Exclusive

CJ Perry hit us with a curveball when she crashed the TMZ Livestream on Monday — stopping by to sit down with "TMZ’s Inside the Ring” podcast — and instantly squared up with one of our staffers, leaving us ready to call in a ref and slap down a timeout sign!

Jokes -- it was all fun and games, obviously! CJ had a chance to show our producer Charlie Neff how to apply a killer wristlock ... and before long, it legit looked like these two were about to headline their own WrestleMania.

Gia Guidice -- who was just announced as the winner of "Special Forces" -- is reflecting back on her time on the reality TV show ... and she tells us there wasn't a day during filming that she didn't end up crying.

Gia joined the show for the 4th season with her mother Teresa Giudice ... where the two were faced with intense tasks mimicking brutal situations military forces undergo in training -- and Gia was announced the winner on Sunday night's season finale.

Gia told us there wasn't a day during the show that she didn't shed tears -- but ... "As each day went on, I was just like, 'I can't give up.'"

Bechnir Dupree of "Baylen Out Loud" fame is not missing despite a viral social media rumor claiming otherwise ... TMZ has learned.

Here's the deal ... a digital flyer is going around which claims the 10-year-old has been missing since Saturday and lists a phone number at the bottom for people with information to call.

Well, we reached out to the Dupree family ... and, Baylen and Bechnir's mom, Julie, tells us Bechnir's safe and sound at home. The post is a fake and not associated with the family.

Celeste Rivas's body had been frozen, and as a result, it looks the L.A. County Medical Examiner will not be able to establish a cause of death ... sources directly connected to the investigation tell TMZ.

According to those sources, the medical examiner received the body in horrendous condition ... it was decapitated, and, while the torso was intact, the limbs had been removed and cut into multiple pieces.

We're told all of the body parts were "partially frozen" ... and had, apparently, been thawing out while sitting in the trunk of D4vd's Tesla.

Remember, D4vd's vehicle had not been moved for several days when it was parked on a Hollywood Hills street near his rental home ... which resulted in it getting towed, and then the body being found.

Ashtyn Zerboni says she feels she was totally vilified on "Selling the O.C." ... claiming her fellow castmembers treated her poorly, and the show itself made her look like the villain.

We caught up with the reality star on Hollywood Boulevard earlier this week ... and, we asked her how she felt she was treated on the fourth season of the show, which came out last week. She replied by accusing others on the program of bullying her.

Zerboni points out she was pregnant on the show and going through a lot already ... and, she didn't get any grace from her costars like she might've hoped. Plus, she adds, reality television twists and distorts everything -- in this case, making her seem like the bad guy.

One of Keith Urban's fans -- who looks a lot like the country star -- says he got the inside track on the Nicole Kidman divorce weeks before the world did ... and he got it straight from the singing horse's mouth.

Dale Whiteside tells TMZ ... he had the most bizarre interaction with Keith during a September meet-and-greet at the singer's Saskatoon, Canada stop on his "High and Alive" world tour.

Dale strongly resembles Keith, and he says the musician was blown away when they connected prior to the Sept. 15 concert, and while they chopped it up ... that's when Keith strongly hinted at the big D.

Trevor Jackson is a "Call Of Duty" superfan ... but he's not so crazy about sharing Billboard Chart space with artificial artists!!!

TMZ Hip Hop linked up with Trevor on Saturday afternoon at Monster Energy's epic "Call of Duty: Black Ops 7" Launch Party in NYC and got his thoughts on the growing A.I. trend within the music industry.

Xania Monet isn't a real person but has a very real presence on the Billboard Airplay Chart and even has fans confusing her for an actual Grammy-winner ... Victoria Monet!!!

Artificial intelligence can put sound and lyrics together no problem ... but, it can't capture the heart of a human artist -- so says a country music star.

Here's the deal ... an A.I.-generated song titled "Walk My Walk" has gone viral in recent days -- with many vibing to the robot-manufactured hit.

However, one man who didn't like the track one bit was Blanco Brown ... who decided to race the proverbial steam engine just like John Henry, and create his own version of the song using an all-human team of producers, engineers and more.

D.L. Hughley says anyone who spent serious time with Jeffrey Epstein back in the day should be raked over the coals for it ... arguing many people have been canceled for far less.

