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Former FRIENDS star LISA KUDROW has been inundated with celebrity requests to appear on her ancestry detective show WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?.
The actress fell in love with the British show, brought it to America last year (10) and appeared on one of the first episodes as she traced her family tree back to Europe.
Spike Lee, Susan Sarandon and Sarah Jessica Parker also made appearances on the programme and Kudrow is thrilled the show has been a big hit among her Hollywood peers.
She says, "This time it was easier to populate the show, that’s for sure. People had seen it and they knew that we’re not out to exploit anything compromising having to do with celebrity. It’s really just using them as the narrator on the investigation of their ancestry and historical events as experienced by their ancestors." The second series features country star Tim McGraw, Steve Buscemi and Lionel Richie - and Kudrow insists it’s even more fascinating than last season.
She explains, "Tim McGraw’s family goes way back on his father’s side deep into American history. On the show he finds out that he had ancestors who were right on the border and at times on the wrong side of the border into Indian territory as the U.S. was moving west.
"Steve Buscemi was excited to find out if he has rogues and villains in his family tree because he plays complicated people and can access them so easily, and Lionel Richie, who is shooting right now, found some pretty amazing things based on the fact that he had a great grandmother with a very unique name."

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Comedian TRACY MORGAN got the wake-up call he needed to kick his alcohol addiction when his wife walked out on him.
The 30 Rock star struggled to control his love for booze as he rose to fame during the late 1990s and early 2000s, but it was only when he lost the love of his life, high school sweetheart Sabina, that he realised he needed to change his ways.
He tells Vibe.com, "What made me stop is when I woke up and my wife who I was with for 21 years, Sabina Morgan, left me. She wanted off the rollercoaster. And that was it. I thought I was winning because I was on TV, I had money but I lost." Their divorce was finalised in 2009, although they had already been separated for eight years - but Morgan insists they share a very close relationship and they still say, "I love you." He adds, "I love her, she’s still my best friend. Nothing’s changed - we still say I love you. Sabina still gets on my nerves sometimes, but that’s my girl, that’s my baby. So having gone through all of this - it’s made me a better man, rather than just a funny man. I’ve always wanted to be a good man, a better man."

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JENNIFER GARNER has confessed she was intoxicated during a recent appearance on TV lifestyle queen MARTHA STEWART’s cookery show - because she was too busy preparing for the programme and drinking champagne to eat.
The actress found herself getting tipsy as she continued to sip bubbly on an empty stomach.
She says, "By the time we get to cooking and having our champagne, I hadn’t had anything to eat… and I got drunk.
"They needed it (champagne drinking) for continuity and it tasted good… and whenever I’m around her (Stewart) I suddenly get really West Virginian and southern… and so I got drunk and southern, and it was the worst combination.
"I can’t bear to watch it because I just started talking faster and faster."

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Actor JEREMY RENNER’s representative has defended CHRISTINA AGUILERA over reports she got drunk at THE HURT LOCKER star’s 40th birthday party and fell asleep in his bed.
Sources tell Us Weekly magazine the uninvited Genie in a Bottle singer got "wasted" at the 8 January (11) bash at Renner’s home and passed out in his bedroom.
Renner was reportedly overheard ranting about the incident at In Style’s Golden Globe Awards aftershow party, telling friends, "Who comes to someone’s birthday party that they don’t know and gets in their bed? My parents were there!" But Renner’s rep insists the story isn’t completely true: "She was enjoying herself, but she wasn’t in his bed."

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Cult rockers CAKE have made history at the top of the U.S. album chart by scoring the lowest sales week to get to number one.
Just a week after Taylor Swift scored a new low with Speak Now, the group’s new release Showroom of Compassion has cracked the top spot on the Billboard 200 with just 44,000 sales.
It’s the band’s first chart-topper.
Cage the Elephant’s Thank You Happy Birthday debuts at two with 39,000 sales, while Swift’s Speak Now drops to three with 35,000 sales.
Meanwhile, there’s something to celebrate on the Digital Songs chart - Britney Spears scores the biggest debut for a female artist with Hold It Against Me. Her new song has sold 411,000 downloads in its first week on release.
Spears will officially be crowned the queen of the Billboard Hot 100 countdown on Thursday (20Jan11).

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Rapper LIL WAYNE became an Uno expert behind bars last year (10) - and would challenge fellow inmates to beat him for phone time and candy.
The hitmaker spent eight months at New York’s tough Rikers Island prison serving out a sentence on weapons possession charges dating back to 2007, but he made the most of his time inside.
He tells Rolling Stone magazine, "I’d bust a n**ga’s a** at Uno. We gamble for phone time. I’d take n**ga’s commissary - ‘Lemme get them cookies, lemme get them chips, get that soup.’" Wayne reveals he was so good, his fellow inmates stopped inviting him to game night: "They’d be like, ‘Oh, we thought you were asleep.’" In the candid Rolling Stone interview, the rapper also reveals he was a suicide prevention aide while he served his time.
And he’ll always be grateful to one cellmate, called Charles, who took the rap for a hi-tech watch when Lil Wayne was caught with an iPod charger.
The rap star spent his last month in solitary confinement after he was caught red handed, but he tells the publication it could have been worse - because he also had a watch with a forbidden player on it.
He says, "He was a solid n**ga. Shout-out to Charles."

