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"Queer Eye" alum Tom Jackson, who appeared on the show's first season, has died of cancer ... and now fans are down a former hero.

According to his obituary, Tom died on March 3 at 11:49 PM ... after succumbing to stage 4 adenocarcinoma -- a glandular cancer, which doctors said had metastasized.

The show's official website shared the sad news Wednesday on Instagram, posting ... "It's with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to a member of our Queer Eye family. Rest in peace, Tom Jackson"

Fans will best remember Tom from season 1 of the Netflix reboot. He became a fan favorite after appearing in the premiere episode in 2018 alongside the Fab Five. He once dropped the iconic line, "You can't fix ugly."

Before his reality TV stardom he reportedly worked as a dump-truck driver in Georgia ... after he'd retired from FedEx.

Tom is survived by his 2 grandsons, 2 sisters and his daughter, who also appeared on the series.

His family said in a statement, "We will never forget our beloved Tom. He brought joy, humor, persistence, and love to our family. He is special to us, and we look forward to seeing him again one day."

They're also suggesting fans watch his episode of "Queer Eye" in his honor.

Tom was 63.

There's a new farmer dating show in town ... and the fellas looking for love in the heartland firmly believe dropping city girls into an authentic country-living experience will lead to their dream women.

We got the four farmers -- Ryan Black, Allen Foster, Hunter Grayson and Landon Heaton - hanging out in NYC ahead of the U.S. premiere of "Farmer Wants a Wife" ... and they think there's a simple reason the show's been a smash hit around the world.

The series has aired in more than 30 other countries, and resulted in 180 marriages and 410 children! The guys say giving women a genuine taste of what life is like down on the farm is a much better formula than the matchmaking vacay scenarios on most other dating shows.

The series, hosted by Jennifer Nettles, follows the four farmers on their search for love in the Midwest -- they each host a group of women who leave behind their city life for the charms and challenges of country living.

In the words of one of the farmers, the women get to see if they're biting off more than they can chew ... which of course is important when looking for lasting love.

BTW, we asked why city women and country guys are such great matches -- based on the series stats, anyway -- and they have a great answer.

Hayden Panettiere is honoring her brother in a special way on the day of his funeral ... wearing a custom jacket he designed to the service.

The Panettiere family and friends gathered Wednesday at the Palisades Presbyterian Church in Nyack, New York to celebrate and remember the life of Jansen Panettiere. Hayden wore the colorful jacket as she walked inside.

Jansen posted a photo of the jacket February 2, just a few weeks before he suddenly died. He was an artist and designer who would often share his works on his social media.

TMZ broke the story, Jansen was found dead inside his apartment in Nyack in February. According to a police report, obtained by TMZ, a friend became alarmed after he was a no-call, no-show to a business meeting.

Hayden later came out and said her brother was believed to have died from an enlarged heart, coupled with aortic valve complications.

Joe Gatto was a knight in shining armor to a woman who was being berated over a fur coat ... he's on camera coming to her defense and calling her foe a "piece of s***."

The heated exchange played out north of the border in Montreal ... and the video picks up with a woman in a fur coat being shamed over her fashion choice as she waits to cross a busy intersection with her two dogs.

Joe, the former "Impractical Jokers" star who is currently on a comedy tour ... walks over and asks the woman if she needs help, telling the anti-fur activist to quit harassing her and "stop being a piece of s***."

Joe was Johnny-on-the-spot here ... the woman's clearly flustered and is trying to explain why the fur coat doesn't make her a terrible person, and the guy's being pretty combative.

The fur debate doesn't seem to be the issue for Joe -- it's snowing out and he's not wearing a fur coat to stay warm himself -- rather, he didn't like the way the man was going after the woman.

Frankly, in this day and age, ya never know what these folks are gonna do.

The anti-fur activist Len Goldberg tells TMZ... "I'm saddened that Joe Gatto, who represents himself publicly as an animal lover, would call me a "piece of s***" when all I did was repeatedly ask this woman why she supports skinning beaver but not dogs for a status statement, instead of letting her change the subject as all fur-wearers do when I pose this question. I'm sad Joe doesn't regard these beaver, who were crushed to death for a fur coat, as being the real victims."

Joe is a big advocate for adopting dogs, at one time boasting 12 of his own ... so it's not like he's necessarily pro-fur -- he just didn't like the way the lady was treated.

Chris Rock deserved to be slapped by Will Smith at the Oscars last year, and he may even be due for another round -- so suggests one writer who focuses on Black issues.

The Root's Candace McDuffie -- a senior editorial staffer for the G/O Media-owned online publication -- came on CNN to discuss the aftermath of Chris' Netflix special ... where he eviscerated Will and Jada Pinkett Smith for the hit seen around the world in 2022.

