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Kellyann Wargo (right) chats with a passenger in her "Walk of Shame Shuttle" that will be featured on a new VH1 show.

(Courtesy VH1)

Men and women being saved from the oft-dreaded trek from the location where they spent the night back to their own houses or apartments will be the subject of a new VH1 TV show thanks to University of Michigan graduate and Ann Arbor resident Kellyann Wargo.

“It’s passing campus day tours and your ex-boyfriend on your walk home in last night’s clothes that are embarrassing,” Wargo said in an email.

As an early riser, Wargo often took it upon herself to pick up her friends in the morning and spare them the embarrassment of making the “walk of shame.” After the groups she rounded up would go out to breakfast, swapping stories of the previous evening, those who Wargo had saved would pick up her tab in return.

As a second semester senior at the University of Michigan, Wargo realized she could further monetize her willingness to help out and decided to charge $5 for “a ride home, a bottle of water and a high five.”

The "Walk of Shame Shuttle" business picked up after a YouTube video she shot as an advertisement went viral and was covered by a number of media outlets including The Ann Arbor News. The video has been seen by more than 290,000 people.

“To a college student any money is good money, but I wasn’t making enough to pull a Mark Zuckerberg,” she said.

“I wasn’t trying to make enough money to pay off my student loans by graduation (that would have been cool, unrealistic, but cool), just enough to cover fishbowls and pizza styx from Charley’s.”

Brian Graden Media, which was founded by former MTV executives, saw the video and realized that through a reality-style TV show the idea could bring in a lot more money than just the $5 fare.

“I was first contacted by the production company within a month of my YouTube video going up, followed by lots of phone calls, pitch meetings, and behind the scenes business before VH1 ordered my show straight to series,” she said.

“…I have learned that ‘this is it’ is not one moment, but the whole experience.”

Wargo, who has a chauffeur license, said she waited a year and a half between after signing on with Brian Graden Media before VH1 picked up the show.

Jill Holmes, a senior vice president at VH1 and an executive producer of the Walk of Shame Shuttle show, said that the station knew once it saw the "sizzle reel" that Wargo could carry the show.

“We just fell in love with her,” Holmes said.

“She has such a fresh take on things and has such a positive kind of comedic style... She could take any situation and turn it into a positive. We thought ‘we have to meet her and do a show about this.’”

Wargo said that the transition from making a commercial with a camera taped to a dashboard to a full-blown television show was intimidating at first, but that once she was driving someone home from their night on the town it felt “just like old times.”

“The actual show on VH1 is more about the person in the car with me, and less about me singing Hall and Oates,” she said.

“There are crazy going out stories, crazy I don’t know where I woke up stories, I just broke up with my boyfriend stories, and everything in between. It’s basically going out to Benny’s for breakfast with your roommates and swapping stories about your night, only in a car, and with me.”

Before she started filming, Wargo was only driving people home Friday through Sunday mornings because she was also working a regular salaried job at a local company.

Kellyann Wargo high-fives a passenger in her "Walk of Shame Shuttle" that will be featured in an upcoming VH1 show.

“On a usual day about 2-6 students was my average,” she said.

“I didn’t keep track of how much I made monthly; the $5 bills burned a hole in my pocket. Five dollars was the suggested rate, I would have some great mornings and get tips, and some rough mornings where I was paid in whatever was left on a Starbucks gift card.”

Holmes declined to share how much Wargo was being paid during the show’s taping but said that she was being compensated as “talent on the show.” It was enough to allow Wargo to quit her job and switch over to operating the “WOSS” seven days a week.

As part of the show, Wargo is also franchising her business across the country. Holmes said VH1 wanted to hit major cities in different regions to give the show broad appeal.

“The show is also being filmed in Los Angeles, Miami, and Boston so I think it’s pretty exciting Ann Arbor is getting grouped in there with major cities,” Wargo said.

“The state of Michigan can get a bad rep with our 8-month winters, but the show will really add another dimension.”

Holmes said The Walk of Shame Shuttle has finished filming in Ann Arbor for the summer, but will be back in town as students return for welcome week. People who are cast for the show are picked up in the morning and relate their night’s antics to Wargo, who provides her own advice and commentary.

“The show will probably come out in the winter some time, we don’t have exact air dates,” she said.

According to Wargo, the varied backgrounds of her clientele might surprised people who assume that those taking a “walk of shame” come from certain populations in town.

“I pick up lots of different people, not just frat guys and sorority girls,” she said. “Everyone has a story to tell, and the Walk of Shame Shuttle is the perfect vehicle for that.”

Ben Freed is a general assignments reporter for The Ann Arbor News. He prefers the term "stride of pride." Email him at benfreed@mlive.com and follow him on twitter at @BFreedinA2. He also answers the phone at 734-623-2528.