Lauren Conrad: Allure magazine, May 2011

The Hills reality TV star and author Lauren Conrad features in the May 2011 edition of US Allure magazine.

"I'm not a sexy person," says the 25-year-old in the accompanying interview.

"I'm OK with it. I've never been the sexy girl. Whenever I've had a boyfriend, he's always been like, 'Oh, you're cute."

Conrad added that she's self-conscious about her thighs - and carries a large bag to hide them. Conrad claims though that she'll never undergo plastic surgery.

She says her Hills co-star Heidi Montag, who has had more than 10 procedures, should be viewed as a cautionary tale. "I don't think this is a happy story at all, there's just no right answer there," she said of Montag.

For more of LC (those eyebrows are the some of the best I have seen), see: http://www.allure.com/

Khloe and Lamar: new reality show

The Kardashian empire still spawns reality shows (what's the bet they are currently cooking one up for the Jenner teens right now?) and the latest offering in the reality TV franchise is "Khloé & Lamar" which will air in the US tonight, and premieres on Australian TV on Tuesday April 19th at 9.30pm on E! and every Tuesday after that for the next few months.

Filming since early 2011, Khloé & Lamar features the most outspoken Kardashian sister and her husband, Los Angeles Lakers Lamar Odom. Khloé's brother Robert Kardashian also features, as the oft-forgotten Kardashian is now a semi-permanent houseguest at the duo's marital home.

Says Lisa Berger, Executive Vice President, Entertainment Programming for E! "Khloé and Lamar are such a dynamic couple that we just knew we had to give them their own series," said Berger. "They are fascinating individuals in their own right, and together the duo are a powerhouse. They are funny, dramatic, opinionated, and we intend to capture all this, along with the unvarnished reality of their lives together and apart, since each is constantly followed by their own celebrity spotlight."

After starring in "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" and her very own "Kourtney & Khloé Take Miami," she hosted her own call-in radio show. To ensure she stayed in the headlines (and adding a perfect hook for her reality shows) in 2009 Khloé announced that just one month after they began dating, she would marry superstar L.A. Laker Lamar Odom. With just nine days to plan her wedding (the results of which were whittled down to a one-hour TV special, of course!), the strong personality of the tallest Kardashian was soon (almost) eclipsing that of the one-woman marketing machine, Kim Kardashian.

And now, this eight-episode series will be produced - again - by the man behind the Kardashian success, Ryan Seacrest. According to Khloe, she was reluctant (really? Seriously?) to give the green light to the show, according to her interview in the launch issue of Cosmopolitan Middle East. See: http://josiesjuice.blogspot.com/2011/03/cosmopolitan-middle-east-april-2011.html

"Khloé & Lamar" will premiere in Australia on Tuesday April 19th at 9.30pm on E! and every Tuesday for eight weeks.

Trinny & Susannah’s Australian Makeover Mission

I do love a makeover show.

Even more so when it's from those straight-talking, boob-groping style gurus Trinny and Susannah, the UK personalities who are styling up some fairly fashion-clueless Aussie women.

Filmed during their recent visit to Australia, Trinny & Susannah’s Australian Makeover Mission is fun and frivolous, with a touch of tears and revelations (expect lots of "I am beautiful" and "I do deserve this!").

The local production screens over six weeks from Monday April 4 at 8.30pm on LifeStyle YOU (look out for all the repeats throughout the week).

“This is the first time Trinny and Susannah have produced a series in Australia and I’m so excited that it is for LifeStyle YOU,” said Nicole Sheffield, General Manager, LifeStyle Channels. “This is a fast paced series with authentic reveals. Transforming a range of Australian women successfully in such a short period of time each episode is a big ask, however Trinny and Susannah were up for the challenge. I can’t wait for our viewers to see their dramatic transformations, they are incredible and so inspirational, I’m sure there will be plenty of tears.”

In each episode, Trinny and Susannah will target a different Australian city, where they will find Australians who need their help and advice during their visits and in just 12 hours at each location, show them how to dress for their body type.

