Watching the recent season finale of "Survivor," Donna Smith discovered a way to achieve reality stardom herself.
A commercial advertised a casting call in Gainesville for season 14 of another one of her favorite reality shows, "The Amazing Race." The show features teams of two who race around the world completing challenges as quickly as possible.
Smith, a Student Health Care Center pharmacist, immediately knew her partner would be her boyfriend, Brent Taylor.
"We do everything together," Smith, 34, said. "We're like adventure partners. We travel together all the time. We live together, and we're best friends."
Taylor said he wasn't as excited about auditioning for the show as his girlfriend, but he wants to support her dream. The couple sent an e-mail to television station WGFL-CBS4 and received a scheduled time to appear at the Saturday casting call, which was held at the station.
Lisa Stoessel, creative services coordinator for CBS4, said the casting call was advertised in TV commercials for about two weeks, and the response was tremendous. However, only the first 100 pairs to register on the Web site were interviewed.
Hopefuls were given two minutes to explain to a video camera why they should be chosen, Stoessel said. Applicants will find out if they made it to the next round in August.
Smith said she is confident about her interview.
"We just tried to make ourselves be presented as we are-normal, everyday people," she said.
The couple has not yet discussed a strategy to win if they are picked, Taylor said, but they are more concerned with having a good time than winning the $1 million grand prize.
"I think the experience is more of a motivation to me than the potential to win," Taylor said. "If we got halfway through and had a great time, I would be happy with that. Winning would also be cool."
