January 4, 2000

STATEMENT: SPICE GIRL'S MARITAL PROBLEMS INSOLUBLE

By ROGER ANDERSON Scripps Howard News Service

SPICE MARRIAGE GOES SOUTH: It is our sad duty to begin the new millennium by reporting that Spice Girl Mel G, who changed her name from Mel B way back in 1998 to coincide with her marriage to someone named Jimmy Gulzar, whose baby she was about to give birth to, is exchanging ambulating papers with the aforenamed Jimmy.

We insert no pantywaist adverbs like "allegedly" or "reportedly" into that sentence for the excellent reason that the info comes from a statement issued by the ex-lovebirds themselves to such news organs as USA Today.

According to that journal, the note thoughtfully explains that the pair decided to separate "after a considerable amount of discussions and attempts to make the relationship work." When even a considerable amount of discussions don't do the trick, you know it's time to divvy up the Tupperware.

A HUGE RELIEF: Recently rumors went around that ex-Miss America Phyllis George and her sweetheart of several years, Charles Gargano, were no longer keeping company with one another. The beautiful pair thereupon contacted a columnist at the New York Daily News to set the record straight.

"We've been together the last seven days and haven't left each other for a minute," Charles relates. "And we spent New Year's together with family and friends on Long Island."

"I don't generally like talking about personal things," Phyllis adds, a bit unbelievably, "but Charles and I are very close. We spend a whole lot of time together. Is the relationship cooling? No. Do we have busy lives? Yes. We are all over the place. We are busy, high-profile people and we're terrific. When we can be together, we are." And here we thought it was all none of our business.

MAJOR CHANGES: Ricky Martin, who became the most famous person in the world last year because he can sing and dance pretty good, went wild just before Christmas and dyed his hair blond. Then he was spotted riding a Jet Ski off Miami Beach on New Year's Day.

"I think," his rep explains to a reporter, "the Jet Ski was a Christmas present from someone." OK, but what about the hair?

IRRESPONSIBLE GOSSIP: Someone has had the incredible gall to suggest that pop siren Britney Spears likes to exchange cozy letters with Britain's Prince William. Once again, a professional publicity representative rides to the rescue with a disclaimer, to wit; "It's not true. They are not (writing letters to each other) as far as I'm aware."

That's according to Britney flack Colleen Harris. A different Britney spokeswoman, this one named Lizzie Grubman, takes the topic to a whole different level: "Britney never comments on her personal life."

IZZATSO? And yet down at the bottom of the same column of type in USA Today we glean this interesting bit of verbiage, attributed as a direct quote from Britney.

"I'm a Christian," she tells Teen People mag. "I go to church. But my mom taught us, 'don't be ashamed of your body. It's a beautiful thing.'" Well, after all, there's really nothing very personal about your religion and your mom, is there?

CELEBRITY DOUBLETHINK: No inception of the millennium would be complete without a nice item from the pages of the New York Post, the newspaper of the future.

Accordingly, here we have "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" star Melissa Joan Hart answering allegations that she was out of line to pose seductively for photos in Maxim mag when her TV character is presented to the nation's youth as a role model.

"It wasn't intended to change my image," Melissa objects. "Someone asked me if I wanted to be on the cover of a magazine. It happened to be a magazine geared toward men and there were certain things I had to do in order to be in it. I like the pictures."

So do we, Melissa. By the way, we hear the editors at Biker Babes in Bondage want to talk to you.

Roger Anderson is arts and entertainment editor at Scripps Howard News Service.

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