[May 17, 2013] Sims, wife now talking with agents and TV producers Tweet HICKORY, May 17, 2013 (Hickory Daily Record - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Will Sims never stops at Costco in Burbank to get gas but a fateful decision to change his habit has lead to all kinds of possibilities. "I just happened to be there that day and the rest is history," Sims said. The Hickory native and St. Stephens High School graduate stopped at a gas pump where "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" was taping a segment called "Pumpcast News," where segment host Jack Rafferty asked Sims to sing a song in exchange for a free tank of gas. Sims chose to sing Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer" with his wife, Monifa, doubled over laughing at him from the front seat of their vehicle. The video has received nearly 13 million views on YouTube and comments have been posted from around the world including from folks in Russia, Poland, Ukraine and the Netherlands. Sims has received 400 to 500 friend requests on his Facebook page since the video was posted and people are saying they love the couple, and they want to be their friends. The couple even received a personal message from Jon Bon Jovi, lead singer of Bon Jovi. "That was like the icing on the cake," Sims said in phone interview with the Record. The couple lives, along with their daughter, in Los Angeles. Sims and his wife have since appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the Today Show and Extra, he said. So why has the video struck such a cord with people Sims, who said on "The Tonight Show" that he works as a bartender, thinks it's because it's two people having fun. "I think people have forgotten how to have fun," Sims said. Having fun is something the couple has always done. The two met in graduate school at the University of Illinois, Sims said. "We have a good time," Sims said. He hopes the video will inspire folks to remember how to have fun. Folks who knew Sims when he went to school in Hickory, including his former football coach, said what you see on the video is the way he has always been; singing, laughing and having a good time. The video has caught the eye of TV producers and agents, who have been contacting the couple. Sims said the two are starting to meet with TV producers and agents. Some are about reality shows, some about sitcoms but nothing is definite, he said. But no matter what happens in the future, Sims hasn't forgotten about his Hickory home. His mother, father and a sister still live here. His mother is going to California to see the family soon, and the couple's daughter will return to Hickory with her grandmother. Sims plans to return to Hickory in August to pick up his daughter, he said. ___ (c)2013 the Hickory Daily Record (Hickory, N.C.) Visit the Hickory Daily Record (Hickory, N.C.) at www.hickoryrecord.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]