UC TOP Secret

So you want the inside scoop on what REALLY happened?·when the cameras weren't rolling·the stories behind the story. Well this is going to be the place for you, for all the juicy talk about what our teens are really like and how they handled the many interesting situations they encountered.

Ultimate Rush Swing

So who was REALLY freaked out by the thought of free falling 180 feet in the air, held only by a harness and then swinging towards earth and a giant cluster of rocks? Well you saw the fear in several of the cast like Sean and Sheena and David. But almost everyone got a pretty good case of butterflies in their stomachs, especially the ones that had to pull that silly cord to begin their fall. It didn't help that as you waited and watched the groups ahead of you, they had bleachers set up behind those huge rocks·and from there it looked like the swingers were going to crash into the rocks! Hey, it lived up to its name·it was a rush!

Who Was That?
So just who was that OTHER guy flying with the kids on the ULTIMATE RUSH SWING (with Sheena and Marleatia)? It was UC camera dude Henry Jerkins from L.A. Always ready to get into the action, Henry volunteered to man the "Swing Cam" and was responsible for those nauseating pictures from on the swing. To make sure the camera didn't go anywhere, Henry taped it to himself, and then like everyone else, held on for dear life. Oh yeah, and had a ball doing it.

Bigger & Better
As you saw from the beginning of the "Bigger & Better competition, David and Dev were INTENT on finding someone who would trade them their car·at least for a little while. It took a couple of times of hard persuasion (and a tasty bag of marshmallows), but they finally pulled off one of the greatest moments in "Bigger & Better" history! Even Murphy admitted in the end that although the other team played a little loose with the rules, they deserved credit for their creative thinking.

And what was the deal with the older lady and Kyle. Did you see the way she hugged and kissed him? Poor Kyle didn't know what to do! He did however know how to tell a great story afterwards. He had the other team convinced she was closer to Miss America than someone's Grandma!

Truly Extreme!
So just how extreme was the mountain scooter adventure at the top of the mountain resort for David, Kyle, Sean, and Dev? It was SO extreme that the UC camera guys couldn't even get to most of the trails because of the extreme terrain. About the only way to view their journey was via the "Mountain Scooter Cam" attached to David's scooter. Midway through, in a tremendous moment of wisdom, David decided it had become TOO dangerous and put the camera in his backpack for safety. Moments later he flew off his scooter on the bridge! The camera would have been destroyed!! Thanks David (although it would have been great footage, wouldn't it?)

"Dev"
In the voting for craziest UC cast member, not surprisingly, Devereaux was the unanimous choice of the UC gang. As Lauren described in the first episode, he is truly carefree and willing to try anything. So what exactly is "anything"? We thought we'd go behind the legend and discover some of the craziest Dev stories to share with you the Top Secret readers!

According to Dev's Mom Teresa·

á Dev was caught one time jumping off the neighbors roof with some of his buddies.

á Once while bored stiff on a trip to Alabama, Dev and his buddy Ryan decided to slide down some rocks around a waterfall. His Mom says they were the kind of rocks you die on! All in a day's fun for Dev!

So what kinds of things can we look for in the future from Dev? According again to Mom, for a long time he's been planning an elaborate celebration for his high school graduation·something about STREAKING! Why do we believe he's probably going to do it? Probably because we've seen his desire to get naked in public. On the last night of our UC adventure at a hotel in Reno, Dev told a shocked group of elderly people in a hot tub·"You better get out because I'm about to get buck naked and get in!"

Something you don't know about Devereax· He was once a runner-up in a Golden Gloves boxing competition!

"Long Days"
How hard is it to be stretched to the max physically and mentally all with cameras in your face? Well by just looking at the UC cast it seems easy· But what you don't see is that behind the scenes they are enduring long days and long evenings! Even Devereaux was tired!

"The worst part was how tiring the days were. When we were done with the day, we were ready to go to sleep that's for sure!"

Being challenged to jump off cliffs , climb up high poles and conquering your fears would seem enough to handle but then the cast has to share their deepest feelings on sensitive issues in front of the cameras! Well what we found out while taping the show was that for some, human nature is to snap when bent to far!

In the next few episodes a whirlwind of emotions flare up! Several UC cast members express their emotions in dramatic fashion·.You won't want to miss it!

"Cliff Jumping" Devereaux Did What?!

In Episode one, you'll hear about the incredible journey to Lake Tahoe from Jacksonville. Well, not surprisingly, even the airplane ride out there was an adventure and we very quickly began to see the personalities of our cast emerging.

One of the first things we learned was that out of the mouth of Devereaux would come things that usually made us laugh and often made us cringe. One of the first incidents Dev instigated was a prank on one of the Southwest Airlines stewards. The steward had made an announcement asking the lady who had requested peanuts to please ring her call button so that he could deliver them to her. Well Devereaux thought it would be funny if everyone would ring their call button, so started a chain reaction of half the plane hitting their call buttons. The great part was, the steward played right along and continued the joke by singing a song about peanuts over the intercom.

Up All Night...
I think the group was wondering if we'd ever arrive in Tahoe. After flying into Reno, it was still a 90-minute drive to Tahoe City. We didn't even arrive at the house until 3:00am Jacksonville time, and as you might guess, the night went on long after that as everyone caught a second wind. Among the things that happened AFTER the cameras stopped rolling (and the photographers went to bed):

• Shannon prevailed in the first major grudge match competition of the trip, taking out Kyle in a vicious game of ping-pong in the garage. Word is, Kyle's still seeking revenge for that.

• The rest of the guys settled into intense battles of their minds, going head to head in chess. Murphy was the guy toughest to beat.

• After an invigorating 1-2 hours of sleep, Devereaux was of course the first one up in the morning, invading the kitchen to whip up a batch of his famous French toast for anyone daring enough to try it. His real goal for the morning though was thwarted as he couldn't figure out a way to get from the house down to Lake Tahoe to become the first to swim in the freezing lake. And this was all by 7:00 in the morning!

"Ultimate Obstacle Course" Dare To Try This At Home?! (How to play "Zoom, Schwartz, Pfigliano)

So, you want to give "Zoom, Schwartz, Pfigliano" a whirl?·It's actually a blast! Here's how you play: The object obviously is not to be eliminated, which you are by messing up. The game always starts with someone saying "Zoom" (if Devereaux had remembered that, he wouldn't have finished third!) From there, think of it as having a ball in your hands. When you "Zoom" someone, you look directly at them and say "Zoom". That's like passing the ball to them. That person now has three options: they can look directly at someone else (not the person who zoomed them) and say "Zoom". The ball would then go to that person. OR, they can look directly back at the person who zoomed them and say "Schwartz". In that case the ball goes back to the original zoomer. The third option (for more experienced and/or more deceptive players), you can look ANYWHERE in the room (except at the person who zoomed you) and say "Pfigliano"l (Puh-fig'-lee-ahn-o). The ball then goes back to the person who zoomed you. If they don't respond, THEY"RE OUT! If anyone else responds (thinking you were going to them), THEY ARE OUT. A person is out if the misspeak OR if they don't look exactly where they're supposed to. One by one people are eliminated until there is only one person left. That person is the winner. (We actually took it down to two on the show). It's really fun and really takes a lot of effort to do well. Have fun!