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| Nicole Desiree Hays/Game Show Network |
One of the contestants on this season of the Game Show
Network’s reality competition series “Skin Wa rs” counts Panama CityGulf Coast
St
Nicole Desiree Hays, 30, now lives outside of Tampa and runs her own
business, CirqueVille Entertainment, which provides everything from simple
face-painting for birthday parties to stilt-walking balloon artists, fire-twirlers,
human statues, burlesque acrobatics and more.
“It’s kind of hard, and you have to be versatile,
for sure,” Nicole said by telephone Wednesday afternoon. “I’m just happy to be
able to create and make a living doing what I love to do.”
Nicole, who I met some years ago when she was in
theater productions with my son at Gulf
Coast Amanda
St iffler. “She showed me everything about body-painting,”
Nicole said. “She became a real mentor to me.”
Two years ago, while pursuing her master’s degree in
entrepreneurship, Nicole took a class in body-painting, and that teacher
recommended her to a producer for “Skin
Wa mont hs
later. Of about 25 who auditioned, 10 were brought to Los Angeles for the February 2014 shoot.
“The cast was awesome,” she said. “We took care of
each other, really had each other’s backs. Yes, we were in competition, but
everybody grew really close.”
The producers wouldn’t let contestants keep art
supplies in the shared house, so they couldn’t work on concepts they might try
to use on the show. Nicole said the housemates found a unique way of getting
around that prohibition.
“Artists draw all the time, no matter what,” she
said. “They took away our supplies, so we used condiments in the kitchen to do
art on pots and pans.”
“Skin Wars” is hosted by actress and model Rebecca
Romijn, who knows something about body-painting from her time portraying the
mutant Mystique in the “X-Men” movie franchise. Romijn was also the first model
to be body-painted for Sports Illustrated’s annual swimsuit issue.
“I adore her,” Nicole said of Romijn. “She’s the
most down-to-earth person, and she complimented my outfit one episode. I
couldn’t believe it.”
One of the judges is RuPaul Charles, who shot to
fame as a drag performer and also hosts “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” Although the
contestants are not allowed to talk with the celebrities at length, Nicole
said, RuPaul kept the experience lively with his quick wit and energy.
Nicole couldn’t talk at length about the elimination
aspect of the show, which is halfway through the current season, but she
bragged on the talents of her castmates. Each episode, the contestants receive
a challenge and limited time to complete it, then one is eliminated by a panel
of judges. The finale will feature three finalists competing for a cash prize
and a career-launching opportunity.
Nicole said her greatest challenge in an episode
that has been broadcast was when she was tasked to create a new superhero in
only a few hours. The guest judge for the episode was Lynda Carter, who
portrayed Wonder Woman in the 1970s TV series.
“I thought I had a really great story behind mine,” Nicole
said, as the design incorporated an item that her grandmother gave her, “but
they weren’t able to use the backstories. I guess there wasn’t time to tell
everyone’s story. I did a full glitter bodysuit, but really shot myself in the
foot. That was the first time I was in the bottom three, which was terrifying.”
Originally from Van Buren , Ark. Panama City
on a college Spring Break trip and decided to stay.
“I called home and said, ‘Send my stuff,’” she
recalled. “I felt like an orphan. But I met so many amazing families, and Gulf Coast
Peace.
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‘SKIN WARS’
What: Elimination competition between body-painters
When: Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on Game Show Network (repeats throughout the week)
Details: SkinWars.gsntv.com
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