The veteran newsman uttered this pronouncement over  “CNN Presents: A Larry King Special: Dinner with the Kings,” where the septuagenarian TV and radio personality hosted a gathering with Russell Brand, Seth MacFarlane, Tyra Banks and Conan O’Brien…

Remember, this was the exact same night Russell Brand, that consummate practical joker, stole upstairs to the master’s bedroom and filched a pair of Larry King‘s wife’s panties?

And because as the host, Mr. King refused to be upstaged by such an upstart, and an English one at that, he announced out of the blue, that he’d like to be frozen when he dies.

“I want to be frozen on the hope that they’ll find whatever I died of and bring me back,”

King declared in front of everyone in his dining room.

This idea isn’t very original, of course. Back in the 1990′s, another King, the King of Pop, Michael Jackson himself, had a special room in his home at the ersthile Neverland Ranch installed with a bizarre pressurized coffin-like chamber. If star news recalls, Michael was even photographed lying asleep inside it.

Alas, things didn’t work out with the late, lamented Michael. We all know what he died of and no amount of freezing is going to bring him back.

“This is big news,”

said a very surprised Conan O’Brien.

“You would like to be frozen? This is news to me.”

To which the perpetually poker-faced Mr. King deadpanned:

“It’s the only hedging of a bet.”

Why does that statement makes us think Larry King made a deal with a certain hoofed individual with horns, a forked tongue, a tail, and a three-pronged spear?

Photo By PR Photos

Well, what do you expect when England’s notorious prankster is a guest at a staid dinner where he has to make polite chit-chat with fellow guests, Shaquille O’Neal, Tyra Banks, and chat show host Conan O’Brien? Surely something has to give…

The round-table-interview-cum-dinner, which will air tomorrow night on CNN (heck, yes, they filmed it!), will have you falling off your seat in laughter as the camera follows Russell upstairs to the master’s bedroom where he filches a pair of singer, Shawn Southwick‘s underwear.

Does this mean the whole thing, “Dinner With The Kings,”  was scripted?

Well apparently not because Russell himself felt the constricted atmosphere and wanted to liven things up.

“It (the set up) didn’t seem normal…”

The “Arthur” star said afterwards.

“People asking questions about whether or not you loved your mum… so, to ground myself, I thought the only way of making sense of this situation is to sneak away… go upstairs, go into his (King‘s) bedroom and steal his wife’s underwear, conceal it about your person and then later on in the conversation… ‘Russell, what keeps you up at night?’ ‘I tell you what keeps me up at night – these…’ and I held up his wife’s panties.”

And if you want to see what kind of panties Shawn Southwick wears, you’ll just have to catch that CNN special tomorrow…

Photos By PR Photos

King was born in New York city to a restaurateur and garment worker. He grew up in a religious Jewish home. When his father died, the family was forced to live on welfare. This forced Larry to look for job right after high school to help his mom.

Larry‘s first job at a radio station was doing cleaning and miscellaneous tasks. His big break came along when one of the announcers resigned and the manager picked Larry to go on air. And the rest is history.

Larry began hosting the nightly Larry King Live on CNN in 1985, he has only stepped down in December, 2010.

As for his relationships? Larry has been married eight times, he’s (at the time of writing) still married to Shawn Southwick despites cheating allegations on both sides.

Birth name: Lawrence Harvey King; born November 19, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York City

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

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More pictures of Shawn and Larry after the signatures…

I bet those lawyers are bummed! No huge retainer checks for them or large bills because Shawn and Larry want to fight over things.

The CNN host, 76 and his wife, 50, filed petitions Wednesday in a Los Angeles court to dismiss their divorce case, almost three months after they initially filed the documents.

“A lot of new things are happening to us,” King said in a statement, “and we are happy to be together as a family with our children.”

Well, I guess hearing good news is so uncommon in Hollywood that we don’t know how to react to it! Are you happy for Larry & Shawn or are you bummed a messy divorce ended before it even began?

Photos: Bauer Griffin

more Larry King after the hop…

So why is he leaving the post that made him a household name?

“I’m looking forward to the future and what my next chapter will bring, but for now it’s time to hang up my nightly suspenders…We love our children, we love each other, we love being a family.”

Of course, much of this probably has to do with all the cheating allegation, threatened divorce and rumored suicide attempt by his wife Shawn Southwick.

Best of luck Larry King!

Photos: Fame

More pictures of Shawn and Larry after the nap…

We know Shawn and Larry have had a lot of problems in the past, but supposedly they were being taken care of.

