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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, June 18, 2003

Room and boarding for a surfer series

By Tanya Bricking
Advertiser Staff Writer

Sunny Garcia is one of seven competition surfers living together for a TV show.

The WB

'Boarding House: North Shore'

7 tonight, The WB

"Reality" television rides close to home today with the premiere of the WB network's "Boarding House: North Shore," from producer Mark Burnett, the man who brought the world "Survivor."

Think of it as MTV's "Real World" with seven strangers living under one roof, only make it seven pro surfers living in manufactured paradise: a beachfront abode between Pipeline and Sunset Beach.

The waves are real. But in reality, the living chambers, complete with seven bedrooms, bamboo curtains and aloha-print everything, was a set that has already been struck.

The scenic six-week series shows off the beauty of Hawai'i, but it's really more about big waves and big egos. The conflict? Rivalry between top surfers such as Sunny Garcia (the 33-year-old hothead of the house) and Myles Padaca during the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing competition.

Between posturing and partying, there are squabbles, like when Holly Beck questions whether her surfwear-model roommate, Veronica Kay, takes surfing seriously enough. Housemates include Damien Hobgood, Danny Fuller and Chelsea Georgeson.

When The Advertiser visited during filming, bikini-clad Beck said it was "very much the plushest place I've ever stayed."

While watching TV was off-limits during taping, their back yard was stocked with 50 surfboards. And their attempts to ride the gnarly winter waves provided drama enough for a reality show that's all about the view from the beach house.