{alltv} Nantz admits he's marrying

Thursday, December 30, 2010

{alltv} Nantz admits he's marrying

CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz is set to marry his girlfriend a year after being ordered to pay a divorce settlement of nearly $1 million a year to his former wife of 26 years, Lorrie -- and just three months after denying to Page Six that he was engaged.

Nantz, 51, proposed to Courtney Richards, 31 -- whom he met during his book tour before his divorce was final -- on Sept. 14 while on vacation with his close friend George H.W. Bush, Barbara Bush and Jeb Bush at the Bush compound Walker's Point in Maine.

But did Nantz have something to hide? In late September, the carefully coiffed announcer denied to us that he was engaged after we'd heard they were telling friends he popped the question. His rep told us there was "no news," then followed up with an e-mail on Oct. 1: "No news . . . no ring."

But yesterday the happy couple was ready to share the news with us. Nantz's rep explained, "We were telling the truth, whether it makes much sense to you or not." Well, that clears it up.

Nantz cried before a Connecticut divorce judge in October 2009, claiming that Lorrie lost interest in his career when their daughter was 2 and that she quit traveling with him. He complained that her favorite hobby was shopping and that she spent more than $1 million in nine years at one store.

Lorrie told the court that she did attend events with her husband, including several White House dinners. Her lawyer showed the judge a photo of the couple posing with the Bushes and Queen Elizabeth II.

The following month, Nantz was ordered to pay Lorrie $916,000 a year in child support for their daughter, Caroline, and alimony. It was reported at the time that he makes $4 million a year from CBS and has an additional $3 million in "yearly assets."

Courtney -- who works in sports marketing for IMG, which also represents Nantz -- told The Wall Street Journal in 2004 that she was being subsidized $500 a month by her father: "My dad says I have champagne taste on a beer budget . . . The bottom line is that I'm not making enough to pay for myself."

Her dad also complained, "For a while, she had the best-painted nails in Cleveland."