So, with glamorous new outfits, hairstyles and make-up, the transformed participants then strut their stuff on a catwalk in front of friends and family, which then follows a 'reveal' for themselves in front of a mirror on the catwalk.

“We had a fabulous time filming the series and meeting hundreds of Australian women,” said Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine. “It certainly was a mission though; with serious fashion disasters and only a number of hours to make the transformations complete it was a challenge, but well worth it in the end. You are all completely wonderful and it has been a pleasure hearing your stories and sharing this journey with you.”

Trinny & Susannah's Australian Makeover Mission screens Mondays at 8.30pm from April 4 on LifeStyle YOU, available on Foxtel and Austar.

Bridalplasty: interview with Shanna Moakler

You ask your girlfriend to marry you, and as she walks up the aisle, she looks... different.

That's the premise of the new E! channel TV show Bridalplasty, currently creating some waves. The show features 12 brides-to-be in a competition to win the perfect dream wedding - and their ideal of a 'dream' body to go along with it.

Host Shanna Moakler (her and now ex-husband Travis Barker - from rock band Blink-182 - starred with their family in their own reality show Meet The Barkers) leads a group of engaged women who are seeking complete body transformations before their 'big day' through a series of wedding-themed comps.

This way, they 'earn' their dream wedding and score plastic surgery procedures from one of Hollywood's most sought-after plastic surgeons, Dr. Terry Dubrow. Each contestant has a wish list of plastic surgery jobs she'd like get ticked off - crooked noses, bad teeth, flat chests, thin lips and muffin tops - and each 'challenge winner' gets a procedure off her wish list.

The last bride standing receives every treatment she wants. And her new 'look' will be unveiled to friends, family and, (hopefully not horrified) fiancé for the first time at the altar on her wedding day.

Wowser! What a concept... so I asked host Shanna all about the TV show, for Josie's Juice.

Congratulations on the new hosting role! How did you feel when you were offered this new gig? Thank you! I was very excited, I love E! and I love their programming on top of hosting so I thought it would be really fun. And it was! I always love a little controversy too.

How do you feel about the women on the show? Have you gotten to know them? I love the women! And yes, I got to know them very well. Some of them I got very attached to but in the end I think the right woman won and I know everyone was happy.

Are they in a good place? Is it simply about "body betterment"? I think they are in a good place, I don't think any of them of have unrealistic expectations. All of the women were there for different reasons, wants, and desires. For example, Cheyenne was bit in the face by a dog, one contestant lost 100 pounds on the Biggest Loser and had excess skin, and some women just wanted the wedding. So each girl's journey was very personal.

Have you had some backlash about the concept of the show? Ha, yes! And I understand, surgery is not for everyone but this show is not about telling women they're not good enough, it's more a way to shine a light on what women are doing all the time before big events and sadly some women can't afford to make the changes they've wanted to make their entire lives. What is right for you is very different for someone else. I know all the women who had procedures walked away very, very happy.

You were one of the pioneers of reality TV with "Meet The Barkers." How has this genre of TV changed since you were first onscreen? Wow! Well besides competitive reality, I find a lot of the docu-style shows are more scripted, where "Meet The Barkers" was not. That was really our crazy love and our crazy lives... Reality TV has had many highs with shows such as "The Biggest Loser", "Survivor", and many lows such as "Whose your Daddy" etc. People are always pushing the limits of reality TV so I don't know how we could really be shocked by anything they put on our TV. I think people need to remember TV is entertainment. There is nothing real about reality TV today.

What do you hope viewers take away from this show? I hope viewers just have fun with it, I hope they see the harsh realities of surgery if they are considering it, but I also hope they see some of the great things we can do with plastic surgery today as well as some really interesting points couples should consider before getting married. I know the ending will put a smile on everyone's face!

The interesting, business-end of the show is screening right now - tune in tonight and every Wednesday for the next few weeks on the Style channel, on Foxtel. The finale show will screen on May 4.

