A lot of mouths hit the floor Monday night when The Bachelorette's DeAnna Pappas sent hunky real estate attorney Jeremy packing.

But it may be part of a bigger plan to get the Huntsville, Tex., native the screen time he really deserves, as ABC’s next Bachelor.

“Jeremy would make a great bachelor because he has everything to offer a woman,” DeAnna reveals. “I would totally support him. He could call me and ask me any question and I would try to guide him in the best direction.”

Not convinced Jeremy’s a catch? DeAnna adds, “He has a wonderful outlook on life. He comes from an amazing family. He has a great career ahead of him.”

Sounding pretty good to me. “And he’s got a great dog,” DeAnna shares. Darn it. With my allergies, I’m out of the running!

With Jeremy sounding like Mr. Right, why didn’t DeAnna keep him around? “He’s perfect, and I’m scared to death of perfect,” she admits. “I’ve never had that in my life.”

DeAnna will have her own perfect moment when The Bachelorette airs next Monday. One of the remaining bachelors, Jason or Jesse, will propose to the Georgia peach. And if there’s a wedding, it may be televised!

“I know there’s a lot of followers and supporters who would like to see that happy ending,” DeAnna says. “I’m not really opposed to letting those fans into that part of my life.”

Even though she’ll be engaged and possibly wed, DeAnna says if Jeremy does become the Bachelor, she’ll be watching. “Absolutely, I watch it now,” she declares. “Once you’re on the show, you have to watch. I’m addicted to it.”

And I can take allergy meds. Sign me up!

Catch the two-hour season finale of The Bachelorette on Monday, July 7 at 8 p.m. on ABC, followed by The Bachelorette: After the Rose, where we’ll get an update from the happy couple.

America isn’t the only one gearing up for its birthday. Sandra Lee, host of Semi-Homemade Cooking on the Food Network, is celebrating hers today.

Even though she’s the b-day gal, Sandra’s giving TV fanatics across the nation a gift:  a six-show marathon on Independence Day with a feisty flame-seared theme!

Knowing most of us will fire up the grill on the nation’s big day, Sandra shared with me one of her fave Fourth recipes, which can be found in her new book, Semi-Homemade Grilling 2.

“It’s Saucy White Hots,” she declares. “You take a skillet, put it on the grill and ground some beef. Put in some beef broth, chili sauce, onions and steak seasoning. The secret to this recipe is a ½ teaspoon of cinnamon. It gives it a really earthy rich flavor. That’s your meat sauce. The White Hots are bratwurst from Johnsonville that you put on French rolls that are toasted.” Mouth watering right about now!

With her b-day in full effect, Sandra’s also got an easy recipe to glam up a plain sheet cake. “Take a white sheet cake from any store, and then put a white round cake on top. Decorate it with cupcakes and decorated cookies that you buy. Add your candles, and you’re done.”

So where will Sandra be blowing out her candles tonight? “I just got back from St. Tropez with my sister Kimber Gaskill,” she shares. “Normally, my sweetie does something very special for me so I’m sure he’ll ask me where I want to go and what I want to do.”

I’m sure it will include some fabulous cocktails!

Semi-Homemade Cooking, the marathon, begins Friday, July 4 at 11 a.m. on Food Network.

All TV actors know there's one rule you don't break: You're not allowed to give away the plot!

So OK!’s Oliver Coleman may have accidentally got Jerry Ferarra – who plays Turtle in the HBO hit Entourage – in a little bit of trouble.

Bad for him, great for us!

When we talked to him recently, Jerry was so excited about the upcoming season that he couldn't help but blab just a little bit about the adventures of movie star Vince Chase and his hangers-on.

"There's big changes for all the characters this year," Jerry spilled. "The movie that we basically put our lives into, Medellin, was kind of a bomb at the Cannes Film Festival and it pretty much picks up this year with the aftermath of that.