According to her, Chris was simply being held accountable by Will at the time for attacking a Black woman -- which McDuffie says is part of a larger pattern in this country, and which she says Chris has been guilty of in his comedy even before targeting Jada's alopecia.

As for how she feels about Chris' response nearly a full 365 days later ... well, the way she's talking here -- it almost sounds like she's just as angry with Chris yet again, saying he called Jada out of her name (he didn't once say her name, but did call her a "bitch" and refer to her as a "predator" in the special). In McDuffie's eyes, CR hasn't learned his lesson.

Don Lemon ever-so-gently pushed back on McDuffie, asking how she would respond to people who might say she's advocating for violence with this take ... and that Chris should, perhaps, be afforded a pass since he was going after Jada/Will in a stand-up comedy environment.

Her final thought is this ... as much pain as Will was in during the Oscars slap -- which Chris also addressed -- McDuffie feels like Chris was hurting just as much during his own special. She says there was more rage and resentment than there was humor ... from her POV.

Of course, this view isn't exclusive to McDuffie. There are many online who feel like Chris had the slap coming -- and even more who aren't happy that he continued to tear Will/Jada down for the sake of retribution and a laugh. On the flip side, just as many loved it.🤷🏽‍♂️

Rebel Wilson had some less than kind things to say about Meghan Markle -- like she's cold as ice -- and now fans have dug deep and discovered why Meghan may have been frosty toward Rebel.

Rebel recently appeared on Andy Cohen's "Watch What Happens Live" ... recounting a meeting she had in Santa Barbara with Harry and Meghan. She says Harry was cool, but Meghan was "not naturally warm."

There may be a reason why Meghan didn't welcome Rebel with open arms, because last year at the BAFTA Awards, Rebel was presenting an award and said, "Our next package is for Outstanding British Film. From drama to horror to fantasy. Harry and Meghan's interview with Oprah had it all."

Fans jumped on Rebel's confusion, saying she should know full well why Meghan was bent out of shape.

Chris Rock and now Rebel ... jokes can be a dangerous thing.

Jeff Ross says Chris Rock is walking away with the 'W' in the Will Smith Oscars slap saga -- and he commends his friend doing so without using his hands, just a silver tongue.

We got the comedian Monday in L.A. after he'd flown back from Chris' live special in Baltimore ... and he said the whole event was just as epic as it looked and sounded on TV.

Jeff, the famed roast master, says Chris got the better of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith in the end ... and he's pretty high on how Chris handled it, even if it did take a year to address. However, he points out the special touched on a lot more than just the Smiths ... and he was impressed by its overall message.

He did have a fave bit, BTW ... the one about Beyonce and Jay-Z, which he says might be the joke of the year. We can't do it justice here -- you gotta see the special -- but it's basically about Bey being so hot she could get Jay no matter what her job was. Not so much for him, though.

Colin Farrell is back in chameleon mode ... looking like his typical debonair self one day, then a villainous Batman foe the next -- BTW, at the moment, he's focused on the latter.

The Irish actor was on set Monday in Manhattan, where production was getting underway for his new HBO spinoff show, "The Penguin" ... which is all about his titular role from 2022's "The Batman" ... the first time Colin rocked this truly unrecognizable look.

Welp, he's back in character and in costume ... and once again, you would never know this was CF at first glance. The hair, makeup and prosthetics are still on point.

His appearance is essentially the same as it was in the flick, only now ... he's getting an 8-episode series that's solely focused on him and his mob boss journey in Gotham (sans Robert Pattinson's Batman, per reports). It remains to be seen if other Bat baddies will make cameos in the show ... including Barry Keoghan's Joker, who also popped up in 'TB.'

Speaking of Barry, he's in another movie with Colin that's up for a lot of Oscars right now -- "The Banshees of Inisherin" -- and the 2 of them have been hitting the town as they gear up for Sunday's big ceremony, which they're both expected to attend.

Take a look at what Colin looked like just over a week ago ... completely different from his current state on set.

No, he didn't gain a ton of weight in a matter of days -- dude's wearing a fat suit, just as he did in 'Batman.'

Pedro Pascal says he's aware that this new hit HBO show, "The Last of Us," is getting compared to another 'Us' series ... and his response to that is, take it up with the writers.

We got the TV star Friday in WeHo, where he was signing autographs and itching to leave. Before he did, though, PP chopped it up with us for a bit ... and we asked him why 'LOU' keeps on introducing great characters that we all love, only to kill 'em off immediately?

