Houstonian among contestants on ABC's new show 'The Quest'

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A Houston man is battling it out in a new reality series to become a hero.

ABC's newest reality show "The Quest" premiered Thursday, and hometown cage fighter turned actor Shondo Blades made is national debut.

"So far it's been an amazing show," said Blades. "We are here to save Ever Realm. It's a besieged kingdom and we are here to save it."

The show is set in a scripted fantasy world, where the contestants live in a castle. The contestants perform challenges and interact with scripted characters.

"There are zero iPhones in Ever Realm. No water no pluming," said Blades.

Blades' mother and father were on hand for the show's premier. They said their son was always destined to be on the big screen.

"He one of those kids who takes a picture and always puts a little extra shine in every picture."

Blades said his formal MMA training did help in some of the challenges.

"That really helped me because we were faced with a lot of things in these challenges that kind of made you want to quit," said Blades.