Profile : Acapulco F.A.B.I.O. : ISN’T IT ROMANTIC? BOOK COVER MODEL IS OFF ON A TV SERIES ADVENTURE

Talk about media frenzy. Cosmo has proclaimed Fabio “the sexiest man in the world.” People magazine’s cover story describes him as “the man with a face that has launched a thousand romance novels with a chest on which a squadron of fighter planes could land with no problem.” Even The New York Times took heed on this Italian stallion’s arrival on the tube, calling it “some mirage come to life.”

So what’s so special about this co-star of the syndicated action-adventure series “Acapulco H.E.A.T.”? At 32, Fabio (pronounced FAH-bee-o) is already a millionaire model. He started modeling as a teen in his native Milan but hit it big when he moved to New York a decade ago. At 22 he was snapped up by Avon Books as cover boy for a new series of romance novels. That led to a lucrative recording contract, though he admits he can’t sing, and a byline as a romance novel writer. Well, he doesn’t actually write the text, he acknowledges, “but the ideas were all mine.”

And what’s the big deal about “Acapulco H.E.A.T.”?

“This series is a lot like an updated version of ‘Mission: Impossible,’ ” the one-name actor says. “And I think it will be a hit with men and women because it includes everything that both sexes want to see--action, adventure, beautiful scenery, romance. It’s the ultimate combination.”

For those who’ve missed it so far, the series revolves around a group of operatives--the Hemisphere Emergency Action Team, H.E.A.T., get it?--who tackle multinational crime from their base on the Mexican Riviera, a posh hotel owned and run by billionaire playboy Fabio, uh, Claudio.

And Fabio is sure he knows why women want to see the series--and him--on television.

“I love women and I know what they don’t like. I know that they have very little tolerance for the violence that TV and film seem to glorify. Why would women want to turn on the set or pay $7 to go see a movie with violence when there are gang problems and carjackings right in their own neighborhoods? Women want to escape from their troubles and see great stories with attractive men in beautiful, romantic settings, and this show delivers that.”

And Fabio delivers even more.

“You know, I’ve always been noticed for my looks, which I do work on with diet and exercise,” he says, “but I work much harder on my inner self. So when I say that women want to see attractive men on the screen, sure they would like to see an athletic body and a nice face, but most women I know are attracted to the whole man, not just the exterior but also the heart and soul of the person.”

Fabio does not like being considered just a side of beefcake.

“The hunk stereotype is not something I’m at all comfortable with,” the 6-foot-3, 225-pound actor says with some indignation. “It makes it sound as though I’m just a piece of meat, and though I’m flattered that people enjoy what they see as far as my outside is concerned, I want to be known for who I am on the inside too, not just how I look without a shirt.”

No, Fabio says, he is not just another pretty face--and body.

“I speak four languages and read a great deal, so I do as much working out on the brain as I do on the body. I don’t know what people expect me to be like, but I’m very down-to-earth and not at all full of myself. I really have fun meeting the fans, signing autographs, just being out with the public.”

TV is not his whole life either.

“Some day I would like to do films,” he says. “The kind of roles that Harrison Ford plays are what really interest me, like ‘Indiana Jones’ and ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’ And when or if I reach his stature, I would still feel that obligation to be there for the fans; it’s just part of all this. I like to make other people feel good, and if receiving my autograph brings them a little bit of pleasure, then I’m so glad to do it.”

Till that movie career comes along though, and to go along with “Acapulco,” Fabio doesn’t exactly shirk endorsements.

“I just signed a very large contract with a cosmetics company to represent Versace and to do an endorsement for their own cologne, Mediterranean. I’ve also got a workout video coming out around Christmastime, two 1994 calendars, watches, T-shirts and a one-hour romance video, which will be available in video and discount stores like Walmart and Kmart.”

What, no line of greeting cards?

“Acapulco H.E.A.T.” airs Sundays at 11 p.m. on KCOP.