Nicole Richie, who is six months pregnant, has enrolled in a lengthy anti-drinking education program, according to documents obtained by PEOPLE.

Papers filed with the Superior Court of California show that on Sept. 26 Richie signed up for a 18-month anti-drinking driver course, known as the SB 38 Alcohol Program.

SB 38 is for people who have been convicted of DUI on more than one occasion within a 7-year period, the Santa Barbara Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse states on its Web site.

The program consists of 52 hours of group counseling, bi-weekly face-to-face interviews and 12 hours of alcohol education, according to the council. Participants are also encouraged to attend 12-step meetings.

Last year, Richie, 26, was arrested in the early hours of Dec. 11 after CHP officers were alerted to a black Mercedes SUV driving the wrong way down Southern California’s Highway 134.

She was booked for driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs after failing a field sobriety test and admitting to police that she had smoked marijuana and took Vicodin earlier that evening. At the time of her arrest Richie was en route from the home of Good Charlotte singer Joel Madden, with whom she is expecting the baby.

This July 27, Richie was sentenced to four days in jail, fined $2,048 – and forced to sign up for the driving rehab course because she was previously convicted of DUI in June 2003.

On Aug. 24, Richie served a scant 82 minutes in jail.

Last month, Richie also told Diane Sawyer during a lengthy interview that she has cleaned up her act. “No alcohol … No marijuana … No pills … Nothing … No smoking around me,” she said.

Source: People

Joel Madden couldn’t hide his happiness about becoming a father on Ryan Seacrest’s Los Angeles morning radio show Tuesday. Madden told Seacrest, “I’m excited. We are all really excited about it. Its the best thing that has ever happened to us. It’s awesome.”

Though Madden and girlfriend Nicole Richie don’t know if they are expecting an “awesome” boy or girl, they’re already tackling important pronoun issues — as a couple. “Right now it’s an it,” he said, before adding, “Which sounds wrong. We call it the baby. When we talk to it, it’s a you.”

Dad-to-be Madden assured Seacrest that marriage remains part of the plan for him and Richie. He told the DJ, “Obviously, marriage is in our future.” Still, he conceded that their lives don’t really permit wedding planning right now. “I don’t know when or where or how, but right now our priority is our family and the baby. That’s all we’ve been thinking about. We are in love and are really happy.”

Source: US Magazine

More Nicole Richie

Though Paris Hilton and her Simple Life co-star Nicole Richie appeared to have patched up the problems that had them filming their hit reality show separately, the hotel heiress’ latest behavior has some wondering if there are new tensions between the pals.

At a party last night at Vegas club LAX, Paris Hilton inadvertently confirmed rumors of a Christina Aguilera pregnancy when she took the microphone and announced, “Congratulations to the most beautiful pregnant woman in the world,” to Aguilera, who was playing host at the event.

This would normally be just another case of Paris putting her size-11 foot in her mouth, but the late-night outburst has insiders wondering, “What about Paris’ other pregnant pal, Nicole Richie?”

“Paris has a history of making backhanded insults like this, so it’s possible she was dissing Nicole,” an industry insider explains to OK!. “I don’t think it’s likely though.”

Source: OK!

Nicole Richie and Joel Madden are busy, busy, busy preparing for their bundle of joy. They’re even purchasing tools to enrich the baby’s mind!

On Wednesday, Aug. 15, the pair was spotted buying the prenatal education system by BabyPlus at Destination Maternity on Madison Avenue in New York City.

As soon as Richie spotted it in the window, a source tells Star, she walked into the store to pick one up.

“She was very specific,” the source goes on to say. “She was asking a lot of questions about it.” Before being escorted into a private area to try on a handful of clothes, the mommy-to-be made sure the $150.00 item was put aside for her to take, says the source.

Then, on Saturday, Aug. 18, the couple was seen shopping at Babies ‘R’ Us in Waterford, Conn. A few hours later they hit the Mohegan Sun Resort where Madden’s band, Good Charlotte, was tapped to be the opening act for Justin Timberlake.

Source: Star

[Simple Popup Images unable to add image: missing parameters.]Pregnancy clearly agrees with Nicole Richie. The Simple Life star – who is expecting her first child with musician Joel Madden – is looking radiant in her fifth month.

While the expectant mum has been pictured shopping with her beau and stepping out to the salon, this weekend’s appearance had a more serious motive. The 25-year-old was snapped leaving an LA detention centre, where, due to guidelines to prevent overcrowding in the facility, she had ‘served’ just over 80 minutes of a four-day sentence for a driving incident which happened last December.

In a recent interview on a US TV show, Nicole emphasised she’s now keen to be a good role model for her unborn child, however. “I would really want to be someone my child would look up to,” she said.

