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Ile Reality TV - 'X-Treme Warrior' films episode on island |
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LOCAL WOMEN SOUGHT FOR NEW FITNESS-BASED SHOW, EMILIA ASKARI, FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER |
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June 7, 2006, Section: NWS; NEWS, Edition: OAKLAND COUNTY, Page : 3B |
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If you're a woman who is mentally, physically and spiritually tough, there's a guy named Omar Akl who's looking for you.
Akl, a popular trainer at the Powerhouse Gym in West Bloomfield, is launching a fitness-based reality TV show called "X-tremeWarrior" for Comcast cable subscribers in Michigan, Indiana and California.
This Sunday, Akl will hold auditions from 2 to 4 p.m. at Powerhouse, 6750 Orchard Lake Road, just south of Maple.
He's hoping to find about 75 women 18 and older who are in good shape in mind and body.
"This will challenge you to become extremely fit," Akl said Tuesday. "It's mental more than physical. It challenges you to reach your potential."
Lorne Plant, one of the show's coproducers, said he is looking for women of all walks of life. "Don't think that if you're not an 18-year-old track star, you shouldn't apply," he added Tuesday. "It's like 'Fear Factor'meets 'Dr. Phil.' But we won't make anyone eat bugs."
Those chosen to participate in "X-treme Warrior" will be grouped into teams of 12. Each team will spend a couple of days in rural Michigan participating in various fitness challenges, such as running, swimming, biking, kickboxing, obstacle courses and even sleeping in trees.
At the end of each episode, the women in each group will choose one of their own to participate in the show's finale, which will be filmed in October.
The most successful woman in the final competition will get $25,000.
No one is kicked off the show or fired. You can quit, but if you do, you must stay with your teammates and encourage them. Teams make a three-day commitment to the show.
Eleven episodes will be filmed over the summer and early fall in various locations around Michigan, including camps and resorts near Port Huron and Traverse City.
The shows will air in November and December.
The show's first two episodes will be set in California and staffed with teams of California women, including Wendy Lautner, a 26-year-old substitute teacher who grew up near Traverse City and now lives in Sacramento.
"I wanted to see how far I could go physically and mentally," she said Tuesday, after completing three days of workouts, including logrolling, push-ups and other challenges. "It was fantastic," she said.
At an earlier audition, 12 Michigan women were chosen to participate in the first episode to be filmed here, in June.
They ranged in age from 18 to 51. "Some are students," Plant said. "Some are real workout buffs. A couple are twins in their early 40s. They're into body building now. We've got a few personal trainers who are looking to push themselves. One is a mom who is raising a kid with special needs. She has four teenage daughters. So she's as mentally tough as they come."
Contact EMILIA ASKARI at 248-351-3298 or easkari@freepress.com.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
For information about the show, including future auditions, go to www.xtremewarrior.com. For information about trainer Omar Akl, go to www.omarsplanet.com.
DISCLAIMER: THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM THE PRINTED ARTICLE |
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