After months of speculation, pop singer Britney Spears has confirmed reports she is pregnant with her first child. Spears, 23, and husband Kevin Federline, 27, announced their happy news on the star's official website yesterday. She wrote, "The time has finally come to share our wonderful news that we are expecting our first child together. There were reports that I was in the hospital this weekend. Kevin and I just want everyone to know that all is well. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. Love Britney and Kevin." The hitmaker did not reveal how many months pregnant she was, or when the baby was due. Spears and Federline married in September after a whirlwind five month courtship. Federline has two children from a previous relationship with actress Shar Jackson - daughter Kori, 3, and son Kaleb, eight months.

The stepfather of Michael Jackson's teenage child molestation accuser has testified the pop superstar attempted to bribe him in return for forcing his family to take part in a video praising the King of Pop. The man told the court in Santa Maria, California, yesterday that he was offered a house and college tuition money for his family's participation in a Jackson rebuttal video to the famous Martin Bashir documentary Living With Michael Jackson. The stepfather also claimed he noticed a marked change in his stepson's attitude after he returned from his last visit to Jackson's Neverland Ranch.

Jennifer Lopez sparked a security alert at a weekend press conference in Los Angeles after paparazzi raced through Beverly Hills trying to get a glimpse of the star. Lopez was in town to promote her new film Monster-in-Law, and was terrified when she became the target of a mad driver. She says, "They were following us and we almost got into a car accident. I'm astounded by the aggressiveness. It's just getting worse and worse. They (paparazzi) feel like it's a game, like they're playing cops and robbers and they're spies. It's crazy. I was talking to my assistant and all of a sudden my driver was taking a left right by the police station in Beverly Hills. All of a sudden this car goes right in front of us. It was paparazzi trying to beat the light on the same turn with us. I got goose pimples. I didn't realize we were being pursued because I try to block this stuff out. It's the only way to live. You don't want to think about being stalked all the time." To make sure Lopez's nightmare ended there, publicists handed out pink wristbands to invited press and refused entry to the press conference to anyone who didn't have one.

Rocker Billy Joel is "fit and healthy" after finishing his spell in rehab, according to friends. The "Uptown Girl" star ended a 30 day spell at the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California on Sunday morning - and pals say he is convinced he has finally kicked his alcohol addiction. A friend says of Joel - who gave waiting paparazzi the slip by skipping out of the centre at 6.30am - says, "He looks really fit. He's dedicated to a healthy and sober lifestyle. Billy has completely sworn off all alcohol." According to the New York Daily News, the 55-year-old's wife Kate Lee and their two dogs flew out from their Long Island, New York home to meet Joel before they all returned home together.

The Mummy star Brendan Fraser has upset family groups in America by joking he'll teach his sons to prick condoms and trick their partners into getting pregnant. Fraser makes the ill-advised quip in the current issue of America's Elle magazine, declaring he's keen to become a young grandfather. In the question-and-answer interview, Fraser is asked what advice about women he plans to impart on his sons Griffin and Holden and he says, "Listen to women... and please put a little pinhole in the condom, because we want to be grandparents sooner rather than later." But Fraser's comments have upset family values groups in America. Ron Prentice of the California Family Council has attacked the actor, calling him "incredibly irresponsible". Prentice says, "It's unfortunate that Mr. Fraser's comments, though understood to be in jest, refer to such a serious subject."

Hollywood beauty Demi Moore has been tipped to become the new face of Versace after she was spotted lunching with the fashion house's chief designer Donatella Versace. The Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle star and boyfriend Ashton Kutcher joined Versace and photographer Mario Testino for a lunch at new London eaterie V last week, reports fashion website Vogue.Com. Versace is looking for a new celebrity face for her forthcoming autumn/winter collection, after enrolling Testino to photograph Madonna for her current season advertising campaign last year. A spokesperson for Versace says, "We're not releasing any information about that yet."

Oscar winner Hilary Swank and her husband Chad Lowe are set to turn their favourite parlor game into a new TV series after selling their idea for a celebrity charades show to cable network AMC. Celebrity Charades will feature the couple and other fans of the silent-clue game like Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rosie Perez and movie maker Peter Bogdanovich. According to trade magazine Hollywood Reporter, 10 celebrities will compete against each other in a game of movie-themed charades, with each star playing to raise money for his or her chosen charity. Each episode of the show will also feature the celebrities having dinner and mingling between rounds to allow viewers to get to know them on a more personal level. Six 30-minute episodes are set to air on five consecutive nights beginning on June 20. Lowe, who will co-host the show with Gosford Park star Bob Balaban, is executive producing the series with Swank. He says, "Hilary and Bob and I have played (charades) on our own with friends, and we always end up having a bonding experience and learning something about the people who play."

Movie star Mel Gibson is reportedly planning to follow his controversial The Passion Of The Christ with a movie about the Pope John Paul II - who died this month aged 84. The deeply religious actor/director is the member of a strict Catholic sect called the 'Holy Family'. According to American website Pagesix.Com, Gibson dispatched a film crew to the Vatican City on Friday to capture crowd scenes at the late pontiff's funeral for future use. The Passion Of The Christ scored massive success at the box office - despite allegations it is anti-Semitic - taking a reported $604 million at movie theatres worldwide. Gibson was recently reported to be planning another religious epic - about three children who claimed to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917.

Maverick director Peter Jackson is excited to be making movies at a time when digital imaging technology makes everything possible, because filmmakers are being forced to improve scripts and characterization. The King Kong filmmaker believes directors had to invest too much of their time in special effects in the past, but the rise of computer technology now allows them to return to basics. He enthuses, "There is literally nothing the human mind can imagine which cannot be realistically created on film. There used to be so many limits to what you could do in terms of visual effects, but now you can create anything you want on a computer. It's a good thing because it means it's now important to go back to the story and the characters. The onus is back on filmmakers, directors and writers to actually entertain people."

Keira Knightley confesses she has "awful" skin and relies on a dermatologist to keep her acne at bay. The sexy Pirates Of The Caribbean star is frequently voted one of the world's sexiest women - but she insists the truth behind the make-up is completely different. Knightley, 20, says, "I do not have good skin. I've got really awful skin." And when quizzed on her perfect on-screen complexion, she reveals, "It's about four hours of make-up actually. And I have a very good dermatologist."