- [Coach] I lost my job.
I lost my coaching career.
I mean,
I lost everything.
I mean,
it was brutal.
(catchy music)
[Announcer] There are things I regret doing on camera.
3,
2,
1.
- [Isha] I was really drunk in a bar
and I confronted one of our other cast members
about what his political views might have been.
And I think,
maybe that's the one thing I feel
like I probably shouldn't have done.
- I mean,
sometimes we try
and say something and it just doesn't come out perfectly.
If it made somebody feel bad,
somebody I care about
or I feel bad about that,
for sure.
- I just kind of hate looking back at it and not feeling
like I was my own person
and aligning with somebody who
in the real world,
I never would've aligned with.
- [Michael] Yeah.
I said a lot of out-of-pocket jokes on my show
and a lot of people were mad.
I don't regret saying any of it,
'cause at the time I thought it was kind of funny.
It's who I am.
I say dumb (censored)
- [Coach] I mean,
did I do stupid things?
Maybe.
Did I say things that were out of character?
Maybe.
I think for me,
regret would be a wasted emotion
because through your mistakes,
that's when you really grow.
When we're doing all the right things,
we don't ever grow.
And so looking back
on what I could've,
would've,
should've done to me,
doesn't make sense.
I just use the mistakes
and try to channel that into making a better person.
- [Announcer] The producers try to portray me
as someone I'm not.
3,
2,
1.
- [Holly] I had such paranoia and such anxiety,
because of things that certain producers
were trying to get me to say on the show.
They tried to get me to body shame one of my castmates,
they tried to get me to say some kind of mean,
catty things that were very out of character
for me to the point where,
one of the producers who I liked
and felt safe with jokingly called me "Regina George",
because I would always express to him how I hated
that the other producers tried to get me to be a mean girl.
- When I got back,
everybody was like,
"Did you cheat?"
"Did you lie?"
"Were you a villain?"
I was like,
I'm gonna be a hero.
And my father said it best
about midway through the first season I was on.
And he was like,
well I turned off the TV,
midway through the show.
They're making a (censored) out on my son on national TV.
I lost my job.
I lost my coaching career.
I mean,
I lost everything.
I got hate mail every day.
I mean,
it was brutal.
So on the one side,
I felt like the heroic parts that I did
were not put in there.
However,
if I skipped to this other side
I also feel like they film us 24 hours a day.
I'm pretty eclectic.
They picked up on that straight away.
And so they were like,
we're gonna gonna just expand the boundaries.
So when I watch myself,
I'm like,
that's not me.
But then on the other time I'm like,
oh wait,
that is me.
- I wish I was different than what the show shows.
It was me.
Unfortunately,
a lot of people didn't like it - me,
and that's okay.
- [Announcer] I always wanted to be on a reality TV show.
3,
2,
1.
(Michael laughs)
- [Michael] Why am I not surprised?
- [James] I won most likely to be on a reality show
in high school.
It's been part of my being. (laughs)
I grew up watching Survivor
Big Brother,
and The Amazing Race.
Those three shows had such a huge impact
on my life growing up,
just because it was an opportunity
for me to see other gay members of the LGBT community
be a voice for someone like me from the Midwest,
who'd never really had that to look up to.
- When people said to me,
man, I applied
for this show for 10 years in a row.
I'm like,
man, you guys gotta get a life.
(everyone laughs)
No but I mean,
to apply a couple of times,
but over and over,
I never watched it.
- [Announcer] I got along with the other contestants.
3,
2,
1.
- [Coach] I didn't go out
and specifically seek adversity with my castmates.
But at the same time I was trying to push the envelope
and do things differently than they had ever been.
It was really surprising though,
when you're watching
you get really nervous before the episode,
'cause you have no idea what they're gonna grab
for the final edit.
So when people would say,
yeah, coach is such a (censored).
I mean,
I think that was hard.
But on the flip side,
I made some really strong bonds.
- I met my girlfriend on the show,
so we get along pretty well
but all the other cast,
we're just so different.
There's just no scenario that we would be hanging out,
other than just being forced to live together.
- [Holly] I mean I can get along with everybody.
It doesn't mean I have to like them or respect them.
And we get a lot of flack for associating
with certain people.
And it's like,
what do you do want me to go against this person?
He's in power.
I have to pretend to like him.
This is not real life,
people.
- We have a group chat on WhatsApp
with all 22 of us still to this day.
And over half of them were able to come
to our wedding in December.
I recognize what we had was very special,
but I also know that it's not for everyone.
- [Announcer] Viewers would be surprised about what happened
behind the scenes.
3,
2,
1.
- The game is real,
the competition's real.
