, brown rice, quinoa, fresh veggies, whole-grain breads, berries, citrus fruit, pecans, cashews

Foods to Avoid

high fructose drinks, potatoes, burgers, pizza, refined  grains (like white rice, bread and pasta)

Caught With Another Woman

It was Jon minus Kate as TV’s famed dad of eight partied without his wife amid trouble at home

By Ericka Sóuter

Regarding couple time, Kate Gosselin of TLC’s flagship reality show, Jon & Kate Plus 8, has said that she and hubby Jon reconnect after their eight kids go to bed: “We watch TV together and make it fun.” But on April 18, while she was in Bellevue, Washington, promoting her book Eight Little Faces, he found another outlet for connecting. A clubgoer tells Us that at 11:20 p.m., Jon -  the ring finger on her left hand naked – and a mystery brunette used the less-public back entrance of Legends Lounge, a nightclub attached to the America’s Best Value Inn in Reading, Pennsylvania. At 2 a.m., closing time, nearly three hours later, they left through separate exits. As they converged on Jon’s new white Nissan Nismo, he yelled, “Hey, babe! Babe! Give me my jacket!” the clubgoer says. (She complied.) “He was swaying and stumbling I was like, Whoa, I hope you’re not driving.” Suddenly, startled by the flash of a photographer’s camera, Jon panicked, urging the woman, “Get in the car! Get in the car!” Fumbling for the keys she jumped into the driver’s seat and the pair sped off – without even turning on the headlights.

Before that night, a source says, Jon showed up around 11 p.m., in the club’s parking lot two weekends in a row: “He would sit on his hood, looking at the people go in. After 15 minutes, he would leave and show up again right around closing time, around 2.”

Trouble? Sure seems so for Jon and Kate, who have allowed the world to watch as they bicker nonstop while raising 8-year-old twins Madelyn and Cara and 5-year-old sextuplets Aaden, Joel, Collin, Hannah, Leah and Alexis. Fans of their hit show are all too familiar with Kate’s venomous snipes (“Are you really going to be that immature and sit their with your arms folded and act like ding-dong?”), Jon’s petulant responses (“I’m not listening to you anymore”) and even Kate’s so-called “love taps” (which look a lot like slaps).

Meanwhile Pennsylvania neighbors – the many Us interviewed have little positive to say about their most famous residents – paint a picture of a 32-year-old who would rather go solo than face his demanding wife, 34, and copious family responsibilities. And while the two still appear together and shooting continues, whispers abound that they have actually separated.

One neighbor hears that Jon is “living in the apartment above their garage.” (TLC had no comment.) Jon’s former boss David Rothermel, owner of custom cabinet business StyleCraft Corp., tells Us, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they were headed for divorce. None of us could understand why anyone would want to be with that woman. She was always yelling and bitching at him about one thing or another. She used to give him $5 to spend and if he needed more money, she would give him hell.”

As for the events of April 18, Jon insists he’s guilty of nothing more than being social. He told Us in an e-mailed statement: “I went to Legends to speak to the owner. A friend of mine wanted to check out my car so I let her drive it to her car.  Yes, I have female friends – but that is all she is. I’m not going to end my friendships just because I’m on TV.”

Jon Adrift

But Jon’s recent behavior certainly doesn’t jibe with that of a contentedly married man. In February, he was reported to be partying with Juniata College coeds (see box, next page) in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania – three hours from the Gosselins’ $1.1 million Wernersville home. Us has since learned additional details, including Jon’s roving eye. “I was told that he hit on a lot of girls. They were all upset by it; he is married!” one close pal of a partygoer tells Us. (In response, Jon called the claims “hurtful and untrue,” though curiously enough, he also said in May’s Ladies’ Home Journal, “I always thought I would be, like, 54 years old and marry a 19-year-old or something.”)

Still, his choices since then have done little to rehab the image of a crumbling marriage. By several accounts, Jon has become a regular at local bars as well, reportedly frequenting the Pike Café, Shorty’s and 3^rd & Spruce Café, among others. “He’s always by himself,” says a source. “He chooses these low-key, no-name, dark bars and always in different towns. He mixes it up, probably so he’s not discovered.”

