If there's one star who could get me to earn my beads -- Girls Gone Wild style -- at Mardi Gras, it would be superhunk Josh Duhamel.

Over the weekend, Josh hit The Big Easy to help Bacardi raise funds for Rebirth of New Orleans Tourism Fund. In addition to taking part in making the longest string of Mardi Gras Beads (yes, that really was an event!), he got to take in the madness that is Mardi Gras, which I'm sure means that he got flashed like c-r-a-z-y.

Here are some hot Josh photos.

There was no flashing -- and no beads for that matter -- back in 2002 when I actually met Josh at a party in NYC. I worked for a soap magazine and he was ending his run on All My Children, so we had a little something in common as we chatted at the Labor Day fete. Hope you get a kick out of this photo of little ole me with the towering Las Vegas star. The other guys are Jordi Vilasuso, who was on Guiding Light, and Paul Taylor, who was on As the World Turns.

What a lucky gal I was that night, right?

In other Mardi Gras news, earlier today Louisiana native Britney Spears surprised some Hurricane Katrina victims with a shopping trip. Then she spent some time hanging in the French Quarter.

Wow -- Brit actually almost looks camera ready.

Lindsay Lohan is already double dipping.

Yesterday, the teen queen was spotted going into the SoHo Grand hotel room of her ex-boyfriend Wilmer Valderrama at 5:30 am. Earlier in the evening, the twosome had been boozin' together at Lotus.

According to Page Six, Us Weekly already purchased photos of the exes leaving the hotel, so you'll be able to check them out tomorrow.

Waaaaaaaaaaaah!

What's that? The sound of me crying because I just read that Mariah Carey is making another crap movie.

After inflicting punishment on the public with her 2001 film Glitter, Mariah has signed on to star in Tennessee, an indie that will be shot in New Mexico and Tennessee this spring. She'll play a waitress searching for her estranged dad so she can help save her brother, who has leukemia.

Here's my tip for the aspiring waitress: Stick to singing!

Is richy rich mogul Diddy paying for his booty?

While in Brazil celebrating Carnival -- which is a wild time according to my pals Natalie and little Chrissy, who went last year -- the Didster was spotted by reporters entering an establishment known for its cheap call girls.

"The name of the place is 'Help' and the girls there are supposed to be the cheapest prostitutes in the city," a source tells the Scoop. "According to the local press he was annoyed when he saw the photographers and arranged to get in through the garage."

What must his girlfriend, model Kim Porter, think? Actually, she's probably used to it.

Angelina Jolie is rubbing off on Brad Pitt in more ways than one.

According to Page Six, Brad is going to be named a U.N. goodwill ambassador -- just like his baby mama, Angelina Jolie.

The other night, Brad was having a brew with two European fellas at the Trump World Tower in NYC. While they were throwing one back, they were talking about an upcoming event at the U.N. across the street.

And where was Crazy Glue? (Back in high school, that's what we called this chick who was always with her boyfriend.) Angelina was in Paris with her kiddies Maddox and Zahara. Page Six's spy said Brad was looking lonely without her.

Ah!

Score one for the good girl.

Kindergarten teacher Sarah won the heart of ER doctor Travis Stork on last night's finale of The Bachelor.

Sarah -- the good girl -- spent most of her time in Paris as Travis's buddy and confidante. Their main connection? They both live in Nashville -- just down the road from one another -- so they thought it was destiny that they met in Paris. As Travis admitted throughout the show, there really were no sparks between them until it got down to the finals. I don't even think they kissed until they had their hometown date. But what she had going for her was her laidback nature -- there were too many high-maintenance bitches on that show.

The odds were on Moana to win. Moana was the "pretty one." Exotic looks, great fashion sense, complex... yada, yada. In short, she wasn't on her hands and knees singing nursery rhymes with Travis's nieces like wholesome Sarah was. I wouldn't have been either -- Sarah was way too sappy.

Moana had a good chance to snag the bachelor going into last night's finale. So what went wrong? She cried for 90 percent of the episode. And then she was very short with Travis's parents, cutting them off when they asked her questions. After their exchange, his parents said that they didn't like Moana -- which rarely happens. Usually the families are so PC about the whole "process."

Will Sarah and Travis have lasting love? Doubt it. She does have a ring though -- albeit not on her ring finger. He gave her a $25,000+ Chopard diamond ring to wear on a chain around her neck. Despite that cheesiness, I have to say that they picked a great bachelor this go-round. Not only was Travis incredibly easy on the eyes, he seemed like a nice guy. In other words? He was no Charlie O'Connell, Aaron Buerge or Alex Michel.

