Mesquite News > News
Resident featured on reality TV show
By BRIAN PORTER/Managing Editor
Shane Sisk, of Mesquite, was with his brother, Chris, at an area airport terminal when his big break came.
“We were picking up luggage and there was this muscular guy we noticed looking at us,” Sisk said. “We’re pretty good sized guys. He came up and said we were pretty big guys and asked if we would like a tryout.”
Sisk, 34, a former offensive lineman at Carson Newman College, had been through a few tryouts in his time. This one would be like no other.
“This may be my 15 minutes of fame,” Sisk said. “Don’t they say everyone gets that?”
Sisk and his brother attended a tryout and both were considered for a new reality television show. Shane was ultimately selected.
“We were sitting at Dave & Busters,” Sisk said. “They called back my brother and not me. They ended up calling me back and said they couldn’t take us both.”
Sisk will be among the cast when the first episode of Fat March airs at 8 p.m. Aug. 6 on WFAA-TV, Channel 8. The contestants will March from Boston to Washington, D.C., in a format similar to Survivor. The field will be narrowed through a series of challenges during the 575-mile walk. The show airs weekly on Mondays at 8 p.m. through the final episode Sept. 10.
“I was the biggest guy on the show. I definitely needed to drop some weight,” said Sisk, 6-foot, 500 pounds when taping began. “My weight had gotten out of control. I’m still a big guy, but this is a great starting point.”
Because the show has not yet aired, Sisk is unable to reveal the amount of weight he lost during filming. He says the experience resulted in a lifestyle change.
“Barbecue and Mexican food in Mesquite will really get you,” he said. “I’ve always been a big guy. I quit playing college football, but I kept eating like I was still playing. You have to make good choices.”
One of those was his decision to enter the ministry. He entered the seminary and wound up as the minister of student ministry at First Baptist Church of Dallas and now is transitioning to the chaplain of First Baptist Academy.
Members of the church were aware he had been selected for the reality television show. While Sisk was participating in filming, they participated in “Pain for Shane” which included members walking 55 miles as a team for him.
“It really has been an amazing experience,” Sisk said. “I will be able to use stuff I learned to encourage students. As a minister, we talk about discipline but my body was not disciplined.”
With new physical discipline he has a desire to continue dropping weight in order to be a better father and leader to youth.
“The thing I really want everyone to know is it really was a simple process of just getting out there, eating well and walking to become healthy,” Sisk said. “You think you don’t have the equipment so you can’t do this. They said things I’ve heard all my life, but never applied. Now I’m doing it.”
Contact Brian Porter at bporter@acnpapers.com or comment on this story at www.scntx.com.
“We were picking up luggage and there was this muscular guy we noticed looking at us,” Sisk said. “We’re pretty good sized guys. He came up and said we were pretty big guys and asked if we would like a tryout.”
Sisk, 34, a former offensive lineman at Carson Newman College, had been through a few tryouts in his time. This one would be like no other.
“This may be my 15 minutes of fame,” Sisk said. “Don’t they say everyone gets that?”
Sisk and his brother attended a tryout and both were considered for a new reality television show. Shane was ultimately selected.
“We were sitting at Dave & Busters,” Sisk said. “They called back my brother and not me. They ended up calling me back and said they couldn’t take us both.”
Sisk will be among the cast when the first episode of Fat March airs at 8 p.m. Aug. 6 on WFAA-TV, Channel 8. The contestants will March from Boston to Washington, D.C., in a format similar to Survivor. The field will be narrowed through a series of challenges during the 575-mile walk. The show airs weekly on Mondays at 8 p.m. through the final episode Sept. 10.
“I was the biggest guy on the show. I definitely needed to drop some weight,” said Sisk, 6-foot, 500 pounds when taping began. “My weight had gotten out of control. I’m still a big guy, but this is a great starting point.”
Because the show has not yet aired, Sisk is unable to reveal the amount of weight he lost during filming. He says the experience resulted in a lifestyle change.
“Barbecue and Mexican food in Mesquite will really get you,” he said. “I’ve always been a big guy. I quit playing college football, but I kept eating like I was still playing. You have to make good choices.”
One of those was his decision to enter the ministry. He entered the seminary and wound up as the minister of student ministry at First Baptist Church of Dallas and now is transitioning to the chaplain of First Baptist Academy.
Members of the church were aware he had been selected for the reality television show. While Sisk was participating in filming, they participated in “Pain for Shane” which included members walking 55 miles as a team for him.
“It really has been an amazing experience,” Sisk said. “I will be able to use stuff I learned to encourage students. As a minister, we talk about discipline but my body was not disciplined.”
With new physical discipline he has a desire to continue dropping weight in order to be a better father and leader to youth.
“The thing I really want everyone to know is it really was a simple process of just getting out there, eating well and walking to become healthy,” Sisk said. “You think you don’t have the equipment so you can’t do this. They said things I’ve heard all my life, but never applied. Now I’m doing it.”
Contact Brian Porter at bporter@acnpapers.com or comment on this story at www.scntx.com.
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