Ross King’s tale of two cities Glasgow and Hollywood!

Oor columnist Ross King is releasing a blockbuster new book with tales from behind the scenes in Hollywood and from gritty Glasgow.

The thing about Ross King is that you never quite know what or who he’s going to come out with next.

I’m talking to our Hollywood man-in-the-know Ross about his latest venture. It’s a book set in the contrasting worlds of Scotland and LA and there’s one name I’m definitely not expecting to hear Jeremy Beadle!

Apparently the TV prankster, who died in 2008, is the one who springs to mind when Ross tells me how the book came about.

“Jeremy was the one who encouraged me to write things down, to remember bits and pieces that happened, because I’d be able to write about them in some way,” he says.

“All the crazy, interesting things I heard in my career and there have been plenty. I’m so glad I took his advice. It’s been perfect for the book.

“The general public never got to know the real Beadle. He wanted people to do well. When I was toying with trying my luck in America, he was so positive. He had such a can-do attitude. I miss him.”

He’s a man with a finger in many pies, is Ross Good Morning Britain regular, radio chat show host, interviewer and columnist. He even tried stand-up comedy recently, telling me how nervous he was but, once he got out there, he felt “so cool”.

But he’s really proud of this book. Taking Hollywood is a fictional slice of life and action switches between Tinseltown and Glasgow. It keeps you gripped and guessing.

Ross says it’s a love letter to the two places he loves most.

“Growing up, Glasgow was slowly changing, we were coming out of a darker period. And that’s in there. It shows the modern Glasgow too, the one we were all so proud of during the Commonwealth Games.”

It’s written with the old pal he’s known since he was a nipper, Shari Low. They’re writing together under the name of Shari King see what they did there?

“We originally toyed with the idea of writing my biography. Now, I love biographies,” he says. “But the problem is my life just hasn’t been traumatic enough!

“We soon moved on to writing Taking Hollywood. I’d had the idea for a while.”

The action revolves around three main characters, Mirren, Zander and Davie, childhood friends from Scotland who have all made it big and are living the dream in Hollywood.

The big mystery is just how did they get there? It’s a rollercoaster of a read and, being set in LA, there’s no doubt Taking Hollywood has its wild side.

So expect gallons of glam, a side order of seedy and a dusting of drugs. Oh, and back-stabbing by the bucketload.

Jackie Collins famously says that if she put the real Hollywood into her books, no-one would believe her and that she tones down the true-life she writes about.

“Oh, she’s right, you hear things all the time and think what?! Really?! They did what to who?” Ross laughs.

I’ve read the book and you can’t help but wonder if Mirren, Zander and Davie are based on people he rubs shoulders with in Hollywood. Come on Ross, confession time is Zander based on Gerard Butler? He’s handsome, charismatic and loves women almost as much as they love him.

“Well, I can see why people think that,” he says.

“He’s a bit Gerry-esque. But there are bits of me in the characters too. Come on, handsome, charismatic…” He chuckles and gives nothing away. “Some of the stories in there really did happen. But it’s fiction, so that gave us scope for playing around with bits too.”

For the record, Gerard Butler said last week: “I’m not Zander Leith!” Maybe he protests too much?

Once the book was finished, Ross asked Jackie Collins if she’d read it. Was he nervous about her reaction?

“Just telling her we were writing it was terrifying!” he says. “She’s a pal, but she’s also someone I admire completely. She said to take it over to her house and she’d give me her honest opinion.

“So I went to her house, book in one hand, champagne in the other. But she wasn’t in. So, I put the champagne over her wall and was trying to get the book through her letterbox. But it was so thick I was really struggling to get it in.

“Just then, I realised there was a tourist bus stopped outside, packed with spectators, looking out at me and wondering if Jackie had a mad stalker!

“Honestly, waiting for her reaction was SO nerve-racking. It was a fantastic moment when she told me she loved it.”

Ditto Lorraine Kelly.

“I knew she’d be really honest. She planned to take it on holiday. Luckily for me she enjoyed it so much she finished it before she got to the airport!”

Living in the centre of the movie business, he must surely have high hopes that he’ll see his book on the big screen at some point.

“Well, that would be fantastic. But Brianna (Ross’s fiance) and I are so into Scandal, the political TV series, that I’d love to see it on the telly too.

“The signs are encouraging but I’ve been in this town long enough to know you don’t believe anything until everyone’s signed on the dotted line!”

Taking Hollywood is out on August 14.