Indeed. While Kate thrives in the spotlight – witness her nationwide book tour and paid public appearances – Jon seems to be seeking anonymity. While he was out with pals one night, “everyone kept saying, ‘Look, it’s Jon from Jon & Kate Plus 8,” recalls another onlooker. “He hated it. Poor guy. He can’t just be Jon.”  An odd choice for his refuge? Solo trips to Reading’s Berkshire Mall. “It seems as if he comes here to just get away,” says a store employee, one of several who report seeing the dad roaming there alone. “He didn’t appear to have any mission, just walking and not being recognized or talked to. If it seemed like people were looking, he’d put his head down.”

Life With Kate

Friends say Jon didn’t always play the role of beleaguered dad. Before marrying Kate in June 1999, “he was the nicest, most chill guy and so much fun,” a former high school classmate tells Us.  “Once he got with her, that ended. No one talks to him anymore. It’s sad.”

Certainly Kate’s temperament does not excuse Jon’s carousing, but perhaps it serves to help explain his behavior. Sources tell Us conflict began well before the cameras started rolling in 2007. Ex-boss Rothermel recalls one example of a pregnant-with-sextuplets Kate on the warpath: “When she was supposed to be on bed rest, she came into the office, raising hell because Jon’s father was late bringing her lunch,” Rothermel says. Kate’s former coworkers at Reading Hospital and Medical Center, where she was a labor and delivery nurse, found her intolerable. “My niece was there having a baby,” a local who only wants to go by her fist name, Tammy, says. “We turned on the show, and a nurse came in and said, ‘You have to take that off!’ They said she’s a birch.” (Kate is even on the outs with her own family.) Another source who worked with the family called Kate, “a complete disaster,” adding, “There is no love there, no emotion, no interaction. Jonis the sweetest, nicest guy around…and he is being trampled on by this woman.”

That short fuse may be why, says Rothermel, Jon may not have told his wife the reason he was fired two months before the sextuplets arrived. While Kate has stated that Jon was terminated because StyleCraft did not want to pay medical insurance for the kids, Rothermel has documentation showing Jon was let go because he used company time for a personal project. Afterward, “Jon was more concerned with her killing him than anything else,” adds Rothermel. (Another of Jon’s secrets? He drives through at Wendy’s, even though Kate is virtually all organic!)

Despite the seeming dysfunction, though, this is no marriage of convenience. A source close to the family tells Us, “What’s funny is that I think Jon genuinely loves her. I don’t pretend to understand why, but there is something about Kate that Jon obviously thrives on.” And as much as she appears hostile, it’s often in response to behavior of this that would frustrate anyone, from simply interrupting to slacking off on daddy duty.

Pressure at Home

Adding to stress: having such an enormous family – though, according to a neighbor, much of Kate’s supermom act is reserved for the cameras. “Care for the kids was definitely 90 percent Jon and the helpers, and there are always helpers, so it was never just Kate and the kids,” the neighbor tells Us.

And when the kids misbehave, Kate goes on the offensive. “She has more of an Army mentality,” the neighbor adds. “When the kids needed discipline, Jon or the babysitters would take the time to reason with them and explain the situation. Kate is not that compassionate or sensitive.”

Still, there would be complete chaos without Kate’s firm hand. Asked whether she had nannies, “Nope,” she told Us in July. “We have a very part-time family helper. Other than that, our commitment is to our kids, and we work really hard to be the ones raising them.” Not that she thinks she’s perfect: “You can only do your best, and tomorrow’s a whole new day.”

Keeping Up Appearances

With season five of Jon & Kate premiering May 25, the couple are presenting a unite front. On March 24, they shared an intimate dinner at Mr. Chow in Beverly Hills, kept close during a daylong press event in New York City on April 2 and picked out matching clothes for the kids (no cameras!) at their local Gymboree on April 20. As to whether this current drama will affect ratings, fans have come to expect a warts-and-all look at this couple and their struggles to raise a huge family. The Strain of the show “has definitely put some tension on our marriage,” Jon told Ladies’ Home Journal. “But Kate an I are together.” For how long? “I’m not always patient,” Kate has said. “I try and I’m having a lot of fun. It’s moment by moment.”

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Are the Kids OK?

