Reality TV

"Basketball Wives" should only feature the WIVES of basketball players ... and NOT random "hos" ... so says former cast member Laura Govan who says the recent crop of women are ruining the reality show.

Govan -- who was axed from the show after Season 2 -- tells us she's got a serious beef with show creator Shaunie O'Neal ... explaining, "I feel like she didn't keep [the show] in the basketball creed."

"She shoulda kept 'Basketball Wives,' basketball wives" ... adding, "There coulda been a 'Housewives or a Ho' show for everybody else later."

Clearly, Laura is talking about cast members like Draya Michele (ex-GF of football player Orlando Scandrick) and Sunday Carter (who reportedly had a daughter with married ex-NBA star Larry Hughes.)

The real estate market MUST be getting better ... because a big-time realtor from "Million Dollar Listing NY" is feeling awfully generous -- giving his employees in Stockholm a free trip to Miami.

Fredrik Eklund -- who commutes between his homes in Stockholm and NYC -- posted a photo of some pretty happy workers in Sweden -- where he opened a real estate biz four years ago.

Eklund tells TMZ his company's sold so much property .... he decided to drop around $150K to fly 40 employees to Miami ... where they'll live like rock stars -- fancy dinners, boat tours and nights on the town. It's not all fun and games though -- they'll do a little work, too.

Finnigan blasted Bieber's recent Instagram video ... which made fun of crack and alcohol addict Rocky Lockridge for crying during his rehab session with her.

The addiction specialist tore into Biebs even more, "We can only pray that when, not if, Justin needs an intervention ... that someone as loving as Rocky's family will be there for him."

In Justin's defense -- the clip of Rocky crying went viral after it aired back in '10 ... becoming the brunt of YouTube jokes.

"Love & Hip Hop" star K. Michelle is finally getting a taste of her own medicine -- at least in the slapping department -- because the IRS just hit her hard.

Uncle Sam has filed a $52,415.09 tax lien against K. -- who famously slapped her co-star MiMi Faust this year -- claiming she didn't muster up enough tax dough in the years 2008 ($47,710.46) and 2009 ($4,704.63).

2008 was a big year for K. -- her singing career took off when she signed with Jive records. In 2009, she released a single with Missy Elliott. Things slowed down afterward, until she signed on for "Love" in 2012.

As the saying goes ... mo' money, mo' problems.

Bethenny Frankel and soon-to-be ex-hubby Jason Hoppy can't pull a Watergate on each other anymore, because a judge has now prohibited them from secretly recording each other ... and for good reason.

Sources connected to the former couple tell TMZ ... since their separation, Jason has secretly recorded Bethenny on both video and audio. What's more ... we're told he also recorded their nanny and the Skinny Girl staff, working out of Bethenny's home-office. And, we're told Jason has gotten into the emails of Bethenny and her staff.

Our sources say the recordings don't go both ways -- Bethenny has never recorded Jason.

TMZ has learned ... the judge has ordered both Jason and Bethenny NOT use tape recorders, cell phones or computers to record each other. They're also prohibited from recording the nanny. And they're prohibited from intercepting emails.

We've learned the judge ordered Bethenny and Jason to ante up any video or audio recordings by October 15. That should be interesting.

Anyone miss Nixon?

The badass log-slinging helicopter pilot from Season 3 of History Channel's "Ax Men" has been killed in a bizarre chopper accident ... and authorities are still not sure exactly what went wrong.

54-year-old William Bart Colantuono -- who flew a logging helicopter for a company called R&R Logging -- died while piloting his 'copter in an Oregon forest Tuesday. As usual, he had been using the helicopter to haul logs out of the forest.

Witnesses told police they saw William release his logs shortly before impact, indicating he knew there was a problem.

Witnesses said they also saw the rotor separate from the helicopter before the aircraft flipped and crashed upside down. The accident is still under investigation.

More smack talk in the war between two former "Biggest Loser" co-stars -- this time Jillian Michaels is firing back at Cara Castronuova with some good ol' fashioned venom-laced sarcasm.

We broke the story ... Cara -- who was a trainer on the show -- ripped Jillian apart over Michaels' poor showing at the Malibu triathlon earlier this month, calling her an embarrassment.

This weekend, Michaels returned to Malibu -- where she offered up some brand new excuses for her abysmal showing (bad wet suit, bike problems, a horse?) and vowed to do better in the race next year.

Then, it was open season on Cara.

"Big Brother" star Britney Haynes -- who competed on the show in 2010 and 2012 -- has revealed her 2-month-old daughter has been diagnosed with cancer.

The 27-year-old reality star, along with her husband Ryan Godwin, broke the news on Facebook ... writing, "On September 1st, we were among the daily 720 sets of parents to be absolutely devastated with a Childhood Cancer diagnosis."

Britney's daughter, Tilly, was born on July 13.

Haynes continued, "Please take the time to pray for all these children, our sweet baby included. We appreciate each and every one."

