Soap star Mathison to cut a rug for charity

updated 2:18 p.m. ET Jan. 4, 2008

NEW YORK - TV star Cameron Mathison is putting himself up for auction.

The star of ABC soap opera "All My Children" is offering private dance lessons and the opportunity to perform at a benefit show in New York to raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, an industry-based HIV/AIDS fundraising organization.

Mathison, 38, competed on "Dancing With the Stars" last season and was kicked off just before the semifinals.

He will host the March 2 benefit show, which will feature ABC Daytime soap stars and co-hosts of "The View." Money from his auction also will go to the charity. The auction opens Jan. 10 on the Broadway Cares Web site.

The winning bidder for the dance lessons will be flown to New York "for a few days' rehearsals, and I will teach them how to do a dance with myself," Mathison told Associated Press Television News in a recent interview.

"Really, there's a secret here that my dance partner from `Dancing With the Stars,' Edyta Sliwinska, is going to be coming in and really be the one to teach us, that's why I was smiling when I said that," he said.

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