Giving thanks

Nikki Bella thanks ex John Cena in WWE Hall of Fame speech

By Wonderwall

Nikki Bella still has love for her ex fiancé, John Cena — she gave him a shoutout during one of the most important moments of her career.

On April 6, Nikki and her twin sister, Brie Bella, were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. While the women thanked many people who helped them become wrestling legends, Nikki saved a special message for John.

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"And to John, thank you for teaching me a lot about this business and helping me truly find my fearless side," she said.

Nikki and John famously dated for five years before he proposed in the middle of the wrestling ring at Wrestlemania 33 in April 2017. The duo, however, called off their engagement a year later and split. Nikki and John would go on to have a short-lived reconciliation, but they ended things for good in July 2018.

Both John and Nikki moved on: She got engaged to her "Dancing with the Stars" partner Artem Chigvintsev in late 2019. They welcomed a son, Matteo, on July 31, 2020. John, meanwhile, quietly married Shay Shariatzadeh in October 2020. John, Nikki said, "reached out" to her and Brie after the twins welcomed children one day apart. 

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While Nikki and Brie are known for their reality show "Total Bellas" and their ever-growing empire, they acknowledge that they wouldn't be where they are without professional wrestling.  

"It's an incredible honor to be apart of the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2020," Nikki wrote on Instagram. "To be apart of so many iconic WWE Superstars. I'll be spamming you all later because I have so many people to thank, who have been apart of this incredible, memorable, historic journey. This doesn't mean the end, just a reflection of the past, a celebration of achievements, honors and barriers broken, and a beginning of a new chapter in an era where Mom's are totally kicking a—!"

"In our home that we call WWE we get to wear many masks. No matter my next one, in ring or out, it will always remain Fearless and with my ICONIC BELLA ARMY. Like us Bellas and the Bella Army have said from the beginning, We Run It, We Rule It and Haters Gonna Hate, Bellas Gonna Ball," she said. "We should never doubt the presence of women on the card, RAW, SmackDown, or PPV's. Those days are done. Let's do better. Let's keep the equality going. We need and WANT more women matches and stories! And remember WWE Universe you are a huge part of that! Keep supporting women's wrestling."

Trending name

Tristan Thompson's name trends, everyone thinks the same thing

By Wonderwall

On Friday, Tristan Thompson's name was trending on Twitter and pretty much everyone had the exact same thought.

"Me seeing Tristan Thompson trending thinking it has something to do with the Kardashians but then realizing it's about him and sports," one person said. 

Another added, "Anytime Tristan Thompson is trending, I always assume it's for something other than basketball lol."

When Tristan's name has trended in the past, it's sometimes had something to do with his relationship with Khloe Kardashian or his, shall we say, spotty track record of faithfulness to her. 

On June 18, though, his name actually trended through no fault of his own. This time it had to do with his job. Tristan's name was quickly linked to trade rumors after his team, the Boston Celtics, made a big change with its roster Friday morning. There is growing sentiment that Tristan's time in Beantown is likely to end.

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For pop culture fanatics, trade rumors involving Tristan and his career are a welcome reason to trend. Still, the jokes were pretty universal and similar.

"Tristan Thompson is trending because of basketball ……wtf going on in this world," one person said. 

Another added, "I forget tristan thompson actually plays basketball when i see him trending."

Clearly, the Internet is always willing to have a ball at Tristan's expense.

Internet claim

Hugh Grant rips Internet claim about foundation of his marriage

By Wonderwall

Hugh Grant is publicly balking at a claim on the Internet that plainly states he and his wife of three years married for "passport reasons."

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On June 17, the "Bridget Jones's Diary" actor posted a screenshot from a Google search and took issue with it. 

"No I didn't, @Internet. I married her because I love her," he wrote on social media.

It appears that Google's claim stems from a 2018 interview Hugh did with USA Today. In that chat, Hugh — once thought of as an eternal bachelor — was asked about marrying Swedish wife Anna Elisabet Eberstein.

"My wife agrees with me that marriage is a pretty preposterous social construct," he's quoted in USA Today. "But when you've got three children, it's a nice thing to do."

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Travel, he said, weighed into the til-death-do-us-part decision. 

"I didn't like going through immigration into countries where they'd say, 'Everyone with a Grant passport, over here, and all the others through there.' She went through with the nannies. That seemed all wrong," he said. 

At the time, the USA Today reporter told Hugh that Michael Phelps secretly married before his final Olympics to ease passport clearances.

"Did he? Well, we're very similar in many ways," Hugh said.

After Hugh's tweet on June 17, one follower wondered why the actor was Googling his wife's name. "Hugh Grant forget who his wife is and have to Google it?" the person asked. Hugh responded, "No. A friend sent it to me."

