On Thursday we told you that Jennifer Love Hewitt got engaged, and that most of the press about her engagement focused instead on recent unflattering pictures of her in a bikini. I thought the criticisms were a too harsh – no one looks as good as they do when they’ve got professional lighting, fuzzy lenses, and retouchers. But as a result of all the professional lighting, fuzzy lenses, and retouchers, our perception of how people are “supposed” to look becomes skewed. Though there were a few commenters who called her fat/overweight/unhealthy, it seems that the majority of you believe that Jennifer has a nice and normal body. She’s certainly put on weight in the last ten years, but who has the exact same body they did at eighteen?

In the last few years Jennifer has ignored the bad press her curvy figure has received, but finally felt the need to respond to all the hate going around about her ass. On her website Jennifer wrote:

This is the last time I will address this subject. I’ve sat by in silence for a long time now about the way women’s bodies are constantly scrutinized. To set the record straight, I’m not upset for me, but for all of the girls out there that are struggling with their body image. A size 2 is not fat! Nor will it ever be. And being a size 0 doesn’t make you beautiful.

What I should be doing is celebrating some of the best days of my life and my engagement to the man of my dreams, instead of having to deal with photographers taking invasive pictures from bad angles. I know what I look like, and so do my friends and family. And like all women out there should, I love my body.

To all girls with butts, boobs, hips and a waist, put on a bikini – put it on and stay strong.

[From safesearching.com/jenniferlovehewitt]

I’m not sure if Jennifer was saying that a size 2 isn’t fat as a general rule, or saying that she’s a size 2 and not fat. I think she just put her sentences in a funny order that makes it a bit confusing. Regardless, it’s pretty clear that she has a healthy body image and a good perspective. She points out that she’s just gotten engaged, and people aren’t even talking about that – they’re talking about her ass. I think she looks gorgeous and will make a beautiful, healthy and happy bride.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Jennifer Love Hewitt and Ross McCall are shown in Hawaii this weekend, thanks to Splash News.

Jennifer Love Hewitt, 28, and her boyfriend of nearly two years, Scottish actor Ross McCall, 32, got engaged last week, according to several sources. The two are vacationing in Hawaii, where Jennifer has gotten a ton of unflattering press in just about every entertainment magazine and blog out there. The curvaceous actress may have put on a little weight lately – and apparently everyone needs to call her out and criticize her for it. To me she just looks normal – she’s never been one of those stick-thin Hollywood types, and I congratulate her for it.

She was the inspiration behind former boyfriend John Mayer’s hit ‘Your Body Is A Wonderland,’ but not even a famous muse like Jennifer Love Hewitt can escape a little weight gain. A combination of harsh sunlight and a skimpy bikini left the newly buxom star with nowhere to hide as she hit the beach for a swim during a Hawaiian getaway.

The star’s curvy, cellulite-riddled physique was in stark contrast to the slender - and airbrushed - frame she showed off during a recent advertising campaign for US label Hanes. Still, the star of I Know What You Did Last Summer, who was enjoying a romantic break with boyfriend Ross McCall, says she happily embraces her imperfections.

In a cheeky nod to Mayer’s hit, Jennifer recently joked: “My body is far from a wonderland. My body is more like a pawnshop. There’s a lot of interesting things put together, and if you look closely you’d probably be excited, but at first glance, not so much.”

[From the Daily Mail]

Well if nothing else it sounds like Jennifer probably won’t care about all the negative things being said about her physique right now. Frankly we have such a ridiculous idea of what women should look like. We can’t walk around air-brushed in real life, and it puts a ridiculous pressure on everyone by saying “this is the norm.” Jennifer just had some ads come out for Hanes in which she’s been airbrushed to into oblivion. I don’t just mean her shape, but they’ve done so much to her face that she just looks like some generic computer-generated model instead of a real person.

While I’m not promoting an unhealthy lifestyle, it’s important to find a happy – and healthy – middle ground between the unrealistic images Hollywood sends us and the McDonald’s addicted lifestyle a lot of Americans have. I think Jennifer going to the beach to celebrate her engagement and not giving a damn about her cellulite reminds us that there’s more important things on her mind. Congrats!

Update: Images removed on request.

Last night’s Emmy awards were full of lovely gowns, with some notable hits and misses. We’ll have a “Worst Dressed” post coming up soon, and it was considerably easier to find ugly dresses at the event than it was to find ones that were spot on. The most beautiful gowns were just slightly risky with a touch of old Hollywood glamour. Simple shapes and bright colors were featured.

