Nicole Richie praised her baby daddy’s twin brother in her People interview, and revealed that Benji Madden is always willing to babysit her now seven week-old daughter, Harlow. Nicole also said that Harlow smiled for the first time at her uncle. According to ever-reliable Star Magazine, Benji is more of a nuisance than a help, and Nicole and Joel are said to have set him up with Paris in order to get him out of their house.

A source tells Star the 28-year-old Good Charlotte guitarist has holed up in his Glendale, California home, which he shares with his twin brother, Joel. Joe’s fiancée, Nicole Richie, and their new baby, Harlow. As a result, he “barges in on them all the time,” says the source. “Nicole insists that Joel lock their bedroom door at night because she’s afraid of Benji walking in on them.” The new arrangement is driving Joel and Nicole so crazy that they’re trying to set Benji up, adds the source!

[From Star Magazine, print edition, March 10, 2008]

According to Nicole’s People interview, Benji lives down the street, not in the same house, but he’s probably over there all the time. Who knows if this is true, but considering that Benji is with Paris now someone has to have a problem with him if they didn’t at least warn him against hooking up with her.

Benji’s ex girlfriend Sophie Monk spoke out earlier this week about rumors that the rocker left her for the heirhead. She wished her ex well, and made it clear that their breakup was mutual:

“Benji and I did not break up badly or anything like that. We both decided, as adults, our relationship had run its course and decided to move on.”

She also said: “I feel no animosity towards Benji and Paris at all and am very happy with life at the moment.”

[From RTE.ie]

How embarrassing it must be to see your ex cavorting around with Paris Hilton in “notice me!” lookalike clothing. These two immediately hit all the paparazzi targets to let the world know they were together. People are speculating that he did it to make Sophie jealous after their breakup.

Meanwhile Star Magazine notes in the article we mentioned above that gorgeous Monk was seen out having brunch with a hunky video game director, James Rubin, on February 15. It looks like she’s moved on to someone more her speed while Benji has been reduced to playing tag along with Paris Hilton.

Paris and Benji are shown in the header out at lunch yesterday and below out shopping on 2/25, thanks to Splash News.

It seems that the Madden brothers, Good Charlotte rockers Joel and Benji, can really attract hot women. Firstly there’s Sophie Monk, who is hot. I remember when she first came to the public’s attention in the girl group Bardot (link leads to video) – she was steamin’. The band was lame, Australia’s first fabricated band that was a complete Spice Girls rip off.

Now it seems, in bad news for single women everywhere, that she and Benji have split. The rumors first surfaced in December, and were denied by his rep, but now her rep has confirmed it.

“Sophie and Benji have officially split. The decision was mutual and they remain amicable,” Kim’s statement read. “This will be my only statement regarding this matter.”

Daily Telegraph

That’s kind of sad. They met in mid-2006 and got engaged six months later. Amicable is the usual publicists’ line, I think we can pretty safely assume that they have definitely parted permanently, not just ended their engagement.

However, things are going very well for Joel Madden and his sexy missus.

“It’s really hard being away from her. I think after having Harlow we are already in love with being parents,” he said. “It’s cool to watch Harlow with Nicole because they already have a real special bond. It’s cute. I have my own little bond with her too.”

As far as Madden’s bond with Richie, that’s stronger than ever too. “She’s a wonderful mother and she looks really hot already,” he said. “The girl is gifted, man. Women hate her because she looks good being pregnant and then has the baby and looks sexy. There’s something so attractive about her now. It’s a motherly glow.”

People

Aw, that’s such a nice thing to say. Nicole does look really good post-baby, a lot better than she did pre-pregnancy. Of course, it just raises the bar for all the other mummies out there who are more slummy then yummy. And that, Joel, is actually why we hate her. It makes more work for us!

Us Weekly are reporting that Joel and Nicole have gone to four parties in two days, although it seems on they just went out for a couple of hours each night. They didn’t even hire a sitter, but apparently relied on Grandma. Awww.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Benji Madden and Sophie Monk are shown out at lunch on at “Newsroom” in Beverly Hills, and heading to the parking lot afterwards. They definitely look like there’s something wrong in these pictures, but I didn’t realize until after I downloaded them that they’re a year old, from 2/5/07. Sorry about that, I saw February and assumed it was this year. Thanks to Splash News for these pictures.

Nicole Richie is moving quickly with her new boyfriend, Hillary Duff’s ex Joel Madden of the band Good Charlotte. Joel’s twin brother and bandmate Benji Madden lives right next to him and is said to be annoyed that Nicole is staying over at his brother’s house all the time and plans to move in:

Nicole and Joel seem to be moving rather quickly and not everyone’s a fan. We know Hilary thinks Nicole is a “skank” and now it seems as if Joel’s BFF and brother Benji does not like his new lady either. The problem is, they may already be moving in together.

Sources close to Richie say she is “moving stuff out of her West Hollywood condo into his Glendale home,” and Joel’s bandmate, brother, and next-door neighbor Benji is “furious.” The source also said Joel and Nicole “have already become inseparable, and spend almost every night together.

It seems Benji might be too busy with his personal life to worry too much about his brother. He just announced that he is engaged to cute Australian actress Sophie Monk. He proposed to her while they were staying in Australia for New Years. Unlike Benji, Joel is said to approve of his brother’s choice in women and is quoted as saying “She’s so cool. I hang out with her, we have a great time.”

Joel and Nicole spent New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas, where Joel hosted a bash at Ghostbar at The Palms Casino. They were photographed kissing and cuddling during the party. Pictures from Flynet Online.