Rafters stars announce pregnancy

James Stewart and Jessica Marais

Packed To The Rafters stars James Stewart and Jessica Marais are expecting their first child.

The pair announced their news in a statement released by Marais's management company RGM on Tuesday.

"James Stewart and Jessica Marais announce they are expecting their first child," the statement said.

"The couple are excited and looking forward to this next phase in their lives."

No further details about the pregnancy were currently available.

Marais, 26, and Stewart, 36, became an off-screen item while playing an on-screen couple in the Seven hit drama series Packed To The Rafters.

Logie award-winning actress Marais quit the show and her role as Rachel Rafter in February to try her luck in Hollywood.

Stewart and Marais announced their engagement in October and have said they plan to wed next year.

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Jackson's death bed on auction

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson's death bed will go under the hammer, along with other personal items from the LA mansion where he died, the auctioneer behind the sale said.

The sell-off, which comes after doctor Conrad Murray was convicted this week over Jackson's 2009 death, also includes a kitchen chalkboard note by one of his children, reading "I (heart) Daddy!"

Auction house chief Darren Julien said he preferred not to highlight the morbid aspect of the sale, which involves the contents of the mansion in the plush Holmby Hills area of LA where Jackson died on June 25, 2009.

"It includes all the items that surrounded him and his family in the last part of his life," he said, adding: "It's the first time that items like this, fine decorative art, have been sold that's associated with him."

As well as the bed and crime scene photos which were shown during Murray's six-week trial, complete with medical paraphernalia, the sale will also include a mirror from Jackson's private bathroom.

On the mirror, the star had written "March, April" and then "May - Full on" - an apparent reference to the gruelling rehearsals he was attending in early 2009 for a series of comeback concerts in London.

From the kitchen there is the chalkboard note saying "I (heart) daddy," and one saying "Hugs are for free," while auctioneers recently found a candle that Jackson's son Prince carved his name into.

A bench from the shower in Jackson's private bathroom has stick figures etched into it.

"We know this from when we cleared out Neverland, that Michael would draw and etch into furniture often," said Julien, referring to when Jackson left his infamous ranch in 2004 amid child molestations charges.

Murray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for giving Jackson an overdose of anesthetic propofol at the LA mansion where the star was living while preparing for the ill-fated London shows.

Julien said he did not want the sale to dwell on Jackson's death.

"We ourselves are trying to stay away from the morbid side of it," he said, adding: "We would never do anything against the (Jackson) estate or the family."

A catalogue being prepared will be like a memento of the entire contents of the house.

"People haven't seen the inside of the house, other than some of the crime scene photographs," he said.

The auction of the contents of the mansion is scheduled to take place on December 17. Items will go on display when the house is "recreated" at the celebrity auctioneer's gallery on December 12.

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Chris Tucker To Lose $6 Million Home

Rush Hour star Chris Tucker's $6 million Florida mansion is in foreclosure, with more than $4.4 million owed to the bank, reports the Orlando Sentinel, citing papers filed in Circuit Court in Lake County.

Tucker, 39, bought the 10,000-sq.-ft. waterfront home on Lake Apopka, near Orlando, in 2007. The newspaper says the residence contains five bedrooms, three fireplaces, a personal spa, an outdoor kitchen overlooking a pool, and a basement outfitted to resemble a pirate ship, including the sail.

Court documents reportedly show an $11.5 million IRS lien on the home in 2011 in order to collect federal income taxes from Tucker, whose monthly mortgage payment, the documents also show, was $25,812.50.

There has been no comment from Tucker, but the Times Union of Albany, N.Y., reports that his comedy show scheduled in the city for this Sunday – and was a rescheduling of a postponed Sept. 3 performance – has been canceled because of "unforeseen circumstances." 

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