January Jones is the September cover girl for Tatler Magazine (a UK publication). January continues to garner lots of press in Britain – Mad Men is extremely popular there, and January and all of the stars seem to be big hits with the British press. I’m mentioning that in case you’re wondering why January seems to do so many interviews in England – because I was wondering about it too. Anyway, The Daily Mail had some interview snippets from her Tatler profile, and it seems like all she was talking about was the softer body image ideals in Mad Men, and how everyone really appreciates it. By the way, does everyone love how the horse is photobombing January on the cover?

It was a Size 14 bombshell, lobbed into the anorexic world of fashion. And Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone certainly caused an explosion when she declared last week that the curvaceous female stars of hit TV show Mad Men make ideal role models for young girls.

The Minister earned criticism for arguing that the buxom, hourglass figures of actresses such as Christina Hendricks were both healthy and empowering. But now one of the cult show’s other women stars has endorsed the Minister’s views, saying that men find a fuller figure far sexier.

And January Jones, who plays long-suffering housewife Betty Draper in the Emmy award-winning TV drama, says its creator Matthew Weiner agrees – telling female members of the cast to avoid strenuous exercise in order to maintain their curves and avoid muscle definition.

The 32-year-old actress says Weiner, anxious to echo the curvier silhouette of the show’s early Sixties era, is as demanding as any magazine editor or fashion designer – but with a difference.

‘He would prefer we didn’t work out and that we eat really well, so we look like healthy women,’ she says.

The actress, whose looks are often compared to Grace Kelly’s, says she is pleased the show has brought back the idea that ‘it’s OK to have curves and be a woman. I wish more women would realize that’s what men like’.

She admits to loving ‘beer and carbs’ and says she is now quite taken with her curves after producers admonished her last year for being too thin.

In an interview with Tatler, January also confesses that she has learned to love the girdle she wears to help her achieve her hourglass looks.

‘It gives you such a nice shape,’ she says.

She is surprisingly unshocked by the show’s Sixties sexism.

‘I don’t think we’ve come very far,’ she says. ‘At least they were gentlemen back then. They might say something s****y behind your back, but at least they opened the door.’

The first three series of Mad Men, which is set in a fictitious ad agency, were shown on BBC4 and the show has just begun its fourth series in the US.

[From The Daily Mail]

I don’t really have anything to add except that I do appreciate the contributions Mad Men has brought to the body image conversation. While I think January has a lovely figure, she’s very slender and she just seems… well, not like the actress who should get the most credit. That credit should go to Christina Hendricks and bodacious body. Speaking of, did everyone see this video, below? Christina was being interviewed on KTLA, and the anchor Brian McFayden… well, he just turned into a very sweet, very enamored stuttering dude when he was sitting across from Christina. My favorite is when he says that the idea of Christina taking a bath is “awesome.”

Tatler images courtesy of The Daily Mail.

Both Jason Sudeikis and January Jones have been making the wrong kinds of PR moves for the past few months, so it’s not surprising that they would find each other and somehow try to overcome this junk by having private hot sex and public photo ops. I think January’s case is worse – after being linked to two Lords of the Douche (Adrien Brody and Jeremy Piven), January then seemed to have some kind of drunken affair with a very married man – chef Bobby Flay, who came to her rescue when her (allegedly) drunk ass plowed into some cars. Jason, on the other hand, was rumored to be dating Jennifer Aniston for about a minute, until the tabloids dug up some dirt on him and found that he’s a player with a history of romancing and dumping women.

So is this a case of the dirt bag meeting the homewrecker? Eh. I still like them both, even though I think January might have some serious issues with men. Jason – well, maybe he just needs to find the right girl. Maybe a pretty, buxom blonde from Nebraska? Perhaps.

Ooh, I think they met at the ESPYs? They were both there last week – damn, January moves fast! Here are the photos of them (separately) at the ESPYs:

January and Jason on July 18, 2010. Credit: Fame.

