Joking side by side — Donny and Marie reunite to host Miss USA, new shows

Donny Osmond is going to be a bit more careful as host of the Miss USA pageant than he was the last time he hosted a similar event.

"I love these kinds of shows because it's live (and) anything can happen," Donny said, recalling an incident from another pageant he hosted with Marie.

"We made a costume change during the commercial break. And you had two minutes to get everything changed, so we were in a rush," Donny said. "Well, I forgot to zip up my fly."

"Marie knew everything about it. She saw it, the whole bit, but she didn't tell me during the commercial break. We went three, two, one and we start. And Marie just tells me, 'Oh, by the way, Donny, your fly is down.'

"Live television. So, rest assured, this time around I'll be checking the fly."

He's not planning any more wardrobe malfunctions, but Donny did say he and Marie plan the kind of good-natured banter they began more than three decades ago on their prime-time variety show.

"I think that's one of the reasons why they hired us," Donny said. "Plus, what's really interesting is that Marie and I haven't really been seen together that much until this show airs."

For Donny, 50, and Marie, 48, Miss USA is sort of a "precursor" to what the siblings have up their sleeves.

"We have plans ... of doing a lot more stuff in the future. So, this really does begin the process of reuniting me with Marie," Donny said.

They'll host another NBC special, "America's Favorite Mom," on May 11 — Mother's Day night. They're doing eight shows in Las Vegas in July (already sold out), the "first time in like 30 years or so that we've done a long stint in Vegas," Donny said. "That's going to be a lot of fun," Donny said.

They also plan more Osmond-family concerts like the one they did last year in Las Vegas, which aired on PBS and is now out on DVD.

"It was like getting on a bicycle again," Donny said, even though it had been 27 years since members of the family had toured together. And now they will tour the United Kingdom, Australia and Asia beginning in May.

"We put a concert on sale for Wembley (Stadium) and sold out in an hour," Donny said. "So, I mean, it's unbelievable what's happening over there right now."

Marie pointed to research done for her upcoming talk how that indicate that she and Donny are recognizable to 88 percent of Americans.