ABC

Carole Baskin's got the eye of the tiger as she prepares for her big "Dancing with the Stars" debut ... and she's practicing her moves in a way that would make Billy Idol proud.

Sources close to Carole tell TMZ ... she's been dancing with herself in her Los Angeles apartment during her downtime this week as she gets ready for her first 'DWTS' number.

Carole's gearing up for her first dance, which will be to "Eye of the Tiger," but we're told she's not practicing to any specific music ... just the music in her head.

With Carole only getting 3 to 4 hours a day of official 'DWTS' rehearsal, she's taking her work home ... we're told she feels she needs more practice and moved the furniture in her living room to create her own dance floor.

Carole's documenting her progress too ... we're told she's recording her practice dances on her phone so she can look back and see how far she's come.

Remember ... Carole studied hard and cheaply, before getting on the 'DWTS' set ... picking up her ballroom basics by watching video tutorials on YouTube.

With some rehearsals under her belt, we're told Carole is mostly focusing on dance steps and staying on tempo when she's home alone.

Carole's costume for her first number will have no feathers or fur, and our sources describe the outfit as a "sunset" with a lot of "cattitude" ... whatever that means.

We're told Carole instantly fell in love with the getup ... and she's already asked producers if she will be allowed to keep it or purchase it after the show, but producers haven't indicated a final decision.

David Ruprecht wants in on the new "Supermarket Sweep" fun, but with a different J-O-B -- the former host says he's is in the running to be the announcer.

David, who hosted 'Sweep' from 1990 to 1995 and again from 2000 to 2003, tells TMZ ... he auditioned with honchos at ABC for an announcing position and says he's still on the short list for the role.

If ya hadn't heard, the new host is former 'SNL' star Leslie Jones -- but David says he'd love to carry on the classic game show's legacy by putting on a new hat for the reboot. He even gave us his announcing pitch.

It sounds like he's in game shape ... ready to share play-by-play of shoppers running around grocery stores throwing hams and turkeys into their carts.

While David hosted the show for almost 10 years, he doubts his wealth of experience will help Leslie. While she hasn't reached out to him for hosting tips, he knows she doesn't need it because she's already a pro.

"Big Brother" is coming back this summer with an All-Star cast for Season 22 ... coronavirus pandemic be damned.

Every year, "Big Brother" shoots during the summer, but due to COVID-19, there was lots of speculation 'BB' would be another casualty of the virus ... but we've learned the reality show is still ON.

Production sources tell TMZ ... "Big Brother" was in the middle of casting for its next season when the coronavirus outbreak hit. We're told casting was completely shut down in May, leaving execs to change the format to an All-Star edition instead.

Our sources say an All-Star cast made the most sense, because those contestants are already familiar with the show and have already been vetted by network execs ... plus it would have been difficult to cast fresh faces for a new season in the middle of a pandemic, a process we're told would have dragged on for weeks.

The coronavirus isn't preventing another season, but it is delaying things a bit ... we're told contestants were supposed to head to Los Angeles at the beginning of July to begin testing and quarantines, but the timetable is being pushed back to the end of the month.

Our sources say, contestants, who are flying in from across the country, will be tested for the virus and then quarantined for 2 weeks before being cleared to enter the "Big Brother" house.

Matt James celebrated his new "Bachelor" status by hopping on a boat with buddy and fellow "Bachelor" Tyler Cameron and his female friend.

Matt was enjoying the R&R aboard Tyler's boat in sunny Jupiter, Florida.

As you know, "The Bachelor" has finally selected the show's next leading man -- the first African-American in that role in the 40 seasons.

Rachel Lindsay became the first black female lead on season 13 of "The Bachelorette" ... way back in 2017. It's clearly no coincidence ... Matt got tapped because of what's going on in the country and the world.

ABC said, "We know we have a responsibility to make sure the love stories we're seeing onscreen are representative of the world we live in, and we are proudly in service to our audience. This is just the beginning, and we will continue to take action with regard to diversity issues on this franchise. We feel privileged to have Matt as our first Black Bachelor and we cannot wait to embark on this journey with him."

The 28-year-old works in real estate, and was a football player at Wake Forest University. He tried unsuccessfully to make it on a couple NFL teams.

Cokie Roberts -- the revered journalist and political commentator who was a pioneer for women during her storied career -- has died.