While Jon and Kate’s bickering makes for good TV (who can forget the episode in which she chastised him for breathing?), it can affect the kids adversely. “They see the arguing as everything is not OK in their world and can become anxious,” says Copper Lawrence, an NYC-based developmental and child psychotherapist. “But if they also see love and affection, they are leaning what a real relationship is.” A source who has worked with the family tells Us the younger six “are sweet and don’t really get what’s going on.” As for the twins, Madelyn “is clearly the star” and ay act out, while Cara is “an angel” in comparison. Another issue: Growing up on TV “takes them out of the realm of what’s normal,” says Lawrence (who has not treated the Gosselins), and may impact “the one place you have some solace: among family.”

Jon’s College Indiscretion

Beer Pong! Dirty dancing! Partying! On February 6, the famous 32-year-old father nabbed headlines after a wild night at Pennsylvania’s Juniata College. “He came to the bar where we were at [Mimi’s], then followed a bunch of us back to the volleyball house for a party,” a student tells Us. “He was telling us he was getting divorced, but he didn’t hook up with anyone that I saw.” Still, adds another student, “he attempted to kiss one of my best friends, who replied, ‘OK, never do that again!’ and was so creeped-out and upset that she left. He was acting ridiculous.” Jon denied any wrongdoing.

Their Meanest Snipes

Jon:

“Hey Kate, when are you going to pull the stick out? Because it’s getting really annoying.”

“You’re a party pooper. Just enjoy it. You’re going to be kicking yourself when you’re older.”

“Your mother has gotten you [kids] brain-warped thinking you have to be clean all the time.”

Kate:

“This is Jon at his finest – stubborn as he possibly can be just to annoy me.”

“It’s so irritating that you talk over top of me. Still. How long have we done these interviews? It’s like you would learn by now.”

“’OK’ is what you say every time I confront you…”OK’ is not an acceptable answer anymore.”

Merry Memories

By Ericka Sóuter

Actress Angie Harmon Goes All Out to Give Her Daughters a Christmas They'll Never Forget

When Angie Harmon settles down for her annual Christmas Eve gift-wrapping session, there's just one thing that gets her in the holiday spirit. "Aliens," says Harmon. "I have to watch all four of the movies while I wrap. And if my husband comes in and talks, I shush him. I'm aware there's nothing Christmassy about it, and it's weird but it's my favorite."

Fortunately, her other holiday traditions go a little lighter on the sci-fi. The Christmas music starts the day after Thanksgiving when the decorations go up. Since a few poinsettias just won't cut it, Harmon, 35, has her husband, former New York Giants cornerback Jason Sehorn, unpack the barn in the backyard of their L.A. home, where the mountains of holiday decor she's amassed over the years are kept. Yards of garlands, dozens of ornaments, too many wreaths to count (including one she describes as "big as a tractor tire") and no less than six Nativity scenes are pulled out and placed all over the house to the delight of their daughters Finley, 4, and Avery, 2. "Everyone in the neighborhood knows it's Christmastime at our house!" says Sehorn, 36, who's charged with the most perilous of decorating tasks. "She's had me climbing up tree branches and hanging from the second floor roof to tack in strings of lights. It's like, I am either going to electrocute myself or fall."

Well worth the effort, according to Harmon, who has a very simple goal for the season: "When your kids walk in, everything should be joyous," she says. "It's just the most wonderful time of the year, and I want it everywhere." And she means it. "Every window and trim will be lit up," confirms Sehorn. But for Harmon, ringing in the season means far more than just decking the halls. To start, there's the joy of giving and receiving. "Santa is not over-the-top. Mommy is," she says of her present-buying for her daughters. "But this is also a tradition of ours—every year before Christmas, we gather up every single toy that they don't really play with that much, and we take them and give them away," she says.

Another holiday must? Being surrounded by family and friends. Since the clan's move to L.A. from Harmon's hometown of Dallas two years ago, she hosts the festivities herself. "We want our kids to wake up in their own beds and spend Christmas morning in their own house," says Harmon, currently starring in the ABC hit Women's Murder Club. "Our favorite thing is to see them come down and see the tree and everything under it." Christmas dinner is a southern-inspired feast for family and friends featuring "recipes that have been passed down for generations in my family," she says. "I make a mean broccoli cheese casserole with jalapeño peppers, a green bean salad, and don't me get me started on Mee-Ma's stuffing. That's my cousin's husband's mother's recipe, and it is just heavenly." But even that doesn't compare to getting the chance to spend uninterrupted time with her loved ones. "To have a table full of people eating and drinking and hanging out, that's the best part of the holidays," she says. "That's the thing I've always loved."

