As previously reported, VH1 is bringing back Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew for a second season of exploiting chronicling the struggles celebs face while detoxing in a treatment facility. But this time around, there's one huge reason to watch: Gary Busey.Busey, whose wild antics have been well-documented (most recently his crazed behavior on the red carpet at the 2008 Academy Awards), is remarkably not one of the celebs in for treatment. Instead — touting 13 years of sobriety since his cocaine addiction — Busey will be a mentor to the new class of patients which includes Season 1 cast member Jeff Conaway (Grease), Sean Stewart (son of music icon Rod Stewart), model/actress Amber Smith, Rodney King, Guns N' Roses' Steven Adler, Tawny Kitaen and former American Idol wanabe Nikki McKibbin. Here's hoping at least one of his sessions involves teaching the addicts how to yell at teenaged journalists.The series will follow the patients during a 21-day program featuring group and o...
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Former American Idol contestant Nikki McKibbin's back, and she's opening up about her rumored suicide attempt and trying to set the record straight. In an interview with TV's Extra, McKibbin says, "I was hospitalized, but not because I tried to kill myself."McKibbin, who went in for medical treatment Feb. 21, asserts that her hospitalization was due to an allergic reaction to pain medication that resulted in the arrival of police and paramedics at her home. "The police officers handcuffed me, stuck me in the back of a squad car," she says. "It was traumatic." There was some speculation that McKibbin's ordeal stemmed from trauma over her mother's death last August, from which the single mom suffered a breakdown. Responding to reports that McKibbin had claimed she "wanted to be with her mom in heaven" at the time of her hospitalization, she says, "Honestly, I've said it before so I am not saying I didn't. But I don't remember. Honestly, I just don't remember."The singer, who came in ...
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Take heart, Lisa Tucker: Provided that no one's given you a nickname as embarrassing as Chicken Little, your elimination from American Idol last night is not necessarily a one-way ticket to the Surreal Life house on your way back to obscurity. Look at Latin heartthrob Mario Vazquez, last season's standout who quit the competition while still a judges' darling. This week he's releasing his first single, "Gallery," on J Records — and in two languages, no less. Not to be outdone, Idol 1's third-place finisher, rebellious rocker Nikki McKibbin, is also back with a vengeance. She's now accepting preorders through her website, nikkimckibbin.com, not only for her Chenoa Records debut single, the ya-gotta-hear-it-to-believe-it epic "The Lie," but also for a two-disc package that includes the video, a behind-the-scenes making-of DVD and her unplugged rendition of the Mr. Big hit "To Be with You." Both Vazquez's and McKibbin's full-length releases
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Tonight at 9 pm/ET, in the fourth of Battle of the Network Reality Stars' six episodes, a big twist (followed by a bigger one) will shift the playing field for the remaining contenders. We already know that The Love Boat's Ted Lange will be stopping by, and that a new team will be added into the mix. So what are we talking about here, putting piranhas in the dunk tank? Better yet, a surprise visit from The Fall Guy's Heather Thomas in the dunk tank? Andrew Cohen, Bravo's vice president of production and programming, gave TVGuide.com an exclusive preview of what's to come.
TVGuide.com: What have you got cooking tonight?
Andrew Cohen: Well, it's Episode 4, and the big news is that the episode starts with a bang, as each team has to send two players packing. I'm not going to tell you everybody who gets kiboshed, b
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Hard as it may be to believe, something actually left a worse taste in Nikki McKibbin's mouth than the worms she drank on Reality Stars Fear Factor: the tumultuous time she spent in the company of The Apprentice's preening prima donna, Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth.
"She's pathetic, really," the feisty, redheaded
American Idol 1 finalist tells TVGuide.com. "She's this beauty-pageant princess who's got no actual talent, so the only way she can extend her 15 minutes of fame is by being as thoughtless and spiteful a human being as she possibly can.
"Frankly," she adds, "I'd sooner hang out with the snakes that kept biting me in the second challenge than with that [viper]!"
At least McKibbin gives The Donald's flunky wannabe props for honing her bitchcraft to a fine art. "The high-maintenance aspect of her personality comes very naturally," the fired-up redhead suggests, "but the villainy is something I think she's had to
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