Reality TV

"Dancing with the Stars" is looking more like musical chairs after Tyra Banks almost saved a couple that, based on votes, should've been on the chopping block ... and somewhere Steve Harvey's laughing.

During Monday night's week 4 elimination, the new 'DWTS' host read off 10 names of couples who were safe to move on -- but when it came time to name the bottom 2 pairs, Tyra flubbed it.

It was awkward ... Vernon Davis and Peta Murgatroyd, Anne Heche and Keo Motsepe and a third couple were all on stage as Tyra and co. realized the mistake simultaneously. Two of the couples on stage were actually safe, and they brought back "Cheer" star Monica Aldama and her partner Val Chmerkovskiy to get under the spotlight with Anne and Keo ... as the correct bottom 2 vote-getters.

Confusing? Yeah, just watch, and know Anne and Keo eventually got the boot. The real entertainment came from the blame game -- Tyra at first blamed an error in the control room, but then seemed to take the blame herself, saying she was just reading off her flashcards.

Bad as it was, it wasn't as colossal of a screw-up as when Steve botched the Miss Universe winner, or when the Academy gave Best Picture to the wrong movie in 2017 -- much bigger stages.

Tyra took to IG after the show to further explain, saying there was a technical difficulty and that the names on the cards she was reading were actually the wrong ones ... so not really her problem after all. She was graceful about it, though, adding they got past it as a team.

Cassie Randolph's war with Colton Underwood is now in the hands of law enforcement ... TMZ's learned she filed a report claiming he put a tracking device on her car.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Cassie went to the L.A. County Sheriff's Department Wednesday night to file a complaint about the allegation she first made against the 'Bachelor' star in her request for a restraining order against him.

Cassie's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, tells TMZ ... "It was her intention to first, try and work through this process privately in a manner that gives both her and Colton safety, security and respect. We are confident this is possible."

TMZ broke the story ... Cassie alleged Colton planted a tracking device, and that her brother found it taped to the bottom of her car's back bumper. She claimed he was trying to track her whereabouts long after they had broken up.

She made other claims about him showing up uninvited to her L.A. apartment and her parents' house in Huntington Beach. The judge signed off on Cassie's restraining order, and Colton's been ordered to stay away.

Brody Jenner gave MTV his filming preference -- he'd only resume filming "The Hills: New Beginnings" if it's shot in L.A. and nowhere else, and guess what? The network said okay.

Production sources tell TMZ ... other cast members were willing to leave LaLa land and film in a bubble at a house that would house the full cast, similar to what they do in "Big Brother" and "Jersey Shore: Family Vacation." Some of the locations being considered ... Colorado and Montana. But, Brody was NOT having it.

We're told in early August, Brody's team started conversations with the network and insisted he'd only film the show in L.A. We're told he explained the show's supposed to be about cast members and their lives revolving around the things they do in L.A., not some random location outside of SoCal.

Brody also told the network he'd be willing to wait and resume production of season 2 until there was a vaccine for COVID-19. The pandemic shut down the season 3 episodes in.

We're told MTV continued pressuring Brody into relenting ... but Brody put his foot down.

Finally, MTV came back to him one last time and when Brody AGAIN said no to filming outside of L.A., MTV gave in, realizing it couldn't do the show without him. We're told season 2 will resume production in L.A. in the next 2 to 4 weeks.

Kourtney Kardashian is NOT carrying her fourth child with Scott Disick, despite some strong speculation she's pregnant.

As you know ... the trailer for "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" season 19 dropped last month, insinuating Kourtney and Scott are back together and she's having his baby.

Kourtney's recent Instagram post, featuring a shadow some eagle-eyed fans thought looked like a baby bump, kept the rumor mill churning ... but we've learned that's simply NOT the case.

Sources close to Kourtney tell TMZ ... she is not pregnant again and she's happy being a mother of 3. As for the 'KUWTK' scene, we're told it was taken out of context as a teaser.

Bottom line ... our sources say Kourtney and Scott are not together as a couple, they're just very good friends and co-parents.

"Love Island" cast member Noah Purvis was suddenly no longer a resident, and it's because of some of his old racy videos and photos ... he confirms with TMZ.

The rumors began to swirl when viewers noticed Noah was absent from the villa a couple weeks back, and CBS later addressed it, claiming he "provided false information on his application ... which violates his contestant agreement."

Noah explains the situation in more detail though, telling us the producers informed him they learned about an alias he used in the past while shooting adult videos and photos ... and at that point, he knew he was screwed.

Noah says he'd forgotten about the porn and even told producers he was promised it would never surface, but it did ... and "Love Island" didn't love it and gave him the ax.

As for why he chose to dabble in porn ... Noah says it was mostly for the money, but he also hoped it would gain him some exposure with producers.

