A look inside Hollywood and the movies. : JULIA WATCH : She Was <i> Not</i> Seen Kissing the Blarney Stone

The gossip frenzy that Julia Roberts’ canceled wedding to Kiefer Sutherland touched off in Hollywood and the rest of the country absolutely thrilled London’s tabloid newspapers--especially when she landed almost on their doorsteps in Dublin, Ireland, last week.

When Roberts called off the wedding, the tabloids cleared their front pages and blamed it on Sutherland’s reported drinking, also citing Roberts’ anger at his reputed fling with a “busty stripper.”

Last week as she arrived in Ireland, the tabloids quickly reported that she was with Sutherland’s friend, actor Jason Patric (who co-starred with Sutherland in “The Lost Boys” and was seen last summer in “After Dark, My Sweet”). Patric was said to be “smitten” with her.

But wait--there’s more. The Daily Star reported that Roberts “got a hand-delivered letter” from Sutherland, begging for forgiveness.

Another tabloid, Today, noted that it was actress Robin Wright who “played Cupid” by handing Roberts the “message of love” from “jilted bridegroom” Sutherland.

The Daily Express tried to be a little more authoritative, claiming that both Sean Penn “and his live-in lover Robin Wright” were trying to “patch up the romance” between Roberts and Sutherland.

Meanwhile, Roberts and Patric, according to the Express, were at “a secret hideaway.” Earlier, the newspaper breathlessly revealed, the couple had “been seen kissing and holding hands at a hotel.”

It was made in tabloid heaven.