Category — Beauty and The Geek

With all the will they or won’t they renew The X Factor, I had completely forgotten about Beauty and the Geek. However this popular and entertaining show deserves to have a third season.

But as you know what makes a good reality show is it cast, and Channel Seven are now looking for beauties and geeks.  I know previously they have had trouble finding geeks.

If you want to apply go to the official website and filling out the application form at:www.beautyandthegeek.com.au

Last year’s winners were Michael Price and Jessie Byrne took home $100,000.

Applicants must be aged over 18.

The third series of Beauty and the Geek Australia will premiere on Seven later this year.

The editors on Beauty and the Geek deserve a payrise, as each week I think “do I really have to watch this show”, but each week after two minutes I am completely sucked in.

I am not sure whether it is the likeable characters, the stupid challengers, or just the the fast pace of the show.

Michael and Jessica deserved to win as they were both lovely, But Michael may also have won the love prize with Tamika.I would be surprised if they do become an item.

Tamika was the real star of the show, with her Anna Nicole Smith looks, and her airhead but bubbly personality. She really needs to get her own show. Or worst case scenario a cover of FHM.

Channel Seven will be desperate to do another series. However  whether they can find the geeks will be the issue. Maybe they need to plumb the depths of Young Labor or Young Liberal’s for some “talent”.

Channel Seven must be wondering what the formula is a for a successful reality show.

Beauty and the Geek again this year is a huge hit for them,  easily hitting the magic million mark and beyond, and Four Weddings which they probably produced with change from their petty cash tin was fantastic as well.

But then the productions they have poured money into like The X Factor, and Iron Chef have not rated as well as expected.

However The X Factor is starting to pull some decent figures, so hopefully it will be renewed for a second season.

They will definitely be renewing Beauty and the Geek for a third season, but their problem is finding the geeks. Rumour had it they struggled this year to find nerds.

It is an engaging show when watching it with good looking dim-witted girls, and guys who are brainy but allegedly socially inept.

Some thoughts on the series:

• The show appears to  be harmless, but I do think some of these boys are getting a bit emotionally involved. Watching Tim last night tell Kara how he felt was painful.
• But I did laugh when he was teary when she reached over to get a tissue and then used it herself, I thought she was going to hand it to him;
• Tamika is fantastic, puffed up lips and all, and needs to become Brynne Edelsten’s intern now;
• I am secretly a little bit in love with Michael, as he has a cheeky sense of humour, so I hope he gets a decent girlfriend;
• Daniel Iachini is no geek, but then each season one of them appears to slip through the casting net;
• Tim is a cutie now he has done is make over, and has a dry sense of humour so hopefully he will be popular with the ladies;
• I think Thomas the Hawaiian shirt enthusiast was serious when he was talking about his dancing skills.
• I find it appalling that what men what a guy wants in a girl is looks, wouldn’t Tim be bored by Kara after a few weeks?

Who is your favourite geek and beauty? I would like to see a show where the girls were geeky and the guys were the brawn. In fact I am sure it is in production somewhere in the US.

Not even at week three of the second series of Beauty and the Geek and we have a this guy is not a geek scandal.

Geek Daniel Iachini has been shown to have form with the ladies.

Nine MSN reports (thanks Wurstsemmel) that Iachini is actually quite confident with women and has had several girlfriends in the past, including a long term relationship of 18 months.

This is not unlike last year when it was revealed geek Corin had a child and had long term relationships. (Blog about that saga here)

I understand Channel Seven for this series had a hard time recruiting geeks so this is why Daniel application may have got him on the show.

Theoretically you can be a geek and get laid, as the premise of the show that the girls show them how to be cool to maybe shag a better quality chick?  And the boys try and teach them how to count to 20 or something like that.

The article continues:

According to friends, Iachini is actually quite confident with women and has had several girlfriends in the past, including a long term relationship of 18 months.

Far from being an awkward geek, the 23-year-old is a regular on Adelaide’s nightclub scene, where he has helped friends with promoting club events.

An acquaintance of Iachini’s, who did not want to be named, said he was puzzled to see him as a contestant on Beauty and the Geek.

