MAMBA GOSSIP

Joe Manganiello burns up pages of GQ

True Blood’s studly werewolf Joe Manganiello (34) features in the newest issue of US GQ magazine in a Greek island-inspired fashion spread. Quite appropriately he’s shirtless in most of the pictures. He’s also surrounded by half-naked women; no-doubt so that the mag’s straight male readers don’t feel all ‘funny’ and ‘dirty’ when ogling Joe’s god-like body.

Rupert Grint does Attitude magazine

It seems that Harry Potter star Rupert Grint is trying to edge in on Daniel Radcliffe’s territory. Daniel has been a long-time supporter of gay causes, especially a gay teen suicide line in the US. Now, Rupert seems to be trying to get friendly with the gays – by appearing on the cover of the latest issue of gay Brit magazine Attitude, with the headline: “Who You Calling Sidekick? Rupert Grint’s on Fire”. We’ll refrain from making any ginger comments but we must admit that Rupert does look pretty good in the photo shoot. In the interview, he reveals that he was bullied at school, thanks to his early thespian efforts. “Because we didn’t have any girls I used to get all the female roles. I was the youngest in the class and my voice was the last to break, so I was usually playing the girl parts in the wigs and the dresses. I got a little bit of stick for that.”

Aaron Carter retracts Michael Jackson drug claims

Singer (and younger brother of Backstreet Boys’ Nick Carter) Aaron Carter has denied earlier claims he reportedly made about the late Michael Jackson giving him wine and drugs when he was 15-years-old. In an interview with Australia’s OK magazine he apparently said: “Yes, he gave me wine. I mean, I could have refused, but I was 15. He gave me cocaine. I felt weird about that and other stuff…” He added: “I admired Michael, but his behaviour bothered me a lot. Then my mother called the police. I never talked about it…This is the first time. I do…I miss Michael…I have spent such incredible times with him. I did things with him that nobody else did…But I was also troubled about what he did to me.” Now, the 23-year-old, who also appeared in Dancing with the Stars, has denied making the statements in the interview. His representative told TMZ.com, “Nothing was said that was reported.” Hmmm, Aaron’s singing career has petered out (to say the least) so allegedly making these comments about Michael may just have helped increase his profile. Us, cynical? Never…

Mark-Paul Gosselaar talks barring his posterior

To-drool-over and to-die-for actor Mark-Paul Gosselaar was on the Conan O’Brien show the other night where he talked about his ass-barring scene in the new US TV show Franklin & Bash. The scene sees Mark-Paul stepping out a hot-tub with his glorious posterior unveiled for all the world to admire. The 37-year-old star went on to explain how that kind of scene is shot. The night before he got bronzed and waxed. And, on the day of the shoot, the wardrobe department prepared swatches of nude-coloured cloth, or “a man apron”. “And they’re different sizes, so you can pick; ‘cause us men are all different sizes,” confided Mark-Paul, adding “and you stick it to your area down there… to your soft parts.” He admitted, however, that he suffered a “wardrobe malfunction”: after three takes of stepping out of the tub, the cloth just “flapped open like one of those mailboxes in the suburbs.” Now that’s some behind-the-scenes footage we’d love to see! Check out the (NSFW) pictures and video clip of the hot tub scene.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers suicide attempt?

Did Tudors star Jonathan Rhys Meyers try to kill himself? Last week, reports surfaced that the sexy star was found passed out at his London home due to a suspected overdose and was rushed to hospital by paramedics. (He was sent home the next day.) Other reports say that the incident was not so much a suicide attempt as a result of another relapse – the 33-year-old actor has been struggling with alcohol addiction for years. He had just recently ended a rehab stint (his fifth) in Cape Town and every picture we saw of the actor with fans in the mother city revealed a gloomy looking, always un-smiling Jonathan. He’s reportedly headed back to rehab once again. Friends say that they are worried. We at Mamba Mansions sincerely hope he can come to grips with his demons.

Jake Gyllenhaal and Bear Grylls hook up

Needleless to say, the news that one of our favourite television hunks, Ultimate Survival’s Bear Grylls, and one of the big screen’s sexiest stars, Jake Gyllenhaal, were getting together sent our collective pulse racing here at Mamba Mansions. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a date, but the two did spend the night together; not in a tent, but in a cave. Jake, who is apparently a big fan of Bear’s talents, joined the survival expert for the premiere episode of the new season of the Discovery Channel show. The two men had to survive the Icelandic landscape, complete with glaciers, icy mountains and volcanoes. “A couple of weeks ago I took Jake Gyllenhaal, reportedly the fittest man in Hollywood, to Iceland,” said Bear. “He said he wanted to to be pushed and afterwards said he’d never been pushed so hard.” Ooh, sounds like they had a good time! Jake commented enthusiastically, “For me, it’s all about discovery”. We bet it was!

Mr. Gay World helps build better relations with Italy

We couldn’t help but notice that our very own Mr. Gay World, Francois Nel, spent a great deal of time with the oh-so-cute Mr Gay Italia, Giulio Spatola, when he visited Europe for Rome Pride recently. Checking out Francois and Giulio’s Facebook pages we were struck by the number of pics of the two together. We also noted approvingly that they look like a rather fab couple. Seeing as Francois has been single since around the time he took the Mr. Gay World crown in Manila in March, we can’t but wonder if the two helped bring more than just our countries closer together in the spirit of improving international relations. We asked Francois about Giulio, but he laughed sheepishly and insisted that “they’re just friends”. Last week, Francois attended Sao Paolo Pride in Brazil. We hope he also made loads of new friends in South America!

Perez Hilton says he embarrassed gay men

Gossip blogging superstar, Perez Hilton, has