LOWE DOWN AND DIRTY?

You may recall that Rob Lowe trotted out on his moral high horse recently, his knickers all in a twist about his former nanny who the actor says was trying to blackmail him for $1.5m. Before the nanny could even utter a word Rob was all over the media, claiming that she was on drugs, fancied him rotten and that nothing happened between the pair.

Methinks he doth protest too much. There's something decidedly odd about Lowe's new-found high-falutin morality, and some are speculating that it may have something to do with the way he treats his staff and the contents of his underpants. Some aspects of the case are puzzling (*dons wrinkled mac and waves cigar stub around whilst rubbing chin*).

Why would Rob Lowe now be counter-suing the presumably penniless woman for $1m? Why is Lowe claiming that he can't comment too much on particular issues when it is his staff who signed non-disclosure agreements and not himself? Why did three employees, who worked for the star and his wife for years, all quit at around the same time? And why has Lowe taken out lawsuits against them all?

Most of all, if Lowe is the innocent victim of an attempted extortion attempt, why - when the police offered to launch an investigation into the criminal matter - did he turn white and mumble that he didn't want any help, but thanks anyway?

Something just doesn't smell right. And it's not because Mrs Columbo hasn't dry-cleaned this suit in a couple of years.

Lowe's sax solo in 'St Elmo's Fire' is one of the most hilarious examples of Eighties cheese though and maybe we should pardon him just for that (and 'The West Wing').