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AEROSMITH star STEVEN TYLER insists news the band is getting together this weekend to record new material doesn’t mean things are harmonious in the group - he’s still not speaking with guitarist JOE PERRY, who he expects to be a no show at the sessions.
Tyler and the guitarist fell out at the end of 2009 when the singer quit the group to concentrate on a solo career before checking into rehab to tackle a recurring drug habit, prompted by a battle with hepatitis C and the break-up of his marriage.
Perry publicly blasted Tyler and made plans to work on new Aerosmith material and concert commitments without his longtime sidekick.
Tyler rejoined the group last year (10) for a series of U.S. and international dates but then he and Perry fell out again when he signed up as a judge on TV talent show American Idol - a decision a sarcastic Perry called "one step above Ninja Turtles".
When the singer announced Aerosmith would be returning to the studio at the end of the week, fans felt the two warring bandmates had settled their differences, but, in a chat with radio presenter Howard Stern on Tuesday (18Jan11), Tyler revealed he hasn’t been able to contact Perry for weeks, and doubts he’ll be part of the latest group reunion.
He said, "(We last spoke) a long time ago, on tour. I think he’s bummed out I’m sober.
"Joe is missing in action. I texted him 20 minutes ago: ‘Hey Joe, where are you?’ He’s angry with me for what? Because I took f**king Idol? What a crock of s**t."

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Rapper/producer DAVID BANNER has been inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame.
He was honoured in his hometown of Jackson on Tuesday (18Jan11), when he was inducted as part of the class of 2011 alongside musicians Delaney Bramlett, Dardanelle Hadley and Webb Wilder, producer Benjamin Wright and author Gayle Dean Wardlaw.
They join an illustrious crop of stars in the Hall of Fame, including Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Sam Cooke and Conway Twitty.
And Banner couldn’t be more proud to have his name go down in Mississippi history.
In a statement, he says, "For so long we travel around the world as artists trying to find our place in the scheme of things. There is nothing like being recognised at home… I am honoured and humbled to be in great musical company." The Grammy-winning star began his career in 1998 as a member of hip-hop group Croooked Lettaz, and has since gone on to work with the likes of Jay-Z, Lil Wayne and T.I.

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HILARY DUFF has taken to her Twitter.com account to dismiss continuing tabloid reports she’s pregnant.
U.S. publication the Star reported the actress/singer was expecting her first child with new husband Mike Comrie on Wednesday (19Jan11), and Duff admits even she was shocked by the news.
In her tweet to fans she wrote, "Wow what a way to wake up and find out your pregs!" She added, "It’s just a rumor guys! Not true. But thanks for all the good wishes! Lol (laugh out loud)." Duff and the Canadian hockey player exchanged vows in Santa Barbara, California last summer (Aug10).

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ROBERT DOWNEY, JR. is getting animated - he’s set to voice clever cartoon dog Mr. Peabody on the big screen.
The Iron Man star has signed on to DreamWorks’ forthcoming film Peabody and Sherman, based on the characters from the popular late 1950s and ’60s series, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.
It will be directed by The Lion King’s Rob Minkoff and is expected to hit movie theatres in 2014, reports EW.com.

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FARGO star WILLIAM H. MACY has quit boozing just as his new TV drama SHAMELESS, in which he plays an alcoholic dad, takes off.
The actor admits it’s a tad ironic but he decided it was time to stop drinking.
He says, "I sorta stopped drinking about a year ago. I really like scotch… and gin and beer and wine. Every once in a while you’ve gotta stop… I’ve got my Scots, Irish background." But he admits that not drinking in Hollywood is tough: "When you turn down a drink it’s a big deal, especially at a party… I like saying, ‘No thanks, I’m nursing’." Macy has had a lifetime of boozy antics and insists he’s lucky to be alive: "Back in college one time, I went out with some buddies. It was way out in the country but I was driving and I shouldn’t have, and I woke up at about seven ‘o’clock in the morning. The guard in my dorm was banging on the door. He said, ‘You’ve gotta move your truck.’ "I made my way downstairs… I opened the front door, I stick my head out (and) there’s my truck on the third step… I drove up onto the porch!"

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JERSEY SHORE star JENNI ‘JWOWW’ FARLEY has won the first round of her legal battle to keep naked photographs taken by an ex-boyfriend off the Internet.
A New York judge has ruled Thomas Lippolis has no legal right to distribute the images.
The reality TV star claims the revealing snapshots were taken without her permission "while she was under the effects of pre-surgical and post-surgical anesthesia" a year ago (Feb10).
He ex argued that JWoww was "always a willing participant and always gave consent." A judge has sided with the busty brunette, according to TMZ.com.
The case is scheduled for arbitration.

