The two-time pre-merger walked into the studio, where his hair is frizzier, puffier, and his body was a little less dough-ey, but wore a very similar outfit that he wore during his time on the show. He had little expectations with the interview, and didn't have an eager or an intimidated demeanor when he entered the room, "Hey... So I see you really have to resort to this in order to renew interest in this decapitated studio?" Sam did not care about the glares he was getting, only causing him to laugh as a response once he went to sit down, "That's cool with me."
"Okay then...," Josh replied, trying to not let his irritation get to him, as he prepared his collage, "Well, I am sure you will have fun learning that your cast went the FUCK IN on your relationship. Anyways, Anne Maria is first on the list. How was it like dealing with her on the season, and in real life over the last 9 years?"
All Sam did was sigh, "Anne Maria is someone that I could never figure out, but she was very difficult from the VERY BEGINNING to the VERY END. I tried not speaking to her for as long as I could throughout the season, and her mean-mugging, as well as her pollution global warming can was just too much for me to deal with. Things got a bit desperate with Dakota and I, since I wanted to impress her, and Anne Maria was the one who had the most... stylistic similarities and interests as her, so I did... ask her for some advice. Anne Maria made a HUGE spectacle about it, and stated that... my entire existence was not worth it in so many words. She made fun of my looks, my weight, my interests, and everything that makes me... Sam. I had to tell Anne Maria that her overemphasis on her looks, instead of building a loving personality is why she was in the predicament she was in. We did not speak after that for a while, but she and Dakota started becoming friends after the show, and I feel like that was when our relationship started going downhill. Anne Maria is a party girl through and through, so Dakota started envying her life, and wanted to go back to how she looked and acted before the show. She was transitioning from Dakotazoid, and started doing things with Anne Maria, and I told them both that it was very inappropriate. Her and I got into a HUGE argument, since she claimed that I was manipulating Dakota, and using her being Dakotazoid as a way to build up my confidence and ego, which I thought was disrespectful, and I had to tell her off. We did not communicate for YEARS after that, but we were able to become cordial a few years ago due to Dakota, and there's been no issues since. Still, I don't know how to take her."
"So we are gonna move onto the silent B," Josh mentioned, as he handed Sam a picture of the man, "How was it like interacting with him over time? Dealing with someone who only speaks through a machine, or not at all must be weird."
"No, not really... B is a very expressive person, without having to utter a word, which in my opinion makes him a more multifaceted, a more experienced, and a better communicator than the average person. We kind of connected as soon as the finals take place, so when we were put on the same team, we really hit it off. He taught me different ways to communicate, and I really learned a lot from his wisdom at the time. He was not one to really enjoy a lot of leisure, so I had to teach him how to have fun, create our own games, and our own forms of entertainment. He was one of the few who had my back from the beginning, and defended me. When Dakota and I got together, he was one of the few who were genuinely happy, and was a consistent advisor on what to do. When the fifth season happened, he defended me when most of the cast were making fun of me, and hating me for being on the season, which I did appreciate. I did not like it when people would make fun of him for his weight, and for his lack of speaking, as he has valid reasons for both, and both of them involve some very sensitive and personal information."
He wanted to get a bit more info, "So how was it like seeing him with Dawn? How did he support your relationship. And apparently you work for him?"
Sam cleared things up, "I am an owner for one of his gaming subsidiary companies, which I started focusing on after Dakota and I broke up, and I needed some inspiration in my life, and some direction. Generally, he was always a big supporter of my relationship with Dakota, and whenever we had disagreements, he and Dawn would be the middle people that would help us communicate. We even went on some double dates back in the day. If it was not for them, Dakota and I would not be back together, since we were both so stubborn. B is one of my closest friends from the show."
Josh wanted to get to the juice, and knew that the next person being brought up will do so, "From what I could grasp, you and Brick had this weird cold war rivalry at times, especially when he was a part of the Toxic Rats with you. He portrayed himself as the nice one out of the group, but enabled Lightning and Scott bullying you in your final episode. And then we had the controversy of you being put on the cast for Season 5 instead of him. Do you feel like he has snaked you so many times, and is full of shit?"
He let out a huge sigh, as the picture was presented in front of him, "Brick IS my friend up to this day, and we did get along for the first few weeks of the season. Everything I am referring to is in the past tense, essentially. When people first saw him, everyone thought that he would be an abusive a-hole, but then he showed us to be a sweetheart, and a teddy bear. Brick would always want to go sightsee the island, and everything that the non-toxic elements of the nature offered, and I am generally down for an adventure, so I would go with him, and we would create these ideas and events for everyone to do on our time off. Things did change between us once he switched over, and it was because he still idealized stereotypical masculinity, and wanted to be as a tough man, so he followed Scott and Lightning around. I told him about this, and what they did to people like B, but Brick didn't really care. I would overhear him talking about me, in order to fit in with the others, and I knew that he was trying to get rid of me at the Dawn boot. We had quite a few tiffs due to his change in behavior, and he claimed that I was jealous of the other three, which was even before Dawn was booted. Of course Brick was booted right after I was, he apologized to me for everything, and realized that sticking with Lightning was a mistake. We started to get very close at Playa des Losers, he helped me a lot with the Dakotazoid stuff, and we started our activities like we did in the beginning of the season. Despite spending the last half of the season together, we didn't speak at all in between seasons."
