EXCLUSIVE: Read it here first...

Karina Talks About Mario Lopez's Butt

Tue., Dec. 18, 2007 6:06 AM PST by Marc Malkin

ABC/Adam Larkey

Mario Lopez and his Dancing with the Stars partner Karina Smirnoff have never publicly acknowledged they’re actually a couple, but that doesn’t stop Ms. Smirnoff from gushing over his bare buttocks.

On Friday afternoon, Tina Dirmann and I interviewed Smirnoff at the Sports Club/LA in Beverly Hills for our Planet Gossip show. Needless to say, I had to ask about Lopez’s now legendary shower scene in Nip/Tuck.

Smirnoff admitted to repeatedly watching the scene in which he appears completely naked—except for full frontal, of course—in a communal shower with Julian McMahon, who plays Dr. Christian Troy. “That’s my favorite YouTube video,” she said. “I stopped counting after 40.”

So, is Smirnoff bothered that Lopez’s butt is out there for anyone to gander at? “Well, um, yeah,” she said with a laugh. “But I think he has an amazing body. I mean, he’s extremely fit, and he does have a pretty good-looking rear end.”

The two met when they were teamed up for the third season of Dancing with the Stars. They came in second place to winner Emmitt Smith and dancer Cheryl Burke.

For the next few weeks, however, Smirnoff will be getting a lot closer to people who aren’t Mr. Lopez. She’s hitting the road starting today for the new Dancing with the Stars tour.

“We have 12 dancers on our bus!” she revealed. “I know I’m not looking forward to having to sleep on a bus with 12 bunks.”

But they’re not going to be fighting over the bathroom, because there is no bathroom on the bus. Smirnoff said, “You have to actually tell the bus driver you have to go, and he has to stop.”

Make sure to come back here tomorrow to see more from the interview—and watch Smirnoff teach us how to dance. Let’s just say, I don’t think there’s going to be a Dancing with the Gossip Columnists anytime soon.