Every aspect of that side of it is real.
But,
every single conversation I have with
and somebody who loves the show,
no matter how long they've watched it,
they always say like,
oh my gosh that's so surprising.
I know that.
So clearly it is.
And for us,
even in the house week one,
we were talking
we're like,
wait, there's no screen in the diary room?
Mind blowing small things.
So yeah,
they're surprised.
I'm not gonna say their life is gonna be rocked or changed.
- At the end of the day,
it's a TV show.
So you just see what's in front of the camera.
But if the camera were to just turn
around once,
there's a whole crew.
- If you were to tell someone like,
oh this happened
behind the scenes,
but they had watched the show.
They wouldn't be like, (gasps)
they'd be like,
oh that makes sense.
That person seemed like that
they would do that.
- [Michael] Yeah.
- You know what I mean?
- Behind the scenes,
there's no behind the scenes.
They are always
they're adamant
if we don't get it the first time,
we will not ask you to recreate a situation.
I never saw the host in Tribal say,
okay, hold on a second.
Let me ask that different.
It's all one take.
And when you're not on
not filming something
you're on absolute strict lockdown.
You can't talk to anybody.
If the cameras aren't rolling,
you don't talk to anybody else.
And if you do talk to somebody else,
somebody's gonna jump your (censored)
and they're gonna be like, shut up.
You shut up.
Look that way.
And you're basically persona non grata
when the cameras aren't rolling.
- [Announcer] Reality TV accurately represents reality.
3,
2,
1.
- [Holly] No, I would say yeah,
- [Kyland] Accurately.
Reality TV demonstrates the extremes.
The world just isn't binary.
It doesn't operate in extremes.
It shows you some things that are real,
but it doesn't accurately reflect the world
because you know
that's - when people sit down and talk
they usually find out they have more in common
than they thought.
- [Coach] It's interesting
because fans really think it's real life.
- [Kyland] They do.
- [Coach] It's crazy.
I mean,
somebody can say,
yeah Johnny Depp is captain Jack Sparrow
and they can be less convinced
of that than looking at us and saying these guys,
that's exactly how they are in real life.
It's a
TV show.
Most TV shows are not real.
- People really do have a hard time realizing
that this is not a real world situation.
These scenarios you would never be in.
And the high stress
and the lack of sleep.
I mean,
at least I did not sleep for 99 days.
It is not any normal situation that you would put yourself
in.
However,
the emotions and the experiences
that happen are very,
very raw and very,
very real.
And I think anyone in those scenarios would have
those raw real emotions.
And that's another thing that is hard.
I think for viewers to realize when they're so critical
of how we responded to certain things,
it's like
well,
it take my shoes,
please wear them and see how you would do.
- Sometimes what you say or an emotion you display,
might be used in a different context to fit a narrative
that wants to
be told for the overall show.
So I'm glad I didn't focus on that accurately
that I am focusing on the accurately display
of reality 'cause it doesn't,
it's not very accurate.
- I think it depends what your reality is.
So if you're put on a show like Survivor,
well that's a weird,
forced reality that that's not,
I mean that's clearly not like what reality is,
but if you're on My 600-Lb Life,
you're 600 pounds.
That's their life.
That's real to them.
- Yeah.
I wish that viewers would realize the separation of reality,
but also give us a little more grace
in the flawed human moments.
- [Announcer] Reality TV is an
important form of entertainment.
3,
2,
1.
- [Michael] I can't.
I tried, I can't.
(James and Kyland laugh)
- I think reality TV is good
for showing subcultures that we wouldn't know exist,
but important no, I mean,
come on.
I don't think we're learning valuable lessons
by watching Guido's party.
- There's certain shows that maybe lack
value more than others,
but at the same time,
reality TV is so broad.
There are actually a lot
of very informational,
very fascinating shows.
- [Kyland] I think that we can see ourselves
in characters all the time,
but I feel for so many
it's probably easier when you're looking
at real,
real people.
Oh, if I was in that situation,
how would I respond?
I feel like there is something intrinsically important
about being able to put yourself in other people's shoes.
- [James] I think it depends on the show.
And I think everyone who's watching that show
is gonna have a different reaction to it.
Some shows may not have an impact on me
where others might
but I'll never forget the impact
that watching Survivor Africa,
season three,
Frank and Brandon sharing popcorn and candy,
watching a drive-through movie in the middle
of the African planes together.
Was a gay man
and a guy who's never interacted
with a gay man before in his entire life.
And just watching that interaction and that experience,
at such a young age had such a profound impact on me.
(catchy music)
(group claps)
- [Kyland] Who won?
Who won?
- [James] That would be a question.
Who's the best?