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By Josh Allen
Managing Editor, eParisExtra!
Paris resident, Cayton Flippen, 26, is what most people would call a southerner. Growing up in the small Texas town of Paris, he’s heard – and most likely been called – all of the stereotypes surrounding this type of childhood, such as redneck, southerner, hillbilly, small town guy, backwoods, cowboy, ranch hand, etc.
It’s safe to say that Cayton never thought in a million years that being a stereotypical redneck would have landed him on the nationally aired, major network broadcast, that is CMT’s Redneck Island, but to his surprise, it has.
“I got a call from a casting director asking if I wanted to interview for a new reality show casting southern stereotypes,” said Cayton, “Then she asked me what stereotype that I was and I told her that I’m a small town guy. A few years ago I put my information on realitywanted.com, not in great detail. Then, a couple of years after that, my cousin and I auditioned for Amazing Race and got a call back, but I was unable to make it to the 2nd audition. I believe this is how they got my information and called me,” he continued. “I did a Skype interview with CMT casting producers over the internet that went well, so they asked me to send in a 7-10 minute video of where I spent my childhood and to introduce my family. I started the video at the Eiffel Tower and ended it wake boarding across a pond. A few days later I received a call saying that I had made it to the final round of casting and I’d know soon if I’d made it. I got a call within a week with the great news and went to LA. Within 8 days of that I was in Mexico.”
The highly anticipated show will premier on Saturday, June 9, at 9pm on CMT. It will be much like the show Survivor with a spin on comedy rather than drama. If you can imagine an island full of competing rednecks, surely you can imagine the level of comedy we’re talking about – hilarious.
The show features 12 contestants, all typical hillbillies or southern belles, 6 men and 6 women, competing for $100,000 through a series of challenges. On each episode, showing every Saturday, someone will get eliminated, by a group vote of contestants, until the winner is decided.
The show is on a beautiful island off of Mexico, but this is no kind of vacation. At the contestants’ camp there is no electricity, no running water, and no luxuries whatsoever. Everyone must rough it for the approximate month that they will compete to try and out last and beat the competition to win the $100,000 that is on the line.
Cayton Flippen is photographed in the red bandana, on the far left, of the above photo.
Each episode will feature a challenge that may be mental or physical or both. The challenges could be puzzles, obstacle courses, games, etc. The winner or winners – when there is a team event – will be safe from elimination on that particular night.
Hosting the show is wrestling and movie superstar, Steve Austin.
“It was so cool getting to meet Steve Austin,” stated Flippen, “He was a childhood idol as I grew up watching wrestling. Being able to sit and talk with him was a dream come true. He’s an extremely down-to-earth guy.”
As stated, there are no luxury items for the contestants on the island, except for one of their choosing that producers let them bring from home. Some chose guitars, some chose air mattresses, or other things, Cayton took his Bible.
Although a strenuous month of survival and roughing it can get to your head, Cayton wasn’t worried about the physical strife that the show would take.
“The physical and mental challenges on the show: no problem, the ‘roughing it’ in the wilderness also not a problem,” Clayton stated. “But being away from my family for that long period of time was terribly hard. I knew that I needed a luxury item that would help me stay strong and close to my family at heart. The Bible is what I chose.”
With Cayton being the only male on the show from Texas – rightfully giving him the nickname “Tex” on the show – and certainly the only contestant from Paris, Texas, he is representing our homeland to the masses, and doing a great job at it. According to CMT producers, Mr. Flippen is the ideal ‘Southern gentleman’.
“I think I was truest to myself on the show, trying to stay true to who I am and where I am from’” Flippen said. “Some of the producers asked if I was going to pursue a life on camera after Redneck Island because I had made a good impression. I answered by saying ‘If you guys bring the cameras to Paris, I’d do it’.
Cayton Flippen is the son of Michael and Carolyn Flippen and has a sister, Crystal Flippen. He is married to the daughter of John and Jane Adams, Kim Flippen, and they have a 10 month old daughter, Krislyn Brie. He was born and raised in Paris, Texas and has worked for Performance Food Group for the last 3 ½ years as a sales rep selling to restaurants, convenient stores, etc. He loves the food business and hopes to one day open his own restaurant or be The Next Food Network Star.
As a means to promote CMT’s Redneck Island, each contestant has been asked to make an official Fan Facebook Page. Cayton has the most likes so far of all the contestants, but has a goal of reaching more than 1,000 before the premier of the show on Saturday, June 9. Let’s help him with this and all “Like” his Facebook page before Saturday by clicking the link below – show the world Paris’ hometown spirit and get Cayton the most likes of all the contestants.
Cayton “Tex” Flippen – Official Fan Facebook Page * Redneck Island
You can also follow Tex on Twitter by clicking here.
For videos of previews and sneak peeks of the show and for more information, visit CMT’s Redneck Island Website by clicking here.
Tune in to CMT on Saturday, June 9, 2012 at 9pm to catch the premier showing of this hit new comical reality show that will star contestant, Cayton “Tex” Flippen – small town guy from Paris, Texas.
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