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— by Corey Moss
What's next? Omarosa gettin' crunk with Lil Jon?
As if clogging up your TiVo weren't enough, more and more reality TV stars want a piece of your iPod too. Others want to graduate to "real" TV shows, or even movies.
And with the spring TV season coming to a close, another class of water-cooler heroes and zeroes is being unleashed. Like a good reality show, however, there's a catch. Except for "American Idol" finalists, whose careers are mapped out before Simon even has a chance to chide them, a reality star's path to a successful entertainment career is a largely unpaved one with few survivors.
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 Kit Hoover ("Road Rules") is now co-host of ESPN's "Cold Pizza"
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 Elisabeth Hasselbeck ("Survivor") is a co-host of "The View"
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 Teck Holmes ("The Real World") landed a role in "Van Wilder"
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 Colleen Haskell ("Survivor") was Rob Schneider's love interest in "The Animal"
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 Paris Hilton ("The Simple Life") is recording an album
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 Nicole Richie ("The Simple Life") is recording an album
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 Colby Donaldson ("Survivor") has guest-starred on "Reba," "Just Shoot Me" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and appeared in Schick razor commercials
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 Jenna Lewis ("Survivor") has appeared on "Nash Bridges" and "Son of the Beach"
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 Evan Marriott ("Joe Millionaire") has appeared on "Charmed" and hosts the Game Show Network's "Fake-a-Date" show
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 Jacinda Barrett ("The Real World") has appeared in several films, including "The Human Stain" and the upcoming "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason"
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Ever since Heather B. dropped her first verse on "The Real World: New York" 12 years ago, reality TV has been the ultimate double-edged sword for struggling entertainers.
"I liken it to getting to jump off the high dive, but with a huge anchor around your neck," says Bob Guiney of "The Bachelor," who released his first solo album in November. "I will say that it definitely gave me a lot more exposure, which is great. I get to do things other bands or even my band didn't get to do for years and years, but with radio programmers and things of that nature, it's like the eight years of my band touring around has been erased by two seasons on primetime television. I have to go back and prove I was a musician before I was hatched on a TV show."
Although the general assumption is that reality stars are just average Joes with no more talent than the next guy, the truth is more than a few were burgeoning actors or musicians, and all are natural entertainers or they never would've been cast. Some reality stars were even discovered through agencies, although producers are careful not to mention that so the characters are more relatable and don't appear to be on the shows for the wrong reasons.
"I have my own mortgage company and it's been successful for me, but I've done music for 11 years and mortgage for three, but I was portrayed as a mortgage banker," Guiney says. "I thought that was interesting. I went into the show with a recording contract in place, but I think they choose to focus on the other aspect and make me more appealing as a bachelor guy. I guess a touring musician doesn't fall into their box of what they think people will find appealing."
Bob talked about music a lot while filming "The Bachelor," but none of it aired, which has made promoting his album more difficult.
"One of the things I hear the most is, 'Oh, you were on 'The Bachelor,' and now you have an album out,' " says Guiney, who fronted the Detroit roots-rock band Fat Amy for years. "It's like, 'Actually, this is my fourth album.' I was never given the opportunity to educate people on the show."
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Photo: ABC, FOX, MTV, NBC
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