Sad news today as Willie Aames opens up about the struggles he’s faced over the past couple of years.  In 2008, the actor best known as playing neighbor Buddy Lembeck on Charles in Charge, found himself divorced with no family and a home lost to foreclosure.  It just makes you wonder, how does someone go from being a millionaire to sleeping under someone’s shrubs? 

Entertainment Tonight — an interview with Aames is scheduled to air tonight — released this statement (and I hope they fire the person who doesn’t know the difference between “peek, peak and pique”) about the actor, his hardships and a new career path:

Aames opens up about experiencing financial ruin after a successful career as an actor, “At the very peek [of "Eight Is Enough"] I was making a little over a million dollars a year,” he says. “Then suddenly there was no job, no bank account, no wife, no child. I never dreamt it could happen that fast. I found myself virtually homeless. I stayed with friends when I could, slept in parking garages or slept in the park. It was shameful. I remember laying underneath the bushes thinking, ‘Is this how it turns out? Is this how my life really turns out?’”

When asked about reports of a suicide attempt after his wife left with their young daughter, Aames says, “I gave people a lot of cause for concern and I think they acted on those concerns. I’m glad they did. Beyond that, that time period is a blur.”

Aames’s struggles have led to the new VH1 special, “Broke and Famous: Willie Aames,” airing Thursday night. “It’s a docu-drama on what happens to celebrities when they hit rock bottom,” he says. “You have to find some point that will give you the smallest amount of dignity and self respect back.”

Aames tells ET that throughout the years of trying to get back on his feet, he was turned down for several jobs, including wilderness guide, but was finally hired by a construction company.

Today Aames is reunited with his daughter and on his way to becoming a financial advisor. “I never dreamed I would want to be or become a financial advisor,” he reveals. “I am well on my way.”

Now that we can watch Britney Spears’ entire video instead of viewing it three seconds at a time, I’ve got something to say about the most ridiculous lyric ever:  “Livin’ in sin is the new thing.”  Oh, Brit — you are so young.

Anyway, here’s Brit’s video for her newest single, “3.”

Jeremy Piven almost committed sushi suicide last year.  Don’t laugh; it can happen.  He went a little nuts with the Philadelphia rolls and before he knew it, he couldn’t act on Broadway any longer.  (Rest assured, his mercury poisoning did not deter him from partying around town.)

After Piv’s “recovery” from the mercury poisoning as well as the subsequent legal action the Speed The Plow folks tried to levy against him, he is now faced with yet another food aversion that threatened to cause him great discomfort … and breasts.

Piven’s newest whinefest involves soy milk, which makes me wonder if there’s another project he’s trying to weasel his way out of.  ”I was the guy that dabbled in soya milk, but now I’ve found out soya milk has enough oestrogen for me to grow breasts; I had to put the soya milk down.   It was a very confusing time.”  Really, Piv?  Because I’m the gal that wants nothing more than to slap you upside with a mercury-laden tuna steak whilst simultaneously pouring a half-gallon of Silk down your throat.  You won’t be confused then.

It was just last week that Hailey Glassman admitted to the world (via The Insider, natch) that her boyfriend, Jon Gosselin, was sometimes emotionally abusive.  Yeah, you think that’s a bombshell?  Catch this:  Sometimes, Jon has trouble telling the truth.  I know, I know … you think you know someone.

Needless to say, Jon responded in the only logical manner.  Yep, he spent his weekend doing an apology tour — a PR agent’s wet dream.  He’s been speaking out with Rabbi Schmuley Boteach at his side — he’s the dude that Oprah loves –and admitting that he may have been misguided on some of his life choices.  Last night they were at the West Side Jewish Center and today I saw them on one of those morning talk shows, but I couldn’t stick around and watch because I had to race to my laptop and report the most important detail of all:  the diamond stud earrings are gone!  No skulls and roses and no bling in the lobes.  Who is this changed man?

At last night’s appearance, Jon explained that people just don’t understand him.  “I think I’m just misunderstood. I’m not a fame seeker. Everyday I look in the mirror and I wonder [why I'm famous]. I don’t sing. I don’t dance. I’m not a Nobel Peace Prizewinner. I just had eight kids and I had a show on TLC.  behavior.  Half the stuff I’ve done, if I look at my moral compass, I shouldn’t have done.  I know that but I did it anyway. It’s like fame canceled out conviction.”  I guess I do have something in common with Jon — I don’t understand why he’s famous either.

Like all public apologies, this feels calculated.  I’m pretty sure that he and Hailey are over, though he claims that they are just slowing their pace.  “We decided not to take a break, just slow things down, until I get through my divorce and I know everything is settled and okay. I don’t want another failure in my relationships. I don’t want to make the same mistakes I made with Kate, with Hailey. I would just be repeating the pattern over again.”

Speaking of repeating patterns, Jon stated that he’ll be privately apologizing to Kate and then immediately followed up that promise by making a public apology:

“I want to apologize to Kate in private,” he said. “I’ll apologize to her for openly having relationships in the public eye. That was a huge mistake, because if she would’ve done that to me, I would have been extremely pissed off. Not because our relationship is over, it’s almost like a stab in the back. And now that I think about it, it was a very wrong thing to do. I definitely regret it.”

Referring to himself and girlfriend Hailey Glassman, he said the two of them “should never have gone to France.”

Gosselin claims he is well aware of the public’s perception of him but insists he is his own harshest critic. “It’s hard for me because I can’t forgive myself for the things I’ve done,” he said. “So to ask for forgiveness from someone who may never forgive me is tough for me. I do apologize to Kate. I’m sorry for doing the things I did. I do ask for her forgiveness.”

To recap, Jon’s misunderstood, he’s still with Hailey even though she claims that he’s a liar, and he’s publicly announced that he’s going to privately apologize to Kate for all his wrongdoings.

Oksana Grigorieva has just given birth to Mel Gibson’s eighth child.

I am therefore requesting that all of you smart, sensible, responsible, sane human beings out there who are in stable relationships drop trow and get to making some babies, immediately. If you’re in a same-sex relationship, do your part and donate your white squigglies, get artificially inseminated, adopt, and do whatever else you can to raise some kids in your smart, sensible, stable, sane homes.

Because at the rate people like Mel Gibson, Octomom, and the Duggar family are going, it won’t be long before we’re outnumbered.

Do your part.

You’ve made your judgments on the cover art, now what do you think about the title track?

The line “Don’t trip off the bits that I’m gonna display” made me giggle because I have the mature sense of humor of a tweener in health class when the teacher says “penis.”

Considering that a lot of non-famous people probably dressed up like them last night, it’s interesting to see what celebs chose to be for Halloween. I love that Gwen Stefani wasn’t afraid to don a head to toe Jessie (from Toy Story 2) costume to take her kids out trick-or-treating. Gavin gets negative points for taking himself too seriously and not wearing a costume.

Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis and his son both dressed as Eddie Munster while Christina Aguilera and son Max went out as a pair of skeletons. James Gandolfini and designer Christian Siriano both looked unintentionally creepy– one because he was wearing a Homer Simpson mask with the eyes cut out, the other because… well… you’ll see.