Ask American Profile 3/29/2009

Patrick Swayze, Carter Oosterhouse, Paula Abdul

Q How sick was Patrick Swayze when he was working on his TV series The Beast?
-Allen Lang, Farmington, N.M.

Swayze, 56, diagnosed with stage-four pancreatic cancer the very day The Beast was given the network go-ahead to begin production, finished the first season in November. He shot 12 episodes after undergoing treatment and missed only one day of work, according to his producers. "You forgot sometimes that Patrick was going through treatment for cancer," says executive producer William Rotko. "It makes you stop and think before you say you have a tummy ache."


Q I'd like to know more about HGTV personality Carter Oosterhouse.
-Wanda Martin, Waco, Texas

Oosterhouse, 32, learned carpentry from a Michigan neighbor as a youth. After studying nutrition in college, he worked for a TV production company in California and soon combined his acting talents with his carpentry on Trading Spaces. He began Carter Can in 2007 and Red Hot & Green in 2008. Now he's starting a third TV show, Carter's Workshop for Kids. "I love working with kids because they're so brutally honest," says Oosterhouse, who lives in Los Angeles.


Q Is it true that American Idol added the fourth judge because they are going to get rid of Paula Abdul when her contract is up at the end of this season?
-Bradley Russell, Oakland, Calif.

Nothing could be further from the truth, according to executive producer Cecile Frot-Coutaz, who explains that when the show was created in the United Kingdom as Pop Idol, it had four judges. This season, AI is returning to that original format. Abdul, 46, and new judge Kara DioGuardi, 38, have been friends for more than 10 years and together co-wrote "Spinning Around," a No. 1 hit single for Kylie Minogue in the United Kingdom.

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