Stefani to be mother

New York – Gwen Stefani, nominated for five Grammy Awards including album of the year for “Love.Angel.Music.Baby.,” is pregnant with her first child, according to Us Weekly.

The 36-year-old pop star and Gavin Rossdale, 38, were married three years ago. The baby is due in June, the magazine reported Tuesday.

“We are delighted,” Us Weekly quotes Rossdale’s father, Douglas, as saying. Stefani’s mother, Patti, also reportedly confirmed the pregnancy to the magazine.

Rossdale has a 16-year-old daughter, Daisy Lowe, from his relationship with fashion designer Pearl Lowe. He discovered he was the father in 2004 after taking a DNA test.

Stefani is the lead singer of No Doubt and a budding fashion designer.

The British-born Rossdale fronted the rock band Bush, which released the popular 1994 album, “Sixteen Stone.” They last released the 2001 album, “Golden State,” as well as a greatest hits CD in November.

Elton John’s union toasted

London – Celebrities mobbed a West End nightclub for a glitzy bachelor party to toast the upcoming civil union between Elton John and David Furnish.

Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, Elizabeth Hurley, Bryan Adams, Gary Barlow and Kid Rock were among those who streamed into the gala event Monday night in London’s Soho neighborhood. John and Furnish slipped into the Too2Much venue just minutes before the show started.

Shirtless waiters wearing black ties and riding boots served guests flutes of champagne. The nightclub, once a strip club known as Raymond’s Revue Bar, features an auditorium with red leather and banquette seating, a bar decorated with Swarovski crystals, chairs dipped in rubber and sculptured glass walls.

Deliveries of sushi and presents arrived at the main entrance as the celebrities partied on. Though the couple had asked revelers to give donations to AIDS charities in lieu of gifts, Cilla Black playfully promised to ignore the instructions.

“I’m going to get them the tackiest toaster I can find,” the singer told reporters.

The star-studded bash came ahead of a private ceremony today to seal the couple’s civil partnership.

Spears sues magazine

Los Angeles – Britney Spears has filed a $20 million libel lawsuit against Us Weekly, charging the celebrity magazine published a false story reporting she and husband Kevin Federline had made a sex tape and were worried about its release.

The lawsuit, filed Monday, seeks $10 million in libel damages and $10 million for misappropriating the 24-year-old pop singer’s name and image to promote sales. It also seeks unspecified punitive damages.

“We have a very credible source and we stand by our story,” Us Weekly spokesman Alex Dudley said Tuesday in a statement.

According to the lawsuit, the article was published Oct. 17 in the magazine’s “Hot Stuff” column and claimed that Spears and Federline feared the release of a secret sex tape, which they had viewed with their estate planning lawyers.

The article stated that Spears gave a copy of the tape to the lawyers on Sept. 30 and that she and her husband were “acting goofy the whole time” while watching the video.

“There was no laughter, disgust or goofy behavior while watching the video in the company of lawyers because they did not watch any video, and because there is no such video,” the lawsuit stated.

According to the lawsuit, Spears went to court after Us Weekly refused her request for a retraction, saying it stood by the story.

Don Ho home to recuperate

Honolulu – Don Ho, who had an experimental heart procedure in Thailand earlier this month, has returned home to Honolulu.

“He is continuing his rest and recuperation at an undisclosed location,” the Hawaiian crooner’s publicist, Donna Jung, said Monday. “We’re delighted to say that his health is improving dramatically.”

The 75-year-old Ho, known for his signature tune, “Tiny Bubbles,” underwent a new treatment on Dec. 6 that hasn’t been approved in the United States. It involves multiplying stem cells taken from his blood and injecting them into his heart in hopes of strengthening the organ.

The experimental procedure was developed by TheraVitae Co., which has offices in Thailand and laboratories in Israel, where Ho’s stem cells were sent to be multiplied. The surgery costs about $30,000.