A shiner that big and tender would be impossible to cover up for the cameras.

Luckily for Hugh Laurie, his enormous black eye coincides with a brief gap in filming on his American medical drama, House.

The actor, 50, caused a stir among fellow diners at the Ivy in London this week when he arrived sporting the painful looking bruise.

His injury is thought to have been caused by a right hook from a gym sparring partner back in LA. But Laurie refused to confirm that Thursday. When asked to offer an alternative explanation, he told the Mail: “I walked into a door”, adding: “No, I mean I got hit by an owl”.

It is believed that his insurance will not reimburse lost wages for boxing injuries. Since he earns a reported £130,000 an episode, that shiner may prove to be an expensive one if it does not fade soon.

Laurie remains based in LA, away from his wife Jo Green and three children in London, after accepting a four-year offer worth over £5 million a year from House producers. The show will now run until at least 2012.

– Daily Mail

Post ITS

Shakira says new CD looks out for single gals

The Colombian-born singer says the songs on her new album She Wolf, out this week, is a reflection of a woman who is looking for her prince charming.

“It’s very much a common thing for women my age, at least my friends, to be in search for the right man and to be somehow dreaming of the prince who’s going to come in and rescue them,” the 32-year-old said. “Some of these songs either reveal my own daydreams or fantasies, but some of them have to do with my girlfriends’ experiences.”

The Grammy-winner says songs like the Brazilian-influenced Did It Again and Men In This Town will connect women in search of “the one.”

However, Shakira doesn’t have to deal with that issue. The singer has been in a relationship with Antonio de La Rua, the son of former Argentinian President Fernando de la Rua, for almost a decade. – AP

Gwyneth Paltrow the Grecian goddess

She faced fierce competition in the form of Miranda Kerr and Jennifer Aniston, but Thursday night Gwyneth Paltrow emerged victorious in the red carpet style stakes.

The Iron Man actress looked a picture of peachy perfection at the star-studded opening of a Chopard boutique held at the exclusive La Mamounia hotel in Marrakesh, Morocco.

She looked every inch the Grecian goddess as she sashayed into the venue in a one-shoulder dress, with the stylish drappery clinging her carefully honed body in all the right places.

– Daily Mail

Donald Trump joins Michael Douglas in Wall Street 2

With their combed-back greying hair, matching scowls, smart suits and overcoats, they could be brothers.

But while actor Michael Douglas is simply playing a ruthless corporate banker, businessman Donald Trump is the real deal.

The real estate magnate was making a brief cameo appearance in Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps in New York Wednesday.

– Daily Mail

Ouch: Hugh Laurie shows off his shiner outside the Ivy on Thursday.