PEACH BUZZ: Pappas still planning to ‘Get Married’

Former “Bachelorette” DeAnna Pappas is aware of the irony that she is co-hosting a show called “Get Married,” shot locally and seen on Lifetime every day at 7:30 a.m.

She agreed to do “Get Married” while planning to get hitched to snowboarder Jesse Csincsak —- but then she broke up with him in November. Doesn’t this negate the rationale of having her on the show?

“That’s everybody’s No. 1 question,” Pappas tells Buzz. “I don’t think it makes any difference. I love weddings. I love the fashion, the food, the parties.”

She declined to comment about her breakup, though Csincsak himself posted a YouTube video describing the pain he experienced over the split.

Pappas, who still lives in Newnan, recently got back from a USO-type trip to Iraq and Kuwait.

She spent a lot of time talking to soldiers. “I was really curious about those in the first year of marriage, how they’re coping with things being away from home so long,” said Pappas, whose father has been in the Navy since he was 18. She has kept in touch with many of the soldiers through e-mail and her MySpace page. (She said she’ll respond to all e-mails off the getmarried.com Web site or her own.)

Not that military personnel are target “Bachelor” viewers, but she said more people recognized her than she expected: “I’m sure a lot of wives made them watch ‘The Bachelor.’ “

Though Pappas is open to more TV gigs, she said there is one genre she won’t pursue again —- reality shows.

Text away hunger

When President Barack Obama asked Americans to participate in the national day of service this month, AT&T employees and volunteers, along with hunger charity Share Our Strength, listened. And on Monday, the Atlanta Community Food Bank received a much-needed delivery of 5,000 pounds of food donations collected by the AT&T and SOS folks. As the economy has worsened, demand has only increased at local food charities like ACFB.

And that’s not all AT&T is doing to help the cause. AT&T representative Dawn Benton tells Buzz there’s still time for you to help via AT&T’s text messaging food drive efforts. Through March 1, when AT&T Wireless customers donate $5 to SOS by simply texting the word “share” to 20222 on their mobile device, AT&T will match all donations up to $100,000.

Celebrity docket

Rodney Hill Jr., known as rapper “Rocko the Don,” was sentenced Monday to two days in jail and four days of community service for hitting a young woman in 2007.

DeKalb County Solicitor General Robert James said Hill pleaded no contest to battery in a Feb. 11, 2007, altercation at the Velvet Room. A young woman said Hill grabbed her hair and punched her in the face, causing a black eye.

Superior Court Judge Barbara Mobley ordered Hill to perform 32 hours of community service for the Samuel L. Jones Boys and Girls Club.

Hill will be on probation for a year and must take an anger management course.

Rocker’s response

On the Regular Guys morning show Monday, former Atlanta Braves player John Rocker discussed the verbal altercation he had with 790/The Zone’s Steak Shapiro at the W Hotel Buckhead opening party last week. Rocker’s account is not quite the same as Shapiro’s.

Shapiro said Rocker was eyeballing him all evening: “How does he know if I’m eyeballing him unless he’s eyeballing me?” Rocker mused.

Rocker said Shapiro came up to him and told him to let it go, to let bygones be bygones.

Rocker said it was actually a “thorned olive branch” because he said Shapiro added, “Maybe you can grow up and act like an adult.”

“That rubbed me the wrong way,” Rocker said. He said no. Shapiro, Rocker continued, said “Figures. Redneck.”

Rocker then went off on him verbally. He didn’t deny hurling a few Jewish-related epithets at Shapiro.

“I may have,” he said. But he said it was just aimed at Shapiro.

Rocker denied he was escorted out, despite what multiple witnesses told Buzz last week.

Hotel reps state that the former ballplayer wasn’t on the guest list for the opening.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Actor James Cromwell (“Babe”) is 69. Drummer Nick Mason of Pink Floyd is 64. Singer Nedra Talley of The Ronettes is 63. Dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov is 61. Actress Mimi Rogers is 53. TV commentator Keith Olbermann is 50. Actress Bridget Fonda is 45. Actor Alan Cumming (“Spy Kids”) is 44. Singer Mike Patton (Faith No More) is 41. Country singer Tracy Lawrence is 41.

OVERSCENE

Atlanta Falcons owner and Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank and family dining at Stats downtown before attending the Hawks game. Arthur enjoyed the ribs while his children ate steaks cooked medium-well. Also, Al Horford of the Hawks came with some friends and shared appetizers with his group. After a win against the Hawks, the Phoenix Suns’ Shaquille O’Neal and a large entourage of friends popped into a VIP room at Atlantic Station’s Ten Pin Alley to bowl and party with pals. We hear other Ten Pin patrons (presumably not Hawks boosters) cheered his arrival.

Contributing: Rodney Ho, David Simpson and news services

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