A new article fromWatch with Wanda... err. Kristin at E! Online. Some very juicy tidbits about the Battle and Vegas:

" Melodrama plus time equals laugh-out-loud comedy. That was the case for a group of Real World and Road Rules players, who gathered in a West Hollywood bar on Monday to watch the most recent episode of Battle of the Sexes, and yours tuberly was there to gather all the dirt that's fit to dish.

On hand were Ruthie (Real World: Hawaii), Genesis (Boston), Lori&Kyle (formerly of Back to New York and Chicago but now a single unit), Katie, Adam and Blair (Road Rules: The Quest), Mark (first season Road Rules) and Norman (first season Real World). Also in the house was Trishelle of the current Las Vegas season, who spilled more than a few secrets (which we'll get to later).

Battle host turned competitor Mark organized Monday's screening in honor of Puck (who didn't show), because this was the big ep in which Puck gets married--and, of course, is accused of threatening Ellen's life. Drama!

"Awww!" was the common comment throughout the Battle posse, as they watched a puffy-eyed Ellen quiveringly say she was afraid for her life. Followed by--get this--raucous laughter and clinking glasses when Puck retaliated and put Ellen in her place.

That's right, my friends. Puck's fellow castmates really don't hate him. I asked the studly Mark to explain the Puck cheering squad.

"Here is everything in a nutshell," he said. "Colin and I were in the room when the so-called 'I'm gonna kick your ass' thing happened with Ellen and Puck. And I can tell you, it never happened. He said, 'Beat it' and 'Get out of here,' but if he'd threatened her, we would have stepped in. In the reunion episode, Colin and I call out Ellen on the whole thing. Because it was bullshit."

So, who's crazier--Ellen or Puck? "Puck's crazy in a good way," Mark said. "Fun crazy. Ellen's a manipulative crazy. Unless I saw her saying this stuff, I would've never known it, because she's always so friendly. But when people are away, they say what they want."

Speaking of saying what you want, Trishelle (who's sweet as punkin pie in person) revealed some juicy tidbits about what's gone down since the show finished taping. If you don't want to know (pshaw!), skip the rest of this item.

Here's the status: Brynn's engaged to Austin (studly lip-stud dude), Irulan and Alton are very much together and living together--and Steven and Trishelle are not and not, but they are still close.

Trishelle explained the current sitch. "I'm living in Los Angeles with Katie, who was on the last Road Rules," she said, "and Steven lives, like, three streets away. Frank is also close. Frank and Katie are, like, inseparable. We are all very, very good friends. Irulan and Alton live right across the street. We talk every day."

Très cozy, no? I asked Trishelle if it was awkward living close to Steven given their history. "God, no! I meet all of his girlfriends, and I tell him which I like and which I don't. And he usually takes my advice. He does the same with me. We're both very mature, and we realize our friendship is more important than anything. I mean, I've met these people who are going to be in my life forever. Our producer has worked on eight other seasons, and he said that definitely we were the most close cast. I think the producers really cast us well, and they got lucky."

They weren't the only ones, eh? Speaking of which, a little birdie has told me Trishelle will hook up--then have a falling-out--with one of the other roommates (if you've seen the promos, you know which one), and she started dating a Road Rules guy after the show ended. Shhh...

Meanwhile, fans of the Lori-Kyle coupling can breathe a sigh of relief: They're still together...inseparable, in fact. They spent the entire night joined at the hip. "We've been together almost a year now," Kyle beamed, adding that Lori is planning on moving out to Los Angeles to join him.

According to her teammates, Lori and Kyle spent countless hours on the phone every night while they taped Battle. "What are you going to do?" she giggled, while sitting on Kyle's lap. "We get free phone calls. And I mean, look at him!"

As for what's coming up on Battle, Lori said to expect "lots of big changes. A lot of people on the bottom of the list who you don't even know about all jump to the top. Also, I'll eat more ramen and talk on the phone." Stop the presses!"

Good stuff!

On a small note: The links on the right side to email the cast members NO LONGER works. BMP recently changed their webmasters and they probably re-vitalized the whole server. So there are no more chances to email the casts of Las Vegas or Campus Crawl!

Hey! Real World Las Vegas is offering a trip to Austrailia with Brynn and Steve! You can pick one of two options: 1) Pay for it or 2) Enter the contest at Contiki.com!

There's two new people to add to the long list of semi-finalists: Christina Pyle. Christina is a sophomore from Western Michigan University and we can confirm that she made it to finals. When asked about which show she preferred, she said Road Rules, citing the fact that Real World is too trashy. (Jon Murray said that this season they were going back to "real people" anyway...) So we'll see what show (if she made it) Christina made it on.

The second is Bud Wierenga. Bud comes from Eastern Illinois University. He is a junior majoring in English. When asked why he auditioned for Real World, he said that life is just too ordinary. Check out his picture here.

Check to see both Bud and Christina in casting specials (if there is one!) or The Real World: Paris or Road Rules: South Seas.

MTV is going to air a Real World/Road Rules Valentine's Day Special on Valentine's Day. It's still unclear who the special will actually feature, but you'll probably see couples like Pam and Judd, Sean and Rachel, James and Emily, and Chadwick and Holly. It seems similar to that other special they aired where Becky (New York) and Syrus (Boston) hosted. Hopefully, it won't be the same.

Reaching another milestone here at the Blog.... Within the next week... (Probably on Late Sunday to Mid Monday) We plan to hit the half a million mark!!!! That's right! Half a million visitors to The Real World/Road Rules Blog! With hopefully another half a million to come!