Posts Tagged ‘Maureen McCormick’

Reese, Nicole, Shania Wow During CMAs

November 20th, 2008

I’m stationed near Maureen McCormick when I jet down to Nashville for the CMA Awards held at the Sommet Center. Woo-hoo!

Reese Witherspoon is radiant in red lipstick – shockingly gorgeous – but doesn’t answer when a reporter asks if she likes country music. Does she stay in a hotel when she’s in Nashville? Nah, she’s staying with her family. Nicole Kidman swans in with hubby Keith Urban, but steps back because she’s letting her hubby “enjoy his night.” Here’s Shania Twain, looking glam – and blonder – than I remember. Nice!

Energetic Miley Cyrus stops to chat, and her kind dad Billy Ray takes a photo of her limelight-loving boyfriend Justin Gaston with fawning female fans. Hahaha. And Taylor Swift is wearing 30-pound dress! “I cannot even believe I was able to walk to the red carpet,” she says. “Try to lift it up. It’s so heavy. It’s like wearing a bag of rocks, but I really like it, so I’m proud to wear this bag of rocks.”

Kellie Pickler has BFF Taylor’s back when it comes to boy troubles. “She’s like my little sister, so I’m very protective of her,” Kellie tells me. “She definitely comes first.” Now that Taylor is getting over the heartbreak of her relationship with Joe Jonas, Kellie is there as she finds a new man. “She just needs someone who is very respectful and understanding of her career,” Kel says. “You know, it’s very time-consuming what we do, so you need someone that’s confident and secure and just a good person. Just respectful.”

Dancing With The Stars performer Julianne Hough is out and about since her surgery for endometriosis. “Oh, I’m fine,” she tells me. “I’m honestly better than new. I feel great, and like I said, better than I felt before I even went in for surgery.” Her boyfriend, Chuck Wicks, was there through it all. “It was easy,” he tells me. “We rented a bunch of movies and we sat on the couch and ate popcorn. And we got a little puppy. Puppies can cure everything. Between the movies, popcorn and the puppy – and her mom was there as well –she recovered pretty quick. It was two weeks, and she was back on the dancefloor doing her thing.” (Bummer! She’s now off the show.)

What’s Reba McEntire’s pre-show ritual? “I just make sure my dress is correctly in place, I’ve got lipgloss on and I get onstage,” she says. “I am not that good at practical jokes, and they always think of better  — or worse ones – than I can.”

Dancing With The Stars/Hannah Montana star Cody Linley is here to support Julianne and see Miley, but he’s also getting back to his roots. “I actually lived in Columbia from the ages of two to four. I don’t remember much of it, but to see autumn and see what Nashville is all about and remember again is cool.” Sadly, he’s off the show, too, which is unfortunate considering he had the will to win. “I was just going to say that my birthday’s November 20, and November 25 is the finale of Dancing With The Stars, so it would be the best 19th birthday present a boy could get to have a mirrorball trophy. Man! Winning right there. That’s my hope.” Aww!

American Idol finalist Diana DeGarmo is thinking of Paula Abdul in the wake of the tragic fan incident that occurred outside her home. “Paula’s a wonderful person and she deserves great things,” Diana tells me. “She’s got a great personality and that’s a horrible thing to have to deal with. She’s in my prayers — definitely.”

Miranda Lambert confesses she’s a big eBay shopper whose maximum bid is $100. “I’m cheap.” Does she get upset when she’s outbid? “Yes, I do. I take it personal.” Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles can’t wait to dress warmer. “I’m too excited about winter coming up,” Jennifer says. “I’m into the layered look.”

The Little Big Town girls are in awe of tourmate Carrie Underwood. “She has the best legs in the business,” Kimberly Roads says. Karen Fairchild adds, “She’s a super-disciplined person, so she eats well and she exercises every day. We’re like ‘oh Lord, we’ve gotta up our game. In the gym!’”

Here’s Hootie and The Blowfish singer Darius Rucker. What’s the best marriage advice he’s received? “My wife is always right,” he laughs.

Lady Antebellum take time to reveal their heights – Charles Kelley, 6’6,” Hillary Scott, 5’9,” and Dave Haywood, 6’1” – on the red carpet before they’re shocked by their big win for Best New Artist. They brought their moms as their dates.

