Starcasm Get to know the stars of USA’s new reality competition, Summer Camp

Get to know the stars of USA’s new reality competition, Summer Camp

The producers of long-running Big Brother are set to take the drama to the next level with tonight’s premiere of Summer Camp on USA. The reality competition will include from fierce challenges with the whittled down remaining team splitting a $250,000 prize.

And these aren’t just ordinary campers — the majority of cast members are aspiring performers.

Brooke Mangum

Brooke is a 23-year-old model from a large Utah family. After graduating with ajournalism degree from the University of Utah, she scored a broadcast job. And, as demonstrated by the modelling photos above, Brooke is able to alternate between the girl-next-door and blonde bombshell looks.

Salt Lake Magazine Q&A: Utah’s Reality TV Star Brooke Mangum

From the producers of Big Brother, USA Network brings us an all new reality competition—Summer Camp. Sixteen contestants will head back to summer camp in hopes of bringing home a cut of the $250,000 grand prize.

One of those contestants is Utah’s own Brooke Mangum, 23, of Salt Lake City. Known as the “The Model,” and raised in a large Mormon family, tomboy Brooke says she surprised everyone when she shed her ugly duckling exterior and started a modeling career. We sat down and chatted with Brooke about the show and what she hopes to gain from the experience.

Reality TV is a big step for a Salt Lake City girl—what inspired you to audition for Summer Camp?

“When I was given the opportunity to go back to summer camp I thought. Why not? I knew it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I had to take the chance and just go for it. Also, what truly inspired me to do this was a shot at redemption. It is not often in life we are given the opportunity for a “do-over” and that is what summer camp was for me. Growing up, I was an ugly ducking through and through. I was very awkward and shy. I was chubby and even had a mullet! Summer camp gave me a chance to make new memories as a confident and strong adult.”

You’re up against sixteen other campers. What advantages do you have over the competition that will help you make it to the end?

“I am strong athlete. I played sports all through my childhood. I knew that I may not be the very best at everything, but I was confident in my abilities to make it work and be pretty solid at whatever came my way. Also, I am extremely competitive and will not go down without a fight.”

Summer Camp is a once in a lifetime experience—what do you hope to get out of your time spent on the show?

“I was so blessed to have been apart of this show. I made some true life long friends and I learned so much about myself. I learned that I am capable of much more than I even imagined.”

If you do win, what do you hope to do with your split of the money?

“Start my life. I just graduated college and am still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up—$250,000 dollars would help me on the road to achieve my dreams.”

Salt Lake Tribune Utah nerd/model goes to TV ‘Summer Camp’

Scott Pierce: Utah nerd/model goes to TV ‘Summer Camp’ 

 

By Scott D. Pierce The Salt Lake Tribune

Utah model Brooke Mangum was not a natural to compete on the USA Network’s reality/competition show “Summer Camp.”

“Camping is not my thing,” said the woman described by USA as a “nerd-turned-supermodel.” “I am not what you’d     call a happy camper. My family’s idea of camping was staying at a really bad motel.”

Mangum is one of 16 contestants on the show, which debuts Thursday at 9 p.m. on USA. They were isolated at  California camp, where they took part in battle-of-the sexes competitions inspired by camp games. It all culminated in a “Camp-athlon,” with the winner taking home $250,000.

“I never thought in a million years that I would do a reality show,” Mangum said. “And then when the opportunity came up, I thought, ‘Why not? You only live once.’ And it ended up being an amazing experience.”

It’s not the first time that she’s surprised herself. The 23-year-old model was a self-professed tomboy not that long ago.

“I was an ugly duckling through-and-through,” she said. “I was chubby and I had a mullet.

“I remember when I first got scouted [to be a model], I thought, ‘Why is this person following me?’ “

But when she was 12, she suddenly sprouted up to 5 feet 9 inches tall. And lost the mullet.

“I definitely got picked on when I was younger,” Mangum said. “So many times people talk about how modeling can be so hard on kids and it’s so difficult. But for me, I had never had confidence before and it gave me that confidence.”

And that confidence carried through to “Summer Camp,” where she went in with a healthy attitude and an unusual reality-show tactic — be nice.

“That’s my whole life strategy,” Mangum said. “It’s so much easier to be nice than it is to be rude. And I don’t understand why people go out of their way to be rude to each other. So my strategy is that if you put good out, you’ll typically get good back.”

She said she tried to remain aware “that I was going to have to come home and I was going to have to live with the decisions that I made there, and I wanted to be proud of what I did and who I was.”

She can’t talk about what happened during production of the show, of course, but she did say she had a “great time.” Although it didn’t make her eager to go camping again anytime soon.

“I love the idea of summer camp. But I wouldn’t mind if we had beds instead of bunkbeds, that’s for sure,” Mangum said. “And I would like an indoor bathroom.

“It didn’t make me want to run out and go camping, but the experiences and relationships that I made, I will cherish them always.”

Brooke Mangum - Full Hosting Demo Reel