“She may have overmedicated,” Engemann tells the 911 operator. “I don’t think she did it on purpose. Last night she seemed confused about what she had taken, the last time she had taken it.”

Engemann, 76, is emphatic that it’s not a suicide attempt.

“She’s unconscious. I slap her and I holler at her and she opens her eyes half way and puts them back down again,” he says early in the call.

That’s scary for any parent to see! I hope Shawn is getting help for whatever problem she has. They certainly rolled this under the rug so no one would hear about it, didn’t they? Makes you wonder what is really going on. What do you think happened?

Photos: Bauer Griffin

More pictures of Larry and Shawn when they change their mind…

Larry is 76 years old – can he really afford another divorce? From the Chicago Tribune:

Amid rumors of infidelity, the couple filed for divorce in Los Angeles on April 14 after almost 13 years of marriage. Divorce papers showed the reason for the separation was “irreconcilable differences,” but since the filing the couple has worked on reconciliation and reports said they would seek counseling. On Tuesday, a spokesman for the couple told Reuters that the pair has called off their divorce.

“We love our children, we love each other, we love being a family. That is all that matters to us,” King and Southwick, who have two children together, said in a statement.

Riiiiight. I think they decided to both keep their affairs quiet and just live with each other, because Larry is tired of divorcing. What do you think the truth is?

Photos: Pacific Coast News

More pictures of Larry after the jump…

Seriously, what is so hot about a 76 year old man? His money? According to Radar Online:

The TV talk show host and his wife’s sister had a several-year relationship that overlapped Shawn King’s affair with Hector Penate, the baseball tutor hired by the Kings for their sons.

And now we’ve learned that not only did Larry and Shannon discuss getting married but they also talked about having a child.

Geesh. There’s too many people involved here to even keep it straight! Shawn and Hector had an affair, but it didn’t break up the marriage two years ago. That seems pretty telling to me…what do you think of all the affairs?

Photos: Bauer Griffin

more Hector spilling the beans after the jump…

Penate was asked by Entertainment Tonight if Shawn had discussed about divorcing Larry, the baseball coach said “All the time.” He added, Shawn told him “Don’t worry he’s going to die soon so just stick around.”

Well, let’s hope Larry can stomach this one.

ET: Did you have sex in Larry King’s house?
Hector: Yes, I did.

ET: Did you have sex in Larry King’s bed?
Hector: Yes, I did

According to Penate who’s the baseball coach of Larry King’s sons, he said sometimes Larry’s children would sleepwalk into the bedroom while Hector was there with mommy.

Hector: I would dive off and not let them see me or something like that. Poor kids and then she’d come walk them back to bed. Then I’d come back in bed.

ET: Do you think the kids knew about your relationship with their mother?
Hector: Unfortunately they did, she let the know that I was in love with her. She told the kids flat out.

Hector was asked whether Shawn knew about Larry’s alleged affair with his sister-in-law, she said “of course”

This affair thing isn’t fresh news. We actually reported it back in 2008.

Hector said he would take a lie detective test to prove he’s telling the truth. Do you think it’s even necessary?

Do you believe in Hector’s details?

photos: Baseball trainer Hector Penate spotted arriving at Katsuya in Hollywood

photos: Pacific Coast News; Bauer Griffin

more Shawn and Hector after the hop…

In fact, Penate claims he slept with Southwick many times throughout an entire year at the King household:

“We had sex in Larry’s bed — a lot. I felt like it was my house. She paid my rent, she bought me clothes and a BMW 7 Series. She wanted to have a little girl with me. She was trying to fertilize her eggs to do that.”

He also told InTouch that Larry and Shawn had an open marriage and that Larry could care less because he’s a “sex freak.”

Is it just me or are these sex scandals getting to be a bit much? Larry King is about the last person I’d care to think about sexually. Jesse James – and the trash he brought — was bad enough. But now this? Make it stop. Please. Haven’t we suffered enough?

Photos: Bauer Griffin, InTouch

more Larry and Shawn after the hop…

As umagazine.com reported today, King and Southwick met with counselors today and may decide to give it another go. Perhaps for the sake of their two young boys who are 11 and nine.

Eh. To be frank, it just doesn’t seem Larry King is the marrying kind. This is, afterall, his seventh failed marriage (eight if you count the time he reconciled years later with one of his exes).

What do you think? Should Larry and Shawn quit it or stay together?

Photos: Bauer Griffin

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more Larry and Shawn after the jump…

RadarOnline reports Shawn believes Larry spent over $1m on her sister, Shannon, 45! King allegedly bought her a luxury $160,000 car and paid for her to live at the Beverly Hills Hotel for a year and a half.