The network where she spent more than 3 decades, ABC News, announced Cokie's passing Tuesday morning. She died from complications of breast cancer, according to a family statement.

Cokie -- born Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne Boggs -- earned her name from her older brother, who couldn't pronounce Corinne. The name Cokie stuck for the rest of her life. She made a name for herself as a young Capitol Hill reporter for NPR before joining ABC News in 1988.

She became a contributor on "This Week" before co-anchoring the popular news show with Sam Donaldson. They co-anchored the show from 1996 until 2002.

Cokie was also a best-selling author with several New York Times Best Sellers titles to her name.

She was inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame and named one of the 50 greatest women in the history of broadcasting by the American Women in Radio and Television.

She was so respected ... Cokie was literally named a "Living Legend" by the Library of Congress in 2008. She famously came from a long line of family members embedded in politics -- her father was Congressman and Democratic House majority leader Thomas Boggs, who was also a member of the Warren Commission ... which investigated the JFK assassination.

Cokie's survived by her husband of 53 years, Steven Roberts, and her 2 kids, Lee and Rebecca.

She was 75.

Ryan Seacrest was weirdly left out of Disney's press release announcing a new season of "American Idol" -- but we've learned he's not out, just delayed with the Mouse House ... on account of what looks like a massive new deal.

Our Disney sources tell TMZ ... Ryan will likely return as host for a third season of 'AI' on ABC, as its longtime host. The reason the deal hasn't been signed ... he's currently in talks with Disney honchos for a huge contract that goes way beyond 'A.I.' and "Live with Kelly and Ryan."

We're told the new deal encompasses what he's doing now, but includes a massive production deal for new TV shows, produced through his production company.

Interesting ... at the same time, the ABC bigwigs were announced Monday that Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie were coming back to 'Idol' for season 3, Ryan was spotted leaving Marea restaurant in NYC with Disney TV Chairman Peter Rice.

You'll recall ... Ryan ended up landing around $15 million from Disney with his current contract.  Our Disney sources say this is a much sweeter deal.

'Bachelorette' reject Luke P. feels used by the show and Hannah B., because we're told viewers did NOT hear a conversation that ultimately sent Luke reeling ... which led to him calling her out and allegedly slut shaming her.

Luke was dumbfounded after Hannah B. told him she had sex with another guy in the Fantasy Suite. He squarely showed disapproval, implying she wasn't the right kind of woman for him.

Folks in Luke's world tell TMZ ... he was reacting to a conversation he had with Hannah B. at a bible study during the Hometown episode, where she suggested to him she wasn't open to having sex in the fantasy suites. We're told her comment was on Luke's mind when she blurted out she indeed had sex, and that's why he reacted the way he did on camera.

We're told Luke is upset producers did not air the full bible study convo, which would have put his comments on Monday night's show in context. He comes off as a heel.

Our Luke sources say he's had hell to pay in the last 16 hours ... he and his family are getting skewered on social media and his Christian faith is being weaponized against him.

Luke, meanwhile, has already filmed the 'Tell-All' episode, and we're told it didn't go well ... with Hannah and the other guys ganging up on him. That said, our sources say he's been met with love and support from his local community ... and he's moving on.

It seemed impossible ... but Nik and Lijana did it -- they walked a quarter of a mile across Times Square, 25 stories up and balancing the entire way on a tightrope.

The view looking down was incredible, and it was broadcast live on ABC. Thousands watched as Nik and Lijana met in the middle and he actually CLIMBED OVER HER -- around 18 minutes into the stunt.

It was especially daunting for Lijana, who broke almost every bone in her face after suffering a near-fatal fall a few years back.

She was more than confident Sunday night, having nailed the run-through 25 times in a row. Lijana sang biblical hymns and praised the Lord as she traversed the famous landmark, with neon lights glaring and the crowd roaring.

Nik and Lijana constantly talked with each other ... he especially offering words of encouragement to his sister. Their dad was in the control room, and Nik and Lijana seemed to draw comfort from that.

By the way ... the poles they held weigh 38 lbs!!!

President Trump doesn't like having his train of thought interrupted, which he made very clear Sunday by demanding a redo when somebody coughed in the middle of his interview.

