Only in Jersey: 3/14/12

Happy Hump Day! Time for another edition of Only in Jersey!

If it’s filming in Jersey, takes place in Jersey, or is about celebs from Jersey, you will find it here.

Jermaine Jones: Thanks for misrepresenting New Jersey!/Photo credit Fox

Reality television and drama go hand-in-hand, no doubt. And there’s plenty o’ drama to go around these days on “American Idol.” Remember Jersey contestant Jermaine Jones, the show’s “gentle giant”? People reports that he will be quitting the show during tonight’s telecast. In a tweet last night that has since been deleted, Jermaine wrote, “Awww I will no longer b on the show.” TMZ goes a step further, saying the show’s producers discovered Jermaine has a criminal past that he had lied about. The Pine Hill native reportedly was arrested twice last year, and one of those arrests was violent in nature. On top of that, Jermaine apparently lied to police, giving them fake names each time he was arrested. And there are also outstanding warrants for his arrest. This news comes on the heels of reports that Jermaine’s story of his dad abandoning him as a kid are untrue. (His dad told TMZ that that wasn’t the case at all and that he sees his son regularly.) All of this raised the producers’ suspicions, and they started looking into Jermaine’s background more closely. And here we are. I guess the only question remaining is how much the show will reveal tonight (8 p.m., Fox) and what its explanation will be for Jermaine’s sudden departure. That leaves Kinnelon native Elise Testone the sole Jerseyan contestant left. Hopefully she will be able to impress the judges more than her next-to-last-place finish last week.

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Only in Jersey: 2/14/12

Happy Valentine’s Day! Guess what? It’s time for another edition of Only in Jersey!

If it’s filming in Jersey, takes place in Jersey, or is about celebs from Jersey, you will find it here.

Whitney Houston: "One Moment in Time" was all too brief.

Singer Whitney Houston returned home to the Garden State for the final time last night. The Newark-born, East Orange-raised, former Mendham resident’s body was flown to Teterboro Airport aboard Tyler Perry’s jet, according to People. From there it was transferred, via gold hearse, to Whigham Funeral Home in Newark. Whitney, who sadly died at 48 on February 11 from what all accounts appears to be a fatal mixture of alcohol and prescription drugs, will be eulogized in a private ceremony Saturday at Newark’s New Hope Baptist Church, adds People, where she and her mother, gospel singer Cissy Houston, sang in the choir. There is also talk of a public memorial, possibly at Newark’s Prudential Center, as well. On Sunday’s Grammy Awards, Jennifer Hudson paid beautiful tribute to Whitney. Watch:

And if you’d like to listen to Whitney’s greatest hits, you can, thanks to her website.

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“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”: Money can’t buy you happiness

Watching “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” this season, it’s become crystal (or should I say Cristal?) clear to me that the Countess has got it all wrong: Money can buy you class (take some etiquette classes, duh), but what it most certainly cannot buy you is H-A-P-P-I-N-E-S-S.

Fancy, designer gowns aside, you and I have more in common with "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" than you probably realize./Photo credit Bravo

Yes, my friends, this Jersey girl is prepared to admit it right now: I’m finding myself relating much more – and feeling gobs more empathy – toward the women of Beverly Hills this season than I do about the women of my home, the Garden State.

And while you may think you have nothing in common with these women, I’m here to tell you you’re wrong. And here’s why:

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Is Cher in love with a Jersey boy?

Bruce Springsteen may extol the virtues of Garden State women in “Jersey Girl,” but evidently the men ain’t half-bad, either. Just ask Cher.

Are Cher and Tim Medvetz dating, or are they already married?/Credit National Enquirer

Exactly how serious are Cher and Tim Medvetz? Enquiring minds want to know!/Credit National Enquirer

According to paparazzi and tabloid reports – including the July National Enquirer cover story, above – the 62-year-old singing sensation is definitely determined to “Turn Back Time” by dating a Jersey native 24 years her junior. But he’s not just any Jersey boy… he’s Tim Medvetz, a biker/mountain climber who’s been featured twice on the Discovery Channel series “Everest: Beyond the Limit.”

