'Driver' co-host aims to steer motorists right

AMERICA'S WORST DRIVER. 10 p.m. Sunday, Travel Channel.

PASADENA, Calif. - Jill Simonian's honeymoon story isn't like most - her postnuptial trip was sidelined by a new job and a group of very bad drivers.

"We got married Aug. 15 but that's when I had to start to work on my new show," said Simonian of her marriage to Andre Panossian. "So we had to cancel a prepaid honeymoon trip to Greece."

She's not complaining. After all, she landed a job co-hosting the new Travel Channel series "America's Worst Driver," which sent her on the road for five weeks.

The show takes four teams from cities around the United States through a series of destination-themed challenges, road tests and obstacle courses. The idea is to create an awareness of bad habits and ultimately help improve their driving skills.

All of the contestants were nominated by friends and family who become passengers during the challenges.

The show fits the Travel Channel format in that many of the challenges take the competitors to famous landmarks in cities - for example, driving along the Freedom Trail to deliver New England clam chowder in Boston.

Teams are monitored by off-duty police officers, ensuring everyone's safety and penalizing contestants for traffic violations.

"The officer will buzz them and they have no idea what law they have broken," Simonian said.

Simonian, who co-hosts with comedian Alonzo Bodden, said she's lucky because her husband understood that this job was the latest move up the entertainment ladder for her. Since 1996, Simonian has held a variety of TV jobs in Los Angeles, including hosting a series for the cable channel WealthTV and reporting for the Reelz cable channel.

"The timing couldn't have been any worse, but this is such a great job," said Simonian.

Just getting a job on a major cable channel would have been enough for Simonian. The bonus is she loves hot cars and grew up with roaring engines in the family garage. That could explain why Simonian has picked up a few speeding tickets over the years, but she stresses that she is much better. Working on the new Travel Channel series helps.

For the record, she rates her driving as a 7 out of 10 (with 10 being an Indy driver).

"But you'll have to ask my friends," she added.

As for the matter of the delayed honeymoon, the couple plans to head to Paris in late April. At least that's the plan right now.