You know what’s funny? HuffPo is making a big deal about these Markt Beauty ads/photo shoot because of January Jones’ red wig. Uh… it’s like they didn’t even notice her f-cked up eyebrows? This is the one of the worst professional makeup jobs ever. The full photo shoot is here, on Markt Beauty’s website. I have literally no idea what Markt Beauty is about. Is a fashion/style/entertainment site? Is it about selling make up? Are they just trying to promote eyebrow diversity? I looked at the damn thing and I still can’t tell.

Just think… this is the face of a woman who likely boned Bobby Flay. Ew… poor January. She’s so pretty, such a classic beauty. Why do this?

I know this is a horrible stereotype, but when I look at this photo below, I really feel strongly that Markt Beauty is a German site. Right? I mean, this is a stereotypical German look, in my opinion. This isn’t about “Oh, eyebrows are in this season!” Once again, I’m reminded of Maggie Simpson’s baby-nemesis from The Simpsons. With the brows. Yikes.

Oh, if January’s stuff wasn’t bad enough, you should totally look at Jessica Biel’s photos from last month. Here’s one little preview of how they f-cked her up:

Ha!

Ads courtesy of Markt Beauty.

About a month ago, January Jones was spotted at the same party with Adrien Brody. Rumor was that they had started a little something on the downlow, although the “downlow” aspect was a little strange because they were both single and both could have benefited from a hot hookup rumor. Anyway, less than two weeks after that one party, January Jones allegedly got hammered and not-so-allegedly plowed into a series of parked cars. And who did she call for help? Not Adrien. She called Bobby Flay, married dude. It was a matter of days before tabloids ran with the story that January and Bobby were having some kind of affair, and the Adrien rumors got shelved temporarily. Until now! Us Weekly’s “insider” source claims that Adrien and January are still totally dating. And their insider is called “Holy sh-t people figured out I was f-cking Bobby, now, I can’t… damn it… push the Adrien story, sh-t, don’t use my name okay?”

Romance under wraps!

Adrien Brody denied reports that he was dating Mad Men’s January Jones, calling her “a friend,” this spring. But a source tells Us Weekly that Brody, 37, has fallen hard for Jones, 32 (who has dated Ashton Kutcher and Josh Groban, and has been linked to Jeremy Piven).

“Adrien loves talking about January,” says the insider. “He says, ‘We’re dating. We’re really happy!’” (The secret couple was recently spotted at NYC’s Rose Bar.)

Still, the Splice actor didn’t look too attached at L.A.’s Omega Constellation Launch June 26. “He was flirting with girls,” says a source. “He was partying hard.”

[From Us Weekly]

Sounds like Adrien hit it and quit it, and is currently douching it up with fan girls who like Ed Hardy, baggy leather jumpsuits and sadness. Sounds like Bobby Flay hit it and quit it too – even the tabloids made it sound like a very casual fling, and likely one of many that Bobby has had over the years. Star Magazine claimed that he and January had some drinks, flirted, then went up to his hotel room for a few hours, and that “Bobby has a gorgeous wife, but he just can’t seem to help himself when it comes to hot young women!” Ugh. Let’s try this again, January. You’re a beautiful woman and a somewhat talented actress, let’s find someone interesting for you, mmkay?

Last Friday, TMZ reported that January Jones got into a car accident close to her LA home. She hit three parked cars, and blamed the paparazzi for following her, and then for photographing her when she got out of her car. After she hit the parked cars, she handed her license to a bystander and walked the short distance to her house where she changed clothes and came back chewing gum. Many people thought that January was likely drunk when she plowed into those cars, but the cops weren’t going to open an investigation for either drunk driving or the “hit and run” nature, considering January did come back to the scene, and they wouldn’t be able to determine if she was drunk while she was driving, or if she had a drink when she went home to change.

