Which no doubt made it easier for her to sleep at night.

"We're a very close family, so hopefully in the end we'll be OK," said Coy, "but this is quite a whirlwind that we went through."

But she didn't have much to say about how her family took it when the joke was revealed, except that they're still on speaking terms.

"I speak to my family," she said, refusing to elaborate further.

Even if the clips shown to critics exaggerated the situation and the heartache — which wouldn't be the first time that has happened — the fact is that the producers and Fox think that that heartache and trauma is entertaining. So it's the same old mean-spirited manipulation that's just sunk to a new level.

MEAN 'IDOL': The third round of "American Idol" (7 p.m., Ch. 13) is about to get under way — which means, of course, that we're back to the fun part. The early episodes with all the really bad singers. You know, before they weed out all the really bad ones and get to the boring finalists.

And they certainly don't lack for bad singers. Just ask judge Simon Cowell.

"A million people could apply for this show, and you're still only going to find two good people," he said. "And that is a horrible statistic."

But it makes for entertaining TV.

"I mean, I wouldn't watch the show unless there were loads of bad people because that's what I like watching," Cowell said.

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E-MAIL: pierce@desnews.com