Leeanda Reddy And The Incredibly Pointless Q&A

Hi sunshines,

Y'all know how serious I am. Deeply so. This blog after all stands for academic discourse, diatribes [And other tribes... - Ed.], analysis of the in-depthest kind.

So it's with great 'whoo-hoo-ness' [Just making up words, we are, today! *not impressed* - Ed.] that I introduce you to Gossip Guy's lesser-spotted celebrity Q&A, The Incredibly Pointless Q&A. Today's victim star is Isidingo's Leeanda Reddy (Priya). You might should also remember her from roles on Scandal! (Vanashree) and Mr Bones (Reshmi) amongst others. One day soon someone will offer her a role where she doesn't have to wear a sari or use an Indian name, but in the meantime here's what Leeanda has to say about skimpy lingerie, J.Lo being dumb, bad boys and getting Greece out fo debt.

Name your top five favourite celebrity crushes:

• Leo DiCaprio tops the list always! I’ve always been loyal to him.What's not to love from this side of the screen - he is gorgeous, talented and so mysteriously low-profile.
• Robert Downey Jnr – Just a rough bad boy that’s supremely talented!
• Denzel Washington – his walk, his talk...irreplaceable in my eyes.
• Sendhil Ramamurthy – he plays the geneticist on the series Heroes and well he’s just beautiful and perfectly chiselled.
• Itumeleng Khune – the Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper. He really is lovely. Sportsmen, rugged wild things...it doesn’t matter if they don’t utter a word, they just have to be amazing at what they do and look good doing it.

Complete the sentence: I would never, ever… give up chocolate.

What do you wear to bed?
I’m a seasonal night dresser. In Summer, anything minimalist like lingerie, little strap goodies and short thingies with lots of lace and satin. Winter gets a bit hectic. I go hobo and sometimes even granny (I am from the East Coast after all and am still warming up to Jozi winters). So it's trackpants, long shapeless shirts, t-shirts on top of shirts, thick fuzzy socks...and you would think this would be a turn off right? Mmph!

If you could trade places with any other celebrity for 24 hours, who would you choose?
Jennifer Lopez. She is superhot right now and is always looking amazing. Her body, her clothes, her business savvy - she really is the whole package. But I reckon she’s not the sharpest tool in the shed so she must have a kickass team behind her. So that's the team I would like to spend a day with.

If you could have any 2 super-powers, what would they be?
To fly like Superman (I’m impatient and I hate traffic) and to be a shape-shifter, (X-Men style. I’m an actress who would love to play as many diverse roles as possible. Imagine having shape-shifting powers. No costumes, wigs, makeup needed. Even auditions would be a breeze.

What would you do with 5 million bucks?I would buy Greece! [You might even have some change left over... - Ed.]

If you could have tea with the Queen, what would you say to her?
I would say, "Elton, I am so glad you ditched those ridiculous toupees for hair implants." [Almost choked on my latte there. - Ed.]

"One if feeling peckish. Get One a Corgi won't you dear"

What skill do you wish you had?
I wish I could sing well. I'm always in awe of brilliant singers.

You’re having a dinner party. Which 5 people would you invite?
Any five characters from my favourite sitcom, Modern Family. They just blow me away with their characterisations, comedic timing and flawless performances. I love being in the company of funny, clever people! [Girl, in that case, let's do lunch - Ed.]

And now you know!

XoXo
Gossip Guy

PS: More Incredibly Pointless Q&A here.

Hottie Of The Week: Chris Zylka

Blond steel

Greetings stalkerazzi,

And welcome to the further adventures of perving semi-nude hotness...the now almost legendary Hottie Of The Week [That's #HottieOfTheWeek in Twitter-speak - Ed.]

You know you wanna!

This week's 'ooh-la-la' is actor-slash-model Chris Zylka (27), whose most distinguishing characteristics include an unpronounceable surname, surfer-boy looks, acting in Shark Night 3D and a jawline so square you cold play Chess on it.

The black & white schmodel pose...

The Josh Hartnett lookalike pose, part 1...

The Josh Hartnett lookalike pose, part 2...

Bedhead...

About to be eaten by a 3-dimensional shark...

