Reality TV

Elizabeth Vargas is happy to be alive, but considering ways to keep herself safe in the future after a scary incident that saw a former fling inside her home armed with a gun.

Vargas hit NOBU in Malibu Wednesday night, a mere 24 hours after cops rescued her from her Newport Beach home. She shares some intimate details of the scary incident, saying all she could think was "Please help me" when the man, Ryan Geraghty, entered her home.

Vargas -- accompanied by her manager David Weintraub and billionaire John Paul DeJoria -- says she's not a gun owner, but the whole ordeal has definitely made her consider becoming one. She says she also plans to run background checks on any possible future suitors, as unbeknownst to her, Geraghty was a felon.

TMZ broke the story, SWAT team officers descended on Vargas' home Tuesday after the former 'RHOC' star called to report she was being extorted and believed Geraghty was coming to her home.

The two had briefly dated, and Geraghty had allegedly pressured Elizabeth to help him financially.

Rudy Giuliani's just as polarizing in reality TV, as he is in politics -- 2 'Masked Singer' judges revolted during a taping where Rudy was revealed as the mystery singer!!!

The taping went down last week, the first episode of the show's upcoming season, and -- not shockingly, we think -- Rudy was the first contestant eliminated. TMZ has confirmed ... as soon as the mask came off Rudy's head, Robin Thicke and Ken Jeong blew their tops.

As Deadline first reported, the judges were pissed and walked off the stage in protest.

Donald Trump's former attorney and advisor made jaws drop in the studio -- which is not uncommon during 'Masked' reveals, but we're told Robin and Ken's response went beyond the common reaction.

What a difference a day makes -- Elizabeth Lyn Vargas is looking totally cheerful 24 hours after a terrifying experience where she feared she might be killed by an ex.

Check out these pics of the 'RHOC' star Wednesday outside her Newport Beach home ... where just yesterday her ex-boyfriend was armed and threatening her life. As you can see, she's all smiles now as she hangs out with a friend and her dog.

Looks like ELV was chatting up a guy -- possibly a neighbor -- just before or after walking her husky pooch. Whatever they were discussing, he got her to LOL ... no small feat considering the ordeal she just survived.

Like we told you, Liz had to get the cops involved after claiming the guy, who she'd briefly dated, started acting erratically -- constantly following her around, and allegedly asking for money. Things came to a head Tuesday, and she felt compelled to report it to cops as attempted extortion.

The situation escalated when the guy showed up armed at her home -- allegedly roughing her up before letting her go ... but barricading himself in the home in a standoff with police.

Cops say 33-year-old Ryan Geraghty was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, felon in possession of a firearm and extortion for the incident.

Elizabeth Lyn Vargas is traumatized, but lucky to be alive after the terrifying situation at her Newport Beach home in which she was allegedly held at gunpoint.

A source close to the former "RHOC" star tells us Vargas had briefly dated a man in the area who quickly became obsessed with her. We're told he'd show up to her home, and places where she frequented ... and recently asked for money.

Our sources say Vargas occasionally helped the man out financially, but his financial demands had recently gotten more aggressive.

We're told Vargas decided she needed to call the police Tuesday to report him for extortion, and to tell officers she believed the man was coming to her house at some point that day.

Cops responded to Vargas' home, and we're told they spoke to her and decided to watch the property from a distance. However, the ex was still able to get inside -- our sources say he was armed, roughed Elizabeth up and would not let her leave.

Finally, Liz was let go -- she exited wearing a white robe -- but the man remained inside the home ... only to surrender to police a short time later.

Lamar Odom is clearly not over Khloe Kardashian ... the ex-NBA star recently said that he misses his ex-wife "so much" -- and is still dreaming about her.

"Celebrity Big Brother" cameras captured Odom's revelation while he was making his bed on the show ... with Lamar repeatedly telling his housemate, choreographer Todrick Hall, that he thinks about Khloe often.

"I had some good dreams last night," Odom can be heard telling Hall in the footage. "I dreamt about my ex-wife last night."

"I miss her so much," Odom continued. "I wish I could take that time back ... I miss her so much."

The 42-year-old married Khloe back in 2009, but the two were divorced just a few years later.

Since their split, Khloe had a daughter, True, with Tristan Thompson ... whom Odom recently called "corny" over the way he's treated Khloe.

Prince Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt, widower of Zsa Zsa Garbor, says the perfect son he just adopted to carry on his royal legacy is on a short leash ... and could get the boot at any moment.

We caught up with Prinz Tuesday after his lunch at Il Fornaio in Bev Hills, and he broke down this adoption ... saying Kevin Feucht was the perfect fit of several options, and he's happy with his choice. For now.

He even said Zsa Zsa would like Kevin too -- they'd actually met back in the day, and Prinz said she'd tell Kevin ... "You're so cute. I want to adopt you."