Thanks to JustJared for help with some of the dress designers. Yahoo! also has their top ten best and worst dressed last night, but I only agree with some of their choices.

Best Dressed: Heidi Klum in Dior by John Galliano, Portia DiRossi in Azzaro, Carrie Ann Inaba, a judge on Dancing with the Stars, in a lovely white satin and chiffon dress, and Kristen Bell of Veronica Mars in a beautiful blue strapless gown.

Beautiful runners up: Ali Larter of Heroes in red strapless Reem Acra, Kate Walsh of Grey’s in red satin, Teri Hatcher in Badgley Mischka, Minnie Driver in a canary v-neck dress with criss-cross front, Jennifer Love Hewitt in a strapless black dress with a gauzy skirt and subtle beading on the bodice.

Jennifer Love Hewitt and her boyfriend, Scottish actor Ross McCall, have been dating for over a year and a half and are spotted out together frequently. Now Star Magazine reports that they’ve given each other promise rings, and that they may marry next year:

Things are going so well for Jennifer Love Hewitt, 28, and her beau… Scott actor Ross McCall, 31, that the lovebirds have given each other promise rings!

“They are very, very [much] in love,” a pal close to the Ghost Whisperer star tells Star. “They’re glued at the hip, do everything together, even live together.”

Ross has cleared another important hurdle: winning over mom Pat! “Her mother, who is a very strong force in Jennifer’s life, approves of Ross and wants Jennifer to settle down,” says the pal. Expect a summer 2008 wedding in the beautiful gardens of the legendary Beverly Hills Hotel.

[From Star Magazine print edition, August 20, 2007]

It sounds like all the “source” told Star was that they’ve exchanged rings, that Jennifer’s mom likes Ross, and that they do everything together. That bit at the end about a summer 2008 wedding could just be something they tacked on, but it might be true.

Jennifer Love Hewitt comes off as a genuinely kind person, and I was trying to think if she’s ever dated a real jerk because Ross McCall seems like he would make a great husband. There are some women who always choose the best guys. You know the type of person I’m talking about - she’s super nice and is never without a doting boyfriend. (I dated a lot of jerks before I met my husband, but I guess that’s a good thing or I might have been stuck with someone else instead of him.)

Then I remembered that Jennifer dated Wilmer Valderamma, or at least he claimed on Howard Stern that he dated her. She said they were just friends and laughed off his boasts, saying “I was told, like, that we had all these very steamy encounters, and I was like, really! Well, I would have loved to have been there!”

According to nndb.com, her other boyfriends have included Joey Lawrence in 1996, Will Friedle from 1996-97, Carson Daly fro 1997-99, and John Mayer in 2002. I never heard that about John Mayer and Jennifer, but he wasn’t really on my radar at that point.

She’s also very close to her mom and lived with her up until at least 2002, when she was 23. She told Rolling Stone “I like the fact that my mom and I need each other, and I like the fact that I’m only going to get one life with her and I’ll never have to look back and say, ‘Gosh, I wish my mom and I could have done that.’” [From EOnline]

Maybe she never rebelled and that’s part of the way she avoided dating jerks. I’m still not sure she dodged that Wilmer Valderrama bullet, although she handled his big mouth pretty well.

I would love to see Jennifer Love Hewitt have children as she seems like she’d make a great mom, not that you have to be married to do that.

Jennifer Love Hewitt and Ross McCall on show on 7/22/07 at the debut game of Beckam’s LA Galaxy. Thanks to Splash News for this pic.

The stars of CBS television were on hand to promote the network at the Stars Party held at the Wandsworth Theatre in Westwood, California yesterday. Hewitt wore a cute black strapless dress with a wide skirt and flats.

Hewitt said in a recent interview that working on “Ghost Whisperer” helped change her perspective on the supernatural. She said she didn’t believe in ghosts before she worked on the series as a medium, but now she’s open to the idea.

Hewitt says the show helps people realize that life is not forever and that you should spend time with people you love when you have the chance:

“Go and say your ‘I love yous’ and your ‘I’m sorrys’ and spend time with the people you love and really make it count because life is a fleeting thing.”

The show has also changed Hewitt’s perception about death. Although she used to be afraid to broach the subject, Hewitt now tries to see it in a positive light.

