Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton signs to write for ITV website

by Staff Brand Republic 08-Apr-08, 10:50

LONDON - ITV has signed celebrity blogger Perez Hilton to write a weekly column on itv.com as part of an effort to promote its preppy teen drama 'Gossip Girl'.

Hilton, who was recently named by the Observer as one of the world's top ten most powerful bloggers, will post on ITV's site as part of an effort to support the broadcaster's acquisition of 'Gossip Girl', which features an eponymous fictional blogger who writes about the loves and lives of a group of privileged New York prep school students.

Perez will pen a weekly column to coincide with the broadcaster's online coverage of the ITV2 show, which has been described as 'Sex and The City' meets 'The O.C.' meets 'Cruel Intentions', with each new installment going live online after the latest episode airs each Thursdays.

The new column will sit alongside episode catch-ups and previews, interviews with the cast and galleries of images from the show.

Perez Hilton, who launched his blog in 2005, has swept the web with his bitchy style of celebrity gossip, which famously saw him post 60 times on the day that Lindsay Lohan was arrested for drink driving.

The deal with ITV adds to a growing mini media empire for Perez Hilton, who also has a reality TV show on VH1. He also did some presenting stints for ITV2, interviewing celebs on the red carpet for the Brit Awards.

Hilton has this week been whipping up a storm of controversy over his alleged same-sex kiss with singer John Mayer, the former boyfriend of Jessica Simpson.

Perez Hilton claims the kiss took place at his New Year's Eve party in 2006 although Mayer is insisting it never happened. The blogger this week took a lie detector test to refute attacks on him by Mayer's own blog.

Appearing on 'American Idol' and DJ Ryan Seacrest's show earlier this week, Hilton said, "He kissed me and I kissed him back ... It was like on the mouth with open mouth and tongue.

"While John Mayer and I are making out hardcore, she's (Simpson), like, rubbing his crotch. I swear a hundred percent ... He just kept going and going and going."

The 30-year old blogger, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, was recently named by The Times as the "most powerful, widely read, cruel and vicious writer in Hollywood".

Read Gordon's Republic blog post on 'The World's 50 Most Powerful Blogs'.