By Alec Harvey
When the producers of “The Amazing Race” first approached Cole LaBrant (@TheSuperCole on both Twitter and Instagram) about competing on “The Amazing Race,” he had no idea who his partner might be.
They found Cole, a freshman at Troy University, through his 6.5 million followers (and astounding 3 billion loops) on the website Vine, which features six-second videos. And they interviewed him with his younger brother. Then they interviewed him with his older brother. And, finally, they interviewed him with his parents.
The winning combination? Cole and his mother, Sheri, who lives with the bulk of the LaBrant crew in Enterprise. They’ll join 10 other teams with some sort of connection to social media when the 28th season of the around-the-world competition kicks off on CBS on Feb. 12.
“We are still speaking, and we still like each other,” Sheri says during a conference call with Cole.
That’s about all the team can say about the season. They’ve already filmed it and know who wins the $1 million prize, but they can’t say.
What they can talk about is Cole’s amazing social media success – he’s known for asking Selena Gomez to his prom last year — and their trek to the CBS reality show.
In press materials, CBS describes the 19-year-old as a “Vine heartthrob,” and while he won’t describe himself that way, Cole is surprised that his Vine videos have taken off.
“I started it with my friends just goofing around two or three summers ago, and it blew up pretty big,” Cole says. “As the years went by, two of the guys lost interest, and I hung on to it. I would say what I do on Vine now is weird, funny humor. It’s all family-friendly, no cursing or anything. I’m a Christian and have grown up in a Christian home.”
His mom agrees.
“He actually really is a good kid,” she says. “To be honest, I thought it was funny that out of all my boys he was starting to get Vine famous because he danced around with his shirt off. He’s actually my really strait-laced son. I thought that was ironic that that’s what launched this, him shirtless and dancing around.”
Another thing that surprises Sheri is that she was the one chosen to compete with Cole on “The Amazing Race.”
“I thought they’d probably choose one of the guys, because they’d be such a strong team,” she says. “When they said me, I said, ‘Are you sure about that?’ I think the producers were like, ‘Ha, ha, ha, this’ll be fun to watch.’”
The LaBrants knew of “The Amazing Race” – distant cousins competed in an early season – but they weren’t fans.
“We don’t watch much TV at all,” Cole says.
So, when word came that they’d be filming the show in September and October, Cole concentrated on his first semester of college (on scholarship), and Sheri immersed herself in everything “Amazing Race.” She binge-watched many seasons of the show and filled out the immense amount of paperwork required for the teams.
“I told him to focus on school, and I would take care of everything,” she says.
Along the way, Sheri became a fan of one team in the 21st season.
“The Chippendale guys,” she says with a laugh. “They did their best, and they seemed super nice. I know they’re good looking, but their insides looked like they were good, too.”
Both LaBrants confessed to a fear of heights going into “The Amazing Race,” and the producers capitalized on that, Cole says.
“I think because I was so preoccupied with school and friends and my first semester, I just didn’t give it much thought, but once it came down to it, it was as terrifying as you’d imagine it being,” Cole says. “It’s definitely going to be funny and emotional and entertaining on the show.”
The LaBrants haven’t decided if they’ll attend the official premiere party for “The Amazing Race” in Los Angeles. But it will be either that, or getting together with family and friends.
“I have a group of high school friends who want to get together to watch it,” says Sheri, who is originally from Stone Mountain, Ga. “If we don’t watch the premiere, we’ll watch other episodes as the season goes on.”
