StarBulletin.com

Isle athlete-actress keeps frenzied pace


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POSTED: Tuesday, April 07, 2009

It's difficult to comprehend how much Hannah Cornett is juggling right now. She has four television shows currently shooting or in the planning stages, magazine photo shoots, a book deal, scripts to read and international triathlons approaching.

Because of her professional surfing experience (in addition to her starring role alongside Matthew McConaughey in “;Surfer Dude,”; she completed most of the water stunts), Cornett, 27, is one of the celebrity athletes supporting Tag the World, a nonprofit she agreed to endorse after losing her father in an accident last year. She's also slated to compete as a professional in the XTERRA off-road triathlon series, beginning with an event in Cape Town, South Africa, later this month.

Typically, she works out from 5 to 7 a.m. before a long day of shooting “;Sports Explorers,”; which requires her to travel around the world interviewing pioneers in the extreme sporting world. Ten more episodes remain in the series. Currently airing online at http://www.goarmy.com, the show is scheduled to move to Spike TV in August.

She also has become executive producer of a TV show she created for TLC called “;Two Kids and a Pudge,”; which invites moms who have settled into their lives (perhaps a little too much) to travel to Los Angeles for two weeks. There, they will indulge in full makeovers, personal training sessions and financial advice. “;Everything to re-create her life!”; Cornett explained.

At the end of the miniature boot camp, producers will fly the participant's husband to Los Angeles, where the couple will embark on a second honeymoon to one of several locations — Hawaii is on the list — for a “;fall-in-love-again kind of thing,”; Cornett said. Online casting will start in June, and Hawaii moms will have a chance to audition.

But the best part is that each woman will master a realistic “;take-home lifestyle”; that allows her to maintain what she's learned without the expensive trainers, clothes and makeup artists. Cornett's main goal is to let these hard-working mothers “;enjoy their lives”; and continue doing so once they return to their routines.

Yet another project on Cornett's list is ABC's “;Holidate,”; a dating show she describes as “;quasi-'Bachelor' but less dramatic.”; She will trade places with an actress in New York for a week — the other woman will step into Cornett's Los Angeles life and friendships, and Cornett will do the same in New York. People will try to set up both of them with eligible bachelors, and they'll see if any sparks fly with the men they meet.

Shooting is likely to commence when Cornett returns from her race in South Africa at the end of the month.

If this isn't enough, Cornett will write a health-and-fitness memoir for Random House that chronicles her three-year trajectory from a desk job/ teaching assistant in Hawaii to the life of a professional athlete and actress walking the red carpet.

Between these obligations, she squeezes in photo shoots for Yoga and Pilates magazine covers and features in Outside Go Magazine.

Mercifully, producers of a Lifetime reality show — which meant to follow her in an effort to chronicle a day in the life of a professional athlete — have placed that project on hold. But it's likely that much of it will be shot in Hawaii when production begins.

Despite all of the glamour and frenzy in her world, Cornett remains grounded and committed to seizing the opportunities she has worked so hard to attract. As someone who admits to making plenty of mistakes, Cornett insists that “;once you start on the right path, things fall into place.”;