We caught up with the comedian at LAX Friday morning ... and, we had to ask him about the political topic on everyone's mind -- the impending release of the Epstein Files.

In the clip, Hughley expresses his outrage that we don't know everything about these men ... chalking it up to privileged rich white men.

Livvy Dunne and Paul Skenes are celebrating their love with a getaway in Hawaii ... and while the Cy Young winner elected not to pop top, the former gymnast made sure to get every bit of sun she could during some time by the pool.

The lovebirds have been hanging out in Kauai this week ... just a few days after the Pittsburgh Pirates flamethrower added his hardware for being the best pitcher in the National League to his trophy case.

Dunne rocked a straw hat and green two-piece swimsuit for their time by the tank ... and Skenes chose to go with a more covered-up look -- a cutoff hoodie, sweats, and a bandana.

TikTok star Ben Bader died from complications of cardiovascular disease, TMZ has learned.

According to medical examiner documents obtained by TMZ, the content creator had untreated hardening and narrowing of the arteries ... and his death has been ruled as natural. Florida's Palm County Medical Examiner noted genetic factors "were likely involved in the development" of his cardiovascular impairment.

Ben was believed to be healthy, and only had recent complaints of back and shoulder pain he sought physical therapy to alleviate, the documents further state. The pain reliever codeine was traced in his urine, but not in his blood ... and was not a contributing factor to his unexpected death.

Amanda Bynes says a viral video claiming she was pregnant with former Nickelodeon executive Dan Schneider's kid when she was just 13 years old is completely bogus.

The former Nickelodeon star tells TMZ ... the video going around TikTok was not made by her, it's altered and full of BS.

While the viral video makes it look like Amanda is coming out with some serious allegations against Dan, she says it's not from her TikTok ... and whoever made it spliced up some of her social media videos to make up "lies for click bait."

The New York Yankees home jersey from Lou Gehrig's last dominant season as a big leaguer is on the auction block ... and it's expected to sell for a whopping $3-4 MILLION!

1937 was the last time Gehrig would play a season unaffected by ALS -- the progressive, neurological disease that ultimately took his life in 1941 -- and was he ever great.

The Iron Horse put up ridiculous numbers, blasting 37 home runs and driving in 159 runs, all while batting .351. Gehrig only struck out 49 times (for reference, last year's league leader struck out 221 times).

4:49 PM PT -- A spokesperson for Carnival Cruise Line tells TMZ ... "The Carnival Radiance crew responded to a potential overboard alert off the coast north of Ensenada, Mexico when some guests reported hearing a splash in the water.  The ship returned to the area where there was a potential sighting of an individual to conduct a rescue operation. In the meantime, the crew completed a full guest and crew headcount as is our standard safety protocol and all guests and crew have been accounted for. The splash could have very well been a whale but there is no way to confirm that. In any case, all on board are accounted for and the ship will resume its itinerary."

A rescue operation is underway in the Pacific Ocean after a passenger went overboard on a Carnival cruise.

Carnival Cruise Line tells TMZ ... the Carnival Radiance crew is responding to an overboard alert off the coast north of Ensenada, Mexico.

We're told the cruise ship is returning to where there was a potential sighting of a person in the water ... and we obtained video of rescue boats in the water searching for the passenger, plus footage of someone splashing around.

Chadwick Boseman was honored with a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Thursday, and his widow Simone Boseman spoke to us about his legacy and what this honor does for it.

As you know, Chadwick made history with his portrayal as T'Challa in "Black Panther" ... but Simone tells us its impact reached beyond just that film franchise.

She pointed out he blazed a trail for all future Black superheroes ... "He made space and now there can be more and more and more ... he set it up. He played the role he was meant to play."

"Love & Hip Hop: Miami" star Sukihana -- AKA "Suki with the Good Coochie" -- apparently got some good d*** last night ... that's what she told us when we caught her at LAX in a wheelchair.

In the middle of a pretty wholesome conversation about her recent birthday, our photog just casually acknowledged the wheelchair Suki was sitting in.

Without hesitation, she blurted out, "I got f****d so hard last night. I'm not gonna lie, I got some good birthday d***, so I can't walk or nothing."