Sharp-eyed bloggers figured out who Lindsay Lohan’s partner was in the recently-leaked knife-play photographs: it’s Vanessa Minnillo! Vanessa, current girlfriend of Nick Lachey, was shown in the photographs from last summer pulling down Lindsay’s top and allowing Lindsay to place a knife at her throat.

Vanessa, 26, was co-host of MTV’s TRL and a correspondent on Entertainment Tonight up until her contract ended last April. After the end of those gigs, Vanessa reportedly wanted to begin a new phase in her career: being a celeb, rather than just interviewing them.

Sources claimed the release of the photos, along with Vanessa’s unpleasant, diva-like behavior, may put an end to her high hopes.

Last week, she co-hosted the Miss Universe pageant in Mexico City with Mario López without incident. But the beauty is gaining a bad rep in the TV industry for her diva-like behavior at work and hard partying outside the studio.

While friends of Minnillo insist it was she who decided not to renew the contract with “ET,” insiders say her bosses at CBS Paramount soured on her when she covered the Grammys in February. Minnillo was not assigned to the Academy Awards in March.

When producers flew her to Los Angeles to cover the Grammys, “she was extremely high maintenance,” said one source. “She insisted they fly her own hair and makeup people and her personal assistant out with her every time she flew to L.A. She only flew first class and stayed at the Four Seasons, and then she didn’t want to work.

“Vanessa wants to be a celebrity, not interview them,” said the source. “She wouldn’t conduct post-show interviews because she wanted to party. She expected to be paid a full-time salary for a part-time job.”

Page Six spotted Minnillo at one of the fall fashion shows changing seats for 15 minutes until she was satisfied. She’s been known to bark orders at cocktail waitresses and cause scenes when she goes club hopping at night.

In April, we reported that Minnillo had moved in with Lachey in Los Angeles, where she’s hoping for a movie career.

A rep for Minnillo denied any “diva behavior” and told Page Six, “She chose to leave ‘ET’ because her contract ended. This is the first I’ve heard about any bad behavior.”

Although it seems hard to believe that vamping it up with Lindsay Lohan in a few leaked photos would hurt her career, it does seem logical that being a general asshole might not be helping her career.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 5th, 2007 at 10:47 am and is filed under Lindsay Lohan, Vanessa Minnillo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.