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The Spill: Monday's best entertainment and gossip news.

 

1. In unsurprising news, MAFS’ Michael is selling his “smashed” wedding photo and ring on eBay.

Michael Goonan wants everyone to know he’s very much over his former Married At First Sight relationship.

Over the weekend, the 29-year-old listed his wedding ring and a framed photo with his onscreen ex-wife Stacey Hampton on eBay. And honestly, we aren’t too surprised.

The photo frame comes in a rare one-of-a-kind condition, having been allegedly smashed by Stacey herself.

“Wedding ring and original photo smashed by the ex. Condition is Pre-Owned. Sent with Australia Post Standard,” the listing reads.

He also uploaded these very charming photos of himself holding (or rather eating) the said ring and photo frame.

Michael mafs
Image: eBay @shema_7454
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Michael mafs
Image: eBay @shema_7454

As of Monday afternoon, the bids have exceeded $600, with bidding set to continue over the next four days.

As to who would actually pay money for the ring and smashed frame, we have no idea. Each to their own, we guess. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Listen to The Spill, Mamamia's daily entertainment podcast. In today's episode, co-hosts Kee Reece and Laura Brodnik chat about controversial Hollywood age gaps. Post continues below. 

2. Carole Baskin has been tricked into her first post-Tiger King interview by YouTubers.

Ever since Tiger King came out (and took over our lives) last month, Big Cat Rescue CEO Carole Baskin hasn't given any interviews about the docuseries.

That was until earlier today, when she found herself tricked into her very first interview by YouTubers Josh Pieters and Archie Manners.

Baskin was told she was being interviewed by The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon. But in actual fact, Baskin was being interviewed by the two YouTubers, who had strategically downloaded clips from Jimmy Fallon interviews and put them into a soundboard on their iPad.

In the video uploaded to YouTube today, the pair share how they had been contacting Baskin for weeks, pretending to work for a third-party production company that works with The Tonight Show and even conducted a pre-interview with her by using a burner phone.

When it came time for the actual interview, Pieters and Manners set up a fake video call and pretended to be the producers. They then explained to Baskin why she wouldn't be able to see the talk show host during the call.

 

Carole Baskin
Image: YouTube/ Josh Pieters & Archie Manners.
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"You'll only be able to hear, but he'll obviously be able to see you," Manners explained before playing the show's opening credits.

Baskin then answered a bunch of questions about big cats.

"Are you getting to work on anything? What are you up to?" Fallon's voice was heard saying.

"Well, unfortunately, due to the loss of tourism revenue, we had to let go about half of our staff," Baskin said. "Thankfully, all of our animal care is done by volunteers so the animals are still getting their daily care, but it means all of us are having to work double-time to make sure that all of that happens."

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After the fake interview, Pieters and Manners encouraged Baskin to record some more promotional content and she even put on her famous flower crown.

E! News later reached out to the animal activist and it turns out she enjoyed filming the interview.

"I was suspicious as we were doing it because the questions appeared taped," she told the publication.

"But had no idea it would turn out to be such a fun prank. It gave us a very welcome good laugh. I appreciate their cleverness and that they created their video in a way that I don't feel was in any way mean spirited."

So it seems like it all worked out in the end.

3. "We were thinking, 'Will we get it done in time?'" How COVID-19 affected Big Brother Australia.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, almost every single industry in the country has been affected.

With travel and social events limited, the lengthy restrictions have meant that production on many of Australia's reality TV shows has been put on hold.

With Big Brother Australia returning to our screens in June for the first time in six years, many viewers have been questioning whether filming for the show was affected by the pandemic.

big brother australia 2020
The new season of Big Brother Australia is just a few weeks away. Image: Channel Seven.
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But speaking to Nova 96.9's Fitzy & Wippa this morning, host Sonia Kruger has denied claims that the show "wasn't finished" due to the virus.

"We absolutely finished the show, yes we did," she said. "What happened is that the coronavirus restrictions came into play we were thinking 'Wow will we get it done in time, what happens if they shut absolutely everything down and people are restricted from going to work and we can’t maintain those social distancing rules what do you do?'"

"So we compressed the production schedules so instead of shooting every second day we were shooting every day. So it’s absolutely fine, we shot it, it’s in the can and not long now and we get to see it. I’ve had a sneaky look and it’s looking really good."

Phew. Thank goodness for that.

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Although an exact release date hasn't yet been set, Big Brother is expected to premiere on Channel Seven in around five weeks time. You can watch the trailer for the upcoming series below.

4. It looks like Stephanie Meyer is about to release another Twilight book and... is it 2005 again?

Wait. Is it 2005 again?

We can't believe we're actually saying this... but there's credible evidence that there's another Twilight book coming.

In recent days, author Stephanie Meyer, who wrote the popular fantasy-romance saga, has sent fans into a frenzy after sharing a mystery countdown on her website.

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Although it's unclear what exactly the countdown is for, many fans have questioned whether the countdown's background of starry skies is evidence that Meyer is set to release Midnight Sun – the long-anticipated companion novel to the series.

Unlike the original novel series, the book, which Meyer started writing years ago but never released, is actually told from Edward's perspective.

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"While I was procrastinating some real editing work (I’m always at my most creative when procrastinating), I started to wonder how the first chapter of Twilight would read if it were written from Edward’s perspective," the author wrote on her website back in 2008.

"There is so much more to his side of the story than there is to Bella’s in that first chapter."

On the other hand, other fans have questioned whether Meyer could be releasing the sequel to The Host – a novel released by the author in 2008.

Only time will tell. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

5. From a parenting blogger to a country sparky: Everything we know about the first Big Brother 2020 contestants.

After a six year hiatus (and months of waiting), Big Brother Australia is finally returning to our lounge rooms.

In five weeks time, we’ll watch 20 strangers live, eat and share their secrets on national television, all for the interest of our entertainment. And we seriously have never been more excited.

big brother australia 2020 contestants
Image: Instagram/Seven.
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While this season will see the return of 2012 Big Brother host, Sonia Kruger, the show will look very different this time around.

Not only will this season incorporate new challenges, but we’ll also see a completely different mix of contestants other than the usual bunch of young singles.

Speaking to The Morning Show in April this year, Kruger shared that the youngest contestant this season is 19, while the oldest contestant is 62.

She also shut down the rumour that a former Big Brother contestant could appear on the series: "I did hear that rumour, and thought it was interesting, but it’s an all-new cast," she said.

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For more on this year's Big Brother contestants, read our earlier article here.

Feature Image: Instagram @mickygoonan/ eBay @shema_7454


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