Total Drama Retrospective Interviews: A decade-ish later

by VeryUnknown

The network that ran Total Drama wanted to do something to celebrate the annual-ish anniversary of the show. Josh was called in to interview the 24 contestants from the first generation, 13 from the second, and 14 from the third generation to get the tea on their relationships with one another from their time on the show, and since the show, while catching up with the cast.

57. Zoey: Part 2

He couldn't even hold back the evil cackle even if he wanted to, as he prepared the next picture, "During these interviews, I learn A LOT about the dynamics between the campers that weren't shown, as it shows how things are more multifaced than what the episodes could capture. The biggest shock was that there was a mutual attraction between you and Scott during Season 4."

Immediate disgust and annoyance took over her entire demeanor, as his picture was given to her, "I NEVER said that Scott was attractive. Production makes us do a bunch of tests and rankings while we are sequestered, so they could suggest people who would be great showmances. Mike was #1 on my list, and Scott was a DISTANT second. I thought he was good-looking, and when we spoke earlier in the season, we had similar rural backgrounds, while not having a lot of money. I was trying to get to know many people, so everyone would talk about their backstories, and that was the commonalities that we had. I stopped speaking to him as much because we were on opposite teams, people started getting suspicious of him, and I was more interested in getting to know Mike. All of a sudden, there was this HUGE backlash about Scott, which was started by Mike and Cameron at the time, and I thought that it was too convenient. This was before Dawn was even booted, and Mike did not want me to speak to Scott. He was entertaining Anne Maria, or at least what I thought was him entertaining Anne Maria, so I decided to ignore Mike's request to ignore Scott, since I wanted to get to know Scott for myself."

"So you got to know him to piss Mike off, because Mike's personality was getting to know Anne Maria, and Mike refused to solve the issue on his own," the interviewer clarified with an annoyed tone in his voice, "Which included A LOT of flirting."

She immediately shook her head in disagreement, "I would not call it flirting, since it wasn't that. Scott was someone that I naively felt like I could emotionally relate to, and could emotionally vent to, as I was dealing with these new feelings of love, and frustration as a result of it for the first time. I thought he was distressed about Dawn being voted out, and he told me that I deserved better than Mike, which was why I DID move on from Mike for a few weeks. Anne Maria PUMMELED Scott after that vote out, which was the main reason I went over to console and comfort him in the first place. EVERYTHING he told me during that time was a lie, and I thought we had some sort of bond, so to see how he did the Mike situation. It lead to a HUGE argument between the two of us after Mike was booted about how Scott abused my trust, and RELISHED in it. I... I told Scott at one point, I regretted wasting my time with Mike, and he said that in another world, we could have had something. HE initiated the flirting, and then flipped it on me when we became enemies. After that, all I saw was red, and all I saw was me humiliating him. Throughout the next two weeks, things got violent, and he taunted me by saying Mike is sleeping with Anne Maria at Playa. Scott took some low blows, so I went low too, and I made A LOT of nasty remarks about his family."

Josh wanted to keep pushing what he could push out, "So you admitted that Scott said that in another world, you two would have worked out, and you were mad because you felt like the flirting was all strategy on his part. Scott gets severely injured due to the obstacle course that you created, and he needs to go through so many surgeries, appointments, and muscle exercises for a year. How did you deal with that, and dealing with him for another season, where you both made it to the semi-finals?"

"I... I actually didn't feel good about that, especially when we all went home. I went to a dark place, and I had to go to therapy to deal with some of the trauma I went through, which I did in between seasons. Apologizing to people, and trying to start a clean slate was something that became important to me, especially as "All-Stars" was being greenlit. Scott did his slander of me in between seasons once he was doing exit interviews, but I had to overlook it. We actually avoided one another for the first few weeks, until I decided to be the bigger person, and to sit down with him. It was shocking to see how well he took everything, but I did apologize for putting him in physical pain for the last year, and that I don't hold anything from last year against him. Scott shockingly forgave me, and apologized to me for last year, since he just wanted to make game moves, but realized that he took things too far, and that he didn't want to be bitter from the past like the other villains. I think Courtney helped him move on from the anguish he went through at the time," Zoey explained with fatigue in her voice, before eliciting a small laugh. She then started to smile briefly, "We were even able to joke about everything, once the first cast asked us about what happened on our seasons, and the dynamics with our cast. We didn't deal with one another that much, but we kept our agreements with leaving one another alone, and not talking about the other. We're okay now, though I haven't seen a lot of him."

