Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

"Dancing With the Stars" pro Tony Dovolani says that with his current celebrity partner, "The Hills'" Audrina Patridge, "I'm so happy, I can't tell you. It's very refreshing after 10 seasons to feel this way. With Audrina, I just feel rejuvenated. I enjoy choreographing for her. We laugh all day."

So, is having the young and lovely Patridge a payback for the angst he had to go through when partnered with the oh-so-challenging Kate Gosselin last season?

"Oh, even with Kate, I don't think it was that bad," says Dovolani, who's widely considered a nice guy — but did, at one point, temporarily walk off the Gosselin job when she kept questioning his teaching. He adds, "As long as I have somebody who is driving, who wants it really badly, whatever they lack in talent, I can always make them dance."

But with Patridge, everything is going better. "You know she has no dance background — no performance background — since she's from a reality show. She came to me as raw as they get. But the thing is, she goes into it headfirst. The way she approaches things — she never gets angry, never gets frustrated with herself, just keeps going ahead. Nothing comes easy to her, but the way she approaches her learning is really amazing. She's like a sponge, no inhibitions. She doesn't hold back. She trusts me completely as a teacher. And I feel like I have a real dance partner. It's not just dancing with a celebrity."

Patridge's family has been "very supportive," he says. "They've been around a lot. I even met her grandmother."

As far as her boyfriend, Corey Bohan, who initially balked at all her rehearsal time, says Dovolani: "It can be hard for people who don't understand the industry to accept the time demands, but he's come around. He's been at every show. He even told me, 'I massage her feet so she's 100 percent.'"

Dovolani's also getting support from the home team, of course, and was happy to be able to nip back to New York City for a quick visit with his wife and three young children.

"My daughter Luana surprised me with a dance at home. She performed the 'Waka Waka' theme from the World Cup that Shakira did verbatim — and she's 5 years old! I got to experience the first time she had a dance lesson ... It was pretty amazing."

Her 2-year-old brother is dancing, too, says Dovolani. "He imitates her. ... I came home to a houseful of dancers. As a dad, what a proud moment."

And as a husband, "My wife, Lina, said, 'I love it when you smile. You haven't taken the smile off your face since you started to dance with Audrina." Aww.

SPEAKING OF PRECOCIOUS TALENT: Marcela Valladolid jets from West to East coast tomorrow (10/5) with her "Mexican Made Easy" team for several days of party hopping and cooking events — including a Bobby Flay tacos 'n' tequila fest that may include a taco standoff — at the 2010 Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival.

Valladolid's also hosting a party with fellow Food Network chefs Aarti Sequeira and Sunny Anderson.

"I'll be going bananas," laughs the Tijuana-born chef, whose show debuted early this year and is already shooting its third season. (New episodes begin airing next month.) She's glad "the event is another great platform to talk about Mexican cuisine as it deserves to be talked about — deep-rooted in Mexican tradition and culture."

Valladolid has been working to get the word out that real Mexican cuisine is far different and more varied than the semi-edible stuff widely passed off as Mexican food north of the border at sports events and such. And she's been getting tons of thank-you e-mails from Latinos and gringos alike for her efforts.

"It's all happened so fast," says the petite beauty.

Her 6-year-old son, Fausto, will not be traveling with her — "only because they're serving alcohol, so it's for 21 and over" — though he's already famous to her followers as her sometimes sous chef. "I bring him to every event I can. It's amazing how he can taste a dish and deconstruct it at his age. I brought him to one of our favorite restaurants here in Chula Vista (Calif.) yesterday, and the staff was excited because he ordered grilled octopus. He said, 'You can bring the sauce on the side, but I never like it.' He tried it, and he said, 'I can taste the honey, Mom. I really don't like that.'"

His precocious palate is attributable to the fact "he has zero junk food at home," she says — along with genes, of course. "I think it totally depends on the child."

ANYTHING GOES: Sugar Ray front man turned "Don't Forget the Lyrics" host Mark McGrath is well aware that the idea of a rock star who is also a game-show host would have been nearly unthinkable a decade or so ago. But "All the lines are blurred between different things. That's how people shift around now. Celebrity itself is an umbrella statement for a lot of things," he observes. "I keep my mind open to all options. So much is happening in the entertainment business, you can be swamped one year, and the next year, you're not. My income taxes show the story," he says with a laugh. "Like I always say, I'm fortunate to still have the uniform."

MORE BLOOD: Casting is under way for "Twilight of the Gods," which is not a part of THE "Twilight" film series, but does have to do with vampires of a sort. The low-budget flick takes place one evening in Malibu, within a group of wealthy and powerful friends, each of whom has a fatal flaw.

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2010 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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