Monday, April 13 2009, 1:33am EDT
By Dan French
Rex Features
Where do you even begin? From Baywatch and Knight Rider to 'Jump In My Car', this man is a living legend the world over. And with a new show - The Hoff: When Scott Came To Stay - and his daughters about to launch their pop careers, it seems The Hoff is making a welcome return to our screens (and our lives). With a million burning questions and more than a little excitement, we gave David Hasselhoff a call.How did the idea for the show come about?"It came about because Scott had done me a favour and I got to know him. He championed this crazy video I did for fun called 'Jump In My Car' and it went to number two in the charts and I thought, 'What a cool guy!' The people behind the show wanted someone to come and live with me and I was against it, but then they suggested Scott."You specifically wanted Scott Mills to come and live with you?"I was interested in putting my daughters together as a singing group because that is their dream - to follow in my footsteps and sing - and they were getting really close to being ready. I wanted to make it real and I wanted to make sure they were going in the right direction, so having Scott come with me seemed like a great idea. I told my daughters, 'This is a number one DJ and we have to listen to him because he knows what sells.'"Aside from the music, why did you want Scott?"I wanted to show him how crazy it was living with me but to also show him how we are a family and we are normal people - but it's impossible to live a normal life. I wanted to take him to some crazy things - we were going to go skydiving, but we couldn't in the end because of insurance reasons."So what did you and Scott get up to?"I took him out in the ocean and rung his bell on the jet skis and took him to some crazy clubs and I wanted to just show him what happens when you walk around Las Vegas. It was a lot of fun, but the main thing for me was to see if I was going down the right track with my daughters."What did he make of your home life?"When he was leaving, he said 'I feel like I've been here two weeks - I'm exhausted'. But he said the most amazing thing that he got out of it was that we're a loving family and that with a massive amount of people and fans coming up to me I was never rude or negative. If you watch the show, you'll see what it's like. A long time ago I realised that I could use being a celebrity in a positive way and it makes you feel great!"If you were to do another series, who would come stay with you?"I don't know - that's a really good question! I really enjoy playing off another guy. I loved working with David Chokachi (Cody Madison, Baywatch) and I would have loved to have worked with Robert Wagner when he did Heart To Heart. I also loved working with Edward Mulhare (Devon Miles, Knight Rider). I like playing the younger guy to an older guy but now that I'm older, it can be the other way around."What do you make of the new Knight Rider?"When Knight Rider was coming back, it could have been Michael Knight and his son, but they didn't go in that direction. It's no big deal, but if they had gone in that direction, it would have worked. Everyone loves to see a father and son - Baywatch had the babes and the beach but when we did the focus reports, people said they watched it over and over again because they liked Mitch and Hobie. I'd love to work with Jeremy Jackson (Hobie Buchannon) again - he's a great kid."Have your daughters recorded anything yet?"We've got one song in the can, but we're not going to release it yet - you'll see it on the show. We're going to wait and see what the reaction is but so far we're getting offers and it's not just because they're The Hoff's daughters! At the moment, they're in dance class, they're working with trainers, and they're working with stylists - they're basically working their butts off!"We hear they're going to be called 'The Hoff Drops'..."No, they're not - don't listen to what you've heard! They have a different name, and it's all very serious. We're going to be back in the studio recording the rest of the album and we're getting them prepared to launch. Hopefully, it'll happen some time in the Fall."