As Celebitchy reported last year, Debbie Matenopoulos’s husband, Jay Faires, left her in a very public way. Debbie admitted that she found out on the internet that Jay had filed for divorce, which was a hokey story considering that most likely Debbie would have been formally served with divorce papers.

Now I’m starting to think that perhaps Jay Faires decided to leak the divorce filing before Debbie had a chance to be served. It seems like Faires and his lawyer can’t stop talking to the press about Debbie. The latest salvo is an aritcle in People magazine about how Debbie pays for nothing in the multi-million dollar home she kicked Jay out of. According to Jay’s people, he’s still paying the bills on everything, even though Debbie makes a six-figure salary.

Debbie Matenopoulos’s estranged husband is seeking spousal support from the E! host, saying she “pays for nothing” related to their multimillion-dollar Los Angeles home after the pair “continuously lived beyond our means,” court documents show.

Jay Faires, 45, an L.A. music executive who makes $37,500 per month before taxes, is demanding that Matenopoulos, 33, either help pay the mortgage, agree to refinance, or move out and sell the home, according to his filing.

“Notwithstanding the fact that [Matenopoulos] earns at least $225,000 annually, she had her lawyers send my lawyer the cable bill and her cell phone bill to pay,” Faires says. “If [she] wants to continue to live [in our home] and won’t agree to sell, she should be paying all expenses associated with her use and occupancy, i.e. the mortgages, property taxes, utilities, insurance, gardener, pool, alarm, etc.”

Faires, who filed for divorce on Nov. 12 after five years of marriage, admits that the couple have “continuously lived beyond our means during our marriage.”

He says he has moved out of the residence, and that Matenopoulos “has changed the locks and the alarm code so I can’t enter the house.” Faires says they owe approximately $1.5 million on the home, which carries a monthly payment of $11,671.

He adds that he’s had the property appraised recently at $4.3 million, but alleges Matenopoulos “won’t even consider selling [the home] unless we receive somewhere in the neighborhood of $8 million.”

“[She] apparently believes that at some point in time [the home’s] value will increase by some $3.5 million,” Faires says. “She also apparently believes that I … pay all expenses … while she lives there and pays for nothing, and waits for a real estate miracle to happen.”

A hearing is set for Feb. 23. An attorney for Matenopoulos was not immediately available for comment.

[From People Magazine]

I side with no one in this case. Jay and his lawyers seem like sleaze-balls trying to damage Debbie’s reputation. Debbie seems like an airhead who doesn’t realize there’s a recession. I did find all of the money stuff really interesting though. I can’t believe E! pays Debbie that much – all she does is co-host (with two other people and a team of “guests”) one half-hour entertainment show and the occasional red-carpet thing. Over-paid! But she’ll probably need the money soon.

Here’s Debbie Matenopoulos at the World Magic Awards in Santa Monica on November 10th. Images thanks to WENN.