“When I was younger, I didn’t attend the CMAs when [mom Linda Davis] won the CMA with Reba, but I was her date for a couple of different CMA Awards,” Hillary says. “For her to be here tonight as my date, and for her to have this crystal trophy on her shelf at home in the house I grew up in, and for me to be taking one home tonight is just crazy. She’s so proud. There’s nothing better than sitting there when the nominees were being read off and holding my mama’s hand. Knowing that she knew exactly what it felt like. We were so lucky to have our moms here. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them.”

Charles adds, “They were crying their eyes out.”

PRESS ROOM:  “I’ve never seen so much of Brad Paisley,” cohost Carrie Underwood gushes about his quick change backstage. The 45-second strip is also a highlight for Brad. “I was still getting dressed walking out,” he says. … Kenny Chesney, who has the hots for Shania, challenges Sugarland to take his Entertainer of the Year Award next year. … Rascal Flatts singer Joe Don Rooney calls fatherhood “amazing.” He says, “To be a father is just a big piece of that puzzle now that’s going to carry us on through the years.”

PARTY TIME: I catch Gretchen Wilson on her way inside the venue, Taylor Swift in the elevator at the Big Machine/Valory Records party and oh yes, there’s Jewel. The salmon and especially the mashed potatoes are amazing – so good! — at the official CMA Awards afterparty. Delish.

Justin Guarini Grows Up

November 7th, 2008

Justin Guarini is back in the spotlight for CMT’s Gone Country 3, which is taping now in Nashville.

Following in the footsteps of Maureen McCormick, Diana DeGarmo and *NSYNC’s Chris Kirkpatrick, the American Idol season one runner-up will compete for a chance to record a country single.

Things have certainly changed for Justin since he first appeared on the show that made Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, Chris Daughtry and Clay Aiken famous.

He turned 30 last week, and got engaged to Reina Capodici, 26, in September. Although the pair began dating in 2007, their love story actually dates back to childhood.

“We’ve grown up together,” he tells me. “She was a friend before she was my lover, and then she became my best friend. Our families go way back. Her mother was my English teacher in junior high.”

How did he know she was “the one” for him?

“There’s a compatibility and an understanding. It takes a lot of understanding to be able to be with someone who is working in the industry. Still, she’s amazing.”

Justin tells me he likes to pamper her with candlelight backrubs. Ooh!

They are planning a June wedding.

Florence Talks Sex, Drugs and Bad Hairdos

November 3rd, 2008 / Author: OK! Staff

On Monday’s Morning Show with Mike & Juliet, TV’s most famous mom, Florence Henderson,  got down and dirty about some issues close to her heart.

Of her ever-changing hairdo on The Brady Bunch, Florence says "I don’t know what I was thinking…I don’t know what was wrong with me and I never did drugs!"

Henderson, who currently stars in a one-woman show called All The Lives of Me, talked about her Brady Bunch co-star Maureen McCormick’s new book, which details the actress’s drug abuse.

 
"We all knew, Henderson said. "Especially during the Brady Bunch Variety Hour…She wouldn’t show up, or she’d be late. You know that there are problems…and my heart always went out to Maureen, because it took her a long time."

Florence says that when McCormick finally did get clean, Henderson was the first person to take her under her wing.

"When she finally kicked it [cocaine] I took her to lunch and I said, ‘Maureen, tear up your address book. Those people are no good in your life. Get rid of them!’"

Mike & Juliet also read a passage from McCormick’s book where she refers to Henderson as a "closeted sex pot" who liked to parade around topless.

"Well I was never a closeted sex pot!" Henderson joked. "I’ve always been a sex pot!"

Maureen McCormick Comes Clean

October 22nd, 2008

Maureen McCormick is creating major buzz now that she’s admitted she traded sex for drugs in her new book Here’s The Story, which is out now.

Being eternally branded as Marcia Brady hasn’t been easy for Maureen, 52, but it does give her many moments to cherish. She appeared on the hit show The Brady Bunch from 1969-1974. After a successful stint on CMT’s Gone Country earlier this year, she recently appeared on CMT’s Outsiders Inn.

“People are really great,” she tells me during a party at Nashville nightclub Avenue. “I mean, kind of like I’m part of their family, which is really, really nice. They’ve grown up with me, so it’s a funny thing.”

Is it overwhelming?

“It used to be at one time, but it’s not anymore. I love it. I think it’s great and it’s part of the business. I love it. It’s what I love to do.”
 
After appearing on VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club in 2007, Maureen dropped 38 pounds. Was it more difficult to lose it in the first place, or keep it off?

