Hunky Latin crooner Ricky Martin is back in the spotlight with some high profile projects and fans (me) couldn’t be happier. The 45-year-old singer has been cast in the third season of Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story, revisiting the murder of designer Gianni Versace. Ricky will play Antonio D’ Amico, Versace’s longtime partner.

Ricky has also joined such musical luminaries as Cher, Celine Dion, Elton John and Britney Spears with a Las Vegas residency. Earlier this month, he debuted his new revue, All In, at the 5,200 seat Park Theater at the Monte Carlo Casino and Resort. He’ll be performing a number of dates in June, July and September.

If you can’t get to Sin City to see Ricky shake his bon-bon, don’t fear, as VH-1 is set to air a new reality series documenting Ricky’s journey to the Vegas stage. The new series, with the working title The Ricky Martin Project, promises audiences “a revealing, never been seen account of one of the most private and guarded global superstars of our time.”

This past weekend, Ricky was profiled on CBS Sunday Morning, and told reporter Tracy Smith that he wanted to win over the Vegas crowd, which he felt was a “tough audience,” citing a need to keep the high rollers interested so they didn’t retreat to their smart phones. He discussed his humble beginnings in Puerto Rico, admitting that he got bitten by the performance bug at the age of 6, recalling “I would grab a wooden spoon and perform on the balcony of my grandparent’s house.” He also confessed that, because of his need to perform, “I became an altar boy to be on stage.” That need to entertain remains with Ricky to this day, as he told CBS, “I’m addicted, yes, I am. I am hooked on [performing]. It forces me to analyze my emotions, because that’s what the audience wants. The audience wants you to be transparent, to be real, to be honest. And even when I had to hide things about my persona on stage, I wasn’t. On stage I was just completely open.”

What he was hiding was the fact that he was gay, and it wasn’t until he had his sons, now 8-year-old twins Matteo and Valentino, that he had an epiphany, admitting “If I am not honest with my kids, what am I teaching them? I’m teaching them to lie.” He finally came out in 2010, posting a statement on his website that read in part, “I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.”

When asked why it took so long to come out, Ricky confessed,

I was afraid of rejection. First of all, for many years everyone, a lot of people told me that my feelings were evil — ‘What you’re feeling is not godly.’ I’m not a good person. If I’m feeling this, I’m not a good person. Not more of that. I’m a good person. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with me. No. No. Enough. Not more of that. And I’ve been the happiest man ever since.

[From CBS Sunday Morning]

As for his family life, Ricky said that everything changed in his life after he had kids, stating “It’s not about you anymore; every decision that I make [is] based on them — and there’s no more sleeping late.” Well, that’s pretty much 70% of why I didn’t have kids. Ricky hopes to expand his family, and wants to add a little girl to his brood. He and fiancé Jwan Yosef aren’t racing to get down the aisle, but when they do, it should be epic, as Ricky said he wanted “a 3-day celebration at least.”

I am definitely a Vegas-phile and I’ve had friends who saw Ricky’s show last week and said it was amazing. I also love the guy (the CBS profile made me respect him even more). Since I don’t have VH-1 (which makes watching RuPaul’s Drag Race quite the challenge), I may have to save up to see Ricky in person, as I adore him and his bon bon.

Photos: Getty Images, WENN.com