The Low-Down

1. Chris is of Russian descent [Screw the Bells, give that man a vodka - Ed.]
2. He was voted #90 on BuddyTV's 2011 list of TV's Sexiest Men. Duh!
3. His hobbies include playing guitar, painting [Body painting??? - Ed.], reading and playing football, basketball and baseball.
4. He's got a thing for starring in horror flicks, having appeared in Shark 3D, Piranha 3DD, My Super Psycho Sweet 16 and its sequel My Super Psycho Sweet 16: Part 2.
5. He'll next be seen as Peter Parker's high-school nemesis Eugene 'Flash' Thompson in The Amazing Spider-Man with Andrew Garfield.
6. Sorry boys and girls, he's taken. Seems Chris is romancing Pretty Little Liars' actress Lucy Hale.

And now you know!
 
XoXo
Gossip Guy
 
PS: Remember to suggest future Hotties by tweeting me at @the_gossip_guy.

PPS: Check out previously-posted Hotties here, here, here and here.

SA Box-Office Top Ten: 25-27 May 2012

Hi sunshines,

Finally - someone kicked The Avengers box-office ass. And no I don't mean that big bad villain Loki.

"Who dear? Me dear? Bad-ass dear? No dear!"

I mean Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin and Emma Thompson. Yup, Avengers' ass was kicked by a sci-fi comedy threequel, Men In Black III.

See, I toldya The Avengers would fall off the #1 spot soon. Cos I'm a smartypants who knows this sort of stuff.

So, here's the latest top ten:

10) ONE FOR THE MONEY

9) PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS (incl 3D)

8) MIRROR MIRROR

7) DARK SHADOWS

6) BATTLESHIP

5) THE VOW

4) THE LUCKY ONE

3) THINK LIKE A MAN

2) THE AVENGERS (incl 3D)



















1) MEN IN BLACK III (incl 3D)

Expect even more movement when the new Spider-Man and Snow White And The Huntsman open soon...Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

XoXo
Gossip Guy

PS: Don't forget, still to come this week a new Incredibly Pointless Q&A *and* Hottie Of The Week. High five!

PPS: Are you following me on Twitter? Y'all should be...

Bullet For My Valentine To Headline Oppikoppi18

Hi sunshines,

Not being a music festival kinda guy, nor a fan of Welsh metal-core [Which is what exactly?? - Ed.] I'm not nearly as thrilled about this news as the die-hard Oppikoppers. But hey, the festival is a big'un so I'm sure many peeps are excited about the 'this-just-in' news that Bullet For My Valentine is headlining this year's fest.

Here's the official PR schpiel (ta-dah!):

"You asked them and the Hilltop Live crew have heeded your call. Welsh Metal-core band, Bullet For My Valentine is making their South African debut at OppiKoppi 18 Sweet\Thing!

Bullet for My Valentine comprises lead singer & rhythm guitarist Matthew Tuck, drummer Michael 'Moose' Thomas, lead guitarist & backing vocalist Michael 'Padge' Paget and bassist & backing vocalist Jason 'Jay' James. The group, named Best British Band in 2008, 2009 and 2010 by metal magazine Kerrang!, formed 10 years ago in their hometown of Bridgend as Jeff Killed John, covering Metallica and Nirvana songs. Citing Metallica, Iron Maiden and Slayer as influence they found their niche in 2002 on signing a five album deal with Sony BMG dropping The Poison in 2005, Scream Aim Fire in 2007 and Fever in 2010. With over one million albums in the United States and exceeding 2 500 000 worldwide sales, Bullet For My Valentine's debut for their South African fans has been a long time coming. Additional South African tour dates will be announced shortly."

OppiKoppi 18 Sweet\Thing! runs from 9 to 11 August 2012 and you can get tickets via www.facebook.com/oppikoppifestival

So who's excited about the news?

Feedback in the comments section please...

XoXo

Gossip Guy

PS: Follow me on Twitter. I'm radder than Metal-core. Bwahahahahaha! Okay, probably not. But definitely funnier. 

ProVerb And The Incredibly Pointless Q&A

Hi sunshines,

I Tweeted awhile ago about a brand new feature starting on Gossip Guy. And by George, it's finally here! Whoop to the whoop! Fo shizzle my nizzle wizzles. And stuff...

