Mango Out

Happy Wednesday and away I go.  And might I add, Happy Birthday Britney.

Television actress Meredith Baxter told People magazine she is a lesbian and began dating women seven years ago.   Baxter, 62, has been married to three men, but the marriages all ended in divorce. The real-life mother of five adult children is best known for her work on the 1980s sit-com “Family Ties.”   ”I’m a lesbian mom,” she told People, adding that until several years ago being gay “had never crossed my mind.”   The actress, who also runs a skincare company, admitted coming to terms with who she is was not an easy process.   ”I was never comfortable with myself,” she explained. “That doesn’t mean I was questioning.”   Baxter went on to say she has been living with building contractor Nancy Locke for the past two years.   ”I feel like I’m being honest for the first time,” she told the magazine.   Alright, two things.  No not Mrs. Keaton, and a building contractor?  Really?  I guess who is the butch in that relationship.

In a follow-up to a story I reported Monday, Golfer Tiger Woods, engulfed in media speculation over his private life after a car accident in the middle of the night, apologized on Wednesday for “transgressions” in a statement that apparently addressed allegations he had extra-marital relationships.   Woods, the world’s number one golfer and a married father of two young  children, said in a statement published on his website that he had “not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves,” without directly addressing the allegations of infidelity.   ”I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart,” Woods said.  Woods, perhaps the world’s richest athlete with a fortune estimated at $1 billion, suffered facial cuts and bruises when he ran his Cadillac SUV into a fire hydrant and a tree while pulling out of the driveway of his home in Windermere, Florida at around 2 a.m. last Friday.   Your family?  What about your huge sponsors?  Didn’t you let them down?

Susan Boyle soared to the top of the U.S. album charts with her debut album, setting a 2009 record of 701,000 copies sold, record sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan said on Wednesday.   Boyle, 48, a frumpy Scottish singer who became an international YouTube sensation in April after appearing on TV show “Britain’s Got Talent”, also topped the British album charts earlier this week.   Boyle’s “I Dreamed a Dream”, which was released last week, marked the best U.S. opening of a female artist’s debut album since SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991, Billboard.com said.   So what is the over-under on when she will have her next breakdown?

Singer/songwriter Kelis said Wednesday she will release her next album through will.i.am Music Group/ Interscope Records. Her most recent offering, the David Guetta-produced album “Acapella,” can be bought through her Web site www.iamkelis.com. The CD features production work by some of today’s most influential producers, including will.i.am, David Guetta, Free School, Boys Noize, Burns and DJ Ammo, the record label said.   ”I love that I am now a new part of the Interscope family,” Kelis said in a statement. “2010 is around the corner and I can’t wait to put out new music and spend time with real music fans on tour again.”   ”Kelis represents the kind of edge that pushes all of us not just musically but stylistically as well,” will.i.am added. “She has always opened new doors for her audience and we’re ready to walk through this next one with her.”   ”Kelis is a true artist and we’re so excited to start this new chapter in her musical life,” said Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records.  Um I don’t think her milkshake is bringing the boys to the yard much anymore.

Nicole Sullivan and Valerie Bertinelli are about to be in even better company as Eastwick star Sara Rue joins them as the newest spokesperson for Jenny Craig. The 31-year-old actress tells PEOPLE that she can’t wait to start the program. “My weight has fluctuated my whole life, and because I’ve been on television since I was 11 years old, everyone has seen it,” she explains. “I think like so many women in this country I have a problem controlling what I eat sometimes based on my emotional health.” Bertinelli, who lost 40 pounds on Jenny Craig, tells PEOPLE that Rue “is me three years ago. She’s every woman who’s ever started a diet.” She will be a good spokesperson because, “she’s real. She’s honest.” Rue’s initial weight loss goal is 30 pounds. Then, she says, “we’ll see how my body looks, how I feel, and go from there.” Her first post-weight loss goal? “Rock climbing or wind surfing!” Rue says. “The things that I’m just too intimidated the size I am now to do.” Eh, a better question is Sara Who?

Speaking of Tiger Woods, A second woman has stepped into the spotlight in the Tiger Woods controversy – and this one whole-heartedly claims that she and the champion golfer had an affair.   Jamie Grubbs, a cocktail waitress who appeared on the VH1 show Tool Academy, tells the British tabloid the Sun that she and the pro golfer had a 31-month fling that included around 20 sexual encounters, the first just days before Woods’s wife, Elin Nordegren, gave birth to the married couple’s first child.  Oh that is just classic, I totally watched Tool Academy.

It’s a baby girl for singer Lisa Loeb and her husband Roey Hershkovitz, her rep tells PEOPLE exclusively.   Lyla Rose Loeb Hershkovitz arrived Sunday morning at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and is the first child for the couple.   Loeb, 41, and Hershkovitz, 31, a music production supervisor for The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, announced that they were expecting in September.  I wonder if Lisa Loeb still has benefits?

And finally, Natalie Portman, everywhere now thanks to the release of her new film “Brothers,” is also in the new issue of Marie Claire. A condensed version of the interview is online on the magazine’s web site, and at the very end the Harvard grad explains how sheltered her life has been since she’s worked from a young age.  She argues she was a late social bloomer because of her work:  “OK, so I didn’t really go to high school parties,” she says, “and yeah, I didn’t touch pot till I was in my 20s. I didn’t get flat-out drunk until I went to college. But I think that’s a good thing in many ways.”  Portman also explains how “Brothers” costar made it easier for the vegetarian to be vegan.  Oh can Nats do no wrong?  I think not.

You Know The Drill

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