ABC

LET THE GAMES BEGIN -- the men on the new season of "The Bachelorette" are already competing hard for the affections of sexy attorney Andi Dorfman ... and somehow, Boyz II Men got dragged into the fray.

Spoiler alert -- sources tell TMZ, Andi and her suitors were out in Santa Barbara Wednesday for their third group date ... when they arrived at an outdoor Boyz II Men show ... and took over the stage.

It was all obviously a set-up for the show, but it still looked like a blast. We're told the bachelors were split into two groups -- one in khaki blazers and one in blue cardigans -- and they each sang their own renditions of "I'll Make Love to You."

We're told the guy in the foreground (on the left) had the best voice.

And Andi ... looked hot.

"The Bachelor" star Juan Pablo is already suffering from delusions of grandeur -- insisting he's big enough to host major nightclub events around the country ... WITHOUT mentioning his claim to fame, because that's exactly what he demanded.

TMZ has obtained the flier for Juan's upcoming club appearance at The Pool After Dark in Atlantic City on March 29th -- and NOWHERE on the flier does it mention "The Bachelor."

Looking at it, you'd think Enrique Iglesias canceled and the club was forced to hire a cheap replacement.

And it's no accident -- sources tell us, Juan specifically instructed the casino NOT to associate him with "The Bachelor" in any press releases or fliers.

And his ludicrous demands didn't end there -- we're told Juan agreed to a 15-person meet-and-greet on the condition no one asked about his reality show stint. Same rule goes for reporters looking for interviews.

Best part -- he's getting around $20,000.

Host: "Welcome back to 'PERPETUATING STEREOTYPES' ... starring 'Revenge' actress Ashley Madekwe."

Ashley: "Thanks ... really great to be here."

Host: "Ok, are you ready to set women back about 50 years?"

Ashley: "You bet!"

Host: "Great! We're going to ask you a question about sports ..."

"Bachelor" star Juan Pablo has told Warner Bros. he won't do ANY post-season publicity for the show ... and for its part the studio is saying good riddance.

Sources connected with the show and the studio tell TMZ ... Juan Pablo outright refused to appear on "Good Morning America" Tuesday, and made it clear he was done with publicity of any sort for the show.

Our Warner Bros. sources say that's just fine with them, because they think he damages the "Bachelor" franchise because of his d-baggery.

And even GMA wasn't fighting to get Juan Pablo on the show.

As for the show itself ... we're told producers grew to HATE Juan Pablo, and it appears the feeling was mutual.

"Modern Family" star Ariel Winter says she will never have a relationship again with her mom and her older brother ... this according to one of her text messages.

The text -- obtained by TMZ -- was filed in Ariel's guardianship case. She was texting her older brother Jimmy who has sided with their mother in the battle over Ariel.

Ariel, who is now under the guardianship of her sister, wrote, "How dare you say you miss me ... if you really wanted to see anyone and cared, you'd do a 180."

And then she goes in for the kill: "I'm sorry, what we've been through can't be fixed."

Ariel's mom filed the document, trying to prove Ariel suffers from PAS -- Parental Alienation Syndrome -- and their family is being destroyed as a result of the guardianship.

NBC is coming down like a hammer on celebs who want to get on Jimmy Fallon's show ... if they dare do a show on CBS or ABC ... they can forget about "The Tonight Show."

Sources connected to CBS, NBC and ABC tell TMZ ... the Peacock network believes Jimmy Fallon's ratings success gives them extreme bargaining power. They put the word out to celebs, agents and publicists ... if they want to be on Fallon they can't appear on ANY other network ... and not just shows that go head-to-head with Jimmy, but morning shows as well.

We're told NBC is saying the stars who go on Fallon are also allowed to appear on "Today," "Dateline" and any similar shows they air, but that's it.

A GMA source tells TMZ ... they've already gotten fallout from people they were trying to book.

Fallon is dominating late night .... crushing Jimmy Kimmel by bringing in more than twice the number of viewers.

New "Bachelorette" Andi Dorfman has stunned her boss -- the D.A. of Fulton County -- by bailing in the middle of a murder trial to appear on a TV show ... but he's grudgingly giving her a shot at stardom.

TMZ obtained the letter written by Fulton County D.A. Paul Howard Jr., who calls her request "highly unusual."

Truth be told ... most law firms and prosecutors' offices would give someone like Andi her walking papers, because they would normally view the request as flaky. But Howard grudgingly agreed to take her back, calling her "a valued member of the DA's office." She's also hot.

But two strings attached. Her leave will be unpaid. And, she has until May 31st to come back. After that, she's just another professional reality star.

The perv fan who groped "Modern Family" star Sarah Hyland's chest in Australia this week has been charged with assault with an act of indecency, TMZ has learned.

The 29-year-old man was arrested Tuesday outside a "Modern Family" after-party in Sydney. Hyland was posing with fans when he allegedly grabbed her breast.

23-year-old Hyland immediately left the event in tears while her security handled the creep.

Hyland was remorseful about bailing on the event, saying sorry to all the fans she, "didn't get to say hi to but I had to leave due to an inappropriate touch of a fan."

Barbara Walters just got a letter ... not from her buddy Obama, not from Hillary Clinton ... from a company that wants her to be the front person for a line of super-slow running black dildos.

Barbara's comment this week on "The View" -- that she still uses a vibrator at age 84 -- caught the eye of a company called Phallix.

