I’m not huge reality television fan. Truth be told, my reality TV viewings pretty much go as follows:

- Two seasons of Survivor
- Jon and Kate Plus 8 (You all quiet down!)
- Random episodes of a bunch of different dating shows.

So yeah, not the most extensive watcher of those sorts of shows. One show was drastically different though. Over the last couple of months I got hooked on a reality dating show that would go on to consume my Sunday nights and be pretty much the only topic of conversation amongst me and my friends. The show was “Daisy of Love”, a show in which a large group of guys (some rather normal, some…not so much) competed for the affections of a girl named Daisy. Of course her name was Daisy, why else would they call the show that?

One of the participants on the show, and the favorite to win amongst my people, was a guy that went by the name 12 Pack. He would later go on to be called by his real name (Dave), and made it all the way to the final 3 before being sent home. It should be noted that his being sent home caused 4-5 minutes of yelling, over-turned furniture, and a bruise on my thigh the size of my fist…because it was struck violently by my fist. He seemed like a nice enough guy, and came off as very down to Earth and intelligent. With so many people online absolutely loving the show (which maybe some of you guys did as well, whether you admit it or not), I thought it would be nice to catch a few words with him about the show, and many other things. So I emailed him, and was very surprised to hear back soon afterward. You see, we here at OMGJeremy.com aren’t quite yet recognized as legit and proper sources for serious conversation. I’ve snagged some interviews in the past, but I could always tell that deep down they were worrying the whole time, “I hope this doesn’t show up right next to an adult-baby fetish article”.

He was a cool guy and we covered a lot of ground. If you are a fan of the show, collecting sports memorabilia, tips on how to get a ton of ass, or just want to experience me struggling to seem professional…then read on.

Billy: What kinda got you interested in reality television to begin with?

Dave: I was watching all of these shows, and I was thinking why couldn’t I be one of those guys? I’d watch the Real World, and I’d think I’d just like to be on one of these. I never pursued it or anything like that, it just sorta fell in my lap. I work hard at it now, because I want to make it into a career…but getting where I am right now, it just sorta fell in my lap and I’m very grateful.

Billy: So you just sent in a video, and that was that?

Dave: Nah. I mean, when I say fell into my lap…I mean I was in a nightclub and met a girl there. She mentioned a TV show and I gave her my number, I didn’t think anything about it because I was drunk. So I get called up to do Elimidate. I did that, and it was whatever. It was cool to be on TV, even at 3AM. Who cares really? I had a lot of stuff going on with being an English major and I was coaching wrestling. I get 27 messages on my voicemail one day, and I just erase the first 20. I let the 21st one play, I don’t know why I think I was just checking to see how far along it was. It was like “Hey this is casting in New York, we want to know if you’re interested.” I call and they want me to audition for this Flavor of Love spin-off. I didn’t know anything about it, they didn’t tell me anything. I never even watched Flavor of Love. I auditioned and gave it a shot, and they told me I pretty much had it. I decided I didn’t want to do it because I had a girlfriend and all that. But they kept calling and calling, and I eventually told them I’d like to try the show.

Billy: So you literally mean zero effort?

Dave: I mean absolutely. Once I got into “I Love New York” and it ended, I started developing show ideas. I’m a film minor actually, I studied it in college. It was one of the reasons I decided to get into it. From there on I’ve been working hard to keep moving ahead. The “Daisy of Love” thing I actually called them about. I told them it would be a good idea, I put it in their heads. I liked Daisy a lot, I told her I was out there for her, and I really was.

Billy: I knew a guy who was on Survivor one season, and the way they edited the show they made him look like a complete ass. I mean I guess he really was to an extent, but they really seemed to go out of their way to make him look bad. Are you satisfied overall with how you were portrayed on the shows you’ve been on?