However, a few hours after TMZ reported the accident, they came out with an update - apparently after getting into the accident, January immediately called Bobby Flay, celebrity chef and husband to actress Stephanie March. Allegedly, Flay and Jones were at the same party, and she had gotten his number because she wanted the name of his decorator or some sketchy excuse like that. Bobby Flay came to the scene of the accident and advised January. He also fed TMZ some bullsh-t excuse and claimed that he “didn’t know why” January called him. Many of us thought… well, that January and Bobby were (and are?) boning. Now Star Magazine (via Jezebel) has many more details about their alleged relationship:

Are January Jones and Bobby Flay having an affair? She called him to the scene of her car accident — though he claims that they had just met earlier that night at a party, and that he only gave her his number because he was going to help her remodel her kitchen.

However. Flay is currently married to Stephanie March of Law & Order SVU. He has a history of cheating.

Bobby claims he and January were at a party at Gordon Ramsay’s Boxwood Cafe at the London West Hollywood Hotel with a group of people, but eyewitness Tom Becktold says that January and Bobby “were sitting side by side at the bar, very close, drinking together. I definitely didn’t take them to have recently met, like Bobby is claiming. They seemed to know each other very well.”

They had two beers each, and a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne. They talked and flirted happily. Then she went upstairs to his room.

Another eyewitness adds: “I don’t know how long they were up there, but it definitely long enough to hook up.”

The mag really did some homework, letting us know that Stephanie March is his third wife, and he’s been touchy-feely with women while married in the past. Two nights before the crash, January was seen arriving home at 10:15 am wearing the same dress she’d worn to step out the previous evening — and looking disheveled.

[From Star Magazine via Jezebel]

I didn’t know that Stephanie March was his third wife. I went looking for any gossip about him screwing around on March or his other wives, and I couldn’t find anything that seemed credible, although I did find this article in which Flay is described as pretty much a horrible, arrogant nightmare. So, should we believe the insinuations of an affair between January and Bobby? I don’t know. I kind of believe the affair story because the cover story seems totally weird and half-cocked (if you will).

Jesus, what is wrong with January Jones? TMZ is reporting that January crashed her car into three parked cars, then left the scene of the accident “on foot”. She later returned and gave the police the old “the paparazzi were bothering me” defense. Police are investigating, as they should, but preliminary reports claim January was not drunk. I guess she’s just a really bad driver then? I can see hitting one parked car accidentally. But three? That takes some seriously bad driving. You have to concentrate on being a bad driver to pull that. Add to that the fact that she left the scene, albeit briefly? Strange. But I’ve always thought January was a strange duck.

“Mad Men” star January Jones allegedly slammed into three parked cars and left the scene.

LAPD tells TMZ January was driving a Range Rover around 9 PM last night when she allegedly lost control, hit the other cars and caused some major damage. We’re told a witness reported the accident to police and claimed that January fled on foot after saying, “I can’t deal with this commotion.”

Police tell us that while officers were on scene investigating January returned and claimed she fled because paparazzi were trailing her.

January was not cited or arrested, but her car was impounded and police have launched an investigation. Police say no alcohol or drugs were involved.

As for why paps might have been trying so hard to get a shot of Jones — photos of her doing a “walk of shame” were all over the Internet yesterday, showing her arriving home in a taxi in the same dress she wore to an event the night before.

[From TMZ]

The photos of January’s walk/cab ride of shame are here at TMZ. She really does look like the sex wasn’t that great and totally not worth the cost of the cab ride. Who is she allegedly dating now? Oh, right. Adrien Brody. Yeah, that sounds about right. I was thinking that it sounds more like the morning-after with The Piv (who January also hooked up with), but Adrien fits too. My guess? After getting shafted on the new season of Mad Men (allegedly, Bettie isn’t going to be around much), January has been hitting the bottle, hitting the unsavory dudes and hitting some parked cars.

