On Thursday, March 5, 2009, Jessica “Sugar” Kiper joined Reality Check Radio where she gave her take on her season, the current season, and what she has been up to since the show has ended. She dished on her former castmates, who her perfect alliance would be, and why she can’t get her name printed on a pair of mouse ears. She also gave a lot of insight into the Survivor casting process as well as what happens right before cameras roll and the torches are lit.

If you missed the interview, please click below to listen to the interview of Sugar in its entirety.

On Thursday, March 5th, Reality Check Radio will have Jessica “Sugar” Kiper from Survivor: Gabon for a live on-air interview. She will be discussing her time on the CBS competition show and answering questions from her fans.

Kiper, who got the nickname “Sugar” while working at a San Francisco ’50s diner, became a fan favorite on the show, whose season ended in December, and finished third in the competition.

The show begins at 11pm EST/8pm PST. Listeners can find Reality Check Radio at www.blogtalkradio.com/reality_check. To participate in the live web chat, listeners are encourage to register for a user account at www.blogtalkradio.com if you want to be able to chat during the interview and ask questions.

Reality Check Radio is a blogtalkradio show which highlights and discusses current reality television.

As announced earlier this week, Reality Check Radio held an Amazing Race season 13 reunion which included the top 4 finishing teams, (the team of Dan and Andrew was a surprise) with Mark also joining in, solo from his partner Bill. The teams discuss what all they’ve been up to and their fans reactions to them now that the show has ended. The Amazing Race 13 alumni give insight to alliances that were formed in the competition. They also give their take on the current season of The Amazing Race and their picks.

Would they themselves do it again? How does the alumni think they were portrayed? What would they change?

Click below to listen and see what all the teams revealed.

On Monday, February 23rd, Reality Check Radio welcomes 3 of the top 4 final teams from The Amazing Race season 13 for a live on-air reunion.

Join winners Nick and Starr, brother and sister team, Ken and Tina, separated husband and wife team, and Toni and Dallas, mother and son team, as they answer questions from fans and discuss their time on CBS’s The Amazing Race.

The show begins at 11pm EST/ 8pm PST.  You can find Reality Check Radio online at www.blogtalkradio.com/reality_check.
To participate in the live web chat, listeners will need to register for a user name at www.blogtalkradio.com.

6 people from the show all at the same time is going to be interesting. It will be fun to see how that works on a radio show with that many people. Any bets on who’s still together: Starr and Dallas or Ken and Tina? I’m putting my money on Starr and Dallas.

I’m so glad that the Amazing Race 14 premiered on Sunday. Honestly, they could pretty much put anyone on that show and I’d love it. Here’s a quick look at the TAR 14 cast and some video introductions of each TAR 14 team.

Margie & Luke-Mother / Son
Tammy & Victor-Siblings / Lawyers
Mark & Michael-Brothers / Stuntmen
Mel & Mike-Father / Son
Amanda & Kris-Dating
Brad & Victoria-Married
Jaime & Cara-Former NFL Cheerleaders
Kisha & Jen-Sisters
Steve & Linda-Married
Christie & Jodi-Flight Attendants
Preston & Jennifer-Dating

The new season of Survivor premieres tonight at 8 PM ET/PT on CBS. I’ve previously posted the full Survivor Tocantins cast and a few comments about Survivor Tocantins model Sierra Reed.

Today I came across an interesting article talking about former pro-cyclist and current bike shop manager Tyson Apostol from Heber City, Utah. The article talks about Tyson being a returned mormon missionary on Survivor. It even talks about how Tyson thinks his mission to the Philippines will give him an advantage on tonight’s survivor.

I’m sure his time in the Philippines will help, but anyone who has watched Survivor knows that it’s not always the smartest player that wins. There’s a whole lot of luck involved. It’s also been shown that he who is arrogant goes home also. So, Tyson Apostol should keep quiet and pray hard if he hopes to win this season of Survivor.

I’m really looking forward to tonight’s Survivor season premiere.

