Daily Pilot - ‘Survivor’ fans audition

Daily Pilot - Serving Newport Beach & Costa Mesa, California By Jack Salisbury

Philip Matts, employee at Westside Rentals, gets the attention of applicants and the camera at the “Survivor” casting call at CarMax on Harbor Boulevard on Thursday.

The newly opened CarMax dealership in Costa Mesa was buzzing Thursday with hundreds of people coming from across Southern California and from as far as Colorado.

They were not there to buy cars, however.

An estimated 700 people showed up to the open casting call for the 18th season of “Survivor,” the show many call the father of reality television.

“It’s great,” KCBS TV spokesperson Mike Nelson said. “Especially since we’re talking about the 18th season of a show.”

KCBS, otherwise known as Channel 2, sponsored the operation, which was held in the back lot of the CarMax on Harbor Boulevard.

Thursday’s casting call was the only one in the Greater Los Angeles Area. Prospective contestants began lining up as early as 5 a.m. in hopes of landing a spot on one of television’s best-known reality shows.

“Virtually everybody I know says I belong on the show,” said Doug Carey, 54, of Covina. “The opportunity presented itself, so I figured I’d give it a try.”

Many of the contestants professed to be faithful fans of the show, citing that as a main reason they decided to come out to the casting call.

“Out of all the reality shows out there, this is the most challenging,” Carey said. “You have to work the hardest. Of all the reality shows out there, it’s the best television.”

“Out of all the reality shows, it’s the most raw,” said Ashlee Soule, a 22-year-old Huntington Beach resident. “It’s the most real.”

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