While the short length of her stay in the facility has raised questions about the preferential treatment of celebrities in such circumstances, a spokesperson from the County Sheriff’s Department insisted Nicole was “treated in the same manner as other inmates with a similar sentence”. For her part Nicole was “pleasantly surprised to be released so quickly”, according to her lawyer. “Nevertheless, she was prepared to serve her entire four-day sentence had the Sheriff’s Department required her to do so,” he added.

Source: Hello!

Nicole Richie was “pleasantly surprised” to be released after serving 82 minutes of her four-day jail sentence for a second DUI conviction, her lawyer said Friday.

“Nicole was aware that most people with sentences similar to hers are booked and released in a matter of hours and she was hoping to be treated like everyone else,” attorney Shawn Chapman Holley said in a statement. “Nevertheless, she was prepared to serve her entire four-day sentence had the Sheriff’s Department required her to do so.”

On Thursday, accompanied by her boyfriend Joel Madden as well as Holley, the five-months pregnant Richie entered the jail in Lynwood, Calif., at 3:15 p.m. She was processed into the system and released at 4:37 p.m.

“Of course, she was pleasantly surprised to be released so quickly,” said Holley.

Kerri Webb, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s department told PEOPLE that Richie “was released early due to overcrowding in the jail system. This is standard procedure for nonviolent offenders.”

Richie, 25, who’s pregnant by Madden, pleaded guilty to DUI on July 27. As part of her sentence, she also agreed to serve a three-year probation term, must enroll in an alcohol education program and was fined $2,048.

She was arrested for DUI on Dec. 11 after being spotted driving her black Mercedes SUV the wrong way on an L.A. freeway.

She was previously convicted of DUI in June 2003.

Source: People

Pregnant Nicole Richie entered a Los Angeles county jail Thursday, Aug. 23, at 3:15pm and was released at 4:37pm — just 82 minutes later!

Richie’s time served was “based on her sentence, and the federal court guidelines,” according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Maribel Rizo.

“Miss Richie was accompanied by her attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley and her boyfriend, Joel Madden. She was booked and processed into the jail system. Miss Richie’s demeanor was cooperative during the process,” the rep said, according to The Insider.

The Simple Life star spent her time at Century Regional Facility in Lynwood, the same jail her pal, and co-star, Paris Hilton served time earlier this year. Richie was originally sentenced to 90 hours jail time for driving under the influence of drugs

Source: Star

The couple hasn’t confirmed it, and a ring has not yet been spotted on her finger, but Usmagazine.com has learned that five-months-pregnant Nicole Richie and rocker Joel Madden may be engaged.

News of the possible engagement was announced Friday night by a local radio DJ who came on stage after an acoustic concert by Madden and his brother Benji at the Clarendon Ballroom in Arlington, Virginia. A source at the show, sponsored by NationalJeanCompany.com, tells Us that the DJ “thanked the Madden brothers for performing and announced to the crowd to give a warm congratulations on [Thursday night’s] engagement of Joel and Nicole.”

Adds the source: “Joel did not say anything about the engagement other than to wave to the crowd and acknowledge the roar when the radio personality made the announcement. He then walked off stage.” A rep for Richie couldn’t be reached for comment.

If the way the secretive couple treated their long-speculated-upon pregnancy news is any indication, Madden and Richie just might keep us guessing about their engagement until their wedding day.

Source: US Magazine

Though mom-to-be Nicole Richie has had many fans worried in recent months with her ever-thinning figure, the former Simple Life star is doing her best to get into shape.

In Manhattan with her beau Joel Madden, whose band Good Charlotte is opening for Justin Timberlake at Madison Square Garden tonight, Nicole headed to the Equinox gym on ritzy Park Ave. to add some muscle to her petite frame.

“She looked very pregnant,” one eyewitness tells OK!. “She was there for around 90 minutes to two hours. And she was with a bald guy. He looked like her trainer or bodyguard.”

After stints of cardio and weight training, Nicole, who must complete four days of jail time in Los Angeles by Sept. 28 as part of a plea agreement in her recent DUI arrest, walked right out the front door and around the building to where a car was waiting for her.

For the details on Nicole’s upcoming autumn wedding, check out the new issue of OK!, on sale Aug. 16.

Source: OK!

Pregnancy seems to suit Nicole Richie down to a T. The normally ultra-slim reality TV show star is showing off a gently rounded figure and fuller cleavage these days. In fact, as she stepped out on a pampering visit to a hair salon at the weekend, accompanied by her boyfriend, musician Joel Madden, the beginnings of a baby bump were clearly visible under Nicole’s loose-fitting silk camisole top.

The US celeb – who shot to fame on The Simple Life – has seemed happier and more settled of late, chatting excitedly about the impending arrival to her friends and in interviews, and tucking into her food. She’s also been buoyed by a thumbs-up from her friend Paris Hilton, who predicted Nicole will be “the best mom ever”.

Source: Hello!