E! gossip with a wink

By ELEANOR BLACK

Steve Kmetko straddles the Hollywood divide, being both an ordinary guy who interviews the stars and a celebrity in his own right.

Kmetko has been an entertainment reporter for the past 20 years but he made showbiz headlines of his own when he started dating Greg Louganis, the Olympic diving champion who announced his homosexuality after he was diagnosed with HIV.

He was cast, not without apprehension, as a homosexual hero and soon became accustomed to sitting on the other side of the microphone.

The four-year romance with Louganis is over but Kmetko, who was in New Zealand for the launch of the E! channel on Sky Digital, is still inundated with emails about his sexuality and decision to expose it. The 49-year-old says the response has been overwhelmingly positive and he hopes his openness will help to ease the discrimination gays face for their choice of partner. Twenty years ago he lost his job at a small Michigan television station when the general manager found out he was gay.

"I think it's just a crime that people can't be accepted for who they are."

After moving to Los Angeles in 1982, Kmetko got a job with the major network CBS, where he worked for 10 years, before landing the job on E! that has made him a "name" in 1994. He and Jules Asner co-host the channel's Emmy-nominated news programme which has become a hit with viewers who like their gossip delivered with attitude.

Kmetko covered his 18th Academy Awards ceremony this year and was one of the first people to congratulate Best Actress winner Halle Berry - after she had finished gasping with disbelief that an African American woman had finally won.

"After she got over the crying jag she was really excited. I was thrilled for her."

Berry is one of the stars lucky enough to make Kmetko's list of favourites. He is not known for holding back when he has a chance to stick the boot in, although this does not seem to have hampered his ability to secure interviews with A-list talent.

"We're more of a realistic entertainment news show than some of the others," he says. "We have more of a nudge, nudge/wink, wink approach. How serious can you get about Pamela Anderson's breast reduction? Come on!"

Whoopi Goldberg, Julia Roberts, Jack Nicholson and Russell Crowe make the grade, Mel Gibson and Demi Moore don't.

"They have their moods. It's what they draw on for their performances and I'd hate to sit down with someone who had no personality - and they exist, let me tell you. I think some people are actors and actresses because they have no personality to call their own."