According to TMZ, Shannon has denied the  infidelity accusations.

Shannon said, “Shawn has left me threatening messages.” After the National Enquirer published a story suggesting an affair, Shannon says, “Shawn left me a message … ‘If you dare sue the Enquirer I will pull out every last receipt that proves you had an affair with Larry.’”

Larry and Shawn were married in 1997 and have two children together. He is seeking joint custody of their children.

Larry’s much younger wife, Shawn was once accused of cheating on him back in 2008 with their sons’ baseball coach, Hector Penate.

Oh dear! 8th divorce? Larry perhaps it’s time to stop getting married? Then again when you are so rich, you never fail to find love, do you?

Showering the sister with expensive gifts, sounds a bit fishy? Do you think Larry had an affair with his wife’s sister?

photos: Pacific Coast News

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More pictures of Jon after the gag…

Jon slapped the cease and desist on his house, shutting down TLC production of the show. Then he went on Larry King and said he was going to quit anyway. But now, he says via People Magazine:

Jon said it was time he took control of his marriage and make life normal for his children. King challenged Heller’s claim about Jon’s plan to announce he was shutting down Jon & Kate Plus 8 on the air, because only moments before Jon said he had “no idea” he was being fired, and that he “found out just like everybody else … saw it on a laptop as an [Associated Press] newswire.”

So basically Jon was spinning for Larry King! Larry couldn’t even get the truth out. He was informed via a press release, but had it planned for weeks. Jon, grow up!

Photos: Bauer Griffin

More pictures of Jon after the lies…

Jon had wanted off his show, then he got his wish on Monday when TLC dumped him. When he found out, he filed papers to extend his marriage, which Kate quickly denied as well. From CNN:

Yet, he proclaimed that he still wanted to continue on with “Jon & Kate Plus 8.” Gosselin told PEOPLE in August that reports he wanted off the show were false.

“I never said that,” he said. “A fan asked me, ‘Don’t you sometimes wish you could go back to a 9-to-5 job?’ [And my reply was,] ‘Yeah, because this is 24/7 and 9-to-5ers punch in and punch out and you have no responsibilities.”

That line should have raised a red flag to everybody – no responsibilities? You have eight kids Jon! Once you have ONE kid you have responsibilities for life.

Photos: Fame

more photos of Chris (and VIDEO) after the hop…

Chris brings his mother on the show who echos his shock and says he was never a violent person. He never got into fights and etc. etc., and she’s just shocked, too.

What do you think? Is this sincere or is Chris a lady-hitter pretending to be sorry? Check out the video below.

More pictures after the break…

Chris has been making the humble pie interview rounds, making apologies, etc. But now he is really stepping up his good PR ways, since news of his bowling alley outburst from last week hit the media. From the Examiner:

This interview will mark the first interview for Chris since the incident between he and then girlfriend Rihanna.

According to Radar, Chris will sit down with Larry King following his sentencing on Wednesday. Chris’ plea deal will give him 5-years probation, 180 days community service, and one year of counseling for domestic abuse.

I think Chris and Rihanna are secretly meeting. They were caught in the same hotel together, then Rihanna went inside a restaurant a few days later while Chris was pictured outside, waiting. Wouldn’t this hurt his probation or put his butt in jail?

Photos: Fame

more pics after the jump… (also photo of Hector Penate)

Larry King, 74 has been married seven times to six different women! Here’s a competition for Hugh Hefner! Larry is standing by Shawn, who recently spent time in rehab for a prescription pill dependency. Larry and Shawn have been married for 11 years and they have two young sons together.

The affair came to light as Shawn became more daring and was seen in public with Hector. Larry eventually confronted and fired Hector as reports by the N. Enquirer.

Shawn denies the affair, but the Enquirer reports multiple sources have confirmed it and that Larry was the victimized but still loves his wife. Poor Larry!

We came to find out that Hector is also an actor of some sort – very small parts so doubtful that you have seen him. He’s represented by The Virago. Here’s Hector’s bio on his agent’s website:

Hector Penate started out his career as a Yankees Baseball pitcher. His major league career ended early when he injured his arm during a practice.

As quickly as baseball ended for him a modeling and acting career began. He was quickly working as a model and actor in Miami. Being a hard worker and aggressive in his pursit to be the best, once he established himself in Miami, he moved to Hollywood to be close to all the action.

Hector has a new role on “Head Case” a TV show on Starz. Be sure to look for him on the show Spring 2009.

photos: PR Photos, Hector Penate/MySpace