Mark Burnett News

Famed reality TV producer Mark Burnett and former Touched By An Angel star Roma Downey were wed in a private ceremony at their home in Malibu, Calif., on Saturday afternoon.

"It was wonderful to have shared our big day with our family. Roma, myself, our children and our parents," Burnett, producing two summer reality shows - On the Lot on FOX and Pirate Master on CBS - told People magazine.

"It was so meaningful and so intimate."

On a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Burnett, 46, and Downey, 47, said their vows in a ceremony officiated by Downey's Angel costar, Della Reese, 75, who's an ordained minister.

Burnett's sons from a previous marriage, James, 13 and Cameron, 10, acted as best man and ring bearer, respectively. Cameron was also ring bearer at the wedding of Donald Trump - star and Burnett's co-executive producer on The Apprentice - to Melania Knauss in January 2005.

Downey's daughter from a previous marriage, Reilly, 10, was a bridesmaid.

Also in attendance were Mark Burnett's father, Archie, 83, dressed in a traditional kilt, and his stepmother, Jean; for Downey, Reese and her husband, Franklin, stood in for her parents, both of whom have passed.

At the end of the 30-minute ceremony, which included family reading passages from novels and poems, a small plane that Downey had hired as a surprise for the Survivor creator flew overhead with a banner that read:

"... and they lived happily ever after."

Retreating to their backyard, the family settled into a seafood reception with shrimp cocktail, fresh lobster salad and broiled lobster tails.

The couple, who had been neighbors in Malibu for years before they started dating in January of 2004, became engaged last November on a Thanksgiving family vacation in Zihuatenejo, Mexico.

The traveling will continue as the pair leaves on a 10-day honeymoon to Jordan, where Lawrence of Arabia was filmed, and London.

Congratulations to Mark and Roma in marking the second amazing marriage in the reality TV universe this month!

Mark Burnett is already walking the plank (so to speak) with his new series, Pirate Master. Now, the reality TV guru is innovating yet again, expanding his empire beyond the realm of television and onto the World Wide Web.

Social-networking website MySpace and Mark Burnett announced that they are teaming up to create Independent, a new reality TV show aimed at finding the next great politician through a multimedia campaign, which will include both the Internet and network TV.

Independent - expected to launch in early 2008 - is geared towards engaging youth in America's political process by giving those who visit the site and watch the show a chance to actually select a candidate whom they feel "will best reflect the voice of young Americans."

Burnett, the creator of Survivor, as well as The Apprentice and other hit shows, is excited to enter the political arena.

"Independent represents a giant leap in the re-democratization of American politics," said Chris DeWolfe, CEO and co-founder of MySpace.

Tom Anderson, president and co-founder of MySpace, said "MySpace puts political power back in the hands of everyday people and Independent takes it to a whole new level."

Instead of featuring a traditional reality cast of contestants, Independent will use "candidates" who submit information about themselves via MySpace Video. Once the final candidates are chosen, each will launch MySpace "Impact profiles" that will serve as their political soapbox.

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