Article published October 02, 2003
NO STRANGER IN PARADISE
Area native shares $500K by winning reality TV show
Toledo-area native Keith Cuda recently moved to Los Angeles and plans to use his appearance on Paradise Hotel to help him work in modeling.
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THE BLADE/DIANE HIRES
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BLADE STAFF AND WIRE SERVICES
It was paradise found last night for a young man who grew up in the Toledo area when he won the popular "reality" television program Paradise Hotel.
Sharing a $500,000 prize with Keith Cuda was his TV partner Charla Philstrom.
In a last-minute twist for which the show is famous, the final two couples had to switch partners. Former contestants then voted for their favorite pair, and Cuda and Philstrom won the vote.
The winners could decide whether to split their $250,000 prize money with their original partners or keep it. Cuda split his with Tara Gerard, a 22-year-old Californian he met on the show. She continues to be his girlfriend.
Philstrom did not split her share with her original partner.
"I'm ecstatic," said Cuda, who watched the show in Los Angeles with Gerard.
Despite seven weeks at a luxurious private home in an undisclosed location, Cuda, one of 19 good-looking, medically screened singles who paired and re-paired with each other, said life in paradise was no picnic.
"People always in your face. People always trying to bring you down," he said. "I want to surround myself with positive people."
Broadcast at 8 p.m. yesterday on the Fox Network (WUPW-TV, Channel 36, in Toledo), the show attracted legions of viewers - 7.6 million watched the Sept. 23 airing, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Lunching at a West Toledo deli a few weeks ago, Cuda, 24, with chiseled good looks and a lean, gym-buffed body, was approached by numerous women. He graciously chatted, signed autographs, and gave hugs.
"I owe it all to them," he said. "Everybody's been unbelievably nice."
In this script-free Eden, contestants wore microphones and were followed by cameras, even into bedrooms. Amorous activity, arguments, and schemes were captured. Participants were voted off and new people were added. They built alliances, told lies, and analyzed the motives of competitors. The goal? To best Adam and Eve by becoming the last man and woman in paradise.
"There's just a lot of drama. That's what people like to watch, is drama," he said.
On-camera for 24 hours a day, six days a week, Cuda relished the one day a week spent off-camera, but in isolation in a different hotel.
He applied for the show at the suggestion of a friend and was not shy about it. During the interview in Columbus, he unbuttoned and took off his shirt as a gag.
"And I unzipped my pants. The guy was laughing. He sent the tape to L.A.," he said. He was Paradise Hotel material.
Last month he moved to Los Angeles. He and Gerard recently modeled for Jose Eber, an opulent Rodeo Drive hair salon in Beverly Hills whose customers shell out hundreds for coifs and have included Cher, Elizabeth Taylor, and Meg Ryan.
Gerard wants to be an actor. "She wants to win an Oscar," said Cuda.
He'll aim to land modeling jobs for classy magazines such as GQ, and high-end designers such as Versace and Armani. What's not to like about modeling, Cuda said: You hang around, often in beautiful places, while people take your picture. Then you get paid for it.
He said he had to resist attempts of other players to rile him up and draw him into their schemes. He recently spoke with freshmen at St. Francis de Sales High School.
"I really want to talk about self-respect and setting your goals high and self-control," he said. "It's all about being confident and knowing who you are."
Cuda attended St. Joseph School in Sylvania and went on to St. Francis, where he played basketball. He graduated from St. Francis in 1998, the fourth Cuda to do so, preceded by brothers, Nick, Dan, and Greg. He attended the University of Toledo and moved to Columbus to live with his brother, Greg.
The dark and vulnerable sides of several contestants oozed out over the weeks, but Keith's mother is pleased with his reserved demeanor.
"I told him his grandparents and family will be watching; so don't embarrass any of us," said Mary Ellen Baugh-Swartz of Perrysburg, who has been watching the show with friends and family. "He's behaved exemplary on TV."
Baugh-Swartz is a nurse at Hospice of Northwest Ohio. Cuda's father, Nick Cuda, is a vice president in sales for Campbell, Inc. and lives in Michigan.
TRIAL DATE: Former talk show host Rosie O'Donnell is heading to trial with the publishers of her former magazine, Rosie, which closed down last year.
An Oct. 28 trial date was set Tuesday in New York State Supreme Court in the case pitting O'Donnell against magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr USA, a division of the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann.
The magazine shut down last fall amid a dispute between G+J and O'Donnell, who said she was being denied editorial control over the magazine as promised in their contract. G+J said O'Donnell had acted unprofessionally and irresponsibly, and sued her for breach of contract.
Rosie debuted in April, 2001, as part of a partnership to revive struggling McCall's magazine. The joint venture gave O'Donnell and G+J each a 50 percent stake in the business. G+J also publishes Parents, Fitness, Fast Company, and Family Circle magazines.
BIG DEAL: You can keep your Oscars and your Hollywood Walk of Fame - Michael Caine is more impressed with the blue plaque that now marks his birthplace.
The commemorative plaque is attached to the gatehouse which is all that remains of St. Olave's Hospital in south London.
"I've won a few awards in my life but this is by far the greatest. Really I'm not saying this to flatter or flannel (kid) - this is absolutely unique," the 70-year-old actor said.
"I could get my star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood Boulevard but that doesn't mean anything. This is something I wouldn't miss in the world."
Caine has twice won Academy Awards for best supporting actor - for 1999's The Cider House Rules and 1986's Hannah and Her Sisters. He was nominated four times for best actor: The Quiet American (2002), Educating Rita (1983), Sleuth (1972), and Alfie (1966).
ICE MAIDEN: Whoopi Goldberg wouldn't mind lacing up her skates and getting a little ice time.
The actress is a big hockey fan, and five NHL players filmed spots for an episode of Whoopi, her prime-time NBC comedy.
Anson Carter of the New York Rangers and Scott Stevens of the New Jersey Devils are featured in the show that will be broadcast Tuesday, the day before the NHL season opens.
"We were all thrilled to know she was a big hockey fan," Stevens said. "So when she asked us to join her for an episode of her new show, we thought it was the least we could do for all the support she gave us."
Darius Kasparaitis of the Rangers and Scott Gomez and Jay Pandolfo, both of the Devils, have cameo roles.
"I'm thrilled that the guys came to play with us," Goldberg said. "I'm secretly hoping that they'll ask me to play with them some time. But so far they haven't asked."
IN COURT: A former county social worker has pleaded guilty to stalking actress Jennifer Love Hewitt.
Diana Napolis of La Mesa, Calif., was treated for mental illness after her arrest last November on charges of making death threats against the actress.
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