Sí TV Challenge ‘Spend a Weekend in the ‘Urban Jungle’ House’.

As it kicks off production for the second season of “Urban Jungle 2: South Central,” Sí TV has issued a challenge to several conservative talk show hosts. In an ad in the June 8th issue of The Hollywood Reporter, Sí TV challenges Bill O’Reilly, Tucker Carlson, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Lou Dobbs, and Pat Buchanan to spend one weekend in the “Urban Jungle” house, located in South Central Los Angeles.

“Urban Jungle” is a reality show that pushed the boundaries of the “reality” genre by transplanting a group of privileged suburban kids into the barrio to experience life as immigrants.

“It’s easy to take an anti-immigrant position from an ivory tower,” says Sí TV Co-founder and Chairman Jeff Valdez, who grew up in the housing projects of Pueblo, CO. “We want to give these journalists a chance to find out what it’s really like to live in the hood and see if they come out with an appreciation of immigrant issues and challenges.”

“Urban Jungle 2: South Central” began taping this week on the alleged “mean streets” of South Central Los Angeles with a new batch of sheltered twenty-somethings and a whole new set of challenges plus a few surprises.

Returning producer Roni Menendez and camera crews will converge on the tiny two-bedroom, one-bath home to follow a new batch of 13 privileged suburbanites as they adapt to life as immigrants in South Central L.A., a predominantly Central American and African American neighborhood. For three weeks contestants will face harsh manual labor when they are forced to pick strawberries in the fields and compete against each other in a paleta (popsicle) selling contest, graffiti removal, selling oranges on freeway off ramps, and cleaning houses in Beverly Hills.

“Our first season of ‘Urban Jungle’ was wildly successful,” says Valdez. “Many of the contestants had life-altering experiences and to this day still visit the community. We’re hoping that a weekend in the house will also enlighten these political hardliners by exposing them to a drastically different way of life and in the process uncover the humanity of the working-class immigrant.”

In the second season participants will not only take on labor intensive jobs but will be expected to volunteer their time working with children at the neighborhood community center. With the help of, Pete Esquivel, Monique Marvez, and Thea Vidal, three street-wise yet benevolent “Padrinos,” (Counselors) our contestants will try to adapt and survive in the “Urban Jungle” in a quest for the $50,000 in cash and prizes, and perhaps learn a thing or two about life on the other side of the tracks.

The new participants include:

· Georgie Donovan, 29, Winnetka, CA, the daughter of a wealthy South African family.

· Jeremy Darrah, 23, Los Angeles, CA, an anti-war ex-Marine who doesn’t mince words when it comes to politics.

· Michael Shackelford, 28, San Antonio, TX, a conservative neat-freak who considers himself a metrosexual and has a hard time being around “minorities” even though he’s Filipino.

· Jason Lampley, 23, San Pedro, CA, a highly opinionated surfer and musician who has no patience for “stupid fake” people.

· Frances Leann Walls, 23, Springdale, AR, a small-town country girl who has never been exposed to city life.

· Vanessa Macias, 24, San Antonio, TX, a Texas princess with an attitude who works as a local TV personality.

· Aubrey Jangraw, 22, Woodside, NY, a social butterfly who has lived a sheltered life and spends summers at her family’s Italian villa.

· Mark Harley, 21, San Rafael, CA, a quintessential jock with a nose for politics.

· Kristi Swartz, 24, Burbank, CA, a tough-talking straight-shooter who loves to party.

· Tristan Robinson, Los Angeles, CA, 26, an eccentric playboy clothing designer who lives on Los Angeles’ west side.

· Erik Rivera, 23, New Rochelle, NY, a comedian of Puerto Rican heritage who has never been to the barrio and lives in suburbia with mom and dad.

· Afradet Zuri, Austin, 22, TX, a sexually experimental student of Middle-Eastern background who has likes to “tell it like it is.”

· Vanessa Van Vleck, 23, San Diego, CA, a controversial contestant from “Urban Jungle: Season One“ who returns for a second chance at the prize.