From coast to coast, thousands of hopefuls gathered in recent weeks to get the chance to compete for the crown of the sexiest man or woman in America. Talent, personality and strategy were not required, just physical beauty and innate sexiness. Now TV viewers get their chance to vote on the regional finalists as they face a celebrity panel of experts, including Rachel Hunter, Randolph Duke and Lorenzo Lamas. The six-episode reality series from Mike Fleiss (of "The Bachelor" franchise), "Are You Hot? The Search For America's Sexiest People," debuts with a special two-hour premiere on THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13 (8:00-10:00 p.m., ET). After the premiere week, the show will air in its regular time period on Thursdays, from 9:00-10:00 p.m., ET. The program's host is TV personality J. D. Roberto (Food Network, Animal Planet).

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Crisscrossing America for casting calls in many cities and poring over audition tapes, the producers divided the country into "Hot Zones" that included every state. From the thousands who tried, only 32 people from each zone made the cut and were flown to LA to be judged by the celebrity panel and all of America. At the end of each episode, viewers are invited to vote via the website (www.abc.com, keyword: HOT) for their favorite men and women hotties. Votes are only accepted from 10:00 p.m., ET that night until 3:00 p.m., ET the next day. The following week we'll learn whom America chose and repeat the whole process for 32 candidates from Hot Zone 2, and so on until one breathtaking man and one stunning woman are crowned "The Sexiest People in America." Here are the airdates for the Hot Zones:

Thursday, February 13 -- two-hour premiere -- (8:00-10:00 p.m., ET) - HOT ZONE 1 - Northeast
Thursday, February 20 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET) - HOT ZONE 2 - Southeast
Thursday, February 27 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET) - HOT ZONE 3 - Northwest
Thursday, March 6 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET) - HOT ZONE 4 - Southwest
Thursday, March 13 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET) - Finals (all regions)
Thursday, March 20 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET) - Winners revealed live

"Are You Hot? The Search for America's Sexiest People" is produced by Next Entertainment in association with Telepictures Productions for ABC. The show was created by Mike Fleiss and developed by him and "The Bachelor's" co-executive producer, Lisa Levenson. Mike Fleiss is the executive producer. Scott Einziger and Mike Nichols are the co-executive producers.

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