Vanguard grad vying for TV show

Kristina Kuzmic-Crocco, a 2001 graduate of Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, is one of 10 contestants vying for their own TV show to be presented by Oprah Winfrey.

“Your Own Show,” which started airing on Jan. 7, and broadcasts Friday nights on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), is a reality series that features 10 contestants and their own show genres. The winner will be awarded a show airing on Winfrey’s cable channel. After Friday’s episode aired, Kuzmic-Crocco was still in the contest.

Kuzmic-Crocco, 31, has a strong passion for cooking, so she’ll have a show geared toward food. She had been managing her website, StickyCook.com.

“We all have to eat, so I want to show the majority of people out there who think cooking is a chore that it doesn’t have to be perfect as long as it’s fun, easy and delicious,” she says on her bio at the Oprah website.

Kuzmic-Crocco lives in Alhambra. She escaped war-torn Croatia when she was 15.

The Associated Press reported that the show’s finalists were chosen from more than 9,500 online audition videos and thousands more hopefuls at open casting calls, the Oprah Winfrey Network announced. More than 143 million votes were submitted online, OWN said.

The winner will be selected on the show by judges including Dr. Phil McGraw and Gayle King, who will subject them to a range of TV host-related challenges.