UPDATE: TMZ just updated their story, and now we’ve got a cameo appearance by celebrity chef Bobby Flay…? Flay is married, for the record. To that blond who used to be on Law & Order: SVU (er… Stephanie March?). So this story is getting juicy, maybe. According to TMZ:

A woman who owns one of the cars that was hit tells TMZ … she heard the crash, looked over her balcony and saw Jones. She says around 10 minutes after the crash, Food Network star Bobby Flay showed up in a separate car, began talking with her and telling her to leave the scene, which she did.

We spoke with Flay, who tells us he was watching the basketball game last night at The London West Hollywood Hotel with a group of people that included Jones. Flay says he saw her drink a beer but wasn’t really watching her alcohol intake. Flay says he had only met Jones once before, and last night she asked for his number because she wanted to redo her kitchen and give his number to her designer. Flay obliged, and says he doesn’t know why Jones chose to call him after the crash, but nonetheless he drove over to help her. He says he did not argue but just wanted to make sure she was ok. The witness at the scene tells TMZ she was face-to-face with Jones and smelled alcohol on her breath. The witness says Jones left her driver’s license with another resident and left. She returned 45 minutes later in a different set of clothes, chewing gum.

The witness says she asked cops if they were going to administer a field sobriety test, but a cop told her there was no point since she could have had a drink at home and there was no way of proving she was under the influence when she was behind the wheel. Cops confirm there is no way to pin drinking and driving on someone who leaves the scene and comes back.

[From TMZ]

This is just strange. So… I don’t doubt that January was probably legally drunk. But now I wonder if she’s having an affair with Bobby Flay.

You know what I enjoy? I enjoy the fact that the British people seem to be in love with one of my favorite American shows, Mad Men. The British papers are always making Mad Men references, and the stars of Mad Men do lots of press in the UK when a new season is about to premiere. January Jones and Jon Hamm in particular have a new-found international stardom because of the show, and as such, they now have international gossips guessing about their relationships. Jon Hamm probably gets it easier – he’s been in a long-term relationship with Jennifer Westfeldt, and he plays his personal life close to the vest. January Jones, on the other hand, is single and dating. Her previous boyfriends have included Ashton Kutcher and Josh Grobin. She was also rumored to be hittin’ it with Jeremy “The Piv” Piven. And now the British tabloid The Daily Mail thinks January is boning Adrien Brody. The evidence? They were at the same party and they didn’t leave together. Scandal!

Actress January Jones is one of Hollywood’s most eligible bachelorettes. But not for long if reports of a romance with Oscar winner Adrien Brody are to be believed. The pair were both seen at a Memorial Day beach party in Malibu yesterday. But if there is any romance, they appear to be keen to keep it under wraps for now.

January, who plays bored and beautiful housewife Betty Draper in hit TV show Mad Men, looked cool and casual in a tribal print sundress, trilby and sandals. While Oscar winner Adrien upped the macho quota by wearing motorbike leathers as he arrived and departed on his bike.

January, 32, who has dated Ashton Kutcher, singer Josh Groban, and Entourage actor Jeremy Piven, has never been married. While Brody, 37, ended his relationship to actress Elsa Pataky last May.

The pair were first seen enjoying a romantic night out together at New York’s Rose bar. A source told US magazine Life & Style: ‘Brody and Jones were flirting with each other. They held hands in full view of everyone.’

So their appearance at the same party in Malibu was probably less than coincidental. Other guests at the bash included Gwen Stefani’s husband Gavin Rossdale, Kate Beckinsale and Robert Downey Jr.

Brody is waiting for the release of his new film Predators. And as well as reprising her role in Mad Men, January will appear alongside Nicolas Cage in 2011′s The Hungry Rabbit Jumps.

Her bad experience of dating actors in the past hasn’t put her off. January said she owes her acting success to ex-boyfriend Kutcher – because she was determined to prove him wrong after the actor urged her to quit. The pair met and dated while Jones was working as a model and attempting to break into Hollywood.

And the Golden Globe-nominated actress claims Kutcher, who is now married to Demi Moore, advised her to give up her dream and stick to the catwalk. January told GQ magazine: ‘I should thank him. The minute you tell me I can’t do something, that’s when I’m most motivated.’

