"Ekta does a brilliant job. She knows her audience's pulse"

A coveted beauty title, lots of charity work and a flop Bollywood film is what she has to her credit. But life moves on for this dusky beauty with Biography, a show she will be hosting from tonight on the History Channel. Sapana Patil caught up with Diana Hayden on her first venture on television. Q. How did 'Biography' happen? A. The marketing team at the channel was asked to come up with three names to host the show. And all three happened to be Diana, Diana and Diana! Q. How did you prepare yourself to host the show, considering this is your first foray on television? A. It involved a lot of research, like reading on the people I was to talk about. There used to be brainstorming sessions and inputs from the creatives. We debated on what would go on and what wouldn't. Q. How has the experience been? A. I had a blast. Q. Are you nervous about your debut tonight? A. Not at all. I am excited and am waiting for the show to start! Q. Would you like to do more shows on TV? A. Definitely yes. But I should be comfortable with it. Q. What is the kind of work that you would like to do? A. I would like to do something on the lines of Oprah Winfrey. Q. Wouldn't you like to do a 'saas bahu' saga on TV? A. Ekta (Kapoor) does a brilliant job. She knows her audience's pulse. But, I don't want to do a daily. Q. Are you open to playing cameo in serials, say appearing as yourself? A. Oh, I would love to! In fact, I had done a cameo on a TV show in London. Q. Are films happening in your life? A. I did Ab Bas.., which was a woman oriented film but unfortunately was promoted as a sex flick. I am doing Ada now. Q. You wanted to get a commercial pilot's license. Did you get it? A. Oh, we all nurture dreams! I did too. But I could'nt pursue it. Q. Any regrets on not being able to pursue it? A. None. Q. You are involved with a lot of charity work. A. Yes. I started with it after I won the Miss World crown in 1997. I enjoyed doing it and haven't given it up. I am associated with Lifeline project in the US and with CRY in India. The project 'Child in Peace' of Hyderabad is the closest to my heart.