"So there seemed like there was a shift after Season 5 happened, where you were on, and he wasn't. Most of the cast did not like the change, and he was apparently one of them. How did you feel about that, and how did the two of you become friends again?"
"Brick was one of the most likable ones from our season, according to the fanbase, and I think he let it get to him, and he wanted to receive that attention/affirmation again, so he really wanted to do another season. He never got that approval, praise, or affirmation in his real life, so when he was rejected, it hit him HARD, and you had other people putting gossip bugs in his ear. Brick claimed that he wasn't upset about it, but he WAS, and I was told it by several people from BOTH generations. I didn't want to engage in any sort of drama with him, so I avoided him for months, and he thought I was a part of the group who told production to get him off the cast, which wasn't true. I became good friends with Cody and Harold, and they are close with Brick too, so it wasn't until they organized a meetup, which happened after the show, where we made up. He is cool when the show is not relevant or a thought, and I supported him in his endeavors in fashion, as he supported my gaming endeavors. When Dakota and I broke up, and I was at a down point in my life, he visited my house, and gave me a few pep talks. I told him that I wanted to look and feel better, so he got me into exercising, and I have lost a bit of weight, so it feels good," explains the auburn-haired man.
He went on to another former teammate, "So the next person is the winner of your first season Cameron. It seemed like you were trying really hard to fit in with that trio, only for them to vote you off in the second season. And you didn't interact with him on the first season from what I saw."
Sam shook his head, and waved it off, "There was no trio in that season, if you watch everything closely. Cameron and Mike did not get close until a bit after I was eliminated until Mike's elimination, and Cameron didn't get close to Zoey until after Mike's elimination. Of course the couple were close. I was actually pretty close to Cameron from the very early weeks, as we and B made a nerd alliance to help one another out, and with B going out early, the two of us became even closer. We talked about a bunch of intellectual stuff, and I showed him how to have fun with it, since Cameron was never taught how to have fun, and to do normal kid, and normal teen activities that were fun. Of course I was eliminated, and he never really came back to Playa. We did speak after the season, and I thought that became Cameron knew so much about chemistry, physics, and biology especially, I thought he could help Dakota cope and adapt to her new body and new skills. It didn't work out, but he knew how difficult it was to me, and let me vent to him."
"What I will say is that during your boot in "All-Stars", Cameron stated that you were the only one to vote out Sierra with him, and refused to turn on you, unlike Mike and Zoey. How was it like dealing with them, and being on the same team with them? Did you remain in contact with Cameron?" Josh continued.
There was a bit of a strain on his face, "Cameron and I did not remain close, but I do appreciate the time we had together. We had so much fun being on the Heroic Hamsters together, and he didn't feel as much of an outsider with me around. I told him all about Dakota and I, we bonded A LOT about Science, since I had to learn a lot more about that since the last season, just to take care of Dakota. When we were both in Playa des Losers, EVERYONE gung up on him for stuff that happened after I left, and it seemed like everyone picked on him because he was the smallest person. People picked on me, and Cameron had my back, so I had his back again. It was nice because he didn't feel the need to look after Mike and Zoey, since they never arrived to the new Playa. I just think we started growing apart, he became a bit too ingrained with Mike and Zoey as the years went on, and he didn't like the drama between Dakota and I. We kind of just lost touch."
Josh narrated the next person, "Since we are going to save Dakota for last, Dawn is the next person on the list. She was on the Toxic Rats with you, and was sent home the episode before you were, meaning you essentially spent the entire season with her. What are your thoughts on her?"
He looked at Dawn's picture, and chuckled, "She really has not changed much looks-wise, outside of wearing very light, environmentally friendly makeup. Anyways, we were not close during our season, but we were not enemies either. I was uncomfortable with how she would talk about people's deepest secrets and thoughts, like she was some sort of mind reader, and Dawn would never explain her beliefs and her gift. I thought that it was some psychic powers, and she would get really mad at me about it. We were both good friends to B on the season, so a lot of our conversations always ended up tying back to him, even after he left. It was just hard for us to have conversations because we were just two completely different people. And then once we were both eliminated, we mainly interacted due to Dakota, especially when she became Dakotazoid. We both tried our best to help her with her new adjustment, and she also lived near both Dakota and I, but it eventually caused quite a bit of conflict, especially after the years went on."
