"I wish women understood that we're not all bad. There are guys out there who want the fairy tale; I'm one of them."

Soap opera hunk, Calvin Klein model, movie star, author, reigning Celebrity Circus champion and “Best Hottie” winner at the 2008 Fox Reality Channel’s Really Awards, what’s left for this sexy single father of two to do? Executive produce and star in his own reality series, of course. In VH1’s new reality dating series Antonio Needs Your Love, airing in spring, Antonio Sabato, Jr. promises to bring class to reality TV as he searches fot someone to share his lavish lifestyle. Antonio is also starring in the upcoming thriller Mysterious and Drifter: The Henry Lee Lucas Story.

... the FACTS

Born: Rome, Italy

Resides: Ventura County. 

Birth date: 2-29-72 (I'm a leap year baby)

Sign: Pisces

Height: 6'1"

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Brown

Family: "I have an older sister, named Simone. She lives in LA. We're very close." 

Ethnicity: "My mom is Czech. She was born in Prague. And my father was born in Palermo in Sicily. So I'm 1/2 Czech and 1/2 Italian."

Status: Divorced, two children

Want more children: "Yes, I love kids. I would love to have more children. But this time, knowing that the mother of my kids was married to me. More traditional this time, just because I'm a little bit older and I would want to try it a different way."

Nonsmoker. "I don't smoke. I barely drink. I hate smoking. I hate to be around smoke. 

Occupation: Actor / Executive Producer of the show; Author of No Excuses: Workout  for Life.

Big Break: "General Hospital was my first big break because that was the first time I was actually working as an actor on a weekly basis, making a living, having fans and working on a great show. That was amazing."

Any upcoming movies: "On the film Drifter, I play a serial killer called Henry Lee Lucas, who lived thru the 60s, 70s and 80s. He's known to have killed thousands of people. He died in prison. He traveled all over the country killing people, it was just crazy. All independent up-and-coming young actors. It was great. This is a film that I'm very proud of, we did some really good stuff. I never played a character like this before. I look different, he's got a very southern accent, very dirty. His look is different, the way he walked, the way he portrayed himself, very different from me. I  had a great time doing it. I saw many videos, the way he spoke, the way he talked to people, very manipulative to everybody he worked with or was around. Great place to be, mentally, physically, it was great."

Tell me about your new reality show, VH1's Antonio Needs Your Love: "We filmed it in Hawaii. I'm one of the executive producers. I'm hoping for the best."

Obviously you're one of the most gorgeous guys on the planet, why did you decide to do it this way: "Well, the opportunity was given to me. And I thought it would be interesting to do something like that. I'd never done a reality show like this before and I'm one of the producers involved. I want to bring some class into these reality shows and change it up a bit. And I think it'd be fun. It's an adventure and we'll see how it goes. We'll make it very compelling and I think it'll be fun to watch. I'm very open and very serious about finding a person. In Hollywood, it's really hard to find the right person. Obviously I'm not going to get to know who they really are in 30 days but we're going to try. We're going to spend a lot of time together and if there's a person  I'm interested in and she'd be fun to be around, who knows? I'm open to it, and we'll see what happens."

You don't have to propose at the end: "No, no, no. This is not the bachelor. This is a chance for me to find someone who'd be willing to travel the world with me, to start a new life, to be open to the idea to have a relationship. That's what I want. That's what the girls know that I want and hopefully they're coming with the same agenda. If they don't, then we'll find that out too, so that'll be fun to watch. I've been single long enough, and I'm very serious to find the right person and maybe I'll find it here, maybe I won't. But I'll give it a shot and just have fun."

Why did you pick Hawaii: "My choices were between Hawaii and Miami. We found a beautiful location in Kona. The island Kona gives us everything that I wanted for the show. I wanted action/adventure, I want stuff that I do. I'm gong to get up in the morning and do things like skydive, deep sea fish, scuba dive and rock climb. So the island is able to give me everything that I want and we'll see if these girls are able or willing to do these things with me."

