Reality TV

Colton Underwood -- former star of "The Bachelor" is opening up about his sexuality ... telling the world he's gay.

Colton opened up to Robin Roberts on "Good Morning America" saying ... "I've ran from myself for a long time. I've hated myself for a long time ... and I'm gay. And I came to terms with that earlier this year and have been processing it. And the next step in all of this was sort of letting people know."

Underwood added, "I got into a place for me in my personal life that was dark and bad and I can list a bunch of different things but they'd all be excuses ... I would have rather died than say I'm gay and I think that was sort of my wake-up call."

Colton said it was so bad he thought of taking his life ... "There was a moment in L.A. where I woke up and I didn't think I was going to wake up. I didn't have the intention of waking up and I did. And I think for me that was my wake-up call ... this is your life, take back control."

As 'Bachelor' fans know ... Colton's virginity became a hot topic when he appeared on Becca Kufrin's season of "The Bachelorette" in 2018. Of course, this storyline continued when he became the 'Bachelor' for Season 23 ... but there was a lot more drama than that.

Colton notoriously jumped a gate during filming in the middle of his season and threatened to leave the show, but ultimately decided to return. He wound up choosing Cassie Randolph, though the 2 never got engaged and -- as we reported -- had a very messy breakup.

In his GMA interview, Colton said he was sorry for how things ended with Cassie, and that he truly loved everything about her, which made things more difficult. He says he remembers thanking God once he was picked as 'The Bachelor' because he believed his prayers to be straight had been answered.

Also worth noting -- Colton stated in his March 2020 memoir, "The First Time," his time on "The Bachelor" actually helped him realize he WASN'T gay. He said he questioned his sexuality in his early 20s ... the result of being bullied growing up. The bullies said he was gay, and he says he believed it.

A group of popular women in the country music world have folks whispering about a "Real Housewives of Nashville" series, and while TMZ's learned the buzz is a little premature ... it's not far from the truth.

Several of these ladies -- including country star Jana Kramer and Jason Aldean's sister, Kasi Wicks (Chuck Wicks' wife) -- have been teasing on social media that they're filming something together ... something that seems like it could fit in the 'Housewives' canon.

Sources with direct knowledge of the project confirm with us that yes ... these women -- Sabina Gadecki (Tyler Rich's wife), and Jenna Perdue (wife of Dee Jay Silver) -- are shooting a pilot for an ensemble show that's in development.

Our sources said Jason Aldean's wife, Brittany, may have also been involved in the project, but she seemingly shut that down on social media Monday night.

We're told NBC is handling the production, which is currently filming with the women in Nashville ... but it's NOT guaranteed to be part of the 'Housewives' franchise. In fact, our sources say it would likely end up on one of NBC's other networks -- like E! or Peacock -- instead of Bravo.

What's interesting is ... all the buzz being generated by Kramer and the Aldean's sister on social media is coming despite nothing official from the network. We're told no contracts have been signed, and there's been no green light for a series.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is sending his love and support to "The Challenge" star Ashley Cain ... as doctors say his 8-month-old daughter only has days to live.

Ashley and his wife posted the video message Dwayne sent to them just days after they got the heart-wrenching prognosis for their baby girl, Azaylia. The Rock said, "Brother, I'm so sorry to hear this news. My heart breaks for you."

But, he also sent words of encouragement, saying ... "You tell that little lion I said, 'Let's go Champ, and to stay strong."

Ashley -- who was a UK soccer player before joining MTV's hit reality series -- and his girlfriend announced last week little Azaylia was battling leukemia and had tumors on several of her organs.

His fans, in Great Britain and the States, are showing incredible support. The family started a GoFundMe for Azaylia's medical bills, and it's already raised nearly $1.8 million.

Henry Cavill's got a new girlfriend!!! And he said so himself.

The "Superman" stud introduced GF Natalie Viscuso to his followers, although a bunch of you probably know her already. She was featured on "Super Sweet 16" back in 2005. It's a show about rich kids and their birthday parties. On the show, she somewhat famously said, "I deserve everything I have because I've always been the nice girl, never just the rich girl."

As for Henry, he posted a pic of them going at it in a game of chess, with the caption, "This is me looking quietly confident shortly before my beautiful and brilliant love Natalie, destroys me at chess."

Braunwyn Windham-Burke, the first real housewife to come out as lesbian, has reached another couple of firsts ... her first breakup with her first girlfriend.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the 'Real Housewives of Orange County' star called off her romantic relationship with Kris over a month ago, and the split was amicable.

We're told Braunwyn and Kris, who met on a dating app, remain friends and their relationship didn't end abruptly ... it was a typical end to any relationship that simply runs its course.

TMZ broke the story ... Braunwyn and Kris were all over each other during a WeHo lunch date in November, not long after she came out.

Since the split, our sources say Braunwyn continues to date other women, but she's not in any committed relationships. We're told she's still finding her footing after coming out.

While Braunwyn's seeing other women, she remains married to her husband, Sean Burke, and we're told they still have no plans to divorce after 20 years of marriage and 7 children together.

