NAMES & FACES

Friday, August 25, 2006

Former POW Lynch Is Expecting

Jessica Lynch is expecting her first child with boyfriend Wes Robinson , the former POW announced through her publicist yesterday.

"I was not sure if this could ever happen for me after all of the injuries and physical trauma I suffered," she said in a statement. "Learning to walk again and coping with the internal injuries that I still deal with, pale in comparison to the tremendous joy of carrying this child." Robinson, 25, and Lynch met through family friends. They have been dating for 10 months.

Lynch, 23, was captured in March 2003 during the Iraq war when the military convoy she was traveling with was ambushed. She was rescued several weeks later. When she returned, she became engaged to Army Sgt. Ruben Contreras, whom she met prior to her deployment to Iraq, but they called off wedding plans in 2004.

Now a college sophomore, she plans to transfer to West Virginia University-Parkersburg from the university's main campus, where she will continue to study education and journalism.

She is due in January. Lynch and Robinson have no plans to marry, Lynch's publicist said.

Fear Not -- Yellow Wiggle Is Fine

Washington area fans of the popular kiddie musical group the Wiggles were distraught Wednesday night when yellow Wiggle Greg Page failed to make an appearance onstage. Turns out that Wiggle was feeling a little wobbly.

Page fainted before a show in Kingston, R.I., Tuesday and was rushed to the hospital for tests. "Everything came back fine," Wiggles publicist Ryan Smith told us yesterday. "We thought it was dehydration or exhaustion. Being a little road-weary is normal."

Management decided that Page, 34, should take the night off in Washington to recoup, where he watched the show (and his stand-in Sam Moran ) from backstage. That is, until he fainted again. Page was promptly put on a plane to his home in Australia (after he came to, of course), where he will be examined by his own doctors.

"We didn't want to take any chances with Greg and his health," Smith said, adding that Page has "no history whatsoever" of fainting spells. "When you're on a travel schedule like these guys are, things like this happen."

Smith said Page is feeling "extremely tired" lately, but is physically in "the best shape of his life." The Wiggles' American tour ends Sunday in Charleston, S. C.

Livestock, Beware of The Rock

You can take the wrestler out of the ring, but good luck taking the athlete out of the actor.

"In order to become a good actor, you've got to become a student of the game," Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson told us yesterday. "You've got to apply yourself, learn the craft. . . . It's a big process and a process that I take seriously." Aye-aye, coach!

Johnson, 34, spent yesterday in Washington to promote his new inspirational sports-themed movie "Gridiron Gang" and to host a screening of the flick for troops at Andrews Air Force Base. The WWF wrestler-turned-actor plays real-life coach Sean Porter , who organized a group of juvenile delinquents into a football team.

Johnson listed the virtues of sports to us and detailed how athletics turned him around, adding, "By the time I was 17, I'd been arrested nine times." Although he made a name for himself in wrestling, Johnson said his days of slamming opponents in the ring are "absolutely" over. "I decided to quietly get out of wrestling" in order to focus on acting and to spend more time with family, he said. "I've been out for three years now."

And while he didn't have time for sightseeing in Washington, Johnson said he did make time for refueling: "You guys have got great food. That's all I need. I think I ate about 68 ounces of red meat last night."

Noted . . .

· Maureen Dowd was spotted shopping (with plenty of assistance from salespeople) at Barneys in Georgetown Wednesday afternoon. The fiery-haired New York Times columnist and author wore jeans and a smile.

-- Korin Miller

The Reliable Source column will return.

Noted . . .

· Maureen Dowd was spotted shopping (with plenty of assistance from salespeople) at Barneys in Georgetown Wednesday afternoon. The fiery-haired New York Times columnist and author wore jeans and a smile.

-- Korin Miller

The Reliable Source column will return.