Is that a normal lifestyle for you: "Yeah, it is. The idea here is to find someone who is willing to back up what they say and to do things that I'm willing to do and then find out things that they want to do and we'll see if the two things match. I'm going to take them on adventures. It's going to be fun. This is very much an action/adventure driven show. Very romantic. And a lot of surprises, there will be elements in my personal life - not my kids - but other people in my life who will be part of the show and put these girls on a test."

I heard that there were some soap opera  type tests: "Well, the soap opera we're talking about is Dallas, Dynasty, those shows back in the 80s where you had that glamour, the lifestyles of the rich and famous and that's what we want to bring to the show. We want to bring class, we want to bring girls who are willing to take it to the next level, intellectually, physically, everything. And make it a compelling show that is beautiful to look at. We want to stay away from the trash, we want to stay away from things like that..."

So no hot tub scenes: "You see the thing is, it depends how it's done. I'm going to live my daily life and I'm going to do my things, and I'm going to have fun but my concern is to test these girls psychologically because I want to find out what they really are on the show for. That's the challenge for me. Are you here for fame, do you want to get your own show? Do you want to make money? If that's the case, be open about it. Let me know. And so finding that out throughout the elements of the show with the skydiving and things like that, I think it will be fun to watch."

I heard a rumor that Melrose Place might come back: "I heard that too. I read something on the Internet not too long ago. But that's obvious. I think they're going to bring it back. I think they have to try with Heather first, I think Heather's the main key." 

Will you come back if they ask: "Well, Heather pulled the plug on me, but this is Melrose Place so anything is possible. But you know Aaron Spelling is not there, so I don't know where they're going to take the show, are they going to bring new characters, are they going to bring some from the past?  We'll see. But if they do being it back, I think it's going to be a successful show."

... on HIMSELF

Strengths: "I'm very intense. If something is funny, I laugh, I let you know that I'm really happy about it. If I'm really pissed off, I'll let you know that to. I give myself credit for having that Italian mentality and also having that American business mentality too. I was very fortunate that I was brought up in both worlds. But one good thing about me is that I'm honest. I like to live an honest way and I don't like to see people hurt. I would like to help instead of not helping. I'm a giver. I like to give myself to things that I do and people. I love life, I really do. We live one life as far as we know, we live in a tough world and I think that there are people out there who are honest and they're good people inside and out and I consider myself one of those."

Weaknesses: "Sometimes I jump to conclusions. I really hate when I let certain things get to me. And sometimes I just need to think about it, use my brain a little bit more and not jump to conclusions and let things go rather than having them get to me too quickly."

Others may not see: "People always tend to look at the outside and they think I go out every night and get laid with all these different women and I've got this lifestyle. And I'm not that guy. Obviously I like to go out and have fun but I'm also a good guy and I'm a good person and I don't like to use people . I don't like to get inside their heads and use then for sex and things like that. I think that this reality show will give an opportunity to see who I really am. And people will see that I'm not that guy. I'm a really good guy. I'm honest. I just don't like to play the games. I just want to be honest and be truthful to my life and everything that I do."

Did that come from your upbringing: "I guess so. I never liked to do things that everybody else liked to do. If everybody goes in this direction, I stay away from it. I just like to do my thing. I think that people tend to follow the trends because everybody's doing it without even asking themselves do you really like that, do you really want to be around that. Ask yourself is this something that you want to do. I like to find my own things, things that work for me, that are good for me because that's all I have is myself. And if I'm doing great, my family does great. If I'm working, my kids are healthy. So I like to focus on what makes me better as a person, what makes me happy so I can give everything back to everyone."

Interests: "Skydive, auto racing. I love riding my motorcycles. I even love washing my cars. I really love being around cars and motorcycles. Getting inside an engine. I like cleaning all my engines. I like to have things clean. I like my house to be very clean. I wouldn't say I'm a freak about it, but close to it. I like to have things set in a certain place. I've been doing all kinds of sports all my life from martial arts, boxing and surfing. Now I'm taking gymnastics. I take it at the same gymnasium that my daughter goes to. I've been doing it since September. I'm doing the splits. I'm working on parallel bars, flips, front and back flips, handstands, walking on my handstands, climbing ropes, rings. I'm doing the whole thing. It's crazy. I'm going to keep this up for a long while. It's changed everything. I feel stronger than I ever did before. It's a lot more fun that anything I've ever done before and it is a lot harder than anything I've done."

