A few weeks ago, The National Enquirer and Radar made a huge deal about Matt Lauer allegedly splitting with his Dutch wife Annette. To jazz up the story, I included some internet rumors that Lauer was boning Meredith Vieira, although I doubted it at the time. The Enquirer ran another cover about “Matt’s Affairs” that I don’t think we even bothered covering, as it was clear that even if Lauer was or is having problems in his marriage, his wife seems to be sticking by him right now.

In any case, one of Lauer’s alleged mistresses is a lady named Alexis Houston. Page Six claims that Hollyscoop was the first to report that Lauer might have been boning Alexis, but I think it was probably the Enquirer or Radar. Anyway, the rumor existed, and this pissed off Alexis Houston. So she hired Gloria Allred and held a press conference to deny the Lauer affair. And Page Six proceeded to dig up some dirt on Alexis. Like, her name used to be Wellington Houston, and she used to have a penis.

Alexis Houston — the singer who held a press conference last week to announce she never had sex with “Today” show host Matt Lauer — had some interesting yesterdays. She used to be a man who called himself Wellington Houston.

Whitney Houston sued Wellington (whose original name was Stuart) in 1996 because he was claiming to be her cousin. Whitney alleged that Wellington used the false relationship to defraud an elderly New York doctor of $100,000 using credit cards and forged checks, the AP reported at the time.

Wellington resurfaced in 2001 with a demo CD titled “All’s Well.” The Daily Record in Glasgow, Scotland, gushed: “Whitney Houston’s pop crown is under threat — from her own cousin. Wellington Houston, 23, is being hailed as the next big thing in the US. But although Whitney sings on his demo CD, Wellington doesn’t want to cash in on his famous family. He said, ‘All I want from my family are good wishes.’”

According to one source who has known the singer for years, Wellington had sex-change surgery three years ago after a man fell in love with the cross-dressing singer and paid for the operation.

“She told me they got married in Niagara Falls,” said our source, “but they have since separated.”

Alexis’ Web site said she started singing in the choir at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark when she was 6.

The scurrilous Web site Hollyscoop.com claimed May 13 that Lauer had an affair with Alexis after meeting her on the “Today” show set in 2007.

Last Friday, Alexis held a press conference outside Michael’s on West 55th Street with headline-hogging lawyer Gloria Allred. Speaking with a Madonna-like British accent, Alexis said, “I feel that my privacy and personal space has been invaded.”

Neither Alexis nor Allred would comment yesterday. Michael J. Griffith, a lawyer Alexis has known for years, also refused to comment on Alexis’ past.

[From Page Six]

Now, at this point, this really has nothing to do with Matt Lauer, other then the brief, fleeting thought of Lauer getting his rocks off on a post-op transvestite/woman who used to go by “Wellington Houston”. Which, by the way, is the best fake Whitney-Houston-cousin name ever. The issue is all about this lady’s insanity and drama, and the fact that she’s likely a grifter looking to make some quick cash off the rumors that she probably started in the first place. Why did Gloria Allred take the case?!?

The white dude with Wellington/Alexis is her boyfriend, by the way.