It’s been awhile since we indulged in some shameless Katy Perry gossip, so let’s kick this off in grand fashion with a video clip. While I was at the gym yesterday sweating my ass off on a treadmill, I happened to spot the latest Adidas commercial (on ESPN, natch) featuring Katy Perry and David Beckham (along with Lionel Messi and Derrick Rose) running to the tune of Katy’s latest “Part of Me” single. Let’s just say I wasn’t terribly inspired by either Beckham or Perry’s running faces:

That’s not really gossip though, so let’s get on with some proper business. Katy has enjoyed a few weeks’ respite from the tabloids, but everything renews itself afresh with this week’s issues. According to this week’s issue of Star (via Jezebel), Katy has dumped the highest-paid male model in the world, Baptiste Giabiconi, despite a romantic Eurostar date, because he was reportedly using her to make music connections (as well as pushing her to record a duet) in Los Angeles, which is essentially what Kaiser already predicted of the Karl Lagerfeld muse de jour. Mr. Giabiconi certainly does look quite in love with himself in this Paris Fashion Week photo, right?

Meanwhile, this week’s issue of Us Weekly would have us believe that Katy is still pining for estranged hubby Russell Brand, and her desire has only been heightened by the fact that Russell has moved on with such speed and frequency. Here is a photo of Russell with his latest girlfriend, Nikolett Barabas, who is not to be confused with this chick or the People-profiled Oriela Medellin. Katy is reportedly crushed and wants Russell’s affections pointed backwards in her own rightful direction:

Three months after her split, a remorseful Katy Perry reaches out to Russell Brand.

India holds special meaning for Katy Perry. It’s where her estranged husband, Russell Brand, popped the question in late 2009 and where the couple wed 10 months later. “She regards it as a beautiful and spiritual palce,” says a Perry family friend. So when the singer made a solo return to the country — to perform at the opening ceremony for the Indian Premiere League of pro cricket players on April 3 — she couldn’t help but feel a bit nostalgic. “She’d already been missing Russell,” a close pal admits. “Being back there stirred up even more old feelings.”

Not to mention a few regrets. At first furious about Brand’s December 30 filing, a source says, a lonely and desperate Perry is now second-guessing herself, wondering if she could have done more to save the pair’s 14-month union. “She feels guilty that she wasn’t there fore him more,” says the close pal, adding that the eight-time Grammy nominee, 27, questions whether she should have deprioritized her career and caved to Brand’s demands to start a family. And though the eccentric former sex and drug addict, 36, was hardly the ideal husband — he lashed out when she spent time with her friends, say insiders — Perry has been reaching out to him. “Katy’s been trying to get him back!” says the close pal, adding, “She’s a lost soul right now.”

Three months ago, Perry was more interested in revenge. The singer channeled her anger into the bitter ditty “Part of Me,” and told pas she was thrilled to be single. When her ex stepped out with Hungarian model Nikolette Barabas, 32, Perry retaliated with a model fling of her own: In early March, she hit the Paris nightclub scene with 22-year-old Baptiste Giabiconi. But the romance was quick-lived. “He was a plaything,” a pal says of the French-bred fashionisto. “Just to show Russell she was doing OK.”

But Perry still pined for her mischievous ex. “She’s had moments of sadness,” says an insider. And her sentimental India travels continue to resonate. “Now she wants to get back into yoga,” says the close pal. “that was something he was always more into than she was.”

Perry’s not the only one doing a little reflecting. The newly single Brand “was having flings, but he didn’t connect with anybody,” the pal says of the British comic. “It just felt empty.” Still, regrets aside, a reconciliation is a long shot: The couple’s ivorce will be finalized in July. Says the Perry pal, “Right now, Katy and Russel are trying to get to the point hwere they can at least be friends.”

“She regrets not appreciating what she had,” says a friend of Perry.

[From Us Weekly, print edition, April 23, 2012]

Okay, I can sort of buy that Katy regrets how she and Russell’s end-of-marriage days went down, but at the same time, I can also empathize with her career ambitions. As much as I enjoy picking on Katy’s inane pop music, it would have been senseless for her to set aside her (inexplicably) volleying career to have a baby when she didn’t feel ready to do just that. After all, resentment does not breed a healthy environment for child rearing no matter how delicately one frames it. The way I see it, Katy and Russell really weren’t meant to last, and fortunately, one of them (Russell) figured out they were each entrenched very different phases of life before wasting too much time time together.

Here’s a photo of Russell doing lunch before heading to one of his AA meetings. He might look like a total scuzzball (and increasingly so), but at least he’s committed to maintaining his sobriety.

Photos courtesy of Adidas.com, Fame/Flynet, and WENN