"I'm very much an adrenaline junkie. I love the not knowing. Jumping out of planes or racing cars. That truly makes me happy. When I go fish and go down in Australia to catch a big marlin or a big tuna, to me it's the fight of catching a fish. I'm one of those guys if I'm going to go fish for something, I'm going to catch it and eat it. But there's something about fighting that fear of not knowing, how you're going to ... when I jump from the first plane, the first jump at 15,000 feet that was an adrenaline rush that I can't describe. I love it. When I get inside a race car and there's 23 other guys racing to finish first, that to me is adrenaline. And that adrenaline just pushes me, it's amazing. It's just something in me, it was in my father, it's in me, it's in my son, it's in my daughter.".

It hasn't changed at all once you had kids, because of the risks: "No, I can't stop being myself, obviously I'm doing stuff that's risky but I just have to do it. That's what life is about. And I wouldn't want my kids to be afraid to do something that they really wanted to do and experiment because life is about taking a risk and you have to take a risk in life,  in your professional life, in your career, in your personal life. I'm taking a huge risk with this reality TV show. I've never done anything like this before and I'm willing to take a big step in that world but it's a risk. It's a huge risk. But I'm taking a risk knowing the consequences and you can't be afraid. You can't be afraid of what people say and might do. I'm in the wrong business if I'm afraid of that."

Turn-ons: "A smile. When I see someone smiling and they're really smiling, they're really happy and you see their good soul, that's a turn on, I mean that really is. Looking at the stars turns me on, looking at a clear sky, getting up in the morning and seeing a little mist in the sky over my house, that turns me on. Seeing my dogs every day and my beautiful kids turns me on."

Turn-offs: "Gossip turns me off. And I try not to gossip at all about anybody. If I read something, I stop myself and I say enough. It's not good. I hate it. It's one of the things I hate the most when people talk bad about other people because they have nothing better to do. It's wrong and I don't like any of my family and especially me talking bad about anybody. I also hate excuses,  people who make excuses for themselves. I can't do this because of this, well I used to do this but I can't do it now. There's no excuse for anything. If you want something bad enough you can do it. That's why I named my book, No Excuses. People do that all the time, as I have too. That's one of the things that I just stop myself and say, `don't bring that excuse, you just do it. Period.'"

Special Talents: "Fluent in Italian. I used to play  the flute when I was in Italy. That must have been when I was in 5th grade. I didn't continue. I love the sound of drums and I bang on congas, but I can't say I play that either."

Titles: "Celebrity Circus winner. I won Best Hottie at the 2008 Fox Reality Channel Really Awards for Celebrity Circus. It was nice.."

Charities: "I think it's our duty as people in the limelight if we can bring some attention to a cause. My personal is Aids and I consider that my main priority if I'm asked to be somewhere or talk about it or just show up. I think that as a celebrity it's our duty to bring awareness to anything that we're asked. AMFAR was my first cause and I was always very much a part of AMFAR and I still am. Any time they ask me to be part of it, I'm there. Aids is a huge problem all over the world that people should still talk about nonstop. And they don't do enough. It's very important. We need to stay away from if you talk about aids, you're gay, if you talk about this, you talk about that. Sexual preferences or whatever you do in your own personal life is your business and should only be personal to you and no one else. And it goes back to what I was saying about gossiping and all the negativity that people tend to do when something is bad in their lives, they'll talk bad about somebody else to make them feel better. That's why I don't live in LA. LA is a beautiful town with a lot of beautiful people. But people who live in LA, they come for one purpose, to make money, to be in the business, to do whatever it takes to do it. And it means also hurting people and I just don't want to be a part of that."

Travels: "I would love to go to Japan, I would love to go to china. Africa would definitely be another place. My all time favorite will always be Australia. I loved Australia from the moment I got there. I loved it even before I went there the first time. I've been going there for years. I traveled all over Australia and it's just a great country with a lot of great people, so clean and impressive. NZ  is beautiful. Just that side of the world is amazing to me, with just the food and the people and the climate. I made a lot of friends. Adelaide, the Gold Coast, Port Douglas, that side of the eastern part of the continent is amazing."

