It’s been a whirlwind tour for A-List Amour, trying to keep up with a series of surprise Hollywood hook-ups and breakups. Let’s see what Cupid dealt the celebs lately when it comes to I Dos and I Don’ts:
I Do: Can curvaceous cutie Denise Richards–who was once engaged to actor Patrick Muldoon off-screen and romanced James Bond on–make an honest man out of that notorious good-time Charlie, Charlie Sheen, whose past paramours include porn star Ginger Lynn Allen, Kelly Preston and certain members of Heidi Fleiss‘ little black book? It certainly looked promising when the two stars, who met on the little-seen film Good Advice and continued their romance on-screen in Sheen’s Spin City, got engaged a few weeks ago. We can’t say for certain what’s in their future, but Richards claims to have had a what seemed unlikely psychic dream in which her beau actually took home the Golden Globe for best male performer in a sitcom–which Sheen, to everyone’s surprise, actually did a few days later. If that kind of faith ain’t love, we don’t know what is. Of course, rumor has it Denise also got her beau to agree to a $4 million pre-nup in which she gets a payout not, as you’d suspect, if the marriage fails, but if Sheen cheats on her.
I Do: Attention all virgins: holding out until marriage might just land you the man of your dreams. Of course, it helps if you’re as “Irresistible” as 21-year-old pop cutie Jessica Simpson, who recently received a ring from her longtime steady, hunky 98 Degrees pop singer Nick Lachey, 28. Simpson’s public vow of premarital chastity has received only slightly less media attention than that of the reigning queen of the teen pop scene, Britney Spears. Apparently her wholesome-but-sexy looks inspired Lachey to avoid caving in to the screaming hordes of fans that offer regular temptation. Since the two first began their private duet after meeting on a 1999 joint tour, the beautiful music they’ve made together has even hit the pop charts (“Where You Are”). After a brief break-up last spring caused by their demanding schedules, the only thing left for the couple who once said they aspired to be the next Sonny and Cher (only longer-lived) to do was to POP the question.
I Do: Will the second time around be Charmed for the once-witchy Shannen Doherty? Following a short-lived marriage (a five-month stint with George Hamilton‘s son Ashley in 1993) and a handful of engagements with the lifespans of tsetse flies (to celeb photographer Davis Factor, real estate developer Chris Foufas and actor-director Rob Weiss), the 30-year-old actress ditched a 90210 nuptial in favor of a more traditional Las Vegas wedding to 32-year-old independent film producer Rick Solomon (which films, we don’t know), whom she’s dated for less than two months. Given the couple’s shared history of rocky high profile romances (she dated co-stars Judd Nelson and Julian MacMahon; he squired heiresses Paris Hilton and Devon Aoki), it looks like it’s a good thing Solomon, who owns an online gambling enterprise, doesn’t mind rolling the dice. And given Doherty’s extended police file full of assault and drunk driving arrests, let’s hope she doesn’t take the “until death do us part” line too seriously.
I Don’t: Almost as soon as Doherty and Solomon were heading to Las Vegas, Leaving Las Vegas star Nicolas Cage left behind the King of Sin City’s little princess. That’s right, Lisa Marie Presley’s Cage’d no more and back on the market–and let’s hope her ex-hubby Michael Jackson doesn’t hope to rekindle that old flame. After a t10-month affair that seemed almost predestined–Cage was an avowed Elvis Presley fan who paid homage to the King in films like Honeymoon In Vegas and Wild at Heart–the couple decided that they CAN help falling in love. After way-out Nic and from-another-universe Jacko, maybe it’s time Lisa Marie found a fella a bit more like dear old dad.
I Do: The Boy is Hers. In the second surprise matrimonial moment, former teen sensation Brandy–now 23–revealed that she definitely knows how to keep a secret. Turns out TV’s former Moesha is married–and has been since last summer–to music producer Robert Smith (and before you ask, no, not the pasty-faced, forever melancholy lead singer for The Cure). Brandy, whose high school prom date was L.A. Laker Kobe
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Bryant, blew the whistle on her big secret on MTV’s Total Request Live, just in time to promote her new album. Isn’t it great when a marriage and a PR plan come together?
I Don’t: Call it When Scary Met Sally. America’s favorite romantic-comedy cutie had to go to court to free herself of a man billing himself as Mr. Meg Ryan–and we ain’t talking Dennis Quaid or even Russell Crowe. No, an emphatically unrequited love named John Michael Hughes had to be shooed away with a restraining order rather than a divorce decree. Seems Hughes was arrested for breaking into the Santa Monica home of an unrelated couple named Ryan while looking for the blonde superstar, whom he claims to have married last November in Vancouver. (The mind reels.) Hughes, who was once imprisoned for stalking President George W Bush, told the homeowners Meg had forgotten to leave a key under the mat for him. A judge decreed that Hughes must keep 150 feet away from the actress, her family and her home (and, one hopes, the homes of other unsuspecting Ryans).
I Do: Let’s hope that settling down will mean No More Drama for the love life of hip-hop diva Mary J. Blige, who recently announced her impending wedding to her current beau, an anonymous (for now) gent who prefers to stay out of the celebrity spotlight. Indeed, the singer who recently entertained a the Super Bowl pre-party in New Orleans announced that when she does take the stroll down the aisle, it will be an intimate affair that will occur away from the music and–cross your fingers, Mary J.–the prying eyes of the press.
I Do–Er, Scratch That–I Don’t: The fairy tale-style wedding of former Melrose Place star Kelly Rutherford and her fiancée Carlos Tarajano was one of the main attractions of the Jan. 22 NBC InStyle’s Celebrity Weddings special . But while the couple was exchanging “I dos” on the tube, they were already trading “I don’ts” in divorce court. It seems that three months after their June 2001 nuptials, Carlos collapsed in the shower, the victim of a heart ailment. At first Kelly tended to a weakened Carlos’ every need, including tying his shoes and brushing his teeth. But the actress eventually cooled to the role of nursemaid, and just 11 days before the TV special aired she filed for divorce. In a twist that would be bizarre even on Melrose Place, when Carlos called InStyle to alert them to the possible embarrassment of airing a segment on a failed marriage, the magazine’s reps reportedly told him that Kelly had assured them all was well within the union. Now there’s a wedding video worth saving.
I Don’t–Er, Scratch That–I Do: For once, the world didn’t want to be like Mike when word broke that the jousting Jordans–NBA legend Michael and Juanita, his wife of 12 years–were about to foul out with a messy divorce which looked to include a rough jump-ball over custody of their three kids and a portion of the $400 million annual income of the Washington Wizard’s comeback kid. However, quicker than one of Jordan’s fast breaks, the couple–who also tied the knot in Las Vegas and later hammered out a preemptive pre-nup–announced their intention to reconcile, sending their divorce petition to the showers. Let’s hope this will be another stat in the hoopster’s win column.