Dave: Obviously “I Love New York” was very disappointing at that time. When the show was all said I done I said “Well, now I’m on TV”. But nobody knows who I am, or what I’m all about or whatever. People either like me or not, they tell me I’m cocky, they tell me they think I’m gay. “I Love Money” came out and I think I had a little more time to show people that I”m not this cocky guy. They want me to be cocky, they want you to be that guy. In the “I Love New York” house I was portraying that character a little bit. But on DOL I think I had a lot more time in front of the camera to show people who I actually am. I think people started to like me a little more because they realized I’m a good guy who would give to someone else before taking for himself.

Billy: I think that came through very well on the show. So with DOL over with, is there any interest in going on another show like that? Would you consider another dating show if you were interested in the girl?

Dave: Well I mean, if I do any dating show next…I won’t be the one going after any girls. I’d be the one with girls coming after me.

Billy: So is that confirmed, you getting your own show?

Dave: Nothing confirmed. Nothing is really public, and they leave me in the dark. I’m interested, but honestly there’s no telling.

Billy: I’ve sorta been a fan of some reality shows, but I find it hard to get into a series. DOL was almost an obsession. My entire Sunday revolved around making sure I was in front of the television by 9. This was the case with a lot of friends of mine, and I’ve read a lot of people online who were the same way. What quality did this show have that you think gave it more of a universal appeal?

Dave: That’s a great question (Edit: FIST PUMP). When I think about that, I think about shows I would want to watch on TV. If I’m on a show that I wouldn’t watch, then obviously I don’t think everyone would watch it, or at least people like me. Like “I Love New York”, I never watched “Flavor of Love”, I didn’t even watch “I Love New York 2″. “Rock of Love”, I watched that show. The girls were good looking. I loved Daisy, I loved the tattoos. She’s a hardcore metal singer with tattoos and a cute blonde. I’d watch “Rock of Love” for her. Then she got her own show and I think a lot of guys who normally shy away…maybe they want to watch it a little bit because they think she’s attractive. I think a lot of guys got into DOL that didn’t get into New York.

Billy: Well, there is a big difference between the two of them. (Use Google now to confirm). Do you still keep in touch with anybody from the show?

Dave: Yeah. I still talk to Flex once or twice a week. I keep up with Fox, Chi-Chi, Sinister, Big Rig. Talking about starting up a celebrity fight league with him, possibly against Cage for the title on the first card.

Billy: You’ve got a Jack of all Trades thing sorta going. You’re doing a DJ gig with Real Wild Girls right now?

Dave: That’s just part of the promotional thing. I do many things like go to night clubs. Sometimes if the club is booked and they want me to come with Real Wild Girls, I’ll come with a camera crew, a tattoo artist, we’ll do body painting. It adds to the party, girls get crazy with jello wrestling. I DJ, I try to do high-end upscale nightclubs in Boston, New York, and places like that.

Billy: What are some of your musical influences?

Dave: When I was 19 up until about 24 or 25, I was in NYC and I’d go to the Southside every weekend. I’d go to the after hours clubs, and I was into the House music. Jonathon Peters, Tony Draper, a lot of artists along those lines.

Billy: You’re also into high-end sports collectibles, which I had no idea about until recently. You even have your own auction site up at Modern Marvels Auctions (http://www.modernmarvelsauctions.com)

Dave: Yeah, I got into collecting around ‘91 when I got my first pack of baseball cards. My older brother had his big collection, and of course I wanted one too. I love baseball, sports, American history, just all of that stuff. I did the buying and selling thing on eBay for awhile. I’m a business guy, and it’s tough to turn a profit on there. I decided to work on the market, work on commission. I don’t want people losing money, so we’ll have a decent starting bid. I just want to link high end collectors with high end items. It’s good to connect them together.

Billy: Like the Joe Montana card that sold for an astronomical amount.

Dave: Yeah, it sold for over $65,000. It was the highest sell of a football card in the history of football cards. We did that in our first ever auction, so it’s pretty exciting.

Billy: So as a collector, are there any dream items you’d like to get your hands on?

Dave: Oh man. Now that I’m doing the television and DJ things…I’m able to buy a little more. My collection is almost like my bank account, it’s like a safety net. If I have an extra 10 grand, I’m going to throw it into memorabilia that might be worth 12 or 13 a few years down the road.

