Cast as castaways
By Alicia Robinson, The Los Angeles Times, November 23, 2004

Stranded on an island, dressed to the nines and followed around by cameras.

It sounds more like a reality show than a vacation, but for Glenn and Mindy Stearns, it was both. The Pelican Hill couple spent most of September shooting "The Real Gilligan's Island," a reality show that will premiere Nov. 30 on the TBS network.

On the show, two casts representing characters from the 1960s "Gilligan's Island" sitcom complete challenges in an effort to win spots in the final cast of seven.

Glenn Stearns, 40, and Mindy Stearns, 36, were one of two real-life millionaire couples in the role of the Howells from the original show. As a former entertainment reporter for KTLA, Mindy Stearns is used to mugging for cameras, but having to cooperate with a group of strangers and not having the niceties of civilization was a change of pace for her and Glenn.

"We were subjected to being deprived of amenities," Mindy Stearns said. "It was very hot. We got very little food."

There was no hot water, and someone had to pedal a bike to run the water for a shower.

"We had to eat things that I don't believe animals would eat," Glenn Stearns said.

Even before the reality show, the Stearnses had something of a storied past.

Glenn Stearns came to California after college with just his backpack and got into the real estate business. Today he owns 26 companies, including a mortgage banking firm that banked $2 billion in sales last year.

Mindy Stearns, a TV personality, met Glenn while on assignment in Las Vegas in 2002, and about a year later, the two had a fairy-tale wedding and moved to a palatial home in Newport Coast.

They heard about the reality show from one of Glenn Stearns' employees and wanted to try it, because it sounded like an experience they'd enjoy looking back on.

"This is something that money couldn't buy," Glenn Stearns said. "That's why we've done things, so we could look at our lives and say we really had a good time."

Part of the point of the show was to put people from different walks of life together and see how they get along, said Lloyd J. Schwartz, an executive producer who created the show with his father, original Gilligan's Island creator Sherwood Schwartz.

"You choose the people that are going to provide the most story and some people the audience would really identify with — like, hate, whatever — and we loved Mindy and Glenn," Lloyd Schwartz said.

The Stearns enjoyed being on the show, and they learned a few things about themselves in stressful, competitive situations, they said.

"Your true nature is revealed very quickly, and we're hoping that — through editing — our true nature is still favorable," Mindy Stearns said, laughing.