Hey -- maybe he and Sarah will make a great couple after all.

Do you think he made the right decision? Weigh in below.

One of my pet peeves? People who obviously did something wrong, but refuse to 'fess up to it. (Hello, Boy "Not Guilty" George with your 50 baggies of blow in your apartment.) So I applaud George Michael for coming clean about his drug arrest over the weekend. Not only that, but he put out a pretty funny statement totally poking fun at himself for the incident:

"I was in possession of class C drugs which is an offense and I have no complaints about the police who were professional throughout... I have been through enough in 24 years of dealing with the media to know what I am in for from them this week. Much of it will be inaccurate or simply untrue. I can handle that, it is my own stupid fault, as usual... I won't make a record out of this one -- even though it is tempting."

In related news, loser Pete Doherty has been arrested for the hundredth time. The charges this time? Suspicion of stealing a car and possessing Class A drugs.

The. Guy. Is. A. Joke.

Gossip maven Jeannette Walls says that the stork will paying a visit to Mrs. Federline again.

Two weeks ago, after taping some scenes for her upcoming appearance on Will & Grace, Britney was rushed to a Malibu hospital. Rumors later swirled that little Sean Preston was constipated (TMI!), but the little boy wasn't even with her.

So why was she there? "She was throwing up and had stomach cramps," a source tells The Scoop. "She's pregnant."

Britney's spokeswoman denies that the singer is expecting another baby.

I don't know if Britney's pregnant or not -- time will tell. But I really want to know why celebrities rush to the hospital every time they have the flu, become nauseous or break a nail. Lindsay Lohan is constantly rushed to the hospital too. Don't these twits have doctors they can schedule an appointment with? Why does having a cold -- or being pregnant for that matter -- necessitate a visit to the ER? Call your doctor and make an appointment like the rest of the world.

They're so damn dramatic.

Actress Nancy Balbirer, who lived with Jennifer Aniston in NYC, put on quite a performance the other night spilling Jen's secrets.

At an event promoting the paperback release of a book called The Underminer: Or, the Best Friend Who Casually Destroys Your Life, Nancy -- and a host of others -- shared their real-life stories of their personal "underminers." Nancy's underminer was -- you guessed it -- Jennifer, who she met in the '80s when the two ladies were auditioning as extras on Saturday Night Live. At the time Nancy allowed Jen -- who she referred to as "Jane" throughout her performance -- to live in her apartment rent-free for a few months. Later, Jennifer stabbed her in the back. Here are some of the not-so-nice revelations about Jen:

Tonight is the series finale of The Bachelor. ER doctor Travis Stork -- who has better cheekbones than Brad Pitt -- chooses between two chicks: wholesome Sarah (right) and the complex Moana.

Who do you think Travis will pick? And will he propose? Put in your two cents -- or just read what other people think -- below.

And get a kick out of these pre-Bachelor pics of Travis. Someone should have called in a consult about his hairstyle. Yikes!

Is Winona Ryder now stealing boyfriends?

Page Six reports that Winona and Liev Schreiber, who has been dating Naomi Watts, were hot and heavy in NYC over the weekend. They were seen hanging out -- and making out -- in the West Village.

At one point during their hot night out, Liev stepped outside to have a smoke. On the sidewalk he was immediately approached by two women. Jealous, Winona reportedly "quickly came out to reclaim her man."

I don't know if Winona stole Liev from Naomi -- or if Liev and Naomi were already dunzo. (They were together last week.) I'm just glad to start reading about Winona again. After the whole Saks incident, she became a hermit. Missed her because she's always good for some drama.

And I thought Nick Lachey had some hot moves.

Last night, Nick's brother, Drew, bested football great Jerry Rice and WWE diva Stacy Keibler for the Dancing with the Stars title. Nick was in the audience to watch Drew -- and his partner, Cheryl Burke -- take the trophy as was Drew's very pregnant wife, last season's winner Kelly Monaco and singer Mary J. Blige.

Do you think Drew deserved the win? Was Stacy robbed? Put in your two cents below.

I hope that George Michael has faith da faith da faith in the judicial system.

Yesterday, the British singer was arrested on suspicion of drug possession after he was found slumped over the steering wheel of a car in London. Whatever he was on falls into the Class C drug group, which includes pot, tranquilizers and various painkillers.

Under British law, anyone convicted of possessing Class C drugs can be jailed for up to two years and face unlimited fines. But if you've followed Pete Doherty's drug arrests at all, I predict that the bobbies give George a spot of tea, pat him on the back and send him on his way. It seems like you can smoke crack and empty your pipe on one of those guards with the fuzzy hats outside Buckingham Palace, yet walk away without a lick of jail time in England.

