Longoria defends 'Housewives' ratings slump

Eva Longoria Parker has defended Desperate Housewives after the third series saw ratings fall 25%.

The actress, who plays scheming Gabrielle Solis in the ABC show, dismissed press speculation that the slump was caused by creator Marc Cherry's decision to reduce his input in the writing process during the second series.

She said: "You can tell when he's written an episode or not or he's touched up a scene. He has a very unique tone to every word that he puts on the page. He's a genius."

She insisted that she had loved her storylines in the second series even without his involvement, saying: "The baby, the nun, the adoption, the maid - it was a fun arc for her (Gabrielle).

"I think every season has been unique. Season one was a phenomenon, [and] my favourite episode to date was the pilot, it was just incredible. [But] you can't relive that, you can't recreate that."

It was recently revealed that former OC star Chris Carmack is to join the cast of the show.