After last week’s revelation that the National Enquirer got the story right, and that Billy Joel and wife Katie Lee really were splitting, there were many rumors in the wake of the announcement. The rumors probably started before the official split, but now that there’s a nasty divorce on the horizon, “sources” are coming out of the woodwork. One of the many hilarious side notes is that all of the sources are going to New York publications – Long Island forever and all of that, I suppose. Billy Joel is a popular worldwide entertainer, but you can’t take away a New Yorker’s need for a divorce fought amongst the New York tabloids. First up, with have a little item in the New York Daily News, about the babies it seems neither of them wanted, that they’re now both trying to pretend they both wanted:

Another possible reason for Billy Joel’s breakup with wife Katie Lee: They couldn’t agree on when to start a family. A friend of the 60-year-old Piano Man tells us: “Billy wanted to get going now. Katie, who’s 27, wanted to focus on her career.” A friend of Katie argues, “That’s not true. If anything, it was the other way around.”

[From The New York Daily News]

Oh, that’s the sweet spot. “If anything, it was the other way around.” Chuckle. God, I love a nasty separation/divorce when there are no innocent kids around. There’s just something so soothing about an old guy (who should have known better) and a gold-digging child-bride battling it out in the tabloids.

But what of the original reason for the split, cited by the Enquirer and the New York Daily News? That was the rumor that Katie Lee had been getting hot and heavy with 36-year-old Israeli designer Yigal Azrouel. Katie and Yigal allegedly have been carrying on an affair for a while now – but Page Six has a great scoop on Yigal. Apparently, Katie’s not the only young fashionista that hangs on Yigal’s every word. Yigal is quite a “swordsman” who has “been known to sleep with fashion editors who can help his career.” This is all because Yigal is the holy grail of fashion designers: a good-looking straight guy. According to Page Six’s sources, that alone ensures that “everyone lines up.”

KATIE Lee Joel isn’t the only comely female to be linked to Israeli fashion designer Yigal Azrouel.

Azrouel’s close relationship with the 27-year-old celebrity chef is rumored to have played a role in her breakup last week with Billy Joel, 60, after five years of marriage. Katie and Azrouel were spotted “dirty dancing” in Miami earlier this year, and a source told Page Six that Katie frequently opted to stay in the city near Azrouel instead of hanging out with her husband on Long Island.

A rep for Joel has said her relationship with Azrouel is “absolutely unrelated” to the split, but fashion insiders say Azrouel has quite the reputation as a fashion swordsman.

“He’s been known to sleep with fashion editors who can help his career,” a source told Page Six, adding that Azrouel has had relationships with higher-ups at both W magazine and the New York Times. “He loves to have women over for small, intimate dinner parties and to play video games. That’s his big thing.”

Added another source: “Obviously, there just aren’t that many straight guys in fashion. So when one comes on the scene, everyone lines up. And Yigal is very into the social element of the business, which is why he’s always photographed on Patrick McMullan’s Web site and has a store out east,” referring to his boutique in Water Mill. Azrouel was previously linked to socialite Fernanda Niven.

Back in April, Joel’s rep told us, “Yigal is a friend of Katie’s. They have collaborated on dresses for her media appearances. They worked together to create designs. It’s a simple friend-work relationship.”

Both Azrouel and Katie Lee were invited to the Whitney’s Persol Incognito Design Exhibition preview tomorrow, though she has not confirmed her attendance. Azrouel could not be reached.

[From Page Six]

He really sounds like an Israeli gigolo rather than a fashion designer. I guess the point of this story was the tabloid letting Katie Lee down gently, if she had hopes of leaving “William Joel” for a dashing Israeli. Not going to happen, Katie. It’s the oldest story in the book – gold-digging child-bride meets older man of her dreams, marries old man, realizes old man is no fun, goes out to have fun with Israeli gigolo, leaves old man for Israeli gigolo, gigolo tells girl “actually, I’m seeing other people”, girl comforts herself with multimillion-dollar divorce settlement, alone and weeping. It’s the modern fairytale/cautionary tale.

Billy Joel and Katie Lee Joel are shown on 2/6/08 and 10/3/08. Their mansion in Center Island, NY is also shown. Credit: Fame Pictures