“Why is Daniel on that show? Since when did preppy G-Star clothes and a long beard make someone a geek?” he said.

“I’m all for people having fun and giving things a go but it’s not really fair and it obviously compromises the integrity of the show when for starters, the geeks aren’t really geeks.”

Iachini’s friend Stuart Duckworth, who handles promotions for the Electric Circus nightclub, said Iachini was a geek but not in the stereotypical sense.

“He’s a scientist who has been studying for years and he is really smart,” Mr Duckworth told ninemsn.

“But he’s not the type of geek who doesn’t know how to dress well.”

“I wouldn’t consider him to be a really geeky person and he definitely would be a lot less geeky than the other people in the house.”

Mr Duckworth said he was not surprised to hear that Iachini — who has been romantically pursuing personal shopper Kara Palmieri and on tomorrow’s night episode kisses twin Ellie in the spa — had been making advances towards the beauties in the house.

For me the most interesting part of this article was that it was revealed he had been on Channel Nine’s Millionaire’s Hot Seat and bailed out at the first question. I would love to know what the question was.

Once the fake geek (Corin), and the fake beauty (Emma) were both in teams in the final two I kind of lost interest. The Amazing Race type scenario was a yawn, the clues were too easy, and there were no witty to camera scenes. A bit of anti-climatic finish to what has been a pretty good show.

The first part of the show was an Amazing Race type scenario where the last three teams standing had to find three beauty or geeks and be one of the first two teams to make it back to the mansion.

Kat was picked up on Bondi beach by Michelle and Peter. Michelle looked pretty fit running  up Bondi beach, and Peter did look like a geek lumbering up behind her.

At Luna Park there was a foot race between Corin’s and Jeremy’s team to pick up Elyse. Corin won.

Again there was a race between Peter and Michelle, and Jeremy and Emma at King’s Comics, which Jeremy’s team won, partially due to Michelle and Peter running the wrong way.

Corin and Lisa found everyone in about a 2 km radius, as they  picked up Alan and Toby in The Rocks vicinity. Got to say I think I prefer Toby with curly hair. They made it back to the house first. I am sorry Bernard Curry is no Phil Keoghan. With Emma and Jeremy arriving second. Peter and Michelle were eliminated.

There was a flat looking party, would you be drinking if you had a $100,000 test the next day but it did not seem to stop them.

The final quiz was one where it was to show how much they knew about their partner. It was all correct answer’s until Lisa’s final question where she was asked what sport was Corin was playing when he broke a bone when he was young. The answer was rugby, however Lisa answered badminton. How does anyone break bones playing badminton? this gave Emma the opportunity to answer the next question correctly to ensure her and Jeremy won the first season of the show.

I really enjoyed the first series of Beauty and the Geek, except for this episode which felt a bit flat, but has the show got a second series in it? I suppose it will depend on the casting, which hopefully will be more rigorous then season one.

Last week in an interview with geek Toby Latcham here , he said that he thought some of the beauties on Beauty and the Geek had the capability of going to university. Clearly Hadassah was not one of them. I am prepared to give her the benefit of hte doubt on the question related to animal transport, but how could she think Karl Benz was an englishman? Seriously how many english guys does she know who are named Karl. And why didn’t she click that the name may be related to the German car Mercedes Benz.

Well her stupidity meant Xenogene, a genuine geek  and cool dude was eliminated. To say I am unhappy is an understatement.

Ok if Xenogene had contained his exuberance on the go-kart challenge, he may not had the spectacular stack and would have won. But that is why I like Xenogene, it is his 100% enthusiasm for everything he tackles. And he is sweet. He was the only person who thought Michelle and Lisa’s mushroom risotto was ok for a first attempt.

This week the two teams that won the challenges were automatically in finale with a shot at winning the $100,000. The Geeks challenge was to teach a class at a gym.

Xenogene motivated his gym bunnies by talking in an Arnie type voice.  He was quite funny.

Corin did some bad dance moves, and basically being a poor man’s Richard Simmonds.

