But he said he was looking for another actor to eventually take over his role in the show, which he also produces.

In the new series, which will be filmed in Hawaii, Hasselhoff said that using "real" actors would be a priority.

"We used to get bodies... We were always after the look and thought the acting would come along, but with some people it never did," he said.

Branson board role for Irish legend

Irish broadcasting legend Gay Byrne has joined the board of Richard Branson's Virgin Express Ireland airline.

The 64-year-old stepped down from his near-daily RTE Irish radio programme at Christmas after 26 years.

He's also soon to retire from presenting the world's longest-running chat show the 36-year-old weekly Late, Late Show.

Next week Dublin-born Byrne is to become a freeman of his native city.

Film stardom is 'excellent' says Julia

Julia Roberts has warned moviegoers not to read too much into the plot of new film Notting Hill, in which she plays a film star besieged by the press.

She told Vanity Fair that being a movie star in reality is an "excellent life. I'm rich, happy I have a great job.

"It would be absurd to pretend that it's anything different."

She said she was "struggling to play a person who only shares an occupation, a height, a weight and a status with me."

Liz and Hugh announce new film project

Hugh Grant and Liz Hurley are planning their next production, which will be a buddy comedy called Caesar's Ashes.

In the film Grant will play an insurance investigator who forms an unlikely partnership with a streetwise sidekick to find a lost urn containing the ashes of Julius Caesar.

The couple have already produced a drama, Extreme Measures, and another film, Mickey Blue Eyes, is currently awaiting release.

Film star Kinnear is married in Sussex

US actor Greg Kinnear, who earned an Oscar nomination for his role as a gay artist in As Good As It Gets, has married former model Helen Labdon.

The couple, who met in Los Angeles and have been together for six years, were married at a church in Sussex.

Kinnear, 35. has also appeared in the film Sabrina with Harrison Ford.

Labdon, born and raised in England, has given up modelling for writing.

BBC to show Everest climber documentary

The BBC has announced that it will be showing a one-off 50-minute documentary about the discovery of the body of Everest climber George Mallory.

BBC Features in Bristol initiated the expedition to look for Mallory's body and has the exclusive UK footage of the search for the climber who perished 75 years ago on Mount Everest.

The film, to be shown on BBC Two in the autumn, will attempt to unravel the mystery of Mallory's death, as well as telling the story of the 1999 search.

Bedtime series from director Roland Joffe

Roland Joffe, director of such critically-acclaimed dramas as The Killing Fields and The Mission, is to produce a new series investigating the subject of people at bedtime.

The daily half-hour TV show for MTV called Undressed, will look at relationships and discussions that occur while people are getting ready for bed.

The fictional series will feature three couples, with new characters being introduced as the series progresses.