Summer in Italy, at least the vacation part, is drawing to a close meaning we’ll see our Italian celebrities and VIPs come back to their home cities for work. Call it the financial crisis or a rediscovery of the beauty of Italy’s seaside destinations, but many of the stars of Italian fashion, entertainment and even overseas visitors chose to holiday on home shores this year.

After a spot of summer holidaying in Italy at the Aeolian Islands at their Stromboli villa, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana of Dolce&Gabbana fame will be back to their fashion duties. The beautiful islands were also the scene of a holiday for Italy’s president, Giorgio Napolitano, who was visiting relatives. Less of a luxury holiday than the fashion duo, Napolitano arrived on a ferry with his wife and they spent their time in a more simple style.

The popular spot was also the chosen destination of actress Sharon Stone who arrived on her luxury yacht, while other international stars chose Positano, along Italy’s Amalfi Coast as their preferred holiday spot. That includes Tina Turner, who seems to have a soft spot for the area, having holidayed there last year, too, and Naomi Campbell who arrived on the yacht of millionaire boyfriend Vladislav Dorinin.

Not that we’re jealous or anything, but isn’t it time everyone went back to work…? Meanwhile, if you can’t get to these places, they’re great spots for a mid-season holiday as well, or to enjoy some milder winter weather, so don’t hesitate to check out Italy’s islands in the off-season, too.

Continue reading: Summer holidays in Positano and the Aeolian Islands: celebrities back to work

The news that Italy’s biggest sports star and multiple MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi will ride for Ducati for the next two years is the achievement of a dream for many Italians (forgetting that fellow Italian rider Max Biaggi rides for Aprilia in the Superbike). The “Rossi in Rosso” pun doesn’t come close to describing the euphoria that many feel over having their beloved Vale in the saddle of an Italian bike.

He might not win from the start, and it might not prove to be the fairytale many are hoping for, but for the moment the idea that Valentino Rossi will be coming to an Italian team is like having a favourite son back for dinner after years of being away. If you’re interested to more about the Rossi to Ducati saga, you can check out Twowheelsblog where we’ve got stories on just how much marketing money Ducati will rake in off the back of the world’s most famous rider, and you can see Rossi’s handwritten goodbye letter to Yamaha and his beloved M1.

The real love story, in fact, is about Rossi and his bike but we’ll leave that for another time. For our part, we’ll be eagerly following Rossi’s progress at Ducati from a cultural perspective - there’s nothing we’ll enjoy more than seeing how the Italians will cope with this new found patriotism uniting two of Italy’s greatest icons. In the video above you can see Valentino briefly talk about his future with Ducati.

Continue reading: Two Italian icons meet: Valentino Rossi in Ducati

Could it be that the famous football predicting octupus Paul, is actually a Paolo? The famous octopus has been predicting football results for a while now, although his biggest success has been the 2010 World Cup where his predictions during the finals proved correct.

Suddenly his trainer, Verena Bartsch, has said that she actually captured him off the coast of the Island of Elba contrary to reports that he was originally English. At the time, Paul was just a wee octopus at only four weeks old. He was taken to an acquarium in Coburg and then sold to the Oberhausen Sea Life centre for just 179 euros.

Since his oracle-like predictions have proved accurate, Paul the octopus has shot to international stardom. And if it turns out that he’s actually a Tuscan octopus, we have a new Italian celebrity on our hands! The Italians are already calling him ‘il nostro Paolo’, though he didn’t do much for the performance of the azzurri at the World Cup….

Source | ItalyMag

Continue reading: Is Paul the octopus Italian?

Expect there to be a free-for-all of George Clooney fans in Milan on July 16 as the American actor and adopted Italian celebrity appears in court. The Palazzo di Giustizia in Milan will host one of its more famous court appearances as Clooney testifies in a case involving three people accused of selling false merchandise and receiving stolen goods.

Specifically, the case involves black market production of clothing which featured George Clooney’s name, without his permission. The selling of a brand which doesn’t exist, or the sale of false brand copies, is against Italy’s strict contraband laws. According to reports, the hearing will be an open court hearing, but we’re yet to be convinced.

Source | Gossipblog.it

Continue reading: George Clooney to appear in Italian court in Milan

Here is Ilary Blasi, famous Italian showgirl and wife of Francesco Totti, in the new advertising campaign for Vodafone. The Italian summer has taken off in the last couple of weeks, and we’re seeing more of these kinds of ads, and less of actual programs, on Italian television.

Blasi, who is a brand ambassador for Vodafone together with Totti, appears this time with her two comic sidekicks from Le Iene show, Luca Bizzarri and Paolo Kessisoglu. The comic duo is famous for their work on the program Camera Caffé, which is always set in front of an office coffee machine.

Ilary Blasi gelato on the beach for Vodafone

Continue reading: Ilary Blasi and icecream spread in new commercial

Don’t ask me why but a couple of days ago I was wondering what had happened to Italian actor Silvio Muccino; his name had disappeared from all gossip magazines and there were no news about new movies so I used Twitter to find out what had happened to him! Apparently the guy was abroad to shoot a new movie but the big news is that he spends a lot of time on Twitter so if you are a fan, you can try to contact him and become fiends with him! You could start the conversation by giving him a few reading tips for the upcoming summer holidays! He adores books!

