Hot Seat – WBs Steamy Reality

Judging by its domination in the media these days, everybody loves surfing. But now Warner Brothers wants to know if everyone love surfers. In a palatial, sand-front North Shore spread, six A-list surfers–Danny Fuller, Damian Hobgood, Holly Beck, Sunny Garcia, Veronica Kay and Myles Padaca–volunteered for a new reality television series (yet to be named)-the latest prime-time exhibition for the rest of the country to gawk and marvel at in hopes of a meltdown or steamy romance. For the surfers, it must have been hard to resist with the daily food allowance, cushy furniture and use of flashy North Shore perks like Jet Skis and free rent. We sat down with the subjects-wired at all times-under wavering boom mikes and shoulder-mounted cameras, to see what it’s like to be reduced to the next caged freak show and how everyone is coping with each other, the prying Hollywood crew and themselves. So before it hits the screen, find out what happened when Town came to Country. - Carl Friedmann

SURFER Magazine: So this is for Hot Seat, which is pretty irreverent so feel free to be as candid as…
Damian: Okay, we need you to sign a release form before you come here.

SURFER Magazine: I already did that.
Damian: Oh you did? All right.

SURFER Magazine: So how long have you been in the house now?
Myles: About seven weeks.

SURFER Magazine: And how much time do you have left?
Danny: 10 days (dropping his head back, drawing a deep breath). Please stab me.
Damian: I think everyone’s counting down the days.

SURFER Magazine: When the idea came together, did any of you have any say in who would be in the house?
Holly: Sunny had more say than anyone. His buddies came up with the idea, so Sunny came up with a list of names and they picked from that list. Some wouldn’t commit to the idea so they had to come up with different people.

SURFER Magazine: Have any of you lived or traveled together or hung out a lot before this?
Danny: Definitely not, but you know how small the surfing community is, so everybody knows each other in some way or another. And if you’re in a house together for two months, you’re obviously going to get to know everyone really well.

SURFER Magazine: Whether you like it or not, right? A lot of frayed nerves?
Danny: Not really. Everybody’s got their own trip.

SURFER Magazine: On top of the house, use of Jet Skis and all the food you could possibly eat, you’re getting paid a good sum to do this. Has it been worth it?
(Long pause) Damian: What? Paid?
Danny: Yeah, it’s been worth it. But I definitely wouldn’t have done this show if it were six geeks off the street and me.

SURFER Magazine: What’s been the best thing about living here?
Damian: The food money.
In unison: Yeah!
Danny: The best thing, honestly…(his cell phone rings). I’m doing this interview right now; I’ll be there in a little bit.
Veronica: They give you a house right on the beach.
Danny: (Wrapping up on the phone) All right, I’ll call you back.
Holly: Access to the Jet Skis is pretty nice too.
Danny: Access to what? The Skis? You know what. Basically, I don’t want to get into that one with you.

SURFER Magazine: And the worst?
Sunny: When the camera people just walk into your room without knocking. But they find out how quick they need to get out.
Veronica: Yeah, first thing in the morning, when you’re just stumbling out of bed and there’s a camera light in your face, that gets annoying.
Holly: You’re always wired and they’re always listening in on what you’re saying. But it’s fun because they won’t film you until they hear something juicy. So we’ve come up with this code that we speak in, just to tease them and get them all excited over nothing.
Danny: For me, I haven’t hung out with my old friends during this whole time because they don’t want to come over to the house and have a camera in their faces.

SURFER Magazine: What’s a typical day like?
Holly: We wake up and everybody splits and at dinnertime we all come together. I think they expected us to interact with each other or be at each other’s throats more. But we all go out and do our own thing.
Danny: I think with the people they chose, they didn’t realize how mellow everyone was. I’m definitely not the mellowest guy, but the majority of the time I am.

SURFER Magazine: What’s kitchen and bathroom etiquette like?
Myles: We have a maid service once a week, so it doesn’t get too out of hand.
Holly: Some people like to have it clean and those are the people who clean. Damian’s really good at cleaning up. He’s our dishwasher.

SURFER Magazine: Do you get along with the crew in your faces all day?
Damian: They’re great. But the best thing is hanging out with the security guards. Sunny kicks it out there all the time too. They always have the best stories about Hollywood scoop. They see everything go down.
Myles: Yeah but one of them fell on one of my boards right before a heat at Haleiwa and buckled it.
Sunny: It shattered his whole confidence.