Peter did an animal workout, which was funny and original, and Jeremy who is the most athletic out of the geeks made his aerobics moves overly complex.

When Corin won the challenge he did his over the top geek moves. How many challenges has he won?

The girls had to build a billy-kart. Hadassah was confident with this challenge as she has done wood and metal work at school.  She was third to finish the kart, and that meant Xenogene was third on the “grid”. Props to Michelle for completing the kart first and it was still complete when it crossed the finishing line.

Ok the go-kart race was hilarious and I was barracking for Xenogene, as he looked so pleased with himself flying down that hill. But he stacked, the car broke and he was bypassed by Peter who went onto win.

Hadassah and Xenogene went head to head with Emma and Jeremy in the elimination test, but lost.

Xenogene was such an open and honest person, and he even though he felt he was in ‘love’ with Emma, he took her rejection of him with dignity.

The last episode appears to turn  into an amazing race scenario with the teams racing around Sydney to find the geeks. I am not sure where the geek and beauty challenges with fit into this.

In the latest edition of TV Week there is an article saying Corin is not a fake.

This is what the article said:

Two of the beauties have leapt to Corin’s defence after rumours surfaced that he is a “fake geek”. 

“I know there is the whole cliche of a geek who is a virgin and is a computer nerd,” Emma says, “but Corin is a synthetic organic chemist and one of the smartest people I’ve ever met and he just knows how to teach you things. I know that he has a child and he’s had previous relationships, but Corin is struggling when it comes to relationships now so he really needed help and support.

“He’s still the biggest geek I’ve met!”

Adds Hadassah: “Corin definitely has an awkward, nerdy side to him. he’s just different to the typical geek. He’s a cool gee. He’s extremely, extremely intelligent and he’s good at sports. He has a way with talking to people as well, so he’s really lucky.”

Both girls say Corin was up-front about his past relationships and his child.

“He and I knew a fair bit about each other, so I actually knew that he had previous girlfriends,” Hadassah says.

Corin says he’s just being himself on the show. While he considers himself a geek, he isn’t insulted by people saying he’s not.

“When people do say that, it is, in a way, a bit flattering to think that they don’t believe you’re as socially awkward as other people do,” he says.

I would have thought being a cool geek was an oxymoron.

In other geek news Hadassah say’s she has a special relationship with Toby.

Again in the TV Week it says that Toby and Hadassah have been hanging out “heaps and heaps” now that filming has finished.

“I’m actually teaching him how to drive – he’s got three cars and he flies a small plane, but he doesn’t have his drive’s licence,” Hadassah explains. “And he loves going out at the moment, but he doesn’t have any music on his iPod- as he said, he’s a musical caveman – so I’ve made CDs for him. I make him listen to them at home, then when we go out, he knows the songs so we can dance.”

She adds that when they do go out, Toby gets lots of attention from girls – but she hasn’t seen him pick any up yet.

“He just has a nice dance with them and chats with them,” she says. “I’m actually giving his room a makeover at the moment. He only has a single bed, so we’re getting him some new furniture and a CD player. That way, when he does take a girl on a date it’s all ready to go.”

Hadassah says her long-term boyfriend doesn’t mind her spending time with Toby. “He’s used to me having lots of guy friends.”

The latest edition of TV Week has an interview with Emma from Beauty and The Geek  where she say Corin and her are just good friends but she had a crush on another geek – Peter.

The interview said:

“Corin and I were just really good friends,” says Emma firmly. “No romance there. We had a lot in common, past relationships – we had advice for one another. As well, if I was struggling, he was always there to support me. I guess that brings you together.”

So why did she talk about Corin as being “definitely dateable”?

“I think he is dateable,” she says. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that I would date him but but I do think that there are girls out there who would find him attractive and funny and charismatic.”

She admits that she was never physically attracted to the geek. “Not really, if I’m going to be completely honest. I guess I just didn’t see Corin in that way.

“When I said the date was a nine out of 10, I really do think that it was,”  she adds. “He’s very polite, he pulled my chair out for me, he ordered my meal – he was just very charismatic and did all the right sort of stuff you do on a date.”