Over the weekend, Britney tweeted a photo of Tilly -- writing, "Thank you for all of the thoughts, wishes, and prayers for my precious girl. She's everything to me."

Former "The Voice" finalist Jamar Rogers is staying positive following his stint in an intensive care unit at an L.A. hospital -- sending TMZ a pic in which he's smiling and giving a big thumbs up.

It's a great sign considering Rogers -- who is HIV positive -- was in a bad place earlier this month after suffering a nasty lung infection.

At one point during his hospital stay, doctors determined Rogers was in critical condition -- but he's doing better now ... and was recently moved out of the ICU.

Jamar tells us, “They still have me on oxygen but they have lowered it. My body is still super weak but my mind is really strong.”

We're told Jamar has lost a bunch of weight over the past few days -- mainly because he's living on a Jello diet -- but everyone's optimistic that he'll be healthy and singing again in no time.

'Real Housewives' star Adrienne Maloof goes through men faster than chili fries -- because right after we saw her spat with one much younger bf, she found herself a brand new ... much younger bf!

Cougars gotta eat.

Gia Allemand's mother believes her daughter's menstrual cycle was responsible for the extreme emotional turmoil that drove Gia to suicide last month.

Donna Micheletti -- who was on the phone with the former "Bachelor" star when she hanged herself -- described her final moments with her daughter to Dr. Phil, explaining Gia had a history of drastic mood swings around the time of her period.

Donna said, "At that point, with how she felt with her menstrual cycle, she could not see clearly ... It was like night and day. It would come out of nowhere. All of a sudden, something would click in there and she would say 'This isn't right. He doesn't love me.'"

Donna acknowledged that Gia had been upset for various reasons -- including recent fights with her boyfriend and father -- but believes the hormonal extremes are what ultimately drove Gia over the edge.

The father/son gator huntin' duo from "Swamp People" are no bottle-smashing bad guys ... in fact, they were the REAL victims in a mini-mart attack in Louisiana last week, so says a rep for the reality stars.

As we previously reported, R.J. and Jay Paul Molinere were arrested this weekend after an altercation with a 24-year-old man that began on a nearby highway. The guy claimed the Molineres followed him into a nearby market and broke a beer bottle over his head.

But the Molineres claim they did NOTHING wrong ... and their rep says they were merely the victims in an aggravated assault carried out by "someone who is now seeking fame and notoriety."

The rep adds, "It's important for their fans to know that the Molineres are the same good-natured, faith-based family they've always been."

Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino says his addiction to prescription painkillers began after suffering a neck injury on "Dancing with the Stars" back in 2010 ... and he's still battling to stay sober.

We broke the story ... Sitch checked into rehab back in March 2012 -- and after his people initially insisted the MTV star was just suffering from exhaustion, they eventually admitted he was hooked on opiates.

Now, 32-year-old Situation is talking about his battle with prescription drugs ... telling the AP his addiction was so bad, he could barely dress himself.

"All I had to do was get dressed for a family function and I couldn’t do that. The shirt was laid out, the belt, the pants, everything. The shower was on. I couldn’t even get out of bed."

Sitch says it was at that moment, he realized he had a problem -- "If I can’t [get dressed], how am I going to continue?”

The former "Jersey Shore" star says he's still taking medication for his injury -- but undergoes counseling to keep his addiction in check.

He's also a paid spokesman for the company that makes his pills -- and participates in a program that helps spread awareness about opiate prescription painkiller addictions.

Justin Bieber's "Lil" BFFs are officially on the hunt for an MTV reality show ... and, naturally, they're trying to rope JB into the action ... TMZ has learned.

We spoke to Lil Za on his way out of Pick Up Stix in Calabasas this weekend ... and in between mouthfulls of Chicken Chow Mein, Za spilled the beans.

"Twist is actually about to pitch a TV show with MTV," Za told us ... "Hopefully they pick it up. They will though ... it's quite entertaining."

Za says the show will focus on Lil Twist's aspiring rap career ... and claims Bieber will most likely make a few appearances "here and there" when he's not on tour.

We're told Za is also trying to break into acting -- and has reached out to Bieber for advice -- since JB did a real bang up job the last time he graced the small screen ...

"Biggest Loser" mega-trainer Jillian Michaels shocked everyone at the Malibu Triathlon -- by totally sucking at, y'know ... being in shape and stuff.

Why choose to succeed when failure is an option, right JM?

Apparently, TV scientists stick together like H2 and O (covalent bond joke!) ... 'cause TMZ has learned Beakman (from "Beakman's World") is rooting for Bill Nye on "Dancing with the Stars."

... sorta.

We spoke with Paul Zaloom a.k.a. Beakman ... who tell us he's fired up for his fellow oddball science educator saying, "I hope Bill reps for scientists and shows everyone we can shake our booties too!"

Now for the "sorta" part ... Beakman says he doesn't watch broadcast television ... so he won't actually tune in when Nye hits the dance floor.

As for Mr. Wizard, it's unclear who he's rooting for ... because he died in 2007.