Enterprise social media star competing in The Amazing Race on CBS
Matt Elofson
Dothan Eagle
Enterprise, AL
An Enterprise High School graduate and current Troy University student known for his social media presence will now star on the network TV show “The Amazing Race.”
Cole LaBrant, 19, along with his mother, Sheri LaBrant, will join 10 other teams known for their social media personalities as they compete for the top prize of $1 million on “The Amazing Race.”
Ken LaBrant, Cole’s father and Sheri’s husband, spoke with the Dothan Eagle about how the TV network reached out to his son in July about going on the show. Ken LaBrant spoke on behalf of his son and wife because they’re in pre-show production for the upcoming 28th season of “The Amazing Race.”
“They asked him to be on the show, and then they wanted a family member too,” Ken LaBrant said. “Once they saw Sheri on video, I knew they were going to pick her. They just liked that mother and son dynamic.”
Ken LaBrant said his son Cole, a 2015 Enterprise High graduate, has four main social media platforms. He has over 7 million followers collectively, the largest coming from his comedic video postings on Vine, a mobile app which loops 6-second videos. He’s also active on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.
According to the CBS website, the network will, for the first-time ever, have live streaming of the kick-off of the show’s next season through the Facebook page of the show’s host, Phil Keoghan. The live stream kick-off will be Sunday Nov. 15 at 9:30 p.m. The live stream event will provide people with a behind the scenes look at the upcoming season as the 11 teams start their adventure around the world.
The cast includes other social media personalities like YouTube stars Tyler Oakley and Burnie Burns, Vine star Zach King, Instagram models Jessica Versteeg and Brittany Oldehoff, among others.
Ken LaBrant said the new season staring his son and wife won’t air on CBS until a few weeks after the Super Bowl in spring 2016.
But the CBS TV role isn’t the first time Cole LaBrant has hit the national spotlight. He invited Selena Gomez, the popular singer and actress, to the senior prom through a YouTube video he made where he performed different Gomez songs with some friends on various locations around Enterprise.
Different projects
Ken LaBrant, who has become a manager of sorts for his son, said it was with Vine where Cole first made his name on social media.
“He’s described by them (CBS) as the Vine heartthrob,” said Ken LaBrant, who is an honors and Spanish professor at Troy University.
LaBrant said Cole and two of his close friends, John Stephen Grice and Baylor Barnes, created a performing group on Vine called Dem White Boyz in June 2013.
“They did one little dance,” LaBrant said. “After a week they had 100,000 followers, and right at a month they had a million followers.”
Cole LaBrant’s social media presence has risen from there on all four platforms. Ken LaBrant said Cole bought out the other members of the group last year.
“They’re all good friends, but Cole bought it, and now it’s Cole LaBrant,” Ken LaBrant said.
While Cole no longer posts videos with the group he does often enlist the help of other members of the LaBrant family.
“It’s mostly us he uses as his videos,” Ken LaBrant said. “All seven of us have been in there at times too.”
Cole LaBrant is the second oldest of six children to Ken and Sheri LaBrant. There’s an older brother, 21-year-old Luke LaBrant, who’s a student a Troy University. Several of Cole’s siblings now have their own social medial following, including brothers 17-year-old Jack and 15-year-old Clay, who are students at Enterprise High School.
Ken LaBrant said Cole’s youngest siblings, 9-year-old Tate and 6-year-old Lilly, have the most common roles in Cole’s Vine videos.
“People don’t realize for a 6 second video on Vine, 90 percent of the time it can take several hours to put together, especially if you incorporate little kids,” LaBrant said. “Sometimes it can take a month and a half when he promotes a company through a video or a package of social media.”
Ken LaBrant said his son’s rise on social media has led to some other projects such as the filming of a commercial in Mexico City for Hewlett-Packard last summer, which aired on TV in August.
It’s also led to some readings and auditions for parts in some movies, including a part in the next Star Wars movie due out in 2017.
But LaBrant also said his son has not been afraid to share his Christian faith through social media, which has led to multiple speaking engagement requests at churches and Christian schools all across the country, from Oregon to New Orleans.
“I’m very proud of him for sticking with his convictions and faith,” Ken LaBrant said. “He just has that presence and that dynamic. I went to the peanut festival on Wednesday night with my two little ones, and I immediately had 20 kids around me wanting to take my picture as Cole’s dad.”