Martha Stewart’s home confinement extended

White Plains, N.Y. – Martha Stewart’s release from home confinement and her electronic anklet has been delayed three weeks to the end of the month, her attorney said Wednesday.

Attorney Walter Dellinger said in a one-sentence letter that the home-and-hearth marketing queen “has agreed to an extension of the terms of her home confinement until Aug. 31.”

Those conditions include staying inside her home north of New York City except for 48 hours a week of employment, food shopping, doctor appointments and church. And Stewart must always wear the anklet, about which she has repeatedly complained, saying it irritates her skin.

“I am not allowed to take it off at any time, and I am not allowed, while in my home, to have any padding under the strap,” she once told fans during an Internet chat. “I hope none of you ever has to wear one.”

Stewart even boasted once that she had learned from the Internet how to remove the transmitter, although probation officials said she never did.

It wasn’t revealed what Stewart did to earn the extra three weeks of confinement. Dellinger’s assistant, Ann Kienlen, said he would not elaborate beyond his one-sentence announcement.

The chief U.S. probation officer in New York, Chris Stanton, would not confirm or deny the extension of Stewart’s confinement. A call to Stewart’s company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., was not immediately returned.

The New York Post reported Sunday that Stewart was seen riding an off-road vehicle on her estate and attended a yoga class nearby. Stanton would not say if those were probation violations or if they constituted part of her employment.

Stewart’s release from the anklet and home confinement had been expected Aug. 10. Her original five-month confinement sentence followed a five-month prison term for lying about a stock sale.

Wanted: Song co-writers

New York – John Mayer has writer’s block – and he wants your help.

The soft-voiced rocker is calling on fans to make a song out of some lyrics that didn’t make it onto his upcoming album.

“I’m inviting all aspiring songwriters to write their own chords and melodies around my lyrics,” Mayer writes in the September issue of Esquire, on newsstands Aug. 15. “You can tell people we wrote a song together.”

Mayer, 27, who has written a monthly column for Esquire for more than a year, urges people to send a CD of their song to the magazine’s music department. The lyrics and information on submissions, due Sept. 30, can be found in the upcoming issue.

The best submissions will be featured on Esquire’s Web site. Mayer will pick the winner, who will receive a Fender John Mayer Signature Stratocaster guitar.

Rumor control

New York – Nick Lachey and Kelly Ripa took a broom to some rumors as they co-hosted the syndicated TV show “Live With Regis and Kelly.”

Lachey, a guest co-host Wednesday, denied that his marriage to Jessica Simpson was on the rocks, and Ripa said Regis Philbin wasn’t getting the boot from the daytime talk show.

Lachey said everything is “absolutely wonderful” between him and Simpson, who co-stars in “The Dukes of Hazzard” film. The 31-year-old singer also denied being jealous of Simpson’s career.

Meanwhile, Ripa told viewers not to read anything into Philbin’s absence. There have been reports that Philbin and Ripa don’t get along and that Philbin might be forced out. “Regis is not fired,” Ripa said. “He’s just on special assignment. And we love each other.”

Hottest spot north of Havana

Las Vegas – Barry Manilow will keep on crooning into 2007 at the Las Vegas Hilton.

The hotel-casino has added 150 shows to Manilow’s engagement, Hilton executives announced Tuesday. The original deal had the 59-year-old entertainer performing “Manilow: Music and Passion” for 24 weeks through 2005 and into 2006.

“In his first 10 weeks of performing at the Las Vegas Hilton, Barry has been a top Las Vegas draw, along with Celine and Elton (John), and he leads the Hilton’s exciting new entertainment roster,” said Ken Ciancimino, Hilton executive vice president.

The show opened Feb. 23 in a 1,700-seat theater.

Tickets for the new shows go on sale Aug. 13. Prices range from $85 to $225.

Knotts in poor health

Morgantown, W.Va. – Don Knotts’ failing health has forced his hometown to indefinitely postpone a parade and film festival in his honor that had been scheduled for Aug. 12-14.

A doctor for the 81-year-old Emmy-winning actor advised him not to travel from Beverly Hills, Calif., said Stacey Brodak, executive director of the Greater Morgantown Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Brodak didn’t elaborate on the nature of his ailment.

Knotts, a Morgantown native with dozens of film credits, is best known as the bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on “The Andy Griffith Show” and as would-be swinger landlord Ralph Furley on “Three’s Company.” This fall, he’ll be the voice of Turkey Mayor in the animated film “Chicken Little.”