MANILA, Philippines?I have to be careful what I ask for because whenever I do, it comes true,? says Oli Pettigrew, the host for the smashing new AXN show Sony Styles. He?s referring to his bad guy stint in ?GenY Cops? (the movie featuring the now scandalous Edison Chen and launched the career of Maggie Q), a role he bagged because he wanted to be in an action flick. ?I watched ?Gen X Cops,? the first one, right? And there the bad guys drove around in Ferraris and wore Armani suits and I was like, ?yeah!? For some reason, the bad guys in ?GenY Cops? dressed like rejects of The Village People and we drove around in a mini-van. How cool is that?? he asks, laughing. So, having gotten that out of his system, he?s focused most of his career in hosting. He managed landing high profile gigs like the World Cup Primetime, Cybermax and Technomax which eventually led to his being cast in the new show Sony Styles.

Born in Hong Kong, Oli was already a big fan of the spotlight. ?When I was a kid,? he shares, ?it was the Oli show 24-7.? So on his college gap year, his mom sent him to a modeling agency where, within a week, he bagged his first project. He kept landing jobs until it all lead to hosting work and being in front of the television. Now, he travels the world, living the life meeting fascinating people, playing with the coolest toys, and eating at some really cool restaurants. Who doesn?t want to be Oli Pettigrew?

?It is unbelievable! I am so lucky in my life to be doing my dream job,? he says. ?I worked towards it. It?s not like it was handed to me. I put all these years into it. I started from small bit roles, into modeling, into television, into the small television shows in the smaller networks ? So to be doing this now, Sony Styles on primetime, it?s been a punishing schedule but you?d never hear me complain because it is the greatest job in the planet.? Here?s a snippet of the interview:

What is Sony Style about?

It?s like a lifestyle program. We do a bit of travel, we go to the restaurants, we go to the clubs, and we meet interesting people. Do interviews with them and find out about them. And we also feature the Sony products as well.

You worked with a lot of gadgets in Technomax and now with a lot of Sony gadgets in Sony Style. Are you really a techie?

My director in Technomax, Julius ? I was like Luke Skywalker to his Yoda. He took me under his wing. When I first went to that first episode and I?m sitting there having to learn ?full 1080P ? ? but now, I know everything. I know what it all means! Now, I know a lot about gadgets. I can just pick it up and get it to work.

Tell us about any one of the coolest gadgets you?ve ever had to work with?

I can say, recently, we just shot this last week I was sitting in front of this enormous Sony 1080P HD TV. It?s eye-melting! Then we had a blue-ray player plugged in as well. DVDs are good enough but when you plug in a blue-ray player into a TV that?s that big you just see stuff and colors you?ve never imagined!

What are the more interesting things you?ve done for the show?

They are going to have me do a reverse bungee while I?m saying my lines. You sit in this pod and they get the tension up and they are going to release me and they are going to shoot me up in the sky while I?m doing my lines. We?ll see how that goes.

But really, it?s just the traveling. I mean I went to Bangkok last week, and I?ve been to Bangkok many times, but never really seen Bangkok. You never really see these places until you go there with a camera crew and it?s all set up for you. I saw the Jim Thompson house and I got to go inside the Oriental Hotel and I got to do a cooking course. That?s the best part. It?s hard to boil down because each country has its own unique thing.

You really consider yourself Asian?

There?s what you call the American-born Chinese, well, I?m Asian-born Caucasian, as I see it. My whole life, when people ask me where I am from, I tell them I?m from Asia. I get culture shock when I go back to the UK. I need to surround myself with the chaos of Asia and the people. It?s what I?m used to.

I still remember one of my earliest memories that I have was in the McDonald?s at Tsim Sha Tsui. I just remember looking around and for the first time being aware that I was the only white kid there. I think I was about 4 or 5 years old and looking around and there was 700 Chinese people and I went, ?Oh yeah! Not everybody is like me.? I think that was really good for me?growing up as a minority. I was surrounded by everybody of every color, you know what I mean? It?s what I?m most comfortable with. When I?m back in the UK and it is just white people everywhere! I think they look weird! I?ll be the first to say it, ?Caucasians ? I think we look weird!? (laughs)