The brides-to-be are: • Netty, 23, who considers herself to be a spoiled brat. • Alexandra, 21, a former contestant on "The Biggest Loser" where she also met her fiancé. • Allyson, 32, who was recently laid off at the same time as her fiancé. • Ashley, 25, who would like to change the fact that she looks like her father. • Cheyenne, 21, a small town Mummy's girl who is struggling with running a household on her own. • Dominique, 24, who resents her parents for spending all their money on her sister's wedding and not saving any for hers. • Jaimie, 23, who wants to re-marry her husband after they rushed their first time to the altar so her mother, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer, could attend. • Jenessa, 27, who gave her fiancé a timeline and ultimatum for the marriage proposal. • Jessica, 30, who's dream is to get her breasts reconstructed before getting into a wedding dress. • Kristen, 21, who is the daughter of a former Miss California, who competed in pageants herself and was crowned Miss Anaheim 2005. • Lisa Marie, 29, who wants every type of plastic surgery possible done before her wedding. • Melissa, 20, who met her husband in the ROTC club and had a quickie wedding before he was called to duty in the Middle East where he has been stationed.

The series is produced by the team behind some of cable TV's biggest franchises, including "The Surreal Life," "My Fair Brady," "Flavor of Love" and "Rock of Love." Executive producers include E!'s Giuliana Rancic.

Bridalplasty screens every Wednesday at 7.30pm on Style, on Foxtel and Austar.

After Lately: Chelsea Lately's show after the show

At first, I thought, just how much funny material can Chelsea Lately produce?

Can the much-adored Chelsea and her team really pull off a show about the planning of their show?

Turns out they can.

Granted, you need to be a fan of Ms Handler and her partucular brand of humour to appreciate more of the same vulgar madness... guilty as charged.

It's the E! channel's first-ever "mocku-series" called After Lately, on every Tuesday for the next few weeks at 11pm on E!

The cast of 'characters' include her trusty mini sidekick Chuy Bravo; the sarcastic Sarah Colonna; red-headed Brad Wollack; 'playboy' comedian Chris Franjola; the 'media whore' Heather McDonald; the awkward Jeff Wild; the skinny hipster Johnny Kansas; bagel-loving Steve Marmalstein; and Chelsea’s older live-in brother, Roy.

In addition to the regular cast above, After Lately will also feature Handler’s big-time celebrity friends (Reese Witherspoon played a superb part as herself last week), and other popular roundtable mainstays and additional staff members... probably coerced.

After Lately is co-executive produced by Chelsea Handler, with Brad Wollack serving as a co-executive producer.

After Lately screens every Tuesday for the next few weeks on at 11pm on E! available on Foxtel and Austar.

Kardashian Family: Redbook, May 2011

The Kardashian girls - this time, including the next gen, Kylie and Kendall (and baby Mason, Kourtney's son) - all appear on the cover of US magazine Redbook (out April 12).

What do you think of the shoot?

To me, this is completely normal Kardashian behaviour: PRing the whole family is nothing new. At least they are open and honest about it.

Here is an excerpt from the interview:

Khloe, on why the public is fascinated with the Kardashians: “We are a real family. We don’t sugarcoat anything. We’re not the Brady Bunch, but we always put each other first. We love each other on camera, we cry on camera. I think people relate to the realness of it.”

Kim, on being in the global spotlight: “There’s nothing I’m really ashamed of, and I work hard on the show and all my other projects. I don’t drink or do drugs, so I’m comfortable showing the world what my life is all about.”

Mum Kris, on the biggest misconceptions about the Kardashians: “It’s annoying when I hear, ‘What do your girls do?’ Well, first of all, all of my daughters have jobs. They are fashion stylists and designers; they own a chain of stores. They had the stores before they had the show. And my kids worked from the time they were 13 years old. So to me, that’s a huge misconception — that the girls don’t work. They work 25 hours a day. And that they don’t have any talent? They might not be singers or dancers, but they certainly know how to produce a television show. Whether you want to call it talent or not, they have multiple shows on the air. [I want to say,] How many shows do you have?”

