Happily, the events of January 17, 1994, are now a distant memory. Once the house had been restored and refurbished, the Hasselhoffs started looking to move. Taylor and Hayley needed more space. The family home was bursting at the seams. 'If we'd bought so much as another magazine,' says his wife Pamela, 'I don't think there'd have been a place to put it.'

In the end, it took her five years to find what she was looking for - a house set in plenty of land that would not mean moving the girls from a school they both liked and did well in. Their latest house, set in two acres, is in Encino in California and less than ten miles from where they used to live.

'Originally,' says David, 'I wanted to be near the ocean - and my work. But we couldn't find the right property. Now, however, I'm pleased we're out in the country.' Pamela saw the Encino house first. 'I'll never forget driving up the long driveway - there was this moment when the house came in to view and it looked like something out of Gone With The Wind. I just went, "Wow!" The owner greeted me with a cup of coffee which made me feel right at home from the start.'

David took no persuading that this was indeed the house of their dreams. Pamela soon put herself in charge of overhauling the interior. 'It had a country look inside and I wanted it more metropolitan.' Carpets were replaced with marble floors. Fireplaces were removed, replacements were constructed to her own designs and new mantelpieces installed.

The colour scheme was kept neutral throughout, with the exception of green and burgundy in the dining room - 'what I'd describe as English colours', says Pamela. She also had to take into account her daughters' decorating ideas. 'They have their own tastes. I was the same when I was younger,' she says.

'I was always fighting with my mother not to have antiques in my room. I hated them. The funny thing is, as soon as we got this house, I started trying to find every antique I could. The last time we were in England, when David sang at the Althorp concert, I bought a beautiful antique dining table in London. It was made in 1843 and we ate our Thanksgiving dinner off it in November.'

Only one responsibility fell in to David. 'He was put in charge of the bar area,' says Pamela. 'We bought some lovely old Mexican doors with the intention of incorporating them into the bar. We've lived here two years now and David still hasn't got round to getting that done.' But she doesn't sound too upset - besides, she's full of praise for his supervision of the pool area and the improvements he oversaw there.

Hearing them talk, it becomes quickly clear that the Hasselhoffs have a very good marriage indeed. 'It takes time, though,' says David, 'and energy and hard work. But it's worth it. People often say it must be great to be surrounded by all these babes at work and I just go, "Yeah, yeah, been there, done that, who cares?" I want to go home each evening and wrestle with my kids.'

He and Pamela are adamant too, that the girls shouldn't turn into brats. 'The other day one of them complained about being stared at. I said, "Look, honey, we're Hasselhoffs. People are going to be looking at us for the rest of our lives." I want them think of the benefits.'

He is also determined not to be an absentee father. 'I have them on the set with me. I take them to school as often as I can. I organise my work schedule to avoid missing any of their important events. I live as normal a life as I possibly can,' says David Hasselhoff. And he means it, too.

 

 

INTERVIEW BY RICHARD BARBER

PHOTOGRAPS BY ROMAN SALICKI

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