Move over, Kylie Jenner ... Kim Kardashian's pockets are actually much deeper than Forbes estimated, she says her SKIMS line is worth more than a billion dollars ... making her the richest of the Kardashian-Jenners.

In an interview with the New York Times, Kim revealed her successful shapewear line, SKIMS, has a valuation of $1.6 BILLION!!! That's a huge number in and of itself, but what's truly significant about it is that Forbes estimated its value at a mere $500 million. Now ya get it, right?

The SKIMS value -- which Kim credits to an influx of $154 million in funding -- more than triples the value of the company, and she's still its biggest shareholder. So, although Forbes put Kim's net worth at a nice, neat $1 bil, it's actually much higher than that ... according to NYT.

Meanwhile, Kim's little sis, Kylie, is no longer even in the billionaire club. Don't get us wrong, there's NO reason to cry for Kylie -- Forbes has her new net worth at $700 million -- but the new numbers do reset the family rankings.

As we reported, Kim told us this week ... she fully expects ALL of her siblings, and probably some of their kids too, to eventually achieve billionaire status.

Travis Barker went ahead and did it -- he got the name of his current squeeze tattooed on his body ... close to his heart, too.

The Blink-182 drummer's been seeing Kourtney Kardashian for a few months now, but he just took things to another level with some permanent ink ... right above his left nipple.

Barker's new "Kourtney" tat was visible on his chest Thursday in Hollywood, as he was getting off a Starline Tours bus where he was shooting a music video with KennyHoopla. The firstborn Kardashian sister's name appears to be etched over one of his previous tattoos.

Though this seems to be Travis' first official tat dedicated to his GF, some fans believe a tattoo he gave himself last month might have been meant for her as well.

He inked himself up with the words, "You're So Cool," an apparent reference to the film "True Romance" ... and not only that, but folks think the font he used was Kourtney's handwriting.

Kris Jenner is gonna love this ... Kim Kardashian says her family will have even more members joining the triple comma club in the future!!!

We got Kim at The Grove in Los Angeles Wednesday and our photog asked about her latest accomplishment, making it onto Forbes' official list of billionaires.

Kim says she's feeling blessed to have finally reached the milestone, thanks in large part to her KKW Beauty and SKIMS brands, and she sounds pretty confident she and Kylie Jenner won't be the only billionaires in the fam when the dust settles.

Kim was at the outdoor mall, btw, promoting SKIMS ... so, she's not taking her foot off the gas just because she's got a billie in the bank.

We asked who she thinks will be next up in the club for the Kardashian-Jenners, and she gave it some good hard thought. We suggested her mom, Kris, or maybe Kendall Jenner -- but Kim's thinking bigger, and says the bucks won't stop with those two!!!

No pressure or anything for Khloe, Kourtney and Rob. Not to mention North, Saint, Chicago, Psalm and -- well, we're not gonna run down ALL her nieces and nephews too. You get the point.

'Real Housewives of Potomac' star Candiace Dillard no longer has to answer questions about living in a townhouse partially paid for by her mom ... 'cause she's sold it.

Candiace sold her Maryland pad for a cool $799k and talk about location, location, location -- the 3-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom crib is just 15 minutes outside of D.C. It's a stately 4-story property for sure, but Candiace could hardly enjoy it with her own castmates giving her crap about the fact her mother, Dorothy, helped foot the bill for it.

During an episode in season 4 ... Ashley Darby made a reference to Candiace's "momma's house," prompting all hell to break loose. There were times when other cast members also made sly remarks about how Candiace didn't fully own her own home.

For what it's worth, Candace later revealed she and her husband, Chris, took over the mortgage payments in full.

And, get this ... she and Chris dropped $1 mil last November for a new house, something she made crystal clear during the season 5 reunion. Candiace said, "It was purchased by myself and my husband."

In a nice jab at her castmates, Candiace added ... "My mother was generous enough to donate a rubber plant."

In any case, her old crib's off the market now, and the new owner can enjoy its 2,960 square feet ... even if their mother chipped in for it!

California native Roger Lodge is best known for his hosting chops in the late '90s and early '00s -- while thrusting two willing singles into a wild date night with crazy co-eds -- on the classic dating game show "Blind Date."

"Blind Date" was a pioneer in the dating game reality television show genre and really opened up programming to the seemingly endless shows that followed after "Blind Date's" success including: "Date My Mom," "Next," "DisMissed," "ElimiDate," "Taildaters," "Room Raiders," "Parental Control" and many more terribly awesome reality shows.

Roger Lodge now stays busy hosting a Los Angeles Angels radio program The SportsLodge on AM830 and raises two children.

Bethenny Frankel could soon be doing backflips into a huge stash of cash ... because it looks like she's flipping a mansion in one of America's richest cities.

'The Big Shot with Bethenny' star is listing a 5-bedroom estate in Greenwich, CT for a cool $3,375,000 ... putting the home on the market after scooping it up last year.

The two-story house is 4,698 square feet and the master suite comes with vaulted ceilings, a fireplace, seating area and a private balcony. The master bath features a walk-in shower, freestanding tub and double sinks.

There's another fireplace in the living room, which includes a couple sets of French doors opening up to a stone terrace, which overlooks the large, oval pool in the 2.1-acre yard.