Ironically it did ... but not in the way he hoped.

Here's a couple of Joe Exotic's former zookeepers making their first dive into commercials ... a hilarious 'Tiger King' spoof with Todd Bridges as their old boss!!!

Saff Saffery and John Reinke -- who were featured in 'Tiger King' and used to care for the big cats at Joe's GW Zoo -- star in the ad for Insurance King, opposite the "Diff'rent Strokes" star doing his best Exotic impression.

The 'Tiger King' references are everywhere ... from the tiger roars, to Todd dropping infamous Joe quotes and rocking his signature mullet. Oh, and eagle-eyed viewers will notice the Insurance Company logo, which usually features a lion, swapped out for a tiger wearing a crown.

As we first told you ... Saff and John reunited for the first time in 3 years this week in Rockford, IL, celebrating Carole Baskin's 'DWTS' exit and meeting Todd ahead of the commercial shoot.

Tim Allen and his good buddy Richard Karn are providing a sweet dose of nostalgia for '90s kids ... filming together again for a show they'll co-host together.

The "Home Improvement" stars are working together again for the competition show "Assembly Required" on the History channel. Richard was so excited about the reunion, he posted a pic. If you have any doubts about how much fans wanna see 'em back together -- it racked up nearly 20,000 likes in just a few minutes!

Tim might have given just a smirk for the pic, but he's been excited about this since back in August when he announced they were gonna be doing the show. As he put it then, "I created a competition show with @History and my old buddy @TheRichardKarn to challenge the people who love to get stuff done!"

The series -- which doesn't have a premiere date yet -- will feature builders from across the country who are tasked to fix all kinds of household items.

For those of you too young ... Tim and Richard's "Home Improvement" was a hit sitcom on ABC from 1991 to 1999. Since then, Richard has guest-starred on Tim's "Last Man Standing" -- but this new series is the closest we've come to a "Home Improvement" reboot.

The treasure trove of Kobe Bryant memorabilia found in an abandoned storage locker has been returned to the NBA star's family, TMZ Sports has learned.

We broke the story ... someone recently won an auction for an abandoned locker in L.A. -- like a scene out of "Storage Wars" -- which contained everything from Kobe Bryant shoes to jerseys and even a mink coat from a photoshoot.

In total, there were 35 pairs of shoes, jerseys, Lakers practice gear, a Lakers all-access badge that says, "Mamba," tax paperwork and more.

The buyer ended up selling the items to "Storage Wars" star Rene Nezhoda for roughly $13,000 ... and the original plan was to make a fortune on the open market.

But, we're told Vanessa Bryant learned about the auction and felt the items belonged with the Bryant family -- so her reps reached out to Rene before he put them up for sale in hopes of working out a deal.

We spoke with Rene who tells us, "Everything has been worked out. A number of personal items, worn items, and paperwork were sold directly back to the Bryant family."

Rene wouldn't tell us the sale price because of the terms of the agreement -- but sources close to the deal say it wasn't about turning a profit, it was about getting the items back to the family in a fair way.

Towanda Braxton apparently didn't tell her family she's getting hitched ... which explains the shock her sister, Trina, and mom, Evelyn, had when a photog broke the news to them.

Trina and her mother were at LAX Wednesday when they found out about Towanda's secret, apparently, engagement to family friend and music producer Sean Hall. Check out the video ... the photog tells Trina, and the absolute surprise is written all over her face -- and then she had to break it to the Braxton matriarch.

Ya gotta see Evelyn's reaction too!

Now, the reason the photog had this info is he'd seen Towanda and Sean on Tuesday, and they let the cat out of the bag about getting married.

Somehow, it slipped their minds to clue in Trina and Evelyn ... and we gotta wonder if anyone else in the fam got the engagement alert.

Speaking of the other Braxtons ... Tamar's feud with her now ex-BF, David Adefeso, and the ensuing restraining order are still weighing on the family. Naturally.

A security guard filed a lawsuit against Kris Jenner and Kourtney Kardashian, claiming they sexually harassed him with sexual comments and overtures ... but Kris and Kourtney call it "fabricated and false fiction" by a disgruntled ex-employee.

Marc McWilliams claims he was hired in 2017 as a security guard to watch over Kris and the fam. He claims in May 2017, he became subject to "a pattern of unwanted and unwelcome sexual advances and other harassing misconduct" from Kris. Among his claims ... comments of "an overt sexual nature," comments about his physical appearance, comments about his sexual activities, and comments that he engage in a sexual relationship, among other things.

