Oxford geek seeks his £40,000 beauty
Gethin says he looks less like a geek since leaving the castle
A third year Pembroke student is set to attain celebrity status in a new reality TV show. John Gethin, a philosophy and theology finalist, is a contestant in Beauty and the Geek, a September Films production which will première on E4 later this year. The show, originally masterminded by Ashton Kutcher, was a massive hit last year when it premiered in America. The format sees seven ‘geeky’ men and seven glamorous girls paired up to perform challenges together, competing for a £40,000 prize.
In a six episode series set in a castle near Glasgow, the geeks, described as ‘socially-inept’ by the programme’s creators, receive lessons in fashion, dancing, design, massage and how to cope with nightlife. Meanwhile, the women, models and glamour models, are tutored in scientific problems and logic. Gethin said he had filled in an application form for a television show without having the faintest idea of what it was about.
However, after two interviews in London he began to assimilate a vague idea of what the production team were looking for. “They started asking me questions, like ‘Do you think you’re a bit of a geek?... I mean, I suppose not, but maybe I do look a bit geeky,” he admitted. One of his fellow geeks, Ed Bolton, a Materials Science student at Cambridge, described feeling pressured by the challenges, which lead to an elimination in every episode.
However, Gethin said he enjoyed his time in the castle: “It was really just the experience… It was truly unique and I had a pretty good time,” he said. Having taken part in the filming over the holidays, Gethin’s contract restricts how much he can tell friends and family. Nevertheless, some of his college friends said they felt his personality would attract a TV audience.
Laura Gordon, a third year at Pembroke, and Gethin’s housemate, told The Oxford Student she thought he was perfectly suited to reality TV. “John’s a good guy, and has a great sense of humour which should come across in the programme. “He’s pretty chilled out in general, so I imagine he would have got on pretty well in the house. He’s almost impossible to fight with, and there isn’t really anything in how he is that people could object to.
Twenty-year old Gethin described himself as a little “odd-looking” in the initial episodes of the show. “At the time I was willing to play along with the show • I had a beard and long hair.” The transformation has clearly taken effect as the clean-shaven, trendily-dressed ‘geek’ talks about the show in a chic black ensemble. The makeover Gethin received was not limited to his hair.
“I got fake-tanned, I got my eyelashes tinted, I got my eyebrows waxed… by the end I looked like a boy-band generic!” With the première set for early September, Gethin is contemplating how the show will be received. “I’m sure that the way they will cut it will pick up on the geeky aspects of people nearer the start so that their normality will shine through by the end of the series.
However Gethin, a member of the Oxford Imps and a regular stand-up performer, is less concerned with how the show is cut than how his new celebrity status will improve demand for his performances in and around Oxford. More importantly still, is he receiving increased interest from Oxford’s ladies after his training on the programme? “Well you know,” replied the geek, “I guess I am.”
2nd Feb 2006