But, then Prinz told us nothing's written in stone here. He says Kevin's gotta keep performing at a high level if he wants his inheritance and title.

As he put it, "If he's bad, I get another one. If the other one is bad, I get another one. I can adopt as much as I want."

As we previously told you, the 78-year-old prince decided to legally adopt 27-year-old Kevin to inherit his estate and keep up his lineage that dates back some 1,000 years.

In exchange, Kevin will live with his new dad and take care of him -- this includes things like cooking for him, doing chores and making sure his bills are paid.

Nothing in life's free, right?

The whole family affair is being filmed for a new A&E series.

Elizabeth Vargas' home is seeing lots of police activity ... we're told her ex-boyfriend barricaded himself inside after she called cops, and now one person is in custody.

Sources close to the 'RHOC' star tell TMZ ... she’s been having ongoing issues with an ex-boyfriend and called cops Tuesday to report him for possible extortion. We’re told the guy showed up at Liz’s home when police were there and barricaded himself inside.

Our law enforcement sources tell us one person is in custody ... but we're told they’re sweeping the place just to be sure no one else is inside the home.

As you see, there were at least 7 police officers outside Liz's place on the strand in Newport Beach ... and there's a guy in handcuffs at the side of a police car.

It sounds like a pretty scary situation for Liz ... but we're told she was not held hostage and was not harmed during the standoff.

Lisa Vanderpump's hubby, Ken Todd, says the 'RHOBH' star will likely never ride a horse again ... after her last ride ended with a badly broken leg.

We caught up with Ken on Tuesday, just as Lisa was having surgery to repair the shattered bones. Ken confirms she broke her leg in 3 places, and will have a bunch of new hardware by the time you're reading this.

He says he's not completely sure how long it will take Lisa to fully recover, but he's guessing about 8-10 weeks.

One thing at least he's sure of ... LV's riding days are over. Ken says the horse she was riding Sunday was a gentle and amazing animal, and despite the ol' saying, it doesn't sound like he wants his wife to risk it by getting back on the horse. Of course, we'll have to see what Lisa thinks once she's recovered.

As we've previously reported, the 'Real House Wives' star was riding in L.A. when her steed apparently got scared, reared up and bucked her off.

Ken saw it happen, and was in complete shock -- he says Lisa immediately knew something was broken.

Forget house hunting! Christine Chiu is taking luxury to a whole new level, cause the "Bling Empire" star is looking for a new castle in France.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ ... Christine and her husband are in the market for some Old World charm. Christine was already in France for Paris Fashion Week last week, and spent the past weekend shopping for castles all around France -- mainly in the countryside.

Fellow cast member Kevin Kreider was with Christine for Fashion Week, so lucky him ... he got to tag along for some castle shopping.

Looks like Christine is going to be spending a pretty penny for the new purchase ... we're told her budget is around $11 million dollars.

Although it's a big investment, this won't be her main residence  ... instead, it will just be a vacation home.

We're told she originally planned to tour 4 different castles, but apparently, one was recently sold and the other had some issues with the roof, so she and Kevin ended up touring 2 over the weekend.

Our sources say the massive properties both include more than 200 acres of land ... and each 32,000 sq.-ft. castle has 12 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms. Fair to say, entertaining won't be an issue!

We're told Christine loves architecture and feel castles are currently not wildly expensive, but restoration could cost a ton ... so, picking the right one will be crucial to her ultimate goal -- locking down a castle future Chiu generations can enjoy.

NeNe Leakes has sold her Georgia mansion for $2.6 million, and whoever snagged the home paid almost half NeNe's initial asking price ... TMZ has learned.

The 5-bedroom, 7-bath pad sold last Tuesday, and the next resident will enjoy some pretty cool features, including a resort-style pool ... with a waterfall, y'all. Waterfalls!!!

The 10,000-sq.-ft. Mediterranean-style home is tucked away in a gated country club community. So, it's got privacy ... but it's also surrounded by some really nice views.

We broke the story back in October ... when NeNe listed the home for $4 million, which was nearly double the $2.1mil she paid for it back in 2015.

We're told the home's had lots of updates since then, as the former 'Real Housewives' star put a lot of money into making improvements.

As you might know, NeNe originally put her house on the market weeks after her late husband, Gregg, died of colon cancer.

Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt, AKA the widower of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, needed a new heir to inherit his estate and preserve his royal lineage ... so he chose to adopt someone -- an adult!

That's right, 78-year-old von Anhalt has no children. So he'll be adopting 27-year-old Kevin Feucht.

And, it's the real deal ... Apparently, Kevin's dad had been friends with Frédéric, now Kevin has officially changed his last name on his birth certificate and will be living with his new father.

Kevin says his former parents are all good with it, and they'll all remain friends.

