On Jan. 4, VH1 will premiere Confessions of a Teen Idol, a show that places seven hunks from the ’80s and ‘90 in a house — and into group therapy — to examine fame: the addiction to it, the fall from it, the road to regain it. Together with "celebrity psychology expert" Cooper Lawrence, hosts/exec producers Scott Baio and Jason Hervey (Wayne from The Wonder Years) will give, pictured from left to right, Jeremy Jackson, Christopher Atkins, Jamie Walters, Billy Hufsey, Eric Nies, Adrian Zmed, and David Chokachi, the tools they need to stage comebacks. Together with you, PopWatch is offering two of these Idols the opportunity to earn your admiration by answering reader questions. So, vote for the hunk you most want us to interview — and submit your questions for him — by noon ET Thursday. We’ll chat up the two most popular picks and post their responses before the show premieres. Again, your options are:
• Adrian Zmed, the star of T.J. Hooker, Grease 2, and Bachelor Party, who insists in the premiere that "I wanted to cure cancer with my acting — that’s how serious I was about it." After walking away from T.J. Hooker, he didn’t get the kinds of roles he hoped for. He now performs on a cruise ship.
• Christopher Atkins, the star of The Blue Lagoon, The Pirate Movie, and A Night in Heaven, who admits that he was at Studio 54 every night — and that the drinking and partying cost him Kevin Bacon’s role in Footloose. Now, he builds pools.
• David Chokachi, who confirms that as a star of Baywatch, one did have your pickings of the ladies. "The extras, you know, that are hanging out, if you’re bored, you’re like, ‘Hmmm, wanna go to the trailer?”" He says Hollywood’s bias against Baywatch actors drowned his career and hopes that this show allows casting agents to look past his abs and see his depth and education.
• Jamie Walters, who thinks he might’ve bailed too soon when work started drying up and all people wanted to know was why he pushed Donna down the stairs on Beverly Hills, 90210. (It was character, Ray, people.) Now a firefighter/paramedic, the voice of the No. 1 hit "How Do You Talk to An Angel" would like another record deal.
• Eric Nies, from MTV’s original Real World and The Grind, who claims a "manipulating vampire" manager took him so low that he contemplated suicide. (He went home to his mother instead.) Now a life coach who rehabilitates drug addicts, he arrives with supplies for his raw food lifestyle and is eager to share with his housemates: "If I can share some knowledge with them, it would be, ‘Make sure that your colon is clean." (One of his nicknames is Hawaiian for "abundance of poop," he says.)
• Billy Hufsey, the Fame star joined corporate America after "retiring" from show business. He still considers himself a triple threat.
• Jeremy Jackson, who played David Hasselhoff’s son on Baywatch and also speaks of those trailers rockin’, was later arrested for manufacturing meth. He credits the resulting six-month rehab stint with turning his life around and making him the ideal housemate: "Living with six other guys is not gonna be a problem. I’ve been to jail. I’ve been to rehab five times. I’m accustomed to being stuck in rooms with other guys."
More on teen idols and hotties:
Q&A: Pillow Talk With Scott Baio
PopWatch Confessional: The person you wrote a fan letter to
PopWatch’s "Inappropriate Crushes" posts
EW’s Ultimate Hotties: Polls and galleries
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Wow – Eric Nies – it’s been a long time since The Grind, huh? He kinda looks like Charles Manson on vacation in Cabo – LOL
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Eeeek! That’s Jamie Walters? And I wouldn’t have been able to pick Billy Hufsey out of a lineup. Definitely either of these two–I used to play “How do you talk to an angel” to death. I might have to go download it now to get it out of my head.
Whoa. Save me a seat for this trainwreck.
I was in an early-’90s production of Little Shop of Horrors at the MUNY in St. Louis with Adrian Zmed. Of course, he was Seymour and I was a mere extra (one of the pods in Audrey II at the end, running out into the audience and blocking the outside aisles), so he won’t remember me. I know he’s done a lot of theatre and he definitely has the chops for it – why is performing on a cruise ship so bad when you’re still doing what you love?