[From The Daily Mail]

Honestly, looking at January’s dating history, I really don’t think she has the best taste in men. But I might think that because I’m so in love with seeing her act opposite Jon Hamm – I want her to find someone smart and handsome and chiseled so she can delicately act with him in well-written interiors with pregnant pauses. So, January and Adrien? Eh. They probably are dating, but I doubt it’s anything serious. Plus, she hasn’t been able to do anything about his gross-looking facial hair. Verdict: She doesn’t bring out the best in him.

Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News, January & Adrien on May 31, 2010 in Malibu.

Last week I mentioned that Jeremy Piven and January Jones were spotted together at some of the after-parties for the Golden Globes. They were even photographed together (these are the photos) with January looking a little shame-faced and Jeremy looking predictably smarmy. At the time, I kind of thought it was just a drunken, convenient hookup for two single, unattached television stars. But it looks like love may be blossoming… sort of. January and The Piv were spotted together at a football game Sunday night, which could mean they are dating. Of course, the NYDN and E! News noted that they didn’t really seem that into each other.

It appears as though Hollywood’s Casanova has struck again.

One week after Jeremy Piven was spotted leaving a Golden Globes party arm-in-arm with January Jones, the unlikely duo popped up again – this time on the sidelines of the Saints-Vikings NFC Championship game Sunday night in New Orleans.

Though most would assume the coupling of Piven and Jones would be a one-time deal, the television stars have defied doubt.

But whatever romantic spark exists between the two may already be fizzling.

According to Eonline.com, the couple “didn’t seem to be paying much attention to each other.”

While Jones was reportedly using her Blackberry most of the time, Piven was tweeting photos of himself on the sideline.

[From The New York Daily News]

Eh, I didn’t see it working anyway. January could do much better than the Piv, although I suspect she has crappy taste in men. As for the Piv, I thought he only went for jailbait? You know the rumors – the Piv likes his girls to be very, very young. Like, teenagers. January doesn’t fit the bill, but maybe the Piv was trying something new and it didn’t work out.

Jeremy Piven and January Jones leaving a post-Golden Globes party on January 17, 2010. Credit: Pacific Coast News.

A few days ago, GQ released some excerpts from January Jones’s November cover interview. January talked about how her first boyfriend Ashton Kutcher was a douche about her acting career in those early days, but she took pains to say that his criticism made her stronger. That got most of the news, although I did note that January looked totally stacked on the GQ cover. I mentioned that I had no idea that her body was this amazing, and now it looks like other people have noticed it too. Apparently, after the GQ cover shot was widely circulated, many claimed that January’s enormous rack must have been somehow digitally enhanced for the cover. GQ responded by putting an interview online with their Director of Photography in a piece called “Yes They’re Real. And They’re Spectacular”.

Really America? Do you not watch Mad Men? We have heard the rumblings that we somehow “enhanced” our Terry Richardson cover shot of January Jones. We did not. Just ask our Director of Photography Dora Somosi.

Okay, so did we mess with January Jones’ cleavage?
No, absolutely not.

Why on earth is anyone saying that?
People think that a person will look the same in every photograph, but that just doesn’t happen. You can have two pictures in the same light, same clothes, same setting, and just a couple of seconds of difference, just the way you move your hands or the way you hold your neck, will change how your body looks. Also, she’s a smaller woman—she’s pretty thin, so it might throw a person off to see her looking this way.

Do lighting and perspective matter at all?
Terry likes to work with harder lighting, and that can create a stronger shadow—that, and body position and perspective could give the illusion that her breasts are bigger.

So any comparisons between the cover shot and something taken on, say a red carpet…
…are a little ridiculous. Terry Richardson prides himself on unretouched pictures, and we only hire photographers who operate that way. We like a natural look—there’s very minimal retouching.

