Do you know how much I dislike Dr. Jack Shepherd? SO MUCH. He’s the worst character on Lost, jointly with Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly). The fact that those two are supposed to be the “leads” of the show is the worst joke of all. It’s not even that Jack is a poorly drawn character (he’s not, really) or that Matthew Fox is a bad actor (he’s not the best, but not the worst), it’s just that the character is so sanctimonious, so self-righteous, so asinine, that I absolutely dread when an episode revolves around Jack. Like last night. Ugh. Anyway…

Maybe I’m reading Matthew Fox the wrong way, but he always seemed to have a touch of self-righteousness in his real life too. Which makes this story from the National Enquirer very interesting… according to their reporting, Fox has been cheating on his wife Margherita Ronchi with a 26-year-old stripper in Oregon named Stefani Talbott. Talbott tells the Enquirer that they had sex, and that she “kept the voice mails and text messages from him.” Oh, God, an electronic trail. Men are so dumb.

Matthew Fox’s squeaky-clean image as a family man could soon be “Lost” for good after he was caught up in a cheating scandal involving a tattooed stripper.

The stripper, nearly young enough to be his daughter, claims she began an affair with the 43-year-old star – who plays Dr. Jack Shephard on the hit ABC series – after meeting him at a strip club in Bend, Oregon.

Stefani Talbott, 26, who danced at the Stars Cabaret club in Bend, confessed to the ENQUIRER: “Yes, I’ve been having an affair with Matthew Fox. We had sex together. I’ve kept voice mails and text messages from him.”

Stefani has told others of her incredible boasts about her alleged sexual exploits with the actor. Yet the actor vehemently denies he had a sexual relationship with Stefani.

“Matthew’s partying is out of control. He’s boozing and carrying on with women. His carousing is at an all-time high,” a source revealed.

[From The National Enquirer]

If the Enquirer is talking to the stripper, and the stripper is claiming to have proof, we’ve been down this road before with the Enquirer. I’m not so much thinking about Tiger Woods, but Josh Duhamel and his epic pr0n-filled seduction with a stripper. We’ll see how this thing shakes out, but right now, I am going to give Fox the benefit of the doubt, just because something doesn’t seem right to this story. To me. And I’ll admit it if I’m wrong!

Meanwhile, Fox is on the cover of Emmy Magazine, talking about the end of Lost (sob!). He told the magazine, “I have a lot of mixed emotions. It’s been an incredible experience for me, and the creative part of it has been beautiful. I’m really enjoying working with this character. It’s going to be sad when it ends. But at the same time I’m looking forward to moving on.” Then why doesn’t he ask to be killed off? Right now?

UPDATE: Radar has a few more details about this alleged affair. Apparently it’s an even bigger story (in the Enquirer) and it includes an “eyewitness account” of a taxi driver who drove Fox and Talbott to Talbott‘s home: “They kissed and touched each other in the cab… [afterwards] they were more romantic than before, kissing a lot more and hugging each other.”

Matthew Fox on Emmy Magazine, courtesy of CoverAwards.