Let's give a warm Gossip Guy welcome [In other words, kisses with tongue - Ed.] to The Incredibly Pointless Q&A. Every week a different celebrity will tackle the questions. Questions that are destined to add no deep insights to your life, change the way you view Zuma's spear, er I mean the world, or have any real added benefit at all in fact, really. I pinky swear!

But it is lots of fun...

Our first contestant [He means victim, er I mean celebrity - Ed.] is Idols host, musician, radio personality and former Survivor: South Africa contestant, ProVerb.

Name your top five favourite celebrity crushes:

• Cindy Nell - I spent time with her on Survivor and she used to give us yoga lessons while on the island in her blue bikini. I've never gotten that image out of my mind.
• Uyanda Mbuli - She would make a fierce cougar, and I love her style, her personality, plus she is incredibly intelligent and beautiful.
• Claire Mawisa - I've had a crush on her since I was in school and she was on television. Now she is a friend of mine and we used to share corridor jokes when we worked together sometime ago.
• Khanyi Dhlomo - She's not only incredibly beautiful, but she is graceful, eloquent and very well spoken and super intelligent...all the qualities that make for a celebrity crush.
• The ultimate lady, though not so much a celebrity but even more beautiful and very smart, very opinionated and certainly keeps me inspired is... Mrs Verb! [He means his wife Onalerona. How cute! - Ed.]

Complete the sentence: I would never, ever… quit or give up on my dreams, not would I let down my family and my kids.

What do you wear to bed?In this winter, PJs don't always do, so I have no issues rocking a sweater and tracksuit pants and socks with a "skidoffie" over my head to bed. [No idea what that is. Heeeeelp! Anyone. Please. - Ed.]

If you could trade places with any other celebrity for 24 hours, who would you choose?
Jay-Z. Need I seriously say why? Let's just say I'd love to be "Upgraded"...

"That's Mr Knowles to you!"

If you could have 2 super-powers, what would they be?To see crimes before they happen so I can help prevent them and eat what I enjoy in any quantity and at any time and not gain weight!

What would you do with 5 million bucks?
Spread it: Charity, my folks, my in-laws and put away for my kids....all after I build a mansion of course. 

If you could have tea with the Queen, what would you say to her?
Need a BEE partner?  

What skill do you wish you had?
I wish I could speak all 11 official languages. I think it would me serve well in my career.

Which 5 people would you invite to a dinner party?
Richard Pryor to come and crack some jokes, Jamie Oliver to come and do the catering, Jay-Z for the entertainment (Beyonce can be Jay-Z's plus-one) and Spike Lee to come and capture it all in a biopic about my life.

Tune in next week for more Q&A-nification and keep an eye out on Twitter for hints as to upcoming Incredibly Pointless Q&A victims.

XoXo
Gossip Guy

PS: Any celebs you'd like me to interview? Let me know via Twitter or in the comments section below.

The Best Zuma Spear Parody Pics: Which One Is Your Favourite?

If missed, this is the art that caused the fuss

Hi sunshines,

I realise I'm not supposed to break from stereotype and blog about something other than celebrities, soap operas, movies, music and my gigantic ego but with all the Zuma drama dominating headlines I just had to 'spear' my way into the conversation [See what we just did there huh huh? - Ed.]

Naturally, the satirists are out in full force and only a day after Brett Murray's The Spear was defaced twice, prompting many to jokingly rename it The Smear, my timeline is filling up with parody pics.

So here are a few I've found. Which one is your favourite?

The Mr Bean version...

 The Britney Spears version...

The Gabriel version...

The condom version...

  

 



The Nandos version...
















 

The anti-rhino poaching version....

The Madiba mini-me version...

The 'Long Walk To Freedom' version...

No doubt more will pop out in the coming days. If you find any, Tweet me the link at @the_gossip_guy.

Peace, love and penii
Gossip Guy
XoXo

PS: Warning: this article contains penises. Please don't be offended. Or something...

