Issue Date: March 2, 2008
What do you know about Hell's Kitchen chef Gordon Ramsay beyond the fact that he owns a lot of restaurants?
Heidi Grolemund, Churchville, N.Y.
I can tell you that Ramsay, 41, food lover that he is, once weighed "17.3 stone; that's 242 pounds." It was embarrassing for the former pro soccer player, so he "decided to do something about it" and 10 years ago took up running. He plans to run the London marathon in April. Ramsay, his wife and four kids are looking for a house in New York's Hamptons. He tells us he doesn't want his kids to become snobs -- food or otherwise.
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Is Gisele Bundchen still a Victoria's Secret model?
Katy Lamouth, Bronx, N.Y.
No. But the Brazilian beauty may be teaming up with the trendy discounter H&M for her own lingerie line. At 27, she remains in demand. She has ad campaigns with Yves Saint Laurent and Liberté, a fragrance from Cacharel, and, of course, she has a famous boyfriend, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
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Katie Holmes, whose recent "Mad Money" slipped quickly out of most theaters, says she has learned how to deal with the constant spotlight. "I've gotten used to being aware, and I just want to protect everyone around me," she says. Holmes, a Midwestern girl (she grew up in Toledo, Ohio), says: "I like food. I never forget a good meal, and I think about it often." But she's slender as a model and is now a marathon runner. Recalling the most challenging part of the NYC Marathon, she says: "I was turning that left-hand corner when they're about to tell you it's Mile 20. At that point, I felt I'd been running for days. I heard the guy in front of me tell a friend, 'Don't worry, just six more.' I'm thinking, 'Did you say six? That's an hour on a good day.' "
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Amanda Byram, 34, sees herself as a "mother figure." The host of "Paradise Hotel 2," a Fox Reality and MyNetwork TV production that each week requires contestants to couple up or be out of the game, says the show is as good as any drama. "It's breathtaking to hear one of the girls or guys say something to the other one and then, literally, walk around the corner and say the exact opposite to someone else," says Byram, who got her start on TV in her native Ireland and hosted the first "Paradise Hotel" and Fox's reality show "The Swan."
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My wife and I loved Laura Prepon on "That '70s Show" and find her equally good on October Road, although her characters are so different.
Michael Sommerfeld, Surprise, Ariz.
It's no surprise to Prepon that she fits well into her first "mom" role. She's the youngest of five, but her siblings come to her for advice: "I think it's because at 15, I moved to Italy on my own [for modeling]. I had to grow up fast." So how did Prepon, who lives with boyfriend Chris Masterson, stay out of trouble? "My mom gave us free rein; we didn't have rules to rebel against, so we didn't do crazy stuff."
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The woman who made men melt in "Body Heat" never lived by the book. Now Kathleen Turner has written one -- a chatty memoir titled "Send Yourself Roses." She covers her young life as a foreign service kid to her more current battle with rheumatoid arthritis and tells us the book is the first place in which she has opened up about parts of her past. "I have mentioned before that [my father] died at a young age and that we were estranged at the end," says Turner, 53. "But I've never spoken about what that did to my life." She claims, "I don't like to gossip," but she says her work relationship with Burt Reynolds was tumultuous and describes him as nasty. "I don't think this is gossip [because] it's well known."
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I happened upon the USA Network comedy "Psych." Now I want to know more about the stars, James Roday and Dule Hill.
Ellen Sorkin, Cincinnati
Both have series experience -- Hill in "The West Wing" and Roday (born James Roday Rodriguez) in Miss Match. They also are genuine friends, and their onscreen chemistry is what makes the show so charming. NBC, which owns USA Network and is low on new programming, will start airing episodes from "Psych's" second season in April.
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BIRTHDAYS
March 2: Chris Martin, 31; Daniel Craig, 40; Jon Bon Jovi, 46
March 3: Jessica Biel, 26; Julie Bowen, 38
March 4: Andrea Bowen, 18; Patricia Heaton, 50
March 5: Niki Taylor, 33; Kevin Connolly, 34
March 6: Shaquille O'Neal, 36; Rob Reiner, 61
March 7: Jenna Fischer, 34; Bryan Cranston, 52
March 8: James Van Der Beek, 31; Freddie Prinze Jr., 32; Camryn Manheim, 47
Contributing: Gayle Jo Carter, Reyhaneh Fathieh, Nancy Mills, Kathy Rowings, Jon Tollestrup
 Ask Lorrie Lynch a question about a celeb!
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