Spike TV photo
Former Spartan football player Marty House in a promotional still photograph for the Spike TV reality show "Diamond Divers." Note the West End-inspired logging tattoo on his left arm. The six-episode series first airs on Spike TV beginning at 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 20.
What’s a former Spartan football player doing in the Indian Ocean off South Africa on a treacherous deep sea dive in search of a fortune in diamonds?
The Spike TV bio of House says commercial diving has been a long-time dream for him: "
The Spike TV bio of House says commercial diving has been a long-time dream for him: "As a child, he watched a fascinating documentary on commercial diving, deciding right then and there he wanted to be a commercial diver."
You can find out on Wednesday, June 20 when Marty House, 28, a member of Forks High School’s Class of 2002, appears as a featured diver in Spike TV’s upcoming “Diamond Diver” reality TV series.
The high-danger reality series is similar to the popular “Deadliest Catch” series, but focuses on deep sea diving and the personalities involved instead of off-shore fishing. However, both series take place in treacherous ocean waters.
The six-episode series follows House and a buddy diver, both now based in Houston, as they join a sometimes-cantankerous dive boat crew from Anacortes led by Captain John Aydelotte on a search for “an incredible fortune under the sea” in diamonds in South Africa’s Skeleton Coast.
A Spike TV press release describes House’s role in the reality show: “Meeting them in South Africa are two young, hotshot divers from Houston, TX, who will need to adjust to having to report to Captain John. They will target what is believed to be the original mouth of the Groen River, a coveted spot thought to have an untouched jackpot of diamonds hidden deep in the trenches of the ocean floor. The crew is contracted by the international company Panda Marine, a diamond mining and exploration company specializing in marine mining.
“…Cinematically shot, ‘Diamond Divers’ captures the immense danger the men willingly face, knowing their efforts could mean the difference between going home empty-handed or scoring a million dollar payday, and documents the drama that unfolds along the way.
“The rest of the crew from Anacortes I did not meet prior to South Africa,” House said. “I think a better team could have been put together. There was a lot of tension between John, his son Jason, and I.”
In the waters of the South Atlantic Ocean they battle rough seas, large ocean swells, sharks and poachers.
House is the son of Jill Murphy. He worked in the woods for Michael R. Dunn logging after graduating from Forks High School, working his way up to hook tender before leaving for the undersea world of commercial diving.
In a call to the Forks Forum House said he is now a professional diver and is based in Houston. After leaving his job as a West End logger he trained as a commercial and rescue diver at Seattle’s Divers Institute of Technology. The training took House "“from the top of the trees to the bottom of the seas,” as he says
The young diver said he’s a risk taker, and that he has made dives in the chilly waters of Lake Crescent.
“I’ll never forget where home is,” House said of his school years in Forks, which included competing in state play-offs with the Spartan football team.
House said he and a diving buddy Sam Simpson in Houston were called by a boat crew from Anacortes and offered a shot at the diving adventure. “Sam Simpson is the other diver and one of my best friends, we have been working and playing hard side by side for some years now.”
He moved to Houston as there is where more diving work there than in Seattle. The Spike TV bio says "first year was a difficult one, as jobs were hard to come by. During this time, he worked inland, mostly on dams, marinas and lakes, fixing sailboats. Soon after, he landed a steady job working in the oil field offshore, where he spent 10 consecutive months at sea and excelled quickly."
House said he hopes his appearance on the reality show will have boost his diving career.
“I’m not to sure on the promotions I might be doing for ‘Diamond Divers’. I’m sure if there are enough fans out there I could be involved with some promotions,” he told the Forum in an email.
“My future plans are to continue working in the diving field,” House told the Forks Forum in an email sent from Houston. “I want to become one of this world’s elite divers. I will continue to take every opportunity I can get. There are a lot of people out there that say you can’t. What you”ve got to do is turn around and say watch me.”
House said equipment failures make “Diamond Divers” more exciting, and includes a scene 100-foot wood ship they are on takes on water during a night of big offshore waves.
In "Diamond Divers" House is maintains underwater pumps and scouts underwater for diamond hot spots. He and buddy Sam Simpson are, the Spike TV bio states, "the young, fun, troublemakers of the crew, often rebelling against Captain John’s authority. House hopes to find diamonds so he can use the money to travel and provide for his mother, who is a single parent."
House currently lives in Houston, TX and enjoys hiking, hunting, fishing, sky diving, scuba diving, snowboarding, wake boarding and any other extreme sport in his spare time.
