Kate Hudson is taking issue with claims she succumbed to the inscrutable ragamuffin charms of Heath Ledger. The New York Post says the actress, who has reportedly been on-again, off-again with comedian Dax Shepard, was "kissing and making out" with the oft-prickly Aussie thespian Thursday night at a Manhattan hot spot. But a rep for Kate denies she engaged in any tonsil hockey with Heath, who is back on the prowl following his September split from Michelle Williams. "This is absolutely untrue," Hudson's flack huffs to the paper. "They ran into each other and chatted briefly, but that was the extent of it." No word on whether they were reminiscing about their 2002 flop "The Four Feathers" or perhaps exchanging parenting tips (Kate is mom to 3-year-old Ryder with perma-scruffy ex-husband Chris Robinson; Heath is dad to 2-year-old Matilda with Williams). This is the latest tabloid report to link Hudson to someone new. OK! claims she was spied swapping spit with Orlando Bloom at her Halloween bash, which Shepard also happened to attend.

Is Kate Moss considering deep-sixing rocker beau Jamie Hince because he's not a dysfunctional mess? So claims the London Daily Mail, which quotes a pal of the supermodel as saying, "Kate loves men with an edge and Jamie is just too nice for her." According to the snitch, she doesn't have "the same chemistry" with the Kills front man as she shared with her recidivist, rehab-repeating ex Pete Doherty, who was recently caught on video falling back into his perforated, substance-preferring ways. Moss has supposedly stayed in contact with Doherty, causing Hince consternation. "Jamie goes mad that she's always texting Pete and giggling at messages from him," maintains the source, adding, "Kate would love to get back with him, but only if he's clean."

As Heather Mills plumbs new depths of desperation in her divorce battle with Paul McCartney, he's apparently learned a valuable lesson about safeguarding his heart by protecting his bank account. The London Sunday Mirror believes part of the appeal of Sir Paul's rumored new flame Nancy Shevell is that she's independently wealthy (she's an exec in her family's New Jersey-based freight company). "The fact Nancy is successful in her own right makes him feel much more relaxed around her," a spy tells the tab. "Paul says she is not with him for what's in it for her. He will certainly now only date women who have their own means. He won't date someone who is not used to money."

John Mayer may have been spied spit shining the tonsils of an insecure but hot blonde during a recent night out in New York, but he was back in the company of rumored squeeze Minka Kelly on Sunday. Shutterbugs snapped the bespectacled crooner and the "Friday Night Lights" looker taking in a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden. Their outing wasn't exactly undercover: The twosome had floor seats and Mayer's pretty mug ended up being broadcast on the Jumbotron.

Kylie Minogue is scratching her head over rumors she's trying to reconcile with ex-boyfriend Olivier Martinez, who nursed her through her breast cancer battle. The peppy pop queen tells the Times of London she doesn't understand where "all this stuff about summit meetings and crisis talks in French cafes" is coming from. "No, no, we've definitely split up," she vows to the paper. "But I can't tell people enough how amazing and supportive and, er, instrumental he was in getting me through that period and back onstage." As for the rugged French actor being labeled a cad after their romance went belly-up last year, "I don't usually use my Web site to tell people to stop being rude about those I care about, because if I did, I'd be, like, bip-bip-bip, on there the whole time," says Kylie, "but in this case, the things that people said about him -- it wasn't, er, right, y'know." Besides, there is one part of their relationship she'll cherish forever. "And I did love his dog, Sheba," sighs Minogue. "Oh, Sheba, she was the love of my life."

Nick Carter may have a slimmed-down new physique, but his attitude remains as unappealing as ever. He's quoted as telling the London Sun that he'd never again date former flame Paris Hilton, with whom he was once so smitten he etched her name on his wrist. "But I'd go out with another celeb," says the resurrected Backstreet Boy. "She'd need to be able to have an intelligent conversation though, because Paris couldn't."

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