Josh Duhamel preps for Kids Choice Awards and a kid with Fergie

By Nardine Saad

March 23, 2013 12 AM PT

Josh Duhamel is showing off his comedic chops this weekend, taking on his silliest role yet: Hosting Nickelodeon’s 26th Kids Choice Awards on Saturday at USC’s Galen Center in Los Angeles.

He said he’s doing it for his love of kids, which is fitting because he and wife Fergie, whom he married in 2009, revealed in February that they were expecting their first child. They made the baby announcement with a sweet photo on her Twitter, captioned: “Josh & Me & BABY makes three!!! #mylovelybabybump.”

When the Ministry caught up with Duhamel on Thursday during rehearsals for Kids Choice, he said he was “meant” to be a dad and revealed that he and his wife had already learned the child’s gender.

Duhamel, 40, joins a long list of hosts who have helmed the show since its inception in 1987. Tony Danza, Whitney Houston, Justin Timberlake, Rosie O’Donnell, Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz all had their runs. Last year, mega-star Will Smith helmed the show. They have their acting chops in common, but Duhamel said he’s never done anything like this before.

The show promos have the “Safe Haven” star being generously slimed by the signature goop -- a hallmark of the anything-goes event. He’s also dressing up as pop phenoms Justin Bieber and Katy Perry, sitting in a slime-filled bathtub as the former and, as the latter, spraying liquid from a breast apparatus reminiscent of Perry’s zany costumes.

NOMINEES: 2013 Kids Choice Awards

“This is as live as it gets. This is a high-wire act for me,” he said.

However, the former model isn’t totally new to the orange blimp-doling stage nor to working with Nickelodeon. He’s done voice-overs for the animated show “Fanboy & Chum Chum” and appeared on the 2011 Kids Choice Awards in costume as Bieber.

That said, he warned us that this time, singing, dancing and rapping are involved.

What do you have in store for your hosting gig this weekend?

I was recording this ridiculous song for the opening of the show. I was acting as a recording artist today. Singing and rapping.

Oh man, you know, it’s a been a lot of rehearsal. We shot the promo stuff about a month ago, which was really, really fun. It’s been a lot of impersonations and dressing up as athletes and female pop stars, and boy-band heartthrobs. It’s been kind of the best job ever just because this show is all about the kids and it’s just time to party down with the kids. Anything goes and there’s something that I love about that. You don’t feel any pressure to be cool. There’s no expectations of anything. You just can go up there and have fun and that’s really what this show is about and why I’m having so much fun doing it.

PHOTOS: 2012 Kids Choice Awards

Is there anything you’re hoping to achieve with your run as host? Do you want to do it again next year?

[Laughs] Yeah, I’m looking to host the Oscars next year. That’s the next step. No, there’s no goal. I was flattered when I got asked to do it just because there’s been guys that have done it before me, and girls, that I really admire. When I first got the call, I jumped on board right away. And now it’s go time. There’s some nerves but at the same time I’m just really, really excited about it.

So, how does it feel to be slimed?

How does it feel to be slimed. Um, I don’t know, you should come over and see.

Well, I don’t know if I’m willing to go under the green. You’re the one who signed up for this.

In-depth, in-the-trenches journalist. The only way to do that is to come and get slimed. I’ve been slimed a few times in the process and I will get slimed again this weekend. We’ve got some really cool stuff planned -- things that haven’t been done before on the show. They’re able to do the entire stadium, and it involves zip-lines and it involves giant amounts of slime and stunts and everything else. One of the reasons I got into this business is to have fun, and there’s no more fun to be had than to do this show.

How many gallons of slime do they need to do the show?

It’s some crazy amount. It’s tons and tons and thousands of gallons.

Word on the street is that you’re planning to do a lot of impersonations and dancing on the show?

There’s been a lot of dancing up to this point. There’s a whole pre-recorded intro to the show that is sort of inspired by what Jack Black did a couple of years ago and Will Smith last year.

When they asked me to do the show, I said yes, let’s go for it, anything goes. They took that literally and we’ve done anything beyond what I’ve ever expected I would do. But, you know, screw it. It’s fun and I’m having a blast.

