Given there have been five seasons already, I know I arrived late to the party. Sometimes arriving late though, has it's benefits. A couple of weeks ago, when away for a meeting, I was stuck in a hotel room for the night. Thanks to Showtime on Demand, I decided to spend my evening with a group of Gigolos.
I really hadn't had much interest, the few previews I had seen didn't exactly have me salivating to watch. Although I like reality competition shows, I tend to hate reality shows which exploit emotions and relationships. Gigolos proved a nice diversion for that hotel evening though. There was something very interesting about briefly following the lives of the five Las Vegas gigolos the show focused on. The women, and couples who hire the fab five are a fascinating lot, and after seeing, and meeting some of them, it is clear, that beyond the fun and the sex, this is also a job. Out of the five, only two really appealed to me. Brace and Vin did nothing for me and despite a hot body, Nick (why must every reality show have a talentless wannabee singer...) was not all that.
That left me interested in Stephen and Jimmy, the two who from a quick IMDB search, must have left the show shortly after the season 1 episodes that I watched. Jimmy waas the most intriguing to me. All American face and that killer jaw line. Dazzling eyes and charisma. Yet... beneath the package there was a complex, even a little tortured soul. Jimmy seemed uncomfortable with his role on the show, maybe because he did have a mildly successful acting career on the go before joining the reality show.
I didn't realize I had actually featured Jimmy on FH in the past until doing a quick google search. I featured Jimmy in a short post featuring Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild! in 2008 (HERE:) and I used a great image of Jimmy in his green undies from the incredible Michael A Downs (HERE:) in 2009.
From my google search, it seems life hasn't been all smooth sailing since leaving the show. Accusations by an ex-girlfriend led to a charge which was eventually dropped after she was accused of falsifying a police report in another matter. Jimmy continued to act on stage, in commercials and with small parts CSI and The League and Jimmy continues to model when opportunities arise.
Unlike shows like American Idol and The Voice, Gigolos isn't really a stepping stone unless you're next step is nude modeling (Nick in Playgirl) or porn maybe. It is very difficult to shake the label of gigolo and slide back into a legitimate acting career. In hindsight, it may have been wise to ride it out and stock away as much cash as you can. Hopefully Jimmy can find the right role to help him transition as he has something to offer, it is just a question where he will fit in best.
Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild!
'The thing was, though, that they shot all the nude scenes first—so we didn't have that much time to think about it. The only time you could really think about it was when we were sitting in the wardrobe room—well, I guess there wasn't much of a wardrobe, was there? [ Laughs ] That was the most nervous I was. However, the more we talked about the technical aspects, the less nervous I was. I didn't have time to think about being naked with 10 people in the room, and it helped that we broke the tension by making jokes. Actually, I think if I had done an explicit scene with a woman, I would've been a lot more nervous, I would've chewed a lot more gum and my hands would've been shaking.'
Below: Jimmy by Michael A Downs
Showtime's Gigolos
