The Amazing Race > The Racers
TAR 16: Monique Pryor and Shawne Morgan--Moms/Attorneys
misterblah:
no discussing spoilers or potential spoilers outside the spoiler board please
David:
Can't wait to see the TAR premiere because of these two! I'm already loving them!!
georgiapeach:
Mompreneur Monique's business page to share: http://www.momsextraordinaire.com/
And they have also formed a fan page and shared the info with us!
FAN PAGE LINK
RealityFanWA:
LOVE THEM and want them to go far. They have a nice calm presence about them!!
georgiapeach:
Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010
Bowie woman to run ‘The Amazing Race'
Reality TV show sends contestants on quests around the world
by Sarah Richards | Staff Writer
'No matter how ingrained reality television shows have become in popular culture, the reality is that it's still pretty hard to get a spot on one.
Just ask Bowie resident Shawne Morgan. The first two times she tried to get on "The Amazing Race," she didn't make it.
But her persistence paid off: Morgan did finally make it on the show with her friend Monique Pryor, beating out tens of thousands of other applicants from around the country for one of the 11 coveted team spots.
They'll be in this year's Amazing Race, which premieres Feb. 14 on CBS. Morgan said she is planning a Bowie watch party with family and friends at Buffalo Wild Wings on Martin Luther King Jr. Highway.
The show is about teams of two that compete at different staged contests around the world. For instance, one team had to travel by taxi in Vietnam to find the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater in Ho Chi Minh City. The winning team reaps $1 million dollars.
Morgan said she was happy that all the attempts she and Pryor made to get on the show were not in vain.
"I'm glad, actually, that it happened when it did, because it gave us more time to prepare ourselves and our families," Morgan said.
Neither Morgan nor Pryor, both 39 years old, are permitted to discuss what happened during filming of this year's season until all episodes have aired, according to a CBS spokesperson. In order to ensure Morgan and Pryor abided by the rule, a spokesperson listened in to the Star's interview.
Morgan, who lives in Bowie with her husband Clif, 7-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son, grew up in Chesapeake, Va. She received her degree in government and politics from the University of Maryland in College Park.
There, Morgan and Pryor were members of the same sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha; later on, they became good friends during a study-abroad program in Nairobi.
"We were drawn to one another," Pryor said. "She became one of my closest friends."
Both women eventually became lawyers. Today, Morgan still practices law part-time and also runs It's Yours!, a home-based company that sells hair supplies. Pryor, who lives in West Orange, N.J. with husband Eric, 7-year-old Mecca and 4-year-old Micah, works as a university fundraiser. She also runs Moms Extraordinaire, an online magazine for working mothers.
Morgan's husband said he supported his wife's participation in the race and wasn't surprised to learn she'd made the show.
"She was so confident that it was going to happen at some point," Clif Morgan said. "When she sets her mind on something, she usually achieves her goals."
Pryor said she is a long-time fan of "The Amazing Race" and eventually asked Morgan if she was interested in submitting an application to compete on the show.
"Shawne and I had promised one another that we'd travel the world together," Pryor said. "We wanted to do something for ourselves."
Two years ago, the two women began the application process. Their first introductory video was filmed at a Burger King off the New Jersey Turnpike. Amazing Race staff got the tape and called the duo; it turned out the tape had poor audio, and staff eventually chose other contestants. They missed the application date the second time because Morgan was sick.
At last, in January 2009, the women put together another application video, which included footage of the women wearing evening gowns at a presidential inauguration party. This time, "The Amazing Race" staff invited them out to Los Angeles, and the women ended up making the cut.
"All of our kids watch the show," Morgan said. "They were excited about seeing the show, watching it every week."
Morgan and Pryor said they prepared for the competition with lots of work-outs. Although both women knew how to swim, they took additional lessons so they'd be ready for any unexpected water adventures.
They also made a pact before starting the competition.
"We were not going to cry at the same time, we cannot," Morgan said. "We have to show the girl power, especially for our kids. You can't cry."
http://www.gazette.net/stories/02042010/bowinew111308_32551.php
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