Joel Madden and Nicole Richie were recently in Australia while his band, Good Charlotte was on tour there. Madden said he loved it so much that he’s going to look for a condo there. He said he’s interested in spending at least a full season in Australia every year:

Joel said recently: “People keep saying to us ‘how come you spend so much time down there?’ and I just say that it’s the best place in the world.”

He added that they would love to spend a minimum of three months a year down under and are looking to buy a home together: “I’m going to have a look around tomorrow for a place, a nice condo.”

“It’s only one flight man. The lifestyle here is insane.

[From Fametastic]

Anything that keeps Nicole Richie away from the paparazzi for large chunks of time sounds like a good idea to me. Once she has the baby she’ll probably start parading it around LA in little golden strollers and designer clothes like Gwen Stefani did with Kingston.

The big Star cover story about how Nicole Richie is having “Pregnancy Trouble!” isn’t really much more than Richie being worried over Braxton Hicks contractions, which are mild sporadic contractions that are common in pregnancy and nothing to worry about. Six-months-pregnant Richie is said to be “constantly worrying about having a miscarriage,” and “a basket case” after some minor Braxton Hicks contractions in Australia while she was there with boyfriend Joel Madden made her fear that she was having premature labor:

Nicole Richie got the scare of a lifetime while she was thousands of miles away from home in an Australian hotel. The six-months-pregnant star was relaxing in her room with rocker boyfriend Joel Madden, who’s been on his Good Charlotte tour Down Under, when “she felt a deep pain in her lower abdomen like her stomach was seizing up. She believed she was going into labor.”

Although Nicole’s doctor told her it was just a Braxton Hicks contraction (when the uterus “practices” for labor) and perfectly normal, she’s still afraid the baby could be born prematurely. Says the source, “Her stress level is through the roof.”

[From Star Magazine, print edition, October 29, 2007]

The article goes on to quote a doctor who provides a scary picture of how Richie’s baby would be fighting for its life if it were born at this point, as if that’s even an issue. And of course they speculate on what would happen to her unborn baby if she continued to do drugs and alcohol, when it’s pretty clear that she gave all that up when she figured out she was pregnant.

What’s more interesting to me is how Nicole is said to be acting like a total bitch, being typically rude to Joel’s fans and to the help. He’s said to be “mortified” by her behavior. At least she gets a pregnancy pass, but what excuse is she going to have once the baby is out?

Nicole Richie is shown on 10/2/07 carrying a couple of candy bars and walking to her car in Beverly Hills. Thanks to WENN for this photo.