Spirituality: "I'm very open to anything. I grew up knowing about Jesus Christ and God. Being in Rome, you go to the Catholic church and Christianity. But right now, I'm very open to listen to anyone and anything. I believe there's a God and I believe there's good in people and good in the world, and there's a good place that you can talk to every night before you go to sleep, and that's what I do. I believe that there's good in everything. I think that if you believe in something and it makes you a good person, go for it."

Fashion sense: "Obviously I like sweat pants and T-shirts, that's my favorite, just the most comfortable. And I love sneakers, so any basketball or skateboarding shoes I love to wear. Like Affliction, True Religion or Rock & Republic jeans. I love to wear any of those jeans and T-shirts, I'm ready to go."

Staying healthy: "Gymnastics, we run, we climb, we do all kinds of hand presses and flips and trampolines and stuff everyday that I train over there. It's great. I love it. I do watch what I eat. If I eat something bad. potato chips or fried food, I'm not going to sleep that night, it's just going to affect my body, so I know the consequences. My goal is to be a vegetarian, that would be the ultimate goal but I love chicken too much."

What touches my soul: "Seeing my daughter smile. When she smiles and she looks at things and she has her expressions. Or my son, his laughter just makes me so happy, just touches me everywhere. It's amazing."

Are you gong to be a strict dad when it comes to Mina dating: "That's a tough question. I hope not bad, I'd like to have a really good relationship with my daughter and I hope that she'll make the right decisions. I want to be there for her. And I definitely don't want to push her away. I love her too damn much. So far, so good."

... on WOMEN

Do you date often: "Right now, my kids come first. I choose to put then first in everything. So my life revolves around their life and their activities. I'm used to getting up in the morning, making breakfast for my kids, taking them to school, go to the gym, go to my meetings, come back, pick them up from school, take them to their activities, then making dinner, helping with their homework and the day's over. So when the day goes on like that every single day. It's crazy. I don't have any time to date anybody right now."

I first notice ... "her integrity, her smile, the way she looks at something with open eyes and honesty. Just honesty in the way they behave. A cute little nose, nice full lips, nice hands, nice feet, nice teeth. Somebody who doesn't smoke, that definitely is a plus. Somebody who doesn't wear too much makeup, that's a plus."

Attention-getter: "Someone who doesn't think she's beautiful, but she is. It's just a natural look, you can tell them a hundred million times that you're the most beautiful woman in the world, and they'll be like, `well I don't know, I'm not that person.' But that doesn't mean she's not confident, she just doesn't look at herself that way, who's very humble, and humble in the way she portrays herself."

Ideal woman: "Somebody who's got a great sense of humor, who's willing to laugh, and be a giving person who loves to take care of her man. I love to take care of a woman so I would love to find someone who loves to take care of a man she loves and there's no boundaries there. I think that it has to do with the fact of how their mothers are and the relationship between them and their family because I believe that you are your parents in some ways. When the mother's divorced 10 guys, there's a good chance that probably the daughter will do the same. Somebody who doesn't come in the room and want to have all the attention. It all comes down to being humble and be someone who is confident within themselves, they don't have to try too hard. And that they're honest in their behavior. And watching their boyfriend or their husband's back. My mother was always like that with my father and I saw that as being one of the things that I would like to have in a girlfriend, that my mother has. She was always there for him, no matter what."

I can't resist a woman who ... "smells really good. Like vanilla, I love vanilla."

Most important quality in a woman: "Her smile. Sex appeal. I think that sex appeal doesn't mean you have to have the biggest breasts in the room. Sex appeal is something that you have or you don't have. Nobody can teach you to have it."

Ideal date: "A perfect date would be a great candle lit dinner overlooking the ocean, having a nice tropical breeze, going for a sunset drive either on a motorcycle, a convertible or a yacht and just talk and really look at that person in the eyes and get to know them. And just hug and cuddle and all that beautiful stuff."

What makes me call a woman back after a first date: "Somebody who was interesting in the sense that they were open about who they were but they weren't too open and they were protective about themselves. They won't sleep with you on the first night, they want to get to know you and they pretty much say, `I don't do this and I don't do that and I want to get to know you but I stick to who I am as a person, as a woman.' Those are things that I love."