Yes, as in Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on Earth. And yes, he climbed it. Twice.

The reason why this news of Cher dating Tim – or, as I look at it, Tim dating Cher – is so fascinating to me is because I actually know him.

Tim Medvetz's mother calls him "The Wild Child."/Credit Discovery Channel

Tim Medvetz's mother calls him "The Wild Child."/Credit Discovery Channel

I’ve interviewed the 6’5″ Tim, who builds and sells Harley Davidsons and hails from Colonia, N.J., a couple of times – both in conjunction with the “Everest” series and his experiences climbing 29,028-foot behemoth. I must say he’s a pretty cool dude, and I enjoyed our conversations. During the first interview – alas, I’ve only ever spoken to him on the phone or via e-mail, since he calls Los Angeles home – I was struck by the adversity he’s faced in life, much less climbing Everest.

A devastating motorcycle crash in 2001 left him part-man, part-Terminator: two metal plates in his skull, 10 screws in his left knee, six screws in his foot, a broken finger and a shattered lower back, which was fused together with bolts and a titanium mesh cage.

You can get a pretty good sense of Tim’s personality in this Discovery Channel video. To learn more about what makes Tim tick, read my interviews with him here and here.

I last heard from Tim a few months ago, when my job at a New Jersey newspaper was eliminated. He wished me well, and in typical Tim fashion, suggested I enjoy the freedom for a while and take off for parts unknown.

Meanwhile, I have no idea how serious his relationship with Cher is, though Extra last night showed them hanging out at the Malibu Fair over the weekend. To watch the video, go here.

Update

It’s time to set the record straight, and I’ve got the scoop:

There is no romantic relationship between Jersey boy Tim Medvetz and pop superstar Cher. The pair are simply good friends who hang out together (with other mutual friends).

How do I know this? Because Tim told me so. Get the full story here.

“Millionaire Matchmaker”: Patti from Jersey offers some great advice

“The Millionaire Matchmaker” is full of it.
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Advice, that is. And it is totally brilliant.

This week’s episode had some real gems. But before I get to them, how hilarious was last week’s episode with Shauna the millionairess? Patti Stanger’s opinionated client really gave her agita – just look at the above video for proof. I mean, who openly insults someone they want to help them? It doesn’t exactly make Patti feel like giving her all, either – especially when Shauna criticizes Patti’s looks.

“First of all, I don’t want a Botoxed, Restylane-injected plastic surgery, lopsided-face look,” Patti shot back after seeing Shauna’s video interview.

Can you tell Patti’s a Jersey girl?

This week, she had two great nuggets of advice to offer women:

“It is so important for women to be women and men to be men, and to keep those roles intact,” Patti explained. “It’s worked for millions of years. And the reason why is the minute you switch into masculine mode, as a feminine woman, and you decide that you’re going to take over the show, you’re going to end up with a son – not a husband.”

“Keep dating other people, let him smell another man around,” Patti advised Maya, who had a great date with Matt. “(If) he senses another penis around him, he’s going to move even faster.”

Too bad Patti had to deal with such knuckleheads this week. Was Jimmy D. intentionally trying to do a John Travolta impression? Because he sounded just like him. And what was up with him referring to himself in the third person? He lifted that straight out of a “Seinfeld” episode – which just happened to feature a guy named (yep, you guessed it) Jimmy. The whole time I was waiting for him to say, “Jimmy is pretty sweet on you!”

What the heck was kooky Cara from “Momma’s Boys” doing here? Is she related to somebody at NBC Universal?
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Patti should definitely reassess her opinion of Cara, who, unless she’s constantly putting her *acting* skills to the test, is a big can of crazy, just like Jimmy D. asserted. All this and a Scientologist, too?

What’s up with this sudden crossover of women on reality dating shows? A couple of weeks ago, Patti interviewed Dallas from the first season of “Rock of Love with Bret Michaels.” Now it’s Cara. Is there suddenly a shortage of single women in Los Angeles?