Reality TV

Evidence Octomom scammed tax payers is growing faster than Lauren Silverman's belly ... after authorities turned up more proof of possible welfare fraud ... thanks to pay stubs from her masturbation porn.

TMZ broke the story ... the L.A. County of Welfare and Fraud Dept opened an investigation against Octo -- seizing her financial records -- and determined she'd been overpaid $15,683 in welfare funds from Jan to May of 2013.

Now the evidence has grown ... authorities seized payment records from Wicked -- the company that hawked Octo's masturbation porn -- and uncovered Octo's hefty XXX residuals:

January -- $1,839.74
February -- $2,537.27
March -- $1,807.97
April -- $7,381.99 (Easter gifts?)
May -- $3,026.67
June -- $1,295.37

6-month total: $17,889.01 (Again, these are residuals).

The discovery adds fuel to the fire ... that Octo is a welfare cheat.

The "MasterChef" finalist who was arrested after getting into a violent, bizarre encounter with cops ... has a history of criminal behavior ... including a previous arrest.

TMZ broke the story ... Josh Marks was popped by cops in Chicago last week after he allegedly punched a cop and tried to steal his gun. It took 5 cops to finally subdue the 7-foot-2 giant, after using pepper spray and batons. Once in custody cops say Marks claimed he was God.

Marks' lawyer told TMZ afterwards, doctors are evaluating the chef for a mental illness, arguing he wasn't in his right mind when the alleged attack went down.

Now we've learned this isn't the first time Marks has had a run in with the law.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Marks was arrested in June for trespassing in a Chicago condo complex -- after allegedly sneaking in on numerous occasions and bizarrely telling residents he lived there. He DID NOT.

At the time, the building sent a WARNING to residents to be on the lookout for a "very tall" African-American man, who "enters the building by catching the door." They were told to call 911. The case is still pending.

Tamera Mowry will do whatever it takes to stay right and tight ... down there ... even if that means blasting hot steam and weird Korean herbs into her hoo ha. But would she do it again?

On recent episode of "Tia and Tamera" the sisters were seen getting a V-Steam: an ancient Korean tradition where women sit on a toilet-like apparatus and have a mixture of hot steam, mugwort tea and wormwood blasted into their vagina ... to make it fresh. Really, it's a thing.

So when our photog spotted Tamera in LA this week he HAD to ask ... what was it like?

Tamera (who had a baby last November) gives us the low down on what the vag-bath did to her lady bits -- it's pretty hilarious -- and reveals whether she'd go back for round 2.

"Naked and Afraid" star Billy Berger went all King Henry VIII on a snake ... chopping off its head without hesitation ... but it's what he discovered afterwards that's so interesting.

In the never-before-seen-clip of the show -- airing tonight -- Billy and partner Ky Furneaux try to survive in the Louisiana swamplands for 21 days, naked. Needing food, Billy goes snake hunting. Harder than it sounds.

It's pretty ridiculous ... not only does he catch the snake (which is consistently biting him) ... he chops off the serpent's head like he's cutting some breakfast sausage.

Randy Jackson predictably sidestepped our question about his good bud "American Idol" cohort Simon Cowell.

Randy had just landed at LAX and he pretended like he was coming from Mars when we asked about the happy-ish news that Simon was about to become a daddy after secretly banging his friend's wife.

"Basketball Wives" star Royce Reed claims Dwight Howard took off with their son and won't tell her where he is ... a perilous problem because the tyke doesn't have his meds.

Royce went to court asking for an emergency hearing ... claiming their 6-year-old son Braylon went to California to visit Dwight, and that's the last she heard from her baby daddy or the boy. Dwight's parents eventually called her to say the kid was in Colorado.

Royce says her son needs his meds for an undisclosed medical condition and the Rx bottle is now empty -- Dwight never bothered to get it refilled.

She says without the meds, their son's health is in danger.

Royce doesn't have a problem with Dwight taking care of the boy for a while, but she wants the judge to order him to refill the prescription and give Braylon his meds. She also wants to know exactly where her boy is and how she can get in touch.

Former FHM model Anna Benson -- who has just been charged with armed robbery and all sorts of other crimes -- is no stranger to the law. She was once charged with murder.

A judge has denied Benson bail in her current legal predicament -- for allegedly barging into the home of ex hubby former Mets pitcher Kris Benson with a handgun and a metal baton and threatened to harm him if he didn't hand over some loot.

As for why she was denied bail -- turns out back in '96 Anna was charged with murdering a man in Tennessee and she went on the lam for 5 months. Although the charges were ultimately dropped, the judge in the current case felt because of her conduct in '96 Anna is a flight risk.

Kim Kardashian conspired with her mother by making it APPEAR the newly-minted mom would reveal her post-pregnant body on Kris Jenner's show today ... but it was all a ruse.

Kim tweeted, "Getting ready to surprise my mom on @krisjennershow today. You ready NYC? Tune in!"

Call us cynical, but it was no surprise to Kris when Kim did indeed appear ... but if you expected to see her body ... sorry suckers.

It was all a ploy to goose ratings ... kind of like when Kris made potential viewers believe she would debut North West.

BTW the best part ... Kris cries when she sees the video. Remember, Kim lives with her.