“I just try to watch it,” she admits. “It’s really hard because I’m 5’3” and I’m short and I’m little. It’s really difficult. You have to really watch it and you have to really exercise. Especially when you’re 52 years old.”

She gets a tap on her shoulder from her cowboy-hat wearing hubby Michael Cummings. They’ve been married for a whopping 23 years! They’re parents to daughter Natalie, 19.

“We’re doing an interview really quick for OK! Magazine,” she tells him. “I’ll be right there.”

She continues, “Maintaining it is really hard. I love to eat, I love food and I’m short – I’m little – so like five pounds makes a huge difference. That’s the hardest part – definitely.”

Maureen works out with a trainer by kickboxing, swimming, and jogging. While she watches what she eats, there are still some things she can’t resist.

“My biggest fault is that I love sweets. I love chocolate and sugar. I have to really watch that. That’s my biggest downfall. I love Baskin Robbins chocolate mint ice cream and See’s candy. Love that.”

In her day, the L.A. native was considered a Hollywood beauty icon … who is her Hollywood beauty icon now?

“Meryl Streep,” she tells me. “I think she’s one of the most beautiful. Sally Field. She’s natural and she’s real. That’s what I love about Sally Field. I love Helen Mirren. I think she’s fantastic, gorgeous and sexy and wonderful.”

Her daughter might choose Sarah Jessica Parker as a beauty icon.

“That’s my girl’s favorite,” Maureen tells me.

Maureen’s book, Here’s The Story, is out now.

McCormick Talks Cocaine, Abortions & Syphilis

October 16th, 2008

In an interview set to air Friday on The Morning Show with Mike & Juliet, former Brady Bunch star Maureen McCormick pulls some pretty heavy duty skeletons out of her closet when she talks about her new tell-all memoir, Here’s the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice.

Turns out Maureen not only had a nasty addiction to cocaine but a family history of the sexually transmitted disease syphilis.

"My grandmother died in a mental institution, she had contracted syphilis from her husband…he committed suicide a week after. My mother contracted the disease from my grandmother," Maureen tells hosts Mike Jerrick and Juliet Huddy. "Writing the book was really cathartic. I feel like I don’t have to hide anymore."

CLICK HERE to see OK!’s Exclusive Photoshoot with Maureen!

Maureen admits to loving cocaine the first time she tried it — so much so that "I became totally addicted for five years. It was awful. They would call me "The Hoover" because of how much cocaine I would do," she says.

At one point, Maureen says her addiction was so all-consuming that she became unaware of what she was doing, including getting pregnant.

"I was 18, 19 and 20 when I had each abortion," she recalls. It shows how careless I was. It shows what drugs did to me and how far I went. I was not aware of the things going on in my life. Playing Marcia, I always had to be perfect… but I had so much going on underneath. I always felt I had to be perfect for the public. Now I know I don’t — I can just be me."

Maureen says she hit rock bottom shortly after auditioning for Steven Spielberg for his then-film, Raiders of the Lost Ark. "It was one of the worst auditions of my life," she says. "I was asked to meet Steven Spielberg. I was high and I had missed my meeting with him. I was totally spaced out… been up for days. He offered me an orange…he probably thought I was sick."

For the entire interview, check out Friday’s Morning Show with Mike & Juliet — CLICK HERE or check local listings for time and station.

Maureen McCormick: A Very Un-Brady Life

October 14th, 2008

In the latest example of a former child star straying down the party path, Maureen McCormick admits in a new memoir that she was far from Marcia Brady, the innocent good girl she played on TV’s The Brady Bunch.

 

Click here to see OK!’s photo shoot with Maureen!

 

The memoir, Here’s the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice, chronicles how Maureen traded sex for cocaine, partied at the Playboy Mansion and Sammy Davis Jr.’s house, dated her TV brother Barry Williams, Michael Jackson and Steve Martin and basically lived a life completely opposite to that of Marcia Brady.

"As a teenager, I had no idea that few people are everything they present to the outside world," she writes in the book, in stores today. "Yet there I was, hiding the reality of my life behind the unreal perfection of Marcia Brady. No one suspected the fear that gnawed at me even as I lent my voice to the chorus of Bradys singing, ‘It’s a Sunshine Day.’ "

 

Maureen says she was addicted to drugs, which led to her trading favors for drugs and resulted in unwanted pregnancies. She says the drug abuse limited her career, even missing an interview with Steven Spielberg because she was high.

