Rupp competes for love on ‘Sweet Home Alabama’

Twenty-two girls are in the running for one guy's affections and Cassie Rupp, 2007 GCCC graduate is right in the thick of it.

"Being on Sweet Home Alabama really changed my life and my outlook on people and relationships," Rupp said. "So many good things came from the show, I don't even know where to begin. I made some of the best friends of my life on the show. There definitely was a lot of drama, fighting and crying going on, but they put 11 country girls and 11 city girls in a house to fight over one guy. I loved being in Alabama and I absolutely adored the house we stayed in."

Rupp is the daughter of Kendal and Maraline Clark of Dighton, Kan., and Lance and Jeanne Rupp of Garden City.

As a GCCC student she was editor in chief for the Silhouette newspaper and was also student government president.

"I still remember that visit. She came here with her dad, Lance. They talked about what she thought she wanted to do and I remember telling her I promised to always challenge her. She didn't blink. I saw something in her that told me she'd thrive under pressure," said Laura Guy, instructor and student media coordinator.

As editor of the college newspaper, Rupp said working with others was what she valued most.

"It wasn't really like I was in charge of them, I wasn't their boss, it was more of a team effort," she said. "I mean that's what it's really all about. There wasn't one person. It wasn't me being editor, it was just me getting everybody together and getting everybody to realize that it's 100 percent a team thing, like you're a staff and not a bunch of individuals putting stories together."

"The selection process for the show was a nationwide casting call and I was approached at a bar by someone who was doing casting calls and after that it was just interviews and selection process," Rupp said.

The show was filmed in Fairhope, Ala., last month, and overall it took a month to film the entire season.

Viewers wondering how Rupp did will have to tune in to find out.

As she put it, "You have to watch the show to watch me realize things about myself and my life as the show progresses."

Samy's Spirits and Steakhouse is hosting a watch party from

6 - 11 p.m. for the premiere of ‘Sweet Home Alabama.' The CMT series is Thursdays at 8 p.m and spans over eight episodes.

‘Sweet Home Alabama' is the highest rated series on CMT of 2011. The show pits women from the city and small towns against one another as they vie for the affection of one man, Tribble Reese, a former Clemson University quarterback and entrepreneur.