As for that emotional farewell they had when they thought Emma was going to be sent home, she insists there was nothing more than friendship behind it  on her part. “It’s really sad to be leaving people,” she says. “You’re thinking ‘Will I ever see them again?’”

The promtions model says her boyfriends have tended to be “tall, dark and handsome”. “It’s just something I think all girls are attracted to.”

Emma wasn’t attracted to any of the geeks at first, but later changed her mind. “I must admit, after Peter had his makeover, he looked incredible!” she confesses. “He’s tall, dark and handsome.”

But will anything develop between Emma  and the fungal scientist? It doesn’t look good. “Peter lives in Perth – too far away”, says the Sydney girl. “Besides, I’ve seen so many women want Peter. I don’t think I could compete with that!”

 (Toby with Michelle)

Toby Latcham the resident geek with wit was one of my favourites on the Beauty and The Geek, and I was lucky enough to obtain an interview with him. Unfortunately he and his partner Jenna were eliminated last week on the show.The interview took place prior to this episode so I did not ask him about how he felt about being eliminated.

We did discuss reality TV, makeovers, and girls, and Toby showed he was a humorous, articulate and genuine young man. With rumours that Channel Seven are casting for a second series he thinks all potential geeks should apply.

Reality Raver (RR): What made you go on Beauty and Geek?

Toby Latcham (TL): It was a couple of girls at work, they saw the ad… and I thought it would be interesting.

RR: You are one of my favourite characters on the show because of your droll wit, do you think the editing has shown you as you are?

TL:With the editing it is a bit 50/50 sometimes they show you in a positive light, but sometimes they cut out things that I thought would be really good. I think the editing has showed me accurately, I am disappointed they don’t show other things that I say.

RR: When you went on the reality TV show, when you thought about what it was going to be like, did it live up to your expectations?

TL: It did a bit, I had never done anything like this before, the show itself was really really good fun. I was a bit worried we’d have to do odd things like on Big Brother, and be forced to get out of our comfort zone. We didn’t have to do anything that humiliated us a lot, and we did not have to do anything that was really quite embarrassing.

RR: What about Peter and the back waxing?

TL: With that Peter was a bit keen to do it as well. We were all decided to embrace the concept and wanted to try all these new things. For Peter that was back waxing, and by the end of it he was quite happy how it turned out.

RR: And you didn’t get waxed?

TL: I got my eyebrows waxed. I am unfortunately am not manly enough to grow chest hair.

RR: What did you think of your make over?

TL:I actually quite liked it. I loved the straight hair and new clothes. I’ve got new jeans now.

RR: So a GHD has touched your hair since?

TL: Yes it has….a hairdresser is offering to permanently straighten it so I don’t spend so much time in the mornings.

RR: Back to the concept of being on a reality TV show, were there any negatives about being on the show?

TL: There are a few minor negatives. We didn’t have internet access or contact with the outside world at all. It was a  bit daunting at first. To be away from my work and my life for so long kind of did my head in, but I settled down fairly quickly.

RR: How long were you locked away for while filming of the show went on?

TL: Six weeks.

RR: The scenes where the Geeks were matched with the beauties was that really the first time you had seen the other parties?

I had met the geeks during the promo shoots, but we were not allowed to talk to each other whilst doing the promo shoots. This was the first time we were allowed to talk to each other [when they were deciding which beauties to pick], and this was the first time we saw the beauties.

RR: Are the girls as dumb as they are being edited? For example Jenna is meant to be an airline hostess she got to have some brains hasn’t she?

TL: Some girls were brighter than others, but in general most people had dumb moments on the show, geeks included. In general there were some very intelligent beauties on the show such as Jenna and Emma I think they could go onto university if they wanted to.

RR: I have heard rumours that Emma has a university degree. Something I have not followed up on, but I don’t know if it is true or not.

TL: I had heard some sort of whispers about that, but I don’t think she completed a degree. I go to university and there are a lot of people at university that are dumber than a lot of these beauties.

RR: Speaking of university, how do you do three degrees at once?