Kris, on Kardashian family values: “Our joy in life is that we always have each other. So I’ve tried to teach my kids three things: love God, love your family, and love yourself.”

For more on the Kardashian Redbook magazine shoot, including a behind the scenes vid, go here: http://www.redbookmag.com/fun-contests/celebrity/the-kardashians-photo-gallery?click=pp

Wag Nation TV show: stars revealed

Foxtel announced today the five WAGS "Wives and Girlfriends” who will star in FOX8’s much talked about new reality series, WAG Nation.

Production on the locally-made series kicked off last week, and now Foxtel has confirmed the five WAGS are:

- shoe designer Terry Biviano, fiancée of NRL Sydney Roosters player Anthony Minichiello

- event planner Lynette Bolton, wife of AFL Sydney Swans player Jude Bolton

- fashion boutique owner Jackie Spong, fiancée of AFL Carlton Blues player Jarrad Waite

- promotions manager Jana Peterson, long-term girlfriend of NRL Cronulla Sharks player John Williams

- and flight attendant Chantelle Raleigh, girlfriend of NBL Gold Coast Blaze player Adam Gibson.

The series will be produced by Shine Australia for Foxtel - WAG Nation will be a 10-part reality series that will follow the lives of these five independent, professional women who also happen to be partnered with some of Australia’s biggest sporting stars.

Bring it... can't wait to watch.

“We all know Australians are sports mad, but it seems they’re just as ‘WAG’ crazy! That’s why WAG Nation is so exciting for us at FOX8,” said Duane Hatherly, Group Channel Manager FOX8, ARENA & Bio.

“Our viewers will get a glimpse into the glamorous and not so glamorous parts of these women’s very public lives, as well as a taste for the complex social order that rules partners, friends and career in the world of sporting wives and girlfriends,” he said.

WAG Nation will air exclusively on FOX8 - available on Foxtel and Austar - in the second half of 2011.

Chelsea Lately - Sydney Shows, Behind-The-Scenes

Behind the scenes is where all the fun is at for true TV fans.

As a reality show junkie and talk show aficioniado - and lover of all things Chelsea Handler - I was in heaven when they recorded their Australian shows "Chelsea Lately Goes Down Under" shows for the smash hit E! show Chelsea Lately.

I came along for show tapings last time in November 2009 and this time was thrilled to be seated in the front row. Here are some behind the scenes shots from the show taping I attended last night - Tuesday 9 March 2011 - at Sydney's Foxtel studios are North Ryde.

For a full report on what happened, go here: http://josiesjuice.blogspot.com/2011/03/rihanna-on-chelsea-lately-sydney-show.html

And don't forget to watch the Rihanna show this Friday on E! at 10.30pm, with all Aussie Chelsea Lately shows screening this week on E!

Rihanna on Chelsea Lately: Sydney show

As soon as the announcement was made that visiting popstar Rihanna was to be the final guest at the Sydney tapings of the E! channel Chelsea Lately show, the excitement amongst fans (of both) has mounted.

And the fiery-haired one did not disappoint. As soon as the larger than life star - looking stunning in a black mini, patent beige pumps, and a smattering of divine gold jewellery - came on stage, the audience went slightly nuts. About as nuts as we went the moment host Chelsea Handler stepped onto the Foxtel TV stage.

With the audience made up of lucky ticket holders and media, every person there was a true fan, and it showed (I even spied gorgeous "gender illusionist" Courtney Act in the crowd - no mean feat; he's hard to recognise without the war paint).

We all know the regular "round table" comedians - including Josh Wolf, Brad Wollack, Heather McDonald, Sarah Colonna, and of course Chelsea's sidekick Chuy - and you'd think we'd spotted rockstars as they were intro'ed onto stage.

The workings of a live show are something to behold. I really enjoy watching the behind-the-scenes stuff: the switching of sets, the last minute touch-ups, the lighting tests.

