I Could Never Pretend

Johnny had spent a restless night, tossing and turning, doubting his decision to withhold the truth from Amelia. She had a right to know what was happening, both in terms of the potential next movie and also the deal that Bam had offered at Jeff’s wedding. He hated keeping secrets and he was sure that until the truth was out he would have plenty more sleepless nights.

Amelia was still sleeping soundly beside him in the bed of her apartment. It was Saturday and neither of them needed to be at work so she was enjoying the chance for a lie in, before Brandon woke of course. Johnny could not bring himself to look away from her as he watched her sleep. Every day he was grateful that she was finally his, and he couldn’t wait to be able to wake up next to her each and every morning for the rest of his life. It was stupid to risk their happiness. Nothing was worth that.

After a while, Amelia stirred. She opened her eyes to find Johnny smiling down at her. “Morning”, she grinned, shuffling closer to him.

“Hey sleepyhead”, Johnny laughed, wrapping his arms around her and burying his head in her warm next.

“Can we stay in bed today?” Amelia asked Johnny just before they heard Brandon shouting.

“I guess he just answered your question”, Johnny joked, kissing her cheek before they simultaneously climbed out of bed.

After getting Brandon up, Amelia met Johnny in the kitchen, where he had just poured them cups of coffee and was making breakfast. The three of them ate their breakfast quietly, before Brandon ran off to start playing with his toys. Amelia smiled at Johnny across the table.

The time was now, Johnny decided. He would tell her everything now and then they could get on with enjoying the rest of their weekend. Johnny was just about to open his mouth when the apartment buzzer started to ring. It looked like he would just have to wait.

Amelia’s visitor turned out to be Steve.

“Hey guys”, Steve bounded into the room and took a seat at the kitchen table. Amelia poured him a glass of water, taking into consideration his new healthy life style.

The three adults briefly exchanged pleasantries before Steve revealed his real reason for dropping in. A magazine.

Amelia’s stomach sank as Steve passed the glossy weekly publication across the table. It had been folded over to mark the page in question. She could tell whatever it was, it was going to be bad and her sixth sense told her that it would more than likely have something to do with her husband.

“I don’t think you’re going to like this”, Steve grimaced, looking from Amelia to Johnny slightly apprehensively as she looked at the page. “I brought it round as soon as Josie showed me. Its better you find out sooner...”

Amelia stopped listening to Steve and stared at the article in horror. Although the column of writing was fairly concise, the article itself took up an entire double page spread. The space had been filled with pictures of Amelia, Johnny and Bam. She had been right. With great reluctance, Amelia started reading.

To most people he is known as the daredevil and prankster extraordinaire of MTV’s popular show Jackass, but Entertainment News Today can exclusively reveal that Johnny Knoxville does not confine his wild, obnoxious antics to when the cameras are rolling.

Over the past few months there has been plenty of speculation over the relationship between Knoxville, 35, and the wife of his co star and close friend, Bam Margera. Margera, 27, of Jackass and Viva La Bam fame, and British girlfriend Amelia Jones, 25, wed in May of 2008 after the birth of their son Brandon Margera Junior, now 2. Their marriage was short lived, with the couple splitting early last year.

Since the breakdown of the marriage, Knoxville, who himself is divorced with a young teenage daughter, and Jones have been repeatedly spotted in public together, most notably at several Hollywood film premieres, including that of their close friend and Jackass co-producer Spike Jonze.

Despite initial claims that they were ‘just good friends’, over the past few months the two have become very close, as our pictures reveal, with Knoxville spotted bonding with Brandon Junior and Jones spending lots of time at Knoxville’s LA mansion.

Putting an end to the rumours once and for all, a reliable source close to Mr Margera has shockingly disclosed to Entertainment News Today, that Knoxville and Jones were, in actual fact, having an affair that began before the birth of Jones’ and Margera’s son. This of course, would raise questions over the paternity of the child, who has been living with his mother in LA since the split last year. Our source can also confirm that as a result of his wife’s affair; Margera has filed for divorce and is taking Jones to court over the custody of the child.

As for Bam Margera, his years of partying are clearly catching up with him. He was spotted out in his home town of West Chester, PA, earlier this week looking worse for wear. It has been suggested that he has taken his wild lifestyle to another extreme, this time indulging in illegal drugs. Our source tells us that his parents, April and Phil Margera, who can be seen featuring in both Jackass and Viva La Bam, are keen for him to check into rehab.

Amelia felt as if she had been hit by a ton of bricks and she silently passed the magazine to Johnny. She was unable to find her voice, or even move as Johnny quickly read the article himself.

“What the fuck is this!?” Johnny spat, when he had finished reading. “This is the biggest load of shit I have ever read”, he continued, answering his own question.

“I know dude”, Steve agreed. He had sensed the tension in the room as his friends read the article and was now prepared for it to erupt.

