2004 was a year of changes for Ricki Lake – she decided to end her self-titled talk show after more than a decade and separated from husband Rob Sussman after nine years of marriage.But today, Lake, 37, is happier than ever. She's settled in Brentwood, Calif., raising sons Milo, 9, and Owen, 4; she's made a quiet return to TV; and she's found a new love in personal trainer Apollo Yiamouyiannis, PEOPLE reports in its new issue.
Since May 31 Lake has been hosting the CBS summer series Game Show Marathon, in which celebs like 'NSYNC's Lance Bass and Kathy Najimy compete for charity in classic game show formats such as Let's Make a Deal and The Price Is Right.
Perhaps more surprising, Lake, who gave birth to Owen at home in a bathtub, has produced a documentary about midwives, which she plans to submit to Sundance this year. "It's the best thing I have ever done," she says. Maybe a close second.
The best may have been choosing a real estate agent who found her not only a rambling five-bedroom home with a pool (prior owner: Courteney Cox) but also introduced her to the Ohio-born Yiamouyiannis, 34. "He was a godsend because I was in so much pain after the marriage," says Lake of her beau, whom she met shortly after separating from Sussman.
Two years on, "my kids adore Apollo, and my ex-husband absolutely values Apollo in this family," says Lake of Sussman, who lives nearby and shares custody.
"I feel I am an example of a positive divorce experience. It was hell going through it, but on the other side I don't have resentment and anger." Her new relationship works well, in part because Yiamouyiannis is not her trainer. "I don't look over her shoulder – she knows what's healthy and what's not," he says.
That knowledge was hard-won for Lake, who weighed 250 lbs. at age 20, when she originated the role of Tracy Turnblad in 1988's Hairspray.
In 1991 she shed 130 lbs. on a mostly vegetarian diet. Except for pregnancy gain, she's kept it off and is today a size 8.
But staying slim "is an effort," says Lake, who works out four days a week. "I will always have issues with food – it's the card I was dealt. But I'm healthy," she says. "It doesn't get much better than this."
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Matthew McConaughey & Penelope Cruz Are 'Separating'
Matthew McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz have decided to spend time apart, PEOPLE has learned exclusively.
The couple "have decided to take time off as a couple. Due to busy work schedules and so much time apart, they mutually decided four weeks ago that separating was the best thing to do at this time," according to a joint statement from the couple to PEOPLE.
"They're very good friends, but they haven't been able to be together," a source close to Cruz tells PEOPLE. "Who knows what the future holds."
Cruz, 32, is currently in Spain filming Manolete, a drama about the legendary Spanish bullfighter, costarring Adrien Brody.
Meanwhile, McConaughey, 36, is in the U.S. shooting We Are Marshall, about former Marshall University football coach Jack Lengyel.
(Penelope) said it has been too hard to have a relationship when you see the other person every six weeks," adds the source.
The couple last saw each other in February when McConaughey visited Cruz on location in Spain.
McConaughey, PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive, and Cruz have been dating for more than a year.
They met while filming last year's Sahara.
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Katie Couric Buys Posh Hamptons Pad
Katie Couric
CBS isn't the only new home for Katie Couric. The former Today host has paid $6.3 million for a two-story, 11-year-old cedar-wood-shingle house on about an acre and a half in tony East Hampton, N.Y., the Wall Street Journal reports.
According to public records, the nearly 7,000-sq. ft. residence has seven bedrooms, six bathrooms and a pool and is about five blocks from the beach.
Neighbors include New York Knicks coach Larry Brown and concert promoter Ron Delsener. Couric and her young daughters, Ellie and Carrie, live in an apartment worth a reported $3.2 million on Manhattan's Park Ave.
Couric also owns a weekend getaway in upstate Lithgow, N.Y. The price of the Hamptons property wasn't Couric's only big number this week.
Some 8.4 million people watched her farewell on Wednesday's Today – the show's largest audience since the day after the 2004 elections, when 9 million tuned in, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Couric, 49, starts her new stint as anchor of the CBS Evening News in September.
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