Subject: 2010 U.S. Olympic Team for Curling member set to appear on reality show

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   Nov. 17, 2009 2010 Olympian Plys set to appear on new reality show

(STEVENS POINT, Wis.) - Chris Plys (Duluth, Minn.), alternate on the men's 2010 U.S. Olympic Team for Curling, is set to appear on the new reality TV show "Bank of Hollywood" on the E! network.

"Bank of Hollywood," produced by Ryan Seacrest Productions, is set to debut at 10 p.m. ET on Dec. 14 with eight episodes planned. Plys sent in an audition tape this summer and got called to Los Angeles earlier this month for a second audition and was selected to appear on the show. Tune in to find out if he will receive any funding.

The idea of the show is simple - judges hand out cash to people seeking money for a variety of reasons. A panel of celebrity judges will determine who receives the money, which is coming from their own pockets with a minimum disbursement of $2,000. The panelists include Candy Spelling, widow of producer Aaron Spelling; poker star Vanessa Rousso; Pussycat Dolls singer Melody Thornton and Sean Patterson, president of Wilhelmina Models. Bryan Callen will be the host. The series is based on a British show, Fortune: Million Pound Giveaway.

"It was sweet...just the whole process of seeing how the TV production works, and getting to work with people who do this every day and experiencing the whole Hollywood thing for a few days," Plys said.

Plys, 22, won the world junior title in 2008 and was the youngest skip in the field at the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Curling in February. After John Shuster's team eventually won the Olympic Trials, Plys was selected as the alternate and has been training with the team in preparation for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. The money he asked for from the show is to help pay for his family to attend the Olympic Games. His father has been battling brain cancer for the past few years and was unable to be in Sweden with Plys when he won gold.

Ryan Seacrest Productions also produces the E! series "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," "Denise Richards: It's Complicated," and "Leave it to Lamas."

To learn more about Plys, visit the USA Curling website and click on "Team USA."

USA Curling is sponsored by AIT Worldwide Logistics, bitRail and Nike and is partnered with CurlingZone.com.

(30)