First Lady Michelle Obama jokingly says a midlife crisis is what inspired her new haircut with bangs.

The first lady revealed the new hairstyle last month on her 49th birthday, which came a few days before the festivities for President Obama's second inauguration.

The first lady was asked about the new haircut during an interview with talk-show host Rachael Ray.

Said Obama: "This is my midlife crisis." She added that she cut her bangs because she can't get a sports car and won't be allowed to bungee jump.

The interview was conducted via Skype and is scheduled to air Wednesday. The Rachael Ray show released excerpts Monday.

McCready had threatened suicide

Mindy McCready, below, threatened to kill herself after losing custody of her sons earlier this month, yet she was allowed to leave a court-ordered drug rehabilitation program days before she apparently killed herself, her ex-boyfriend said Monday. Billy McKnight, who was in a long, rocky relationship with McCready and who is the father of her oldest child, Zander, said the 37-year-old mother of two stayed in the inpatient substance abuse treatment center for about 18 hours before being allowed to walk free. Authorities say McCready died in an apparent suicide Sunday at her home in Heber Springs, Ark. McCready was found dead on the front porch where her boyfriend, musician David Wilson, died last month of a gunshot wound to the head. Investigators are investigating his death as a suicide, but haven't yet determined the cause of death.

Associated Press, Star Tribune
Mindy McCready

Another pea: Fergie and Josh Duhamel are expecting a baby, the singer confirmed on Twitter Monday. "Josh – but kept the timeline open. "Not right this second," the Black Eyed Peas frontwoman said in May 2011, while her husband added, "We'll go there at some point."

Weaned, and fine, at age 4: Mayim Bialik has been breast-feeding her son Fred for the past four years, and now their bonding time has come to an end. In a Feb. 6 blog post for Jewish parenting website Kveller, the recently single "Big Bang Theory" actress said she had finally weaned her little boy. Bialik — also mom to 7-year-old son Miles with ex Michael Stone — says it happened around Thanksgiving, "days before I released the public statement that I was getting divorced."

News Services