Not that I recommend trying it.

Shortly after Sheryl Crow's breast cancer diagnosis was made public, Lance Armstrong -- her ex-fiance and a testicular cancer survivor -- released this statement to People.com:

"I was devastated to hear this news. Once again I'm reminded of just how pervasive this illness is as it has now touched someone I love deeply. Based on my contact in recent days with Sheryl, her doctor, and her family, I am confident that she will have a full and complete recovery and the world will be a better place for it. And to all of her fans and friends out there, please keep Sheryl in your thoughts and prayers yet know that I have never known a stronger woman in my life."

On Wednesday, Sheryl Crow underwent surgery for breast cancer in Los Angeles and is currently recovering without complications. She will receive radiation treatment as a precaution.

"Her doctors think her prognosis is excellent," her spokesperson told Access Hollywood.

In a statement on her official Web site, Sheryl said: "Approximately one in seven American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime and more than 2 million Americans are living with breast cancer today. I am joining the more than 200,000 women who will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year."

2006 has been a pretty crappy year for Sheryl. In January, rumors swirled that her engagement to Lance Armstrong was coming to an end. They officially split on February 3 -- two months before their wedding. At the time Sheryl was appearing on numerous magazine covers, giving interviews about her impending nuptials. A week later, Sheryl faced the public at the Grammy Awards -- looking radiant and with her head held high.

No word on whether Sheryl shared the news with her ex-fiance, but I suspect that she has. On her Web site she refers people in need of cancer care or -- those wishing to make a donation -- to an organization called LIVESTRONG SurvivorCare. If you remember, Lance, who is a testicular cancer survivor, is the fella behind those yellow LIVESTRONG bracelets that became the hottest trend -- and earned millions for cancer patients. His charity, which is called the Lance Armstrong Foundation, funds LIVESTRONG SurvivorCare.

I know I've given Sheryl some crap in the past, but I'm certainly rooting for her now. Get well soon!

The American Idol contestant named Ace is creating quite the buzz. The quote above is part of an email that I got from one of my closest friends yesterday. She's not a huge TV person -- unless it's the news -- and she didn't really watch the show B.A.(Before Ace). Now the Denver native is getting her to tune in.

She isn't the only one. I've gotten IMs from coworkers about him and even overheard a discussion about him this morning on the subway. Has Idol mania turned into Ace mania?

And earlier a few of you were asking to see a photo of the Idol wannabe, so your wish has been granted. (Welcome!) Now take a minute and tell me why you dig him below. And if you don't dig him, tell me that too.

Just days after attending a fashion week party in honor of Bono's wife, former supermodel Christy Turlington Burns gave birth to her second child.

Details are scarce at this point, but the little one is said to have arrived less than two weeks ago. As for the baby's sex, Page Six reported back in October that Christy was expecting a boy.

Christy and Ed, who married in 2003, already have a two-year-old daughter named Grace.

For more on Christy's pregnancy, check out her page in Celebrity Baby Tracker Graduates.

Plus: Find out who is currently infanticipating Celebrity Baby Tracker. Then peruse bump new photos in Award Show Baby-Bump Watch slide show.

Update: Still no official word, but one of my spies saw Christy in her Tribeca neighborhood in NYC last week. She was definitely not pregnant and she was definitely looking fabulous. Two weeks after a baby?!? I want her genes.

Katie Holmes may be pretending to date one of the world's richest movie stars, but her father is bit of a cheapskate.

In 1998 -- before Dawson's Creek and TomKat mania -- Katie was accepted to Columbia University. Katie wanted to attend the prestigious school, so her lawyer daddy, Martin Holmes, sent the school a $500 non-refundable deposit. Shortly after, Katie landed Dawson's Creek, which filmed in North Carolina. She picked acting over her education, deferring her admission to Columbia.

Fast forward to last week -- eight years after Katie was accepted to the NYC school. Martin sent a letter to Columbia's undergrad admin office withdrawing his daughter's name and requesting his $500 bucks back.

Jeez -- if he needs money so badly, couldn't he just ask his daughter's millionaire baby daddy? Oh, I forgot -- Marty hates Tom.

Will Keira Knightley bring her new boyfriend as her date on Oscar night?

The best actress nominee has a new fella in her life: her Pride & Prejudice costar Rupert Friend. On Thursday, they were spotted taking a stroll -- and stealing a smooch -- on a beach in the Bahamas.

