NEW YORK — Wanted: boy toy to act as eye candy for divorced model-actress. Must be somewhat intelligent and well-groomed. Bond-era Sean Connery lookalikes preferred.

That's exactly what Jerry Hall, the leggy model-actress ex-wife of Mick Jagger, is looking for in her new reality show, Kept. And she won't settle for less, darling.

Hall, 48, went from Texas cowgirl to covergirl back in the '70s when models were just becoming super. She had four children with longtime beau Jagger, whom she married in 1990 and divorced in 1999. Now an actress, in 2000 she raised eyebrows by disrobing as Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate in London's West End.

In the 10 episodes of Kept, which premiered Sunday and moves to its regular time slot Thursday (check local listings) a dozen fumbling beefcakes are slowly transformed into gentlemen through a series of makeovers and art appreciation lessons. The man Hall ultimately chooses to become her kept man wins a car, apartment and six-figure salary for one year. More important to Hall, though, he becomes her red carpet arm candy, a delightful twist on society standards.

On a recent rainy afternoon, Hall and her friend Rachel Fuller, girlfriend of The Who's Pete Townshend, answered the following questions in a desolate hotel bar. Every now and again, Hall's Texas drawl swirled into a boozy English cadence, an intoxicating blend.

AP: What was your first impression of the Kept men?

Hall: Some of them looked so gorgeous. I thought, 'Mmmm. This is gonna be fun.' Some of them looked a bit flawed. I thought, 'Some of them are gonna have to go quick.' When it got down to the last three, they were so gorgeous and so fabulous. I really couldn't make my mind up. I had to take them to Paris for the weekend and have a close look.

AP: Is having a kept man empowering?

Hall: It's totally empowering. The whole show is empowering. I'm divorced, financially independent. Why shouldn't I get to carry on like all the guys that have been carrying on forever? The worm has turned.

AP: At what point did you begin to have that mind-set?

Hall: Since I got a divorce, I have been dating younger guys. But it's just because they're the ones that ask me out. I suppose they're confident. I think younger guys love the idea of a divorced woman who's going to teach them how to be a man.

Fuller: It's very Desperate Housewives.

AP: What qualities does one look for in a kept man?

Hall: Someone who fits into my lifestyle, cool, funny, smart, good-looking, gets along well with my friends.

Fuller: Doesn't crack under pressure.

AP: And looks?

Hall: Looks good, too. Yeah, I want it all. I don't have a specific type.

Fuller: Back hair and nipple rings is probably a no-no. Cleanliness is next to godliness.

Hall: I like the look of Sean Connery in James Bond. Now that is a gorgeous-looking guy!

AP: Do you consider yourself a MILF? Do you even know what that means?

Hall: No. Never heard of it. What is it?

AP: It stands for mother I'd like to, um, be friendly with. You never heard that before?

(Fuller politely explains the phrase.)

Hall: Oh. No, but we learned about cougars.

AP: What's that?

Hall: Oh my. See, now we can teach you something. Cougars are older women dating younger men. It's a book, and it's a website and they voted me 'Cougar of the Month.' Isn't that exciting?

AP: Yes. Congratulations. I guess Demi Moore is a cougar, but she's very serious with Ashton Kutcher. What do you think of that relationship?

Hall: I think that's ridiculous. Why be serious about anything?

Fuller: Yeah, that's not the job of a cougar. A cougar doesn't want to meet the family, doesn't want to have a baby, don't want to hang out with your friends.

AP: You don't want any of that stuff?

Fuller: Done it all.

Hall: Listen. Meet their young little friends? Listen to that horrible music? No, no, no.

AP: How real was your reality show?

Hall: There was no script. It was just (producers asking), 'What do you think the guys should do? What do you want them to learn?' It was kind of a growing, work-in-progress, which was exciting. We did it for five weeks. I had like three days off in five weeks. It was quite tiring, but it was fun.

AP: Did you grow attached to these guys?

Hall: I did. After five weeks . . . the obviously flawed ones were gone. And they were just great guys, very impressive, very good at all the tasks I had them do. They had to be in a Vivienne Westwood fashion show, they had to write a poem about me, they had to paint a picture of each other nude and they were really good at these things. The last four or five were gorgeous. I couldn't make up my mind. I did ask if I could keep three and they said no. It was sad.

AP: What do you think of other reality shows?

Hall: I've seen The Simple Life and I thought it was really funny and I laughed my head off. I think there's so many reality TV shows because they're not writing enough good scripts. People love them because they're real and they're funny.

Fuller: There's something engaging about reality TV even though you want to feel snobbish about them. You watch one, and it's like watching a game of football. You really get into it.

AP: What did your kids think about this show?

Hall: At first, they were a bit worried, but they thought it was funny because I was torturing all these guys. The big kids are like, 'Yeah, you go, mom. We're proud of you. You're fabulous.' The little ones just wanted me to stay home and watch cartoons with them, you know.

AP: How do you balance being a mother and a cougar?

Hall: I'm both. I love my kids and would rather be with them than anyone in the whole wide world. I have four great kids living at home. We have so much fun, but I like to go out too and have a bit of grown-up fun.

AP: Does a kept man have to baby-sit?

Hall: No, darling. I wouldn't take him around my children.

AP: What are the difficulties of being an older woman in showbiz?

Hall: I don't know. I'm definitely not into whining. Everything's going my way. Life is just getting better. I'm just lucky, I guess. I'm very happy in my skin.