Melissa Herring and Rhiannon Torres, owners of MR Sister Sweets at 7 E. 6th Ave., will be contestants on an episode of the TV show “Cupcake Wars” on Food Network. The episode, titled “The Wiza
rd of Oz” will premiere Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. “Cupcake Wars” rewards $10,000 to the winner of the four contestants, according to Foodnetwork.com.
Being on “Cupcake Wars” was a once in a lifetime opportunity, Herring and Torres said, and they knew they would regret if they turned it down.
“It’s a really big honor that we were even chosen to go because there are thousands of people that apply every season, and they only choose a few,” Herring said.
Before entering to be on the show, Herring and Torres had just recently opened their business in Emporia in January 2012.
“We posted some pictures of some of the cakes we had done on Facebook and asked people what they thought if we should do it as a business and everybody loved it,” Herring said.
In order to get on the TV show, Herring had been eyeing the Cupcake Wars Facebook casting page for the right time to send in an email of pictures and information about the shop. The first time they emailed the shows casting page, they did not have success, but soon after emailing them for a second time, they immediately received feedback from the producer of the show wanting more information and a video of them.
“The producers told us, ‘You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t one of the best,’” Herring said.
Herring and Torres said they were shocked that the producer called them and wanted more information. In mid-May, they were notified that they were entered to be on the show and filming would begin in June in Los Angeles.
After filming the show, Herring said that there were a lot of uncontrollable variables, such as acting and script that were involved in the filming process.
“Reality isn’t always reality,” she said.
Many of the contestants were from the West Coast. Coming from Emporia, Herring and Torres were furthest east of any other contestant on the show. During the trip, a large majority of their time was consumed with filming. The duo only had part of one day to sight-see.
The show only paid for a small portion of the trip, which affected their thoughts of coming back on the show if they ever had to chance. If they did decide to appear on the show for a second time, Herring and Torres said that they would do things a little differently now that they know how the show works.
Torres also said meeting new people was the best part of being on the episode.
“It’s really good for business, that’s why we wanted to do it so we could get our name out there and help us grow,” Herring said.
There will be a “Watch Show” with cupcakes and beverages at White Auditorium, 111 E. 6th Ave. Sept. 28, beginning at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, but an RSVP is required before tomorrow by calling MR Sister Sweets, 620-341-9230, or through the event created on the MR Sister Sweets Facebook page.