"Alright, and the last person outside of Mike from your original cast is Staci. But due to her being the first boot, and wasn't even on your team, I'm assuming you don't have much to say about her," Josh presented, while handing her the picture.

A blank look was on Zoey's face one Staci came up, "The only thing I remember about Staci during my time with her on the season, was that she automatically came up to me, and stated that I had a lot to hide, which I learned from my family. I was confused, and kind of turned off by how she came up to me, especially with it being an AWFUL way to meet someone. The entire season went by without her, and as soon as I join Playa, I explain to everyone about what happened with Commando Zoey, and she CAME AT ME with SO MUCH. She said that my family being in the military, doing something so horrible to the point that they ran off into the country, and isolating me is why I turned out the way I did. I outright asked her why she is claiming to know so much about my family and others, while she claimed I was being judgmental, and that I have an issue supporting women. When we got home, Staci either wrote stories about all of us, or sold stories about our PERSONAL stories to the press, which caused me to ignore her outright for the rest of the time. She was another person who was OBSESSED with reporting on Mike and I's relationship, and what she thought was lacking."

Josh went to get a new stack of pictures, "So these set of pictures represent the 7 contestants from the first cast that you competed with on your second. The first person on this list is Alejandro. What were your opinions on him?"

She growled angrily once the name and picture was presented, "Alejandro IMMEDIATELY had the NERVE to question my personality and authenticity, claiming that I was a fake hippie. I took that offensively, ESPECIALLY since he's THE MOST inauthentic person in the entire franchise. He literally created this personality to charm the heck out of everyone on his first season, before his rancid personality was exposed. He pretended to be crippled just so he could guilt Heather, and there are some rumors about the physical alterations, like bleaching, and eye color changes that I don't want to get into. Al was VERY jealous of the attention the new generation got inside and outside the game, since it made him irrelevant, so he took it out on us, ESPECIALLY Mike, Cameron, and Sam, so I stood up for my friends, and had to check him. And then once him and Mal went back and forth, Alejandro REALLY went nasty, and he attacked EVERYONE in the game personally for absolutely no reason, and telling us all to fuck off. Whatever charm he had was gone from MY experience dealing with him through the season, and he only lasted that long because the producers liked him for TV, and some other rumors that I won't delve into. All of his warnings went in the garbage can because of how he attacked us all season, and what the others exposed of him previously. After the finale, we made it to safe haven, and I just remember him taking so many potshots at us, and things almost got physical between the 6 of us. Things DID get physical during the "All-Star" parties, and then he accused me of having several mental illnesses on social media. He's trash, and it's not surprising that his parents disowned him."

Another picture was placed on the table, "Courtney is the next person on the list, and it seemed like she was jealous of you from the beginning to end. What are your thoughts on Courtney?"

"I honestly did not think much of Courtney, at least in the beginning. She was annoying, and did not fit in with the Heroic Hamsters, but I appreciated that she was at least trying, and playing the game, which I could not say for Lindsay. After that, I got a bit annoyed with her, since we made many attempts to include her, but she would just refuse to indulge. When she switched, things were so much better. I did get the vibe that she was intimidated by me, but she mainly kept it to herself... until the merge mainly because Gwen told me about EVERYTHING Courtney was saying about me. She was also mad that I gave Duncan a chance to explain himself to me, and her insults about me were VERY personal. I didn't want to get into a catty back and forth like I did with Anne Maria the previous year. Throughout the season, Courtney pushed this narrative that I was inauthentic, and I never got where it came from, since we never had a specific issue, but I now realize that it's because she believes the worse in everything and everyone. She has A LOT of issues that she refuses to get help for. That type of negativity is stuff that I wanted to steer clear from," Zoey explained concisely.

"So how did you come up in the situation with her and Cameron, which eventually lead to her downfall in the final 5? Courtney also mentioned that the two of you got into it after the season about something."

