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Paris and Nicole Get More "Simple"
Tue Feb 10,12:20 AM ET Add Television - E! Online to My Yahoo!


By Sarah Hall

Attention, Wal-Mart shoppers: Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie may soon be spilling out of a Winnebago in a town near you.


• News: Paris is burning mad
• News: Simple Life star in rehab
• News: Paris is burning up the ratings



E! Online Photo



Fox has hired The Simple Life girls for a second season--and this time, they're taking their show on the road.


The first installment of The Simple Life followed the saucy socialites through the town of Altus, Arkansas, where they shacked up with the Leding family and toiled for a series of less than impressed employers.


Perhaps not wanting to inflict quite as much Paris and Nicole on a single town and host family, the minds behind Simple Life 2 are sending the girls on what Fox refers to as "the ultimate road trip."


"It'll be a cross-country road trip where they travel from town to town and go from family to family," Fox exec Mike Darnell told Daily Variety. "The show can be a different experience in each episode."


Darnell noted that while the jet-setting duo have traveled far and wide around the globe, their Stateside travel experiences have been somewhat limited, due to a dearth of destinations deemed sufficiently exotic.


He described their future ventures as a cross between Nation Lampoon's Vacation franchise and MTV's Road Rules.


"It'll be interesting to see the country through their eyes," Darnell said. "Maybe Paris will visit a Wal-Mart. I'm kind of hoping they stop at a Hilton."


In preparation for the A-list road trip, Bunim-Murray Productions and Fox Television are currently holding open casting calls for "all-American families" who are willing to host the celebutantes during pitstops on their travels.


So far, host family auditions are being held in Grand Canyon Village, Arizona, Brooksville, Florida and Lafayette, Louisiana. Wannabes are asked to bring a photo of the outside of their home, as well as recent family portraits.


The flaxen-tressed twosome is expected to spend just under a month on the road. Production is scheduled to begin in the spring and the series will debut later this year.


The first Simple Life installment earned Fox a much needed ratings bonanza. The show averaged 10.6 million viewers in its Tuesday time slot and 11.6 million tuned in on Wednesdays to catch the duo's outrageous antics.


If Paris Hilton's Internet longevity serves as any indication, The Simple Life 2 is unlikely to disappoint.