Reality show winner sues to claim prize

By Eriq Gardner

For one contestant on a reality show, the race to collect the grand prize hasn't stopped with the last episode.

In a new lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Charmel Brown says she was the winner of TV One's "David E. Talbert Presents Stage Black," but hasn't gotten the spoils of her victory yet. 

The show, whose producers include Talbert, Blair Underwood and Morris Chestnut, featured contestants competing to be understudies in a production of the theatrical play "Love in the Nick of Tyne." The winner was promised a leading role in a future production, $10,000 in cash, one year of free travel on Southwest Airlines, and a television network acting deal.

Brown says she received the cash and travel prizes, but she never got the promised acting deal. She's tried to collect, she says, but she's been refused and ignored.

In this complaint, she's alleging breach of oral contract, breach of implied contract, breach of good faith and fair dealing, promissory estoppel, and misrepresentation. She demands at least $750,000 in damages.