Tyra Banks’ on-air surprise

Jennifer Shauvin just happened to have the TV on the weekday morning that supermodel Tyra Banks’ talk show debuted in September.

The show is a one-hour, daily show that focuses on a variety of issues important to young women.

Shauvin was only half-listening when something caught her attention. The announcer said that if anyone had ideas for the show, such as surprising a deserving friend with a makeover, they should give them a call.

Shauvin called – not to get her friend, North Side resident Jamie Welch, a makeover, but to get Welch, a cancer survivor, nursing student, wife and mother of two, the honeymoon she never had.

When Jamie and her husband, Rick, 1994 Shadle Park graduates, married almost 10 years ago, the high school sweethearts spent their honeymoon in their apartment watching “The Lion King” with their 1-year-old daughter.

On Sept. 27, Shauvin, who lives on the South Side, received a call from Banks’ show, saying they wanted to fly her and her friend to Los Angeles to tape the show the next day.

Shauvin told Welch she had won two VIP tickets and a trip to L.A. and wanted her to go with her. Both families had about four hours to get baby sitters lined up and schedules rearranged.

Rick Welch was in on the surprise. The show would secretly fly him to L.A. the next morning.

The two friends went through hair and makeup, part of the VIP treatment, Welch thought. They took their seats in the audience.

“Tyra said that she had a surprise for a member of the audience. Jen made me think that it was the woman behind us,” Welch said.

“So the whole time we’re elbowing each other and snickering, thinking, ‘Ha ha, she doesn’t know.’ I had no idea.”

Then it was time to announce the surprise.

“Tyra said, ‘Where are Jamie and Jennifer?’ My jaw just hit the floor, and I turned to Jennifer and said, ‘What did you do?’ And Tyra comes over to us and had us stand up,” Welch said.

Then they showed a clip that Shauvin had secretly filmed the night before. The clip showed photos of Rick, Jamie and their two children.

Shauvin said, “You’re here because I want to let you know how much I love you and how much your friendship means to me and how hard it was to watch you go through chemotherapy and what a strong person you are.”

“I was just a blubbering idiot,” Welch said. “You see those surprise shows, and you never think that’s going to happen to you. I just couldn’t believe it.

“I’m crying because of the things my friend is saying about me, and then I look over, and Tyra Banks, the most famous supermodel in the world, has her arm around me. … She pulled us up on stage. She asked me to explain about my cancer.”

But if that weren’t enough of a surprise, they brought out her husband and announced that they were going to finally get the honeymoon they had always dreamed of. They would be spending a week in Barbados.

The couple plan to take the trip next spring.

“Jamie found out she had cancer three weeks postpartum, after a C-section” Shauvin said. “She had a newborn and a 5-year-old to take care of, had to go through chemotherapy, and Rick was working out of town.

“He couldn’t quit his job because they needed the medical insurance” Shauvin said.

“Both Rick and Jaime really deserve this. They would be grateful for a night away at a Motel 6 in Spokane. They’re strong and amazing people,” Shauvin said.