Reality TV Updates

Pirate Master Contestant Sean Twomey

Pirate Master,” a new reality TV show, places 16 treasure-seekers aboard a 179-foot pirate ship for 33 days in the waters around the Caribbean island of Dominica. Only one aspiring buccaneer will claim the title of “Pirate Master” and the ultimate booty — $500,000.

Keep your eye on the cast: Pensacola native Sean Twomey, 27, will be among the leather-clad crew. The aspiring actor and self-described “nomad” was born here in 1979. His military family made several moves soon after, but at age 11, they returned to Pensacola, where Twomey attended St. John Catholic School for three years.

These days, Twomey lives in Venice, Calif., where he tends bar when he isn’t surfing or going on auditions.

He never imagined those auditions would include “Pirate Master.”

“It’s ironic, because I despised reality TV,” said Twomey, who learned about the show online. “Once I got the ball rolling on ‘Pirates,’ I started studying reality shows like ‘Survivor,’ and they were addictive.”

Twomey also “beefed up on pirate lore,” reading as many pirate books as he could get his hands on and watching pirate-themed National Geographic and History Channel programs.

“Historically, they were not pretty boys like Johnny Depp,” he said, referring to Depp’s turn as Captain Jack Sparrow in the popular “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie franchise. “Pirates were pretty disgusting people, not like today’s kind of Peter Pan idea of what they were. They were men who abandoned their governments and went against the grain.”

Twomey, going into “Pirate Master,” felt his lifelong love of the sea gave him an advantage over some of his land-locked castmates.

“My dad, who was in the Navy, brought me up on boats. He was also intent on teaching me to swim very early, so I’ve had a lot of experience in the water,” he said.

The affable actor couldn’t reveal any eye-patched plot twists or clues from the show, other than, “I thought there would be a lot of ‘X marks the spot,’ and there was,” so local fans will have to watch to see if Twomey makes off with the loot.

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