Las Vegas Weekly

September 5, 2008 · 11:12 AM

Paris and Benji’s romantic runaround sparks wedding rumors

By Robin Leach

The alarm bells rang but the wedding chimes didn’t! It was mayhem when marriage rumors swept the Strip when pop-princess Paris Hilton came in for a four-day honeymoon-styled vacation with beaufriend, rocker Benji Madden. Paparazzi photographers, tabloid editors and Internet gossip sites went into overdrive with tattle-tales they were about to tie the knot right here in America’s wedding capital.

Photo: Light Group

Paris and Benji at The Bank.

Photo: The Light Group

Joel Madden at The Bank.

Paris and Benji turned up almost everywhere around Sin City -- they were a romantic closerthanthis couple at Wolfgang Puck’s new Cut restaurant in the Palazzo and they were hand-in-hand touring the nearby Lavo restaurant and club. I even ran into Paris, little sister Nicky Hilton and her lovemate David Katzenberg at the gala celebrity opening of chef Akjira Back’s new Yellowtail restaurant at the Bellagio.

Photo: Denise Truscello

Paris Hilton and chef Back at the grand opening of Yellowtail Sushi.

The fab foursome also turned up at Carey Hart’s new anti-club rock lounge Wasted Space at the Hard Rock resort casino, where they all enjoyed Patron shots and dancing in the VIP section. More often than not, Paris and Benji were romantically lip-locked -- and they didn’t care who saw them in the passionate embraces. They also peeked in on the party of E!’s Daily 10 hosts celebrating Sal Masekela's birthday with L.A. Clippers star Baron Davis in the Hard Rock’s Body English nightclub.

Benji, the lead singer of Good Charlotte, and Paris had come to town to support his twin rocker brother, Joel Madden, who turned guest DJ at The Bank nightclub in the Bellagio during their visit. Joel arrived solo at 1 a.m., leaving his baby-mama, Nicole Ritchie, home in L.A. taking care of their new one -- and I’m glad to report his eyes didn’t stray once from the wheels of steel. Benji and Paris resumed their cuddling position in the Bank’s VIP section with Nicky and David after enjoying their usual corner table in the adjoining Fix restaurant. They dined on Kobe beef sliders, caviar tostados, yellowtail sashimi, surf and turf -- and only Evian water!

Our Luxe Life photographers were everywhere when the Hilton sisters showed up with their boyfriends -- but meantime, the buzz had started with the marriage rumors. That sent the unauthorized paparazzi and Hollywood invaders into a wolf-pack frenzy as cell phones rang in with the wicked wedding whispers. At one point Paris and Nicky had to hide out for safety from them in the YS fashion store at the Bellagio. Hotel security will have to do something about these aggressive out-of-town photogs. Thankfully our Vegas hometown click-masters are much better behaved and respectful. For days, all of us so-called gossip gurus got phone calls from the glossy magazines and tabloid papers asking about the pending marriage.

Photo: Hard Rock

The Hilton sisters party at Wasted Space.

Photo: Hard Rock

The Hilton sisters party at Wasted Space.

In the end it was Paris herself who put a stop to them. She laughed, telling me: “Everything is beautiful as it is. Yes, we’re very much in love and the romance is going along perfectly since we started dating here in Vegas eight months ago. We’ll let you know when and if we get married -- but it definitely wont be a spur of the moment runaway Vegas ceremony. We’ll do it right with all the traditional things you could think of and that takes planning and not spur of the moment.”

It was impossible to nudge Paris any further on the subject but I won’t be surprised if next Valentine's Day they celebrate their first anniversary of togetherness and she gets all dressed up to say "I do!"

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