‘Superman Returns’ actor engaged to actress-girlfriend

New York – Brandon Routh, star of “Superman Returns,” is engaged to actress-girlfriend Courtney Ford, his spokeswoman, Kacey Spies, said Wednesday.

Routh, 26, proposed to Ford, 28, earlier this month, Spies told The Associated Press. They plan to marry next year.

The couple co-star in the upcoming short film “Denial.”

Routh portrayed Superman/Clark Kent in the latest edition of the franchise.

Woman flashes Wilson at British premiere of ‘Dupree’

London – Owen Wilson got an eyeful at the British premiere of his new movie, “You, Me and Dupree.”

Wilson was being interviewed at Leicester Square on Tuesday when a woman outside a pub shouted his name. As he looked up, she raised her shirt and flashed him.

“Wow! I kind of lost my train of thought with that one,” the 37-year-old actor said.

In the film, Kate Hudson and Matt Dillon play newlyweds whose domestic life is thrown into disarray when Wilson’s character stays too long as their houseguest.

Hudson, who recently separated from her husband, Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson, did not attend the premiere.

Wilson said playing the character wasn’t much of a stretch.

“I went to go stay with Woody Harrelson and his family in Hawaii for four days and it turned into four weeks,” he told reporters. “I think by the end of that trip his wife was like, ‘So you need a ride to the airport today?’ So sometimes you have to be sensitive to overstaying your welcome.”

Hometown of James Brown may name coliseum after him

Augusta, Ga. – Musicians performing in the hometown of James Brown may soon be getting a reminder that they’re in the stomping grounds of the Godfather of Soul.

The Augusta-Richmond County Coliseum Authority voted Tuesday to rename the venue’s 8,500-seat arena the James Brown Arena.

“I thank God and all the people there,” said Brown, 73, who lives near his hometown. “We want to build back Augusta.”

Augusta also has erected a statue and named a street and music festival in his honor. The name change is pending legal research to verify that the board has the authority to rename the facility.

J.R. Riles, whose motion led to the 5-2 vote, said the tribute would help improve the struggling civic center’s public image.

The idea to name the arena after Brown had been discussed for several years, but got little traction until now.

While city leaders have sought to promote the town through Brown’s celebrity, local support for the performer has been hit and miss in the past.

McPhee says tour diet isn’t healthy but she doesn’t mind

New York – Forget counting calories and obsessing about her weight.

Katharine McPhee, who struggled with bulimia for five years, says she’s not even eating healthy on the “American Idols Live” tour. The most recent “American Idol” runner-up tells Us Weekly magazine in its latest issue that she is pretty much cured.

“My diet? Because I’m on tour, it’s not very healthy,” McPhee said. “But I’m not controlling (about) my weight anymore, I don’t do any weird, disordered eating things anymore, thank God.”

“I’m not working with a food coach anymore, but I do have people with whom I check in,” she tells US.

In June, the 22-year-old McPhee revealed that she sought treatment for her bulimia last fall after successfully auditioning for the Fox talent contest.

Teacher who had sex with student to do NBC interview

Tampa, Fla. – Debra Lafave, the former middle-school teacher who admitted having sex with a 14-year-old student, got a judge’s permission to sit down at a hotel for a national TV interview with NBC’s Matt Lauer.

Lafave is serving three years’ house arrest. She sought and was granted an exception to the guidelines of her sentence to meet Lauer for an interview that will be broadcast on “Dateline.”

State Circuit Judge Wayne Timmerman accepted Lafave’s guilty plea to two counts of lewd and lascivious battery in November. He granted permission Monday for the interview, according to court records.

Court records show prosecutor Michael Sinacore didn’t object because the 25-year-old was not compensated, a condition of her sentence.