Where in the World is Brian Dunkleman?...How About the Celebrity Fit Club!

[Brian Damage]

February 25, 2008 -- BRIAN Dunkleman, the long- lost former co-host from the first season of "American Idol," is back on TV - dodging a drill sergeant's insults on VH1's "Celebrity Fit Club" instead of Simon Cowell's barbs.

Dunkleman, who has more or less been out of the public eye since suddenly leaving "Idol" after one season, joined "Fit Club" to get in shape for his wedding last month.

He and a group of other celebs, including "Happy Days" star Erin Moran and former "Baywatch" babe Gina Lee Nolan, spent an intense 10 weeks bunking with former Marine drill sergeant Harvey Walden.

"At first, I thought I was getting punked," Dunkleman told The Post.

"But then I realized - I'm not famous enough anymore to get punked."

Dunkleman said the casting call came about six weeks before his January wedding to an LA chef and restaurant publicist.

"We eat out a lot," he says. "So I've sort of put back on everything that I lost" since taping ended a short while ago, he joked.

Dunkleman was never really overweight, unlike most of the celebs who have appeared on the VH1 reality show. Instead, he tried to focus on cutting his body fat and building muscle mass.

A noble goal, but one that was difficult, given the various gastronomical opportunities currently available to him.

"The first thing I did when it was over was have a 33 oz. rib-eye steak and a good wine," he says.

Wine and beer played a leading role during Dunkleman's tour of duty on "Fit Club." (The new season debuts next month.)

The night before the program began, producers held a dinner for the contestants - with cameras rolling - where he and Moran were caught on film partaking liberally in the free beer.

A few weeks later, the producers threw him a bachelor party where he, to put it mildly, got hammered - also on camera.

"I knew early on that they were going to make an issue of it," he says of his on-camera drinking. "But it was my bachelor party. Come on!"

For years there have been reports - strongly denied by Dunkleman - that drinking played a part in his exit from "Idol."

Dunkleman insists he left the show on his own accord because he didn't like the way producers treated the contestants. He now admits it wasn't his best career move.

"I didn't leave a show that averaged 30 million viewers a week," he says. "That's just insane.

"I left a show that was averaging 12 million. That's just stupid. Of course I regret it, hind-sight's a bitch."

Since "Idol," Dunkleman has appeared in an independent film and a few failed TV pilots.

Mostly, he plays golf these days.

"Right after 'Idol,' I took an acting class, and you know what I learned?" he says. "That I'm not that good of an actor."

"Fit Club," he hopes, may open some new doors. And if nothing else, it's helped to add structure to his life.

"It was the hardest thing I've ever done," he says.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/02252008...eman_99218.htm