Ashley Dupré is speaking out for the first time since the New York prostitution scandal, paying tribute to her supporters and telling her critics that they only make her stronger.

“Thank you all so much for taking the time to send me a bit of strength and inspiration via e-mail or comment,” Dupré writes on her MySpace blog, in which she calls her mood “Thankful.” “Your words have touched me, and I thank you for that … with all my heart, I love you guys!!! :)”

The 23-year-old call girl who played a major role in bringing down Gov. Eliot Spitzer had been nearly invisible since March 12, when she was identified.

But over the weekend the aspiring singer responded to the many people who left supportive messages on her account.

Dupré also left a comment for her critics: “And to all the not so kind words … I love you too, because it makes me push myself and want it even more. ‘Hard times don’t last … only strong people.’”

Since the scandal broke, Dupré – born Ashley Youmans in 1985 – has been spending some of her time trying to escape the controversy by hanging out with her mother and getting spa treatments.

In April, she filed a $10-million lawsuit against Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis, claiming that the company was exploiting nude images of her from when she was 17.

Laila Ali’s move into new career territory has surprised even the boxing champ herself.

“The plan was just to take some time off boxing and move into some fitness/wellness type stuff.  Then ‘Dancing With the Stars’ came along, and at first I said ‘No,’” she recalls.  She reconsidered based on the idea of being able to “show a different side of myself that I knew was there - to take myself out of the box of being a female fighter.”

The “Dancing,” stint, it turns out, opened up a new world of opportunities, including her contributing gig on CBS’ “The Early Show,” her NBC “American Gladiators” cohosting job with Hulk Hogan - and her role as host and unofficial godmother on the kid makeover reality show “The N’s Student Body” debuting tomorrow (6/11) on Nickelodeon’s teen-centric The N channel.

“It’s kind of like the kids’ version of ‘The Biggest Loser,’ with kids losing weight and getting in shape - and also changing their attitudes, dealing with personal issues and stuff, while their communities and families come together.  A lot of these kids don’t know how to take care of themselves.  They learn to love themselves and gain confidence.”  While she mentored the girls, “My husband was able to come in and impart wisdom to the boys,” she adds, referring to her mate, former NFL wide receiver Curtis Conway.

Is she good with kids?  “I can fake it ’til I make it, but my husband is excellent.  He can take 10 kids to the movies by himself.”  We love that.  “I love it too, so I don’t have to be the one,” says Laila, who’s expecting her and Curtis’ son in September.

She realizes that with motherhood may come still more new avenues for her professional life.  “That’s what we do as women, keep adding to our abilities as we go through life.   I don’t really think too much of it; that’s the natural order of things.  Women everywhere wear a lot of different hats,” she says.  “It’s just that when you’re in the spotlight, everyone goes for the ride with you.”

FROM TOME TO TUBE: Kelly Preston promises fans of Jodi Picoult’s best-selling novel “The Tenth Circle” won’t be disappointed in the Lifetime television adaptation airing June 28. “It was adapted very well and has not changed considerably,” says Preston, who plays an English professor having an affair with her student the night her daughter gets raped in the telepic,  also starring Ron Eldard and Brittany Robertson. “I hadn’t read the book prior to getting the role, but it’s excellent. I’m very much a fan now.” She adds, “I don’t think you can make a film and retain all of it. A lot of the stuff at the end of the book is not there, but the majority of it is.”

THE VIDEOLAND VIEW: Regis Philbin’s plate is full of side dishes - including “Million Dollar Password” and his new “Hallmark Heroes With Regis Philbin” campaign geared toward celebrating everyday heroes who change the lives of others.  The multiplatform campaign (television, online and in stores) will last a year and culminate with two television specials.

With it all, how does the future look for Regis vis a vis his long-running “Live With Regis & Kelly”?  It’s been widely reported that his current deal lasts into next year, and then?  “I’d like to keep going.  I feel good, feel strong,” says the beloved septuagenarian host.  “If they want me, yes.”

DISHY: Sharon Bush certainly had fellow guests’ attention at the 21 Club book launch breakfast for Dr. Robert Schwalbe’s “Sixty, Sexy, and Successful” last week, talking about reports that the Bush family paid her $10 million to stop writing her own book about her life and her 23-year marriage to Neil Bush, the President’s brother.

