Pollard family of Wicksburg hits the road for reality show

The Pollards tried for 15 minutes to get out of the locked recreational vehicle. Seems they zoned out during part of the instructional class.

Meanwhile, a television film crew stood back and filmed.

“How many rednecks does it take to get out of the inside of an RV?” Amie Pollard said. “Obviously more than four.”

The Wicksburg family — parents Ron and Amie and children Aaron, 17, and Anslie, 12 — was one of seven families chosen to participate in NBC’s latest reality show “Great American Road Trip.” The show premiered earlier this week, and the Pollards had no trouble making it to the second week of the competition. But that 15 minutes trying to figure out the RV’s locks didn’t even make it into the show, according to the Pollards.

Which begs the question — What did make it?

“I’m not going to lie to you; there were some redneck moments,” said Amie, a local morning radio talk show host on Kickin’ Country 93.7 FM and one-half of the duo Pollard & K.C. “You do forget that you’re wearing a mic. You forget about the cameras.”

The first episode alone had Ron Pollard wearing an oversized bobble head of former President George W. Bush during a competition, and Amie comparing “yous” to “ya’ll” after inviting a participant from New York to sit with her family at a picnic table.

It was Amie’s idea to apply for the reality show. She had wanted to do one for several years, but didn’t want to be away from her family. So when she found out about “Great American Road Trip” through realitywanted.com, Amie applied on behalf of the family.

“The first thing they wanted us to do was to send them a tape,” Ron Pollard said.

Casting personnel wanted to see what the Pollards were about — their home, their animals, their hobbies and their collection of hunting guns.

“We were just ourselves,” Amie said. “We said ‘ain’t’ and we said ‘ya’ll.’”

It worked. Out of 3,000 families who applied, the Pollards made the cut and hit the road in May for nearly a month. No cell phones or iPods. No radio or television. No video games or computers. Just the family in the RV.

“What they were forcing you to do was to interact with each other,” Amie said.

Aaron and Anslie weren’t too happy about the lack of technology at first.

“Surprisingly, though, in just a few days they stopped asking about them,” Ron said.

Traveling across the country in a RV was a lot more work for a family vacation. They had to empty their own sewage and fill their own water tanks.

“It made you appreciate what the journey was actually about,” Amie said.

While they can’t say how far they got in the show, the Pollards said they would pursue a reality show experience again. They made friends along the way — a family from Texas will visit the Pollards in a few weeks, and the Pollards are spending Thanksgiving with a “Road Trip” family from New York.

“I’m proud of us,” Ron said. “I’m proud of how we did.”
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Great American Road Trip
What: Reality television show about seven families traveling along Route 66 in recreational vehicles, facing challenges along the way and competing for a $100,000 prize. The Pollard family of Wicksburg made it through the first round and is one of the six remaining families in the competition.
When: Airs on NBC at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays with an encore on Sundays. Show finale is Aug. 25.
Other: The Pollards plan to watch the show each Tuesday at Hooters in Dothan.