Game off

Cody Simpson's Olympic dream ends … this year

By Wonderwall

Cody Simpson's aspirations to compete in the Tokyo Olympics have come to an end.

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The Australian singer had been attempting to qualify for the postponed 2020 games in swimming. On June 17, his hopes came crashing down at the Australian Olympic Swimming Trials when he missed the mark by 1.14 seconds. 

After it was over, Cody reflected on his experience and vowed to try to swim for Australia at the 2024 Games in Paris.

"What an experience racing at my first Australian Olympic Trials," he wrote on Instagram. "To make a final was our goal this year and with less than a year of training we did just that. I've come so much further than I expected to this year and to be racing the best in the country already is a privilege."

He also thanked former Aussie Olympian Brett Hawke and his training partner for pushing him.

"I'm so psyched to get back to training," he said. "See you in 3 years.."

Throughout his training, Cody often documented his progress. 

"Just achieved my 2 goals for this year at once! An Olympic trials final and a 52. 100m fly swim," he wrote on Instagram on June 16.

His journey was also documented in the Amazon Prime. documentary "Head Above Water."

Housewives accusations

Kelly Dodd blames Braunwyn Windham-Burke for 'Housewives' axing

By Wonderwall

Kelly Dodd has found a scapegoat for her "The Real Housewives of Orange County" exit: Braunwyn Windham-Burke.

On June 17, just two days after the massive "Housewives" cast shakeup was announced, Kelly posted a text conversation she had with Braunwyn. In it, Kelly squarely says Braunwyn is the sole reason she's off the show.

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Braunwyn appears to have started the conversation, telling Kelly, "I hope you're okay, I know we've been through hell and back but I'm here."

Kelly, however, was less diplomatic.

"This was your fault. We'd still be on the show if you didn't make things so dark and ugly and brought all that political 'woke' BS,'" Kelly wrote. "Your lies about me, calling me a racist and a homophobe were horribly destructive and your phony storylines didn't help either."

Braunwyn, the first gay "Housewives" star, appeared to take the high road, reiterating that she's available to talk if Kelly ever wanted to reach out. Kelly, though, seems to want no part of an open dialogue.

"I can't believe this Braunwyn has the audacity to text me !!" Kelly wrote on Instagram alongside a slew of accusations. She also called her former "Housewives" costar a "nut job classic narcissist!"

For her part, Braunwyn confirmed to Page Six that the messages were authentic, but said they were also edited.

"Only Kelly Dodd would post screenshots of her own texts that make her look wildly immature," Braunwyn said. "I guess that's what being bitter is like, and I tried to empathize with her, as you can see. I'm a big believer in growing and changing, and second chances (or in this case 10th or 11th chance). At the end of the day, it's just a tv show and we are still neighbors."

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To be fair, Kelly's future on the show has long been in question. Last February reports said Kelly (and other cast mates) was set to be fired. Shortly before that, she also threatened to leave the show if Braunwyn were to return.

A source close to the "Housewives" told Page Six on Thursday that Kelly only needs to look in the mirror when figuring out where things went wrong.

"Kelly should take accountability for herself being fired instead of pointing fingers at everyone else," the insider claimed.

Marriage issues

Tori Spelling confirms marital strife with Dean McDermott

By Wonderwall

Tori Spelling is not living in a state of marital bliss with her husband, Dean McDermott — in fact, the couple is sleeping in separate bedrooms.

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The former "Beverly Hills, 90210" star spoke about the rough patch on SiriusXM's "Jeff Lewis Live" on June 16 after he brought up paparazzi images from March that showed her without a wedding ring.

"What is really going on? You put the wedding ring on. Are things OK?" he wondered. "Because I feel like the last time you were here things were good, you were having sex. Are you guys sleeping in the same bed? Personal?"

Tori answered honestly.

"Right now, my kids and dogs sleep in my bed," she said while noting that Dean sleeps "in a room."

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The actress said that four of their five children have been sleeping in her room for months.

"Since he left — this is not good, you guys — but since he left [and] he was gone for six months filming in another country, they all stayed with me," she said. "So I currently still have four in the bedroom with me who have yet to go back to their rooms, yes."

The confirmation of marital strife comes a few months after divorce speculation hung over their marriage, largely due to the missing wedding band.

Kiss and tell

Padma Lakshmi reveals new romance with handsome author: See the kissing photo

By Wonderwall

Seems like Padma Lakshmi is writing her own love story. 

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Earlier this week, paparazzi photographed the "Top Chef" host kissing a man in New York City as she walked her dog. At the time, the man's identity was a mystery, but on June 16, Page Six revealed that the lucky suitor is famed writer and poet Terrance Hayes.

RELATED: Padma Lakshmi kisses new man in NYC plus more celebrity love life updates this week

"It's early days," a source told the New York Post's gossip site. "They're just getting to know each other."

