Las Vegas Weekly

November 1, 2008 · 10:32 AM

Like magic: Angel and Madison make their romance official

By Robin Leach

Criss and Holly make their entrance in style.

Photo: Denise Truscello

Criss Angel and new ladylove Holly Madison played it right according to plan. They made it official that they are seriously dating, and their romance went public for the first time at last night's world premiere of his new Cirque du Soleil show Believe.

The playboy prince and the blond bunny walked the “Black Carpet” together – arm-in-arm, hand-in-hand exactly as he promised me just an hour before the curtain went up at the Luxor. Holly watched the show with members of the illusionist's family, including his mom and his aunt Stella -- and then was back on the Mindfreak's arm for the gala poolside party afterward that ran until 3 o’clock this morning. As he told me himself for our new VegasDeluxe video cameras: "This is one of the most special evenings for me in my life. I can not think of a more beautiful person, a more special person, inside and out, than Holly to spend it with."

The 500-strong worldwide press corps here on the welcoming carpet will have a field day. The cuddling couple’s first official appearance will set off a firestorm frenzy of flashes -- and the twined twosome’s photos will be wired across the world at mega-speed. Click back here shortly for our first photos.

Criss has promised to talk to me about their new love match, but he assured me earlier this week that it’s not a publicity stunt. He finally admitted that “it’s the real thing,” and that the rumors of their long series of weekend dates since her breakup nearly three months ago from 82-year-old Playboy king Hugh Hefner were in fact true. Holly even told me on the patio at Lavo in the Palazzo one evening, while waiting for him to complete a preview show, that Criss had invited her to be his special date for tonight’s world premiere.

They’ve had a slew of undercover dates here, playing a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game for the past eight weeks with tabloid reporters and Internet bloggers to avoid the glare of gossip. I kept my word to both of them that I’d remain silent on the subject until the premiere of them going public.

Holly, 28, and Criss, 39, have been quietly spotted at the Playboy Club in the Palms, at Kerry Simon’s Cathouse restaurant and ultra lounge in the Luxor, at Blush boutique nightclub in the Wynn, and in the past few days at the Moon nightclub in the Palms and at a 4 a.m. breakfast in the Luxor cafe. When I was with them at Moon on Tuesday night, I promised to keep the romance secret -- along with some other tasty living-together tidbits -- until now! Criss even coiffed her hair for this exclusive Luxe Life portrait of Holly in her Halloween Baywatch red swimsuit a la Pamela Anderson. To avoid being photographed together then, they’d sat atop adjoining booths so they were back-to-back but bumped playfully against each other throughout the night.

During the past two years as a Vegas resident, Criss has been linked to everybody from Anderson to pop princess Britney Spears to actress Cameron Diaz. Despite blaring headlines, all were simply either a work-related rendezvous or solely good friends. But I am assured that the fling with Holly is “the real thing.” He even gave her a shout-out by working her name into the show’s script Tuesday night when she watched it for the first time!

She has moved out of the Playboy Mansion after her own three-plus-years live-in relationship with the Playboy mogul. Holly confided that she even picked the Shannon Twins for a magazine cover and photo layout that led to them “moving in with Hef and her moving out.” She says she will always remain friends with him but that she was looking for a more traditional relationship with marriage and babies. Hef, who is still married to Kimberly Conrad, who lives alongside the Mansion, told me then: “Regrettably, that’s not in the cards for me at this age.”

Criss and Holly are enjoying simultaneous TV success. He’s renewed for next spring’s fifth season of his hot A&E Mindfreak series, which means he will hit the 100 episode mark, and Holly began her fifth season of The Girls Next Door on E! Entertainment on Oct. 5. Upcoming shows will feature Holly in Vegas and her return visits as a single girl to the Playboy bunny hatch, where she works as a photo editor discovering new talent for the magazine features. Click HERE and check out the accompanying YouTube video to see The Girls Next Door interviews, where the Alaska beauty talks candidly about her live-in relationship with Hef and how the girls are moving on. Now that it’s ended, Holly admits that “she feels free” and is “ready to conquer everything.” She laughed: “I have a really big appetite and want everything.”

Holly’s easy-going, genuine manner; warm, friendly personality; sincerity; and smarts have captivated not only Criss but also his mother and aunt -- and for the second time this week, they will all be sitting together within the hour for the Believe premiere.

Criss told me on Tuesday: “It’s great. We’re having a great time together. It feels beautiful, and it came together at the right moment for both of us. Yes, we just hit it off immediately and everything clicked right.”

When they arrive on the carpet, he’s promised some quick words with me about the two of them -- and more at the party later tonight. We’ll have that updated report, plus the hoped for ‘kiss and cuddle’ exclusive for our Luxe Life video cameras. All will be posted on our brand new VegasDeluxe.com Web site beginning at 6 a.m. tomorrow -- Saturday!

Correction:Angel is 40 years old, not 39 as stated in the original posting.

— From Vegas Deluxe

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