I was checking out a BuddyTV slideshow of the contestants on Survivor Tocantins and one of them stood out. It was model Sierra Reed. Sure, any model on a reality tv show would stand out to me (see my Biggest Loser Models post and Erica Ellyson on Momma’s Boys).  However, the fact that Sierra Reed was a model wasn’t what shocked me.  What shocked me was the description and quotes that BuddyTV posted about Sierra Reed.  Take a look:

The 23-year-old is a model from Los Angeles, California. She didn’t have to try out for Survivor, claiming that producers approached her with an offer. She also claims to not need the million-dollar prize. “Money comes and goes,” she said. “If I’d saved when I was just starting out, I’d be a multimillionaire by now.”

Wow!!  Sierra Reed must be a complete nut job.  Everyone can enjoy a cool million dollar prize.  It’s nice that she has confidence in herself, but modeling is only going to last her so long.  She might want to start saving some of that money.  This is good news for the show.  I love whack jobs who truely believe the craziest things.  Sierra Reed should provide a really good storyline for fans of Survivor.

The 18th season of Survivor marks a few changes. This is the first season which allowed those under 21 years old to apply for a slot on the show. All of them will have to stay for 39 days in Tocantins, a state located in central Brazil marked by tropical temperatures, terrible downpours and the Rio Novo river. So who exactly are they?

Benjamin Wade, 37, is a soccer coach and part-time orchestra conductor from Bolivar, Montana. He’s no stranger to the wilderness, having kayaked all 6,132 miles from Baja, California to Colombia by himself. “I’m in this game because I want to change it,” he said. “It’s become survival of the weakest. I want the strongest to survive.”

Brendan Synnott, 30, is an entrepreneur from New York City. He sees his experience with Bear Naked Granola—which he sold to Kellogg’s for $122 million—as a good character-building experience. “I think it’s healthy to have everything taken from you and then have to rebuild,” he said.

Candace Smith, 31, is a former lawyer—and current actress and events planner—from Los Angeles, California. She says she’d be willing to eat anything to win the show. “Having to eat something [weird] for a chance to win a million dollars is nothing to me,” she said. “I grew up eating chitlins.”

Carolina Eastwood, 26, is a bartender from Los Angeles, California. The half-Panamanian prepared for the show in the most offbeat of ways: have her body hair removed. “I got lasered from head to toe because I’m ethnic in the hairiest sense of the word,” she said. “And I did not want to scare people with my overgrown armpits.”

Debra Beebe, 46, is a middle school principal from Auburn, Alabama. The self-described adventure seeker still cringes at what the competition could offer. “Digging a hole and going Big Bathroom in the middle of nowhere … having to wipe with your hands … Is my body going to shut down because I can’t do it?” she said.

Erinn Lobdell, 26, is a hairstylist from Waukesha, Wisconsin. She believes that her gift to get a stranger to trust her in five minutes will help her a lot on the show. “I work at a nice salon, so if this works out for me, I’ll be the new owner when I get home,” she quipped.

James Thomas Jr., 24, is a cattle rancher from Samson, Alabama. The self-described country boy believes his experience in the field will help him and his tribe throughout. “Deer, turkey, wild hog, coyote—everything you’re allowed to hunt in Alabama, I’ve hunted,” he said.

Jerry Sims, 49, is a US Army sergeant from Rock Hill, South Carolina. He plans to take and do things differently on Survivor, as opposed to the way he leads his company of a hundred Army reserves. “I don’t want to be the boss,” he said. “The leader gets axed too early.”

Joe Dowdle, 26, is a commercial real estate broker from Austin, Texas. His strategy is simple: to persuade people to side with him, or get away when things get tough. “If it works, I will have pulled off something miraculous,” he said. “If not, I’ll get pretty far anyway.”

Sandy Burgin, 53, is a bus driver from Louisville, Kentucky. The tattooed grandmother was one of the first to audition, and thinks she can endure all the conditions that Tocantins has to offer. “My willpower is phenomenal,” she claimed. “On a scale of one to 10, it’s a 12.”