Amelia continued to sit in a state of shock and silence as Johnny started to pick the article apart, piece by piece. She couldn’t understand how someone could have twisted the truth to such an extent.

“Reliable source!?” Johnny exclaimed, mockingly. “This is a gossip magazine. They don’t know the meaning of the phrase.” He put his hand on Amelia’s knee, but she wasn’t sure who he was trying to comfort more, Amelia or himself. “I can’t believe they’ve had the nerve to question who Brandon’s father is”, he added with disgust.

Both Steve and Johnny turned to look at Amelia as she still had not said a word. As far as they were concerned she was a ticking time bomb.

“Amelia?” Johnny nudged her tentatively.

She shook her head. “Sorry I was in a world of my own for a second. I guess it’s the shock.”

Johnny nodded and put his arm around her protectively.

“I suppose it doesn’t matter what I do about the divorce now. Everyone is going to think I cheated on him, so what’s the point...”

Johnny cut her off. “No. You’re not going to give up so easily Amelia. That’s exactly what he wants.” He looked her in the eye and took her hand. “We’re not going to let him win this time”, Johnny told her firmly, squeezing her hand. “I’m going to call Harry. This article is pure slander and he can stop it.”

Amelia nodded half heartedly. She was sure that Harry would do his best when it came to damage limitation, but there was no amount of legal power in the world that could un-print the story. This reporter had just opened a huge can of worms. She picked the magazine back up, even more reluctantly this time. Who would have thought those little words would be capable of holding so much power. She shifted her focus to the pictures.

The photographs of her and Johnny had been taken without them knowing. The two of them looked very much the loved up couple, laughing and kissing, blissfully unaware that there were cameras lurking. There were a few pictures of Johnny carrying Brandon and anyone who didn’t know might have thought he was simply a doting father. Some of the shots went back as far as the filming of the second Jackass movie. Although these pictures were perfectly innocent, both Johnny and Amelia looked very happy in one another’s company, with Bam nowhere to be seen. Amelia had to hand it to the reporter, the choice of pictures certainly backed up their claims.

“Do you really think that this came from Bam?” Amelia asked, after a few more minutes of consideration. “I mean, it doesn’t exactly paint him out to be a hero in all of this, does it?”

“What do you mean?” Both Johnny and Steve frowned.

Amelia pointed to the handful of pictures of Bam looking rough and the paragraph at the end of the article, purporting that Bam was taking illegal drugs.

“Yeah I see your point”, Steve agreed. “But who else could it have come from?”

Amelia shrugged. She honestly had no idea who else could be spiteful as to come up with all of these lies.

Johnny was still frowning. “It doesn’t really matter who the source is. This spew of shit still obviously came from Bam’s side, and that’s good enough for me.” He kissed Amelia roughly on the cheek, before he stood up determinedly and pulled out his cell phone to call Harry.

***

Meanwhile in West Chester there was a different kind of tension in the air. The storm that was brewing outside Castle Bam was nothing in comparison to the temper of April Margera, who was firmly inside the castle walls. Bam was sat on his sofa, wishing he was a million miles away from his mother, who was currently waving a certain magazine around in the air as if it was some sort of weapon.

“I cannot believe you Brandon Cole Margera!” She screeched, brandishing the magazine in front of his face. “Why would you come out with such bullshit!?”

Bam refused to make eye contact with April. “It wasn’t me”, he mumbled to the floor, for all it was worth.

“What did you just say?” She stared down at him.

“I said it wasn’t me!” He shouted this time in a bid to make himself heard over April’s yelling. “I didn’t speak to any reporters ok!?”

“Don’t you dare lie to me Bam”, April warned him. “If it wasn’t you then who the hell was it? Who would say those things?”

“I don’t know”, he shrugged, although in truth he had a pretty good idea of who might be to blame for the little publicity stunt. “Why would I say all that shit about me being on drugs?”

“I don’t know Bam”, April sighed. “Why would you do drugs in the first place? Lately nothing would surprise me.”

Bam opened his mouth to object but April cut him off. “Oh and don’t you even think about trying to deny it Bam. Ryan told me everything.”

This time Bam did not bother to argue. Ryan had caught him fair and square and he couldn’t blame him for telling April.

“As I was saying...if you didn’t speak to any reporters then who did? You know your lawyers been on the phone to us about this. Johnny and Amelia could sue...”

“It was Terri”, Bam shouted. “I dumped her the other day and this is obviously her way of making her feelings clear. She told me I would regret it”, he sighed and scratched his head.

“Oh Bam.” April slumped down onto the sofa beside him. “I told you that girl was trouble but you never listened.”

Bam shrugged. It was a bit late to be criticising his choice of girlfriend now, but since when had that ever stopped April.

“I don’t understand though. If she was mad at you why would she say all that rubbish about Amelia having an affair?” April frowned.

Bam did not really want to tell his mother that Terri was jealous of the feelings that he may or may not still have for Amelia, so he simply shrugged again.