In a statement sent out to news groups over the weekend, the Australian star admitted he voluntarily admitted himself to a treatment facility last Thursday night, reports the World Entertainment News Network at imdb.com. Urban, who has been candid about his past drug problems, thanked his new wife, Nicole Kidman, for her support as he struggles with a relapse. In the statement, sent out by his publicist, Urban says, "I deeply regret the hurt this has caused Nicole and the ones that love and support me. One can never let one's guard down on recovery and I'm afraid that I have. With the strength and unwavering support I am blessed to have from my wife, family and friends, I am determined and resolved to a positive outcome."

His new album, "Love, Pain & the whole crazy thing" will hit stores as planned on Nov. 7 but promotional appearances have been postponed.

Back to work ...

WGRZ-TV meteorologist Kevin O'Connell was back at work Monday after being hospitalized for a leg infection that prevented him from working during the station's coverage of the October surprise storm. "The Super Bowl of weather - that's not what you want to miss," said O'Connell. "It's the first time [in 22 years doing weather here] I've ever missed a major weather story."

O'Connell had been out of work since Oct. 10. Andy Parker filled in for him during the storm coverage. O'Connell said he spent three days in Sisters Hospital for the leg infection, which made it difficult to walk. He said he was released on the night of the storm and has been recuperating since. "I had to put my foot and leg up in the air and it's kind of hard to do the weather that way," he cracked.

- Alan Pergament
Under the knife ...
Former "Monty Python" star Terry Jones, 64, has undergone surgery in London for colon cancer, reports BBC online.

"Jones was in good spirits and the operation went very well," said his agent Jodi Shields. He last week joined former Monty Python colleagues Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin for the London opening of Idle's Python musical "Spamalot."

Jones was diagnosed just over a week ago and his public appointments cleared for the next few weeks "to allow him some recovery and resting time," Shields said. "He is in high spirits and very pleased that the doctors say they have caught it early."

Investigated ...
Investigative journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein have come in for a little probing of their own.

In "Woodward and Bernstein: Life in the Shadow of Watergate," Alicia C. Shepard pokes into their professional rivalry, relationships with their Hollywood alter egos and more. Neither Woodward nor Bernstein spoke to Shepard, so her book draws on 175 interviews and the papers the pair sold for $5 million to the University of Texas (when, according to editor Ben Bradlee, "Bernstein needed the money"). She writes that the "Woodstein" team broke up in 1977, partly because Woodward thought he was doing much of the heavy lifting on their second book, "The Final Days."

Asked what he thought of the book, Woodward told Editor & Publisher, "First Amendment prevails." Bernstein told the New York Daily News: "Thank God the Constitution allows her to write what she wants. He added, "Bob and I are extremely close."