brinkley

A new chapter is about to open in the saga of Rhode Islanders and reality TV.

Michelle Costa, 28, of Cumberland is one of 13 competitors, ranging in age from 22 to 75, about to move into the Big Brother 10 house as the CBS series returns to its original concept, strangers living together in a house and battling it out for the $500,000 first prize. The show, which will air three nights a week — Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday — premieres Sunday at 8 p.m. on Channels 4 and 12.

Costa is single and lists her occupation as a Realtor on the CBS announcement.

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Matthew McConaughey’s longtime model girlfriend, Camila Alves, has given birth to the couple’s first child, a 7-pound, 4-ounce boy.

Alves, 24, gave birth Monday night in California, McConaughey’s publicist, Alan Nierob, confirmed Tuesday.

The 38-year-old actor announced that Alves was pregnant in a posting on his Web site in January.

“Camila and I were side by side the entire time,” McConaughey told OK! magazine. “We are both tired and elated, and are so happy to have created the greatest miracle in the world — having a child and making a family.”

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James Levine will have a kidney removed in surgery this week, causing the conductor to miss the remainder of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood season.

The 65-year-old music director of both the BSO and the Metropolitan Opera will need six weeks of recovery time, the BSO said in a statement yesterday. He is expected to be back on the podium for the start of the Met and BSO seasons in September.

Levine’s kidney is being removed because of a cyst that is causing pressure and discomfort. No other treatment will be necessary, the BSO said.

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Christie Brinkley should get custody of her two youngest children — but she and her narcissistic husband both need therapy, a court-appointed psychiatrist said yesterday at their divorce trial.

Dr. Stephen Herman, questioned by the children’s attorney, Theresa Mari, said the former Sports Illustrated model needs therapy as “an outlet for her anger and feeling of betrayal” by her unfaithful husband.

He said Brinkley, who’s been married four times, also “needs to start working on deeper issues” — including “her choice of male figures.”

He said Peter Cook is a “narcissist” who constantly needs to have his insatiable ego fed. The psychiatrist said shared custody “is not at all a viable option.” But he later agreed during cross-examination that both “Christie and Peter have done a superb job of being parents.” And he said Cook should be involved in his children’s lives.