A Chippendales dancer who grew up in Jefferson is competing on the popular CBS reality show “The Amazing Race.” James Davis, 27, is on the season premiere September 30.

His mother, Kitty O'Neill of Bath, doesn't know how her son fared on the show or how many episodes he lasted. He's not supposed to tell anybody.

“So I'll be watching just like the rest of the world. I don't know anything about the outcome. It'll be just as exciting for me as the next person,” she said. O'Neill is also a former resident of Jefferson.

In a telephone interview September 25, Davis, of Las Vegas, Nev., said he hadn't seen many episodes of the long-running show until his best friend, fellow Chippendale James Vaughan, was approached to be on it. But when Davis did watch, it looked like something he'd like to do.

He described his and Vaughan's experience as one of 11 teams on the show as “an absolute blast.” His Maine roots, including “that small-town kind of tenacity (and) work ethic,” helped him, as they always do in his life, he said.

The show sends pairs of contestants around the world, earning clues to locations through a series of challenges. Some tasks are largely physical, others mental. Davis should be good at either, his mother said.

“He has always been an adventurous type,” she said. In his youth he formed music bands and frequently changed his hair color.

O'Neill is so excited about her son's participation in the show, she has emailed all of her fellow employees at Regional School Unit 1 where she teaches speech and language.

Davis, who is also the son of Paul Davis of Jefferson, attended the Jefferson Village School from kindergarten through eighth grade. He went on to Erskine Academy and finished high school in Las Vegas.