Newsstand Friday: OK! Magazine Filed under ( Britney Spears, Jillian Barberie, Katie Holmes, Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos, Suri Cruise, Tom Cruise )

BRITNEY SPEARS
The truth behind her failed OK! photo shoot
OK! Magazine strives to bring out the best in stars, but that task became increasingly difficult when we tried to complete an exclusive shoot and interview with Britney last week. While OK! retained the most talented crew to showcase the pop star in the most flattering light, her erratic behavior and unwieldy demands made our job impossible. “OK! Magazine spent a heartbreaking day with Britney Spears and witnessed first-hand an emotional cry for help that will leave you shocked and sad,” Sarah Ivens, OK! Editor-In-Chief, said. “This week, on newsstands Friday, the truth will be told.” OK! brings you the real facts behind the aborted shoot and interview. We also share our hopes that Britney will soon find herself back on track.

TOMKAT
How Katie is making Tom happy again
Tom Cruise is under a spell — and her name is Katie Holmes. During the welcome-to-America party TomKat co-hosted for David and Victoria Beckham at the Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown Los Angeles, Tom couldn’t take his eyes off his wife. “Tom looked completely in awe of Katie,” a guest tells OK!. Hollywood insiders say that Tom, often characterized as a control freak, has learned to let go a little, thanks to his wife and baby daughter, Suri. “It is clear that Tom looks to Katie for praise and inspiration, and he gets it in spades,” says an insider. There’s even talk that Tom, a devout Scientologist, is now open to exploring other faiths.

KELLY RIPA
How the daytime diva keeps her marriage hot
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos have it all: marriage, children, great careers. How do they keep everything together? By finding time to spend quality time together, Kelly reveals. They split their time between their SoHo apartment in New York City and their home in Southampton, N.Y. Kelly recently said, “I’ve had a crush on my husband since the day I met him, and I’m so pleased that I still do all these years later. The fact is I’m very content with my marriage.” OK! spills the all the cute couple’s secrets!

JILLIAN REYNOLDS
Meet her new bundle of joy!
Jillian Reynolds (née Barberie) and her husband, Grant, invited OK! into their home to meet their first child, Ruby Raven. And Jillian talked about becoming a new mother: “I was sobbing like a baby,” she says about holding Ruby for the first time. “I was adopted, and my birth mom didn’t get a chance to hold me for very long. It was very emotional.” Jillian reveals how becoming a mom has changed her focus and how she’s planning to get her post-baby body back in shape.

Mark Consuelos Hits Primetime Filed under ( Age of Love, Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos, NBC )

Taking a cue from his wife Kelly Ripa, former soap star Mark Consuelos hits primetime tonight with the premiere of NBC's new dating show, Age of Love. The show focuses on 30-year-old Aussie tennis star Mark Philippoussis and sends him down a dating path with women in theirs 20s and women in their 40s. TV Guide sat down with Mark to get the dirt on the new show and life with Kelly.

TVGuide.com: The last we "spoke," it was you crashing my Q&A with Kelly, trying to punch up her answers about favorite TV shows, slipping Anderson Cooper between Dancing with the Stars and Idol.
Mark Consuelos: [Laughs] Sorry about that.

TVGuide.com: First of all, congratulations on the TV-movie you just booked. That's good company: Nadine Velazquez, Erik Estrada, Mario Lopez....
Consuelos: Absolutely. It's going to be a blast.

TVGuide.com: Although I think it disproves the theory that you, Estrada and Mario can't be in the same project together.
Consuelos: [Laughs] Or that we actually are the same person. We've never been in the same room at the same time, so we can put all those rumors to rest.

TVGuide.com: All we're missing is Wilmer [Valderrama].
Consuelos: Exactly. And the guy who played Tattoo.

TVGuide.com: What's the sum total of your role on Age of Love? Are you narrating, overseeing the elimination ceremony, is there any "guy talk" with the other Mark?
Consuelos: That's pretty much it — you nailed it. I narrate it, I'm his wingman/guy-talker.... I do referee a few of the eliminations, but we kind of felt that sometimes that was [Philippoussis'] realm and it was weird to have me jumping in it. But it was good, I had a great time doing it. I've obviously never done or hosted a reality show, and I found the whole process fascinating. And watching the differences between the two age groups was mind-blowing.

TVGuide.com: Have you turned down reality pitches in the past?
Consuelos: Yeah, I have, I absolutely have. I'll tell you honestly, I'm a big fan of reality, and this show kind of intrigued me. I thought it was really, really cool.

TVGuide.com: Is there a catchphrase for when Mark kicks somebody off? Like, "Our love is not for the ages"?
Consuelos: [Laughs] No, no.... There isn't a catchphrase, but I like the catchphrase of what the show is — "cougars versus kittens."

TVGuide.com: Someone here wanted me to ask you: Do you find the term "cougar" demeaning at all?
Consuelos: You know what? I don't. I guess some people do, but I really don't.

TVGuide.com: As if "kittens" is empowering.
Consuelos: Exactly. It kind of describes what the show is. I think you and I should push for them to change the title to "Cougars vs Kittens."