45 was chatting it up with ABC's George Stephanopoulos in The White House, discussing everything from the Mueller report to his still-unreleased tax records -- and as he was explaining the latter ... someone off-camera let out a heavy cough that threw DT off.

He stopped mid-sentence and asked George if they could run his answer back, 'cause he didn't appreciate the interruption. Trump said quite bluntly, "Let's do that over, he's coughing in the middle of my answer," going on to add, "I don't like that, you know?"

George seemed to indicate that the culprit was Trump's Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney, but it's unclear if it was in fact him. Whoever it was ... Trump definitely wasn't very nice in telling them to shut the hell up. In fact, he instructed them to leave the room.

"You just can't, you just can't cough," Trump told the cougher.

George and the ABC team reset and the Prez finished his tangent about his "fantastic financial statement." What's funny is that the gaffe made it to air during Sunday's broadcast.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck has a much shorter fuse than you probably thought ... but it's been revealed in this audio of a backstage tirade at Barbara Walters during a taping of "The View."

The explosive audio was recorded in 2006 after the hosts talked about the so-called morning-after pill -- Elisabeth was incensed and argued against it very passionately on the air. Barbara cut her off and told Elisabeth she needed to discuss things calmly "and not go so crazy that you don't listen to anybody's opinion."

As they went to commercial, Elisabeth was clearly pissed. She stormed off, but was still wearing a mic and then blew up!!! She raged to Joy Behar, "F**k that! I'm not going to sit there and get reprimanded on the air!"

She went on, "What the f**k? I don't even swear. She has me swearing. This woman is driving me nuts!!"

Variety obtained the audio of the incident ... which is described in a newly released book called, "Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of 'The View.'"

Elisabeth is already apologizing, saying, "I am quite humanly reactive. I used bad words when frustrated. I was pregnant with Taylor and a big conversation about the value and the lives of the unborn took place at the View. It was a battle -but not of the flesh. I used fighting words because I believe that God decides the value of the lives of babies."

Jussie Smollett got off in his criminal case simply because he's a celeb -- so says Chicago's mayor, Rahm Emanuel ... who stops short of calling this a corrupt move, but certainly insinuated it.

Mayor Emanuel went on GMA Wednesday morning following his blistering attack on the Cook County State's Attorney's Office the day before, after they dropped all 16 charges against Jussie and let him walk scot-free.

The Mayor said flat-out ... if he did the same type of thing, he'd have the book thrown at him.

First Assistant to the State's Attorney Joseph Magats says they decided to drop the charges because it wasn't a violent crime -- and thought Jussie coughing up $10k and doing community service sufficed as punishment. Hizzoner says no one on the outside can make sense of it.

Colton Underwood and Cassie know how to say a lot and a little at the same time ... so we found out at LAX.

The freshly-minted couple had just landed when our photog -- an avid 'Bachelor' fan -- peppered them with questions, ranging from virginity to marriage.

On the subject of marriage, one's coy and the other's pretty definitive. You never know what's gonna happen in a week or so when they venture to Sin City.

Kiefer Sutherland plays POTUS on his TV show, but says he doesn't need an actual President -- like say, Barack Obama -- to consult on it ... he already has the next best thing.

"Designated Survivor" -- which stars Kiefer as the Prez -- just jumped from ABC to Netflix, and you know Obama already has a production deal with the streaming service. So, we asked Kiefer at LAX if there's any chance they'd hook up.

Believe it or not, he took a hard pass, but only because 44's already had a huge impact on 2 seasons of 'Designated.' Turns out, one of Kiefer's costars worked for the Obama administration. Check out the clip if you don't know which one.

Colton Underwood is carrying himself like a man who just released a huge weight from his shoulders -- or maybe from somewhere else -- because he says the conversation surrounding his virginity will soon shift.

We got the 'Bachelor' star Wednesday at LAX, and you gotta see his reaction when our camera guy asks if he's fed up with the endless virgin talk surrounding him. Safe to say Colton is an expert in being coy.

It's easy to see why Colton might be tired of getting his sexual purity constantly shoved in his face ... as you know, the virgin jokes quickly became a tired gag during this week's season premiere.

Check out the clip ... Colton doesn't explicitly tell us he's finally swiped his v-card, but you gotta hear his explanation for the spring in his step.

Kinda makes ya wonder, doesn't it?