Jeff Varner, a Greensboro native, will be Regis for a day on today's Live With Regis and Kelly (9 a.m. on WXII).
"I'm so excited," said Varner, a former anchor at Fox 8 who was a contestant on Survivor: The Australian Outback in 2001, where he was the sixth person voted out. "I'm exhausted. I have had no sleep." As we talked Wednesday, he was packing his bags for his flight from Michigan, where he now lives, to New York, where the show is produced.
Varner was a weekend anchor at Fox 8. He left the station in 2007 to take a job as a morning anchor at WWMT, a station in Kalamazoo. He has since been promoted to evening anchor for two stations, WWMT and its sister station, CW7. He works on four newscasts each day. "I work like a dog," he said with a laugh.
His appearance is the culmination of a contest in which viewers of Regis and Kelly voted for their favorite local anchors. Those broadcasters were then narrowed down in another round of votes to 10 winners, each getting the prize of one day as a co-host of Regis and Kelly.
All this week, Ripa has been joined by one male co-host each day from the contest, while Philbin is taping episodes of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Two weeks from now, Philbin will be joined each day by one of five female co-hosts from around the country while Ripa is on vacation.
"The last two weeks have been quite a ride," Varner said. "I feel like I'm on Survivor again with the whole competition, followed by the waiting. It was oddly similar, which might be why I dealt with it so well."
He wasn't aware of the Regis and Kelly contest until several weeks ago. He was on vacation in North Carolina. He visited friends and family, went camping and met up with old friends from Fox 8. When he got back to Michigan, he had e-mails from viewers saying that they had nominated him. Then he heard from the show, asking for sample tapes of his work.
Then came time for another round of votes, and this time he decided to be actively involved. "I campaigned like Barack Obama and John McCain on crack for 24 hours," he said. "I don't know how they did that for a year and a half. It wore me out."
He urged people to vote for him on the air and online, using YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. He made so many calls on his cell phone asking friends to vote for him that he drained the battery. "I spread the message and videos all over, like a giant yard sprinkler," he said. And it worked.
On today's show, his guests will include Susan Lucci, a soap-opera actress; David Cook of American Idol; and the winner of the show's pulled-pork barbeque contest. Varner is a fan of North Carolina barbecue, so he was disappointed to learn that the winner is from Texas. "This guy better be good, or I'm going to call him on it."
There's still time to nominate a family for the ABC series Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The deadline for nominations is today.
To be eligible, a family must own their own single-family home and be able to show producers how a makeover would make a big difference in their lives. Details can be found online at abc45.com/community/emhe.shtml.
To nominate a family, send a short description of the family's story to CastingNorthCarolina@gmail.com. Include the names and ages of each family member and a description of the major challenges within the home. "Be sure to explain why the nominated family is deserving, heroic and/or a great role model for their community," according to the Web site.
The third season of Tim and Eric: Awesome Show, Great Job! came to DVD this week. The sketch-comedy series includes frequent guest appearances by Zach Galifianakis, a Wilkesboro native. Also new on DVD this week is The Love Boat: Season Two, Vol. Two, with 12 more episodes of the 1970s romantic comedy.
■ Tim Clodfelter can be reached at 727-7371 or at tclodfelter@wsjournal.com.
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