McWilliams claims, among other things, Kris massaged his neck, shoulders, arms and back without his consent, caused her hand to rest on his thigh and groin, caused her pelvis to rub against his back and/or rear end, and claims she exposed portions of her body to him. He also claims she made "lewd suggestive, sexual, sexist, racist, homophobic and otherwise discriminatory comments at him and his co-workers."

He claims Jenner then engaged in a pattern of conduct "involving non-consensual physical contact" with him. He says he complained to the H.R. dept. of his security company but the complaints were ignored.

Kris' lawyer, Marty Singer, tells TMZ, "Kris categorically denies ever behaving inappropriately toward Marc McWilliams. The security guard worked outside the house and he never even went into Kris' house."

Singer goes on ... "Kris had very little interaction with him. After the guard was repeatedly caught sleeping in his car while on the job, the security company was asked not to assign him to work there in the future."

As for why he's suing Kourtney as well ... he claims she was also responsible for what he claims is retaliation.

Singer goes on to say ... "The guard never made any complaints to his employer about Kris until contriving this ludicrous claim." He adds, "Although Kourtney is named in the suit, she is not accused of doing anything improper with the guard, nor did she do so."

There's also this ... McWilliams was a founding member and a close friend of R. Kelly. The two founded the music group MGM in the late '80s and McWilliams was also listed as a part of the "Surviving R. Kelly" series.

As for Singer, he ends by saying ... "It is outrageous that anyone can sue anyone in America and believe there is no recourse when pursuing fictional and meritless claims. When Kris and Kourtney defeat this ridiculous, frivolous lawsuit they intend to immediately sue McWilliams and his attorneys for malicious prosecution."

Carole Baskin's reality TV dreams are keeping her in Hollywood, but we're told her animal rescue center won't take a hit while she's on the other side of the country.

The 'Tiger King' star was booted from "Dancing with the Stars" Monday, and now she's setting her sights on shopping a new reality show about animal exploitation ... but fear not, our sources say Carole's Big Cat Rescue is in good hands.

Sources close to Carole tell TMZ ... her daughter, Jaime, runs the animal care part of BCR -- Carole's mainly been doing advocacy anyway -- so the exotic animals at the Tampa sanctuary won't suffer while Carole's away.

We're told Jaime's overseeing hundreds of volunteers at the sanctuary, and they handle the day-to-day animal care, so that essential function's not in peril.

The volunteers are super valuable right now ... our sources say Carole and her husband, Howard, were among the 10 staff members who were laid off at Big Cat Rescue when the pandemic hit, and the rescue still can't hire any more staff to help out.

Carole and Howard are still working full time advocating for Big Cat Rescue, we're told, but they aren't collecting a paycheck at this point.

Fact is ... Carole's got other revenue streams anyways. She had a busy stint on 'DWTS' and now she's producing and starring in a reality show she's actively shopping.

Our sources say the show is primarily about the work Carole and Howard have been undertaking for years -- tracking down animal abusers, exposing them and bringing them to justice through the legal system -- only now there's a film crew in tow.

Kylie Jenner's cosmetics company blasted out an alarming email, letting its customers know there's been a security breach with Shopify -- the company that manages its e-commerce platform.

Kylie Cosmetics says Shopify informed them the "security incident" affected names, addresses, emails, product orders, and even the last four digits of the credit card for potentially impacted customers.

Shopify says less than 200 companies were hit in the breach, and its investigation found that it was the result of 2 rogue support team members engaging "in a scheme to obtain customer transactional records of certain merchants."

Shopify says it immediately shut down access to its network to those 2 individuals and is now working with law enforcement -- including the FBI -- in their "investigation of these criminal acts."

On the bright side ... Shopify confirms what Kylie's company email says -- full payment details were not compromised, and any orders placed on the Kylie Cosmetics site, at this time, are safe and secure.

Still, it sounds pretty serious, and Kylie Cosmetics says its customers' trust is all-important, so it's making an effort to be as forthcoming as possible.

Shopify -- one of the world’s leading commerce platforms, powering more than a million businesses worldwide -- claims ... "This incident was not the result of a technical vulnerability in our platform, and the vast majority of merchants using Shopify are not affected."

Nevertheless, the company insists it does not take these events lightly.

"Cake Boss" Buddy Valastro is sparing no details of his horrific bowling accident, but says the gruesome injury's left him more grateful than ever ... for his family and the doctors who saved him.

Jersey's other Boss joined "TMZ Live" Tuesday to give his account of the freak bowling accident, telling us he's got a long road to recovery ahead due to severe tendon, nerve and muscle damage to his right hand.

Word of warning ... if you're enjoying a piece of cake -- or any food -- right now, finish up before watching Buddy's description of the pinsetter machine impaling his hand.