TVGuide.com: Take us through Mark's realization of the setup, because he didn't know going into this that he would be choosing from two different age groups.
Consuelos: This guy was engaged to an 18-year-old at some point; he had a past dating younger girls, that was his angle. When he met the 40-year-olds first, if a picture says a thousands words, he was like, "Whoa, what did I get myself into?" And then they put me out there to talk to him, and I was like, "Guys, he's going to want to kick my ass!" [Laughs] But the women that they chose.... Listen, 40-year-old women are sexy — I think they are — and he completely had a change of heart. My motto throughout the whole thing was, "Just go into it with an open mind." He was really surprised by what he learned.

TVGuide.com: Did any cougars prey on you when you were a strapping young thing on All My Children?
Consuelos: Um... no. I was pretty much taken by the time I was on the soap opera [where he met Ripa].

TVGuide.com: "Gosh darn it."
Consuelos: Yeah, yeah, I know. But my wife is six months older than me, so technically.... At some point she's going to be a cougar!

TVGuide.com: Assuming that Kelly was the first-best thing to come out of your soap run, what was the second-best thing?
Consuelos: Working. Just working every day as an actor. Obviously by year seven I was tired of working [laughs], but it was a great experience. I grew up on that show, becoming a husband and a father.

TVGuide.com: What gifts are you angling for this Father's Day?
Consuelos: Mets tickets. That's also a good Mother's Day present! And I travel a lot, so framed pictures of my kids.... Oh, and this is kind of a shameless plug, but I got an Oral B rechargeable toothbrush that I love.

TVGuide.com: That's what keeps your teeth so white?
Consuelos: Exactly. [Laughs] It's all about the teeth, dude.

TVGuide.com: Lastly, I must point this out to you. I was at the newsstand, and the cover of one tabloid announced, "Kelly's Secret Plan to Save Her Marriage." Two questions: Did I just spoil the "secret" for you? And might her "secret plan" work?
Consuelos: It always does. No, she has no secret plan, she always knows exactly what to do. We are extremely boring. If our lives were half as interesting as what goes on in the tabloids...

Photo from TV Guide.

Newsstand Friday: OK! Magazine Filed under ( American Idol, Brooke Shields, Jesse James, Katie Holmes, Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos, Nicole Kidman, Paula Abdul, Regis Philbin, Sandra Bullock, Tom Cruise )

KELLY RIPA
America’s sweetheart is determined to save her troubled marriage
Live With Regis & Kelly host Kelly Ripa seems to effortlessly balance her professional and home life, caring for her husband, Mark Consuelos, and their three children. But the couple’s grueling work schedules have put a strain on their 11-year marriage. Kelly had to take up the slack when Regis Philbin left their show for bypass surgery, while Mark has spent the last few weeks in Los Angeles, shooting his new reality show Age of Love. In spite of recent tensions, Kelly and Mark are not giving up on their marriage. “They have both realized that changes need to be made,” a friend tells OK!. “They are determined to not let this marriage fail.”

KATIE HOLMES
Will Nicole undermine her efforts to be a good stepmom?
Katie Holmes has been growing closer to her stepchildren, Conner and Isabella, a fact that irks their mother, Nicole Kidman. “Nicole is being very firm about the fact that these are her kids, not Katie’s,” a friend of the star tells OK!. Nicole is taking action, asking ex-husband Tom Cruise for more time to spend with her children, and it seems that her persistence is finally paying off.

PAULA ABDUL — OK! EXCLUSIVE
Only in OK!, Paula predicts who will be in the top two!
OK!’s own Idol Insider Paula Abdul dishes on the final three contestants on America Idol, and who she feels should be competing in the top two slots. Paula also reveals how she made her choice for Blake’s “judge’s pick” song; which of the final three desperately needs a makeover; and what she thinks about LaKisha’s recent elimination.

HEALTHY WEIGHT LOSS IN HOLLYWOOD
Stars drop pounds the right way
More celebs are losing weight sensibly. Mother of two Brooke Shields shed her baby weight on what she calls “the three-year-old diet,” running after now 4-year-old daughter Rowan a mere month after her younger daughter, Grier, was born. Sandra Bullock has admitted she put on pounds after settling into blissful married life with Jesse James, but an active lifestyle with her husband of three years has helped her slim down.

NBC Releases Summer Schedule Filed under ( Age of Love, Allison Sweeney, America's Got Talent, Bill Bellamy, Caroline Rhea, Jay Mohr, Jerry Springer, Last Comic Standing, Mark Consuelos, Paradise Hotel, Reality TV, The Biggest Loser )

Variety informs us that NBC released its summer TV schedule early this year. The peacock network will air the following shows this summer:

May 29 - The second season of "America's Got Talent" begins. It will begin with a two-hour premiere from 8-10 p.m., run at 8 p.m. on Tuesdays. The new host of the show will be Jerry Springer, who replaces Regis Philbin.

June 13 - "Last Comic Standing" will air Wednesdays at 9 p.m., with a two-hour premiere. Bill Bellamy is the show's new host, taking over for Jay Mohr.

June 18 - "Age of Love," whcih is the only new reality show being aired by NBC this summer. It will be hosted by Kelly Ripa's hubby, Mark Consuelos, on Mondays at 10 p.m. All we know is that it is a romance themed reality show. Although, being mysterious certainly worked for Paradise Hotel.

No firm premiere date - "The Biggest Loser" will premiere in late summer. We do know that the show's new host will be soap star Alison Sweeney who will replace Caroline Rhea.