DAN MARINO fooled around with a CBS Sports production assistant back in late 2004 . . . and has a love child to show for it. His daughter Chloe is now seven years old. "The New York Post" says Dan paid his mistress millions of dollars to keep everything on the down-low, and that he has kept in contact with his daughter. But Dan issued a statement saying he and his wife Claire, whom he married in 1985, are still very much together.

During a Super Bowl press conference yesterday, BEYONCÉ admitted that she used a backing track at the inauguration . . . quote, "Due to the weather, due to the delay, due to no proper sound-check I did not feel comfortable taking a risk . . . so I decided to sing along with my prerecorded track, which is very common in the music industry and I'm very proud of my performance." But she said she'll be singing live at the Super Bowl.

Just in case you weren't sure if "American Idol" had jumped the shark . . . it happened last night. STEVEN TYLER showed up to the Oklahoma City auditions, in drag, as a woman named Pepper LaBeija. He didn't actually SING . . . but he did drop some of his trademark nonsense. He said, quote, "I'm gonna judge your ass first. The roosters may crow, but the hens deliver the goods."