Hero: Nicole Richie
Why? Yeah, yeah - we know she's still got a lot to learn, and her behaviour hasn't exactly been without blemish this year. But we really think the Simple Life star has learnt from her mistakes, and she's become a much nicer person for it. So what changed? Her engagement to Good Charlotte frontman Joel Madden and impending motherhood have led Nicole to distance herself from her former party lifestyle, follow a healthy diet (hallelujah!) and adopt a new-found sense of responsibility. The one-time poor little rich girl also recently won favour with the US public by giving all her baby shower presents away to charity.

She says: "I have a responsibility, and it's something I did wrong - and if I could personally apologise to every single person who has lost a loved one from drunk-driving I would." August 2007, after pleading guilty to DUI charges

Future prospects: A new baby, a glitzy wedding and a much lower profile in celebrity gossip rags. Ms Richie has finally grown up.