Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

David Charvet reveals that he and fiance Brooke Burke will wed once their new house is finished being built in Malibu, and "It's almost done."

But last week, it appeared those plans were very literally about to go up in smoke — as the Malibu wildfire reached the backyard of Brooke's home next door to the under-construction house.

"We woke up, and it was black all around. The 75-mile-an-hour winds had blown down trees in the back, and it smelled like a really bad barbeque. … I told Brooke, 'We need to pack up the kids and get you out of here.'"

Burke went to David's brother's home in Santa Monica, along with their 10-month-old baby daughter and Brooke's 7- and 5-year-old daughters from her former marriage. The handsome former "Baywatch" and "Melrose Place" actor stayed behind. "I saw my neighbors setting up hoses everywhere. … So I got a hose and got up on top of my wooden structure."

He admits he remained beyond evacuation orders, and that it might have been too dangerous. He says, "I think we got close to that point, but something happens to a man when he feels like he's being challenged. My manhood as a provider was being challenged. Where would I put my family?'" They were ecstatic to be reunited hours later. 

Now David is returning his attention to professional pursuits — he has the movies "Prisoners of the Sun" — an adventure picture in the "Indiana Jones" vein with John Rhys-Davies — and "Green Flash" in the can. The latter is set in the beach volleyball subculture, was shot in his beloved Malibu and is being planned for release to coincide with the '08 Olympics. 

AS REAL AS IT GETS: Seeing the ravages of AIDS first hand in South Africa, while recording the single "The Great Divide," was "both sobering and inspiring," says Hanson member Taylor Hanson. "The whole experience was life-changing for me.

"It's easy when you see the percentages of people that have a disease to examine it in a Petri dish kind of way. But when you put your hand on the shoulders of a child that is terminally ill and you see these doctors who are really looking for a solution without being downtrodden and discouraged … it motivates anyone to say, 'Why can't we use what we have?'"

Consequently, all proceeds from "The Great Divide" off of Hanson's latest CD, "The Walk," are going to the Perinatal HIV Unit at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, South Africa.

Hanson will lead a one-mile symbolic "Walk" to Sunset Blvd.

and then perform after a news conference in front of West Hollywood City Hall starting at 10 a.m. tomorrow (Oct. 31), detailing the group's partnership with TOMS Shoes (which is donating a pair of shoes for every pair sold to a needy child) and the City of West Hollywood's "Global AIDS Initiative" to help fight poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa. 

"We've got to move past awareness toward really focusing on individual action," declares the 24-year-old. "As a member of this generation, I feel like it is the new paradigm to redefine charity. The word 'charity' carries with it a sense of 'Here's what the affluent do,' but we can all begin to do simple things. Being a little over-marketed makes you a little pessimistic about causes and things, so we're just going direct, and I think that speaks specifically to people of our age group. If you buy a shoe, you can give a shoe away. If you buy a song, it goes directly to the doctors."

THE VIDEOLAND VIEW: Comic/actor Lil JJ says the switch to a live audience for the second season of his Nickelodeon show "Just Jordan," which began last month, was right up his alley. "I actually felt like it was better for everybody," says the 16-year-old, who headlined BET's Teens of Comedy Tour. "The writers spend all that time making sure these jokes pop, so when the crowd laughs, the writers are happy and the actors are happy as well because they're like, 'Whoa, I got a joke that works.'"

Lil JJ is back before the studio audiences shooting an additional seven episodes ordered of "Just Jordan," which will move to a new day and time — Saturdays at 8:30 — on Nov. 3. "Akeelah and the Bee" star Keke Palmer guests as a teen star Jordan meets in the middle of a moment of paparazzi chaos in the segment. "We just randomly met and got each other's contacts, so we were already friends," says Lil JJ. "We kept saying we can't wait to work together, and the chemistry between us was great."

THE COUPLE THAT PLAYS TOGETHER: Tia Mowry says she'd love to work with fiance Cory Hardrict one of these days, though they're coming from different directions, thematically speaking. "People see him on the deep, hard-core dramas like 'Lincoln Heights' and 'K-Ville,'" notes the actress, who rose to fame on her "Sister, Sister" comedy. However, he can certainly do lighter-hearted fare, she knows, while she can go heavier — as she's proven on her current "The Game" series, playing an NFL player's fiance. Hardrict encouraged her and coached her to try for the "Game" role when she wasn't sure she could handle it. "We really see selves as a team," she says. "I push him, he pushes me."

With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster.

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2007 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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