RICKY MARTIN: `I LOVE WHITE UNDERWEAR!'

RICKY MARTIN: `I LOVE WHITE UNDERWEAR!'

SHERMAN OAKS, Calif. (Wireless Flash) -- Red-hot singing sex symbol Ricky Martin has a stone cold fetish for white underwear. According to a new tell-all book, "Ricky Martin: Red Hot and On the Rise" (Zebra), the former member of Menudo refuses to wear any color underwear but white. Martin admits he sticks to the virgin white drawers because they enhance his "good boy" image and because he thinks colored underwear is tacky. Other tidbits about Ricky... -- He says as a teen idol with Menudo, he would often swap female groupies with fellow bandmembers. -- Martin has an irrational fear of snakes. -- He enjoys collecting matchbooks from around the world. -- And, finally, Martin admits he idolized John Travolta so much as a child, he actually asked his mother to buy him a pint- sized white polyester disco suit. He says Mama said "No" because their home country of Puerto Rico was "...too hot for polyester."

CONTACT: Kathleen Tracy (author of book); Arrange thru Donna Broide; Ft. Lauderdale, FL; (954) 349-0294