Reality bites for modeling hopefuls

Gemase [on tape]: You guys will be head and shoulders above any other model in any other agency anywhere on the planet with our show going around to 202 countries.

202 countries?

In fact, the show was beginning to unravel.

One  contestant had taken off in the middle of the night, and some of the others suspected that the host was hitting on them .

But up to now, the one thing that had made this reality show seem real were the camera crews following them around, professionals who knew their stuff.

And then to everyone’s surprise, taping abruptly stopped.

Chris Hansen: so, one day, there's no camera crews there.

Female contestant: No.

Hansen: And what did Gemase say about this?

Griffin: What he said was that the camera guy was starting to pick favorites. And he was too interested in some--

Female contestant: --Of the girls.

Hansen: So, Gemase said that he fired the camera man?

Female voices: Yes (in unison).

But that's not at all how chief cameraman Izzy Cardoza remembers it.

Izzy Cardoza, cameraman: No, that's not the case. (laughs)

Izzy says he and Gemase had a deal: Gemase would pay him and his crew by certified check, meantime Izzy would hold onto the show tapes as collateral. 

But after just four days on the job, Izzy says he had a bad feeling about his new client...

Cardoza: I said “If you don’t have a check for me Monday morning, I can't continue production. I'll have top halt production.” And that was it.

Hansen: He never came up with the check.

Cardoza: No.

Had the show run out of financing, hit a bump in the road?

Or... was something else going on?

The cameraman had no further contact with the cast members after he stopped shooting, and didn't know about the alleged sexual impropriety.   At the time, he just wanted his money, nearly $12,000.

And when Gemase stopped returning his calls and emails, he came to his own conclusion.

Cardoza: That's when I realized that this guy, he's not legit.

But what Gemase hadn't counted on was that, in the past, cameraman Izzy Cardoza has worked for NBC News. It was on Izzy's tip that we started investigating and found out that he wasn't the only person who claimed to have been ripped off by this reality TV show.

The show's fashion photographer says he hasn't been paid.

The bootcamp ranch says Gemase owes it money.

There's an unpaid bill with a car company hired by the show.

And a Web site company that says its out more than $26,000 bucks.

And remember that impressive audition at the nightclub? The club manager, camera crews, and Webzine that sent out this publicity email all claim they've been stiffed -- given bad checks by Gemase.

And what about Gemase's history as a supermodel?

Apart from photos on his MySpace page, we couldn't find any evidence that Gemase Simmons made a living as a fashion model, let alone a supermodel. The Ford agency says he's certainly never been on their roster.

We did learn that Gemase is 31 years old, originally from Chicago but living in San Antonio, Texas for at least 10 years. His corporation, Gemase Inc., was registered there in 2003.

And, we found this online bio that says he's a everything from an R&B artist to a political consultant, as well as author of a forthcoming book entitled "James: Confessions of a Con Man."

What's more, despite all that talk about the show airing around the world in "202 countries,” Dateline found out that the reality show never had a TV deal to begin with.

We called ION, the network formerly known as Pax. They say that while Gemase had inquired about buying airtime, a kind of infomercial arrangement, ION never had a deal to broadcast his show. 

As for Fashion TV?  A spokesman there says its never even heard of Gemase Simmons.

So it sure seems there was very little that was real about this reality show.

Meantime, back at the bootcamp ranch, the contestants were largely in the dark about all of this, though they were growing increasingly skeptical and a little worried.

But they were about to do some investigating of their own, and would be shocked by what they found out.

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