 

Although she’s clean now and living in a suburb in California, Maureen writes that she has no regrets about being on The Brady Bunch.

"I’ll always be struck by how much a part of people’s lives Marcia is and always will be," she writes.

 

Click here to see OK!’s photo shoot with Maureen!

*NSYNC’s Chris Kirkpatrick Has ‘Gone Country’

August 15th, 2008

*NSYNC’s Chris Kirkpatrick gets back to the music with a stint on Gone Country 2, which premieres tonight at 8/7 C on CMT.

It’s been ten years since I met Chris and JC Chasez backstage at the Odeon in Cleveland when I interviewed them for MTV just as *NSYNC’s second single, Tearin’ Up My Heart, was climbing the charts.

Today, the 36-year-old music man is driving through Cincinnati, Ohio, en route to Toronto, where he’s recording an album as the lead singer of alternative-pop band Nigels 11.

Wait, what happened to country?

“I just wanted to learn what it was like, how it’s written, because it’s a completely different style of music than what I’m used to with the rock, pop and R&B,” he tells me. “Everything about the writing style and the music is different in this genre.”

The show also features judge/host John Rich, and competitors Lorenzo Lamas, Irene Cara, Jackson 5’s Jermaine Jackson, Skid Row’s Sebastian Bach, American Idol’s Mikalah Gordon and actress Sean Young living and working together. They follow in the footsteps of those on the original Gone Country, such as Maureen McCormick and American Idol’s Diana DeGarmo.  
 
The winner will record and release a single on country radio.

“Lorenzo and I had to room together, so he was giving me vitamins everyday and telling me workout stuff,” Chris says.

Who is this dating bachelor’s country crush?
 
“Gretchen Wilson,” he tells me. “She’s cool, she’s ballsy, she says what’s on her mind and she doesn’t beat around the bush. She says ‘this is the way I am, I’m a country girl, and either like me or don’t.’ I like the honesty.”  

What was his wildest memory from the *NSYNC days?

“We took our motorcycles on tour one year and went riding in every city. That’s what was cool about riding through Cincinnati just now. I was looking around and remembering places where I’d ridden my bike. I got to ride all across the country.”

Chris tells me his prized possession from their heyday is the mechanical bull from the tour that he now keeps in his garage. “I don’t want to ride it because if you fall off once, you’ll break something.”

I once interviewed Britney Spears backstage when she was opening for *NSYNC. What is his fondest memory of her?

“After shows when she was dating Justin [Timberlake], she’d come on the bus, hang out and talk. She was a really cool chick. She was a real down-to-earth girl. It was cool to get her take as well as our take about everything that was happening at the time — like the huge explosion and how big we’d get. We were all a part of it. She’s a smart girl.”

These days, Chris has no plans to move to Nashville, but he’s been back twice since taping Gone Country 2 – and his uncle lives there.

What’s his favorite thing to do in Nashville?

“I like the Wildhorse Saloon, the place we performed,” he says. “It’s a cool atmosphere, it has a cool vibe. There’s people line-dancing, there’s plenty to eat and drink, you just sit around and listen to music and watch people dance. People are dancing to hip-hop music, line-dancing. That’s cool.”       

Chris hopes to work behind-the-scenes writing and producing country songs. He’s already gotten a headstart with his production company, Working Class Industries, and he’s hosted Kenny Chesney and Dave Matthews in his home studio. “I haven’t worked with the Dixie Chicks, but I’m not opposed to it.”

He nixes any more reality shows like Dancing With The Stars with the firm “definitely not.”

“This is it for me,” he says. “I’m a musician first; I love music. I did this show because I wanted to learn about a genre of music I didn’t know about. I love being around music no matter whether I’m behind the console or in front of the crowd.”

Catch Chris on Gone Country 2, which airs tonight at 8/7 C on CMT.

Maureen McCormick’s Skinny New Look

July 11th, 2008 / Author: OK! Staff

Brady Bunch icon Maureen McCormick is still fighting the battle of the bulge as she promotes her new TV show and upcoming autobiography, she admitted to OK!.

She’s turned to a new weight loss method that helps curb her appetite.

"I’m using this product called Slim Shot and it reduces your appetite by like 30 percent," she says. "And why I love it so much is that it tastes like rice milk, which is one of my favorite things. I always like to have rice milk on my cereal with my husband."

