Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

YOUTH SPOTLIGHT: Las Vegas teen makes it to finals on NBC's `Endurance'

Demian Martinez part of second-place team on NBC reality show

Demian Martinez has proven he really does have the endurance to stick it out when the competition gets rough.

Demian, 16, made it to the two-team finals on the third season of "Endurance," which airs at 9:30 a.m. Saturdays on KVBC-TV, Channel 3. The final episode of the season aired Feb. 19.

"At the final challenge, we had to row a boat around these two buoys," Demian recalled. "But I had never rowed a boat before, so we just kept going in circles."

The first-place prize was awarded to the gray team, Lindi Oest and Chris Vanderwier, who each received a trip to the Galapagos Islands with a family member. For second place, Demian and teammate Nicole Clark took home nothing but memories.

"We didn't get anything for coming in second," Demian said.

But he did get what he considers a jump-start on a career in acting. Demian said that after participating on "Endurance," he would not only do it again, but do just about any reality show that asked him to participate.

"My advice to anyone who has a chance to be on a reality show, do it," Demian said. "It's a great experience."

Demian said filming of season three, which was made up of about 15 episodes, lasted about a month on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. But it wasn't as grueling as he would have thought, he said.

"We had to do missions every day. They would take five to 30 minutes, and then we had the rest of the time to ourselves," he said.

During his free time he soaked up the Hawaiian atmosphere. He said he visited numerous beaches, swam with turtles and explored large caves.

"We went to this one swimming cave, where first you had to climb up a mountain and inside was a big river," he said. "It was nice when they took us out of our `property.' "

Demian said it was easy to form an alliance, and that the roots of his four-team alliance took hold on the bus on the way to their camp site.

"On the bus, I sat next to Chris from the gray team," he said. "We began the alliance before the show even started."

He considered being a mischief-maker.

"At first I tried to shake things up, but after that day, I realized I didn't have to do that," he said. "I was the second oldest kid there, and (the other contestants) were just too nice. Everything they did was nice."

Demian said nearly anyone could be part of a reality show like the one he was in, because it's really not about physical endurance.

"It has nothing to do with how fit you are," he said. "They try to get into your mind, so you think, `Who's your friend?' It's also about alliances and back-stabbing."

Even though the teams seemed to be against each other during the competition, many of them have kept in touch since going back to their respective homes last summer.

"Some of the cast members are going to Texas for Alex's (Reid) birthday," he said. "It will be like a minireunion."

If you know of a worthy candidate for the Youth Spotlight column, mail information to: Monique Frigard, Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125-0070, send faxes to 383-4676.