Sierra Reed, 23, is a model from Los Angeles, California. She didn’t have to try out for Survivor, claiming that producers approached her with an offer. She also claims to not need the million-dollar prize. “Money comes and goes,” she said. “If I’d saved when I was just starting out, I’d be a multimillionaire by now.”

Spencer Duhm, 19, is a college sophomore from Lakeland, Florida. He’s been closely studying the game since he was 11, and is now the youngest Survivor contestant in history. His tip to win: “You have to assume they’re going to screw you before you screw them over.”

Stephen Fishbach, 29, is a corporate consultant from New York City. He goes by many names, but isn’t willing to be called by his nickname at home—“Fish”—while in the Brazilian rainforests. “I can’t [use it] here because when I can’t fish, I’m going to look like an idiot,” he said.

Sydney Wheeler, 24, is a model and interior designer from San Diego, California. She’s not afraid to use her looks and appeal to get the upper hand in the competition. “I plan to make alliances with the athletic guys,” she said. “If I’ve gotta flirt, I’m gonna flirt. Work with what you’ve got. Right?”

Taj Johnson-George, 37, was formerly part of Grammy-nominated singing group SWV, and is now based in Nashville, Tennessee. Despite being married to NFL star Eddie George, she is out to prove she isn’t pampered. “I’m a 5′9”, 190-pound tomboy,” she said. “I’m gon’ tear ‘em up when I get out there.”

Tyson Apostol, 29, is a bike shop manager from Lindon, Utah. The former professional cyclist thinks he’d win Survivor because he’d be good at it. “May as well go and win,” the 31-mph biker said. “And $1 million in two months isn’t a bad paycheck.” His strategy: push other people’s buttons.

Survivor: Tocantins premieres on February 12, from 8pm ET, on CBS.

Source: Buddy TV

I know how people love The Amazing Race 14 spoilers. Luckily, I don’t think this post will ruin the entertainment of who actually wins. It’s just neat to learn about the process of filming and running the Amazing Race.

So, here’s a really good writeup from someone spotting The Amazing Race 14 in Bucharest:

Yes, ROMANIA! Was at the arrivals area at the airport in Bucharest last night, at about 12:45am, waiting for a friend to come through baggage claim. Suddenly a man with a large videocamera appeared out of nowhere and stood waiting in front of the crowd at the automatic doors. I wondered if it would be someone important, but figured just a local soccer celebrity or something. A few seconds later an Asian couple with backpacks came running through the doors. They seemed to be looking for something and very rushed, and the cameraman followed them as they ran behind me and out the doors to the outside world. My very first thought was AMAZING RACE?!?! And then when I heard them talking to each other in English as they passed, with American accents, I thought it was an even greater chance it had been AR . . . but sadly, I’d never know the truth.

Or would I?!? Few minutes later two girls, looked to be in their 20s, came running out shouting at the crowd asking where the taxis were. Then suddenly they both stopped, looked around very confused-like like they were looking for someone, then stood off to the side a bit, literally about two feet from me. I noticed right away that they both had little yellow and red-striped markers on them, so I was getting even more convinced this was AR. Then while they were waiting, one of them took out an envelope and pulled out of it a blue pamphlet-sized type thing that had the AR symbol on the front, consulted it really quickly, then tucked it away. Now I’m 100% convinced it’s AR!! All of a sudden there was a huge flurry of activity as their camerman came running up (apparently that’s what the two girls had been waiting for), and then I saw at least two other teams and their camera crews come running through the doors – one was two slightly older African American ladies, and another was two rather short men. All four of them also had the yellow and red markers on their person (some were on fanny packs), and were being chased by cameras as they frantically ran for the taxis. I *think* there was another team arriving a little further down, but I couldn’t get a good look in all the excitement. Then last but not least, a very frantic-looking cameraman and sound man ran out in the clearing outside the automatic doors, apparently having lost their team for the moment, and paused scanning the crowd for a good minute or two. Then they took off, so presumably spotted them. Phew.