Maureen,51, recently put back on ten pounds but, lately, she lost half of the weight. Her reason to look fit? She’s appearing on the new CMT reality show Outsiders’ Inn, a sequel to her last show, Gone Country. The new program films Maureen in a country-style living experience with such stars as Carnie Wilson and Bobby Brown.

 

And Maureen’s tell-all biography, Here’s the Story, comes out October 15. Although the actress, who played America’s most memorable TV teen, Marcia Brady, is tight lipped about the contents, she’s sure to share her recent weight struggle with OK!, who has followed her since last year.

After doing Celebrity Fit Club in Spring of 2007, Maureen lost 38 lbs., going from 154 to 116, and her amazing weight loss was featured in an OK! cover story. But when OK! visited her again in November 2007, she had regained ten pounds.

"I’m 5′3, I’m always up and down," Maureen says. "I love to eat but I just feel best when I’m at a thin weight. I get to a place in my life sometimes where I don’t excercise. I’m an all or nothing girl. I give in to something all the way or I back off and so I backed off–but now I’m back on!"

Having won the Celebrity Fit Club reality show in 2007 has helped Maureen keep off most of the weight. "That’s a good thing, because I’d probably weigh 500 pounds otherwise!" she laughes. "I think it’s part of everybody’s life–gaining weight, losing weight,excercise–it’s just one of those things."

Miley Delights Backstage at the CMT Awards

April 24th, 2008

After shivering down the purple carpet before the CMT Awards, stars do their thing onstage and then stop by the press room stationed at Nashville’s Belmont University. We dine on turkey wraps, potato chips and chocolate chip cookies inbetween flashes of greatness.

I bump into Miley Cyrus in the hallway, who has a gaggle of hangers-on trailing her every move, and she gives me a shout-out. Dad Billy Ray Cyrus seems thrilled to be living in her shadow. Really! He couldn’t be more gleeful.

Taylor Swift says it’s the best night she can remember. “There’s nothing that’s more important to me than my fans and making them happy,” she says of winning the fan-voted video of the year and female video of the year awards. “I never want to let them down. I’m absolutely so flattered and humbled.”

Three-time winner Kellie Pickler phones in from Scottsdale, Arizona. Get this!

“I am wearing pajamas now, but when I was on the satellite, I was wearing a Dolce and Gabbana top and no pants because it was only top up. It was only me. But I did have some great shoes on!”

Snoop Dogg gives me a knowing wink and calls me “baby” … Alan Jackson and I share a laugh after he pats himself with a tissue to wipe the sweat off his brow … Bobby Brown thinks his life is made for country music … Luke Bryan is pleased with the “party mode” on campus … LeAnn Rimes pretends to answer a ringing cell phone … Jewel and Tom Arnold riff on the presidential candidates, and urge Al Gore to run again. “He would win,” Tom says.

Little Big Town’s Kimberly Roads says gift bags make her feel guilty, but groupmate Karen Fairchild doesn’t agree. “Our families love the gift bags. Moms and dads usually try to get their hands on the gift bags.”

Brooks and Dunn’s Ronnie Dunn got last-minute help from Billy Ray in getting tickets to the show after a neighbor bugged him to snag seats through an Indiana radio station. “They said ‘you’re one of the biggest celebrities,’ and I said ‘I don’t have a chance.’ I tried to call for an hour but the lines were tied up.” He ditched the neighbor, and brought his 13-year-old daughter.

Rascal Flatts’ Gary LeVox thinks their award looks like Snoop’s microphone, and would like to get one custom-made for their tour. Joe Don Rooney lights up when we speak. Ohhh! So cute.

Reality doesn’t bite for Dancing With The Stars castoff Julianne Hough, who is thrilled she met Faith Hill. “I was like ‘oh my gosh, I’m meeting my idol.’ I told her ‘you are so inspiring and you’ve inspired me so much.’”

Celebrity Apprentice finalist Trace Adkins is trying a hand at acting, but says “I’m never going to stray faraway from what puts groceries on the table. There’s a saying in country music that ‘you’ve gotta dance with the one that brought you.’”

Naomi Judd makes me chuckle when she reveals her age as “sexy plus two.” Whew!

 

Maureen "Marcia Brady" McCormick and Diana DeGarmo give a little wave. We had a great time together at the Lady Antebellum CMT Welcome Party the night before. ?

 

Check out the OK! on stands this week for more coverage of the CMT Awards. “Katie Fights Back: Don’t Mess With My Family” is the cover line.

 

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