Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

E! Channel sensation Kendra Wilkinson looks incredible in her February OK! magazine spread — a song of physical perfection, in fact, for a woman who just gave birth Dec. 11. But not to hear her tell it.

"I can't say I'm back yet. I'm dieting. I'm going to get better," says the knockout blonde, who went from being one of Hugh Hefner's girlfriends on "Girls Next Door" to love and marriage with Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Hank Baskett on her own "Kendra" show — to motherhood with the arrival of Hank Baskett IV.

She credits helpful lighting for her dazzling look in the British mag. Meanwhile, "I'm under a lot of pressure to get back in shape for photo shoots and stuff like that. They don't understand that it's not that easy to get back in shape," she complains.

"Actually, I had this doctor come over yesterday, to my new house in Tarzana. The doctor rubbed on my belly and said, 'There's always going to be that small little pooch because your uterus is shrinking,'" Wilkinson recounts.

"Once a week, I do hardcore training and stuff," continues the 24-year-old San Diego native. "I breast feed. I have to have some fat in me. Breast feeding, you burn off so many calories."

"Kendra's" new season launches March 14, and she considers it "10 times better than last season" — which is saying a lot, considering what a ratings winner that show has been for E! already.

Despite the challenges, she says motherhood is "the best thing that's ever happened to me. It's so great to be a young mom. I can guarantee, if I'd waited 10 years to have a baby, I'd be in so much more pain and stuff. I feel like Supermom. If I need to lift a stroller down the steps, I lift it myself. I'm young and strong."

The best part of all: "The bond between us, the love. He knows I'm his mom now. Every time I walk away, he cries, which is painful and a negative thing, but also, every time I'm there, he laughs and smiles. Besides Hank, I'm the only one my baby can recognize and have that immediate comfort with. Wherever we go, if I'm there, he's happy."

NEW STEPS: "Dancing With the Stars" judge Carrie Ann Inaba tells us she's ready to interview some celebrities this weekend at the Oscars as part of her co-hosting gig for the TV Guide Network's "Live on the Red Carpet." However, for a "shy" girl from Hawaii, it's not as easy as it may look.

"I'm not familiar with celebrities. I don't go out with the Hollywood crowd. I live kind of a quiet life so I thought this job would be exciting," says Inaba of taking the hosting gig.

"It's really exciting, but it's a challenge. It's a whole new world for me because I'm naturally a shy person. I dance. I never liked speaking as much, but then I found myself being a judge and speaking a lot more than I wanted to. Now I'm on the red carpet speaking to celebrities. I get a little nervous because I'm just a girl from Hawaii. It's bizarre," she notes. "I have to face my fears of being shy and initiate conversations with people I've admired and respected my whole life. It's an honor to get to interact with them and I just want to do it justice so I study a lot for this job."

In fact, Inaba tells us she's been brushing up on all of the Oscar-nominated movies in hopes of being more than prepared for the big day. "I took a couple of weeks off for the Emmys so I could study every single person I could on TV. I spent about two months studying for that. I have to say, I love school and part of being this red carpet host has to do with studying," explains the acclaimed dancer, who seems to be getting better and better as she goes. "I know I've got to speak a little slower. I saw how excited I was so I've got to keep that more on the inside and be a little cooler on the outside," she adds with a laugh. Hey, it's the Oscars. Everyone's excited.

BAD MAN RISING: Dean Norris, familiar to "Breaking Bad" fans as Hank, the amiable blowhard DEA agent brother-in-law of Bryan Cranston's character, works a whole different set of chops on tomorrow night's (3/5) episode of "Medium." His guest role is "the creepiest I've ever played. He's a recidivist child-molesting rapist kind of a guy. He's the brother of the main detective, Scanlon (David Cubitt)," the actor reports.

Norris has been enjoying a busman's holiday since "Breaking Bad" wrapped production for its March 21-debuting third season in January. He's also just finished work on a "Lie to Me" episode, and hopes to do more guest roles before the regular TV season is over. "It's just so much fun. The characters are generally different, and you get to go in there and do a fun, interesting story. You notice, you're seeing movie stars guest-starring on shows these days," he points out. Norris shows his funny side in "Cop Talk" videos you can find on YouTube and the AMC website. Those cops he's seen with in the goofy bits are really cops who are his buddies, he lets us know. But Norris' Hank will be anything but funny this coming season, the actor tips. Look out.

NOT THE SAME OLD SAME OLD: Another pilot on the way is ABC's "Off the Map," about three doctors who are running a medical clinic in the middle of a tropical rain forest, using limited resources and lots of improvising. The characters are pretty Nina, sexy and tough Indian-American Michael and brilliant, easily entertained Otis, all of whom left their pasts behind when heading out to the jungle. Sounds interesting.

With reports by Emily-Fortune 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 2010 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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