transcription made by Zsuzsi@Zsofi from "OK!" magazine, January 29, 1999 (English magazine)
David's wife Pamela, 34, is a successful actress in her own right, having appeared in numerous TV programme including "Baywatch" and the hit American series Sirens. She is David's second wife - the first was Catherine Hickland, from whom the actor was divorced in 1988
You could never accuse him of being hesitant, he says. It certainly wasn't hesitation that caused a blip in "Baywatch"'s fortunes a couple of years ago. 'I just took my eye of the ball. I became preoccupied with other pursuits like my music career.' The result was a disappointing series of the show with lacklustre scripts and storylines.
'The show suffered,' he says. 'There's no question of that. I'm the Baywatch taste - o - meter and standards were slipping.' Radical action was required. Cast members were sacked, new writers were drafted in and fresh faces were introduced to the show.
'We're back on track now,' he says, 'with a lot of new talent like Brooke Burns, a pretty girl and a good actress - and not,' he adds, a trifle wearily, 'someone who's about to take her clothes off for some magazine.' (This is, of course, a thinly veiled reference to controversial former "Baywatch" cast members Pamela Anderson and Gena Lee Nolin).
Life isn't all about "Baywatch", though. During the winter months, David is free to accept other offers. He's just completed filming a Naked Gun - style spoof comedy, Titanic Too, alongside Priscilla Presley and Leslie Nielsen. Next, he's off to Morocco for 11 weeks to film a mini - series, King Of The Zulus, in which he will be playing a swashbuckling character in the mould of Errol Flynn.
It was a part too tempting to turn down, he says, but it will take him away from somewhere he likes better than anywhere else: his home. The Hasselhoffs' last house was badly damaged in the earthquake of January 1994. It is not an experience he will easily forget. 'As it turned out, our home was just one mile from epicentre. The noice was incredible. I kept thinking the moment would pass. But it didn't. And it kept gaining in volume and power. You're always told to go and stand in a doorway. Forget it! I wanted to get the hell out of the house - and fast. '
'I went into emergency mode. The only thing on my mind was my daughters (Taylor Ann, now eight, and Hayley, six). I still find it difficult to describe those 40 seconds. It was like a train suddenly smashing through your living room from nowhere. The entire place shook so hard, I thought we were going to be buried alive. Pamela raced next door and grabbed Hayley. I was twice knocked off my feet because of the force of the quake.'
'The lights had all blown so it was pitch black. But I got hold of Taylor, tucked her under my arm and headed for the bathroom. From there, I could get outside. But the door was blocked. All the mirrors and glass - fronted cabinets had smashed and fallen on to the floor. I later found out that the skylight in the bathroom had also caved in.'
Pamela put herself in charge of refurbishing the interior of the home. 'It had a country look inside and I wanted it more metropolitan,' she says. Carpets were replaced with marble floors, fireplaces were removed and replacements constructed to Pamela's designs