"What would you claim that the tension was between you and Dawn as the years went by?" Josh asked inquisitively, hoping to stir things up.
"It was like she was trying to say that she knew more about my relationship with Dakota than I did, which I found to be pretty offensive, and also weird, since she was in a relationship with B at this time. I don't know if she was doing this because B was not communicating with her at all, so she used that time and energy to focus on our relationship. Dawn thought that a part me saw her as a prop, and a science experiment to make myself feel better about myself, which I thought was very insulting that she would ever think that about me, and she thought that we were "trauma bonded". But there was a lot of good too, like her defending me during "All-Stars" when most of our cast made fun of, and was mad at me for being on the season. And then she was dating Brick, and I honestly did not approve of that relationship, since I knew he still liked... someone else, and I knew Dawn still missed B, but she got annoyed at me pointing it out. Just a lot of petty stuff over the years, but we had a conversation clearing everything up, and it was when I was single. After that, I was actually interested in a lot of her hobbies and interests, which did help me and Dakota reunite. We actually have more in common now, and are great friends today," Sam explained with happiness in his demeanor.
He wanted to move on, and hoping that things could somewhat get more interesting, "Everyone that I interviewed so far, and will ever interview hates Jo, and she's usually good fuel for people to bash on. What was your experience with her like during your two seasons?"
Sam shivered when he was given a photo of Jo, and having to think back, "Thank goodness I never had to deal with her like that during our first season. She would make her shady comments about the Toxic Rats sucking, and thought that my relationship with Dawn sucked, but I think she was jealous because none of her crushes liked her. We made it to Playa des Losers, and it became clear to me that Jo was trying to kiss up to Dakota so she could beat her, and learn from Dakota's newfound strength, but I wasn't going to allow that. She continued this weird behavior on the off-season, and would try to talk to Dakota's wrestling contracts to pretend to be a negotiator, and to sabotage her, so she herself could get the job. Jo and I got into A LOT of arguments about this during the off-season, where some of it was done publicly, and others were done privately, and she accused me of forcing Dakota to go into wrestling to make myself feel better. Out of EVERYONE that was mad about me being on "All-Stars", Jo handled it THE WORST, and she was THE MOST angry at me over it. Of course it was due to our previous issues, but it was because her crush did not make it on the season, and she missed him, but would not come out and tell anyone that it was because of that. UNLUCKILY FOR ME, we spent the entire season together, since we were booted back-to-back. While we were competing, Jo would continue to insult me for taking up a spot, and made fun of my relationship with Dakota, claiming that me turning into a monster wouldn't even save it. And then she made up A BUNCH OF LIES about Lindsay and I having some sort of affair in Playa des Losers, where she also got into physical altercations with Lindsay because she was jealous of how Lindsay looked. I had to call her out for being mad about being a loser about the Brick thing, and I had to tell her off, but she soon fought with Heather, and we went our separate ways for good."
Josh started laughing, as he handed out the next picture, You and Lightning DID NOT get along on your first seasons, and I remember the two of you going back and forth QUITE A LOT ON CAMERA. What is your side of the story, and how was things like behind the scenes?"
All he did was shake his head, "Lightning didn't like me from the start, and I thought he was annoying, but didn't think too much about him initially. It wasn't until Dakota and I started getting close, and this was after she HARDCORE REJECTED him where Lightning and I really started arguing. He would complain about anything, and everything I did, which I thought was ridiculous because there were others that were more useless, and more overweight, and more weak than I was. He was also REALLY pissed off that B and I were friends, and there was just so much pettiness between us. I called him out on all of it, since I'm not a scared punk, and then he FOUGHT me over it. Things got even worse when I won our team the challenge in the fourth episode, which made his fragile ego LOSE IT. He COULDN'T BELIEVE that a slightly pudgy, poorly-postured, gaming freak who didn't have a six pack gave our team our ONLY win for a while actually. He started throwing shots at me, and I told him that his ass took up more space than what his brain should have took up, and then he thought it was a racist comment, which just showed how dumb he was. When Brick joined our team, those two and Scott became a trio of some sorts, where they would bond about being the strongest, most masculine, and best-looking, while making me feel like UTTER CRAP, as well as Mike and Cameron, so I had to take on ALL THREE of them at one point. I was voted out, and things were whatever, until we had to do media press for the season, and we had some back and forth, which was petty."
"Okay, so we learned that the two of you made peace after you both EMBARRASINGLY flopped in "All-Stars", so how did that take place, and how did things progress from there?" Josh asked with intrigue. "To go from hating one another in the level that the two of you did, and then becoming some sort of friends after the show was said and done is... a HUGE leap."
