Sophie Dahl & Jamie Cullum
The six-foot model and the five-foot-four-inch singer shrugged off the double-entendre headlines—“love scales new heights” and “does size matter?”—and got engaged in May. As Dahl put it, very sensibly, “What’s lost is that we happen to be two people who fell madly in love and will probably produce fairly average-sized children.”
Nathalie Normandeau & François Bonnardel
She’s Quebec’s deputy premier, he’s an opposition MNA. They may be political enemies in the national assembly, but in private they are just two people trying to build a relationship while, at the same time, avoiding major political and ethical landmines. Bonne chance but beware: inter-party romances tend to implode. Just ask Tory Peter MacKay and Liberal Belinda Stronach.
UN & Battlestar Galactica
Few TV series could take part in a discussion at the United Nations on “terrorism, human rights and reconciliation and dialogue among civilizations and faith.” But the UN invited the cast and crew of the brooding sci-fi show Battlestar Galactica to participate. While some diplomats took the debate seriously, others may have just wished that sexpot Cylon No. 6 was there in her red dress.
Rafael Cedeño & ‘Just say no’
After his April arrest, Rafael Cedeño, the leader of the ruthless “The Family” drug cartel, boasted to Mexican police that he’d trained thousands of gang members in ethics and personal improvement. The objective of the courses was for subordinates to “avoid drugs, hard drinking and maintain family unity.” Getting everyone else hooked? That’s just business.
Michaëlle Jean & Arctic seal
Jaws dropped when the elegant urbanite knelt down in a Rankin Inlet gymnasium, took a traditional ulu and skinned a dead seal. Determined to show solidarity with Aboriginal hunters, the GG went a step further and asked “Could I try the heart?”
Mickey Rourke & Eugenia Volodina
He didn’t win the Oscar for The Wrestler, but with his career now on a roll, Mickey Rourke, 56, returned to an old habit: picking up models. In May he was playing tonsil hockey with Eugenia Volodina, 23, a Victoria’s Secret girl. The rogue and the Russian have been seen together since, though what they have in common, other than an outrageous sense of style, remains a mystery.
Oprah & KFC
She has railed against factory farming, so fans couldn’t believe it when the Queen of Daytime promoted free KFC meal coupons. Much of the Colonel’s chicken comes from a supplier denounced for keeping birds in horrific conditions. Oprah was coping with that bad publicity when the coupons ran out, so she lost devotees’ hearts and stomachs in a single move.