She hopes Finley and Avery grow to appreciate the season just as much. "When they're adults with husbands and kids of their own, I want them to think, 'At Christmas, Mom is going to have the house decorated, it's going to smell like good food for weeks and we're going to have such a great time,' " says Harmon, smiling. "That's what I do this for. I want them to have a memory that they can't wait to get back to."

Angie's Christmas To-Do List

• Stock up on holiday music. "I get obsessive and change the CD based on the time of day," she says. "It's the Vienna Boys' Choir during nap time for the girls. When cooking dinner, we bounce around to 'Jingle Bell Rock.' "

• Bring cheer to every room. "Each girl has a little Christmas tree in her bedroom," she says. "They are all lit up and become their nightlights."

• Do whatever it takes to get your kids to pose for a Christmas card photo. "There's screaming and bribing with lollipops," Harmon admits with a laugh. "But when people get it, they say, 'Aren't they just the picture of blissfulness?' "

• Teach the kids the true meaning of the holiday. "They need to know it's about more than, 'Gimme some gifts,' " says Sehorn.

• Make sure it's not all about the kids. Jason and Angie fill each other's stockings. "Half the fun is seeing how awfully I wrap," he says.

• Don't forget the festive tableware. "When I put Christmas china on my wedding registry, people didn't know what it was," says Harmon. "Jason asked, 'Does that mean we bring it out once a year?' I said, 'Yep. And I am going to need 14 place settings and a gravy boat, thank you very much.' "

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My Secret Battle with Bulimia

By ERICKA SÓUTER

Cheryl 'Salt' James Reveals Why She Left Salt-N-Pepa, Music's Top-Selling Female Rap Group: to Fight An Eating Disorder and Depression. Now She's Healthy—and Back with Pepa on TV

To their millions of fans Salt-N-Pepa were a fierce female presence in the male world of rap, singing about life, love and sex with humor, sass and the same gusto as the guys. "We broke down a lot of doors," says Sandi "Pepa" Denton. "People started recognizing females can sell records." But despite that success, Cheryl "Salt" James hid a secret, not only from the public but from her bandmates and those closest to her. She was depressed and bulimic, bingeing and purging up to seven times in a day. "I tried to stop," she says, "but it was something I couldn't control."

In 2001, after years of touring and hiding her eating disorder, James decided that the only way to heal was to walk away from the wildly successful act. "I had to get rid of the chaos in my life, which I attributed to being in the group," she says. Denton and third member, DJ Dee Dee "Spinderella" Roper, were stunned. "When Salt left, I was destroyed," says Denton. Friends since college, the two didn't speak for years at a time.

Now James, 41, and Denton, 42, have reunited for a reality TV series. VH1's The Salt-N-Pepa Show (premiering Oct. 15) documents the thaw in their chilly relationship (Roper also appears briefly on the show) and their run at a second shot at fame. Returning to the public eye "is a lot of pressure," says James. "But I know I can handle it now."

The first time around she wasn't prepared. "People thought I had all the confidence in the world," says James, who recalls quietly buckling under "the pressure to be beautiful and management telling me, 'You're gaining weight.' It was endless." Her body issues began much earlier, as a girl in Brooklyn. "I remember feeling all right with myself until age 13," she says. "Then, I was getting off the bus one day and this guy called me Miss Piggy. That was the first time I ever really felt like I wasn't okay."

Even becoming a rap star in her 20s didn't reverse the slide in her self-esteem. "I felt like the least pretty one. Dee Dee was called the beautiful one, Pepa the supersexy one. What am I?" One day, out for pancakes with a friend who seemed able to eat anything without gaining weight, James overate, then went into the rest room and made herself throw up for the first time. "I remember feeling euphoric, satisfied and relieved afterwards," she says.

From then on, she had three goals in life: keep the eating disorder hidden, win a Grammy Award and weigh 115 lbs. She accomplished all of them, but by then the bulimia was out of her control. "It was at its worst when I was alone. My mind would go to, 'What can I eat that is sinful?'" Usually pizza, fries, pasta and chocolate cake in "outrageous portions." Then she would vomit. Because James, who is 5'2", never became painfully thin, no one noticed she had a problem.

She finally confided in her then-boyfriend, music producer Gavin Wray, who took her to a therapist. After one session, says Wray, who married James in 2000, "she told me she wanted to deal with it on her own, and she did."