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Former child star JODIE SWEETIN is engaged to wed her boyfriend MORTY COYLE.
The Full House star gave birth to the couple’s first child, daughter Beatrix, back in August (10), and was surprised with a diamond ring at her 29th birthday party in Los Angeles on Tuesday night (18Jan11).
She tells People.com, "I am in shock still!" But the couple is in no rush to wed, and plans to wait until gay marriage is legalised in the U.S.
Coyle explains, "We want to wait until there’s equality for everybody to get married." Sweetin also has a two-year-old daughter, Zoie, with ex-husband Cody Herpin.

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ANNE HATHAWAY has beaten competition from SIENNA MILLER, CHARLIZE THERON and KATE BECKINSALE to land the coveted role of comic book villain CATWOMAN in the new BATMAN movie.
A slew of Hollywood actresses were clawing at the opportunity to play the feline femme fatale after movie bosses announced plans for The Dark Knight Rises - the follow-up to 2008 blockbuster The Dark Knight.
But it will be Hathaway who climbs into the sexy catsuit to bring back Catwoman for the next installment of the superhero franchise in a role previously played by Michelle Pfeiffer in 1992’s Batman Returns, and again by Halle Berry in a 2004 spin-off of the Caped Crusader movies.
Christian Bale will reprise his role as Batman.
Warner Bros. bosses, who made the announcement on Wednesday (19Jan11), also revealed Tom Hardy will play Batman’s other villain Bane.
Filmmaker Christopher Nolan, who directed Hardy in Inception, says: "I am delighted to be working with Tom again and excited to watch him bring to life our new interpretation of one of Batman’s most formidable enemies."

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GARY BARLOW relished his 2009 trek to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro - because he could finally eat all his favourite treats without worrying about putting on weight.
The slim Take That star, who once weighed a massive 239 pounds (108.6 kilograms), organised the climb to support British charity Comic Relief and encouraged his fellow U.K. stars, including singers Ronan Keating and Cheryl Cole, to join him.
And Barlow confesses one of the highlights of the trip was being able to indulge in fat-packed snacks without worry - because the constant walking ensured he burned the calories off.
He tells BBC Radio 2, "After not eating chocolate for years and years I really ate loads of it… you can eat whatever you want and you won’t put any weight on!" The singer/songwriter has also opened up about his battle with the bulge, which began when the group first disbanded in 1996, and how he managed to slim down - allowing himself to indulge in his favourite foods just one day a week.
He adds, "The key to me when I lost all my weight was portion sizes. You can nearly eat what you want if you don’t eat enormous portions. I think if you can control your portion size you’ve cracked it.
"I used to wake up awful early on a Saturday to get started (on treats), you could eat what you want. What I discovered is I made such a pig of myself on a Saturday, it was quite repulsive. I thought, ‘I dont want to be this,’… so after a few weeks (on) the Saturdays the food got less and less. Now it’s just part of life for me, I know when I’m full and know when I should stop eating."

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Rap sensation DRAKE is drawing inspiration for his next album from an unlikely source - children’s cartoon character Winnie the Pooh.
The Best I Ever Had hitmaker spent a small fortune stocking up on the early A.A. Milne books during a promotional trip to the U.K. earlier this month (Jan11) and he admits revisiting his childhood memories is giving him ideas for his sophomore project, Take Care.
He says, "I bought the first-ever Winnie the Pooh books, like all four Winnie the Pooh books. It cost me a lot of pounds, man. I probably could have bought a small car for that.
"They were a huge part of my childhood. That’s my influence… Winnie the Pooh on this next album."

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Rap mogul SEAN ‘DIDDY’ COMBS is battling a bout of influenza as he promotes his new album in Britain - but is refusing to pull out of any personal appearances.
The star’s band Diddy-Dirty Money releases its record Last Train To Paris in the U.K. later this month (Jan11), and Combs is in London filming a series of TV show slots.
He’s been struck down with flu-like symptoms, but is still fulfilling his promotional duties - filming an appearance for British morning show Daybreak on Wednesday (19Jan11), as well as preparing for three other programmes.
In a series of posts on his Twitter.com page, he writes, "Who has the best remedy for the flu?? This Flu is kickin my a**! God help!!!! "DiddyDirtyMoney filming at Daybreak right now!! …I have 4 shows today. I didn’t plan in (sic) being sick. The show must go on!"

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Actress LEIGHTON MEESTER had the time of her life when she attended PRINCE’s concert in New York on Tuesday (18Jan11) after the soul superstar pulled her up onstage to serenade her.
The Gossip Girl star was one of the hitmaker’s many celebrity fans in attendance at the Madison Square Garden show, but she got a special surprise when he plucked her out from the audience and brought her up onstage.
And Meester couldn’t contain her excitement as Prince and funk saxophonist Maceo Parker began to sing to her.
Blogging about the gig, The Roots drummer Ahmir ‘?uestlove’ Thompson, who was also at the show, writes on his Twitter.com page, "Prince and Maceo are uh…sangin (sic) to (ugh…the jawn (girl) from gossip girl who is not blonde). She’s about to die onstage." But the actress wasn’t the only star to share the spotlight with Prince - comedian Jimmy Fallon was later invited to join the superstar’s backing singers and add his vocals to a few songs.

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