Claudine not being truthful?

A gay friend of mine is head over heels for a young actor who is being linked to another celebrity gay.

Clue: The actor has just broken up with her girlfriend.

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I wonder if Troy Montero knows that Paolo Bediones hangs around a lot in the house of Aubrey Miles. The buzz a long time ago was that Paolo had an eye on Aubrey, but can't make a move because she and Troy were already an item. Paolo has denied the rumor. But I wonder…

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Is Claudine Barretto the next "Mistress of Lies?"

There was the time she had everybody convinced that she and Rico Yan were still on when in fact they had broken up and she has switched to Raymart Santiago.

During a recent presscon, Claudine told me that she and her sister Gretchen have kissed and made up. The truth is they're still not on speaking terms. In fact, Gretchen's lawyer is said to have written Claudine asking her to publicly apologize for saying that all was well with Gretchen and her other sister Marjorie.

Because of her many problems, Claudine reportedly can't concentrate on her work. A source told me she still has several shooting days left for "Dubai," which is due to be shown next week.

But in the same presscon, she said she wasn't affected by the court cases she is involved in. She has sued magazine editor Jo Ann Maglipon for libel and Jo Ann and her son Pat Marcelo sued her back for damages.

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Jolina Magdangal has really matured. At 28 years old, the former giggly gidget is now a mentor to her younger co-stars in the movie "Lovestruck."

Jolina's playing a love guru in the film. Can she be a love counselor in real life? "I can, but only to the bagets. I can't give advice to couples whose marriage is on the rocks, can I?" Jolens said in an interview.

"Lovestruck" will be showing in Metro Manila theaters on Sept. 14.

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Andeng Bautista and Junjun Ynares are sending out the invitations, so that means that the wedding on Nov. 19 is definitely pushing through.

And guess what: practically all of Andeng's nieces are participating. "I don't want to break the heart of anyone who is left out, so everybody's in," Andeng told me when I bumped into her during the concert of Gary Valenciano at the Araneta Coliseum Saturday night. With her were - who else - Junjun and her best friend Paul Cabral who is doing her wedding gown.

Turquoise is the event's color and modern Filipiniana is the theme. "I didn't have any idea about what kind of wedding I wanted. I decided on the Filipiniana theme at the last moment," she said.

As agreed, there will be 10 pairs of sponsors, but Andeng refuses to reveal who they are.

She's dieting because she feels she's putting on weight she might not fit into her gown on wedding day.

The gown won't be showy - no low cleavage or anything like that. The groom wants it that way.

The ceremony will be held at the Manila Cathedral at 3:30pm; reception will be at the Makati Shangrila. There's a slight problem: the hotel's biggest function room can't hold the expected 1,000 or so guests. The solution? Cut the guest list to 800.

Pops Fernandez will be the only showbiz celebrity in the entourage. For the honeymoon, the newlyweds will go on a tour of Europe. This week, Andeng will fly to Las Vegas with her dad, former senator Ramon Revilla Sr., to watch Manny Pacquiao fight.

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Despite being involved in hectic preparations for her wedding, Andeng still finds the time for the shooting of the family outfit's entry to the Manila Film Festival, "Exodus, Tale of the Enchanted Kingdom," which stars Bong Revilla.

Aside from shooting in the Enchanted Kingdom in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, the producers had to rent a warehouse in San Juan and convert it into a set for the other scenes in the movie.

The monthly rent for the warehouse, which is owned by Baguio Oil, comes up to almost P40,000, I am told.

The set is so realistic, the producers are not releasing publicity stills of it for fear that it might be copied, Andeng said.

They also spent a fortune on costumes. Benjie Paras' outfit alone costs almost half a million, according to Andeng. "We really splurged for that movie."

The project is expected to reach P60 million. That's more than double the amount spent for a typical film.

Bong also mentioned transforming the movie into a TV series.

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A lot of Hollywood types are helping bring in relief goods to the stranded survivors of hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. John Travolta piloted his own plane for such mercy missions. An emotional Oprah Winfrey asked the city's mayor what she can do to help.

Sean Penn also wanted to pitch in. He sailed to New Orleans in his boat and tried to rescue stranded children. Unfortunately, the boat sprang a leak. He forgot to plug a hole in the boat's bottom.

Sean was seen bailing out water from the sinking vessel with a plastic cup.