WHEN the third season of CBS reality competition series Tough as Nails premieres on Wednesday at 7:00 pm local time, among its cast members is someone with Jamaican roots.
Kalimba Cobb Edwards, born in the United States to a Jamaican father, is among 12 competitors vying for a cash prize of US$200,000.
Married to a Jamaican, she is a fire captain with the Minneapolis Fire Department and the mother of two children.
"My dad is Jamaican and we have a lot of family in Jamaica still. Also, my son's father lives in Jamaica and we still co-parent, travelling back and forth all the time," she told the Jamaica Observer.
Cobb Edwards is the cousin of musician Phillip McFarlane from the reggae group Earth Kry. Her family hails from the parish of St Mary. She and her husband own a home in Richmond, St Ann, where they spend between four to six months of each year.
"Before the COVID-19 pandemic, we spent at least four to six months of the year in Jamaica. It's been a challenge to make that happen over the last year and half. We miss it so much," she said.
She said participating in the reality series came with its challenges.
"Well, I was gone for almost six weeks but luckily, I have a good support system to help me out," she revealed.
According to CBS, the Tough as Nails competition sees individuals, in physically demanding jobss compete against each other in a series of challenges that test their strength, endurance and mental toughness.
The series is from Emmy Award-winning New Zealand-born producer Phil Keoghan and his producing partner, Louise Keoghan. It is produced by Raquel Productions Inc in association with Tough House Productions Inc. Phil Keoghan, Louise Keoghan and Anthony Carbone are also credited as executive producers.
" Tough as Nails is a competition show with blue-collar, hard-working people doing different challenges for a grand prize. Jamaican viewers can expect some good competition between real folks. A lot of the challenges that we perform, Jamaicans do daily and there's a large population that would do extremely well on Tough as Nails. Also, we have some genuine people on the show that I know 'yardies' will relate to," said Cobb Edwards.
Yardies is a term used to describe Jamaicans at home and abroad.
Cobb Edwards explained why she decided to compete in the reality series.
"I'm doing it for my boys Ty and Mekhi, my mom, and also for myself and every little girl that grew up thinking that they weren't enough," she said.
"Winning this money would mean I could help my mom so she can retire. After 40 years of running her own day care, I would like to see her enjoy life and maybe have someone taking care of her for a little while," she added.