Phallix sent

-- obtained by TMZ -- to the ABC offices in NYC, touting it's latest creation .. the "Babs" line -- a self-pleasuring device made of special, smooth glass developed by NASA eggheads.

This ain't your grandma's vibrator. Well, actually it is. It's designed to go especially slow, for the 60 and over crowd.

Phallix is looking to partner with Walters for a product that will please even the fussiest old biddy.

We're guessing Babs will pass. She just said she was kidding about the whole vibrator thing. Too bad ... it could make her one of the 10 Most Fascinating People ... for sure.

Barbara Walters really loves herself -- like REALLY loves herself -- the 84-year-old just announced on TV she has a VIBRATOR ... and it even has a name.

The topic of vibrators came up on "The View" today ... and Barbara revealed she's a big fan of the self-love movement ... even at 84 years old ... but the name she gave her vibrator is the best part. Watch the clip.

It's not the first time Barbara's gotten down and dirty on the subject of sex -- a couple years ago she asked her religious co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck if she liked it rough. Oh, Babs.

Ariel Winter's mom wants to drag the entire cast of "Modern Family" into a custody war ... trying to force them on the stand and tell the judge she's not a terrible mother.

Chrystal Workman wants a small village of witnesses to testify, including Ed O'Neill, Julie Bowen, Sofia Vergara, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Angela Gould and Diane Rodriguez.

Workman also wants ABC Network Prez Paul Lee and show producer Steve Levitan.

In all, Workman wants to call 83 witnesses.

And get this ... she doesn't have a lawyer so she would be grilling them herself.

This is a story about two young people with a special connection who just bought a house together to begin a new chapter of their lives ... Derek Hough and Mark Ballas.

TMZ has learned ... the "Dancing with the Stars" pros -- who also happen to be BFFAEs -- just went halfsies on a quaint little place in the San Fernando Valley.

Official documents show ... the best buds each threw in on the $1.275 mil home ... which comes equipped with a massive closet, fabulous kitchen and a spa bath that could easily fit two.

The master bathroom even contains his and his sinks.

Hot bachelorette Andi Dorfman REALLY sold herself short when she ditzily described herself as a lawyer who barely reads -- and TMZ has the proof ... video showing Andi kicking some ass in a huge murder trial involving a famous rapper and the Russian mob.

The court footage was shot Monday in Atlanta during a hearing for the trial of ex-mobster Mani Chulpayev, who's accused of playing a key role in the 2012 murder of rapper Lil Phat.

26-year-old Andi -- an Assistant District Attorney in the Fulton County DA's Office -- kills it.

Pretty shocking ... considering the way Andi presented herself on "The Bachelor" recently. "Legally Blonde" springs to mind -- and it raises the question ... Does a girl have to dumb herself down in order to attract a guy?

Katie Couric actually scored millions of dollars with her new contract ... but it could end up being a huge paycut if her talk show goes away ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to Katie tell TMZ, she'll be raking in $6 million a year from Yahoo in her new role as "Global Anchor." That pales in comparison to her role as anchor of the CBS Evening News, where we're told she was pulling in $15 mil a year.

At ABC, we're told Katie's company had an overall deal that grossed $20 mil a year, but not all of that went to Katie personally.

We're told she's leaving ABC news entirely, and although her talk show has not been cancelled, it would be shocking if it didn't go away at the end of the TV season.

Sam Champion is leaving ABC's "Good Morning America" partly because he and his hubby want to start a family and partly because of his thirst to become a honcho ... ABC sources tell TMZ.

Our sources ... who are extremely familiar with the situation ... say Sam has been chronically unhappy at GMA. We're told he wanted his own show -- badly-- but ABC execs weren't biting.

So, Sam jumped to the Weather Channel (which is co-owned by NBC), where he will anchor the network's new flagship morning show and also serve as managing editor.

Our sources say Sam wanted to be the one who replaced Larry King at CNN and he was shocked when he wasn't tapped. As one source put it, "Sam loves power, and becoming managing editor (of the Weather Channel) gives him that."

Oh, by the way, our NBC sources say Al Roker -- NOT a Sam fan -- is "pissed" his Weather Channel show will be Sam's lead-in.

Another reason Sam bailed from GMA is that he and his husband want kids and the hubby refuses to leave Florida (GMA is in NYC).

We're told Sam will be spending about half his time in Miami so the kids will know his face in person and not just on the tube. As for moolah, we're told its a lateral move. Our sources say Sam was pulling in around $2.5 mil at GMA and he'll be making around the same at the Weather Channel.

$2.5 mil for weather ... now THAT'S making it rain!!!

Screw Obamacare or the murderers that broke out of prison in Florida, ABC News just sent out an email blast to the media with the most important news of the day -- IT'S KIM KARDASHIAN'S BIRTHDAY!!!

Seriously, ABC News just fired off a news release with the subject line, "Kim Kardashian Turns 33."

Wait, before we go any further .... ABC included a note at the top of the email warning, "News organizations using excerpts of this reporting should credit/link to ABC News."

But ABC didn't launch the press release JUST to tell us information widely available on the interweb -- they also made sure we knew, "In honor of the reality star’s 33rd birthday, we are dedicating our entertainment section to all things Kim Kardashian."

The email concludes, "Don’t forget to wish her a happy birthday!"

Oh, we won't!!!

Keep up the good work ABC News -- delivering the news the people NEED to know.

Now, excuse us ... we have an exclusive Kevin Federline story to write.