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Like Padma, 50, Terrance has a rather impressive resume, having won the National Book Award in 2010 for his book of poems titled "Lighthead." He's also been a finalist twice since then. Page Six notes that Terrance, 49, also received a MacArthur fellowship in 2014 as well as a Guggenheim fellowship.

RELATED: Celebrity splits of 2021

The new romance comes on heels of the the model's 12-year on-again, off-again relationship with venture capitalist Adam Dell. They share 11-year-old daughter Krishna Thea.

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"Adam and Padma broke up shortly after the new year; it was very amicable," a source said as the new images surfaced. "They are intent on staying the best of friends and remain like family."

Padma and Adam, the source continued, "are still very close and are committed to co-parenting their daughter, Krishna, who has always been their first priority."

Orange return

Heather Dubrow's family had to talk her into 'Housewives' return

By Wonderwall

Although many have thought Heather Dubrow's chances of returning to "The Real Housewives of Orange County" was once a fruitless endeavor, she's back — and her family is juiced about it!

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While discussing the return to Bravo on her "Heather Dubrow's World" podcast, the 52-year-old said she thought producers were joking when they first approached her.  

"Well, what was funny was — so, production called me, like, I don't know, December or something like that, and I laughed," she told Andy Cohen on the podcast. "My first reaction was like, I kind of laughed. And then I thought about it."

Truthfully, Heather was unsure if she even wanted to go back to the show that made her famous, a show she starred on from 2012-2016. When Heather left, she cited the culture as a reason for the exit. However, much has changed since then, as it's been announced that Elizabeth Lyn Vargas, Braunwyn Windham-Burke and Heather's nemesis Kelly Dodd will not be returning.

Still, she knew that rejoining the show would also put the spotlight on her family. 

"When I sort of came to the realization that, 'Wait a minute. This might be like that space-time continuum moment where it's, like, a good idea to go back,' we sat down and had a family meeting about it. We had a serious talk about it," she said. 

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Her family — "Botched" star Terry Dubrow, and their four kids — was fully on board.

"I was negative," she said. "I was like, 'Guys, you're on social media now. You do this. You do that. People will comment,' and they were cool."

Weight watcher

Ciara shows of 39 pound weight loss: 'I'm so proud of myself'

By Wonderwall

Ciara is back!

This week, the singer revealed that she's back to her pre-baby weight, having lost nearly 40 pounds with the help of Weight Watchers, for which she's an ambassador. 

"Goodbye to those last 10lbs I've been working on these past 5 weeks, Hello to me-pre baby weight! I'm so proud of myself– down 39 pounds on my @ww journey!" she captioned an Instagram image on June 15. "Thank you to everyone for your support, we did it! If you believe in yourself and set goals, it's all possible! Go for it! Go get it!"

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Last September — two months after welcoming son Win — Ciara announced that she'd joined Weight Watchers.

"Ready to level up up my plans post baby and beyond! Leading a healthier lifestyle has always been a long term goal of mine. With my growing family and career I'm more focused on living a balanced life," she said at the time. "The program is realistic for my goals and I'm having fun with the app! I've seen the impact it's had on family and friends and I'm excited for the journey ahead. I naturally lost 15lbs post baby and after starting the WW program, changing my eating, and working out, I've now lost the 5lbs I wanted. I'm ready to go after the rest I want to lose! Let's go!!!"

Around the new year, the "1, 2 Step" singer said she wanted to lose 20 pounds, but wasn't in any rush. 

"Let's go after all we want this year!" she said.

Fire

'Girls Gone Wild' creator's Mexican estate in rubble after inferno

By Wonderwall

The famed Mexican estate of "Girls Gone Wild" creator Joe Francis caught fire late Tuesday night and is partially in rubble.

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Dubbed Casa Aramara, a gaggle of top celebrities have stayed there over the years, including Jennifer Aniston, Eva Longoria, Demi Moore, Orlando Bloom and the Kardashians. Mario Lopez and his wife, Courtney Mazza, even got married there in 2013.

TMZ, which shared photos of the inferno, said Joe wasn't in town when the blaze stated on June 15, but notes that the home had been rented. About 20 people and 20 staff members were on site when flames broke out. 

It's not yet known what started the fire, which reduced the main house to rubble. Three other smaller homes are still intact. 

The oceanside estate in Punta Mita, Mexico, is a celebrity magnet and has been featured on several reality TV shows.

"Casa Aramara is heaven on Earth! I have traveled the world but never been to a place where I feel so at home!," Kim Kardashian wrote in the estate's guestbook. "I have stayed at Casa Aramara for weeks at a time and always feel so relaxed and entertained."

Kourtney Kardashian said, "Casa Aramara is really is my favorite place to visit in the entire world."

Lance Bass said he and his husband, Michael Turchin, fell in love there. 

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