Keira ended her two-year relationship with model Jamie Dornan last August.

Meanwhile, doesn't it freak you out how much Keira looks like Winona Ryder? They're like twins... but Keira is the good twin who steals hearts and Winona is the bad one who steals clothes.

I think I read too many Sweet Valley High books as a kid.

From a member of my gossy posse...

"I was at the Knicks/Heat game on Wednesday night in NYC and who did I see but Olympic snowboarder Shaun White," reports my spy. "He was sitting courtside -- natch -- next to Regis Philbin of all people. During the first quarter he was introduced, so he stood and held up his gold medal. He got a huge ovation and didn't seem bothered at all by all the autograph seekers. The cool thing about him was that, even when the Knicks were losing by 25 points, he would still clap when they scored. So at least he kept rooting for the home team. But he was wearing white jeans.

"But the funniest part of the night? When the Knicks City Dancers were doing their thing and Regis pulled out what looked like a disposable camera and snapped a photo of the dancers. What would Joy think?!?"

Most TV pilots never see the light of day, but I always get a kick out of seeing who is cast. Here are some of the most buzzed about pilots right now, starring old faves like Calista Flockhart and James "Dawson" Van Der Beek.

Four people got the boot last night on American Idol. And the losers are:

1. Patrick Hall: A 27-year-old from Gravette, Arizona who didn't do Melissa Etheridge proud with his rendition of "Come to My Window."

2. Bobby Bennett: A 19-year-old from Denver who proved he was no Barry Manilow when he performed "Copacabana."

3. Stevie Scott: Another 19-year-old, who was from Fair Oaks, California. She sang "To Where You Are," but her performance was lost on the judges.

4. Becky O'Donohue: Yup, my neighbor the Maxim model was cut after a squeaking performance of "Because the Night." Look for her to be on the cover of FHM or Playboy in no time.

The person getting the most buzz -- at least from the girls I know -- is Ace. So keep an eye on him. He's pretty.

Related: Talk about American Idol

Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston may say that they're still together, but there's more evidence to the contrary.

The Lowdown column in the NY Daily News reports that in addition to telling a group of women that he and Whitney "ain't together no more," he made a play for actress Tamala Jones at Nick Cannon's birthday party this past fall.

"[Bobby was] drunk and jaws just clicking and clacking back and forth," Tamala says in the new Smooth magazine. "He came over and said, 'What's up?' ... He picks me up and he's like, 'I heard you been in Atlanta, girl. Why don't you come and see me? Don't you know I always wanted to f--- you?' I'm like, 'Boy you better put me down! I am dating somebody that's in the business, and he's from Atlanta... You know my dude and I know your wife.' ... He said he wasn't even with Whitney anymore."

You probably didn't see Capote -- though you should consider it because it got rave reviews. But I still think you should root for Philip Seymour Hoffman on Oscar night. Why? Because, if he wins, there's a strong possibility that he'll bark during his acceptance speech.

Last night on Letterman, Philip talked about a pact he made with his actor buddies when they were 16. As kids, the guys agreed that if one of them ever won an Academy Award (a very far-off dream at the time), he would get on the stage and bark throughout his acceptance speech. And not just a howl or two -- the winner promised to bark until someone pulled him off the stage.

So I triple dog dare ya to root for Philip on March 5. If he wins and goes through with it, it will be a total howl.

That must be Kevin Federline's mantra as Britney's husband is being accused of hitting on Jessica Simpson recently at L.A. club Privilege.

Take this with a grain of salt as it comes from the folks at Life & Style. You know -- the peeps who ran the story about Tom and Katie's breakup.

Anyway, a source claims that Eminem wannabe K-Fed "made a beeline" for the newly single Jessica. She asked him to sit down and there "was definitely some chemistry there."

Publicists for both say that they're "old friends," which sounds made up because who even heard of K-Fed until he got with Britney? It was probably innocent though -- they were probably just chatting about being famous... as famous people tend to do.

In other K-Fed news, he was spotted with yet another blonde recently.

That Britney Spears is such a lucky girl.

This American Idol wannabe is making headlines, but not for her singing talent.

Steamy photos of Becky O'Donohue and her twin sister, Jessie, have turned up on Maxim mag's Web site. The photos, taken two years ago, feature the girls posing in bikinis, unbuttoned baseball jerseys and towels.

Luckily, they aren't nude pics -- so Becky can't be disqualified from the competition. Not like the poor girl is going to get very far anyway: On Tuesday, Simon told her that her body was a 10... but her voice was a 6. Meow! Tonight she'll find out if she makes it to the next level.