James turned to her Christian faith. "I got on my knees and cried out, 'God, I just want to be healed,'" she says. "'I just want to be whole.'" She returned to going to church regularly, and started talking openly with friends and family members about her pain. "For me, the bulimia was about stuffing my emotions," says James. "So I stopped suppressing my feelings." It helped, and eventually she was able to stop bingeing and purging. "I don't want to give the illusion that one day God came down and I was healed. It is a process, and something you have to stay on top of." There were short relapses, she says, but "I don't have the fear that it will come back."

Now a Long Island stay-at-home mom to son Chapele, 8, and daughter Corin, 16, James is working on mending the rift with Denton, who initially didn't understand her bulimia. "She seemed fine to me," recalls Denton. "There was no absence or illness." Even now, emotions surrounding James's exit are very raw. "I went through a lot to get where I was," says Denton, who found it hard to market herself as a solo performer. "There was a lot we had to overcome in the industry. What was it all for?"

"She is right," says James. "The way I left was wrong, but to this day it remains the best thing I ever did for myself." Fans hoping for a reunion tour in which Salt-N-Pepa reprise hits like "Push It" will be disappointed to hear that, since becoming a devout Christian, James no longer sings her old racy lyrics. "They are an expression of who I was—or who I was trying to be—in my 20s, not who I am now." Instead, she'd rather share her long-untold story. "There are a lot of good things that we can do. Maybe my example can help someone."

Mmm! Mmm! Matthew!

By Ericka Sóuter

Beach Babe Matthew McConaughey Opens Up About Life, Love – and How He Maintains that Smokin' Bod

1 HOT GUY ANSWERS 5 BURNING QUESTIONS

At 37, Matthew McConaughey says he only needs "friends and family" to keep him happy and that he avoids "false drama" at all costs. Now the actor opens up about his bachelor pad on wheels and the qualities he looks for in a woman.

1 Why don't you ever wear a shirt?
"I love warm weather and summertime. What better way to enjoy it than at the beach, where few people wear shirts?"

2 Do you really live in that RV?
"Yes, the Airstream is my home and I have two more being designed."

3 What does it take to be your girlfriend?
"What I look for in a woman is what I love to call the 'two Hs'—hotness and humor. But to be honest, a woman with a good sense of humor is always hot."

4 How do you maintain that bod?
"I don't really have a workout regimen I follow. I just live my life. My goal is to break a sweat each day."

5 Is there anything that will get you off the beach?
"The water."

A NOTE FROM MATTHEW'S MOM
Kay McConaughey explains why her son is such a great catch

WHAT KIND OF GUY IS MATTHEW?
"He's comfortable to be with. He's got this kind of expression on his face like he's got a secret and he just dangles it in front of you for eternity until he tells you, so that's sexy. He's a family person. He's down-to-earth."

WAS HE A LADIES' MAN IN HIGH SCHOOL?
"He just did his thing, played tennis and golf, hung out with the guys a lot. I can't imagine him playing up to the girls, but I'm telling you, those girls liked his butt."

WHAT ABOUT HIS FITNESS OBSESSION?
"He likes the way exercising feels. To feel good about your body and mind, it's just a way of life for him. A lot of good things happen to him because he's in shape."

IS MARRIAGE IN HIS FUTURE?
"I hope he'll settle down, but I don't hold my breath. His life is so full now that when that happens, I think he wants to do it right."

WHAT KIND OF DAD WILL HE BE?
"I think he'd be strict but very fair. He would be hands-on; I don't care whether it's a boy or girl. Strict, no foolishness: 'I'm only going to tell you once!'"

AND HIS GREATEST ASSET?
"His integrity. You just feel like he really cares. When he gives you his time, he gives it to you. And he's honest. What you see is what you get, trust me. Besides that, he's good-looking. He's got a great smile, doesn't he? And he's never had braces! Isn't that a heck of a deal?"

Contributors: Julie Jordan/L.A..

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"I have no clue how many times I've been photographed without my shirt on.... My motto is, 'If they catch it, they catch it'"

Matthew Heats Things Up!

Parked at a Malibu RV park, McConaughey's 28-ft., $65,000 Airstream is equipped with everything he needs, including a barbecue pit for home-cooked steak dinners with Brazilian model Camila Alves, 24. "I use a special marinade that I make—it's a secret recipe," he says. "And I'll sauté some spinach with garlic or steam some asparagus."