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U. So. Carolina TKE is "Kept"
Thu, Jun. 16, 2005
USC grad ‘Kept’ it low-key on reality show
By PAT BERMAN
Staff Writer
Jason Fromer is what you could call a great catch. Single, 25, and available, he works out regularly and has big muscles. And a big brain. He graduated with honors in 2001 from the University of South Carolina with a triple major in sports management, marketing and finance — and all on an academic scholarship. He also has a good job in pharmaceutical sales in Tampa, Fla.
Yet there he was with 11 other near-naked men in Speedos diving into London’s Thames River in January and, later, strutting down a catwalk in outfits that only a guy named Ricardo would (and did) love.
All this vamping was to win the approval of one woman: Jerry Hall. A Texas-bred model, actress and entertainment-page glamour queen, Hall’s biggest claim to fame is being an ex-Mrs. Mick Jagger.
Maybe her second biggest claim will be Fromer.
He is one of the dozen men vying for the opportunity to be Hall’s escort/arm charm for one year on the VH1 reality series “Kept.” The winner also pockets $100,000.
On each show, the guys are required to comply with Hall’s wishes. That meant jumping into the river on the first episode. On the second episode, after a grooming session that included back waxing and eyebrow plucking, the guys had to put on a fashion show for her.
The latest episode required them to paint portraits of each other as they posed nude. VH1 blocked out the naughty parts. Then Hall’s pals paid ridiculous sums of money to buy the amateurish paintings — bringing to mind F. Scott Fitzgerald’s observation that “the rich are different than you and me.” Yes; they appear to be boneheads with money.
At the end of every show, a competitor is eliminated. As of tonight, Fromer is among nine still in the running.
Fromer described Hall, 48, as a classy lady and extremely entertaining, but no second date in real life. “I’ve dated older women and I admire women who are independent and successful,” Fromer said. But the show and the lady were all about Jerry. “She didn’t want to know about me,” Fromer said.
Fromer’s six-week adventure started like a show-biz discovery story should start. A casting agent spotted him in a Tampa shopping mall where “Kept” auditions were being held and asked him to interview.
“I was just going along to see how far it would go,” Fromer said in a phone interview from Tampa.
He talked to his parents. His mother, a big fan of reality shows, was “against the idea at first. She was nervous,” Fromer said. His father told him to go for it and persuaded his wife that their son would be fine: They had not raised a boy toy.
Fromer said the show’s staff presented the concept as if it were essentially a six-week, all-expenses-paid stay in London, where they would be filmed going to a lot of hot spots with Hall. “My attitude was, it’s a free trip to Europe,” Fromer said.
Not until he boarded a plane to London and was into the first couple of days of filming did what was happening sink in. And then it sunk in some more.
“You’re going to be a lap dog,” he thought.
Once the game was on, though, Fromer, who values his professional image and business relationships, could not resist. On went the Speedo, on went the hair gel, and on went the show.
Fromer was not going to compromise his integrity, but he was going to “enjoy the experience.
“I didn’t dominate one area. Seth was the funny guy. Mike Devonric is the solid, down-to-earth guy. Ricardo was the model. Some of the guys were going to self destruct.”
He saw his opportunity as playing, “the most well-rounded — the total package.”
Thus far, Fromer has been a low-key presence of the show.
His Tau Kappa Epsilon brothers from USC have been supportive, sending e-mails and jumping on VH1 chat sites. Since his TV appearances, Fromer has received a lot of mail and said he’s flattered by the attention.
Fromer, who loves living in Tampa but admits it’s “enemy territory” to Gamecock fans, next expects to be in Columbia for the USC-Florida football game. He compared the “Kept” experience to pledging his fraternity. “It’s the best time you never want to have again.”
Although the show finished taping, Fromer won’t reveal who won. After all, a “Kept” man does not kiss and tell.
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