If that sorta gut-wrenching TV sounds familiar, it's because it is ... AKA, NBC's "This Is Us," which is a real tear-jerker and also tends to write out characters at a moment's notice.

Pedro says he thinks the pain viewers are experiencing by briefly meeting/losing onscreen faves like Bill and Frank (RIP), Tess (also RIP) and most recently, Riley (maybe RIP?) is actually worth it. He doesn't really explain why ... but perhaps he knows, that's just good TV.

When we pressed a bit further, he kinda just shrugged his shoulders and said ... hey, I just do the acting. In other words, the fleeting characters thing isn't his call -- which is honest.

Our photog also touched on another theme that's being brought up again and again throughout this first season ... namely, LGBTQ+ representation. Some of the names mentioned above actually lend themselves to that, and Pedro says ... yeah, it's important.

"Vanderpump Rules" star Tom Sandoval tried his best to stay mum at his first gig since he was seen packing his bags after his breakup with longtime GF Ariana Madix.

The Tom Sandoval & The Most Extras frontman took the stage with his band on Friday night at the City National Grove in Anaheim, CA ... and made a few comments to the crowd during his performance about the split.

Sandoval takes a sip of his drink after finishing up his new hit single, and you can hear some cheers ... but also others chanting, "Cheater, Cheater" or "Ariana!" from the audience.

In a TikTok video, you hear him respond, "We love her," while at another moment he addressed how most are choosing Ariana's side saying, -- "Have you ever been one of the most hated people in America?" according to Us Weekly.

The show comes just hours after TMZ broke the story of Tom and Ariana calling it quits after she discovered texts on his phone Wednesday night between Tom and costar Raquel Leviss. The messages and video were described as "sexual in nature" leading Ariana to confront him about his alleged cheating.

Isaiah Washington says he's calling it quits on his acting career and is heading for early retirement.

The former Grey's Anatomy star took to Twitter to make the announcement, explaining that past criticism of his character played a part in his decision.

Washington said, "Those who have been Following/Witnessing my journey here on T---ter since 2011 all know that I have fought the good fight, but it seems that the haters, provocateurs and the Useful Idiots have won."

He continued, "I'm no longer interested in the back and forth regarding a 'color construct' that keeps us human beings divided nor am I interested in politics or anything vitriolic."

As you may recall, Washington was fired from his role as Preston Burke in Grey's Anatomy in 2007 after making anti-gay remarks to his costar T.R. Knight on set and repeating them at the Golden Globe Awards that year. He later apologized and said he would seek help, admitting there "are issues I obviously need to examine within my own soul."

Washington says his future plans included traveling around the country "before it falls into Socialism and then Communism."

Bill Maher railed on trigger warnings, saying they're creating a thin-skinned, ridiculously overly sensitive and weak nation ... and he has receipts that are hard to square with common sense.

The "Real Time" host was on a tear Friday night, positing not only that trigger warnings don't work, they actually make trauma worse by creating needless anxiety.

His overarching point -- life is hard, it's not always fair, and sometimes you gotta deal with meanness and other bad things ... and because of the cascade of trigger warnings, people no longer have the ability to cope.

As for examples, they're telling, sad and hilarious.

-- A Brooklyn theatre has a warning for a movie that contains "darkness and violence" ... the movie is "Oklahoma!"

-- London's Globe Theatre has a warning before staging "Romeo and Juliet" ... "includes suicide."  Not only is that ridiculous (the play's like 400 years old) ... it's kind of a spoiler.

And there's more ... college campuses have banned phrases they consider offensive, sexist, etc ... like "balls to the wall," "white paper," "peanut gallery" and "virgin."

Bill says Brandeis University has banned words and phrases it considers violent, like "killing it," "beating a dead horse," and, get this, "trigger warning!" As Maher says, school doesn't understand irony.

Short story -- we are trying to protect young people to a level of absurdity that will make them unable to cope with life.

Actor Bryce Durfee has become a bit of a SoCal Superman ... because we've learned he's been rescuing families that would otherwise be stranded during the recent blizzard.

The "Hacks" and "9-1-1" actor and his wife Amber were just a couple of the many stuck in the Lake Arrowhead area as it got hit with a ton of snow this week. Amber and some of the neighbors tell us Bryce has been spending time saving others in the area.

We're told he's been removing the snow surrounding people's homes with just a shovel -- pretty impressive. He's done four rescue missions so far ... one of which was for a group of kids who got stuck in their house after it was completely buried.

On top of that, Bryce has been clearing the snow from gas lines and roofs to prevent fires and structures from collapsing.

