reality tv (1052 posts)

Karen Alquist/TLC

Kate Gosselin never wanted it to be this way. But since it is this way...

Having to shut down its cash cow thanks to Jon Gosselin's gripes, TLC seemed to make sure that its litigious former star ended up smelling like a bed of anything-but-roses on Monday's series finale of Jon & Kate Plus 8.

Kate took six of the kids to an organic farm, where they pet kittens and milked cows, and everything was wholesome and lovely! Meanwhile, even raising money for firefighters, Jon came off looking like the bad guy.

"I always wonder, 'Are they safe, are they protected, are they well thought-out?'" Kate, who called the premature end of the show "bittersweet," mused during one of her one-on-camera interview segments. 

"And I do worry about his intentions and his motives for such things," she said, referring to the lemonade stand Jon set up to raise money for their local volunteer fire department. "Is this a publicity stunt? What is the bottom line of it? I don't like when my kids get caught in the crossfire of that stuff."

Cut to Jon banishing Mady and Cara from the site for being "unappreciative" and then begrudging the sextuplets their fun exploring a firetruck while he stayed outside selling lemonade. Then he donned a full fireman's suit and took a few Darth-Vaderesque breaths.

Kate's concerns come to fruition, or some crafty editing?

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Prince Williams/Getty Images

To get at the truth, the family of Kandi Burruss's late fiancé is looking to raise the dead.

A.J. Jewell did not have sickle-cell anemia, according to a spokesman for Jewell's relatives, who have requested that a second autopsy be performed by a private coroner to clear up any inconsistencies surrounding his death last month from a head injury sustained in a fight outside an Atlanta strip club.

Results are expected in about two weeks. The Real Housewives of Atlanta fixture was laid to rest over a month ago.

The Fulton County medical examiner ruled Jewell's death a homicide and the other guy in the fight, Frederick Richardson, has been charged with voluntary manslaughter.

But Jewell's family disagrees with the finding that sickle-cell anemia aggravated his injuries.

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Kannie Yu LaPack, Lifetime

Every season, it all comes down to Bryant Park.

Nine months after they marched their 13-look collections down the runway at Fall Fashion Week, Althea Harper, Irena Shabayeva and Carol Hannah Whitfield stood quaking before Heidi Klum & Co., waiting to hear who would be named the winner of Project Runway's much-delayed sixth season.

Of course it looked as if time was going to run out, garments were going to go unfinished and each woman was going to float away on a river of tears (mixed with other fluids, in the virus-stricken Carol Hannah's case).

But, wouldn't you know, all three ladies, competing in the second all-girl finale in a row, showed classy, polished and, for the most part, extremely wearable collections at the couture extravaganza in NYC.

And for the spoiler-avoiders among us, it seemed like anyone's game.

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Good things come in small packages.

Before the first-ever petite cycle of America's Next Top Model came to a close tonight, southern belle Laura Kirkpatrick and the unprepossessing Nicole Fox had two more chances to prove that they deserved to be on top.

First came the requisite Cover Girl commercial shoot, which left both girls fighting for their composure as the only words they could get their glossy lips around were easy, breezy and beautiful. (Both ended up with decent takes, but it was torture getting there.)

Then it was onto the runway for a Julia Clancey fashion show.

Off Laura and Nicole went, their dresses billowing, fringe flapping and faces shellacked with shimmer, as Tyra Banks, Nigel Barker, J. Alexander and Eddie Murphy(!) looked on from the audience.

The show—which also featured lucky losers Erin, Sundai and Jennifer—went smoothly and both finalists stalked the catwalk like pros, and tall pros at that!

So who was the last girl standing at the end of cycle 13?

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Justin Stephens/BRAVO

Sure, Tom Colicchio's got much respect for the five who made it this far on Top Chef and it was a pleasure watching them all cook.

But only four made it out of tonight's episode alive after an especially meaty quickfire round and an elimination challenge inspired by the Olympics of culinary arts, the Bocuse d'Or.

While the fantasy foursome of Bryan and Michael Voltaggio, Kevin Gillespie and Jennifer Carroll was planted in people's minds weeks ago, you could bet that surprise contender Eli Kirshtein wasn't going to let them just whisk past him into the semifinals.

Not to mention the fact that Jen's been sliding in recent weeks, Kevin's not one for classic French technique and Brian and Michael could just as easily self-destruct by getting too fancy for their own good.

And we heard that there was an upset brewing...

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Prince Williams/Getty Images

A.J. Jewell's death may have been an accident, but it was a preventable one.

The death of the former fiancé of Real Housewives of Atlanta's Kandi Burruss has been declared a homicide by Georgia's Fulton County medical examiner's office, which confirmed earlier speculation that the street fight Jewell got into on the night of his death was exacerbated by his sickle-cell anemia.

"Although Mr. Jewell died of complications of his underlying natural disease conditions, the complications would not have occurred if he had not experienced the extreme exertion that was part of the physical altercation," stated the report, obtained by the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

"Due to the active involvement of another person, the manner of death is classified as a homicide."

But if you think the report brought any sense of closure to Jewell's still-grieving family, well, think again.

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Win some, lose some.

Rebecca Meyer, the latest competitive dieter to be eliminated from The Biggest Loser, revealed tonight on The Jay Leno Show that, though she didn't win, the grueling experience was more than worth it.

And not just because she lost more than 100 pounds.

"Daniel was my best friend, is my best friend, and after leaving the show we talked for, like, five, six-hour conversations and then...he told me he had feelings," Meyer said of fellow castmate Daniel Wright, a refugee of season seven who returned for season nine to "finish what he started" and then got the boot a week ago.

And even though he still isn't the Biggest Loser, he at least won Rebecca's heart. (And no wonder she cried so hard after last week's elimination...)

"Daniel and I have gone through the same thing," she told Leno. "I mean, he's gone through an even more intense version of it, and I fell in love with my best friend."

How perfect for two people who definitely deserved a sweet treat.

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Rebecca didn't go the distance on The Biggest Loser, but such is the reality-TV way. Find out whose run on Dancing With the Stars ended tonight, as well, right here.

ABC/KELSEY McNEAL

They've jived and jitterbugged, waltzed and rumba'd—all with an eye on lifting the disco-ball trophy on next week's season finale of Dancing With the Stars.

Mya and her "tutti-frutti booty" distanced herself from the pack Monday, scorewise, while Donny Osmond suffered an early stumble that left him playing catch-up all night. Making up the middle of the pack were Joanna Krupa, who's handled Derek Hough's standout choreography like a champ, and Kelly Osbourne, whose biggest competitive hurdle all season has been her own nerves.

Though it's hard to believe any of them had time to rehearse, what with all the sound bites they're expected to provide and David Bowie impressions they must do.

But tonight, after a dance sequence from Nine and performances by Leona Lewis, Alicia Keys and the Bee Gees, the competition was eventually whittled down to three finalists.

By the will of the people, who obviously love an underdog...

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