Breakfast w/Greg: Donny Osmond in WeHo; Van Hansis talks Emmys; Queer as Folk cast reunion

Morning all.

So last night my friend Michael and I were walking down Santa Monica Boulevard after dinner and noticed this huge crowd in front of Millions of Milkshakes. There was a red carpet, TV cameras and at least 100 people outside.

All the fuss was for Donny Osmond!

Donny and his Dancing With the Stars partner Kym Johnson were inside making some kind of milkshake and Donny’s wife Debbie was there too. She is a looker his wife of more than 30 years.

Anyway, it was fascinating to watch the crowd when Donny finally made his way out. You’d a thought he was one of the Jonas Brothers! People also had all kinds of memorabilia for him to sign, a lot of it from when Donny was a kid.

Since he’s been a star for most of his life, the 51 year old Donny handled it all with grace and charm. He was friendly and chatted with fans, posed for the pictures with that toothy smile, signed the photos, waved then was inside his limo within a few minutes.

It all just made me want to break into a chorus of Puppy Love.

HANSIS ON LUKE AND NOAH: I may quibble with the writing for the characters of Luke and Noah on As the World Turns but I’m a huge fan of actor Van Hansis who plays Luke.

The three-time Emmy nominee (pictured with co-star Jake Silbermann) spoke with We Love Soaps, one of my daily must-reads, recently and was asked about losing the Emmy, yet again, this year:

We Love Soaps: On another note, we were all recently at the Emmys. We were disappointed with your loss [for Outstanding Supporting Actor]. How are you doing with that?
Van Hansis: Well, the uncontrollable shaking stopped last week. I still wake up in panics and night sweats, but aside from that I’m okay.

We Love Soaps: [Laughs] I know it’s silly to ask if you were disappointed, but…
Van Hansis: Of course I would love to win. But also, you know, it’s an award. It’s a fantastic little icing on the cake. But as I say, very lamely, the cake is what I get to do every day.

STILL PALS: Robert Gant, who was plauyed Ben on Showtime’s Queer as Folk, was one of the organizers of Sunday’s 8th annual GLEH Garden Party which raised money and gay and lesbian senior housing. His Queer as Folk co-star Sharon Gless (Debbie) received the first annual Triangle Pioneer Award at the event.

This resulted in a mini-Queer as Folk reunion with Thea Gill (Lindsay), Gale Harold (Brian) and Scott Lowell (Ted) also in attendance. (Photo by Brian Putnam)