I know what the true gossip hag wants for Christmas and it's not three French hens, two turtle doves or a partridge in a pear tree. Instead, in the lead up to the most festive day of the year I'll be doing a month by month breakdown of the momentous events to rock the gossip world through 2008. Babies were born, boyfriends were ditched, and then, of course, there's Britney.

The year kicked off to rather a sad start after just a few days as the wheels rapidly started to fall off the Britney Jean Spears machine. On January 3 the troubled pop star was committed to a Los Angeles psychiatric unit after a stand-off with police and medical professionals at her Studio City home.

Britney refused to hand over youngest Jayden (then one) to Kevin Federline's bodyguard (hold up, he has a bodyguard? Does he think he's going to be besieged by fans?) after the boys had a scheduled visit to her home. While Sean was already strapped in the bodyguard's car, Britney locked herself in an upstairs bathroom with her youngest son - word is the star was swinging between hysterical laughter and tears, was ranting uncontrollably, and refused to put on clothes when ambulance staff got to her.

The pictures of the puffy-eyed, confused pop star being strapped to a gurney and taken away in front of hundreds of paparazzi were seen around the world. Britney was released from the hospital after two days.

But things didn't get better for poor Brit Brit after that. In January alone she lost custody of her kids and was slapped with a restraining order against her ex after the Jan. 3 incident. She was spotted shopping for pregnancy tests with sleazeball pap boyfriend Adnan Ghalib (landing strips! Guys, stop growing those!), and the pair later escaped on vacation to Mexico where friends and family feared she planned to tie the knot with the guy from Birmingham. Except that he was already married. She repeatedly missed custody hearings, took to roaming around Hollywood in the dead of night sporting a pink wig and a bad British accent, and wore her wedding dress around town. And this was just in January!

Towards the end of the month, with encouragement from her parents, her brother, and her creepy Svengali-friend-manager Sam Lutfi, Britney was voluntarily hospitalized at UCLA for psychiatric evaluation. She stayed for just over a week.

 

Heath Ledger: 1979-2008 

In the midst of all the Britney madness, Hollywood and the world was saddened and shocked on January 22 when news broke that actor Heath Ledger had been found dead in his Soho, New York, apartment. Equally as shocked were the Ledger family themselves, who found out the news from a radio bulletin.

Ledger was ruled to have accidentally overdosed on prescription medication he possessed for anxiety and sleep deprivation - Hyrdocodone, Diazepam, Temazepam, Alprazolam and Doxylamine. Rumours of his alleged long-term hard drug use continued to circulate.

The star, who'd just completed his role as the Joker in Batman flick The Dark Knight and was working on Terry Gilliam's latest movie, had been complaining of trouble sleeping and was still getting over his breakup with Michelle Williams, mother of his toddler daughter Matilda. Michelle and Matilda were in Sweden at the time and hurriedly flew back to New York following the tragedy.

The 28-year-old's sudden death was not without controversy. The woman who discovered his body, Ledger's masseuse, first rang his pal and maybe-girlfriend Mary-Kate Olsen three times after finding Heath unresponsive before calling emergency services. Mary-Kate, in California, sent her security people over to the apartment, but later denied anything shifty to do with the death, calling it ‘tragic.'

Private memorial services were held for the star in New York, Los Angeles and his home town of Perth. The Dark Knight was released in July, and there's still talk of a post-humous Oscar nomination for the man whose career really seemed to be only just beginning.

In brief: I was proven wrong when Nicole Kidman announced that she was with child and due in July after around a million false baby rumours. I'd previously sworn that "I won't believe there's a bun in the oven until I see the little Urban crowning." Well, I never saw her crowning, but little Sunday Rose emerged nonetheless later in the year...Lindsay Lohan was still straight in January and spent several steamy nights with the local blokes in Capri, Italy, over New Year. The star's sobriety also suffered a setback when she was busted swigging champagne straight from the bottle...Muckracking biographer Andrew Morton released his book on Tom Cruise in the US. It promised dirt. It didn't really deliver. In that department, a little girl waits.

Born: Harlow Winter Kate Madden, the first child for Good Charlotte rocker Joel Madden and socialite about town Nicole Richie, January 11. Max Liron Bratman, to singer Christina Aguilera and music exec Jordan Bratman, January 12.