Continue reading: What happened to Italian actor Silvio Muccino?

Italian designer Giorgio Armani, fit for his age and eternally sun-tanned, is getting some more rays on a beach in Saint-Tropez. It’s that time of the year when the VIPs of Italy’s celebrity set go on holiday for some early bronzing. After the jump you’ll see that Mr Armani was with a mystery girl who might or might not be one of his models. The two put together certainly make for a strange couple, although to be honest, the photo looks a little odd to me. Meanwhile, Armani continues his 2010 swimsuit look of board shorts, ditching his speedos.

Continue reading: Giorgio Armani gets some sun with hot model

There’s nothing like an angry Italian showgirl to get the gossip mags going, and this is gold. After Flavio Briatore’s yacht was confiscated, it was reported that his wife, Elisabetta Gregoraci had said of her son, Falco:

“He cries a lot, he’s not been calm since they made us abandon the yacht. He was used to living on the yacht and now he’s not quiet anymore, he misses his space. Since we left the clinic where he was born, he’s always been there [on the yacht]”.

The statements were made public in Italy’s Diva e Donna magazine and raised more than one eyebrow about spoiled rich children and young models marrying older men for money. The Briatore yacht, Force Blue, was impounded by Italy’s Guardia di Finanza due to tax fraud allegations. According to the reports, wife and son Elisabetta and Falco were on board at the time.

But either the statements of having to do without a yacht were false or Gregoraci has realised what a fool she’s made of herself, because since then she has declared on television:

Continue reading: Elisabetta Gregoraci: I never said my son couldn't sleep without the Briatore yacht

Flavio Briatore’s 17 million euro luxury yacht, Force Blue, has been seized by Italy’s special financial police, the Guardia di Finanza. Investigators contend that Briatore has registered the yacht as a charter boat in the Cayman islands, hiring at 275,000 euros a week, in order to get tax breaks when the yacht anchors in European harbours. The Guardia di Finanza says that Briatore uses the yacht mostly for his own private holidays, however, and therefore doesn’t qualify for the tax breaks.

The yacht was impounded in a dawn raid at La Spezia port in Liguria, with Briatore’s wife, Elisabetta Gregoraci, and new son, Falco, onboard at the time. Briatore could be facing a five-million USD fine - a mere slap on the wrist for the millionaire. We don’t whether he will get his yacht back or not in time for summer holidays, though, meaning that the Italian celebrity might be forced to holiday on his own billion dollar Briatore beach in Sardinia.

Flavio Briatore luxury Yacht: Force Blue

Source | The Mirror

Continue reading: Flavio Briatore's luxury yacht confiscated by Italian police

Rocco Siffredi is an Italian porn star and one of the country’s most famous celebrities, and just happens to share a birthday with Jorge Lorenzo, who recently turned 23. In a call to the Spanish MotoGP rider to wish him a happy birthday, the interviewer reminded Lorenzo of his shared birthday and as such he got to discussing Siffredi and the world’s best jobs.

While Jorge Lorenzo has a very rewarding job with plenty of girls involved (we think?), he says: “Rocco is number one in his field. He’s got a great job, even if I can’t complain about mine.” Which would have been a neat and simple response to a likely silly question from the interviewer if Lorenzo had stopped there.

He continued, though, saying: “Certainly my sensations and those that Rocco feels, are different … even if I enjoy both of them. If I could, I’d do his work, but if I think that it would be pretty tiring.” Right….

Source | TwoWheelsBlog

Continue reading: Italian porn stars and Spanish riders: Jorge Lorenzo wants Rocco Siffredi's job

The “Lapo-shirt” for men from Lapo Elkann’s Italia Independent label has been released, and will cost about 50 euros. The series of shirts have been designed with logos referring to the famous Italian celebrity and include everything from a rip-off of Italy’s favourite George Clooney and Martini ad, “No Martini, No Party”, to slogans of “Lapers” and “Just Play”.

Talk about voyeurism! The Lapers and Just Play slogans refer to an incident when Elkann participated at an NBA basketball game from the sideline. See the video of the funny incident after the jump.Another slogan on the shirt says “777 Mission Independent”, referring to Elkann’s Italia Independent label and his birthday of October 7, 1977. For more details, or to order your Lapo shirt, go to the Italia Independent website.

Lapo Elkann shirts from Italia Independent

Continue reading: The Lapo shirt for men: Lapo Elkann and Italia Independent 'No Lapo no Party'

Could it be the prison sentence for paparazzi Fabrizio Corona? Or has Belen Rodriguez cheated on her steady boyfriend? According to gossip from Italy, the couple in the spotlight, Corona and Rodriguez, has split up, with Fabrizio saying that he has never cheated on Belen and that she ‘destroyed’ his house.

The claims of a split have been denied by Belen, though, despite her reticence in a recent interview over a topic of marriage. In the past she has said that she would marry Corona, but it seems the couple has come under pressure. The lady in question has admitted an argument between the two, but not a break-up. Rest assured this is not the end of this love story…

Source | Gossipblog.it

Continue reading: Italian couple split: Fabrizio Corona and Belen Rodriguez break-up