Greg Louganis Talks Appearance in OLD DOGS & NEW TRICKS Web Series

Related: Old Dogs & New Tricks, Greg Louganis

Greg Louganis has made a life of diving into uncharted waters - as an openly gay, gold-medal winning Olympic athlete, as a front-runner in the war against HIV/AIDS, as an author exposing domestic violence in his best-selling autobiography Breaking the Surface.

Today, Louganis takes the plunge of an entirely different sort-joining the hit, award-winning gay web TV series Old Dogs & New Tricks for three episodes, as "Dirk Evans," a notorious '90s "circuit boy" and new husband to one of the show's regular characters!

"Greg is not only just a gay role model," says show creator/actor Acord. "He's the epitome of the vital, attractive, over-40 gay man that our show is all about! It was fun to cast him against type, as a real party boy-and he was particularly cool about it all!"

Louganis shot to fame as an Olympic athlete in 1976, winning a Silver medal at age 16. He went on to become the only male to win gold medals on both the three-meter springboard and the ten-meter platform in consecutive Olympic Games (1984, 1988) - and is widely considered the greatest diver in history. In 1995, he came out as a gay man on both Barbara Walters' 20/20 and the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Today, Louganis is a very busy man. He continues to work with the Olympics as Vice President of the U.S. Olympian Association. He's a mentor for the U.S. Diving Team, volunteers for animal causes, and works as a tireless advocate for diversity, GLBT and HIV issues. He is also writing a new book about creative learning and peak performance. He's also one of the celebrity judges on ABC-TV's upcoming competition series Celebrity Splash.

How did you get involved in the show?

I know David Pevsner, who plays Ross Stein. I've known him for a while now. And I know that there was some other connection somewhere. They connected Leon Acord to me, and that's how it happened.

Tell us a little about your character, 'Dirk Evans.' He's a former circuit boy who is marrying one of the regular characters on the show. Do you think he was a player?

Oh yeah, he was a player. Everybody flocked to him. He was a party boy.

Are you a party boy, Greg?

No, no. Dirk Evans goes to AA, how's that? In recovery.

Why do you think a party boy like Dirk Evans is getting married? What's your take?

He falls in love!

Why haven't you been on Dancing with the Stars? I hear you're a great dancer.

I started dance when I was a year and a half. Went on stage when I was three. Did Acrobatics Tap and jazz.

You're not just about the Olympics. You've done a lot of different things on TV. There's lots of other things going on in your life. Tell us about the dog training.

I've been training dogs, and competing. That's kind of gone away. I've been getting a little more into back into diving as an athlete mentor for USA Diving. I was working with them for the past year and a half in preparation for London so that was exciting to be in London. I've also been judging the Red Bull cliff diving series, which we're going to have cliff diving world championships next year. It's exciting.

Busy man. You're still acting and doing film work when you can fit it into your busy schedule.