So what kind of retouching do we do?
We’ll take a pimple out or soften under eye dark circles. Or maybe there’s a wrinkle in the shirt, or even dust on the lens. January Jones needed no help. Trust me.

[From GQ]

Maybe I’m naïve, but I think GQ is telling the truth. If there was any “enhancement” it was probably just a lighting and/or shadow trick. January has showed off her figure in Mad Men a few times, and she does have lovely, natural-looking curves, although it’s kind of hard to tell if her boobs are really this big. Maybe they just seem deceptively smaller when she’s fully clothed. I’ve known girls like that before – they’re usually buttoned-up types and no one thinks they have much going on, but give them a low-cut blouse and a push-up bra and suddenly it’s like “Good Lord, are those fake?”

Header via CoverAwards. Other images are from events as far back as 2006. Credit: Fame Pictures

Possible spoilers for past episodes of Mad Men below
I know January Jones is one of the best actresses working today because I hate her character on Mad Men. Seriously, I used to have sympathy for Betty Draper, but now I loathe her. She’s such a petty, immature, snotty woman. She’s a horrible mother too. I have to admit this, though – if January wasn’t so amazing at playing Betty in such a brilliant way, I wouldn’t have such strong feelings about her. In my mind, January is the unsung acting hero of the cast of Mad Men. Jon Hamm, John Slattery, Elizabeth Moss and even Bryan Bratt (Sal! Poor Sal, he was fired Sunday) get more attention and accolades than January.

Is it because January is so beautiful? That her character is such a flawless, icy, Grace Kelly-esque blonde? I don’t know why January doesn’t get more recognition for her work on Mad Men, but I hope this season changes things for her. She’s started getting more press, and people are starting to pay more attention to her. Thus, she’s got her first American GQ cover (she was on the cover of GQ UK earlier this year). The full interview hasn’t been put up yet, but Huffington Post has some early excerpts. GQ does have the slideshow up already - and January Jones is stacked. I didn’t really know her body was this amazing. Also, I have to admit – I didn’t really know anything about her private life. It turns out that January, 31, dated Ashton Kutcher from 1998 to 2001, and Josh Groban from 2003 to 2006. Lord, she has weird taste in men, doesn’t she? Anyway, she alludes to her relationship with Ashton in the interview, and he sounds like a total jerk:

GQ has a lengthy profile “Mad Men” star January Jones, conducted during a Chicago-LAX flight over six beers.

Jones, who started out as a model, talks (but doesn’t name) her first boyfriend when she moved to Los Angeles to try acting.

“The guy I was dating when I first got to L.A. was not supportive of my acting,” she says. “He was like, I don’t think you’re going to be good at this. So– f-ck you! He only has nice things to say now–if anything, I should thank him. Because the minute you tell me I can’t do something, that’s when I’m most motivated.”

The interviewer later writes that the ex was Ashton Kutcher.

Another person she came across, when first working at 18 as a model in New York, was Laura Steinberg, ex-wife of 80′s financier Saul Steinberg and the mother of her boyfriend Julian Steinberg.

Laura became something of a surrogate mother, taking January on far-flung vacations–a wedding in Italy, a month in Bali–even after January had split with her son.

“Laura taught me how to hold my knife and fork and to be a lady,” says January. “To keep my forearms on the table–never my elbows–and place my napkin on my lap. She got me out of the models’ apartment, and my Fargo accent was really strong then, so she taught me how to speak.”

[From GQ via Huffington Post]

I always forget that too – she’s a farm girl from South Dakota, not some icy New England princess. I sometimes worry that January’s career beyond Mad Men will not compare favorably. She worked her ass off playing forgettable characters in forgettable films for so many years – I really hope she’s able to parlay her critical respect from Mad Men into a major, substantial career. Oh, and Ashton sounds like a douche, doesn’t he?

January Jones with Ashton Kutcher in 2000

With Josh Groban in 2005

Header image from GQ via Huffington Post. Thumbnails below from 9/24/09 and 9/20/09 credit: WENN.com