Reality television hit a new level of ridiculousness when the VH1 reality show “Rock of Love” debuted in 2007. The program, now in its second season, features a parade of frequently soused female strippers and rock groupies vying for the affections of Bret Michaels of the ‘80s hard rock band Poison, which is famous for hits like “Unskinny Bop” and “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” On his journey towards whittling down the contestants to one love interest, Michaels has uttered crude but humorous nuggets of personal revelation like: “The heaving, well-implanted breasts caught my eye immediately, and I knew we were going to have a strong spiritual relationship.”

A phone interview with Michaels while he is hanging out around his pool in Southern California with his two children reveals that the rocker is refreshingly realistic about his chances of finding love in front of millions of Americans. “I would say true love is tough to find,” he says. “I think you can find someone you like. That’s the truth.”

Michaels – who comes across over the phone as a truly friendly, down-to-earth everydude – admits that though the show is insanely popular he is still not sure he made the right decision by signing on to do “Rock of Love.” The rocker, who will be performing Poison hits and solo material at Salinas’ Fox Theater on April 11, says he was courted by VH1 executives and finally agreed to come onboard when they promised that the show would be unscripted and agreed to let him be himself.

“Everything you see is me,” he says. “The ideas, the craziness, the mud football, the greased pig challenge to find true love.”

In the first season, it became apparent that Michaels had a bond with one female contestant named Heather Chadwell, who ended up being the show’s runner-up. Now the two are friends who see each other every two months.

“I think she’s awesome,” Michaels says of Chadwell, who will attend the concert at the Fox Theater along with Destiney Moore from this season’s show. “She’s my buddy, my party buddy. We have a great time. We have a great relationship. She got my name tattooed on her neck. I think she’s good people.”

One thing that viewers of “Rock of Love” have realized about Michaels is that the guy has a sense of humor. Michaels hopes to further share that side of his personality with a new show coming out on VH1 in October called “Bret Michael’s Big Rock Road Show.”

“The comedy of surviving on the road is what I want the ‘Big Rock Road Show’ to be all about,” he says.

Michaels hopes to impart the unglamorous situations that even wildly popular rock stars undergo. One humorous example is his music career in the beginning: “When I signed my record deal, I was sitting in a warehouse in El Segundo, California, packaging my own albums,” he says. “I’m going, ‘Where are all the babes at? What happened?’ ”

Another instance where Michaels was forced to laugh was before a Poison show at Texas Stadium in 1987. He recalls pulling up to the venue on a scorching summer afternoon in a tour bus with no air conditioning. Later, in his dressing room, he noticed a dumpster outside the window. Michaels had to wheel the dumpster out of his way so he could get onstage to rock the almost 66,000 fans.

Before the first episode of “Big Rock Road Show,” Michaels is releasing a new solo CD titled Rock My World this summer on VH1 Records. Following a solo tour, Michaels will reunite with his Poison bandmates, though the group has no future plans to record.

“I hope somewhere in the future we will write some more stuff,” he says. “It’s not that I don’t want to. Sometimes, creatively, not everyone has the same drive that I do to make new music.”

As for now, Michaels is gearing up for the Salinas Fox Theater show, which will be filmed for his new VH1 program. Michaels says he will relate anecdotes onstage at the Fox about each song he performs. In addition to the Poison hits and solo material, the setlist includes cover tunes that have special significance.

One song he plans on doing is his version of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.”

“I’m a juvenile diabetic,” he says. “It was one of the first songs I ever learned to play. You know what I mean. It was one of those situations where I learned to play the song, and I was depressed. I’m a kid learning that I’m going to have to take three or four shots a day for life, and music got me through it.”

The rocker admits that there is a less serious reason behind another cover he plans to perform, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s classic rock hit “Sweet Home Alabama.”

“It was one of the first albums I ever borrowed from Sears,” he says, his hoarse laughter punctuating his speech. “Look, it took talent to get that big album under my tight leather jacket.”

BRET MICHAELS plays 8pm Friday, April 11, at the Fox Theater, 241 South Main St., Salinas. $40-$65. 758-8459.