It’s involved a lot of dance rehearsal. I wanted to push myself and do things that I hadn’t done before. Dancing is one of them, like real, choreographed sort of dancing. I sing. I never sang before. Not like this, anyway. There’s a whole rap that happens at the beginning to Pitbull’s “Don’t Stop the Party” and it has to do with -- there’s a whole dream sequence at the beginning of the show that I try to make my way to the stage and eventually I get there. It turns out to be more of a nightmare than a dream. It’s really pushing the envelope for me and that’s the kind of thing I love to do.

NOMINEES: 2013 Kids Choice Awards

Are you allowed to vote in this show? Are you hoping for anyone specific to win?

No, I’m not. No. It doesn’t matter to me. I do know a couple of the winners of some of the specialized awards. What this show is about, it isn’t about winning or losing, it’s more about the enthusiasm that the kids bring to it, and it’s infectious. It’s something that we can all learn from, and I love to be a part of that.

You had to undergo quite a few costume changes. What is one of the most ridiculous costumes you had to wear?

There may or may not be a Gabby Douglas impersonation, and there may or may not be a Sponge Bob Squarepants. [Laughs.] Any credibility that I might have fostered up to this point is out the window.

How many costume changes do you have to do?

About five or six. If you’re including all the opening act stuff, probably 10.

Did you have a hard time familiarizing yourself with the some of the youngsters that are nominated?

I just found out who Sophia Grace and Rosie are. You should look them up online, they’re hilarious. Ellen DeGeneres found them online on YouTube. They’re these two young girls and one of them has this unbelievable voice and she sings Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry and all these different artists and she’s really good and she’s only like 8 years old. So it’s a mix of sports stars, pop stars and Internet sensations and an eclectic mix of pop culture. The youth of the world know these people more than somebody like me, but I’ve learned a lot more than I did before.

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So this is kind of prepping you for fatherhood, then, isn’t it?

Maybe, it might be.

What’s the biggest difference for you between the Kids Choice Awards and some of Hollywood’s, shall we say, stuffier shows?

The Kids Choice is all about ... this is the big night of the year for kids. Not only in the U.S. but all around the world. And it’s about them and it’s about the energy that they bring. It’s fun and just letting loose and just having the best time. There’s no pretension and it’s just full-tilt the whole time. It doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s all about the goofier the better, and I think that’s OK. And to me, I fit better in that environment than the who’s who of Hollywood.

As fun as it is, it seems like it’s a lot of work, even for a more laid-back ceremony.

It’s laid-back, but the amount of work that goes into making it as great of a show as it’s going to be is tremendous, and it’s more than I ever thought it was going to be. But at the same time I’m having more fun creatively and collaboratively with the people of Nickelodeon. They’re really kind of letting me go and just be my idiotic self. So, yeah, it isn’t easy; for sure, it’s been a lot of work, but it’s definitely been a labor of love.

Is Fergie planning to join you onstage?

She may or may not be.

I’m going to take that as a yes.

Well, sort of. She’s part of the opening act. She’ll be there, though.

PHOTOS: The Hollywood baby boom

And how does she feel about all of this?

She was excited when she found out that I was going to be doing it. Like most people, she’s like, “Really?” But she also knows me better than anyone, so she understands why they asked me to do it because she knows what I’m really like. So, yeah, she’s more than anything just excited for me.

Let’s shift gears, then. How’s prepping to be a dad going?

It’s exciting. You know, I hear all my friends telling me about how fantastic it is and all the things that go along with being pregnant and the stages of it all. But until you’re actually going through it you can’t even relate.

Right now, we’re just fascinated by the whole idea there’s a baby growing inside of her. We’re fascinated by every stage of its development at this point. We’re already feeling a real connection to it. This is what I was meant to do, and we’re both really, really excited about the whole thing.

Is it too early to tell if it’s a boy or girl?

No, we know.

You know? Well, what is it?!

I can’t tell you that [laughs].

Well, when is the due date?

I can’t tell you that, either.

Well, I will say that your baby announcement on Twitter was adorable.

Oh, thank you. That was Ferg’s idea. My idea was the [hashtag] “my lovely baby bump,” but the rest of it was her.

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