Bryce has even been acting as the community's InstaCart shopper ... getting groceries for those who can't leave their homes. He did a huge run Thursday that fed five families, even getting dog food for his neighbors' pets.

As you know, SoCal was hit pretty hard with flooding and snow, causing quite a bit of destruction. Police and emergency rescue folks weren't able to help Bryce's community for a while because of a lack of access. The National Guard just showed up Thursday.

Kim Kardashian is teaming up with James Corden for some classic 'Carpool Karaoke' as the talk show host approaches the finish line of his 'Late Late Show' run.

Kim was laughing up a storm with James in Malibu Thursday -- swinging by a gas station to fuel up before another one of his popular singing-in-the-car segments.

While pumping gas, the duo went inside the station's shop ... trying on some cheap shades and sun hats. Doesn't look like those $2 finds are up Kim's alley though.

She seemed to be havin' the time of her life with James, who pretended to be one of her bodyguards while inside.

For those unaware, Kim's been on "The Late Late Show" a few times now ... and the content is always a hit with his audience -- stuff like a Kardashian-themed "House of the Dragon" parody or his popular "Spill Your Guts" segment.

BTW -- before James was in hot water for his interactions at an NYC restaurant, his show featured some backlash for "Spill Your Guts" ... with people saying some of the foods presented as "gross" are actually common in Asian cultures.

Billy Bush thinks T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach clearly have something good between them, not just romantically but from a business standpoint ... so maybe a new show should be in their future -- so says Bush, who had a walk in the same shoes a few years ago.

We got the "Extra" host at LAX Thursday, and he says it's a shame they got the boot from ABC.

Billy might be the perfect person to give advice to T.J. and Amy ... as you know, NBC's "Today" pulled the plug on him back in 2016 after an infamous video/audio leaked of him and Donald Trump from back in 2005 -- laughing on a hot mic while Trump bragged about groping women.

Our photog asked Billy if he's learned his lesson about talking on a hot mic -- remember he was dragged for joking about Kendall Jenner's Halloween costume -- one where she dressed up as Jessie from "Toy Story" and there were "a lot of woodies," according to him.

Billy is unbothered, saying he will stay true to himself, whatever people think, and he clearly believes lots of folks in this country share that point of view.

The Weeknd's new HBO show is getting dragged after a report suggested the production is in shambles -- but sources tell TMZ things are actually quite the opposite, and Abel's actually quite pleased.

Production sources for "The Idol" -- which has been a work in progress for nearly 2 years now -- tell TMZ that the Rolling Stone story that came out Wednesday about "Euphoria" creator Sam Levinson's involvement is not a fair representation of how the lead star of the series feels ... which we're told is optimistic and grateful.

Our sources tell us that nobody who talked to RS -- upwards of 13 sources, they claim -- has seen the final product ... despite reports of reshoots involving oversexualized and/or "torture porn" scenes featuring Lily-Rose Depp and Abel, among other cast members.

In other words, we're told to suggest these scenes are going to make it in the final cut is misleading.

Fact is ... we're told Levinson was brought on to replace OG director Amy Seimetz for a reason -- and that he has crafted an adult story with mature elements ... what Abel and show creators had envisioned from the beginning.

Our sources say The Weeknd and others felt the show was not in a good place before SL came aboard to "right the ship" -- which we're told a majority of the cast/crew feel he did with success, despite how edgy some of the material they may have shot has been thus far.

As RS notes in their piece, Levinson completely redid Amy's work ... bringing on new actors -- like Dan Levy, Hank Azaria and Jennie from BLACKPINK -- spliced in a new script with a new angle and employed a more robust shooting schedule too ... which our sources insist have elevated the art and which will make for a better product when it finally hits the service.

There's also a major misconception, we're told, about an alleged notion that Weeknd felt the OG version of "The Idol" was too focused on a female perspective ... which is something that was floated in Rolling Stone. We're told he doesn't feel that way at all -- if anything, the whole show is about a woman who wants to control her own narrative in showbiz.

Another thing ... our sources say the claim that the budget hit close to $80 million is "nowhere near" accurate. In other words, the reshoots weren't that expensive.

As for Lily-Rose, she says ... "Sam is, for so many reasons, the best director I have ever worked with. Never have I felt more supported or respected in a creative space, my input and opinions more valued. Working with Sam is a true collaboration in every way - it matters to him, more than anything, not only what his actors think about the work, but how we feel performing it. He hires people whose work he esteems and has always created an environment in which I felt seen, heard, and appreciated." That backs The Weeknd's view.

HBO themselves have weighed in too, confirming the original direction "The Idol" was going in wasn't up to their standards, and that they're happy with where Levinson's taken it so far.