Reality-show winners survive financial perils
By Ellen Goodstein • Bankrate.com

Mycoskie, who says he came "four minutes away from winning $1 million," dreamed up the idea of an all-reality-show network right after competing on the show.

"Being on the show opened my eyes to what a big business reality TV really is," he said. "Billions of dollars in advertising are being spent on something that didn't exist five or six years ago," said Mycoskie, who shared $25,000 in prize money with his sister, Paige.

"Some reality contestants want to turn their 15 minutes of fame into an acting career, hoping to become the next Tom Cruise. I saw my 15 minutes as a business opportunity," he said.

He contacted other "Race" and "Survivor" winners to put together the first $1 million in seed money. Since then, Mycoskie said, he has lined up more than $25 million in funding for the network.

More than 25 former reality-show contestants are either investors or have signed up to appear on the new network, which is expected to be up and running in early summer. Other investors include "Amazing Race 1" winner-partners Brennan Swain and Rob Frisbee, and "Survivor" alumni Ethan Zohn and Tina Wesson.

Said Swain: "How many people come into $500,000? Something like that was a godsend, so I figured, 'Why not take a chance?' If the cable network succeeds, it will set me up for the rest of my life. I had to do it."

Swain is working on his showbiz career but is keeping his day job as a patent and trademark lawyer.

Swain and Frisbee each took a year off after their win. Personal appearances around the country added to their total winnings. "We'd get several thousand dollars to come down to a theme park and sign autographs," he said. Though he's been careful with his money, he splurged on travel.

"One of the places we went on 'AR' was India. It was the worst country to be in a hurry in, but it was so different than any place I'd ever been. I wanted to go back and be there at a more leisurely pace."

The Turks and Caicos Islands were also on Swain's travel itinerary. But the most-frivolous spending Swain said he did was to buy a very expensive couch for his rented pad in Los Angeles.

Frisbee, a Harvard-educated corporate lawyer, used some of his winnings to start Dark House Books, a small science-fiction publishing company, and published three of his own books, fulfilling a lifelong dream of having his novels published.

The Los Angeles-based lawyer paid off his law school debts. "It was nice to write one check instead of paying interest every month." He turned to his uncle, who works at Merrill Lynch, and gave him a huge chunk of change with one instruction: "Diversify."

Still hanging with the folks
"Amazing Race 3" winner Zach Behr, who teamed up with fellow Vassar College graduate Florinka Pesenti, also consulted an investment professional. He turned to a fellow contestant who is a financial adviser with AG Edwards.

"We built up a good relationship over the course of the "AR3" and after I won I said, 'What the heck am I going to do with $500,000?'

"We sat down and made a plan and invested in everything from the conservative to the moderately aggressive. I've been pleased with the results so far," said Behr, a documentary filmmaker.

A little of the money was put aside for fun. Behr took his girlfriend (not Florinka) on a dream vacation to Costa Rica. "We had a really luxurious trip and stayed at one of the nicest hotels. We didn't hold back on anything -- although it was hard to completely let go. I guess it's just part of my upbringing."

"I didn't buy a car and I still live where I've always lived -- at home with my parents," Behr said from Manhattan, where he is working on a film. Although he hasn't really "made a dent" in his money, he's thinking about buying a house in Brooklyn.

"Amazing Race 4" winners Reichen Lehmkuhl and Chip Arndt took home $1 million. Arndt used some of his half on custom-made golf clubs while Lehmkuhl bought a Larson cabin cruiser and a Mercedes.

Whatever happened to the Millionaire and his bride-to-be?
Remember FOX-TV's "Joe Millionaire" Evan Marriott, the $19,000-a-year construction worker who pretended to be filthy rich and courted 25 gorgeous women in a castle in France? He and Zora Andrich split the $1 million prize money but broke up immediately after the show.

He now hosts "Fake-a-Date," a new Game Show Network relationship series set to premiere in March. Marriott invested in land in a planned development back in his hometown of Virginia Beach, Va. He plans to build there and eventually sell it, according to his manager. Marriott also bought a single-family home in Palm Desert, Calif., that he uses as rental property.

He also invested in an array of stocks and bonds and is hoping to continue turning his brief moment of national fame into a full-time career. So far, so good, says his manager, Randy James.

"He's earned quite a bit of money since 'Joe Millionaire,' " said James.