News Brief

TV Guide Canada: Per Nelson Branco, Joshua Morrow from THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS is the Sexiest "Dude" Alive 2008.

Jackson Clarion Ledger: Shakespearean actor and soap opera star (SANTA BARBARA, GENERAL HOSPITAL) Lane Davies has been cast in a new TV pilot DIXIE MELODIE, a sitcom producers hope to get picked up by HBO or Showtime.

Malaysia Sun: DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES star Eva Longoria plays a 'ghost bitch' in Over Her Dead Body.

Business Wire: Heartthrob Winsor Harmon, who stars as Thorne Forrester on THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, has contracted Paid, Inc. celebrity services to create and manage his online presence internationally, including development of his personal web site, ticketing and event management for fan experience events/meet & greets with fans world wide, and sales of his exclusive lines of merchandise. The three-year contract commences immediately.

Courier Mail: Indiana Evans is one of HOME AND AWAY's younger players, but that doesn't mean she's immune to gossip. Although she's only 17 there's always speculation about who Evans is dating and, when it's rumoured to be someone from the Channel 7 soap opera, it's sure to make the internet. But Evans says it didn't take long to figure out how to deal with the speculation surrounding her love life. "It's really odd, it's bizarre when people you haven't met say things about you, but I don't go looking for it," she says.

Media Guardian: Are EASTENDERS viewers ready for a realistic gay character? So there's a gay on the Square. Christian, Jane's estranged brother, like so much human flotsam and jetsam before him, has washed up in Walford. Notwithstanding the clumsiness of his introduction - over a dinner with Ian and Jane during which he behaved so monstrously the pair would have got up and left - his appearance in E20 is to be welcomed. There hasn't been an 'omosexual in EastEnders since Naomi briefly turned Sonia sapphic. And Naomi wasn't so much a character as a plot device charged with shaking up Sonia and Martin's relationship - so often the fate of a soap's lone gay character before they're packed off to Manchester/Scotland/Holby City.

MyParkMag: Martine McCutcheon thinks Los Angeles is "brutal". The former EASTENDERS and current ECHO BEACH actress moved to the Hollywood after starring in hugely successful romantic comedy 'Love Actually', but had her dreams shattered and was glad to come home. Martine told Britain's Closer magazine: "Los Angeles is just brutal. Even Cameron Diaz is old hat not. Once you do three movies, you're over. I can see why people like Kate Winslet have said they like spending time in the UK- Los Angeles just isn't the real world.

Martha Madison Online: Martha Madison confirms her firing from DAYS OF OUR LIVES on her official website (login required). "I can't believe how fast word travels...I have been bombarded with emails and PM's asking if it's true if Brandon and I have been let go from the show. I'm sorry/sad to say that we have, in fact, been released from our contracts. It was explained to us on Friday that this was a storyline dictated move by the writers, and that, at this time, we were free to move on to other work. We have both been incredibly grateful for the time that we've had there, and we will still be taping for the next few weeks." Brandon Beemer also confirms.

Theater Mania: Actress Lois Nettleton, who received a Tony Award nomination for the 1976 revival of Sidney Kingsley's They Knew What They Wanted, died on January 18 in Calfornia of lung cancer. She was 80. She appeared on GENERAL HOSPITAL in the late 90s as Virginia Benson.

Beliefnet: FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS Redeems Itself.