The Canadian Press (Dec. 1st 2006)

Gwen Stefani shrugs off radiation scare during promotional stop for new album

Gwen Stefani received some jolting news this week while in Toronto to promote her sophomore solo album, "The Sweet Escape," due in stores next Tuesday.

The pop superstar and her baby arrived in the city from the U.K. on a British Airways jet Tuesday, and later learned that traces of radiation that recently killed a former Russian spy had been found in some of the airline's jets.

"We might have radiation too," Stefani, 37, said with a slight grin when asked about the revelation in an interview on Thursday, her last day in the city. "No, I'm just kidding. I hope not."

It's not the first time the front woman for ska-punk outfit No Doubt, known for her signature red lipstick and platinum-blond hair, has faced drama while trying to visit fans in Canada.

Last winter, one of the production equipment buses for her Harajuku Lovers solo tour rolled over three times while on its way to Canada. Stefani was four months pregnant at the time.

The driver was OK, said Stefani, but they couldn't salvage much of the gear.

"I was literally on the bus going, `What are we going to do? Half of our equipment's in the snow,' " a flawless-looking Stefani said in a chair in a hotel room while her six-month-old son, Kingston, was being watched by a nanny in a bedroom nearby.

"Even though we didn't have production, the shows were the best shows of the whole tour. The biggest and the best."

"The Sweet Escape" is Stefani's followup to her 2004 debut solo effort, "Love.Angel.Music.Baby," which went quadruple-platinum with the hits "Hollaback Girl" and "What You Waiting For?"

R and B singer Akon produced and sang on the title track, Pharrell Williams co-wrote many of the tracks and sang on one, and No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal wrote three songs on the album. Hip-hop producers the Neptunes, who worked on No Doubt's 2001 album "Rock Steady," also had a prominent role in the making of the disc.

Stefani said her son was with her in the studio throughout the recording process.

"He was just like, sitting right there in a basket," said the fashion-forward singer, who wants to have at least one more baby.

"He just kind of sleeps and then wakes up and nurses and I put him back and he's so easy, he's not like a cry baby. Although he does now have more of an attitude."

The first single, "Wind It Up," has Stefani yodelling over marching band beats peppered with traditional Swiss music _ a homage to her favourite movie, "The Sound of Music."

The video for the song includes the Harajuku Girls, a group of wildly dressed Japanese backup dancers Stefani trekked around with for her last tour and will do so again for her spring tour.

Her new monogram _ a gold wind-up key with diamond-encrusted Gs for Gwen _ is also a major theme in the video, and Stefani said she would consider selling the key under her Harajuku clothing line.

"Harajuku was more like a glorified merchandise line, like how bands used to put out T-shirts with their picture on it," said Stefani, wearing skinny jeans, a fitted black sweater, Harajuku-style high, high heels and the wind-up key on a chain.

The California native did confirm that she will put out a fragrance next year under her other fashion label, L.A.M.B., launched in 2003.

"I'm just still working on it. I have practice ones on," she said, smelling her wrists while aromatic candles flickered around the room.

Stefani, who has homes in Los Angeles and London with rocker husband and Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale, also plans to return to No Doubt some day.

But unlike her last tour, she would never go on the road again with a baby bump.

"I did notice that you get really short of breath, like, especially when you're first pregnant," said Stefani, who admitted to feeling "so gross" at times in her maternity days.

"So when I was touring it was like really hard because it was like, nine costume changes, corsets, the whole thing, tights, you know, it was high heels, it was really challenging."

"The Sweet Escape" tour is slated to start in April and will take Stefani through Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. 16:44ET 01-12-06