Luxe Life Blog
Photo Gallery Exclusive: Holly Madison has her cake — and gets a ring, too!
Photo: TVT
Holly Madison’s 29th birthday celebration was unlike any other! It began at midnight and ended after 4 this morning. It started with a giant cake and wound up with a ring! And now I’ve learned that over the holidays, boyfriend Criss Angel and his mom, Dimitra Sarantakos, will meet Holly’s parents, Steve and Patsy Madison, from Oregon, in an all-family gathering for New Year’s Eve!
“It’s the first time I’ve brought them to meet a boyfriend,” the blonde beauty cooed. “I’m incredibly flattered,” said Criss, adding, “The more I know her, the more I love her. She changed the way I look at life. She is unlike any girl I’ve known before in my life. Holly is the love of my life.”
After last night’s late show of Believe at the Luxor, Criss threw a combination birthday party for his The Girls Next Door gal pal and a Christmas celebration for his 100-strong cast and crew of the Cirque du Soleil show. Criss and Holly invited me into the party for our world-exclusive photo coverage. You couldn’t get any closer with these intimate photographs that prove they are totally and genuinely in love with each other.
He took over the lobby of his Luxor theater for the shindig -- and surprised Holly with a giant birthday cake and a promise in front of everybody: “Each and every day, it is my joy to make you happier.”
I stood with Holly as Criss grabbed the mic to thank his onstage cast members, backstage crew, theater staff and ushers. “I appreciate you all for making Believe a success. It takes an army to win a war, and you are all the incredible soldiers who make it possible each night. Now you have two days off for Christmas, and you’ll get to spend it with your families. That’s the beauty of this time of the year: to have family, health and happiness. I am blessed with that.”
Criss told them that master magician Lance Burton, who has his own long-running show at the Monte Carlo, had started off the evening with a surprise visit to the early performance of Believe. Lance told me afterwards backstage that this is the most creative magic show ever presented in the entire history of Vegas illusions. The Believe cast and crew presented Criss with a massive 20th anniversary book of Cirque du Soleil’s history signed and with a message from every member of the show.
Then at 2 a.m., Criss and Holly planned to go dancing at Moon nightclub in the Palms before retiring at 4 a.m. to his Luxor suite, where he had his special birthday gift awaiting.
“It’s a diamond ring shaped like her favorite flower. When we were at Disneyland, she made me a paper ring, and I wore it on the fourth finger of my right hand. She had no idea I was getting her one to match. It doesn’t matter if it is jewelry or paper -- it is the meaning and significance behind it. I’ve kept that paper ring safely with all my personal things,” Criss told me. “It’ll be with me forever.”
Today on his day off, Criss and Holly plan to go to a Las Vegas mall for ice cream and finish all their last-minute family shopping. They’ve already put up a Christmas tree and decorated it in his penthouse suite at the Luxor. Their gifts for each other and all the family members who’ve come to Vegas are under the tree! The couple will open one gift apiece tonight on Christmas Eve, and then the remainder will be opened by all the family tomorrow on Christmas Day.
Holly let slip that she’s already bought him a slew of snowboarding gear. “He’s got this amazing trick with snow all planned out when he starts filming his next season of Mindfreak, but he had no snow outfits -- so now he’ll be fully equipped with snow gear, snow sports stuff, and we’ll be able to go off to the mountains on days off.”
Tonight they’ll just go off for a birthday dinner date by themselves. “Somewhere quiet and romantic for Christmas Eve,” Criss said. “I had two shows to do on her birthday, so we’ll make up for it this evening. Click HERE for our weekend coverage of their joint birthday party at LAX nightclub early Saturday morning.
Holly’s parents will arrive Dec. 30 and will stay at the Luxor, too.
Dimitra told me: “We all get along fine. I adore Holly -- she is a very special girl, and I’ve never seen my son this happy in his life. He’s quieted down and they fit perfectly, so I’m looking forward to meeting her parents. I’m sure we will all be great together.”
Criss added: “I’ve got a private room already reserved for all of us. We’re going to watch the one-hour interview I taped with Larry King on CNN. You’ll get to see Holly join us for the last 15 minutes, and he asked about our relationship -- and we answered honesty about everything. It will be really nice to have her parents, my mother and all my family together for a big dinner group to welcome in the New Year.”
Criss and Holly cut the first slice of this morning’s cake and insisted that each of the party people got theirs before she playfully fed him before they landed a couple of kisses. Before I left them as they got ready for a late night out on the town, Criss told me: “Everybody is going to think that the ring is an engagement ring when they see it. Don’t let all the rumors start. Don’t you start them. This is a beautiful piece of jewelry for her birthday, but when I do get engaged, I’d have a much bigger ring that would really be bank-busting expensive.
“The best birthday present we could share is love. I love her, and she loves me. We are so happy, and our families are happy for us. That’s the most important thing. Tell everybody who reads the blog that we are very much in love, and they should be pleased for our happiness. We are soul mates. We have found each other, and it’s never been like this before for either of us.”
The next stop for the twined twosome is a weeklong vacation in the millionaire Mexican playground of Cabo San Lucas. The ever-watchful security guards will accompany Criss, Holly and his brothers and family on the trip. No, we’re not going along on that one! We’ll let them have all that privacy to themselves.
Criss had the last word: “Tell everybody Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Tell them Holly and I wish them health, happiness and as much love as the two of us have. This is really what magic is: love!”
E-mail
del.icio.us
digg
Facebook