I'd never date a woman who ... "smokes. That would never work out, The smell of smoke would just turn me off. I would never date a woman who wears too much makeup, just constantly makeup, makeup, makeup, from day to night. Women are beautiful. I think that putting makeup and change your look constantly from day to night is just insecurity. I would love to find someone who's confident."

Are you romantic: "Yes, I think so. I love romance. I think that romance is a beautiful thing, nobody should give it up."

How I show I care: "By listening to who they really are as a person, what they really need, being there for them. Listening is a big factor. You have to really listen, you have to really care. And that's what's really important for me to really get to know someone because if you don't, then you're there for the wrong reasons."

One thing a woman has never done for me yet, but I would love it: "100% commitment in every sense of the word,  committed to my life, committed to living this sort of lifestyle that I created but living it together as one. I think relationships are not only about saying, `hey I've got a girlfriend, I've got a boyfriend, answer my calls when I call or be there for Valentines.' It's a matter of a commitment that you're living your life together as one and you become friends and you answer those questions and you're there for each other and you have to have full trust and that's something that I never really took the relationship to. And I believe that there's still hope for that."

... on RELATIONSHIPS 

On relationships: "I would love to go through the process of being in a relationship and falling in love and asking that person to be with me for the rest of their life. That's something that I think about once in awhile but I don't force it, we'll see. I mean with this show, we'll see where that goes. I'm open to it."

Is a relationship important to you: "It's very much important to me. A relationship is a big part of my life, whether I'm having a relationship with my friends who are close to me or a commitment into a relationship with a girl. It's very important. To me, it all comes down to if you love someone. I mean you can date people, you can say I have a girlfriend, but at the end of the day, do you really love this person, do you really care ultimately if you're with them or not. Those are questions. Are you with that person for the right reasons or because she or he is attractive and that's all you're looking at. To me, it's all about love."

"It's important because you want to have people there in your life whether it's the relationship that I have with my close friends, whether it's the relationship I have with my kids, it's about listening to that person, being there not just doing stuff. We live in a very fast paced environment, everything is easy to get, you have the Internet, you have TV, people don't listen to that person, they don't get to know that person and I think by listening and by hearing that person out, then you get the chance to know who they are and then by finding out who they are, then you ask yourself, is this the person that I want to be with. But if you don't have that conversation or that commitment with one another, you'll never get to know them. So how can you say you really know them. And people get married and they get divorced really quickly, it shouldn't be that way. I want to be open to finding a person who's willing to listen to what I got to say."

What I love most about being in a relationship: "It's those butterflies. It's that fact that when I go on location and I haven't seen that person and you're flying home or you're flying to see her and you're like dying, you can't wait for the plane to land and she's going to pick you up at the airport. That's one of the things that I love is someone who picks me up at the airport. It just drives me crazy, it's amazing. Let's say I'm flying 10 hours and they're waiting, and I'm like I'm going to see my honey, that's love, that's everything."

Top relationship keys: "Honesty and sex appeal."

A woman in a relationship with me can expect ... "I'm very committed, very romantic and I would say sex will be a big part of my life. Sex, you got to have it and you got to have lots of it. And when you love someone, even more so. It's important for any relationship to keep that up and to keep it interesting, to keep changing it up. When you have the first date and the butterflies kick in, and you're excited to see this person, you got to keep that going. You can't let it go. If you can keep that moment going and you see the person for who they are and you're extremely in love with that person, then just have sex with them everyday."

What I expect: "I expect the full commitment, I expect 150%. I expect the person to love me and to respect me just as much as I love them and respect them. And to live an honest life and to back each other up all the way."

When I'm in love, ... "I'll do anything for that person. If I'm in love, I will do whatever it takes."

What makes me feel close to a woman: "Her trust, her confidence, her happiness. If she's with me and she's extremely happy then I know that maybe it's definitely due to the fact that we're together and everything's working out  Happiness is a big thing, a smile on her face, yeah."

Greatest relationship lesson: "Not to jump in too quickly and to conclusions and to commitment. Just let it take its time."

