Is Tampa the New Miami? Tampa TV Experts Say Yes

Troy Robertson, a contestant on the next season of Survivor, is from Miami. But is he a dying breed?

​Here in Miami, we like to think we have a monopoly on star personalities. But according to at least one reality TV casting director, Tampa's where you can really find the talent.

"Tampa is the new Miami," casting director Rose Rosen told the Tampa Bay Times this week, noting that a colleague of hers in Hollywood has indicated that all the reality show talent in the Magic City is "tapped out."

"There are no fresh faces [in Miami,]" she continued. "Everybody who wants to be on television has been on television at least once."

We at Cultist track reality TV pretty closely -- we watch crap so you don't have to -- and we're calling this story out as self-congratulatory Gulf Coast bullshit.

Have you seen the number of Miami locals on reality shows lately? There's Troy Robertson and Kat Edorsson (a Miami native now living in Orlando) on the upcoming season of Survivor. There's Christian Lopez vying for the heart of a NASCAR gal on Sweet Home Alabama. Don't forget X Factor winner Melanie Amaro, or the handful of So You Think You Can Dance contestants -- including former Miami City Ballet member Alex Wong, season five winner Janine Mason, and Victory Smalley, hailing from Miami Stars Dance Studio, which just happens to be the location for the new spinoff series Dance Moms: Miami.

Tampa, on the other hand, is home to twin sisters who agreed to drink donkey semen on national television. When it comes to reality TV representation, I think we know where the talent really lives.

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