Survivor

WWE superstar Paul London told Prowrestling.com that Ashley "was written out of the WWE storylines because she's leaving to be a contestant on the 'Survivor' reality show." This could explain this week's "suspension" of Massaro on "SmackDown!" Fortunately, it looks like she's kept her spirit uplifted.

Wow, Kellie Pickler looks, uh ... different. Even Simon Cowell thinks so. See what he said to "EXTRA" about Kellie's new look.

Joel Madden's violent distaste for photogs may get the rocker in trouble with the Beverly Hills Police Department. Check out the video of Madden's Sean Penn attitude toward the paparazzi.

Hey, just because your were on "Survivor" doesn't mean you can get all "Lord of the Flies" on the cops. Someone should have told Alex Angarita that. Check out his exit from the court.

The first Immunity Challenge -- kind of an island version of a Rubik's Cube -- involved assembling puzzle boats, which were then used to retrieve fire; back on shore, the tribes then had to solve four more puzzles which led to the finish line, signified by lighting fire barrels.

The Asian-American tribe won the Challenge efficiently, and the African-American tribe -- Manihiki -- came in last. The Asian-American team also won the Reward Challenge.

In wake of the very controversial new season of hit reality television series "Survivor", Bodog.com has posted odds on which team will finish first on the show .

The newest installment of the reality show features tribes made up of contestants separated by their ethnicity. White, Asian American, Hispanic, and African-American tribes will be playing to survive the Polynesian Cook Islands.

Here are the numbers:

The Asian Americans......................13/7
The Hispanics.................................3/1
The African-American......................7/3
The Whites.....................................3/2

To the average Joe who doesn't play the sportsbook, this basically says that Whites will triumph, Blacks a close second (betting on them will double your bet), Hispanics in third (will pay three times your bet), and Asians have no chance.

TMZ wants to know what about the Indians and the Jews?

Professional bigmouth Rush Limbaugh thinks that CBS left out Native Americans from the tribal makeup because they "would have an unfair advantage" against the other ethnic groups in the televised struggles on the Cook Islands.

On his syndicated radio show, Limbaugh said he has his early money on the Hispanic tribe, because, according to Rush, "these people have shown a remarkable ability ... [to] get anywhere they want to go. They can do it without water for a long time. They don't get apprehended, and they will do things other people won't do."

For the first time, the show's castaways will initially be organized into four tribes divided along ethnic lines (African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic and White), before merging in a later episode. The casts had been previously divided up into different groups for various reasons (age and sex, for example) but this is the first time ethnicity has come into play.

ATLANTA (AP) -- A winner of the popular reality show "Survivor" was arrested Wednesday after allegedly shooting a puppy with an arrow. Brian Heidik, 38, was released on bond after being charged with battery and cruelty to animals.

During the bond hearing in Douglas County Magistrate Court, Heidik told a judge he thought the dog was a coyote that has been harassing his pets, WSB-TV reported on its Web site.

Douglas County Chief Deputy Stan Copeland said it was a puppy. "At about 3 a.m., his wife called to report that he was outside and that he had shot a puppy that was on his property with an arrow and planned to shoot another one," Copeland said.

When sheriff's deputies arrived, Heidik -- who won "Survivor:Thailand" in 2002 -- fled in his car but was quickly caught and taken back to the home where the incident occurred.

Starting next Tuesday 'Survivor' Jonny Fairplay, 'Idol' rejects Anthony Fedorov and Carmen Rasmusen, Mike 'The Miz' Mizanin and Trishelle Cannatella of 'The Real World,' along with other "stars" from 'The Apprentice' and 'The Amazing Race,' will return to the small screen to compete for $150,000.

For those of you who want nothing more than to see these people dragged through the mud, look no further -- one of the stunts involves them crawling through an alligator infested swamp, covered from head to toe with filth.

'Reality Stars Fear Factor' premieres June 13 at 8:00 pm on NBC.

Celebrity spotlight
Joe Rogan

Reality TV impresario Mark Burnett wants to give you $2 million in solid gold.

The creator of 'Survivor' and 'The Apprentice' has given TMZ the first details of his new Web-TV reality show, called 'Gold Rush' and slated to launch Sept. 13.

In the show, contestants will be given clues on the web, on television, and in magazines about the location of more than $2 million in gold. The first contestant to solve all the clues will get the loot.

Many factors have conspired to make the Turin Olympics -- through five days of competition -- less of a television event than past games. Probably the most significant is that other networks are putting up a fight with potent weapons.

NBC was knocked on its heels by the first night the Olympics went up against Fox's "American Idol" Tuesday. Based on preliminary Nielsen Media Research estimates, "Idol" doubled the Olympics audience when they went head-to-head again on Wednesday.

Wednesday is also likely to stand as the least-watched night of winter Olympics competition since at least 1988, according to Nielsen.

Besides "Idol," viewers who aren't slalom-inclined have also had new episodes of "Lost," "Desperate Housewives," "Survivor" and "Dancing With the Stars" to choose from.

Hatch was handcuffed and taken into custody after U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres said he was a potential flight risk.

He also was convicted of evading taxes on $327,000 he earned as co-host of a Boston radio show and $28,000 in rent on property he owned. He was acquitted of seven bank, mail and wire fraud charges.

Hatch, 44, faces up to 13 years in prison and a fine of $600,000. Sentencing was scheduled for April 28.

Jurors deliberated for less than a day after more than a week of testimony.

Besides the tax charges, prosecutors accused Hatch of using money donated to his charitable foundation, Horizon Bound, an outdoors program he planned to open for troubled youth. He allegedly spent the money on expenses including tips to a limousine driver, dry cleaning and tens of thousands of dollars on improvements to a house he owned.

Near the end of the trial, an explanation for Hatch's failure to pay taxes was raised by his lawyer -- but never mentioned in the jury's presence. Hatch's lawyer, Michael Minns, said Hatch caught fellow contestants cheating and struck a deal with the show's producers to pay his taxes if he won. But Hatch was never asked about the allegation when he testified.

Hatch is charged with 10 counts, including bank, mail and wire fraud and tax evasion, and faces a maximum 73 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines if convicted of all of them. He is also accused of failing to pay taxes on hundreds of thousands of dollars of other income, and of using donations meant for a now-defunct charity on personal expenses.

Jurors concluded the day without a verdict after deliberating for a few hours, and were scheduled to resume Wednesday morning.

During closing arguments earlier Tuesday, Hatch's attorney said his client was simply a bumbling bookkeeper who was not qualified to handle so much money.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Reich told jurors that Hatch didn't pay taxes on the $1 million he won because he was greedy. He said Hatch filed a tax return that omitted the winnings, despite promising his accountant that he wouldn't.

Hatch is currrently on trial in a Rhode Island federal court for failing to pay taxes on his million-dollar prize, which he won in the first season of 'Survivor.' This morning, his lawyer, Michael Minns, told the judge that Hatch caught some of his fellow contestants trying to have friends sneak food to them on the island. According to Minns, Hatch struck a deal with the producers: he would keep quiet about the cheating and the show would pay the taxes on the grand prize if he won.

Today, Rudy Boesch, one of Hatch's fellow contestants, told TMZ, "I think he's just talking. What friends could bring...food? There ain't no friends on the island."

Dr. Sean Kenniff, another contestant, echoed Boesch's sentiment to TMZ: "I never witnessed any cheating by 'Survivor' contestants, 'Survivor' producers or other 'Survivor' staff."

"During my 36 days on the island," Kenniff added, "I lost about 30 pounds -- fair evidence that I certainly wasn't the recipient of any prohibited food!"