"The guys are very much in trouble financially, it's not like the old Entourage where they had everything at their finger tips. I mean they do still have their normal connections, but it's a little bit of a struggle,” Jerry continued. “My character goes out and gets a job for an episode."

Jerry digs that the new season shows the guys sticking together as a family, in the good times and the bad.

“Like Turtle would still be with Vince everyday, even if Vince was a garbage man," he shared. "This is where you really get to see the loyalty of the show."

We kinda dropped Jerry in it a few days later when we got chatting to Kevin Connolly at the Shrine nightclub at the MGM Grand in Foxwoods, Ct., and tried to squeeze just a little more info from the co-star. But Kevin was being a lot more cautious.

"I'm trying to think what I can say without getting myself in trouble," said Kevin, who plays Eric, Vincent's best friend and manager. "Because I've gotten into trouble before!"

Just to give him a tiny little nudge, we might have said that Jerry told us Vince's new movie bombs.

"He said that! I can't believe he told you that!"

Oops.

But with the cat well and truly out of the bag, Kevin thought he may as well give us his take on the new season, which returns to HBO in September.

"Ok, well if he said it... The film doesn't do well and [Vince's] career is at a low, and in the immortal words of Ari Gold, he's in 'movie jail,'" Kevin revealed. "So it's all about getting his career back on track."

Sorry, Jerry! We didn't know we weren't supposed to know! (But we're glad we did!)

 

Catch back-to-back encore episodes of Entourage, Season 3: Part 2, and Season 4 on Fridays beginning July 4 at 10 p.m. on HBO.

 

Been a while since I was in high school, but I still remember that one boy who made me sneak out my bedroom window to hook up, cause my mama was never letting him through the front door.

Meet the newest version of the teen heartthrob/

heartbreaker, The Secret Life of the American Teenager’s Daren Kagasoff, who plays Ricky Underwood. Ricky's one-night stand with a shy marching band member leaves him expecting more than detention next semester.

Now that I’m old enough to pay for my own windows, I skipped curfew to chat with the 20-year-old newcomer about his first starring role.

Tell me about Ricky, the resident bad boy.
He just does whatever he wants to do. All the girls love him at school, and they want to get with him regardless of what problems he’s stirred up with their friends. He’s got this dark past, and he’s got a very vulnerable side that only comes out when he’s in sessions with his psychiatrist. That’s the only time he’s really true to himself.

Were you a real-life bad boy in your high school days?
I was a baseball player in high school, so I was pretty bad (laughs). This guy is a lot more forward than I ever was. He's the funnest character to play because he has so many different sides to him and it's just fun to have the opportunity to play that up.

What was your most embarrassing high school moment?
In health class I had a B-average throughout the year. The final came and the teacher said, “I know this kid isn’t pulling this off,” and put me in the corner to take it. I got about 15 percent on the final. She called my mom to ask why I failed, and my mom tried to play off that I was a great student, but it came out that I had been cheating throughout the year. I had to do a lot of extra papers to pass the class.

Are you single?
I’m very single, and I’ve been doing good with that. I been able to focus on my character and really live it throughout the day, but we wrap July 22. I haven’t met any cute girls yet, but I’m hoping too.

What would be your ideal girl be like?
She’s got to be really intelligent and be able to keep a steady conversation. I like a challenge so she’d be somebody that always keeps me thinking and that I can learn something from. A cute face and body would be great too.

 

What's your best opening line to meet a girl?

It's not my thing to be Ricky-forward and spitting game. I kind of wait to see if I'm interested in someone, or if they come up to meet me. If they don't, it was never meant to be. But maybe it would be, "Do you want to have a good time tonight?"

 

I don't think that'll work.

Exactly (laughs).

 

You turn 21 on September 16. Any big plans for your birthday?
Maybe go to Vegas. I've never been. A lot of people do that for the 21-thing!

 

Gals, if you see Daren out on the strip this fall and want a chance at winning his heart, walk up and say hello!

The Secret Life of the American Teenager premieres Tuesday, July 1 at 8 p.m. on ABC Family.