Idol host Dom signs up for US show

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NZ Idol host Dominic Bowden is about to get his own million-dollar taste of reality - American style.

Sunday News has learned Bowden has been signed to a major new US reality TV show and is set to quit New Zealand for Hollywood.

Bowden was unavailable for comment. A source close to the star would not reveal the name of the show for fear of disrupting contract negotiations.

"But it will be as big as American Idol," the source said.

" This will be life-changing for Dominic. It will turn him into a superstar.

"It will thrust him into the homes of millions of Americans, then billions around the world."

Bowden has visited the US several times during the past year, after his agent Karen Kay introduced him to a top casting agency there.

The well-connected Kay is also Michael Barrymore's NZ agent.

"Karen has always rated Dominic," the source said. "She recognised his talent would stand up on the world stage - and this proves her instincts correct."

Bowden, who made his television debut with a bit-part on soap Shortland Street, has hosted three series of NZ Idol.

He's also fronted Pop's Ultimate Idol, and Are You Smarter than A 10-year-old? - a Kiwi spin on American show Are You Smarter than A 5th Grader?

A possible US blockbuster TV show Bowden could have signed for is Star Struck -a music reality TV series by acidic American Idol judge Simon Cowell.

Cowell says the project is partly inspired by the 1980s film Fame.

"Fame was all about young people wanting to be famous and in order to do that, they enrolled in a drama school," he said. "The difference 25 years later is that everyone who wants to be famous today signs up for American Idol."

Bowden's signing to a major American show will raise his international profile to that of Christchurch-born superstar Phil Keoghan, who's become a household name as host of The Amazing Race.

In that show, teams of two race around the world using transport including planes, taxis, trains and boats.

Keoghan has travelled to over 50 countries hosting The Amazing Race.