Lindsay Lohan's Playboy cover leaks early

Buckle up, folks, troubled starlet Lindsay Lohan's much-touted Playboy spread is about to see the light of day.

Lohan, 25, will debut her Marilyn Monroe-inspired pictorial in the January/February issue of the mag on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, it has been confirmed, after the mag's cover image leaked online earlier today (see more below).

A rep for Playboy magazine tells the New York Daily News that LiLo specifically chose the Ellen Show over other media outlets to reveal her spread.

"Lindsay has agreed to do one media interview during the on-sale period of her issue, and has chosen Ellen," the rep said. "Lindsay will not be doing any additional interviews to promote her pictorial," said the rep.

LiLo dropped her laundry for the men's mag back in October - for a cool US$1 million. Later reports claimed she had to strip for the cameras for a second time after honcho Hugh Hefner deemed that the first set weren't up to scratch.

A source told RadarOnline.com at the time: "Lindsay was told the Playboy executives wanted to go in another direction with her shoot so they asked her to come back for a second time.

"The first pictures of Lindsay weren't exactly what they wanted so they have a new theme that they want to shoot."

Added the snitch: "There is never a guarantee that everyone will like the photos or that they will be of high enough quality to use for the cover but Playboy wanted to make sure that Lindsay's pictures were exactly what they wanted."

Initial reports suggested that Lohan would be appearing in her birthday suit in the mag, but her mother, Dina, later piped up and declared that, no, she won't be completely starkers.

"It will be tastefully done," Dina told The Insider.

As for whether the Mean Girls star would appear on the cover, she dished: "[Lindsay] and Mr Hefner will decide. She'll pick five cover [options], he'll pick the one he wants."

"I've seen [the photos]," Dina added. "She's really great in front of the camera."

But Hefner maintained that Lohan would definitely be in the buff.

He told The Insider: "It's a classic tribute inspired by the original Tom Kelly nude pictorial of Marilyn Monroe, a portion of which was the original playmate in the very first issue of Playboy."

"Oh, yes, she's naked," he added. "And classy, very classy."

The starlet's rep also chimed in: "The pictorial is absolutely fantastic and very tasteful, and will be accompanied by an interview that will let readers see another side of Lindsay."

The issue will go on sale in late December.

Lohan's appearance on Ellen is scheduled to air on December 15. Set your DVRs!

Meanwhile, tabloid chatter that LiLo's been targeted for the new season of UK show Celebrity Big Brother is exactly that - idle chatter.

According to the Daily Mail, show producers were keen to bag LiLo for the show, and had even flown to LA to "lure her over the Atlantic".

British tabloid The Mirror also echoed the Big Brother plans.

"Lindsay would be an absolutely amazing signing for us," a source said.

"She's a fiery character too, so there are sure to be a some major clashes with other celebrities if we get her in the house."

No dice, darlings.

"Lindsay is not doing Big Brother," her rep told E! News.

Update: Has LiLo's Playboy cover already been revealed? Check out The Insider for a sneak peek. Nice shoes. Yep, it's legit, according to gossip website Rumorfix.com.

- Blogger Bites Back