What makes a woman marriage material: "Someone who has family values, who has character, career-driven, loves to read, loves to know about life, who's willing to be there, very intellectual, all that."

... on SEX 

What makes sex good: "Oh, man. The way they look at you, the way they smile, the way their body just goes into the way it goes, a little mole maybe that's on their back or on her face. The way she holds me while things are going, and being hot in the moment, her smell. It goes on and on."

I feel my sexiest when ... "I hear it from my girl, whoever I'm with. When she tells me, `hey you're the man', you know, `you're poppa.'"

Most sensual part of a woman's body: "Stomach, her behind, her neck."

Sexiest thing a woman can wear in private: "Nothing."

Surefire way to seduce me: "Wear a white bikini, be really tan, have an Australian accent and you're set."

... on LIFE

Making my mark  "I have so many things that I'd like to do. I would like to keep working on my craft and work as an actor and get involved in bigger productions and just keep working. There's so many  amazing actors in this industry that I would love to meet and work with."

Responsibility to society:  "Not to society, but I think I feel a big responsibility toward my family and my kids to be a good father and a good provider. And that's about it but obviously I also like to be a good person and be honest but my main concern is my family first."

I must ... "climb Everest. That would be amazing, to train for that and climb that. To do a back flip off the ground, like on the street, and just do a back flip and I'd love to fly a plane supersonic, just to feel the feeling supersonic speed. Maybe I would learn how to fly it."

Best advice received: "You're not as good as you will be but you're better than yesterday."

Best advice I've given a woman: "Wear less makeup."

... on HIS FAVORITE THINGS

Movie: "Braveheart. Nothing touches that. It has everything that I love in life, it's got integrity, romance, action. adventure, love to the extreme. I love that movie, when I saw that, that was it, that does every thing for me."

TV Show: "Heroes, CNN, Spike's Ultimate Fighter."

Book: "The Autobiography of Warren Beatty, A Private Man; The Songs My Mother Taught Me about Marlon Brando."

Music: "Akon. I think this guy is amazing, anything he writes is really amazing, I love anything music wise, Taylor Swift was a great cd, David Cook was a great cd, but Akon, this one right now, it makes me feel good when I put it on in the car, it's called Freedom and it's really cool."

Food: "Italian."

... final THOUGHTS

Pets: "Labrador named Schumy (shumacker - 7th time world champion f1 driver), Rottweiler named blacky, Cockapoo named Stella."

Tattoos: "Batman tattoo on my lower back. 

Always in my refrigerator: "Cchicken, lots of creamers for my coffee. I drink coffee every day and I like the vanilla creamers. I think I'm addicted to coffee, I know it's bad but ... And salads. I like salads, as a matter of fact, I'm going to make one right now."

Hottest possession: "My motorcycle helmets and racing suits."

I'd change places for 24 hours with ... "a Formula One driver. I just want to experience once how it feels to drive a car that weighs less than a coffee table and has 750 horsepower and zero to 60 in two seconds and is probably the most technologically advanced car in the world."

I'd most like to hang out with ... "Obama. I think he's an amazing person. I think the guy has no weakness, at all. He's the coolest cat around. I watched him through his debates and at first I wasn't for him, and I didn't know too much about him and then he just made me come to his side. He's a very good guy, a very smart guy and I'm very excited to see what he's going to do for this country."

Celeb I'd love to take on a date: "Nicky Whelan, she's a young Australian actress.  She's just got one of the most beautiful smiles I've ever seen on a girl. She is maybe the most beautiful girl on this planet at this moment. She's just fascinating to look at. But she has a very natural look. I love that about her. I don't know more than that because I don't know her but what I saw and what I've heard, she's got a beautiful voice with that Australian accent that could drive any man crazy especially me, yeah, I would die, I would die, she's amazing."

Why I'm a great catch: "I don't know, I would say that, my honesty. I will give my all especially in a loving relationship. I pretty much will do anything for that person and they will get a man who's very romantic, who's old fashioned in some ways and who's not old fashioned in some other ways. And who loves to travel and have an adventure. It's kind of like a movie into reality."

Me in a word: "Driven."