Billy: How is life after the reality shows? I know you said it’s helped you open up the other gigs. Now how about the ladies? Are you just raking them in by the handfuls?

Dave: I am so not interested, to be honest. Ladies are the last thing on my mind. I’m 26 years old, and I want to have a great life and build myself up financially. Ladies would be a distraction. My entire life I’ve spent way too much on ladies. I throw all this money at them, and then when it doesn’t work out…I’m like “Man what did I just do”. I go on Myspace and I’ve got maybe100 messages a day, and out of all those I might respond to one of them and maybe say one line or something like that. But the interest is there. Just so many ladies out in the world and you realize once you’re on TV you become a celebrity and there are so many ladies out there…you really learn quickly how girls really are. You see them trying to cheat on their boyfriends with you. They come up to me and it’s like, I don’t even care what they look like. If they aren’t a good person at this point, I don’t even want to know them.

Billy: Let’s say a guy like me. Average looks, average people skills. I’ve always done okay with women, but don’t get me wrong I’m in a happy relationship now (A Good Save). Theoretically if I was to go on one of these shows, should I expect to get a ton more ass after it’s over?

Dave: You know, it depends on how you portray yourself on the show. Some people do these shows and nobody even remembers them. If you’re a guy, when you go to the club…you might go home with a few numbers and some interested girls. But when you go on a show, and then you’re range of girls broadens from a 200 person nightclub to a 20 million person network online. A lot of them might actually write to you. If you get 2 numbers out of 200 in the club, just multiply that by a million.

Billy: Well, I’ll keep that in my back pocket. Now they decided not to go with a reunion show for DOL, which caused me to yell at the internet. From what I read VH1 sorta considered it too much of a risk. Do you have any idea about it?

Dave: I never even thought of this, but it’s probably the reason why. On the “Charm School” reunion, Sharon Osbourne attacked Megan. They had all the footage and everything, and I wouldn’t say it was totally uncalled for…but professionally you shouldn’t attack someone like that. That was probably the end of the reunion shows.

Billy: Are there any of the guys in the house you would have liked to have said anything to or had a face to face with?

Dave: Not me, not at all. I wouldn’t have anything negative to say to anyone in that house just to get more air time. Nobody in the house really bothered me to the point to where I felt like I had to get it out and say something.

Billy: On the show it looked like you spent a lot of time alone with Daisy in her room. Confirm or deny, did you poke her?

Dave: (Laugh) We actually didn’t.

Billy: I’m vastly let down.

Dave: I think it was almost even set up, maybe by her or the producers. Somebody in the house wanted me to. She invited me back to her room after a date, and she comes out in a thong and a bra on. We were drunk, and both really into each other. It was just a few of us in the house at this moment. She tells the cameraman to leave, that they have her permission. I told the cameras that was fine with me. I didn’t know what to expect really, we just got caught up in conversation for hours. I was getting to know her as a person, which is beneficial on a show like that. She started telling me stuff, like she only had sex with 7 people…that’s what she told me. I all of a sudden got a bad taste in my mouth, because I know this girl is a compulsive liar. If it’s one thing I can’t stand it is a lying type person. I wouldn’t care what the number is, obviously mine isn’t 7…so why would I care what you say to me? If there were cameras I would understand she was just trying to protect herself, but there weren’t. It just turned me off to the point to where I figured if she is going to play this virgin school-girl game I just wouldn’t make any moves on her. Now if she would have been straight and been like “I love sex, I can’t get enough” then yeah, I would have put her head through the wall.

Billy: Any regrets for opening up as much as you did to her? If you could have gone back, would you have changed anything?

Dave: It’s hard to say. There are tens of thousands of people who try out for those shows. It’s an honor to make it that far with 18 other guys. Then to make it to the last 3 of the competition…would I have done anything differently? I don’t know, it’s hard to say. I’m very happy with the way VH1 portrayed me on the show. I’m not embarassed by anything. I used to watch “I Love New York” and worry what was next, but now I watch stuff like Bromance with Flex and I love it, it’s just retarded.

