‘90210’ star ready to strip on Strip

On Tuesday, a buddy from Boston told me he wants to fly to Vegas this summer — with his fellow married pals — so they can see Ian Ziering take his clothes off in “Chippendales.”

Let me get this straight. A bunch of married guys want to see a male star from “Beverly Hills, 90210” strip?

I will never understand “90210” fanatics.

So I got on the phone with Ziering — who played Steve Sanders on “90210” — to discuss this situation.

“You know,” Ziering told me, “Steve (Sanders) pulls from across gender lines. When I was on the show, I was always a big hit if I ever showed up in a college town. The frats loved to have me there, to see if they could drink me under the table.”

Ziering started this week by watching Chippendales guys peel their clothes off.

“They’re carved out of stone,” Ziering said. “These guys are 250-pound chunks of twisted steel and sex appeal.”

By midweek, Ziering, 49, was nibbling on a low-fat fish lunch to start losing 10 pounds before he hosts “Chippendales” (and does his “Dancing With the Stars” moves) at the Rio from June 6-30.

“I’m hitting the gym and eating right,” Ziering said.

Weirdly, he was called “fat” by the catty TV show “TMZ” recently.

“There was a picture of Jason Priestley and myself coming out of a restaurant,” Ziering said.

“Some of the people in the ‘TMZ’ stable said I was fat.”

After that “TMZ” silliness, Chippendales asked Ziering to put on a bow tie and French cuffs.

At that point, the first thing that popped into his head was the satirical Chippendales sketch on “Saturday Night Live,” where obese Chris Farley danced next to muscle-y Patrick Swayze.

“The notion was ticklish. I spoke to my wife, and she said, ‘Do it. I think it would be a lot of fun.’ ”

There are already scantily clad photos of Ziering online, so disrobing at “Chippendales” may be more tasteful.

“It’s all out there already. Why not harness that and do it in an upscale environment with a classy organization?”

Ziering also told me he tried to make a “90210” TV reunion happen on Sept. 2, 2010. (That date was 09/02/10).

“I tried to get everyone together to have dinner” on camera, he said. “No network wanted to pick it up.

“I talked to all my cast mates. They were down for it, to have a great meal and talk about the good old days,” he said. “What a missed opportunity. I thought it was a slam dunk.”

Instead, Ziering and wife Erin have been raising their daughter, Mia, 2. Erin is pregnant with a second daughter, due in May.

“My daughter Mia is so precious. I am experiencing joy on levels I couldn’t even imagine. Having another daughter is going to double the entire feeling.”

And he has movies coming out with zoology titles — “Snake and Mongoose” (a drag racing flick) and “Sharknado” (sci-fi).

“I’m still making it happen. Slow and steady wins the race,” he said.

“I’m lucky enough to be in an industry wherever the next gig is, I look forward to it with a lot of eagerness and anticipation because I have a lot of fun doing what I do.”

Where does he think his “90210” character Steve Sanders is right now? He hears this question a lot, and he posts the same answer on Twitter (@Ian_Ziering):

“Steve Sanders lives in the Costa Rican Cloud Forest where he is the personal life coach to The Worlds Most Interesting Man.”

So there you go, you “90210” crazies.

Doug Elfman’s column appears Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. He also writes for Neon on Fridays. Email him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.