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Couple Put Their Marriage On TV, To Test On 'Race'

Tribune photo by JAY CONNER

When she's not globetrotting following clues on "The Amazing Race," Tina Greene spends time at The Children's Cancer Center and is president of BioPharmMed executive search firm.

By WALT BELCHER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 27, 2008

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TAMPA - While Tina Hunter Greene was thrilled to get on CBS' "The Amazing Race," the Tampa executive says she had doubts about exposing her personal life on national television.

She was concerned about revealing how her six-year marriage to former NFL defensive back Ken Greene came unraveled.

When the Greenes auditioned for the show last year, they had been separated for several months. But they were still seeing each other about once a month, she says.

He was in San Diego. She was in Tampa. Both Christians, they were trying to work things out. They decided to test the relationship by going on a grueling, hectic, nerve-wracking 30,000-mile challenge.

The CBS news release that announced the cast noted that "his poor choices and infidelity tore their marriage apart, and he prays that the 'Race' will help Tina to trust him again."

Greene, known professionally as Tina Hunter Stewart, says she has read online comments and blogs where people questioned the wisdom of using a game show to save a marriage.

"I beg to differ," she says. "From the initial moment we each filled out the 13-page personal profile, it felt like we had been through marriage therapy. And a producer told me that 'after spending every second together for a month by the end of the race, clearly you will know if you want to be with this man,' and I took that to heart."

The Greenes' journey of self-discovery plays out beginning at 8 tonight when "Amazing Race" begins its 13th season, fresh off winning its sixth Emmy as best reality show.

They are one of 11 new teams on a 30,000-mile trek that spans five continents. The prize is $1 million. It starts in Los Angeles. Stops include Brazil, Cambodia, Kazakhstan and Bolivia.

Producer and creator Bertram van Munster says "some reality shows go downhill and run out of ideas, but we keep making it better each time."

In a telephone interview, van Munster, who has traveled the equivalent of 40 times around the world, says Tina Greene was a lot feistier than he thought she would be. And Ken Greene turned out to be the easygoing guy who went with the flow. "She has some good moments," he says. "You're going to see some fireworks."

"The race was the hardest thing I have ever done physically, mentally and emotionally," says Tina Greene, who, at 48, is physically active in sports such as kayaking, mountain biking and soccer.

The Santa Barbara, Calif., native was a whiz in college and joined Revlon after graduation. She later became an executive at Avon. Her first marriage ended when her son, John, was 2 years old.

In 1991, she started BioPharmMed, a company that recruits high-level employees in the medical and pharmaceutical industries. After living in numerous cities throughout the country, she settled in Tampa in 1993.

John, a graduate of Berkeley Prep, is entering the ministry and plans to start a church in St. Petersburg, Greene says.

Greene is chairwoman of the board of The Children's Cancer Center, which provides emotional, financial and educational support to children who have cancer or chronic blood disorders and their families.

A family friend introduced her to Ken Greene, who was on the coaching staff at Purdue at the time. Now 52, he was an All-American standout at Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. He played for the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Diego Chargers before leaving the NFL in 1984.

After they married, he took an assistant coaching job at Washington State. She leased her home and moved there. After they separated, she returned to Tampa. He moved to San Diego, where he is working as a building contractor.

He recently told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that they "struggled with the marriage from the beginning" and "talked about going our separate ways but never did."

He also said that he "made some poor decisions. It affected a lot of people, and I feel bad about that. ... I wish I could do it over, but I can't."

Tina Greene says they aren't the oldest couple on the show. Hippies Anita and Arthur are in their 60s.

"But at least 70 percent of the others were younger than our children and they called us 'mom and dad,' " Tina says.

Tina Greene can't say whether they won or are still together, but she says that it was one of the greatest experiences of her life. "I think I was the only one who didn't want it to end," she says. "I wanted to go on. It was great not having a laptop, or cell phone, or meetings and to be just focused on one thing. For weeks afterward, I would wake up at night wanting to go out and get that next clue and get to the next destination."

ON TELEVISION: "The Amazing Race"
WHAT: Season premiere
WHEN: 8 tonight
WHERE: CBS

Reporter Walt Belcher can be reached at (813) 259-7654 or wbelcher@tampatrib.com..