Hottie Of The Week: Alexander Skarsgard

Hi sunshines,

And welcome to your weekly pound of flesh. As a huge True Blood fan I've chosen well this week (am sure you'll agree yes no?) - villainous vampirific Alexander Skarsgard, best known as bad ass Eric Northman. Oh and he's also in that sinking ship of a movie Battleship. 

Bedroom eyes

Such a schmodel

True biceps

And here's some random trivia. For those of you who're still reading and not wiping up the drool.

1. His middle names are Johan Hjalmar.
2. Alex [Don't mind if we call you that - Ed.] made his film debut at the age of seven in Åke och hans värld (Åke and His World) - yeah, we have no idea how to pronounce it either...
3. He's in the music video for Lady Gaga's Paparazzi.
4. Alex originally auditioned for the role of good vamp Bill Compton which ultimately went to Stephen Moyer.
5. He broke up with girlfriend of about two years, actress Kate Bosworth in 2011. As far as we at Gossip Guy HQ know, he's single at the mo.

And now you know!

Gossip Guy
XoXo

PS: Fancy a celeb you'd like Gossip Guy to feature as Hottie Of The Week? Tweet me at @the_gossip_guy and hey, he might end up being a Gossip Guy #HottieOfTheWeek post.

SA Box-Office Top Ten: 18-20 May 2012

Stop - it's Hammertime!

Hi sunshines,

So The Avengers reign at the box-office, both overseas and in South Africa, seems unstoppable. I almost kinda feel sorry for the new movies on circuit, trying desperately to cling to some share of the box-office takings. But hey, there are a few of them trying to topple the mihgty team of superheroes. Good luck with that...

Here's how the top 10 looks at the mo:

10) THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL

9) THE HUNGER GAMES

8) PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS (Including 3D)

7) ONE FOR THE MONEY

6) MIRROR MIRROR

5) DARK SHADOWS

4) THINK LIKE A MAN

3) BATTLESHIP

2) THE VOW

1) THE AVENGERS (including 3D)

Precious little movement at the moment. No one can steal Thor's mighty hammer...

I'm prepared to bet that The Avengers has one more week at the top of the charts before it starts slipping. Will I be right? Y'all better check back here in a week's time to find out mmmkay.

Gossip Guy
XoXo

PS: I'm pretty interactive on Twitter. Find me there.

Bold & Beautiful Star Comes Out The Closet

Hi sunshines,

I know we're all teary-eyed and bleary-eyed over the death of Donna Summer but here's some other gay news for you: the soap opera world is all a-twitter thanks to this coming out news. A big-name star from The Bold and the Beautiful just came out the closet. Who?

Look familiar?

And now?

Yup, it's Joanna Johnson, better known as Ridge's first wife Caroline Spencer, who died of cancer, and her twin sister Karen Spencer. The Bold And The Beautiful is finally, after 25 years of a show set in the fashion industry, doing a gay storyline. They're all the rage these days. Even Days Of Our Lives has got one in the form of Sami and Lucas' son Will Horton declaring his undying manlove for, well, other men...But back to The Bold and Karen Spencer returns to Los Angeles with a grown-up daughter Caroline (played by newbie Linsey Godfrey) plus her lesbian lover Dani (played by daytime legend Crystal Chappell). Wonder if we'll ever hear the phrase 'lesbian lover' uttered on The Bold? I suspect not. There'd be too much of an outcry.

But this is a post about lesbianism. Turns out, on a scale of 1 to Giant Coincidence, both Joanna AND her character are coming out the closet. Which in PR circles is catnip to the publicity-meisters, bloggers and journalists - trust me! Gossip Guys is all three of those things.

Credit needs to go to Joanna for having the courage to 'out' herself in an industry where very, very few actors and actresses are prepared to admit they're gay. I get that soaps are, at their core, all about romance, but it doesn't make sense to me that someone loses believability if they're kissing someone of the opposite sex on TV when in real life you know they're into the same sex. Acting is about believability anyway. Act well and who cares whether you picked up your partner in a gay bar or not.

