Has Madonna found Jesus? Plus, a couples update with Kate & Owen and others, along with an exhausted-looking Katie Holmes, a bikini top-avoiding -- eek! -- Amy Winehouse and more ...

Posted Dec. 22, 2008

Madonna received a congratulatory gift from the rumor mill as she wrapped up her lucrative Sticky & Sweet tour Sunday night in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The New York Post claims the Big M, who may or may not have just coughed up $76 million-plus in cash and property to ex-husband Guy Ritchie in their divorce settlement, has been having a "grand old time" in South America thanks to a strapping young model named -- holy Christmas! -- Jesus Luz.

Madonna performs in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Dec. 18. (©Reuters)

Madonna supposedly took a shine to the hunky slice of vealcake during a photo shoot for W magazine in Rio de Janeiro a few days back, so much so that she invited him to tag along on her remaining concert dates.

"She was very interested in him," a spy alleges to the paper. "He's there with her now, and [photographer] Steven Klein is helping him get along with everyone."

Adds a mole to the Brazilian Web site Glamurama.com.br, "Everyone knows they are 'ficando,' which is a Portuguese expression that means they are kissing and doing other things but without any obligation of being faithful or getting into a relationship afterwards."

Conveniently enough, photos of the toothy, well-rippled model have been making the rounds with the story, prompting speculation that the Madonna and Jesus tale may be one big PR ploy.

Madonna's rep, who last week released details on the divorce settlement only to be contradicted two days later by a joint statement issued by the onetime spouses, pleaded ignorance on the rumblings, telling the Post in an inadvertently hilarious response, "I'm still waiting to hear about Jesus."

Either way, Madonna, 50, is expected to arrive in London with kids Lourdes, 12, Rocco, 8, and David, 3, for Christmas, although she has played down reports that she will mark the birth of the baby Jesus (the biblical one, not the shirtless one) with Ritchie at Ashcombe, the country estate he received in the split.

There are also whispers that the smooth-faced popster's self-described good friend Alex Rodriguez may join her in England.

And once the holidays are over, says the London Daily Mail, the red string-sporting pals are planning a "Kabbalah dinner" -- and perhaps a pilgrimage to the land of David's birth.

"Madonna's divorce will be made final on January 2 and she can't wait to move on with her life," a source tells the tab. "She has made it clear she wants to move back to the States and she also wants to take Alex with her on a trip to Malawi."

Guy films "Sherlock Holmes" with Robert Downey Jr. in London on Oct. 11. (©Retna Ltd.)

Meanwhile, despite denials earlier this month, talk continues that Ritchie has his eye on Jemima Khan, the moneybags ex-girlfriend of Hugh Grant.

The director, 40, and the socialite, 34, both turned up at an exclusive London shindig over the weekend, reigniting reports that they're an item.

Earlier this month, the Mail on Sunday claimed the pair "got along like a house on fire" at another soiree, while the London Telegraph reported, "They have become very fond of each other."

But they have pooh-poohed the romance suggestions, insisting they're just acquaintances.