Did John Mayer hook up with Ricki Lake at the Sunshine and Sachs holiday party? Probably not! But that’s what Page Six insinuates in today’s bizarre/gossipy item entitled “RICKI, DON’T LOSE THAT NUMBER.’ Writes Richard Johnson (and, to a lesser degree, Paula Froelich) and co:
John Mayer???made a beeline for Ricki Lake at the Sunshine Sachs p.r. company???s Christmas party. The two talked about Lake???s new documentary, ???The Business of Being Born,??? before Mayer confessed, ???I???ve had a crush on you for two years.??? Helpful publicists then herded the two to a back table, where they exchanged numbers. Lake soon left and went to the Rose Bar, where Mayer texted her throughout the night.
A few minor points to consider.
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When you think “Ricki Lake,” your brain is going to associate with it one of two things: Hairspray or Ricki. Take your pick, because nausea follows both. But what follows when you’ve got Ricki in a bathtub giving birth to a baby? Whatever it is, they should torture Iraqi insurgents with it.
Or at least show them The Business of Being Born, Ricki’s documentary about the child bearing industry, which amounts to hospitals opting for C-sections more often because you can plan them on the calendar and, supposedly, they’re safer than the typical vaginal birth, which mankind has been foolishly relying on for tens of thousands of years. In the film, which premieres at Tribeca, you’ll see Ricki spitting out her second child, Owen. The one thing you’ll thank her for: Losing 24 pounds before dumping in the sea salt.
• Anderson Cooper is seen lunching with Details editor Dan Peres. In a closet. [Page Six]
• Is Jessica Simpson trying to look smarter? Because the smart thing for her to do would be dump that hairdresser. [Socialite’s Life]
• Time to invest in that wide screen — Ricki Lake returns to TV. [NYDN]
• And in a truly mad, wild, and crazy act, Suri got Scientology diapers. [Page Six]
• Britney Spears is really sick of being fat, and blames Kevin Federline and all his broken condoms. [Page Six]
We actually didn’t realize Ricki Lake had left the airwaves, ending an 11-year career that began as a women’s empowerment movement that quickly dwindled into exposing cheaters and sending tweens off to boot camp.
But yes, actually, Ricki did waddle off her talk show set, just like the Jenny Joneses and Sally Jesse Raphaels before her. But that was then, and now, well, she’s planning her comeback.
She’s been shopping around a new show the past few weeks and three studios are said to be interested — but only because the sex change operations will be kept to a minimum.
The new Lake show, which was originally pitched with a format similar to ABC????????s multi-voiced and more decorous The View, has since been recast as a solo effort????????but one that would still be aimed at a female demo a bit older than the younger audience courted by Lake????????s previous show. After all, when she launched Ricki Lake in 1993, the host was in her mid-20s. Now Lake????????s a 37-year-old divorced, single mother.
And, remarkably, hasn’t gone to prison like some TV comeback queens. But as for this The View copycat idea, daytime has enough heavy gabby girls for now.