We've got nothing but love for Ricki Lake, so we have to give a shout-out to the Hairspray star for quashing her chubby demons.

The 38-year old actress flaunts her new look in this week's Us, telling the tab-rag:

For the longest time, when I was very heavy, I couldn’t cross my legs. I couldn’t physically do it. LOVE that I can cross my legs now...

We may love her, but we suspect hordes of postpartum mama's are shaking their fists at her banging body. Better watch out, Lake, those bitches get mean.

Christie Keith of AfterElton had the luck to catch a "rough partial screening" (we have no idea what the hell it means, either) of the upcoming Hairspray movie and came back confident enough to post an early review.

The good news is that, at worst, they didn't fuck it up (like everyone was thinking they would). Even better news is that, according to Keith, all in all, it's actually pretty good.

Keith gives readers the full rundown on AfterElton and gets director Adam Shankman to relay the motivation he gave Michelle Pfeiffer in the role of blonde bitch Velma Von Tussle:

You are an unmitigated racist. You are - this is a horrible thing to say, but it’s like, if Jon-Benet grew up. You’re the little girl beauty queen who got stuck. You just don’t want to change. At all. And you are stuck in the late 40s.”

No wonder John Waters gave his blessing.

Exclusive report from a Hairspray advance screening [AfterElton]

The first Hairspray trailer to officially hit the Internet just went live:

(Thanks to Stephen Lenz of Queersighted for being the first to let us know!)

What better way to start The Emotions Issue than with a little sit down with John Waters? A man of many hats - artist, filmmaker, writer, general pervoid - Waters' work never fails to tug on the heart strings. Whether the tugging's pleasant or not, well, that depends on where you keep your heart.

If your hearts in your ear, you'll certainly want to get your hands on Waters' new musical compilation, A Date With John Waters, on which the so-called king of filth celebrates some of his favorite forgotten love songs. The collection's closer to sublime than sleazy, offering the listener some lost aural wonders.

See what Waters has to say about this musical curation, how to tell when it's really love, why he's not for pill-popping and the last time he cried, after the jump.

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While we've missed the press opportunity to check out Haylie Duff in Broadway's Hairspray – and, having already seen the show, don't feel the necessity to plunk down cash to see the 7th Heaven actress in what's likely the final run of the show – there's news we might have another chance to catch a Duff amid the Midtown lights. The Insider's Marc Malkin today reports Hilary Duff might be headed to The Wedding Singer (which, despite what you may think, is a musical we're declaring as this year's Tommy). Meanwhile, Nick Lachey – currently only seen in dust-gathering promo posters and in Clix fragrance ads – is said being considered for the role of Billy Flynn in Chicago. Actually, word has it he's already been offered the part. Twice. And turned it down both times.

Marc Malkin [The Insider]

&bull Lesbian presbyterian minister is found "not guilty" of any wrongdoing when she marries gay couples. Say "lesbian presbyterian minister" five times really fast. [AP]

&bull John Travolta will return to his musical roots to play Edna Turnblad in the movie-musical version of Hairspray, joining Queen Latifah, who will play Motormouth Maybelle. And somewhere, Harvey Fierstein his cutting himself. [Reuters]

&bull Iowa students lobby state lawmakers to pass "Safe Schools" LGBT protection. Call us if you need any help, kids. We got your back.[WHO TV]

&bull Guantanamo Bay uses gay porn to torture political prisoners. [Knight Ridder]

Bruce Vilanch recently took time from his busy schedule to chat with Bradford Shellhammer about the blogs he reads, the Bush administration, and this year’s Oscars. He also dishes on a few of our favorite divas.

Ok. Hi Bruce. We at Queerty love you. And we are sad we missed your show Almost Famous 2005 in San Francisco. What did we miss?

Full-frontal nudity. The first three rows had to move back.

You have so many projects lined up. Tell us about Queer Duck?

I play myself. It's a stretch. But it's never gotten in Jerry Seinfeld's way. This is a feature-length version of the cartoons that used to follow Queer as Folk on Showtime. They once had me pop in as a guest joke, and we all thought that this time I should do the voice instead of Mercedes McCambridge.

And Celebrity Fit Club! This is one of our guilty pleasures. We only wish you were on the same season at Jackee. How did this come about?

I think I can lay the blame at the feet of ant. Which is better than laying ants at the feet of, oh never mind. He recommended me and when they called they said we're hoping you can add some humor to the proceedings. Losing weight is such martyrdom that people give themselves over to their own drama. Maybe it's because they're deprived of the one thing that they could count on -- food. It's a pity party three times a day. So I'm trying to do it and have a few chuckles along the way.

After the jump Bruce talks about Bette, Whoopi, and Miss. Ross.

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