The Hoff's looking for freedom: Baywatch star buys paradise island villa in new resort where homes are half the price of neighbouring Bali

Baywatch star David Hasselhoff has bought a villa on the Indonesian island of Gili Meno.

The small and pristine, car-free retreat is focused on preserving nature and looking after its wildlife.

The Hoff, 64, seen below with fiancée Hayley Roberts, 37, a Welsh former shop assistant, said: “The search for freedom is one of my biggest songs in life. At Gili Meno, I knew I’d found it the moment my feet hit the sand.

“I thought, wow, I can breathe here. The water was unlike any I’ve seen — it was paradise. The waves were fantastic and there were very few people. I think there were more turtles on the island than tourists.”

The Hoff is now encouraging others to follow in his footsteps and buy one of the 86 remaining properties in the Bask development.

Ranging from studios and lofts to three-bedroom villas, they are being marketed as investments rather than homes. Buyers and their guests are entitled to use their property for up to 30 days a year, with the villas let out as part of the resort for the rest of the year.

The official opening will take place in early 2019 and prices currently start at £172,000, about half the cost of comparable property in Bali. Owners will receive annual returns of 7.5 per cent guaranteed for the first two years, and thereafter a share of the resort’s gross rental revenue.

The resort features 24-hour room service, daily housekeeping and luxury catering.

There's also Nest, an underwater sculpture exhibition by Jason de Caires Taylor, installed on a reef, which can be viewed by snorkel. It’s Baywatch, but not as we know it…