On a side note, Becks lives in the small village next to my hometown. So today I have to call some of the guys I grew up with to see if they know her... or know of her. Where we went to high school, there were only about 280 kids in the entire school, so this chickadee would be pretty hard to miss.

...Susan St. James starred in Katie & Allie? Loved. That. Show. On February 28, she'll be returning to TV in her first dramatic role in nearly a decade, starring in an episode of Law & Order: SVU.

...Axl Rose was sexy? No more, folks.

...Britney had abs and buns of steel. A neg on that one too. But her baby sure is cute.

...Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe were supposed to work together? The deal fell through, but they're trying it again in a new Baz Luhrmann flick.

...Whitney Houston could sing? She bombed in Torino.

...TomKat ended their fake romance? Oops -- I guess that was just last week -- and it was wrong. But Life & Style isn't giving up -- despite the threat of a Cruise lawsuit -- so neither will I.

Just got the new Us, so thought I'd shared the latest on celeb couples...

It looks like Nicole Kidman really will beat her creepy, couch-jumpin' ex to the altar.

Us Weekly -- by way of Page Six -- reports that Nicole, who has been sporting a huge rock, will marry Keith Urban next month in Australia. According to the mag, the invitations have already been mailed out.

Although Us says the wedding festivities will take place in early March, Nic has agreed to appear at the Academy Awards on March 5. So I suspect that the wedding will happen after Oscar night -- or she'll cause a major media frenzy on the red carpet at the Kodak Theater.

This all makes me wonder if Tom and Katie will be invited to the wedding -- like how Lisa Marie Presley's ex was invited to her recent nups and Demi and Ashton invited Bruce Willis to their ceremony. Somehow I doubt it. Besides, Katie is due to give birth to her fake baby in March.

I actually wonder if Tom will even allow their kids, Isabella and Connor, to go to Nic and Keith's wedding. It seems like he always has them under his control. I'm sorta obsessed with the fact that Nicole is never, ever spotted with those children -- yet they go everywhere with Tom and Katie.

According to the new Allure magazine, Lindsay Lohan does not want to be called a teen queen.

"I hate it when people call me a teen queen," whines princess Lohan in the interview.

Wish granted, Linds. Going forward, I will never, ever refer to her as a teen queen again. But what should I call her? Why don't we come up with some new nicknames for the flame-haired party girl. Be inventive, creative, catty and clever. My only rule? No curses, please. I hate deleting posts.

Has Donald Trump lost his mind? Maybe. Or maybe Melania's late-night pregnancy cravings are making her husband cranky. Either way, People.com obtained a letter the Donald sent to the Martha about the whole Apprentice fiasco. Then Martha's response is below that.

"Dear Martha:

It's about time you started taking responsibility for your failed version of The Apprentice. Your performance was terrible in that the show lacked mood, temperament and just about everything else a show needs for success. I knew it would fail as soon as I first saw it –- and your low ratings bore me out.

Between your daughter, with her one word statements, your letter writing and, most importantly, your totally unconvincing demeanor, it never had a chance –- much as your daytime show is not exactly setting records.

Despite this, I did nothing but positively promote you. Your only response to your failed show was that, "I thought that I was supposed to fire Donald Trump!" You knew this was not true – NBC would never fire me when The Apprentice was, for a good period of time, the #1 show on television and my recent finale, where I hired Randal, was the #2 show for the week, easily beating the competing finale of Amazing Race and others. Even Mark Burnett said, "Thank God that didn't happen," when asked about firing Donald Trump.

Essentially, you made this firing up just as you made up your sell order of ImClone. The only difference is – that was more obvious. Putting your show on the air was a mistake for everybody – especially NBC.

In any event, my great loyalty to you has gone totally unappreciated.

Sincerely,
Donald J. Trump

P.S. Be careful or I will do a syndicated daytime show, perhaps called The Boardroom, and further destroy the meager ratings you already have!"

Martha's response: "The letter is so mean-spirited and reckless that I almost can’t believe my long-time friend Donald Trump wrote it. I am very proud of the work we did with Mark Burnett Productions and Mr. Trump, who was an executive producer, on The Apprentice: Martha Stewart. Many young entrepreneurs learned so much from the show and enjoyed it. Many families sat their children down weekly to watch it. We are even more pleased with our excellent daytime show Martha –- syndicated by NBC Universal –- which has just been nominated for six daytime Emmys (including best show and best host), was touted by The New York Times as one of the best shows on television, and has been embraced by our wonderful audience thro