Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

Kathy Hilton (c.) guides 14 contestants up the social ladder.

A plumber and club dancer from Queens and a Long Island apparel store manager are among those who get a chance to live the good life under the watchful eyes of Kathy Hilton on her upcoming reality series.
The local players are just two of 14 people selected for "I Want to Be a Hilton," the NBC show in which Hilton, mother of Paris and Nicky, attempts to guide them through a series of challenges in search of someone upon whom to bestow a $200,000 trust fund, apartment and wardrobe.

"I fell in love with each and every one of these candidates," Kathy Hilton told the Daily News yesterday. "They're entertaining. They have a lot of heart and a lot of soul. It got to a point where it started to get more difficult the longer the show went on."

Contestants range from a construction worker to a Las Vegas dancer. There's also a waiter, a bartender and a telephone salesman.

Locally, Jules, 26, an apparel store manager from Long Island, said in NBC materials she wants to be an event planner but dreams of having her own talk show called "Tell It to Jules."

"Jules is the one who has street smarts," Hilton said. "She really wants to win this competition. I connected with her immediately. She's got some rough edges that need smoothing."

The other local contestant, Queens plumber John, 24, calls himself a "speaker dancer," which is someone who dances on speakers at nightclubs. He attended St. John's but is pursuing a pharmaceutical degree at Florida Atlantic University.

"John is so sweet," Hilton said. "He's a hard worker."

There's also a 31-year-old motor vehicles clerk from California, and Ann, a 28-year-old former Miss Tampa USA winner who likes to sing.

The cast was culled from nationwide auditions. Production on the series took place last summer, and word is two separate endings were filmed to assure secrecy until the end. The show will air June 21 at 9 p.m.

"I wanted people who would like the opportunity to be exposed to different challenges and culture," Hilton said.

During filming, players stayed at the Melrose Hotel in New York and were split into two teams. Hilton then educated them on the do's and don'ts of social life and how to deal with the press. Among the tasks: dog grooming and promoting a new nightclub.

Newly engaged daughter Paris Hilton, star of Fox's reality series "The Simple Life," will appear in the second episode of the NBC show.

"Paris always said, 'Mom, forget the camera's there,' and I did," Hilton said. "I wanted [the contestants] to fell comfortable and to bring out what they were feeling."

So far there's no word on a second cycle of "I Want to Be a Hilton," although Hilton said she'd be up for it.

"I absolutely would do it again," she said. "It was extremely gratifying."