“Death is not a horrible thing. It’s a painful thing for those who are left behind. But for the person who leaves, it’s like, I was here and I did something tremendous and great and people are going to remember me for it, whether it’s a million people or just five. And when you look at it that way, it becomes a positive thing.”

She also didn’t believe in ghosts before, and hasn’t seen one either.

However, after spending one season playing Melinda, Hewitt has changed her mind. Well, sort of.

“I think I have to believe in it a little in order to play Melinda every day,” she stressed. “You know, there probably are these energies, spirits and ghosts and, maybe, we should have a little more appreciation for them.”

[From The Star, Malaysian paper]

She also said that people expect her to be like her character Melinda and help them contact the dead in their time of grief:

“People want me to come to funerals and just sit there and help them out. And it’s a very odd thing because I’m not really sure what I would do for them.”

She said she doesn’t mind people paying attention to her boobs and that “there’s a hundred other body parts that I feel completely insecure about and would rather no one ever talked about. So if they focus on breasts, it’s fine with me.”

Hewitt attended the event with her boyfriend of over a year, Scottish actor Ross McCall. They seem really happy together and I bet they get engaged soon.

Thanks to WENN for these pictures. Jennifer Love Hewitt, Alyson Hannigan, and Charlie Sheen are pictured.

Is there such a thing as a facial expression coach? Surely there are acting coaches who can help celebrities perfect their smile for the red carpet. You know who I’m referring to - poor lemon face Renee Zellwegger. She’s just got to train herself to stop making that sour pout. Her dress, undoubtedly Carolina Herrera, is safe and decent. She looks like she’s going to a cocktail party instead of an awards ceremony.

And Beyonce is ready to play Vegas in that metallic number. Somehow Cate Blanchett makes that lace assymetric black dress with the skinny belt work. She takes calculated fashion risks and unlike - say, Gwen Stefani, she usually pulls them off.

Jennifer Love Hewitt looks like she’s going to the prom in that copper number with the big bow, but I have to say her hair and makeup look gorgeous. It looks like smoky metallic eyes and neutral lips are in. Cameron Diaz didn’t get the memo.

Pictures from Gossip Rocks.

Jennifer Love Hewitt and her boyfriend Ross McCall dressed as two of Harpo Marx and Charlie Chaplin for Halloween. (THanks you guys for setting me straight!) They look cute and that’s a great costume idea! Good for J. Love for not getting her costume from Girls’s Costume Warehouse like Paris and Lindsay.

Pirates of the Caribbean 2 premiered at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on June 24th. The film draws inspiration from the ride of the same name at the Disney theme parks. Pissed off fans and press waited nearly 6 hours at Disneyland for a chance to see the stars, who were gone all too quickly:

That’s annoying that people were made to wait so long. Disneyland didn’t plan it correctly and should not have told people to show up so early.

“Pirates of the Caribbean 2″ opens on July 7th.

Here are pictures from the premiere of Keira Knightley, Johnny Depp, and Orlando Bloom. I really like Keira’s dress and think it’s a good choice for the premiere of this semi-spooky film. Also shown are Christina Applegate, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Stacy Keibler, Daisy Fuentes and the Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger. [via]

Jennifer Love Hewitt had her gorgeous dark hair cut and dyed blonde last month. Then she admitted she disliked it, changed the color to an orangey red and added extensions. Both hairstyles were worse than her original ‘do.

It looks like she’s back to her senses, because she appeared at “The Break Up” premiere in Los Angeles yesterday with dark hair again in a normal style.

She is out with Scottish actor Ross McCall, 30, who she has dated since the beginning of March. They met when McCall was a guest star on Hewitt’s television show, The Ghost Whisperer.

Hewitt is said to be superstitious in real life, and supposedly consulted a psychic for confirmation that McCall was the right man for her. The psychic gave her the go-ahead.

Here she is with regular hair at yesterday’s premiere of “The Break Up.”

Jennifer Love Hewitt came to the aid of a fallen paparazzo while out shopping in Beverly Hills. After the woman fell she helped her up and asked for a hug “so that I know you’re ok.” She was kind to the hoards of photographers following her and chatted with them. When she ran into Fred Savage, she told the paparrazi that he was her “first date ever” and talked about Savage’s wife expecting a baby. TMZ has a video of it. (link leads to page, not direct video.)

Here she is helping the photographer [via] and with her new hair extensions on the Late Late show. [via]