Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

The final finale of "Lost" isn't expected 'til 2010, but already things are heating up on ABC's one-of-a-kind series, which begins airing its fifth season Jan. 21 with a three-hour premiere.

Jorge Garcia — aka Hurley — reports that the cast did a lot of guessing about the mysteries surrounding their characters and their strange island surroundings "during Season 1, but after that it slowed down. Last season, when they announced there was going to be an ending, we started guessing again. There's definitely a sense of pacing that is going toward something on the show. We're excited, like Season 1."

According to him, "The stories are crazy this year. This one definitely takes it to another level."

As for himself, the challenge in playing his lottery-winning, formerly institutionalized character remains "to try and make Hurley's craziness come from a real place. That has been a big challenge for me as an actor, along with some of the physical stuff. You have no idea how hard it is to march with purpose in sand in tennis shoes when you have to do it over and over again."

REVVING UP: "The Biggest Loser" trainer Jillian Michaels has been anything but idle during this holiday break. She's been working on the proposal for her fourth book, "one that I've had in mind for a year and a half, my first self-health book, 'Master Your Metabolism.'"

The idea of speeding up the body's ability to burn off calories in a healthy way sounds mighty attractive — especially after many of us have been over-indulging of late — but Jillian says her book will be about more than just dropping weight.

"It's really about how your environment and your lifestyle whops your endocrine system and makes you sick," says the fitness pro/radio talk show host/author.

Michaels also complains about many of today's processed food products. "You're eating plastic with your food."

Michaels also has two new fitness DVDs due out in March, a different book on the way for April release and "a vitamin line for Wal-Mart just for women."

Then, of course, she also has the seventh season of "The Biggest Loser" — with 11 couples — starting Tuesday (1/6).

SO SIMPLE, AND YET ... : Brandy Norwood, who wound up in Yummy Mummy lists a matter of months after the birth of her daughter Sy'rai, now 6 years old, says that the key to keeping her figure is, "I try not to overindulge in food. That will get you every time. I don't really like to work out, to be honest," she adds. "I like tennis. But I can't do a treadmill for 40 minutes — that's not going to happen." The songstress will need to keep in top shape this year, as she heads out on tour in support of her "Human" album.

WHAT HAPPENED IN VEGAS: Illusionist David Blaine's notorious conquering of the roulette wheel at Las Vegas's Palms Hotel — on behalf of two young damsels — still has enough magic in it to lure Internet viewers into looking at the clip long after it was originally taped. You've got to wonder, what's Blaine's status like in Vegas now?

"It's hard for me to touch dice," he admits. "They don't let me throw dice. That [roulette] was a game they couldn't let me cheat." He goes on, "That same night, I hit the casino throwing dice in a fire bet ... A fire bet in craps, where everyone at the table who put down five dollars won $5,000. The Palms shut down a section of the casino long enough to examine the closed-circuit tape to check for cheating," he says. "Right after that, I won the money for those girls."

With reports by Emily Feimster.

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 2008 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.