A German official has called for producers of one of the country's most popular television shows to ban John Trovolta from making an appearance.

Travolta has been invited to appear on Wanna Bet?, which can usually attract up to 13 million viewers. The show features contestants performing unusual stunts and asks celebrities to bet on their success.

Guenther Oettinger, the state governor of Baden-Wuerttemberg, has requested that Travolta's invitation be withdrawn by the programme because of his association with the Church of Scientology.

"By inviting Mr. Travolta to appear on your show, you're offering this organisation a platform to address millions of viewers," Oettinger explained. "Mr. Travolta is a well-known member of that organisation, which has only recently opened a new office here, and many people, parents in particular, are concerned about Scientologists and their aims."

A spokesman for ZDF, the network which airs the show, told ABC News: "Mr. Travolta will appear, of course. To uninvite him from the show would have given the Church of Scientology an undesired attention and would have caused more damage than to have him on the show. Mr. Travolta's management has agreed that the actor will not talk about that controversial subject."