According to Hatch, it was just one plot after another

FORMER “SURVIVOR” CHAMPION Richard Hatch‘s lawyer claims the show’s producers agreed to pay the taxes on his winnings after he caught other contestants cheating.

Hatch is on trial on charges that he failed to pay taxes on his million-dollar prize from the first season of the CBS reality series in 2000.

During a break in Hatch’s testimony Friday, attorney Michael Minns told the judge that Hatch planned to testify that he caught some of his fellow contestants trying to have friends sneak food to them on the island – a violation of the show’s rules.

When he told producers about it, Minns said, they struck a deal: They would pay the taxes on the million-dollar prize if Hatch won.

There was no immediate ruling on whether Hatch could tell the jury about the allegations.

Spokesmen for both CBS and executive producer Mark Burnett, who testified earlier in the trial, declined to comment.

Counterfeit 50 Cent?

A new lawsuit claims 50 Cent stole the opening line for his 2003 hit, “In Da Club,” from a song by former 2 Live Crew frontman Luther Campbell.

The chart-topping rapper only changed one word from the opening line of Campbell’s song “It’s Your Birthday,” Wolfe the suit says: After repeating the word “go” several times, “Sheila” becomes “shorty” in the line, “Go shorty, it’s your birthday.”

The suit seeks unspecified damages.

Hook, lines and Sync-ers

There may be life after ‘N Sync for Lance Bass and Joey Fatone – as reality TV stars.

The former boy band members are developing a new series for UPN, tentatively dubbed “Out Of Sync,” described as a modern-day “Odd Couple” – with Fatone as Oscar, the slob, and Bass as neat-freak Felix.

“Joey and Lance are such fun, interesting people, and they truly are an odd couple – even if you sit in a room with them, it’s Felix and Oscar in many ways,” says network president Dawn Ostroff.

With Bubba’s blessing

Country singer Tim McGraw says he wants to run for office someday in his adopted home state of Tennessee – perhaps for governor or U.S. senator.

And he’s getting encouragement from a fellow Democrat: former President Bill Clinton.

“The Democrats need candidates whom people can relate to in a personal way, people who understand their lives and their concerns and share their values,” Clinton says in a new Esquire magazine story. “And I think that’s something Tim can do without even pretending.”

McGraw, 38, says he might enter politics “maybe in 10 or 15 years, when the music has died down.”

Bubbles and squeak?

Don Ho isn’t worried about how his heart will respond when he returns to the stage Sunday night in Waikiki – it’s his voice that concerns him.

“I don’t know if I can sing,” says the 75-year-old “Tiny Bubbles” crooner, who underwent an experimental stem cell procedure last month to bolster his heart muscles.

“My stamina’s good. I don’t want to sit around and do nothing, which is why I’ve been trying to clean out some junk at home. But I just don’t know how my voice is going to sound.”

The birthday bunch

Singer Richie Havens is 65. Singer Mac Davis is 64. Actress Jill Eikenberry is 59. Singer Billy Ocean is 56. Actor Robby Benson is 50. Actress Geena Davis is 50. Actress Charlotte Ross (“NYPD Blue”) is 38. Singer Emma Bunton (Baby Spice of the Spice Girls) is 30.