Hoff The Record (Dave, 10pm)

HE may have missed out of bringing his stage show to Darlington in November, but David Hasselhoff seems determined to keep his real life every bit as bizarre as his “pretend” adventures in Hoff The Record. Recently, he was hiding from the paparazzi in a Barbados gym, just days after getting engaged to his Welsh girlfriend, Hayley Roberts, who's 27 years his junior.

"We're trying to enjoy it, but there's a photographer lurking just about everywhere," says 63-year-old Hasselhoff. The Baywatch and Night Rider star admits that storylines in the mockumentary series are based on real events from his own never-dull life.

However, the fictional Hasselhoff has five ex-wives rather than two, and an illegitimate German son instead of his two daughters, Taylor-Ann and Hayley.

"I don't think I'm going to get this close to such a good series for a long time, it's very difficult to get a series people will laugh out loud at and everyone loves," says Baltimore-born Hasselhoff.

Despite jokes about sucking his stomach in, Hasselhoff's looking pretty fit for a sexagenarian. He's steered clear of drink since 'that' infamous home video of him, apparently in an alcoholic stupor, surfaced in 2007, and he says he wanted to tone up for his recent cameo in next year's Baywatch film, opposite muscular Dwayne Johnson, who's playing Hasselhoff's character Mitch Buchannon, and heart-throb Zac Efron.

"Filming adds 20 pounds, so you want to stay a little bit tight. I do 20 minutes on the bike and get my heart rate up to 140, which is that of a 40-year-old, so I try to remain 40. I know I've cleaned my system out, burned some calories and you can have a little dessert if you want it. I try to stay away from sugar and alcohol and it makes a hell of a difference."

Hasselhoff loves working in the UK, largely because of the British sense of humour. He's done panto for seven Christmases.

"When I grew up, I never thought I'd be talking to a car on TV, I always thought I'd be on Broadway. Theatre is where I wanted to be. So when panto came along, they said, 'It's very English and Americans don't get it' – and I said, 'Well I get it'.

"In fact, my whole life is like a panto, everywhere I go it's, 'Hoff, Hoff, Hoff', I'm constantly interacting with people," he adds. "I love panto. I keep saying, 'I'll never do it again', but I find it really a positive thing and also, this year, I'm going to be in Cardiff, which is even better because I'll be in Wales."

Ant & Dec: Their Story (C5, 9pm)

MOST of the North-East is aware that they’ve been following the screen career of Geordies Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly for more than 25 years. The duo got their first big break on the 1990s children's drama Byker Grove as PJ and Duncan, and fellow Newcastle Performing Arts students saw the pair cut their college course early to follow a performing and presenting career. This documentary charts Ant and Dec's remarkable rise from anarchic kids' TV favourites and slightly unlikely pop idols to all-round family favourites. The programme includes contributions from friends, fans and celebrities who have worked with them.

Artsnight - Charlotte Church (BBC2, 11.35pm)

CHARLOTTE Church's edition focuses on the power and pleasure of singing. She believes it's a fundamental aspect of human culture that some sections of Western society are in danger of losing touch with. On the eve of the launch of the Festival of the Voice, a new international music festival in Cardiff, she'll be meeting some of the performers who are pushing the boundaries of what the human voice can do, as well as using singing as a tool for social cohesion and self-expression. She talks to musicians including Laura Mvula, Meilyr Jones, Gwenno and 9Bach, and also learns more about a new musical project on dementia choirs from the National Theatre of Wales.

Viv Hardwick