The rumors have been swirling for months ... but TMZ finally has the video proof that former 2-time Miss Puerto Rico winner Joyce Giraud has joined the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills."

Giraud -- along with Lisa & Ken Vanderpump, Kyle & Kim Richards, Brandi Glanville and Yolanda Foster were all at LAX this week ... waiting to board a flight to Puerto Rico.

Giraud tried to lay low ... in what appeared to be an effort to go unrecognized ... but our photog was quick to notice the beauty queen.

As for the other woman rumored to be joining the cast -- '90s actress Carlton Gebbia -- she wasn't at the airport, but sources tell TMZ she will appear on the show this season in a small role.

MasterChef finalist Josh Marks has just been canned by 2 of his sponsors after he was arrested earlier this week for allegedly attacking a police officer ... TMZ has learned.

A rep for the "Make A Sound Project" -- an organization dedicated to helping people who suffer from depression -- tells us Marks is OUT as an official spokesperson, effective immediately.

"We appreciate what Josh has done for us but we're in the market of helping people. So, we'll keep him in our prayers ... but as of now Chef Marks will be dropped as a spokesman."

Marks has also been 86'd from an NYC cooking competition called "Culinary Fight Night" -- which had marketed Marks as a celebrity judge for an upcoming event.

The CFN people tell TMZ ... they made the decision to ax Marks from the event because they don't want to to put their fans in danger -- adding, "We won't have this man tarnish the integrity of our brand."

THIS IS A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: If you're wondering who was driving the obnoxious yellow Rolls Royce around L.A. Thursday, it was the douche wearing yellow loafers to match ... Scott Disick.

Teresa and Joe Giudice have a serious heavy hitter in their corner -- Big Ang from "Mob Wives" -- who tells TMZ she's convinced the alleged bank scammers are COMPLETELY INNOCENT.

"I feel like she's innocent and so is he," says Ang -- who knows a little something about the criminal justice system.

In fact, Ang is not only connected to the Genovese crime family -- but was once arrested in an undercover cocaine sting and pled guilty to an intent to distribute charge.

So, given her background, Ang believes she's the perfect person to give the Giudices some advice on how to handle their situation.

"Bad Girls Club" star Natalie Nunn tells TMZ ... she's ready to and willing to raise a big legal stink to shut down a person trying to shop naked pics of the reality star to various media outlets.

That's right ... Natalie tells us the pics are legit ... but they were supposed to be private.

TMZ has learned ... the person shopping the photos is claiming to be a disgruntled ex-assistant who's more interested in embarrassing Natalie than scoring a huge payday.

We spoke with Nunn who tells us, "Those photos DO NOT belong to him and I will take legal action against anyone who releases them!"

"Honestly those images are mine and I just don't want to have to get my lawyers involved."

A top contender on "MasterChef" had a bizarre, violent encounter with cops in Chicago ... telling them Gordon Ramsay is an "asshole" who possessed his body and then transformed him into God ... law enforcement sources tell TMZ.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... a University of Chicago cop spotted Josh Marks nearby the campus on Monday He was trying to use a University emergency phone and had obvious cuts on his face. We're told the cop asked Marks if anything was wrong, and Marks then lunged at him, striking him with a closed fist and then tried to grab his gun.

Our sources say the cop and two other officers tried to subdue the 26-year-old, 7'2" tall culinary runner-up ... to no avail. They batoned and pepper sprayed him but it had no effect. Marks broke free and started running. Five cops subdued him in a resident's backyard.

Marks was taken to the hospital to treat his injuries. We're told once in custody an officer asked him why he went off the rails, and he blamed it all on Gordon Ramsay. Shockingly, we're told there was no evidence of drug use.

We're told doctors discovered bullet fragments in Marks' face from an unrelated incident.

While Teresa Giudice faces time behind bars for alleged bankruptcy fraud ... another 'Real Housewife' is making sure she doesn't suffer a similar fate ... by coughing up $35,000.

"Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Danielle Staub filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy back in June 2012, claiming she was knee deep in debt ... approx. $500,000 to $1,000,000.

As part of the bankruptcy process Danielle had to disclose all her assets ... that way when creditors came to clean her out they'd know how much loot is available.

FYI -- this is the part where some people get in trouble because they try to hide cash and valuables ... hoping Uncle Sam and creditors won't notice.

According to legal docs, filed last month, Danielle was accused of doing just that. Rather than keep up the charade, DS agreed to fork over $35k to her creditors to help settle her debts ... and avoid any nasty consequences.

If she didn't settle ... Danielle might be in a similar boat to co-stars Teresa and Joe Giudice -- who are being federally indicted on 39 counts of fraud (including hiding assets during bankruptcy). They face 30 years in prison.

"Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Teresa Giudice doesn't look fazed by the possibility of a massive looming prison sentence -- in fact, she was all smiles with her daughter on Tuesday ... and she looked damn good too.

As we reported, Giudice and her husband Joe each face up to 30 years in the big house for bank fraud, tax evasion, and more -- after officials say the couple defrauded the IRS and multiple banks from 2001-2008.

The couple surrendered to authorities just hours ago, and have each been released on $500,000 bond. They're due back in court August 14.