PALIN MITENK BLOG

By Ben Todd

Ideal home: Paul McKenna arrives for a viewing at the house owned by the late Michael Jackson


He has become a household name with self-help books including the best-selling I Can Make You Rich.

And Paul McKenna's formula certainly seems to have worked for him.

It emerged last night that the television hypnotist is considering paying £19million for the Los Angeles home where Michael Jackson spent his final days

The 46-year-old, who started out as a radio DJ and went on to become Britain's most successful non-fiction author, viewed the house on Monday and is said to be 'very interested'.

It is his success in the U.S. - including a new TV deal - that has prompted him to consider splashing out the huge sum.

A friend of the star said: 'Paul was blown away by the sheer elegance of the property. It is one of the classiest houses in LA. It has the most incredible design - none of the gaucheness that LA homes often have.'

Another friend revealed: 'Paul is looking for a larger house. He has made Los Angeles his home and with his new TV series and book deal, he thinks this would be the ideal next step.'


Elegant: The home is described as 'one of the classiest houses in LA'


The palatial mansion became infamous when Jackson collapsed there hours before he died in June last year. He had been paying £60,000 a month to rent the property from its owner, the manufacturing mogul Hubert Guez, who has put it on the market for £18.9million.

Built in 2002, the 17,171 sq ft seven-bedroom house sits in 1.26 acres in the exclusive Holmby Hills area.

The estate is gated and heavily fortified and there is underground parking for seven cars. Other features include 12 fireplaces, 13 bathrooms, a library, home cinema and a wine cellar. There is also an outdoor heated swimming pool and a separate guest house.

McKenna, who is single, currently lives in a £3.4million house in West Hollywood Hills. His new TV deal sees him team with American Idol presenter Ryan Seacrest for a series called The Incurables.


Death: Michael Jackson collapsed at the mansion last year


In it, McKenna will try to help people with serious mental or physical disorders, including a man with Tourette's syndrome and a woman who eats her own hair.

The Incurables is McKenna's second U.S. series and will be shown on Manhattan-based cable channel A&E.

His previous show, I Can Make You Thin, became one of Discovery Channel's highest-rated shows of 2008, securing McKenna a two-year 'golden handcuffs' deal reported to be worth £15million.

The Daily Mail has also learned that McKenna has signed a £ 3million publishing deal with Sterling books. 'The book deal shows just how the U.S. has fallen in love with Paul,' a friend said. In recent years, a host of U.S. celebrities have credited McKenna with helping them.

Chat-show hostess Ellen DeGeneres cried as she told how the hypnotist helped her quit smoking.

The celebrity lifestyle is a far cry from the star's beginnings as the son of a builder and teacher in Enfield, North London. It was as a DJ for Bedfordshire-based Chiltern Radio that he interviewed a hypnotist, becoming so intrigued that he began studying the subject.


source: dailymail