Celebrity Mound

Michael Phelps is denying rumors that he is romancing controversial Miss California contestant Carrie Prejean.

“I’m not dating anybody,” he told Usmagazine.com Wednesday at the opening of the Omega flagship boutique in NYC. “I’m single. My private life stays private.”

(Prejean, 21, was coy earlier this week when asked about rumors they’re an item. “He is a great man. Wouldn’t you like to know?” she said on The Billy Bush Show Monday.)

As for Prejean’s anti-gay marriage answer during the Miss USA competition, Phelps tells Us, “That’s the cool thing about America – everybody has their opinion.”

“I’m not saying I support her,” Phelps then added. “I’m not saying I don’t support her.”

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Tsk, tsk, Michael Phelps. Partying your face off in public is not the way to reclaim your good-guy image.

The Olympian, who has been laying relatively low since his bong-smoking scandal in January, was out in full force Tuesday night at NYC hot spot Marquee.

“Michael was definitely having a good time,” an eyewitness tells us. “He was drinking straight from a bottle of Grey Goose, and when the deejay started playing M.I.A.’s ‘Paper Planes,’ he got up, started dancing like a loon and kept on yelling, ‘Shots!’”

Phelps definitely had enough alcohol on hand for several rounds — he’d ordered four bottles of vodka.

In addition, the athlete skeeved out onlookers when he persisted in PDA-ing with his girlfriend, cocktail waitress Caroline (Caz) Pal.

“They wouldn’t stop making out! They were literally sucking face, and not caring that anyone was watching,” says our snitch, who added that Phelps danced up such a storm that he briefly went shirtless, changing out of his T-shirt in the club and putting on a zip-up hoodie with nothing underneath.

But the night wasn’t all fun and games for Phelps. During the course of the evening, the champ recognized UConn basketball player Hasheem Thabeet and went over to introduce himself.

“Hasheem had absolutely no clue who Michael was, and [Phelps] walked away looking a little embarrassed,” says the onlooker.

The night ended for the champ around 2:30 a.m., when he was spotted getting into a cab and heading to a friend’s pad to “chill.” Hopefully, he didn’t engage in any “behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment,” as per the swimmer’s recent public apology for his past indiscretions.

A rep for Phelps didn’t return a call for comment by our deadline.

While Michael was perfecting his partying skills, his mom was having a far more sedate time over at the Grand Hyatt.

“Michael is in New York to be with his mama, of course,” Debbie Phelps told us at the “Dressed for Success” event. “He’s actually back in training right now.”

For what, Debbie? Is there an Olympic medal for clubbing?

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Michael Phelps (above) emerged from bong-gate without any criminal charges, but he’s still wary of having his photo taken. A spy tells us the human dolphin recently had the windows of his Baltimore house tinted to prevent paparazzi from snapping shots of him at home. According to our source, Phelps has also been “hiding out at strip clubs,” since they’re the only places he can party with no pictures being taken. Phelps’ agent didn’t return calls or e-mails seeking comment.

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