EXCLUSIVE: Read it here first...

Pitching a Tent with Paris' New Pal

Thu., May. 24, 2007 3:52 PM PDT by Marc Malkin

Arnaldo Anaya-Lucca

Meet Hunter Cross.

Who is Hunter Cross? He's one of Paris Hilton's new friends.

The muscled 26-year-old model is one of the hotel heiress' cocounselors in The Simple Life Goes to Camp, the E! series featuring Hilton and Nicole Richie working in the woods at Camp Shawnee for five weeks. Each week was a new camp program, varying from weight loss to kiddie beauty pageants.

I got the chance to sit down with Cross yesterday for some one-on-one time. I have a feeling I wasn't the first to be smitten with Mr. Cross.

A native of Hagerstown, Maryland, Cross played college football for a year but decided to pursue a modeling career after he was chosen to be in Abercrombie & Fitch's Christmas 2003 catalog.

He eventually got the acting bug and moved to L.A. in January. Not long after, he got the chance to be a counselor on The Simple Life. He didn't know what to expect.

"Nicole's first words to me were, 'What's up, bitch?' " Cross remembered.

Then she asked if he had an, um, erection. "I was like, 'Oh, God, this is going to be interesting' " Cross said.

And interesting it was. Not only was there no cellphone service at Camp Shawnee, Paris and Nicole had to perform tasks like administering colonics to the weight-loss campers!

E! Network

"I thought they were going to be complete, like, you hear about—celebutantes. You hear about the airheads...two girls from Bel Air," Cross said.

Of course, rumors have already started that Cross and Hilton became more than just friends while pitching tents in the forest.

Cross insisted they didn't date but said, "Something may have happened, but I'm still not allowed to say."

But he had plenty to say about showering with Hilton, her jail sentence and what his friends keep buggin' him about. Make sure to check out the Vine at E! Online on Tuesday for our one-on-one.

In the meantime, you can see him plenty shirtless on the new Simple Life, which premieres Monday on E!.

"They invented a lot of ways," Cross said while blushing, "for me to take my shirt off."