Beauty and the Geek: Greeley West grad turns reality TV stardom into self-discovery

When Caitilin "Caity" Stoller learned exactly what the reality show "Beauty and the Geek" was about, she was mortified to be a part of it.

The host of the WB show, which premiers June 1, reveals to the seven women in the show's opening moments that they are there for their beauty, not their brains. Stoller agreed to be in the show, with a hefty dose of hesitation, only knowing that it was a contest, not a dating show.

And so she learned that day she was one of the airhead beauties, not one of the smart geeks -- the promotional material says the show matches "wits with twits."

"In all honesty, all seven girls maybe wouldn't have done it if we really knew what it was about," Stoller said. "I just about died when I found out."

Though she says now she loved the experience, at first the show seemed to live up to her worst fears about reality television. Stoller, 24, is a Greeley native who graduated from Greeley West in 1998, and she was raised in a strict home. Sure, she knew she was different from her brilliant sister, Brandi, who graduated a week ago from Colorado State University and plans to be a nurse. Her parents, Rose and Jack of Greeley, always said they had their own version of beauty and the geek.

"I don't think it was intentional, but I was always the cute one, and she was the smart one," Stoller said about her family. "I never, ever felt smart."

But she never thought she was a twit, either. She works with retail clothing stores and matches them up with wholesale companies, essentially helping the store pick the fashion lines that would be good for its image.

Even so, right away, Stoller and the others competed in a humiliating test of wits, including questions about geography and spelling, and then had to model the clothes her partner designed for her, despite the fact that her bathing suit was too small.

"Oh my God, did they show me walking down that runway?" asks Stoller, who hasn't seen even a clip from the show. "That was one of the most uncomfortable moments of my life."

And that's when the show's producers discovered they didn't pick a floozy. Stoller put her foot down and refused to wear the shorts, revealing dresses and bathing suits the wardrobe consultant threw at her throughout the show. She wasn't so into showing off her body, even if the lingerie model didn't mind or the NBA dancer seemed anxious to reveal more of her boobs than Janet Jackson.

That wasn't her. In fact, at times, she longed for her boots and torn jeans and a ballcap and white T-shirt. She longed to be Greeley again. She wanted to get a little dirty instead of be so dang prissy all the time.

In fact, once she asserted herself, the show got better.

And for the first time in her life, she began to feel smart.

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Though they are called reality shows, producers work hard to establish characters viewers can either relate to or root against. It's easy to forget that Johnny Fairplay and Rufus from "Survivor" were real people because they were, respectively, a classic villain and hero.

"They take people who live an Average Joe life, they're funny and intelligent, and they make them look like these monsters," Stoller said. "I wanted to show America who I was, not who they wanted me to be. I was worried about embarrassing my family."

Stoller's Greeley parents weren't thrilled, at first, about the idea either, but they are now excited for the premier, especially once they learned Caity wasn't on a "Bachelor" dating knock-off.

"It's the unknown that you're afraid of," Rose said. "You never know how one will be portrayed. But her father and I are thrilled she doesn't have to marry anyone."

Caity wasn't sure she wanted to be on the show, even at the 11th hour, literally, when the show knocked on her door at 11 p.m. to get her ready for the next day's shoot. She sent in her photo and interviewed for the show but didn't send them a tape that was supposed to show a day in her life because she didn't have time for it (and she thought it was a stupid idea). The show called her back anyway.

Her competitive nature took over when she found out she would be vying for $250,000, not the hand of a hunk. But she admits she is a little worried now because of that nature. Producers could make her out to be the bitchy one.

"I am a tad bit nervous," Stoller said. "You can sit in bed every night and wonder and worry, but you have to know they know what you're like. It's too late now anyway."

The aim of the show was to make fun of the beauties for their small brains and the geeks for their small cache of common sense. But Stoller learned she doesn't have to be smart in microbiology like her partner, Chuck. In one episode, she had to take apart a car and put it back together -- and she did it.

"I feel like there's nothing I can't do now," she said, "and I honestly never felt that way before."

She always played the pretty card throughout her life, but maybe now, she won't have to. She has her job, she lives in Pasadena, Calif., and she may get into entertainment, but only if the offer is a great one.

"I like my Average Joe life," she said. "I don't like the limelight, so it would have to be something fantastic."

Stoller's uncle is a pastor, and he recently spoke with her about the show. Should he tell anyone about it?

"I told him he could tell everyone in his church," she said. "I think I made my family proud."

ABOUT THE SHOW

"Beauty and the Geek," produced by Ashton Kutcher and others, premiers June 1 on the WB, Channel 2. The six episodes feature seven "academically impaired" beauties paired with seven "socially challenged" geeks to compete for $250,000.

The show features Caitilin Stoller, a Greeley native whose parents still live here.