DANVERS - There are not too many people who find the door to a role on a national television show in Fargo, North Dakota.
Nor do many expect to jump from the tiny Swift County community of Danvers to a gig with Google and a subsequent move to a Silicon Valley start-up company in California.
Bergen Olson, 24, has done both. Yet what people in his home turf really want to know is whether he and his partner on CBS Television’s reality TV show “Amazing Race” will win the
$1 million prize offered this season and if they are now a couple.
“You’ll have to tune in to find out,’’ said Olson from his home in the San Francisco Bay area. “I’m not at liberty to say.’’
Season 26 of the reality TV show features five couples who are originally paired as blind dates – a new twist- and six long-term dating couples. They compete in events held in eight different countries, getting clues and instructions for their next destination at the end of each challenge. Bangkok, Namibia and Monaco are among the locations where CBS has revealed filming took place.
Olson was paired with Kurt Jordan Belcher, 24, a pageant consultant in Butler, Kentucky. They met for the first time at the starting line of the contest when filming began in November.
Olson said he had never been outside of the U.S. when he was selected for the show.
The Demarce Theater in downtown Benson will host the season premiere of the show at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 25. A big crowd can be expected to cheer on the 2009 Benson High School graduate.
“It’s pretty unreal,’’ said Bergen’s older brother, Brady, who lives with his wife and two children in Benson. “It’s not every day you get a kid like that from a small, rural town who gets to be on national TV.’’
Everywhere he goes, Brady said someone is asking him: “Well, what do you know?’’
“I don’t know any more than you. He’s going to be on the show,’’ Brady said.
That’s all Olson’s parents, Russ and Deb Olson of rural Danvers, can say either. Their son called them in late December, when the filming was completed. He asked them to come to Chicago, where he was attending an event as the human resource manager for his employer.
“We thought he was going to surprise us on our anniversary,’’ Deb said.
At his Chicago hotel, Olson had a laptop computer and a bottle of wine waiting for his parents. The laptop played the theme song for Amazing Race.
“I’m in,’’ he told them.
His trek to becoming a reality TV celebrity began while he was pursuing a business administration degree at North Dakota State University, Fargo, where he graduated in 2013. He auditioned at an open calling for the reality show “Big Brother.’’ He didn’t get selected, but the casting director told him to stay positive, someone might call him in the future.
“I didn’t believe her at the time,’’ Olson said.
The call came last year, shortly after he started his new job in San Francisco. “I jumped at the opportunity,’’ he said.
He’d been a fan of the show since he was about 10-years old, he added. His sister Jenna, now living in Franklin, Tennessee, has been a fan of the show since its start. She still finds it hard to believe her brother will be on it. “Oh gosh, Bergen’s going to be on that show,’’ she said.
The show’s race around the world is as much a test of physical stamina as mental ability, Olson said. Two Olympic medalists were among the competitors he faced.
Olson said he works out regularly and stays in shape. He played volleyball on the USA Athletes International men’s team while attending NDSU in 2011.
As for his theatrical experience, his mother remembers that he played in the high school production of “Annie.’’ Deb Olson said she believes her son’s role in the school choir helped him.
Family members describe Olson as outgoing and quick on his feet, and they give him a real chance at being a winner on the show. “As determined as he is, this will be right up his alley. He will fight tooth and nail to get right to the end,’’ said his brother Brady.
As for whether or not this experience helped Olson find the life-mate he was seeking when he auditioned, well, that too is something he cannot reveal ahead of the season’s shows. Olson said he had come out in 2010 to some of his close family and friends, but not to everyone. Coming out on national television, he said, “kind of takes the pressure off my shoulders and allows me to be who I am.’’
His co-workers are having a lot of fun teasing him as being their big time celebrity and asking him if this is the start of a new career.
Olson said he would jump again at the opportunity to return to TV. “I had a blast,’’ he said.
But as for now, he said he loves his day job and has no intention of leaving. He worked with Google in Austin, Texas, before moving to California for his current job last May.
His only travel plans at this point are to come home to Danvers and Benson sometime later this year to visit his family. He gave no hint as to whether or not he will be coming home to introduce a partner or show off any new-found wealth.
