Matches Made in Hollywood

Strange new alliances and mopping up after a big celebrity split

It was around this time last year that I interviewed One Tree Hill stars Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush. The husky-voiced former Queen of the Tournament of the Rose Parade and the kid from Buffalo, N.Y., were fiercely in love, him blushing like a 13-year-old who has developed a tent-pole in his track suit after gazing at the star cheerleader. Bush was poised and fresh, just what you imagine a gorgeous Pasadena gal should be. The two exchanged vows on a Santa Monica beach last May but their union scarcely made it through the summer.

This week, E! Online is reporting that Murray has proposed to yet another One Tree Hill actor, 18-year-old Kenzie Dalton (that's a stage name if I ever heard one) who plays a cheerleader. She is, in fact, an extra. Someone needs to pay a visit to the North Carolina set to sedate that boy. Murray has managed to achieve the marital woes most Hollywood actors take a decade to amass. Dennis Quaid anyone?

Murray might have considered staying married to Bush and taking a second spouse and, not too long after, a third wife a la Bill Paxton who stars in HBO's new drama, Big Love. Truth being stranger than fiction and all that.

Moving to a couple of A-List celebrities: The L.A. Times put it succinctly over the weekend when it noted that "the party has been over for a while but a big step was taken in the clean-up following the split" between Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. Their 11,000-square-foot Beverly Hills home has been bought by a local financier for close to the $24.95-million (U.S.) asking price. According to the Times, the gated estate has five bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a 35-mm projection room, a gourmet kitchen, a pub/bar/entertaining room, a gym, a library, and an art studio. There's also a tennis court and a pool.

There is, alas, no more love in that home. Best wishes to the new owner. And Bonne Chance to Chad Michael Murray and his fresh-faced fiancée.

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