Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher are said to be working hard to convince Michael Phelps to star in a reality show that they’re itching to produce. The husband and wife team want to feature the 23 year-old swimmer’s life of recent luxury after he earned more Olympic medals than anyone in history and millions in endorsement deals. Demi and Ashton were seen out to dinner with Phelps and have also invited them to their place for dinner in attempt to convince him to do the show:

The Hollywood gossip mill began churning when Demi, 45, and Michael – who won a record eight gold medals at this summer’s Beijing Olympics – were spotted having drinks together at the Chateau Marmont recently.

“But it was all part of Demi and Ashton’s effort to get Michael to sign with them for a reality show,” an insder told The Enquirer.

“Demi was in a business mode and was making sure Michael knew she was serious about working with him.”

Not long after that initial meeting, Demi and Ashont, 30, invited Michael to their home for dinner.

“Ashton sees a Phelps reality show as a breakout hit,” divulged the insider.

“He said to Michael, ‘Do you want to be on a box of cereal or do you want to be a Hollywood star? It’s up to you.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, October 13, 2008]

Ashton and Demi are said to be pitching to show to three different networks, and the Enquirer reports that “a show could be in production by spring. As for Phelps, he’s said to be “in complete awe” of the famous couple, but to have not made a decision about the show yet.

Ashton’s show Pop Fiction on E! wasn’t a real success, but he did well with Beauty and The Geek and Punk’d was funny in it’s own way. It’s a decent concept to feature Phelps and his new brush with fame on a reality show, but whether it will somehow help him or not is up to question.

Reality shows have made people famous and helped shine up fading stars, but they do come at a pretty big trade off in terms of privacy and public opinion. People can’t control the way they’re portrayed on those type of shows, which tend to make participants into caricatures. It seems like someone as newly rich and famous as Phelps should work to create his own image and not try to go for cheap fame with a reality show. He earned his gold medals, now it’s up to him how he controls his public image. He’s made a few blunders, especially with those ass-grabbing pics.