Howard Stern's Pals Hint He May Marry Longtime Girlfriend Beth Ostrosky

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

By Don Kaplan

Howard Stern made noises Tuesday like he is close to popping the question to longtime girlfriend Beth Ostrosky.

When his pals Robin Quivers and Artie Lange brought up the subject of marrying Beth near the end of yesterday's show on Sirius satellite radio, Stern did not protest or insist he wouldn't marry again, as he had in the past.

"I give it a year, year-and-a-half before you're engaged," Lange said.

Stern seemed to be laughing and tried to change the subject a few times.

"You were just talking to me about ring sizes a few weeks ago!" said Quivers, trying to keep the jabbering talk show host on the topic.

While he was able to quickly shift the conversation to something else, Stern didn't deny anything. It was a marked difference from the usual "never again" stance he has maintained following the collapse of his first marriage in 1999, and subsequent divorce in 2001.

Wedded bliss may have been on Stern's mind Tuesday as he and his crew were freshly returned from the weekend wedding of Bubba the Love Sponge, whose over-the-top antics air on Stern's Sirius channel in the afternoons.