It gets better. About a half hour later my friend finally came through the double-doors from baggage claim. I was giddy with excitment to tell her about my AR spotting, and her response? “So THAT’S who they were!!” Apparently they were on her flight from Munich! At least some of them were. She was sitting right next to one of the contestants, my friend said she was a Kelly Ripa lookalike. This contestant had another friend sitting up a few rows, who she kept referring to as Chrissy. My friend said they made small talk throughout the flight, and the lady had said she and her friend were making a travel documentary, going to places off the beaten path like Romania to try and generate interest for tourists to go to those countries. So THAT’S their cover! The lady also told the flight attendant that she and her friend Chrissy are Southwest Airlines flight attendants back home. She was also asking a Romanian passenger on the other side of her for advice, my friend didn’t catch all of it but did hear them talking about the train station (how to get there, safety, etc). My friend said after the fact, knowing it was an AR team, a lot of the lady’s mysterious behavior now made sense: Spending half an hour putting on makeup before they landed (after midnight?!?), asking the flight attendant for an extra sandwich (Chrissy had told her they might need it tomorrow!), etc. My friend said that by the time the plane was ready to deboard, the Kelly Ripa lookalike and her friend Chrissy (and their telltale backpacks) had already worked themselves up to the front of the plane to deboard. She said she also had noticed one other team of two girls with backpacks and camera crews, which I suspect *may* have been the pair I saw stalled outside baggage claim, but not sure.

Soooo, long and short of it: At least two teams were for sure spotted by my friend on the flight from Munich to Bucharest; I spotted at least four teams coming thru baggage claim at about that time, one of which might have overlapped with the ones my friend spotted. They were heading for taxis, so not sure if that means a task in Bucharest, or if they were taxing to the train station to venture elsewhere in the country. Making it at least five or six teams here in Romania today! How exciting!! I live not far from Dracula’s Castle, which I’d suspect will be one of their stops, so I’ll be keeping an eye out for any more sightings!

Sorry for the ramble, but I’ve been a huge AR fan since Season 1, Episode 1, and all this time I’ve been really pulling for them to come to Romania – what are the odds I’d see them arriving at the airport here, especially at 12:45am on a Wednesday?!? Can’t wait for this season to air!!

I loved how they talked about how the racers tried to cover up that they were on The Amazing Race. Pretty cool stuff.

Also, one last TAR 14 spoiler: tar 14 started in los alamitos, california at the military base 100% correct my friends dad works at the military base

Source

It pains me to even write the recap for this episode, I was so bummed at the outcome.

The bottom line is: Team Dandrew aka The Worst Team EVER are still in this thing and are in the final three. How? Sheer dumb luck.

When they got to the mat in 2nd place, I swear I screamed like Michael Scott when he found out Toby was back on The Office.

During the Roadblock, Dallas lost his fanny pack with all of his and Toni’s money and their passports in a cab. When he told his mom about his mistake, you could tell he was holding back the tears. I was doing the same. He seems like such a good kid and I pictured the same interaction happening between me and my oldest son – my heart broke for Dallas. They spent the remainder of their time asking for and receiving money from the kind Russian strangers on the street. I was astounded at the generosity of the Russians – so many people gave Toni & Dallas all of the money they had in their wallets without hesitation. I don’t think you would see too many Americans behaving the same way in NYC.

As they dejectedly tried to complete the Roadblock, I wondered why they didn’t try to get one of the kind Russians to help them call the taxi company to get the fanny pack back. Maybe that would have taken too much time, I don’t know. It’s hard to estimate the time that elapses on this show the way it’s edited.

Anyway, Toni & Dallas never did recover and Phil finally put them out of their misery by meeting them on the street as they tried to get to the next location. He informed them the 3 other teams already checked in, therefore they were eliminated.

I guess I’ll be hoping for a Nick & Starr win; they are the team that truly deserves it. Watching the finale won’t hold much excitement for me, though, without Toni & Dallas there.

And now I need to find out if Dallas and Starr continued their romance once the show ended. I’ll report back if I find anything.