As we reported ... Buddy was bowling with his fam on their at-home alley and tried to fix the malfunctioning pinsetter. Buddy said the "blunt force" he felt as a metal rod repeatedly rammed through his hand was by far the worst pain he's ever felt.

He also revealed it wasn't just his hand that was severely injured 😬 ... and gushed about the amazing job his family did to free him from the evil machine to get him to a hospital.

As for the road to recovery ... the "Cake Boss" told us it's gonna be a long one -- but he said it's giving him a newfound appreciation for the medical pros doing miraculous work to fix his hand.

Sounds like renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. Michelle Carlson can expect a Christmas card, and probably a cake too!

The long-nailed woman who allegedly stole Kyle Richards' ring has pretty solid proof she's been wrongly accused, and wants an "I'm sorry" from the 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' star.

Diana French is a retired pharmacy clerk from L.A. who went viral -- well, her hands did anyway -- after, for some strange reason, actress Diane Keaton shared a photo of her hands ... calling Diana's black nails "too much" and claiming she's a fortune teller.

The nails are up for debate, but Diana says the fortune teller thing is untrue.

Anyway, Richards saw Keaton's post, and believed she recognized one of the rings Diana's wearing as her mom's stolen ring ... which got swiped back in December 2017 when Kyle and her husband's home was hit by burglars.

After Diana went viral for all the wrong reasons ... her granddaughter took to TikTok to clear her name.

She also defended herself by going on "Inside Edition" with even more proof the ring belongs to her ... including old photos of her wearing it, and the original appraisal from FORTY years ago.

Kyle had gone public with her search for the stolen ring, but to be fair, she never accused French of theft. She thought French might have purchased the ring from a pawn shop, and was going to offer to buy it back from her.

Kyle Richards and her husband, Mauricio Umansky, aren't split, separated or heading for divorce, because -- brace yourself for this -- sometimes social media rumors are just that.

Sources directly connected to the couple tell TMZ ... "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star and her real estate agent hubby are not only doing well in their marriage -- they feel closer than ever due to the pandemic.

If ya hadn't heard ... a single tweet by a reality TV fan speculated Kyle and Mauricio were separated, and that's why her sister, Kathy Hilton, is in talks to join the cast. The unfounded theory caught fire 'cause that's what the Internet does.

We're told the fan is just dead wrong, and the couple has been happily spending more time together since COVID-19 changed the way we all live. Well, not all of us live this way -- while they're working from home together, they've been bouncing between their pads in L.A., Palm Springs and Aspen.

In fact, Kyle and Mauricio were all over each other Monday after a bike ride in Aspen. They also recently took a trip to Cabo together.

Our sources say Kyle's enjoying a break from shooting 'RHOBH' as well because production of the show takes up so many hours -- so she and Mauricio are making the most of it.

A Texas Sheriff featured on "Live PD" is now facing charges of evidence tampering -- he's accused of deleting video of cops chasing a Black man who died in custody.

Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody was indicted Monday by a grand jury ... and turned himself in to the county jail, which he also oversees.

Williamson County D.A. Shawn Dick and Travis County D.A. Margaret Moore launched a joint investigation back in June after body cam footage, obtained by KVUE-TV, showed Javier Ambler's fatal interaction with police. "Live PD" reportedly destroyed footage of the deadly chase.

Jason Nassour, the former Williamson County general counsel who was also at the scene of Ambler's March 2019 death, was also indicted on a felony charge of evidence tampering.

The indictments came down after weeks of grand jury investigation, including testimony from sheriff's deputies who were at the scene when Ambler died.

Prosecutors say they can't share what they've learned about Sheriff Chody's role in destroying footage -- it's an ongoing case.

Ambler died after Sheriff's deputies Zach Camden and J.J. Johnson pursued him for 22 minutes in a chase that started when Ambler didn't dim his headlights.

During the pursuit, Ambler's car crashed multiple times before coming to a stop in a North Austin neighborhood. Cops used tasers 4 times on him as he struggled for air, screaming about a heart condition and saying he couldn't breathe. Minutes later he died.

"Live PD" crews followed the deputies and cameras were rolling during the encounter, and there's police body camera footage. Prosecutors say the "Live PD" video likely showed the clearest perspective of the deadly incident.

The A&E reality show was scrapped just days after the Austin Statesman reported the Ambler footage was destroyed. That decision came during the height of nationwide protests against police brutality in the wake of George Floyd's death.

The contract between "Live PD" and Williamson County reportedly allowed the show to destroy unaired footage within 30 days, unless it was required to be retained by a court order or other state or federal law.

Former "Live PD" host Dan Abrams claimed on his website, sheriff's officials asked producers to save the video initially. Abrams says 2 months after Ambler's death, Sheriff Chody told producers the investigation was over and producers destroyed the footage.