LOS ANGELES, Dec 8 — Mario Lopez will play KFC's longtime mascot Colonel Sanders in a steamy Lifetime channel holiday romance, the companies said yesterday, as marketing and entertainment converge to boost sales of the chain's fried chicken.

A Recipe for Seduction tells the story of a young chef with a secret fried chicken recipe who disrupts a woman's plan to marry off her heiress daughter to a handpicked suitor.

Lopez, known for his role in the TV series Saved by the Bell and as a host of entertainment news show Extra, is featured in the film poster clad in Sanders' trademark white shirt, black tie, glasses and goatee and clutching a young woman in a red dress.

KFC, a unit of Yum! Brands Inc, urged viewers to curl up with a bucket of chicken to watch the 15-minute film, which will debut on the Lifetime cable network on December 13. — Reuters