Close Shave for the Hoff

David Hasselhoff undergoing surgery after severing a tendon in his right arm after getting cut with glass in a London gym bathroom; actor has since been released from hospital

By Gina Serpe Jun 30, 2006 7:45 PMTags

Another feeling David Hasselhoff wasn't able to stop: pain.

The "Hooked on a Feeling" singer and current America's Got Talent judge underwent emergency surgery in London Thursday after slicing a tendon in his right arm during a freak shaving accident.

Publicist Judy Katz says the erstwhile Knight Rider hero was attempting a post-workout shave in the gym at London's Sanderson Hotel when he hit his head on a glass object, pieces of which cut into his arm.

While various British media reports claim the offending item was a chandelier (!), Britain's Sun tabloid pegs the culprit as a glass shelf.

"David had just finished working out in the gym at the hotel where he was staying," Katz is quoted in the paper. "He was getting ready to shave and bent down but when he stood up David hit his head on a glass shelf and it shattered.

"Some of the glass got into his hand and cut it quite badly."

The former Speedo-loving Baywatcher was taken from his temporary West End digs--he's in London working on some TV commercials--to St. Thomas Hospital to undergo an operation to repair the severed tendon.

"He's fine," Katz told the Associated Press. "He's out of the hospital and will resume filming tomorrow."

The 53-year-old actor alum arrived in London earlier this week to star in a series of spots for Pipex, a British Internet company.

The accident may have been some kind of karmic justice.

Hasselhoff recently disappointed audiences across the pond by canceling his debut pantomime role as Captain Hook in the musical Peter Pan, due to open this year in London.

He reneged on the theater gig after learning the schedule would clash with his current day job, acting as judge on the Regis Philbin-hosted, Simon Cowell-produced talent search, America's Got Talent.

He judges the competition alongside Brandy and British journalist Piers Morgan.