Who's the sexiest man alive?

People magazine has crowned Channing Tatum its "Sexiest Man Alive" for 2012. Meh. He doesn't do it for me. I mean, Magic Mike was stirring, but ... nah. 

Channing admits he's startled by his win too: "My first thought was, 'Y'all are messing with me,'" he tells People. The actor, who is married to actress Jenna Dewan-Tatum adds. "I told Jenna after we'd been in the bathtub washing our dogs because they'd gotten skunked."

"She was like, 'What?'"

"Yeah, she calls me [the Sexiest Man Alive] now." 

Jenna adds: "People know him to be fun and sexy, but they don't know how emotionally deep and spiritually open he is. He is such an open-hearted person; what you see is what you get." 

Sex abuse claim against Elmo puppeteer recanted

Kevin Clash, the voice of Elmo on Sesame Street, was granted a leave of absence from the program last week following an accusation from an unidentified male that he had sex with him at age 16. 

On Tuesday the law firm that represents the accuser released a statement to the Los Angeles Times, recanting the claim. 

The accuser "wants it to be known that his sexual relationship with Mr. Clash was an adult consensual relationship," the statement from Andreozzi & Associates says. "He will have no further comment on the matter." 

Dlisted says: "Before you start thinking that the accuser got a little visit from the Sesame Street Mafia (Snuffleupagus, Count Von Count, Rosita and Telly Monster),TMZ is hearing that he might've been paid off. TMZ's sources (aka those Elmo-hating hillbilly Muppets at Fraggle Rock) say that the accuser's lawyer and Kevin's lawyer met today to talk about money. Apparently, Kevin Clash put a 6-figure settlement on the table."

Madonna strips for Hurricane victims

While performing at New York's Madison Square Garden on Monday, Madonna stripped in exchange for fans donating money to the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

"I went down to Rockaway Beach yesterday with my children, and we saw what was going on there, we saw the destruction," she said. "It was really sad, but we also saw amazing acts of humanity. People sharing with other people, people working hard, cleaning houses, handing out food, blankets, giving love."

She then encouraged the audience to throw cash at the stage as she performed a slowed-down version of "Like a Virgin".

"If you are going to look at the crack of my a--, you better raise some cash!" she yelled to the crowd.

Janeane: I didn't know I was married for 20 years

(A refresher: Janeane Garofalo starred in one of my favourite twentysomething movies, Reality Bites - she's the one above in the yellow tights - and The Truth About Cats & Dogs.*) 

Dlisted reports: "Anybody who was born after 1994 is probably like, "Who's Janeane Garofalo?" and that's the same question her husband of 20 years asked recently. We all have a secret husband we forgot we were married to and Janeane Garofalo found out about hers last week. During a reunion for "The Ben Stiller Show" at The New York Comedy Festival on Saturday, Janeane told the audience that she was married to one of the show's writers for 20 years and didn't know it.

“Rob and I got married, for real, which we had to have a notary dissolve not 30 minutes before we got here tonight. We were married for 20 years until this evening. We got married drunk in Vegas . . . We dated for a year, and we got married at a drive-through chapel in a cab. [We thought] you have to go down to the courthouse and sign papers and stuff, so who knew? We were married, and apparently now that [Rob] is getting married for real, his lawyer dug up something.”

* PS Wikipedia also tells me: "Director Cameron Crowe ... offered her the leading lady role in Jerry Maguire with Tom Cruise if she could lose weight; after trimming down, however, she learned that Renée Zellweger had won the part instead." Nice.

Mariah Carey is a non-nappy-changing diva

Mariah Carey's hubby Nick Cannon has revealed on Anderson Live that his wife isn't keen on doing diaper duty.  

He told the show's host: "It's a good time! Right now, the kids run the house. We are just running and chasing after them and then my wife is being the diva that she is. I am trying to keep up with them."

When the host asked if Mariah was "a big diaper changer" and "who changes the most?" Nick laughed and replied, "Me".

He added: "I mean we all do it but for some reason I get that duty a little bit more. I am not scared of it. I go in, I put the gloves on. Real men change diapers!"

Miley's wedding dress secrets

Ellen stars Sophia Grace and Rosie had Miley Cyrus to tea during their regular slot on the show this week and managed to wheedle some wedding details out of the singer.

Sophia Grace asked: "What will your wedding dress look like?"

"I’m going to guess something much like yours," Miley answered. "Like you have on now. A little frill, maybe no colour.

"Probably just white, but something you know, poufy. We got to have the pouf, you know so you look real small here (pointing at her waist) and then all pouf."

Am I being too PC thinking the small waist thing isn't something you should say to a small child?

PS Miley copped a storm of Twitter abuse overnight for tweeting: "Nothing makes you feel uglier than someone saying your beautiful on the inside." She defended herself saying: "Everyone calm down. I was kidding about that! Inside joke. If your offended by that you obviously don't get my humor. Sorrrrrrals!"

Courtney and Brian's lunch date

When Courtney Cox and David Arquette separated, rumours swirled that the reason was her relationship with Cougar Town co-star Brian Van Holt. The fires were stoked when David accused the pair of having an "emotional affair". 

Now Courtney and Brian have been spotted heading to lunch together on their day off from filming the show. Could this mean love or are they just friendly co-star? See the pics here .

Hot pics & clicks

* Lady Gaga wore a Statue of Liberty costume on stage in Brazil earlier this week in support of Hurricane Sandy victims.

* The Daily Mail newspaper is describing the trailer for Lindsay Lohan's new film, The Canyons, as trying "to disguise what's blatantly some pretty awful acting under the stylings of a kitschy '50s style thriller but doesn't quite manage it." See the trailer by clicking here. 

* Eva Longoria shared a photo of herself with celebrity hairstylist Ken Paves on WhoSay showing off a messy cropped hairstyle similar to Miley Cyrus's pixie cut. She captioned the pic: “You guys like the new hairdo??” She set the record straight a few minutes later,  tweeting: “Ok I’m kidding, it’s a wig!”

* Kelly Osbourne comforts Hurricane Sandy victims as a volunteer for The Salvation Army. 

* Jon Bon Jovi's oldest daughter, Stephanie Rose Bongiovi, has been arrested at her university, Hamilton College, after an alleged heroin overdose.

* US Magazine has reported on the outrageous behaviour of Brad Pitt's kids every time they visit his hometown pizza parlor: "The brood goes bananas at Arris' Pizza!

"The place shuts down for the entire night and the kids raise a ruckus," says the insider of Maddox, 11, Pax, 8, Zahara, 7, Shiloh, 6, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 4. "They jump on tables and even throw food at each other!"