According to sources on the scene, she laughed saying she wished that was a fact, but the truth was that she received $30,000 a year for four years — $120,000 total - after three children and nearly a quarter century of marriage.  Sharon also revealed that she still has her diaries, and plans to pen her memoirs, but not ’til George W. Bush is out of the White House.  Sharon, by the way, bought six copies of the “Sixty, Sexy and Successful” tome by psychoanalyst Schwalbe, saying that she wished her ex had laid down on the doctor’s couch before ruining their marriage.

And Dr. Schwalbe added, with nods of approval, that former Senator Eliot Spitzer might also have benefited if he’d scheduled an appointment, or picked up the “how to” guide for men, before he destroyed his political career and damaged his marriage.

The producer of “Girls Gone Wild” offered to drop a cool million in the lap of former Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s favorite hooker a day after it was revealed she slapped him with a $10 million suit.”She should keep in mind it’s considerably more than the governor of New York paid her, and our activities aren’t illegal,” Joe Francis said.He said Ashley Alexandra Dupré has “zero” chance of winning her lawsuit, adding that yesterday’s offer was not a ploy to get her to drop the suit. Instead, Francis said he’s offering the aspiring songstress $1 million to host and promote various “Girls Gone Wild” events.

Dupré sued Francis last month for allegedly getting her drunk and “tricking” her into disrobing for the camera during a 2003 spring break in Florida - and then using the footage without her permission.

“It is incomprehensible that Ms. Dupré could claim she did not give her consent to be filmed by ‘Girls Gone Wild,’ when … we have videotape of her giving consent,” he said.

In a video released Tuesday by Francis, Dupré appears covered by a terrycloth towel and gives her name as Amber Arpaio. An unseen questioner asks if she is 18.

“Yes, I am,” she says.

“Do you know what ‘Girls Gone Wild’ is?” the questioner asks.

“Yes, I do,” she replies with a laugh.

“Can I use this on ‘Girls Gone Wild’?” she is asked.

“Of course you can,” she answers.

Francis first offered Dupré $1 million to appear in his films after she was unmasked as Kristen, the prostitute who serviced Spitzer at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington for $4,300. Spitzer then resigned.

The call girl who triggered the downfall of former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer sued the founder of the racy “Girls Gone Wild” videos Monday for $10 million, claiming her image and name are being exploited.

Ashley Alexandra Dupre also contended in the lawsuit that she was only 17 - too young to sign legally binding contracts - and drunk on spring break in 2003 when she agreed to be filmed for “Girls Gone Wild” in Miami Beach.

Dupre “did not understand the magnitude of her actions, nor that her image and likeness would be displayed in videos and DVDs,” says the lawsuit filed by Miami attorney Richard C. Wolfe.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Miami names as defendants “Girls Gone Wild” founder Joe Francis, two of his companies and a man purportedly involved in creation of two Internet sites the lawsuit contends improperly use Dupre to sell DVDs and other products.

Francis, 35, has built a soft porn empire filming and marketing videos of young women exposing their breasts and being shown in other sexually provocative situations often at public events such as Mardi Gras or beach spring break locales.

Francis called the suit “absolutely ridiculous” and said he was just happy to have his business highlighted in the media once again.

“To show my appreciation, I’m sending Ashley a dozen cupcakes from Magnolia (Bakery) - assorted with sprinkles along with a card attached that says thanks for the free publicity.”

Dupre, who lived in Beachwood, N.J., while growing up, got famous in March as the high-priced call girl named “Kristen” who was hired by Spitzer for at least one tryst at a posh Washington hotel. Spitzer, known as “Client 9″ in court documents, resigned as New York governor a few days after the scandal broke.

Francis made a public $1 million offer for Dupre to appear in a “Girls Gone Wild” video and go on a promotional tour, then rescinded the offer after her archival footage from 2003 surfaced. Dupre’s lawyer also warned she was only 17 when the video was shot, not 18 as Francis claimed.

Francis said in March that Dupre spent a week on a “Girls Gone Wild” bus and made seven full-length tapes after signing release papers. He also said he bought her a bus ticket home to North Carolina.

The lawsuit claims Dupre is the victim of unfair trade practices, false advertising and unauthorized use of her likeness.

Francis is no stranger to legal problems in Florida. He spent a year in jail and was released in March after pleading no contest to charges of child abuse and prostitution charges for filming underage girls in the Panhandle beach town of Panama City. Four women who claim they were 17 or under when filmed have filed civil lawsuits there against Francis.

Francis also faces federal tax evasion charges in California. Prosecutors say companies controlled by Francis claimed more than $20 million in phony deductions in 2002 and 2003 and that Francis used offshore accounts to conceal income.