Watch for life-long Hillsborough resident, Scotty Lipich, this January on Pan Desi's, "The Melting Pot." It will be aired in January  on Colours channel on Dish Network.

Lipich, 25, is one of 11 contestants on the up and coming reality show, based on a social experiment of people from all walks of life—gay, straight, bisexual, high school dropout, Ivy League educated, homeless, rich, white, black, Mongolian, Indian, Egyptian—living together.

"I was laid off of my job on August 1st of this year, and have been actively looking for work ever since," he said. "I was up late one night on Craigslist, and found an ad for a show that wanted an openly gay contestant. My audition was on a Friday, and by the following Tuesday, Pan Desi network had called me back to tell me they wanted me to be on the show, which frankly shocked me, but I still gladly accepted."

Contestants on the show have a chance at $5,000 prize money.  Each week, the contestants perform a challenge for the chance to raise the pot an additional $1,000 if they win, and the pot can be raised to $10,000 total at the end of the season.

The challenges were intellectual, creative, trivia, and athletic, to keep it fair for everyone's different strengths and weaknesses. Lipich, who is diabetic, worried that some challenges would be detrimental to his health and also feared reactions people if they saw the missing toes on his foot, amputated due to complications from blisters not healing properly.

At the end of the challenge, the contestants vote for the "Pot Head" - a winner, so to speak, who gets advangtages until the next Pot Head is voted for. At the end of the season, the public votes for who takes home the $10,000.

Though his parents originally told him to get a real job, and that noone was interested in his life when he auditioned, their attitude changed when he was cast for the show.

"Like most other parents would be, I imagine, they gave me their support, wished me luck, and were excited," Lipich said. "I love them to pieces."

The show was shot in five stressful, exhausting, 20-hour days.

"I would stay up half the night and just party and talk and get to know each other, and we would go to bed around 4 or 5 on the morning, and be up between 6 and 8 in the morning," Lipich said. "There was also about fifteen of us staying in the hotel, between three rooms, with three bathrooms, which was awful."

"I have made so many friends by doing this, and have learned a few things about myself as well, which I never thought would happen by doing a show where we are all supposed to stab each other in the back," he added. "I'm very excited to see the show when it airs, and see how the network puts the show together."

Pan Desi Network also offered Lipich a spot in a segment on its "The Better Half" television show, though he's not able to release much information on the segment, he said.

"I'm also excited to see what opportunities are ahead of me to hopefully have a future in television, however am still looking for a steady full time job in case I am still an average Joe in the world," Lipich said.

"The Melting Pot"will air Thursday nights from 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. starting in January.

Editor's Note: Writer Devon Bartholomew was crane camera operator when filming "The Melting Pot"