East Idaho native to appear on Netflix reality show “The Trust”
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SHELLEY — A woman born and raised in Shelley will soon make her reality TV debut on Netflix.
Almost four years ago, Lindsey Anderson was approached by a talent scout with a proposition to apply for a reality show. An avid viewer of reality television herself, she thought it was a great opportunity. Some time passed, but the show didn’t go anywhere. Anderson thought that was the end of it.
Until she received an email from Netflix in February 2023.
“I have the perfect show for you. It starts in two weeks. Do you have a passport? Can you go?” Anderson remembered the email saying.
She discussed the opportunity with her family, and her husband encouraged her.
“My husband is so awesome that way. He was like, ‘Go do it,'” Anderson said.
With that, it was time to prepare to leave. Anderson had to pick out a wardrobe and send it to Netflix for approval. She let her business contacts know she would be gone for the month. Then she was off on a plane to compete in “The Trust: A Game of Greed.'”
While Anderson lives in Portland, she was born in Shelley and graduated from Shelley High School. She then moved to Idaho Falls to run a small business and did that for many years.
Anderson’s business, Web Impakt, was a web design and development agency. She designed websites for major community organizations like the Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce and the city website for Idaho Falls.
To learn how to do this, she studied at Ricks College, now Brigham Young University-Idaho, and got her bachelor’s degree from Idaho State University. She majored in information systems, which she described as a mix of computers and marketing.
Anderson was the only woman in her first information systems class. But the more she learned about it, the more she knew that’s what she wanted to do.
“I’m totally doing this, and I just fell in love from the moment I made my first web page,” Anderson said.
Anderson is an entrepreneur, and she found the tools at Ricks and ISU helpful in pursuing that.
“I was able to really implement my business ideas because I had technology at my fingertips,” Anderson said.
Anderson and her family moved to Portland because she has family nearby in Seattle, and they wanted to seek new experiences. Anderson has been able to continue her online marketing work as a business consultant. She has lived in Portland for only seven years now.
Another passion of Anderson’s has been watching reality television. For 15 years, she and her husband have watched “Big Brother” every summer. She also watches “Married at First Sight” and all of the Netflix reality shows.
While watching “Big Brother,” Anderson often finds herself critiquing the players’ actions, she said, and thinking about what she would do in that situation.
In February 2023, she got the chance to put herself to the test, and she quickly found that “The Trust” is different from “Big Brother.”
“So I had to alter my strategy a little bit,” Anderson said.
“The Trust” features 11 strangers “from all walks of life, all different ages, they all come together and there’s $250,000 on the line.”
All of the contestants can split the money, or they can vote people off and earn a larger cash prize.
“It really set you up like, are you on the team? Are you on your own? What are you doing?” Anderson said. While you may be tempted to remove as many players from the show as possible, someone else could remove you if you’re not careful.
Anderson said her East Idaho background influenced her decision-making on the show.
“I was born and raised LDS. I’m no longer LDS, but certainly those belief systems in that community and how I was raised there had a big effect on me,” Anderson said.
“The Trust: A Game of Greed” will premiere on Netflix on January 10.
“I highly recommend everybody tune into the show,” Anderson said. “You’re going to learn something about yourself. You’re going to learn something about other people from all over the United States of different ages.”