Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Personal trainer Bob Harper tells us that although Jillian Michaels left "The Biggest Loser" after last season, her spirit lives on — in a way.

"I've gotten possessed by Jillian a lot," he jokingly admits. "You're going to see me in a different way, not taking 'no' for an answer, getting people to stand on their own two feet."

The beloved Bob, who has been known to shed a tear and share a hug with an emotional contestant every few episodes, has never been easy on his subjects. But he's even tougher these days, to hear him tell it.

"Now that Jillian has moved on and is working with 'The Doctors,'" he says, "I'm getting a chance to spread my wings in my own way. I've got to do what I can for these people — as passionately as possible."

According to Bob, his new, high-profile fellow trainer — tennis star Anna Kournikova — is bringing plenty of passion to the show. "She's a sweet woman and a really strong competitor," he says. However, he points out that she's brand new to the game of helping morbidly obese people get into shape.

"It's going to be a real struggle, I think, because it's such a specific job," he says. "You can come in with all the heart you want, but you also have to know what to do."

Trainer Dolvett Quince is also newly aboard "The Biggest Loser," which launches Season 12 on Sept. 20.

Does Bob's friendship with Jillian continue? "Of course!" he says. "We talk all the time. I'm about to leave for dinner with her right now."

PROGAMMABLE PUGILISTS: Boxing great Sugar Ray Leonard has finished his duties as fight choreographer on the Hugh Jackman "Real Steel" feature, and Leonard believes that the fighting robot matches featured in the near-futuristic tale could become a big thing in the real world.

"I took my wife and my kids and my mother-in-law to see the robot boxers and they loved it," he says.

Leonard appreciates that his role in the robot-boxing world is "so ironic," but adds, "boxing is not as glittering as it used to be in (Muhammad) Ali's and my era."

THE BIG-SCREEN SCENE: Speaking of sports stars in the movie scene, news broke last week that NBA star Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder will be filming a feature for Warner Bros. next month with "a basketball subplot."

Now, we can tell you that plot is a fun one. It's a variation on the body-swap theme, in which a beleaguered high school boy somehow magically takes on all Durant's b-ball skills and becomes a phenomenal success — even as the NBA two-time scoring title-holder suddenly finds himself unable to make even the simplest shot. Can all that talent get switched back where it belongs in time to save Durant's season? If the players' strike goes on, will it matter?

Shooting begins next month with locations in Oklahoma City and New Orleans.

TALES FROM THE GOLDEN AGE OF HOLLYWOOD: A casting call has gone out for retired and semi-retired former TV stars and movie names — those who get out and about, or those who spend their lives at the Motion Picture and Television Fund's retirement home — who are willing to tell their show-business stories on camera. It's for a documentary titled, appropriately enough, "Stories of Hollywood." Talent must be immediately recognizable.

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 2011 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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