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Do Reality TV Contestants Have to Quit Their Jobs?

Thu., Jun. 25, 2009 10:00 AM PDT by Leslie Gornstein

ABC/Adam Larkey

I watched Ed depart from The Bachelorette, and it got me thinking: What do reality contestants do about work? If I told my boss I needed 12 weeks off to shoot a secret reality show, it wouldn't go over well.
—Katie P., via the Answer B!tch inbox

As sad as it sounds, some people consider appearing on the teevee a once-in-a-lifetime dream, an opportunity not to be missed, no matter what the cost. And that includes the ability to pay rent. Some reality-show contestants have said they took unpaid leave or vacation time to appear on a reality show.

Contestants who can't get a break from their bosses have been known to simply quit.

Sometimes the fallout extends to the bosses of the people who compete. Take the case of the boss who got fired for letting an employee appear on The Bachelor:

That tale comes to us from the Fort Bend area, in Texas. According to reports, Bachelor contestant Amber Alchalabi, a schoolteacher, (class of '07) was given 22 days off from school for filming. Her principal was disciplined and subsequently resigned after failing to clear Alchalabi's absence with a supervisor.

This year's Amazing Race cast included software engineer Preston McCamy, who says he quit his job so that he could appear on the show.

"You only get those chances so many times," he told an Alabama newspaper.

Survivor: China lunch lady Denise Martin caused a stir a couple of years ago by saying she'd gotten demoted after she'd returned to the States. Either way, she did take unpaid leave and was able to return to the same place of employment.

Of course, some reality shows pay their contestants once they get to a certain point. Survivor contenders, for example, get anywhere from three figures to $1 million, depending on when the tribe boots them.

As for me, I would never leave my faithful readers to go on a reality show, not even if they dressed me up like Adam Lambert and put me on the cover of Rolling Stone. I promise.

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