TL: It is not actually that hard. I only do four subjects a semester, as I actually work fulltime. I do do some subjects externally, which means I do them at home or during my spare time. Even though it is three degrees it is just going to take me a bit longer to do.

RR: Apart from your makeover and learning how to do your new do. Is there anything else you learnt from the show that you will use in the outside world?

TL:A lot of things actually. I learnt a lot of things about self confidence. And I think I learnt a bit about women as well. We spoke to the beauties alot, and we became very good friends, and they taught us the secrets of …..women.

Having now been on TV I feel more confident in public life now. I have people coming up wanting a photo or autograph. It is a very odd experience for someone over a month ago who was actually a nobody.

RR: I don’t know if you have heard of the movie with Nicole Kidman To Die For, you probably were not even born, but its premise was your nobody until you have been on TV. Have you had more attention from the girls now you have been on TV?

TL: Most certainly. It has been astonishing. I have been going out with Hadassah and Michelle doing what they call clubbing, where we go to nightclubs. The attention I get is amazing, people coming up wanting to take a photo or wanting to kiss me on the cheek. We had a hens night and the hen cuffed herself to me last Friday. I am certainly getting much more attention, I am just not sure if it is genuine.

RR: Are you dating?

TL: I have had a few expressions of interest, merely because I was on the show. I am not dating at the moment. I am going to wait till the whole enthusiasm about the show dies down before I look for a serious relationship.

RR: Your right are they going for the Toby on the show or the real Toby Latcham? Now reality TV has generally been seen as a fast track for girls to go into men’s mags, and people having a fasttracked media careers. But it is also looks like it is becoming a fast track for people with political ambitions. Have you got any plans in the future to go into politics?

TL: Not really. I have been playing politics for five years now and there is something I have learnt from that is that I don’t actually like politics that much. My view is that someone shouldn’t want to become a politician, someone should want to serve the community. If you are my age (21) and you want to become a politician you are in politics for the wrong reason.

RR: Who else are you still in contact from the show?

TL: Everybody. Corin and Emma have flown up to the Gold Coast [this past weekend] to spend time with myself, Michelle and Hadassah. I am going camping with Peter, and I have a roadtrip some of the guys have organised. We’ve all kept in really close contact. There was a couple of times the production team came and spoke to us and said “Come on guys we know your really good friends, but you are on different teams stop trying to help each other.” Before any challenge we would throw ideas around.

RR: So why were you always nominated?

TL: Jenna has been a very strong competitor on the show, she is very good at what she does. The first nomination was strategic, and we went up against Kate and Alan, and unfortunately Kate did not get on well with either the girls and the guys as you probably saw. For the harmony of the house we thought she had to go I’m afraid. So they put up a strong team against them. We knew Kate probably wouldn’t be studying.

The second time I think it was  because Jeremy and Emma were nominating, because if we had the opportunity we would have done the exact same thing.

RR: Are Corin and Emma together?

TL: I am not actually sure. I don’t think so I think I will find out this weekend. [Last weekend they were meeting at the Gold Coast.]

RR: What next for Toby Latcham?

TL: I am not too sure. I am talking to an agent… I am probably looking for radio/voice work, obviously I don’t have a very good face for TV. My main focus is the three degrees, and the work I do in research.

RR: Would recommend to geeks out there to go on the show?

TL: Certainly it was a life changing experience. I would encourage them to do so.

RR: If there was any other reality TV show you would go on which one would it be?

TL: Celebrity Crash Scene Investigation or Celebrity Border Secuity  I think that would be a good show.

RR: Not The Apprentice?

TL: I wouldn’t be cut throat enough for The Apprentice.

If you are reading this article through TV.com come and join the discussion and check out my blog on www.realityravings.com

In this article in the Herald Sun if it can be believed says that Corin Storkey of Beauty and the Geek fame likes both Hadassah and Emma from the series. And they might like him back.

He is going away to the Gold Coast with them this weekend, so maybe he might have a light bulb moment then.

I am still transcribing an interview I had with the latest geek eliminated Toby Latcham. It will  be up soon I promise.