I vote Christopher Atkins and David Chokachi (Eric Nies a close third). The others scare me.
THe only two i’m remotely interested in are the older guys Christopher and Adrian.
Eric Nies and Jeremy Jackson. If you could ask Eric Nies what happened to the jump rope I would appreciate it.
So we’re using the term “idols” loosely right? Cause I’ve never heard of half of these guys. The only two remotely familiar are Adrian Zmed and Eric Nies.. and I remember how much I hated “How do you talk to an Angel”.
Adrian Zmed!!! He alone is reason to watch this show.
I don’t know Eric Nies, or Jeremy Jackson by name, but I remember the rest. I can’t say that I can picture Footloose with Christopher Atkins instead of Kevin Bacon.
I will probably end up drawn into the show, just like every time that I’ve gotten sucked into Celebrity Fit Club and The Surreal Life, although my watching those depends on the participants–I wouldn’t have watched the season of TSL with Ron Jeremy, Tammy Faye Bakker and Vanilla Ice if they’d paid me.
Eric Nies! I was so in love with him! He kind of looks like Kevin Sorbo in that picture. I used to watch Baywatch for David Charvet, but David Chokachi was nice to look at as well.
Good thing you told us where each of these guys came from, because I couldn’t name anyone just from looking at the picture. I did think the guy in the middle was Dean Cain (a really chubby Dean Cain). Sorry Superman!
Definitely Eric Nies and David Chokachi! Preferably shirtless.
david chokachi all the way
Ray Pruit! [<-- spelled with one "t", because that's all his mama could afford.] Yesss! I want – nay, demand – answers from Jamie Walters! Specifically, I want to know what happened in his second season on 90210 – were the writers planning to redeem his character, but then changed their minds (maybe because audiences could not forgive his Donna-tossing)? Why else would he have started the season finally claiming a place in the opening credits, only to lose it before Christmas?
Follow up question: How DO you talk to an angel?
Can I vote for Jason Hervey? I LOVE the Wonder Years.
If not, let’s go with David.
i agree w/one of the other posters: most of these dudes were NOT teen idols…only Christopher Atkins & Adrian Zmed would qualify (in my book)..so go w/one of them!
eric nies only eats raw food? boring! next!! i wanna hear from jamie and jeremy … still lookin good!
Has Jamie Walters just been released from prison??!! My God what happened to him? !
I suppose you could ask Jeremy about his sex tape. It also sounds like he might have some good rehab stories.
Jaime Walters
Eric Nies
Eric and Adrian- I must have watched Grease 2 a million times and the first Real World is still the best. Funny that Eric model/hip hop guy turned out to be a hippie.
Eric and Jamie
teen idols? Really???
Christopher Atkins. You must ask him about being on Dallas! Oh god. Sue Ellen was the original cougar!
Jamie please, would like to know why he chose to become a firefighter and what are those tattoos??
Justin and Jeremy
this could be very interesting……
1. I am SO watching this.
2. I am SO watching this.
3. Why do we only get to pick one for you to interview? Why must my 80’s love of Christopher Atkins (whose pic covered my walls back in the day) compete with my appreciation of Adrian Zmed from TJ Hooker and Grease 2 (which I still maintain is every darn bit as good as Grease, so there!) and with my loyalty as a Witchblade fanatic to David Chokachi?!
…
Okay, if I gotta go with one, I gotta go with the man formerly on my walls (who I’ve met a few times at events over the years and is a super-nice guy) – my question for Christopher Atkins:
Why didn’t you get to do a commentary track for “The Pirate Movie” dvd? I would’ve loved to have heard more of your perspective and recollections beyond the Q&A on the movie you did a year or two ago after a screening in Hollywood (yes, I went). The directory commentary on that dvd was… uninformative. Oh, and will you marry me? Just askin’.
God I loved Billy Hufsey – I watched Fame all the time and he was one of my first childhood idol crushes. I am going to watch this show just for him alone.