HE was the star of the world's most watched TV programme. He played a rock gig on top of the Berlin Wall as East and West Germany were reunited. And now The Hoff has come to Swansea for a bowl of soup.
Staff and customers were left pinching themselves when actor and rock star — in Germany and Austria at least — David Hasselhoff dropped in to the Bay View restaurant in St Helen's for a Thai meal.
And after the meal the star took time to meet fans and sign an Ospreys rugby shirt which is going to be auctioned for charity.
Restaurant boss Peter Underhill — who lives with landlady and partner Sam Wardley above the bar and restaurant — said: "During the afternoon some customers rang us to say they had seen David Hasselhoff trying the front door.
''But we just thought they were kidding.
"Then when we went down to open the restaurant at 6pm and we found a signed picture of David Hasselhoff had been slipped under the door.
"Moments later he walked in."
The star is in the UK for work — he is one of the judges on the new series of the ITV show Britain's Got Talent, and has been filming in Cardiff.
He popped in to the Bay View with a friend.
Speaking to the Post after his meal The Hoff said: "I am enjoying being in Wales — it is a nice country, and I am having a great time.
"I have been recording in Cardiff and came down to Swansea for a meal.
''Swansea is a nice place, and I hope we can come back here again."
The actor shot to fame in the 1980s TV series Knight Rider, where he starred alongside talking car Kit.
But it was his role as lifeguard Mitch Buchannon in the Californian beach and blonde beauties smash hit series Baywatch that cemented his fame.
The show was watched in scores of countries around the world, and according to the Guinness Book of World Records is the most popular programme in TV history.
Hunk
But the Hoff also enjoys a large following — especially in Germany and Austria — for his music.
Barely a month after the fall of East Germany in 1989 he played a famous gig at the site of the partly demolished Berlin Wall where he performed his then current hit "Looking for Freedom".
But the hunk in red trunks was looking for something else when he arrived in Swansea this week — a hot Thai coconut soup.
Mr Underhill said: "He said his partner had been talking about our tom yum kha soup and wanted to try — we are thinking of re-naming it the 'Hoff soup' now.
"He was here for a couple of hours having his meal, then afterwards took time to meet the chefs and our customers. He was very patient and amenable — he's quite a cool guy.
"I asked him if he was planning to come back and he said he could guarantee he would be back."
As well as posing for pictures with staff and customers, The Hoff signed an Ospreys rugby shirt which will be auctioned off at a special charity event in the Bay View on May 21 presided over by former Wales international Colin Charvis.
Proceeds will go to Cycle Challenge Wales, a week-long sponsored ride around Wales in June which is raising cash for good causes including the Air Ambulance service.
Two of the customers dining alongside the Hoff were John Evans and Sadie Parson from Mount Pleasant, Swansea.
Mr Evans said: "We went out for a meal, and I popped my head around the door to check if they were open — I went back to Sadie and said 'you are never going to believe who is there'."
jason.evans@swwmedia.co.uk
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