Candice makes a cameo at E.J.'s event; Paris is pregnant

Lynx rookie guard Candice Wiggins was sure in a hurry to make her entrance at the kickoff party for the E.J. Henderson Celebrity Bass Challenge.

Wiggins was wearing a brown dress when she arrived for the party Wednesday at Seven sushi bar, upstairs at r. Norman's Steakhouse. Because she was very much out of uniform, I asked Wiggins to style and profile for a clip of video. After a quick turn, Wiggins and Lynx guard Sharneé Zoll (who was waived Friday) were gone.

Probably just itchin' to sign silent auction items for the E.J. Henderson Youth Foundation, which supports schools lacking efficient and effective academic and physical programs. E.J. is a Vikings linebacker, whose brother Erin Henderson is also a linebacker on the Vikings roster, as an undrafted rookie free agent.

Candice and Erin were hanging with a group, but they appeared to be having their own conversation. When I asked Erin if they had met before, he held his thumb and pointer about an inch apart and said they had previously known each other "a little bit."

Wiggins seems like a real nice kid. At one point, I wanted to whisper in her ear: Be careful, these are professional athletes.

SuperStar PR guy Michael Deering told me that Erin was only being friendly. "Erin's got a girlfriend. He's in a committed, long-term relationship," Deering said. "He said Candice is new to the Lynx. He knows some places in town; he was giving Candice advice on the city. ... And [Erin] said he used to go to the UVA girls' basketball games when Zoll was at the University of Virginia. So that's the connection between the three of them."

There's a three-shot and other video at www.startribune.com/video.

Erin doesn't like being identified solely as "E.J.'s brother," even though he's apparently living at his brother's place. And Erin disdains the phrase "little brother." He wanted to know how someone as big and tall as he could be considered "little."

There is a good chance he was razzin' me. Lord knows he was razzin' up poor Sharneé Zoll by repeatedly telling her my eyes were prettier than hers.

An English emergency "You're gon' get that camera broke," said Spokesman Recorder sports editor Larry Fitzgerald Sr., hiding his face behind his large hand at he arrived fashionably late to Henderson's party.

Is that the kind of substandard English that Grandpa wants baby Devin Nazario Fitzgerald speaking when he learns to talk?

Anyone worth as much money as the father of multimillionaire Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald Jr. probably shouldn't let such threats pass his lips.

"Not anybody I know," Koch said with a smile when asked if somebody we both knew was pregnant.

Bennett, who is due to have a girl in October, may have been pregnant when she and her mom, Jamecia Bennett, performed at a February opening gala for the steakhouse and sushi bar. If not, Koch has surely seen Bennett since then.

I confirmed Paris' pregnancy Thursday with her mom. Jamecia told me that it was no secret, although people didn't really start to notice until Paris performed at an AARP event in Georgia and "American Idol Camp" in California.

Who's the daddy? "He chooses not to be in the public eye," Jamecia said. "I respect that." She said, "I can't tell," when asked what he does for a living. That would clearly identify the father, who I hear is someone Paris has known since high school.

"She has a ring," said Jamecia, who hopes she'll be planning a wedding for Paris. Jamecia is already planning an August baby shower for her first grandchild.

A holiday album tentatively titled "Paris Bennett: A Royal Christmas" comes out this year, and her sophomore album, which will have a jazz/hip-hop flavor, drops in 2009. She just finished a movie with Ciara, "Mama, I Want to Sing!" and Paris can be seen in a video singing a duet of "Baby O" with the late Dean Martin. She also shot scenes for the movie "Baby O," a story set in Vegas, said Jamecia said.

Photos of pregnant Paris can be seen online at: www.americanidolajcexiles.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/bennett-pregnant.