People: Hey, he had his pick of the litter
Andy Baldwin, the latest titular hunk on “The Bachelor,” says keeping his engagement to Tessa Horst a secret for two months was excruciating.
The 10th-season finale of the ABC reality show aired last week, but actually had been filmed two months before – and Baldwin and Horst were sworn to secrecy in the meantime.
Baldwin recalls people driving by him on the freeway, yelling “Pick Tessa!”
He says he wanted to respond: “I already did.”
The 30-year-old doctor, Navy diver and triathlete says he has no plans to parlay his newfound stardom into a modeling or acting career. Stationed in Hawaii at Pearl Harbor, he still has a year left in the service and is considering another tour of duty.
“Fact of the matter is, I’m committed to the Navy,” he says.
A wedding date has not been set, but Baldwin says he envisions one with tropical flowers and an arch of swords ceremony.
As for Horst, who is of Chinese and Polish ancestry, he jokes: “I always say the mutts are the most exotic and beautiful.”
And now she’s docked
Elsewhere on the celebrity romance beat, Lisa Ling, a correspondent for National Geographic Channel and former co-host of ABC’s “The View,” married a doctor over the Memorial Day weekend.
Ling, 33, and Dr. Paul Song, 41, a Chicago-based radiation oncologist, were wed Saturday in an Asian-themed ceremony in Los Angeles, a National Geographic Channel spokesman said Wednesday.
Close, but no OD
It was a decidedly less pleasant holiday for actress Mischa Barton, who was hospitalized briefly after an antibiotic she was taking interacted badly with alcohol.
Barton, 21, starred on the Fox network’s teen drama “The O.C.”
Wham, bam, thank you … me?
For those of you keeping score at home, George Michael had several drugs in his system when he was arrested for driving while unfit, a British court heard Wednesday.
Tests showed the 43-year-old former Wham! singer had taken an antidepressant as well as gamma-hydroxybutyrate, or GHB – often called the “date-rape drug” because it leaves people groggy and powerless.
Police found Michael slumped over the wheel of his car last October, blocking an intersection in North London.
Sentencing is scheduled for June 8.
The odor purple
Prince will perform for 1,400 fans at a Macy’s department store in his hometown of Minneapolis on July 7, the day that his new fragrance debuts.
The scent is called 3121, after the title of his latest album.
The birthday bunch
Actor-director Clint Eastwood is 77. Singer Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul and Mary) is 69. Actress Sharon Gless (“Cagney and Lacey”) is 64. Actor Gregory Harrison is 57. Actor Tom Berenger is 57. Comedian Chris Elliott is 47. Actress Lea Thompson is 46. Singer Corey Hart is 45. Rapper DMC (Run-DMC) is 43. Actress Brooke Shields is 42. Actor Colin Farrell is 31.