She shook her head from those memories being brought back, "That was... ugly. She was accusing Cameron of assaulting her, and that... didn't seem like Cameron, or anything he would do, so I doubted it. None of us knew at the time that it was Mal's doing, but Courtney was REALLY MAD that I was defending my friend, but I made sure to not victim shame her, if it were true. At her elimination round, I DON'T like how she turned on BOTH Scott and Gwen, and the drawings she made about everyone were COMPLETELY classless. She tried to blame production about it, but no one forced her to make those drawings, and how she HANDLED everything just showed how heartless she was. I didn't want to deal with her after that. At the premiere party, I DID argue with her because she KEPT on calling me fake in pre-season press, and I mentioned ALL of the fake stuff she did throughout the show, and in real life, while she threatened to fight me because she couldn't handle my words, and I mentioned about Duncan and Gwen were BOTH close to me, and not her. Courtney gave me a cease-and-desist, especially because she knew that I saw her come out of Scott's room the morning after the premiere party, and she would drop him off at all the events with the S4 cast."

He put the picture of the criminal on the table, "It shocked me to see how well you and Duncan got along through the season. He's usually such an asshole to everyone he comes into contact with, even the people who are supposed to be his friends. How did you get into his ice black heart?"

Zoey rolled her eyes from how he worded things, "Duncan does not have a black heart, and he isn't an asshole, though he made A LOT of poor choices. Something about him always interested me while watching the show before I played, and getting a chance to actually play with him, I wanted to see if he was really as awful as he was portrayed and rumored to be. From the first few weeks, he really was on his best behavior, and I do genuinely believe that he was tired of all the drama and baggage. The Heroes talked about wanting to build a welcoming atmosphere for everyone in our team, so when he switched over, I decided with the support of my teammates to throw a welcome party. He talked about how he saw the events of the last three seasons he took part in, and he was shocked that I didn't throw judgement on him, like many other people did. I told him that he made some very poor choices, and that he needs to make it right with Gwen especially, but the damage was already done there. He cares too much about what people think of him, and I know that he started doing what he did because he wanted to stand out from his family of cops, and wanted to get attention from them. It was sad seeing him deteriorate through the season, but in hindsight, him going to jail was exactly what he needed to turn his life around."

"He said that you helped him out once he got out of jail. Why did you do that, and how did you manage friendships with both him and Gwen, when they are STILL TO THIS DATE on bad terms?"

"Most of the cast did not contact him while he was in prison, and I didn't think that was right. When the Mal stuff came out on the show, he did not attack Mike and I like many others did, despite him knowing Mal from prison, so he deserved gratitude just for that on his own. Mike and I spoke to and visited him, where we saw the pain and anguish all over him. He told us some REALLY personal things, and he was TRULY REGRETFUL for everything that he did from even before the show. I saw a person who had an epiphany, and wanted to make a turnaround, so we helped him with a house, and got him into contact with an agency after he came out. Duncan was able to make something worthy of himself, and we maintain good contact today. With Gwen, I have tried getting them to speak and make up, but it's been an utter failure every single time. Both of them are still holding a lot of anger and resentment, but them having any sort of positive relationship was done well before I entered the picture. They both understand that I'm a grown woman, and I'm not going to choose sides, like an immature high schooler does," she explained thoroughly.

Josh went on to grab another picture, "We talked about two people who were in the triangle last, and now we're going to hit on the final person from that triangle in Gwen. We know from the show, and through these interviews that you two are good friends, but I want to hear your perspective from it."

Zoey let out a light giggle, which then turned into a smile, "Gwen is someone I always admired from the show, but I was intimidate with how we would interact if I ever got to meet her, since she does have a cold side to her. When we started the fifth season, I didn't push myself to get to know her, knowing that she is not fond of strangers, but I did make my introduction to her. We didn't speak until one of our day offs, when the casts wanted to know the real story of the other generation cast, that the cameras did not show. This lead me to talk about the triangle on my season, and what REALLY happened. She seemed very empathetic for the situation, and I asked her if she could explain the triangle she was involved with. I was told what happened, and it REALLY was more complicated than what was shown. I didn't judge her, and told her that she made a human mistake, but it's how you handle it and make it right is what's important. We have a lot in common, especially with not liking mainstream stuff, and being hopeless romantics. I asked her about how to keep my relationship together, since I didn't want to end up like her and Trent, and she gave me advice. Gwen told me that she missed Trent immensely during the season romantically, though they've been friends for about a year by that point, so I wasn't shocked when she eventually got back together with him. As the season went on, she really appreciated that I didn't come with a bunch of unnecessary drama, and actually listened to, as well as respected her, which Courtney never did. The second half of the season was enjoyable mainly due to getting to know her, and Gwen cheering me up when there was so much darkness going on."

