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Belcher: Thanks Reality TV Folks; This Year Was Real

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By WALT BELCHER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 23, 2008

Looking back at the reality shows that cluttered up the TV screen in 2008, I have a few fond memories of people from the Tampa area that had their 15 minutes of fame.

It was a banner year for winners, losers and people who came close. We had contestants on just about everything from "American Idol" to "The Ultimate Coyote Ugly Search 3." And I tried to give every one of them at least a paragraph or two.

This is the time of year when critics make lists such as the following of "People Who Made Me Watch More Reality TV Than Any Human Should."

ONE-EPISODE WONDERS: Plant City couple Christy and Kevin Gonzalez actually planned the mud wrestling and mattress surfing before they wound up on CMT's "My Big Redneck Wedding" back in January. Christy, 25, and Kevin, 32, were hitched three years earlier on a snook fishing trip that lacked the romance of a big wedding in a pasture.

• Lesley Geyer, a 23-year-old Tampa youth minister, didn't have any regrets about leaving ABC's "The Bachelor: London Calling" on the first episode. Unimpressed with bachelor Matt Grant, she left with her dignity intact and no embarrassing hot tub moments.

• While being on ABC's "Supernanny" can expose shortcomings to the world, a visit from nanny Jo Frost apparently helped Brenda and Bill Dostal of Wesley Chapel understand the reasons for their 5-year-old son's temper tantrums.

• Brandon Baugh, 23, of Tampa, appeared on "The Tonight Show" and whistled through his nose for Jay Leno. Is the next stop "America's Got Talent"?

• Palm Harbor teen Cher Hubsher, whose lavish birthday was featured on MTV's "My Super Sweet 16" in 2007, was back for a sequel, "My Super Sweet 16 Presents: Exiled." She was sent to live in a hut with a family in rural Panama.

ACTUAL WINNERS: Jordyn Barbato, 14, a Tampa Bay Tech High School student from Gibsonton, was already a winner (because she's smart, outgoing and creative) before she won the Discovery Kids' reality show "Endurance: Fiji." She won a dream vacation after competing on this "Survivor" for kids.

• Ian Stitch, 29, a Starbucks employee from Sarasota, won $25,000 on the one-time "Think Like a Cat" game show on the Game Show Network. He and his 6-year-old Maine Coon kitty, Quinn, proved they are of like minds.

• One Night Rodeo, a band from Bradenton, won the first "Next GAC Star" reality competition on the Great American Country network, landing a recording deal and national exposure for long-time band members Duane Alluson, Mike Elrod, Jack Tamburin and Corey Hildreth.

CHALLENGERS: Melissa Trinidad says it took "nerves of steel" to compete on "American Gladiators." The 30-year-old fitness trainer from Tampa lived out a childhood dream for a few rounds on the NBC reality series this summer.

• Tampa's Ashley Glasgow, 22, didn't have any experience as a bartender, or a dancer, or a bartender who dances on a bar, when she almost won CMT's "The Ultimate Coyote Ugly Search 3."

REALLY BIG SHOWS: Troubled former "American Idol" finalist Jessica Sierra appeared on VH1's first "Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew." The episodes were taped between arrests for altercations in Tampa. The 22-year-old, still in therapy and on probation, made some heartbreaking revelations to "Dr. Drew" Pinsky.

• Charmer Syesha Mercado, 21, from Sarasota, came in third on the Fox's "American Idol," winning over millions of fans. Fresh off the "Idol" concert tour, she's waiting for that next career move.

• Uptight Tina and laidback Ken Greene didn't win CBS's "Amazing Race" but the Tampa couple came close and, more importantly, they patched up their strained marriage.

TUNE IN TONIGHT: On "Funniest Commercials of the Year: 2008," at 9 p.m. on TBS, Kevin Nealon hosts a look back at the commercials that made us chuckle.

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