As the under-18 female world continues to mourn the loss of bachelorhood for Backstreet Boys (and cousins) Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell, we’ve hunted down who we think are their blond, lucky fiancées, or as Backstreet fans know them, The Witches Who Stole Our Future Husbands.
Richardson and Willits Richardson, 28, is engaged to Kristin Willits, a dancer for Cher, says USA Today. The two met in a Disney World cafeteria when Richardson was working as a Ninja Turtle and have been dating off and on for seven years.
As for 24-year-old Littrell, we say his betrothed is longtime girlfriend Leighanne Wallace, a budding actress whose credits include “Wild America,” “My Fellow Americans” and two Backstreet videos. She has a few Web sites of her own out there (whether they’re hateful or supportive sites is another story). She’s 30, which already puts her two decades ahead of most Backstreet fans and as far as they’re concerned, dangerously close to Michael Douglas cradle-robbing territory.
Spurned fans, meanwhile, are pouring their hearts out on chat boards across the world, some slamming the Backstreet fiancées as “Yoko Onos” (how do prepubescents even know that reference?) and warning that the group “probably won’t be number one or number two on [MTV’s ‘Total Request Live’] I’ll tell you that.” Others, who say they have met Wallace, call her everything from “really sweet” to “trash.” On MTV Online, another fan wrote: “Now they’re just throwing us away like a piece of trash.”
Leighanne Wallace But others, bless their hearts, take comfort in knowing the other three Boys — young blond heartthrob Nick Carter, tattooed, follicularly challenged A.J. McLean and bearded, ponytailed Howie Dorough — are still single, and their Meaty Cheesy-inspiring music lives on. But one fan dared to speculate, “With all this negativity looming around with those who are obviously fair-weather fans, I wonder what will happen when ANY of the guys from ‘N Sync become engaged.”
Okay, now that’s not funny.
THE BIRTH ACCORDING TO TRAVOLTA: John Travolta’s about to become a father again, and reveals that he and wife Kelly Preston plan to introduce the unborn child to Scientology right out of the womb. According to “Entertainment Tonight” and the New York Daily News, Travolta, 45, says Preston, who is eight months along, will have a “quiet birth.”
“We do the traditional French Lamaze, but in Dianetics [the teachings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard], you try and keep the delivery room quiet so there’s nothing recorded in the child’s mind that shouldn’t be there while there’s pain going on,” Travolta explains.
It’s not completely quiet, though. Preston, 37, is allowed to moan in pain — thank goodness — but “any people saying any kind of negative verbiage may adversely affect the baby later on,” says Travolta. Does this mean no discussing around the kid why Travolta agreed to star in “Michael”?
AGE MADE HIM DO IT: Film critic Rex Reed has been working to lift the negative reviews he’s gotten since his shoplifting arrest last week. In a column for the Feb. 21 edition of the New York Observer, Reed, 61, claims a “senior moment” caused him to take three CDs from a Manhattan Tower Records store. When he was caught with the compact discs (by Mel Torme, Peggy Lee and Carmen McRae) in his pocket, he offered to pay by credit card, “or the $500 in cash I had in my wallet,” but was rejected. “I don’t consider myself guilty of anything but careless stupidity,” Reed says.
But all is not lost. Reed got a call from Lee’s press agent, who said the pop-jazz legend “was so thrilled I wanted one of her CDs enough to put myself through so much hell that she was sending me an entire collection. I hope none of the songs is ‘My Funny Valentine.’ ”
MUSIC BEAT: Carlos Santana, closing in on his likely Grammy sweep on Wednesday, retook the top spot on Billboard’s album chart this week. “Supernatural” was followed by: Dr. Dre’s “Dr. Dre 2001” and Celine Dion’s “All the Way: A Decade of Song,” which each moved up one spot. D’Angelo’s “Voodoo,” which held at No. 1 for two weeks, slipped to No. 4, and Christina Aguilera’s self-titled debut stuck to No. 5.
The Top Five singles in the country are as follows: “I Knew I Loved You,” Savage Garden; “Thank God I Found You,” Mariah Carey featuring Joe and 98 Degrees; “Amazed,” Lonestar; “What a Girl Wants,” Christina Aguilera; and “Breathe,” Faith Hill.
QUICK TAKES: A court has dismissed a bid by the undercover Los Angeles policeman who arrested George Michael in a public restroom in 1998 to sue the British pop star for $10 million on the grounds of emotional distress. Marcelo Rodriguez claimed emotional and mental distress and slander after Michael released the music video for “Outside” shortly after his arrest. The video was shot partly in a lavatory and features two policemen kissing. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge dismissed the case on Monday, saying Rodriguez was a public official and could not under law recover damages for alleged emotional distress …
… “As the World Turns” star Michael Park, who plays Jack Snyder, and wife Laurie welcomed 7-pound daughter Kathleen Rose into the world Monday in New York …
… Universal Studios president Ron Meyer threw an engagement/baby party for Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones last weekend, according to the New York Daily News. Sean Connery and Danny DeVito were among those in attendance ….
… So Leo and Brad won’t be there, but you can always count on Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Terminator himself has been tapped as a presenter for the 72nd Annual Academy Awards. Same goes for “Austin Powers” groovester Mike Myers. Look for both dudes at the big show, happening March 26 at the Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium.
… After playing God (literally) in “Dogma,” rocker Alanis Morissette will make her Broadway debut in “The Vagina Monologues” March 21-April 2 at Los Angeles’ Westside Theater, says Variety. Morissette filled in for Calista Flockhart Wednesday night in Los Angeles for a V-Day 2000 benefit performance.
