Tears flowed liberally as TV's latest champion victim, Kate Gosselin, spoke with Meredith Vieira yesterday on Today. Asked why she still wears her wedding ring, Kate said it's "for them," referring to her eight kids. "I don't want to upset them," she said. Buffing up her image as the devoted mom, Kate denied rumors that she was dating her bodyguard and said she was shocked that her estranged hubby, Jon, was dating young lasses. Kate insisted that the pressures of being on TV had nothing to do with her breakup with Jon: "It would have happened anyway - cameras on or cameras off." It got creepy when Kate said being on TV is a sacrifice she makes for her kids, adding that the show is totally "healthy" for her brood.

So Kate isn't a fame-hungry Medea who exploits her kids? "My kids brighten people's lives," she said.

What about Kate's off-camera behavior? An anon Today source tells the Chicago Sun-Times, "Kate was one of the most unpleasant [guests] I've seen in . . . years."

Ashley Greene reacts to nude pics

Twilight beauty Ashley Greene, 22, who on Sunday night won the prestigious Teen Choice Fresh Face Female award (it's the teen equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize), says she will sue anyone who has posted nude pics of her online. Sadly, this was not a preemptive move: Nude pics of the Jacksonville, Fla., native already have infected the Web with (forbidden) beauty.

"The photos in question, which appear to be of our client, are illegal and are being unlawfully displayed," Ashley's lawyer said yesterday. "Our client intends to take legal action." Meanwhile, Ashley told RadarOnline.com on Sunday that she gets to drive a yellow Porsche in the vampire sequel: "It's not a car. It's a piece of machinery . . . I felt very powerful."

The Jackson Report: 'This is It'

Good news for Michael Jackson fans: Now you can see MJ live onstage!

Well, if you count watching bits 'n' pieces of video and film stuck together showing the late King of Pop rehearsing for his never-to-be-realized comeback shows.

Called This Is It, the film is getting serious hype from Sony Pictures and Sony Music. "The world will have a front-row seat for Michael Jackson's final concert," a press release crows.

The film is due out Oct. 30. For info and local show times, visit www.michaeljackson.com hourly today through October.

The Jackson Report: Tribute show

Promoter World Awards Media GmbH yesterday confirmed that a "high-profile lineup of international stars" (woah!) would join members of MJ's family for a tribute show early next month in Vienna, Austria. Why there? MJ loved the city, bro Jermaine Jackson told Larry King on Friday.

Vienna was "a very dear place for Michael," JJ said. "And he loved castles. And we're going to have this huge celebration in front of a castle." World Awards Media would not confirm Austrian reports that the show will feature U2, Madonna, Lionel Richie and Whitney Houston. Tix go on sale Aug. 20. Info: http://www.tribute2009.com/.

Surgery for Eleanor Mondale

Former Vice President Walter Mondale's daughter, Eleanor Mondale, 49, is scheduled to undergo surgery later this week for a cancerous brain tumor. "The tumor had been responding to the last course of chemo," Eleanor posted yesterday on her Web site, Caringbridge.org. "But then it stopped and the cancer has formed a small mass that will be removed." Eleanor has been on sick leave since March from her job as a radio host at WCCO-AM in Minnesota's Twin Cities, says local paper, the Star Tribune.

She's, like, sick of being called fat

America's Texas-born country-twanging sweetheart, Kelly Clarkson, tells Self mag she's had it with pseudo-fans who criticize the shape, weight, fat-to-muscle ratio, and cellulite content of her body, which they seem to feel doesn't live up to Kelly's transcendent art.

"When people talk about my weight, I'm like, 'You seem to have a problem with it; I don't. I'm fine,' " Clarkson, 27, like, says. "My happy weight changes. Sometimes I eat more; sometimes I play more."

No Spider songs on Broadway?

Will Spider-Man ever get to sing about his life and loves, his soul and his fave pajamas, on Broadway? Word is the money's run out.