Kellie Pickler says love is not the most important thing in her life right now.

“I just don’t put that as a priority on my list of things to do,” the 22-year-old North Carolina native tells me. “I think most important right now is my career, and I’ve got the rest of my life to settle down and get married and do that whole thing. Right now I’m young, and I should focus on what’s most important like friends and my job and trying to establish myself as a country artist. That’s the most important thing for myself.”

She adds, “People settle too fast, too early.”

Kellie is taking things slowly with her go-to guy, Nashville songwriter Kyle Jacobs.

“We write together, and see movies. When I come in off the road, I like to crash and be a bum and sit at home on the couch and just talk. We don’t really have to be doing anything. We usually just enjoy each other’s company and make each other laugh.”

What kind of guy would be perfect for her good pal Carrie Underwood?

“It’s hard to find someone who can understand someone like her and my schedule as well. But someone who’s trusting and funny and a good guy who is going to treat her right.”

Any celebs?

“It’s hard to date other celebrities because that’s really difficult. It’s better to find someone who is more real. It would be nice to have someone bring you back down to the real world.”

 

Catch Kellie performing on the CMA Awards, which air live from Nashville Wednesday from 8-11 ET.

Star Jones is dear friends with philanthropist Denise Rich, and shows it by attending her Gabrielle’s Gala benefiting Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation for Cancer Research.

The former View host, 46, who has filed for divorce from Al Reynolds, talks about why her female friendships matter most.

“It has been said that ‘a woman without good girlfriends is a sad woman indeed,’” Star tells me. “I couldn't agree more.  When life hands you ups, downs and sideways, it is your girls who have your back -- and often your front.  Denise and I have surrounded each other with love and support in good times and bad.  It's just what we do.”

Why does this North Carolina native make a great friend?

“Loyalty and trust -- the only two things that really matter between friends,” she says. “If you're my girlfriend, I love who you love -- and then I'm there standing with you when you decide you don't.  You can trust me with your secrets. I'm a vault.”

Supporting Denise’s cause is another way Star shows her loyalty. Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation for Cancer Research was formed in loving memory of Denise’s daughter Gabrielle, who succumbed to Leukemia in 1996.

“We can't cure cancer without the vital research that young researchers are providing by pushing the envelope and stepping outside of the box,” she says. “We here at the foundation believe that the only way we can adequately honor Gabrielle's memory is to find a cure. And if you know anything about Denise, you know that she won't stop until we do.”

Bijou Phillips finds respite from her glitzy showbiz lifestyle by hanging with her horses in California.

“I have Clover – her show name is Double Cream De Mint – and then I have Olive, and her show name is Sky Blue Indian -- and I have Lexington, and his show name is the Devil Can Do,” Bijou tells me.

She spends her time horseback riding.

“I’m at the barn from 4 until about 9:00 at night – riding, turning out, graining,” the actress says. “It’s a lot of work. It’s awesome though. I wouldn’t want to do anything else.”

Bijou loves to give them watermelon.

“I’ll take a huge watermelon and I’ll chop it up,” she says. “I’ll give my horses watermelon, I’ll give them canteloupe, I’ll give them honeydew melon, I give them carrots, obviously, apples, celery, and I’ll make a huge salad bowl full of tons and tons of fruit. Almost every time I go to see my horses, I bring at least two watermelons. I carry half a watermelon in my hands, and they’re shoving their face in it. It takes all my strength to hold the watermelon up, and once they’re done with all the inside sweet part, they start eating the rinds. It’s a pretty fun, messy time, feeding horses watermelons, but I love it.”

In fact, her horses are show quality.

“They all compete,” she says. “Clover’s a three-day eventer, and Olive is a hunter, and Lexington is hunter-jumper. Jumps pretty good. Olive, she’s young, she does a lot of flat stuff. We haven’t really started jumping yet.”

Justin Guarini is back in the spotlight for CMT’s Gone Country 3, which is taping now in Nashville.

Following in the footsteps of Maureen McCormick, Diana DeGarmo and *NSYNC’s Chris Kirkpatrick, the American Idol season one runner-up will compete for a chance to record a country single.

Things have certainly changed for Justin since he first appeared on the show that made Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, Chris Daughtry and Clay Aiken famous.

He turned 30 last week, and got engaged to Reina Capodici, 26, in September. Although the pair began dating in 2007, their love story actually dates back to childhood.

“We’ve grown up together,” he tells me. “She was a friend before she was my lover, and then she became my best friend. Our families go way back. Her mother was my English teacher in junior high.”

How did he know she was “the one” for him?

“There’s a compatibility and an understanding. It takes a lot of understanding to be able to be with someone who is working in the industry. Still, she’s amazing.”

Justin tells me he likes to pamper her with candlelight backrubs. Ooh!

They are planning a June wedding.