Billy: So when her relationship fails will you be on Daisy of Love 2?

Dave: Oh man, I don’t even know. It really…you never know. I actually have a live instant messenger on my site right now. It’s live up on my site (www.12pack.tv). I don’t talk to fans on Myspace, Facebook, or anything else because of all the fakes. So if anyone wants to contact me, they can do it through the website. A lot of people usually don’t believe they’re talking to me, so I’ll throw a twitter out to them. I was surprised that a lot of people who use my messenger are in their 20’s and 30’s. I do have a Myspace, but I usually just use it to send traffic to 12pack.tv. I’ve got booking information on there, my radio show, I’ve got some videos coming up on there and it’s some pretty hilarious stuff. We’ve got a lot of funny stuff coming up on the site.

Billy: You said you went to film school, do you have any aspirations to produce or star in any project in particular?

Dave: I was watching this show about flipping houses, and it just looked like so much fun. The guy was doing what he loved to do, having fun, and making money. If I could do something like that I’d die a happy man.

Billy: So what sort of show would you prefer to be a part of?

Dave: I’ve got so many ideas. We’ve got a lot of decent shows that would do well on cable networks. I’m still waiting for that one big idea, but I’m gonna make it work.

Billy: The celebrity fighting you talked about?

Dave: Yeah, that’s pretty exciting. We’ve got the card figured out, and the costs and expenses. Looking to do it at the Hard Rock here in Hollywood, Florida. We’re thinking about something like the Ultimate Fighter show, but with the Celebrity Fight League. Shoot the training process and all that leading up to the fight. It should do well, insurance willing. We’ve got Big Rig vs. Cage for the middleweight championship, I’m interested with working with Flex. Buddha from I Love New York, I want him to fight somebody. 20 Pack, we want to do something with him as well. I’d like to have the advantage of Pay-Per-View for the live event, but a lot of it will be television with the training and talking trash.

Billy: You’ve also got a management thing going on?

Dave: Yeah, I working with Andrew Scott at Scott Management. He’s working with around 40 or so different reality stars, sorta linking them all together. I’ve been ripped off before by other companies and am actually still waiting for money that was promised to me awhile back by other places. A place will charge $6,500 for a gig and you might see $500, and that’s a rip-off. This is a lot more legit than most of the management places out there.

Billy: Thanks for taking the time to talk with me today, and if anything happens on down the road feel free to let us know.

Dave: I’ll do that. Thank you.

So there we have it. I do have to recommend his auction site, it has some pretty amazing-assed things on it. The graphic has a picture of an Alexander Hamilton autograph complete with a strand of hair…which essentially sold me on it. I think we have learned a lot of lessons from this, some being:

- Being on a reality show will even aid the lowliest of pasty-white internet writers when it comes to the ladies.
- Women like for you to spend money on them and then ditch you.
- Nobody had sex on Daisy of Love, which I am sure has probably cost a lot of people money on various bets they had with friends.

But yes, our more sincere thanks go out to 12 Pack / Dave for giving us a bit of his time. I can not stress how pleased I am that I didn’t have to go through a PR Department army, or talk to his wife, or exchange emails with his mother in which she praised the virtues of VHS tapes over DVD (all true stories with other attempted interviews). Look for some talk of the Celebrity Fight League to come around during my weekend pieces once it is up and running. My plan is to ultimately have Jeremy thrown in there. Would he get his ass beat, or would he unleash 30-some odd years of anger and fury? If he did unleash this fury, how long would his opponent let it go on before laughing at him and flooring him? Maybe we can get him to go up against another humor-site writer, they always seem to be the frail types.

Now I’ve got to get Dave back on the phone and see if “Pathetic Internet Writer Fighting” would take off!

(You can check out Dave’s official site at www.12Pack.tv, and his auction site at ModernMarvelsAuctions.com)