"Did you turn her against Courtney? Since that's how it kind of comes across on the show?" he inquired.

"No I did not, but I think her seeing how I treat her compared to how Courtney treated her, caused Gwen to reflect and realize that Courtney is a conditional friend, where I am not. It wasn't my intention, but she introduced me to a lot of her friends from the first cast, and Gwen REALLY helped me come out of my social shell, since she was also very introverted and sheltered before the show. She has helped Mike and I through some financial times, especially when we left the spotlight, I helped her get together with Trent, as well as help her overcome the negativity she was getting from that, and the season we just filmed. There is no conditions on our friendship, which I really like, and we like one another for our flaws. Gwen helped me with my private wedding, and she was one of the two witnesses there, and she's helping me plan my public wedding. Gwen is truly one of the most complex people I have ever met in my life."

Josh knew that this next person was going to annoy Zoey, and he was living for every moment that he's anticipating, "Since literally everyone, even her own boyfriend at times hates her, I am SURE that you hate her as well. What was your experience with her like?"

Furrowed eyebrows were formed on the redhead's face, and she refused to touch Heather's face, "Just from watching her, it was clear that's she is a sorry excuse of a human being, but you always wonder if the TV exaggerated things, and if a person is better in real life. Even just from her cameo on my season, she was EVEN WORSE than what the TV showed, and they covered for her a lot. Heather mentioned something about "not wanting to talk to losers", and I just don't know why she was so snobby. It's ironic since my stats are better than hers if you compare my TD stats to hers, and I didn't need the producers to get me there. We did not speak much on the season, but I DID hear all of the nasty things she was saying about me to others, and the glares she would send me. I think it bothered her that most of my cast ignored her, and that she was losing relevance on the season. After the finale took place and we were on our way home, she was REALLY MAD that none of us helped her or Al, and then she and Gwen started arguing about a bunch of old stuff. I just said for her to leave Gwen alone, and she UNLEASHED on me, and mentioned that MIKE, NOT VITO had sex with Anne Maria, and he forced her to get an abortion, which Anne Maria herself said was false. She made fun of Mike's disability, accused me of being mentally unwell, and lead a VERY NASTY social media campaign against us. This continued even to the premiere party where I confronted her about what she did, and we ended up fighting, but she thought she could beat me up. We went back and forth on social media through the entire airing of the season, until I finally blocked her."

"So the second to last person that you competed with was Lindsay, and you voted her out first from the "Heroic Hamsters", which I am still kind of confused as to why you didn't connect with her, and why you spared Courtney over her?" Josh asked with genuine interest, while passing the picture.

Zoey just shrugged when Lindsay's picture was passed to her, "There is not much to say about Lindsay sadly. When we were on Season 5 together, she was very distant from everyone, and didn't know how to do basic things. Whether it was an intentional move on her part, or she was that dense, it was not impressive either way. And whenever the two of us had some conversations, neither of us were into it, and it became very obvious that there would not be a connection there, which was sad because I wanted to bond with her. Never got a chance to speak to her after her vote out during the season, and during the few TD events that there were with the both of us in attendance, we did not speak."

Josh grabbed the last picture, and had an astounded look on his face, "And lastly is Sierra. I am shocked that you and Mike managed to become friends with her, as the Cameron stuff happened on the show, and the drama that took place after the show."