Yet the bias exists. Joanna even says so herself in the interview with TV Guide. And I quote: "Daytime is a whole different world than primetime or theater or film. There's a greater intimacy between the viewers and the characters. They think you are your character. And that creates a lot of fear. Fear of rejection. I was so worried I wouldn't be employable as an actress if people knew I was a lesbian. Or that I wouldn't be believable in romance stories. I had to deal with a lot of self-loathing. After I started playing Karen, I remember doing a fantasy scene that showed what life would have been like if Caroline had not died of cancer. She was married to Ridge (Ronn Moss) and had two kids and a wonderful life. When we finished shooting, I ran to my dressing room and just cried and cried because I knew I was never going to have that kind of life."

Soap operas tend to cast straight actors to play gay characters - Isidingo is particularly guilty of this, with Steve (Emmanuel Castis), Prada (Ashish Gangapersad) and the once bisexual Len (Chris Beasley) all straight in real life. As far as we know Chandler Massey who plays the newly out Will Horton on Days Of Our Lives is straight. And so is Crystal Chappell for that matter who's played gay on Guiding Light and web series Venice: The Series. I'm no Perez Hilton so I won't be outing anybody here but a certain Afrikaans soap opera had/has a gay couple on the show. One of the actors in real life is gay. He is/was never allowed to mention his homosexuality in the press and has/had to skirt the issue in interviews because the soap's producers worry that females will stop tuning in if they know he's gay. Shocking!

I can count the number of out actors on soaps. It's pitifully few. And the ones I can think of are either not employed or have passed on. Like:

Kevin Spirtas, who played Chloe's dad Dr Craig Wesley on Days Of Our Lives

Thom Bierdz who played Phillip on The Young And The Restless

James Mitchell, who played Palmer Cortlandt for much of All My Children's run

Can you think of any more?
Nope neither can I. Although I have my suspicions about plenty actors and actresses...

Gossip Guy
XoXo

PS: If you know of more out soap stars, Tweet me at @the_gossip_guy.

Jennifer Lopez: The Most Powerful Celebrity In The World Right Now

"I spell 'WINNER' with a J.L and O"

Hi sunshines,

Forbes magazine, that great bastion of Most Powerful Lists, once again failed to rank Gossip Guy in the Top 100 list of The Most Powerful Celebrities in the World. The glaring omission has sparked a huge national outcry. In my house. Where I live. With possible giant ramifications for the global economy as a whole. And Greece. I shall hold a protest march and throw rocks at political parties. [Some confusion exists as to why the word 'party' goes next to the word 'political'. I mean, there's never any red velvet cupcakes - Ed.]

Who did make it onto the list? Jennifer Lopez comes in at #1 thanks to her massive career reinvention from 'that singer' to beloved American Idols judge, tabloid favourite and moneymaker (successful album, upcoming album tour). Not sure how things will change if those rumours that she's leaving Idols turn out to be true.

Here's the top 50 Most Powerful Celebs in the World (the full list is available at Forbes.com)
1     Jennifer Lopez
2     Oprah Winfrey
3     Justin Bieber
4     Rihanna
5     Lady Gaga
6     Britney Spears
7     Kim Kardashian
8     Katy Perry
9     Tom Cruise
10     Steven Spielberg
11     Taylor Swift
12     Tiger Woods
13     Angelina Jolie
14     Donald Trump
15     LeBron James
16     Beyonce Knowles
17     Elton John
18     Simon Cowell
19     Rush Limbaugh
20     Tyler Perry
21     Paul McCartney
22     Jennifer Aniston
23     Glenn Beck
24     Adele
25     Bon Jovi
26     Dr. Dre
27     Kobe Bryant
28     Brad Pitt
29     Ryan Seacrest
30     Howard Stern
31     Roger Federer
32     David Beckham
33     Manny Pacquiao
34     Ellen DeGeneres
35     Michael Bay
36     George Lucas
37     James Patterson
38     Jay-Z
39     Jerry Bruckheimer
40     Peyton Manning
41     David Letterman
42     Sean "Diddy" Combs
43     Kristen Stewart
44     Cristiano Ronaldo
45     Kanye West
46     Leonardo Dicaprio
47     Rafael Nadal
48     Phil Mickelson
49     Toby Keith
50     Lionel Messi

And now you know!

Gossip Guy
XoXo

PS: I'm on Twitter. Follow me. Might as well get in there early, before I crack the Top 100...