He's the handsome new club owner on "Dante's Cove" and Gabriel Romero certainly made an impression in the season finale. Let me just say it took place in the kitchen of the hotel when everyone was under a love spell and Gabriel's character, Marco Laveau, was not wearing any clothes: "That magic works on all of us," Gabriel told me, laughing.

We had met a few years back at a Trevor Project fundraiser and I remember having a long, in-depth conversation with Gabriel about spirituality and other things. It was such a nice departure from a lot of the superficial stuff that goes on at those kinds of events.
But this was before he joined Dante's Cove. This time, we had other things to talk about like what is Marco Lavreau all about?
"There's a real mystery to the character. We don't know yet if he's bad or good. He has a mysterious past. He knows something about the magic that goes on in Dante's Cove. You'll find out a lot more about Marco in this next season."
Romero says joining the show in its second season when it was already an established hit "has been awesome."
"All of the actors and the crew and the producers embraced me. They were so loving and such a great group of people to work with. That part was easy. The harder part was getting the style of the show and falling into that and to really fit in with the characters and start creating my own and add a little bit of spice as a Latino in there."

Q. So, who do you want to hook up with next season? Toby? Kevin? Adam? Ambrosious?
A. "If you really want to know the truth, I want the WOMEN! Van and Michelle had such a beautiful relationship. I want that! I keep telling them, why don't we have an episode where the magic works on all of us and we all turn?
Q. But you're gay in real-life, right?
A. "I'm bisexual.

Oh, THAT explains things! Anyway, Gabriel, who has done all kinds of stage work in L.A., has never shied from gay roles. He caused a sensation in Mexico when he played a gay character on a telenovela "Los Beltran." He also appeared in the short films "Myopia" and "My Straight Boyfriend."