Kevin's new last name will come with a few responsibilities. He agreed to take care of Frédéric ... he'll be helping out his new father by cooking for him, doing chores around the house and making sure his bills are paid on time.

It's interesting because Frédéric was also adopted by a well-known princess in Germany when he was 35 ... which is how he became a prince.

Now, he will be passing that legacy on to Kevin, who is also German. Kevin's a graduate of UC Santa Barbara, and now owns a soccer training center. He says he's excited to build onto the legacy and make it even bigger.

Zsa Zsa met Frédéric at a party in L.A., and they got married 3 years later ... she passed away back in 2016.

Frédéric says he wanted to make the quest for his new son public.

Andy Cosferent – the assistant coach and star of Netflix's "Cheer" – noticeably disappeared in the middle of the second season ... causing viewers to wonder if the fan-favorite was axed from the show. Andy tells us ... that simply wasn't the case.

Andy says there were a few reasons why he vanished in the middle of the season ... one being that his main job kicked back up when things started opening after the pandemic began subsiding.

Andy explains he isn't just an assistant coach for the Corsicana, TX team ... he also works for a company that helps coordinate cheer camps, and when things opened back up, there was a huge demand for him to get back to work.

The other reason is he was secretly spearheading "Cheer Live" -- which will be a live cheer tour across the country involving cheerleaders from both Navarro and Trinity Community College. Andy says he's working with Monica Aldama behind the scenes to organize the tour, so any rumors about bad blood between the duo are just nonsense.

Lisa Venderpump got thrown for a loop on the horse she was riding ... and she ended up in the hospital with broken bones.

'The Real Housewives' star was riding her horse Sunday at The Paddock in the Los Feliz part of L.A., when the equine apparently got spooked, reared up and bucked her off. An eyewitness tells us she flew over the horse's head and landed squarely on her back.

Lisa was in a lot of pain, and for good reason ... we're told she broke her leg in 2 places, just above the ankle. She also has bruising on her back.

She was taken to the hospital by ambulance. Hubby Ken Todd followed behind and he's with her at the hospital now. We're told she'll undergo surgery. Our Vanderpump sources say once she's all healed, she'll be fine.

The horse is no stranger to Lisa ... they've been together for 6 years. Some friend!!!

Farrah Abraham says she's been a wreck since her arrest for allegedly slapping a security guard at a club ... it's gotten so bad she's had suicidal thoughts.

We got Farrah in Hollywood Saturday where she was packing up her stuff and putting it in a U-haul. She says she's moving out of California ... that's how upset she says she is over the arrest, where she ended up face down in the dirt outside the club.

Farrah tearfully says she now has no body function on her upper right side and she's afraid to go out in public.

TMZ broke the story ... Farrah was having dinner at Grandmaster Records in Hollywood January 15th when there was some sort of confrontation inside and a security guard claims Farrah slapped her. The club made a citizen's arrest and security took the former star of 'Teen Mom' outside while police were on the way, and Farrah ended up in the dirt.

She says she's doing physical therapy and hopes surgery is not in the cards.

Autopsy results are in for Lance Waldroup, the late reality TV star from Discovery's "Moonshiners", and they show his heart gave out ... TMZ has learned.

Lance's official cause of death is listed as congestive heart failure ... according to the autopsy report TMZ obtained. It also shows cardiomyopathy -- which makes it harder for the heart to pump blood -- and morbid obesity (he was 580 lbs.) as contributing factors.

In the docs, the medical examiner notes the famous bootlegger had a history of high blood pressure, suicidal thoughts and was a recovering opioid addict.

Last February, the 30-year-old "Moonshiners" star went outside to smoke, went back inside his home, played video games and was later found unconscious on the bed, by his mom Lynn.

A couple of Suboxone pills -- prescription meds used to treat opioid addiction -- were found in the room, along with crushed white powder. Narcotics are not listed as contributing factors in his death, but the M.E. did find evidence of drug abuse in his body.

Joe Exotic, will get out of prison earlier than expected -- but not as early as he had hoped -- the court just knocked one year off of his 22-year sentence.

A judge this past summer ruled the sentence for the murder-for-hire conviction was erroneous, because the trial court miscalculated the 2 charges on which Joe was convicted.

There was a chance the 22-year sentence would be reduced to 17 years, but that didn't happen. Rather, a federal appeals court just shaved a year off the 22-year sentence ... clearly not what Joe was hoping for.

Joe's serving time for allegedly trying to hire two men to kill his nemesis Carole Baskin, as well as crimes against animals. Baskin and her husband attended the hearing Friday as well.

Back in November, TMZ broke the news that Joe had been transferred from his prison in Texas to a facility in North Carolina … as he battled aggressive cancer and needed more medical attention. He originally requested to be let out of prison for treatment, but we don't yet know the decision on that.

Joe's team has yet to respond to the news.