It was a tough end to October for two TV reality show contestants with northeastern Wisconsin ties who were both sent home from separate competitions.
Former Green Bay Packers punter Jake Schum was the first of 10 men to exit “Finding Mr. Christmas” on the Hallmark Channel, and Little Chute native Debbie Siebers made it all way to the final three on ABC’s “The Golden Bachelor” but didn’t receive a rose after the hometown dates.
For Schum, who played for the Packers in 2016 and 2017, his time on “Finding Mr. Christmas” ended shortly after it got started. He was eliminated during the Oct. 27 premiere of the competition that puts 10 men through holiday-themed challenges with the mission of finding the next leading man for a Hallmark movie.
Schum, who works as a personal trainer in New York, showed off his muscles for a challenge in which each guy created their own version of Santa Claus. He went as “buff, tough Santa.” “And even when it’s winter and snowing, I bring the heat,” he said in the segment.
Former Green Bay Packers punter Jake Schum was one of 10 contestants on “Finding Mr. Christmas” on the Hallmark Channel. He was the first one sent home.
It was the Star Quality Challenge, which required memorizing lines for an acting scene on a ski slope, that tripped him up and forced him to take his Christmas stocking down (the equivalent of not getting a rose).
In a video message shared on his Instagram after the episode aired, an upbeat Schum, who went into the show with no prior acting experience, said he was disappointed by his early departure but that just getting to be on the show felt like a win.
“This was so unexpected and out of my comfort zone, but that is how you grow as an individual. I’ve never done anything like this, was a completely new world for me, but I felt I had to give it a shot. You need to get out of your comfort zone and I am so happy I did,” he wrote.
He said he’ll be back for the “Finding Mr. Christmas” reunion show later this season.
Debbie Siebers, a fitness trainer who grew up in Little Chute and now lives in Denver, made it to the final three on “The Golden Bachelor” before being eliminated from the field of 23 women.
Could Little Chute native Debbie Siebers be next ‘Golden Bachelorette’?
Siebers, the 65-year-old fitness instructor who created the popular “Slim in 6” at-home workout routine, brought bachelor and former NFL linebacker Mel Owens to Denver, where she now lives, to meet members of her family.
Siebers, who has never married, grew up with seven siblings in Little Chute. Four of them were part of the Oct. 22 episode, in which she opened up to Owens, 66, about how it had been 14 years since she brought someone home to meet her family.
Whether it was her final rose ceremony remains to be seen. Show host Jesse Palmer told Entertainment Weekly he thinks she could be a candidate to be the next star of “The Golden Bachelorette.”
In an interview with Parade, Siebers said she would be open to the opportunity if it arose.
“If (producers) asked me to do it, I would definitely do it,” she told the magazine. “How could I pass up that opportunity? I mean, I am ready for love. I have put myself out there, and I’m gonna keep going. I don’t want to sit back now and hope, what? Somebody’s gonna slide into my DMs or something? I would definitely do (the senior ‘Bachelorette’). I know how challenging it would be. But as I always (have) said, no risk, no reward.”
Siebers came back to Wisconsin to watch the September premiere of “The Golden Bachelor” with her family. In an interview with Us Weekly on Oct. 23, she talked about how much fun her brothers were having with it all.
“I’m just so happy that America can get an idea of where I’m from and my big family and, you know, that I have never lost that small-town girl,” she said. “… I’m from Little Chute, Wisconsin, and my brothers all said you know the thing that we’re most proud of is that you never lost that small-town essence, and that means a lot to me.”
Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or [email protected]. Follow her on X @KendraMeinert.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Ex-Packers punter, Little Chute native sent home from reality TV shows
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