Mario Lopez is set to appear in five episodes of "Nip/Tuck..."

This little tidbit is also from last night's Howard Bragman book party: I chatted up Mario Lopez which was no easy task considering the crowd that always seems to gather around him. This guy is pretty much the center of attention wherever he goes. Yeah, he's about as gorgeous as they come with dimples for days, but he also has so much charisma.

Mario caused a real fuss a few years back when he first appeared on FX's "Nip/Tuck" because of a nude shower scene that gave some memorable screen time to his well-toned assets. I mentioned this to Mario and he insists the producers told him it was just going to be a brief shot. He had no idea it would live on and on and on in YouTube glory.

So Mario, who plays Dr. Mike Hamoui, a younger and hotter plastic surgeon than Julian McMahon's character who was facing a mid-life crisis when Mario first appeared. He is signed for five episodes of the new season which kicked off earlier this month.

Mario told me he is having an absolute blast as the host of "Extra" and is also hosting another season of "America's Best Dance Crew." And then there is Mario the author: he is working on a second workout book to follow the sizzling best seller from last year (lots of photos, please) and he is also working on his first children's book.

He is one busy dude! But he seems really happy about all of it and it's nice to see...