Kayla Glenn always wanted to be on TV. Monday she was, as a dancer leading into a trivia contest on "Live with Kelly and Michael".
Kayla Glenn, visiting New York City with her family, had a much loftier goal than attending the free taping of “Live! with Kelly and Michael”.
“I always wanted to be on TV,” Glenn said. “I knew they asked the studio audience for anyone who wanted to try out. And I came with my goal set on being the dancer.”
Glenn, who participated in the national collegiate cheerleading competition last year, is a junior at NGU majoring in biology. She attended Greer High School before moving and graduating Chapman.
Glenn was pointed when she explained her strategy. “To get noticed I knew I had to appear outgoing and real excited. I also chose what I wore, a light blue top with pink and blue shorts, to stand out.”
Executive Producer Michael Gelman does the audience warm up before Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan appear as co-hosts. Selecting the person who introduces the “Summer Selfie Travel Trivia” is much like an audience participation contest. Contestants must be 18 years old. Glenn is 19.
“We are looking for enthusiasm and a wide variety pulled from a handful of guests,” a show spokesperson said, asking not to be identified. When the field is culled to the four finalists, and finally the semifinalists, the person with the loudest response is the winner.
Glenn said she sized up her competition when the field was reduced to the final four. “I did a cart wheel and a split and acted like I wanted to be there. When I was competing against a boy in the finals I added a flip and knew, from the audience’s response, I was going to win.”
The jolt, Glenn said, was when staff told her she would be wearing a bikini in her segment. “I saw the beach balls and other stuff but didn’t think I would have to wear a bikini. I was surprised by that.”
Glenn said she was taken backstage and told to go shopping and pick out a swimsuit she liked and she could also keep it.
“They miked me, gave me a selfie extension and told me when to dance – there were three times,” Glenn said. “I danced going into the trivia contest, going into commercial and then when they came back. When they gave me the queue to dance I wasn’t really nervous.”
Glenn said she had little dialogue with Ripa, Strahan or guest Taye Diggs, who begins playing Hedwig on July 22 in the Broadway musical “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.”
“During the commercial (Gelman) said I did a great job and Michael or Kelly said I set the bar very high,” Glenn said.
Glenn said she has received social media responses from her friends and one from Greer Mayor Rick Danner congratulating her.
Glenn was asked if thoughts of TV stardom have entered her mind.
“I haven’t thought of being noticed (by a talent scout) by appearing on the show,” Glenn said, with a laugh. “But maybe I am taking the wrong course of study.”
Glenn's performance provided courtesy of Disney/ABC Home Entertainment and TV Distribution.