"Well, Cameron was friends with Anne Maria while being friends with us, but we didn't demand him to choose. Sierra was... weird, there is no denial about that, but I wanted to give everyone a chance, which I did not do on my first season, so I spoke to her, and when she is in a good mental place, Sierra is one of the best people to know. We were both TD fans before being on the show, so we bonded over that, and I liked how helpful she was to other people, and how selfless she is in general. A part of the reason why I did keep her around was because she was another girl, and I get that she wanted to redeem herself. But when the Cameron thing happened, I am always going to have his back, so I had to speak to her SEVERAL times, and tell her that she needs to leave him alone. While Mike and I were not planning on voting her out during the round she left, it was the best that she ended up leaving when she did," Zoey clarified and elaborated.

"So there was an event that took place during the party you all had for Duncan. Some accused Sierra of sexually assaulting Cameron, while others accused him of lying about the situation to make her look crazy. From what I got, you don't think Sierra did it, but you don't think Cameron made it up. Please elaborate on this."

All the redhead did was sigh in fatigue, "I honestly think the producers intentionally stirred things up, and told different people different things. I think they wanted drama on the Heroic Hamsters, since they thought we were boring. They used Gwen to tell Cameron that something happened, while they told Sierra, and they told Mike and I that nothing happened. You heard that properly, the NETWORK told Gwen and Cameron that Sierra assaulted him, while they told Sierra, Mike, and I that nothing happened. Tapes were reviewed by the network, and they couldn't find anything, but the damage was already done. Sierra was at the rehabilitation center that Mike was at, so I would meet with her there, and we would talk about a lot of things. We remained friends ever since, but she knows that Cameron is my ride or die, and she needs to respect it. I refuse to get involved in their drama, and I DON'T get involved in her or Gwen's drama either. I refused to kick her while she was down, and she's supported me ever since as well."

Josh wanted to get the quickie done next, "Alright, so how are your interactions with the first generation group that didn't play on "All-Stars", and the third generation overall? I'm sure you made a lot of friends."

She had a focused look on her face, as she used her fingers to track people down, "Yes, I do know and like a lot of them. Well Beth was the first person I befriended, since we lived in the same town, and I hung out with her right after my season finished filming. She couldn't get Lindsay and I to connect after my second season. Cody and I are on good terms partially due to Sierra, but he's still distant due to Cameron. Trent is a LOVELY dude, and probably the closest Gen 1 male in my opinion. I've dealt with Harold, and he's fine. Leshawna became a good friend of mine due to Gwen, and so has Bridgette. Geoff is a cool guy, and so is DJ. I'm glad they and Duncan are close again. Out of the third cast, I am VERY good friends with Sky, and that was imminent from the first time we met one another. Shawn, Jasmine, and Sammy are good friends of mine as well, and Dave is close friends with Mike, so I am in a good place with him too. Beardo is nice from what I saw, and I'm also good friends with Leonard and Ella. I feel like their generation is so misunderstood."

"Alright, now it's time to get into the final person, who is your now husband Mike. PLEASE don't bore me with this, and don't sanitize SHIT," Josh demanded, as he unenthusiastically passed the picture to her. "Why were you immediately drawn to him?"

A huge smile accompanied her face, as well as her cheeks blushing pink, "Mike was my #1 going into the season as to who I was attracted to, and I noticed that he was looking at me at casting finals, which I noticed. No one ever looked at me in the way he looked at me, and it didn't help that I thought he was attractive too. I didn't know if he was going to be on the cast, so when I saw him on the yacht, I was more than excited. We immediately started talking, and we found out that we had quite a bit in common with the stuff we read and watch. For the first few weeks, I told him a lot of personal details, and in hindsight, I told him too much personal stuff too quickly. It became clear that I was bearing my heart and soul to him, but he NEVER told me anything personal, which caused me to back up on Mike. What made things worse was that him and Anne Maria were actually... bonding about a lot of stuff. I don't think Mike was romantically interested in Anne Maria, but they were both Italian, and came from foster home beginnings, so they had that commonality, which made me a bit jealous."

Josh raised his eyebrows, "So you ADMIT that you were jealous of their relationship before anything happened?... What a great development. Now break down the triangle from your perspective, in relation to Mike."