Bethenny's big into real estate, and she's flipping this property apparently for a handsome profit ... she bought it back in 2020 for $2.1 million.

"OutDaughtered" star Michelle "Mimi" Theriot should be able to get the stink of her DUI arrest off her ... if she can obey court orders for a year.

Mimi's entered a diversion program stemming from her October DUI bust in Texas. It's 1-year community supervision for first-time offenders ... and Mimi's happy with it.

According to Theriot's agreement with the DA ... she can't drink alcohol or use controlled substances for a year. In fact, she has to stay clear of bars. She must also complete 24 hours of community service, along with a DWI education program.

And, there's more. Mimi must submit to random drug testing. And, the kicker ... she can't break any laws. If she checks all the boxes, her case will be dismissed.

We broke the story ... Grandma Mimi got arrested in League City, TX after cops say she was swerving on the road and was slow to stop when they tried pulling her over.

During the stop, cops say there was a strong odor of perfume wafting from her SUV ... something cops say is common for people trying to conceal odors.

"Big Ang" star Linda Torres is dead after contracting the coronavirus.

Big Ang's sister, Janine Detore, tells TMZ ... Linda died Thursday at Staten Island University Hospital, not long after learning she had COVID-19.

We're told Linda, who also had a few cameos on "Mob Wives," was placed on a ventilator after doctors diagnosed her with the deadly virus, but it wasn't enough to help her pull through.

Linda had underlying medical conditions making her more at risk for a fatal case of COVID-19 -- besides her age, we're told she had breast cancer, and recently had surgery to implant a chemo port.

We're told Linda's daughters were taking care of her after the surgery, and when she developed a fever they took her back to the hospital thinking the chemo port was getting infected, and that's when Linda tested positive for COVID.

It's been 5 years since Big Ang passed after battling throat cancer.

Linda's family and friends were keeping the faith, and remained hopeful to the end that she could beat the virus.

She was 67.

'Real Housewives of Salt Lake City' star Jen Shah is out on bond from federal custody following her arrest for wire fraud ... but there are some big strings attached.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... Shah is banned from traveling outside of Utah without permission, had to forfeit her passport so she can't leave the U.S. and she can't use her credit cards without prior permission either.

In addition, she's prohibited from transferring any assets worth more than $10k, and of course ... can't engage in any telemarketing activities while out on bond.

As we reported ... the 'Housewife' was busted by the feds Tuesday in Salt Lake City and is facing a conspiracy to commit wire fraud charge and a conspiracy to commit money laundering charge.

Shah is accused of participating in a nationwide telemarketing scheme with her assistant, Stuart Smith, in which they allegedly targeted many elderly people.

She's scheduled to appear before a federal judge Wednesday afternoon for her arraignment.

Tamar Braxton needs to shut the hell up about her ex-boyfriend's alleged infidelity, because he never cheated on her ... at least that's his story, and he wants her to get on board with it.

The singer's ex, David Adefeso, claims Tamar is straight-up lying when she says he was cheating on her with his former assistant ... and he wants her to take back her statement.

David's lawyers fired off a cease and desist letter to Tamar, claiming she damaged his reputation by recently tweeting false statements about his cheating ways, which led to several news articles he found unflattering.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, David says Tamar knew she was lying when she tweeted, and he wants her to delete it, issue a retraction and stop dragging his name through the mud.

As you know, Tamar and David are having a pretty bad breakup ... he claimed she beat the crap out of him and threatened to kill him when he was granted a temporary restraining order last September. That order was recently dissolved when neither side showed up in court and Tamar denied the allegations.

Things weren't much better when they were together ... David called 911 in July and reported Tamar's alleged suicide attempt. At the time, he claimed her WeTV beef was the reason she wanted to take her own life.

Now, David tells us he's disappointed she "continues to make fabricated accusations about our relationship and has now created a false narrative of an affair that never occurred." He also says he never gave another woman a second look when they were dating.

'Real Housewives of Salt Lake City' star Jen Shah helped support the lavish lifestyle she flaunts on the show through wire fraud and a massive telemarketing scheme ... at least according to the feds, who arrested her Tuesday.

According to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of NY ... Shah and Stuart Smith -- who's portrayed as her assistant on the reality series -- generated and sold "lead lists" of innocent people who could be targeted for their nationwide scam for about 9 years.

The feds say many of those targeted were "vulnerable, often elderly, working-class people" who were duped by the promise of business opportunities involving Shah, Smith and their alleged co-conspirators.

Both Shah and Stuart were arrested in Salt Lake City and will appear in federal court later Tuesday.

They are each charged with 1 count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing through which they victimized 10 or more persons over the age of 55. The maximum penalty for that charge is 30 years.

In addition ... they've also been hit with 1 count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.

According to the feds ... Shah and Stuart allegedly targeted and defrauded hundreds of victims before being busted by the NYPD, Homeland Security and other law enforcement officials in a joint effort.

On the debut season of 'RHOSLC' ... Jen was often seen throwing tantrums, yelling and exhibiting explosive and volatile behavior. She's really got something to be pissed about now.