With this show, there are no second takes... what happens is what you see broadcast later. Including all the inappropriate "whoop, whoop, whoop" - although the warm-up guy kinda encourages it. He tells us to "act like Americans" and cheer at anything. Even the inappropriate stuff. We comply, although need no coaxing when the cameras are rolling. (I am sure I'll be hearing my distinctly loud laugh when the show is broadcast on Friday on E!).

Between takes a Chelsea Lately production person trips over lighting and goes, er, "a over t." Chelsea tries to stifle her laughter, though is later thoughtfully checking in on her staffer. Onya Chels.

During the panel part of the show, Chelsea talks about her surprise at the "lack of black people in Australia" (later, her and Rihanna discuss it, and Rihanna admits her delight when she spots dark-skinned audience members at her Australian concerts). Chelsea is, however, rather surprised at our large contingent of Asian-heritaged folk. And to illustrate that she shows us footage of a taxi ride where she feels up a Asian cabbie... the crowd loves it.

The round table panel for this evening's show is made up of the hilarious Josh Wolf, the seriously funny Fortune Feimster, and repping the Australian guest is Adam Hills. Adam's jokes will no doubt create waves in gossip columns and on TV shows, hungry for controversial soundbytes. One joke involves cancer. That got a lot of boos ("Oh c'mon Australia; you don't like cancer jokes?" adds Chelsea, to lighten it up a bit). Hills adds a few more off-colour jokes, but the audience kinda expects un-PC.

It's what Chelsea has built a career on: taking pot shots at celebs; saying the stuff we are really thinking (like, just how many endorsements can the Kardashians really be involved in? And her disdain for Angelina). I don't know of anyone who can get away with so much. And yet she pulls it off superbly. In fact, she's the master at it.

After the show, fans (and media pretending to act cool but genuinely excited to be meeting show guests) hang about for autographs and pics. We don't expect to see Chelsea and definitely not Rihanna. But as fashion stylist Kelly Smythe leaves the corridors (who did she dress? The former or the latter? Both looked impeccable - Chelsea's shoes and dress were to-die-for) we leave with our Chelsea craving satisfied.

If you don't know what the fuss is about, where have you been?

Check out Chelsea Lately, Monday to Saturday at 10.30pm on E!, available on Foxtel, Austar, and Optus.

(Select photos: courtesy Rina Ferris).

Chelsea Lately Australian Shows: Rihanna on final show

Australia: brace yourself! Chelsea Handler is back in the country.

The return of E!’s reigning queen of late night means that yet again the entire “Chelsea Lately” crew invades Australia for a week’s worth of shows, airing from Tuesday, March 8 at 10.30pm on E!.

Handler is joined by her sidekick Chuy along with Sarah Colonna, Brad Wollack, Heather McDonald and her posse of "round table" regulars.

The biggest news so far: at last night's taping (airing tonight on E!), guest Sophie Monk revealed she is no longer engaged, and as of this afternoon, E! has confirmed that visiting pop superstar Rihanna will be the last guest at tomorrow night's taping (airing this Friday on E!).

Here is the fill run-down on who is on when:

WEEK OF SHOWS IN AUSTRALIA (on air date)

• Tuesday, March 8th, 10.30pm on E! – Round Table Guests include Chris Franjola, Josh Wolf, Celia Pacquola (Australian) and interview guest Sophie Monk.

• Wednesday, March 9th, 10.30pm on E! – Round Table Guests include Brad Wollack, Heather McDonald, Adam Richard (Australian) and interview guest Henry Rollins.

• Thursday, March 10th, 10.30pm on E! – Round Table Guests include Chris Franjola, Sarah Colonna, Jeff Wild and interview guest Animal Wrangler Nick de Vos.

• Friday, March 11th, 10.30pm on E! – Round Table Guests include Josh Wolf, Fortune Feimster, Adam Hills (Australian) and interview guest Rihanna

Chelsea Lately screens Monday to Saturday at 10.30pm, only on E!