Tom Cruise on Doctor Who?

It seems that too many of the TV rumours lately are all about Who, but get this– Tom Cruise is set to star in a special episode of hit British TV show ‘Doctor Who’.

The ‘Lions for Lambs’ actor is among a host of top US stars, including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Madonna, who the BBC are hoping to get on board for three blockbuster instalments of the British sci-fi series to be filmed next year.

An insider told Britain’s Daily Star newspaper: “BBC producers know they can’t pay these stars what they are used to, but what they can offer is an exciting role in a real cutting-edge show. And the big stars love that kind of kudos.”

‘Doctor Who’ already has a track record of attracting top stars for cameos.

This year’s Christmas special, ‘Voyage of the Damned’, will see Kylie Minogue play a waitress at the 1912 launch party for the famously doomed ocean liner the Titanic, which sank after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage.

The three ‘Doctor Who’ specials will be shot in 2008, but will not hit screens until 2009.

The three episodes are rumoured to be the final time actor David Tennant will play the time-travelling Doctor.

It is also believed 25-year-old actress Billie Piper - who quit the show in 2006 to pursue other projects - will return to play his sexy sidekick Rose Tyler.

BB winner Shilpa was ‘not arrested’

Shilpa Shetty’s UK spokeswoman has denied that the Bollywood star was arrested in India over her kiss with Richard Gere.

The Celebrity Big Brother winner was stopped at Mumbai Airport by immigration officials on her way to the opening of the Miss Bollywood musical in Berlin.

But the spokeswoman said she was not arrested or detained.

Earlier, the Bollywood star’s Indian spokesman, Dale Bhagwagar, said: “She called me in the middle of the night and was in tears.”

But UK spokeswoman Teji Singh said: “Every time Shilpa leaves the country she has to show her paperwork, because of the Richard Gere thing.

“There was absolutely no detention, no arrest whatsoever. She was rummaging through to get her paperwork and just stepped aside to a side room so she wouldn’t block the queues.

“She wasn’t crying. She was bunged up with the flu and she was only in there for eight to 15 minutes.”

Hollywood star Gere, 58, caused an outcry when he grabbed Shetty, 32, swept her backwards, and kissed her several times on the cheek at an Aids-awareness event earlier this year.

Gere swooped down on Shetty in April after shouting in Hindi to thousands of truckers “No condom, no sex”.

Shetty went on to defend the actor, saying “so much has been blown out of proportion”, and Gere apologised for causing offence.

Source: Associated Press

Cowell in row over pregnant wannabe

Simon Cowell sparked fury on The X Factor when he let a contestant through to the next stage - before changing his mind because she is pregnant.

Katie Boothand, 24, from Skegness, was five and a half months into her pregnancy when she auditioned in Sheffield, leaving open the possibility that she could have her baby during a live show.

She lives with her fiance, who accompanied her to the audition, in a cramped one-bedroom flat, and said winning The X Factor would secure a future for her family. Before her audition, Cowell told Boothand: “I’m working out the dates here, not great dates are they?”.

The aspiring singer joked that she could have the first child born on the hit show and launched into a rendition of Faith Hill’s There You’ll Be. Cowell said after the performance: “You’re five-and-a-half months pregnant so you’d be having a baby right in the middle of the live shows.”

He said Boothand suffered from a bad lisp but that she has a good singing voice and is “very likeable”. Fellow judge Sharon Osbourne said Boothand “sang very, very well indeed” but asked whether she could cope with the pressure of being pregnant during the show.

With Dannii Minogue the only one to say “no”, the 24-year-old was stunned to learn she had got through to the next stage. But after she left the room, the panel had doubts.

Cowell said: “A part of me thinks we shouldn’t have just done that because she’s five-and-a-half months pregnant. That should have been a ‘no’. It doesn’t feel right, I’m almost inclined to change my mind now.” Louis Walsh agreed, and Minogue said: “I’ve got nothing against pregnant women but you can’t be singing on live TV and giving birth at the same time.”

Cowell gwent outside to tell Boothand: “I think we’ve made a mistake. I absolutely think this is the wrong decision and I know it’s horrible to be given a ‘yes’ but I want to be honest with you, I don’t feel right about this. I’m thinking about you and the kid and everything and I think this is absolutely the wrong thing to do.”

Boothand was devastated: “He knew I was carrying a baby. He knew I was five-and-a half-months pregnant. He knew the complications. At the end of the day, that’s my decision and if I want to enter this competition and go all the way to the end, I will do that,” she said. Her angry fiance threatened to smash the cameras filming their exit as the couple stormed out of the building.

Cowell later defended his U-turn, saying: “This is a girl who would have given birth to her baby in the middle of the X Factor finals. The stress she would have been under would have been unspeakable. You cannot put a competition like this or your ambition over the fact you’re about to have a baby. It is crazy.”

Source: Yahoo!

Hammond couldn’t remember marriage

Top Gear star Richard Hammond forgot he was married in the aftermath of his top-speed crash - and tried to chat up his own wife.

The presenter, 37, nicknamed the Hamster, said he thought his real wife was French.

He tells Friday Night With Jonathan Ross: “I didn’t forget Mindy, I fancied her - thank God - I attempted to chat her up.”

Mindy, who has co-written Hammond’s book On The Edge: My Story, which documents life before and after the crash, said: “He didn’t believe we were married. He said ‘you’re lovely, but I’ve got to stop talking to you because I’ve got to go back to my wife, she’s French’.”

Hammond says of his recovery: “It was a big event, it’s a long old journey. You get to the end of each week and realise you weren’t actually better, and it goes on and on. Whole periods have just gone. I had a 22-second memory, very confusing for weeks (but) I can daydream now, it’s all fixed.

“It was frightening, a real lesson for me. Damage can mend, it’s a big bowl of porridge that revives itself if you’re very lucky … which I was.”

Hammond was left fighting for his life after a 315mph smash in a rocket-powered car last year.

On the same show, Dame Helen Mirren, who recently picked up an Emmy for her performance in the ITV drama Prime Suspect, dismissed her Oscar for her performance in The Queen, saying: “I never thought ever that I’d win an Oscar.

“I think it’s all a bit of a crap shoot .. the whole awards thing is becoming a marketing tool so it doesn’t really mean anything.”

She said of Tony Blair’s role following the Diana’s death: “It was Tony Blair’s finest hour (in 1997). He was one of the greatest politicians we’ve ever had, brilliant in terms of his expertise.”

Source: Associated Press