"I thought that there was something going on, since he held back with me, but told Anne Maria certain things. It was not until what we now know was Vito happened, where the two of them had anything romantic, and I just wanted some transparency. Mike would tell me that he had nothing with Anne Maria, but NEVER told her to back off, or publicly claimed me. Now I get why he didn't tell me about his disorder, but it caused A LOT of unnecessary drama, which A MAJORITY of the cast took advantage of. Mike didn't like it when I would speak to Scott on a friendly basis, but he felt like he could have his cake and eat it. Even after she quit, things were not good between us because he still did not tell her that he wasn't interested, and Mike was not letting me in whatsoever. It just got too frustrating for me to deal with, and I was somewhat entertaining Scott a little. When he did tell me, it was because Cameron told me, and Mike was already eliminated, so that sucked. Us having that final week in Playa des Losers was REALLY nice, and we got to be fully open with one another for the first time, but we also had a week before we went back to reality."

"How was it like when you two were out in the real world? I heard that the two of you never got intimate during that year point, which was brought up in "All-Stars"?" he inquired with interest.

Zoey kind of went blank for a few seconds before answering, "Mike was... sexually assaulted quite a bit in his youth, which he told me triggered Vito, so I completely understood why he wanted to hold back, though he did want to kiss me. He had to go to therapy to work out a lot of it, and I wanted my first time getting intimate with someone to be special, so I had no issue holding back. Plus, we lived long-distance from one another, and my parents did not like him for the first few years of our relationship. When we went on "All-Stars", there was A LOT of progress, as we were cuddling every night, sleeping in the same bed, and... touching one another. Step by step, which is how I liked it. We had so much fun during those first few weeks, and it was my favorite part of my entire run on the show. A large part of me didn't want to believe in the Mal stuff, because I didn't want to deal with the potential of him hiding something else from me, and I wanted this season to be about progression. Mike didn't know what was happening, and I think the producers that were not Chris should have gotten more involved. Having to think of the potential that Mike wasn't the real personality was HEARWRENCHING, and I would not have made it without my friends. After the finale, we had our first kiss, but we both easily agreed that we would never do another season again, since we got our friendship finale, and Mike agreed that the show was triggering, so he stayed at a rehabilitation center for about a year."

Josh could see some of the pain in her voice, "I am sorry to have triggered any bad memories, but it's a part of the process with these interviews. How have things been like for the past 8 years since your time on the show?"

"Well, I finished my senior year in school while Mike was in the rehabilitation center, and we both agreed to go to University together, which would be the first time we spend every day together outside of the show. It was nice to have those 4-5 years, since we needed to fit one another in our lives, and we got to be normal, since the novelty of the show had worn off. We started talking about our interests, and I fell in love with Mike all over again, since he was confident in himself, and didn't have anything to hide. It was during this time that we realized that being in the spotlight did not interest either one of us. Mike's family came back in the picture, and I was VERY defensive of him because they abandoned him for years, and left him to be unprotected, but that caused a bit of strain for Mike and I for a bit. I had to let it go, but I found it to be very convenient that they came back around once he was on TV. After we finished school, we agreed to get married privately, and now we are planning a public wedding, so things are going great for us," she announced and broke down with a smile on her face.

"Alright, so what have you been up to since your time on the show, and what have you learned from your time on the show?"

A large smile was on her face, "Mike and I went to school, and I decided to get a degree in Social Sciences, and also took a minor in Anthropology. Dawn had me help her with a lot of documentaries, where I could put my majors into good use, and now I am working for the government to help people with disabilities as a case worker. And I learned SO MUCH on the show, but I am going to keep it relatively simple. I learned not to hold grudges, since people do not progress if they are stuck on the past. I learned how to grow socially, and to deal with many different people, who handle things in completely different ways. There was also a lot of trauma that I had to deal with, so I see a therapist regularly, and I had to demand my family to tell me the truth about why they had me secluded, and turns out, what Staci said had a lot of truth to it."

Josh got up to shake Zoey's hand, "Thank you for coming to the interview, and being very open. It must have sucked to be last out of everyone you competed with."

"It is, but as long as I state my truth and my perspective, it doesn't matter. Thank you for doing this, since it's sometimes good to look back, and to see things from hindsight, so you can truly move on," she responded while getting her stuff, so she could make her leave.

After Zoey left, Josh let out a sigh, "Damn I just realized that we have to deal with the freakshow cast now. But since they did one season, hopefully the interviews are MUCH shorter."