Florida welder competes on new CBS show
Premiering July 8, ‘Tough as Nails’ features 12 contestants who are tested in challenges at real-world job sites
A welder from Lecanto in Florida’s Citrus County will compete on an upcoming CBS show.
“Tough as Nails” — hosted by Phil Keoghan, best known as the host of “The Amazing Race” — premieres July 8 and features 12 everyday Americans who “consider the calluses on their hands a badge of honor.” They will be tested for strength, endurance, life skills and mental toughness in challenges that take place at real-world job sites.
Competitor Linnett Key, who has called Florida home for about 3 and half years, said the show highlights American workers from different walks of life as well as various hands-on trades that many might overlook.
“Sometimes people forget that these jobs and these people are out here, and I think it’s great that we get an opportunity to show everybody what we are made of,” she said. “The strength that is shown on this show, right now we need that to show that people can come together.”
Key originally relocated to Florida from Virginia to manage a fitness studio, but when her plans fell apart, the mother of four became homeless.
“I ended up going to a homeless shelter after living on parking lots for about a month and sending my children to Memphis,” the 34-year-old said.
Being proactive regarding her fitness career, she went to a library to gain insight into social media marketing. There, she discovered a CareerSource post offering free trade classes in soldering, welding, construction and more. Key scheduled an appointment to find out more.
A CareerSource employee showed her pages of alternative careers, but Key only had eyes for welding.
“I’m more of a hands-on person, and I like to do stuff where I feel like I’m kind of doing a workout and making a difference,” she said. “I just thought welding was unique … I felt like it was something that would be a special trade and it would allow me to do something that’s not easily done.”
She was the only woman in the class, spent four weeks of the program as foreman and landed a job where she currently works, Trademark Metals Recycling.
In March 2019, she received a direct message on Instagram from Keoghan, asking her to apply for a show dealing with bluecollar workers.
She filled out an application, talked to Keoghan and his wife on a Zoom call and completed a physical test.
“We had to do a lot of burpees,” she said with a laugh.
To prepare for the competition, she spent a lot of time exercising, involving her kids — Alonzo Key, 16; Jordan Bland, 14; Kayla Bland, 12; and Quincy Key, 9.
“I have a lot of workout equipment at my house, and I have a home gym,” she said. “Working out is just a part of my life anyway, so I just tried to work out as much as I possibly could while still working.”
Her initial motivation to join “Tough as Nails” was to expose women and youth to a “trade that seems to be obsolete … but what I ended up getting was a lifetime of lessons that made me a better person.”
As a single mother, Key said most of her life is about her children, but “Tough as Nails” allowed her to focus on herself.
“Going out there to do this show, I was able to learn more things about me,” she said. “I was able to more concentrate on my weaknesses and my strengths and camaraderie and being around really good people.”
But one thing Key hopes people take away from her time on the show is that welding is a special profession.
“A lot of buildings and road work and things of that nature deal with welding,” she said. “It’s a very good, profitable trade that a lot of people sleep on, but as welders, you’re building America.”
Watch the “Tough as Nails” debut at 9 p.m. July 8 on CBS. For more information, go to cbs.com/shows/ tough-as-nails. Follow Key on Instagram: @LKeyFit.