TVTrips.com Recruiting Potential Contestants on Craigslist

This is quite interesting, and I'm eager to hear what you all think of it. It seems that an organization called TVTrips is recruiting people to attend game show tapings, potentially become contestants, and even try out for reality television shows. That in itself is a little odd, but there appears to be a motive behind all of this that is not sitting quite right with me.

I first heard about TVTrips when I was doing a search on Craigslist for new game show casting calls, last week. I saw this one, and here's part of the ad:

CBS TV and TVtrips seek godly, attractive, single women for game show:
I am looking for godly, single women for a unique CBS TV game show opportunity to be a contestant. If you are personable, attractive, competitive and want to win $20,000 or more, then please respond with a picture and paragraph about yourself.

If you look up TVTrips.org, there's not much there at all. The shell of a website says that it's under construction, and links to their YouTube page. Now, here's where it gets interesting.

Apparently, according to the description on that YouTube channel page, TVTrips exists to both "preach the gospel" and to "raise awareness and funds on reality TV and game shows - specifically CBS' The Price is Right." The videos show clips of founder Mark Anthony DiBello on The Price is Right, as well as a couple of people that he has "coached" to be on the show.

One of these people, a contestant named Lisa, won a new car worth almost $20,000 - and in the clip, you can clearly see DiBello in the audience telling her where to stop in the That's Too Much game. In another video, you see DiBello giving a pep talk to a group of people he has ready to be in the audience, telling them that they aren't there to have fun, and should act as Jesus would.

Now, I'm not going to say anything about the religion factor here. My own personal belief is that everyone is free to worship (or not worship) as they see fit, and it's none of my business. This whole thing, however, raises some questions. Is DiBello a ringer who sits in the audience and feeds people the prices? How is he making money off of this "business?" And why, when all of these clips are from Barker-era TPIR, is he suddenly posting ads on Craigslist to get more people to be on the show with him? There's a second, more recent ad here. And why is he asking for "single, attractive women" to be on TPIR?

I've only begun to scratch the surface of this, but I suggest you watch the video titled A Day of Victory to get a sense of what this group is all about. I'd really like to know how these folks are convinced to donate their winnings, where their donations go, and why Price is targeted. DiBello himself has been on TPIR, Wheel of Fortune, 1 vs. 100, Blind Date, and a few others. Google him, and you'll get some really interesting links.

So readers, what's your take on this whole thing? I'd love to hear your input!