Union Co. fifth-grader thrilled to be on Cam Newton's new TV show

UNION COUNTY, N.C. — A Union County fifth-grader might be the most popular student in his school after starring in an episode on Nickelodeon with Panthers’ quarterback Cam Newton.

Caleb Garner’s mother, Ellen, says her son has an engineer’s brain, which is why she submitted his information in a casting call for the new television show “All In With Cam Newton.”

The show premieres Friday at 8 p.m. on Nickelodeon.

“Caleb works on a lot of inventions, but this one in particular I felt was pretty brilliant,” Garner said. “So on a whim, I submitted his name online. A week later, they said they wanted a Skype interview with Caleb.”

Garner didn’t tell her son, who attends Poplin Elementary, that she had submitted his name, and he only found out when the casting agent called hoping to learn more about him.

“I was kind of surprised and nervous at first, because nobody really knew that I invented things,” Caleb said. “So it wouldn’t seem like it was me on the show, but it really is me. But I’m not nervous anymore.”

Filming for the episode began at the Garner’s Indian Trail home.

“When I went to the door, I was really excited to see Cam Newton was standing there. He’s like a giant,” Caleb said. “I shook his hand and invited him to come in and meet my family.”

His mother said she was very impressed with Newton.

“Cam is so natural and warm, it would be almost impossible to not feel comfortable around him. He’s so sincere and so normal. He sincerely loves children.”

When filming at the Garner home was finished, the group headed to other locations, including uptown Charlotte. Caleb was thrilled when he was introduced to an inventor who looked at his inventions.

“It was great to meet a grown up inventor because he inspired me to invent more, and it was cool to compare myself to someone I might become one day,” Caleb said.

Caleb even got a taste of what celebrity life is like when he walked through uptown with the NFL MVP.

“There were even a couple of children that wanted photos of Caleb,” his mother said. “They knew he had to be somebody when he was walking basically arm-in-arm with Cam Newton.”

Caleb’s filming adventure came to an end after about 20 hours, but before he said goodbye, he made a special gift for Newton.

“He was really excited about it. He put it on and we got a picture of us together,” Caleb said.

Caleb’s teacher, Michele Martin, said when school starts back in the fall, students will most likely have seen the episode.

“The kids will be excited for Caleb. They’ll say, ‘You really did meet Cam,’ but I believe they will show more interest in his inventions and what he does.”

Caleb said that not only was the experience exciting and fun, but it helped him in an unexpected way.

“My favorite part was that Cam Newton and my mentor helped me make a better prototype for one of my inventions,” Caleb said. “It meant a lot to me when Cam said that he believed in me because, well, he’s Cam Newton.”

For a glimpse of the episode on “All In With Cam Newton,” press “PLAY” below:

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