Sam thought about it for a while in silence, "Lightning was humbled by his early departure in the season, and I know this from 2 experiences, but when you are booted early, you have a lot of time to reflect, decompress, and just enjoy the scenery of the hotel lots, and being around these people that are so different from you. We were both cool with Lindsay, and Jo remained bitter, so the two of us kind of just sat down to clear things up. He wanted to have fun, and I wanted to have fun, so we needed things to get the air cleared so we could do that. Lightning actually apologized to me, and we were able to party, as well as game together, and he did help me work out. After the season, we remained on solid terms, and we would hang out here and there. We hung out with some of the other guys from our cast, and the other casts, but soon after the show, he DID tell me about a threesome that Dakota and Anne Maria had with that Topher guy. I believed it because Anne Maria CONFIRMED it, and she's always open about who she sleeps with. Dakota couldn't even come up with a good lie. Our relationship fell apart, and Lightning had SO MUCH GLEE on it. I did lose some weight, and I thought that it would make me happier, but it didn't, and Lightning didn't understand why I still wasn't happy. He wanted to party, and engage in other shallow stuff, and got mad at me for not wanting to do it. We fell out once and for all once Dakota and I got back together, so I think that he was glad she and I broke up, since he felt like he wasn't rejected by someone he saw as a lesser, and wasn't over the rejection."
Josh handed him the picture of the tanned, but scrawny man, "Mike is next on the list, and your interactions on your first season, and really the second season was not shown. How do you view your dynamic with him in general?"
"Mike and I were cool when we were on the show together. I was not vibing well with my team, especially the guys on my team, so I went out of my way to spend more time with the Mutant Maggots, and he always welcomed me. We vibed about the same interests in gaming, entertainment, and the few books that we would read together. I did know something was off with him, but there's a lot that is off about me too, so I didn't care, and found his off-ness to be cool. When he is around people who get and support him, he didn't get many triggers, so I did not see his alternate personalities. We became close during Playa des Losers as the drama that arrived for him there was too much, and he didn't have any other friends there at the time. We had some casual conversation in between seasons, but I REALLY appreciate how him, Cameron, and Zoey had my back regarding the casting changes, and the drama that it caused our "ROTI" cast. Getting to really play with them, and being on the same side was so cool to me, and I got to know all of them in a different way. It's why when I was voted out fourth, it hurt so much."
He wanted to stir the pot, "How DID it feel for the people to fight SO HARD for you to be cast, and to turn their trio into a quartet TOSS YOU ASIDE one quarter way through the season, over SIERRA of all people? The same woman who was hallucinating, and harassing Cameron?"
The redhead felt the anger arise again, and he did everything he could do to calm himself down, "That... DAMAGED me for a long time, and for reasons that I didn't even understand half of the way at the time. I thought they wanted me to be in the final 4 with them, so to see them throw me aside for Sierra AND Duncan? That did hurt. But then there was the last minute switch around, and production not saying that we couldn't pocket some of the food, so I was dealing with a lot of whiplash. Mike told me after a while that they saw my health declining badly mentally and physically, also mentioning that they knew that production was going to use me as a punching bag joke all season, to the point that they couldn't bare it any longer. Honestly, I thought it was a crock of crap for the longest period of time, and some of the people who DIDN'T compete on the season were telling me that the trio used me to be fodder, and wanted a sacrificial lamb, so I started believing it. I did not speak to Mike or Zoey for SEVERAL years because I did not understand how they were moving, and it was not until I hit rock bottom about 4-5 years ago after being single, being underweight, and not mentally or physically well when Mike reached out to me. We cleared up everything, and started catching up, which was very nice. I even went to his house for the last few years whenever him and Zoey needed marital help, and I even stayed with them at some point. I am glad that I didn't let the bitterness from my second season last."
Josh went to grab another picture, "So Scott is the next person on the list, and he competed on both seasons with you. From what I remember about your time on the Toxic Rats together, the two of you did not get along at all. How do you see things from your perspective?"
All he did was sigh and roll his eyes, "Scott was someone who never liked me, and he still doesn't like me. To be honest, I didn't think much of him, outside of him just being very dirty and stinky. He would go around complaining about how he deserved this more than the others, since his family is dirt poor, and has been for about 20 generations. To me, it was clear that Scott wanted to be some sort of badass, and to use this opportunity to give himself more opportunities, but it just failed. He did try to kiss up to the producers, and he HATED that he couldn't control me, but I never made the mistakes that B and Dawn did by announcing it all. He was someone who made fun of my interactions with Dakota, as she also rejected him early on, and I also knew that he had a crush on Zoey, but she paid him no mind, which I reminded him of. Things got a lot more aggressive after that point, and when I SOLELY won the night challenge, where he started shoving me because I ruined some plan of his, and he made fun of my weight, after I told him that he needed a shower. He even befriended Brick so I would have no friends on the team, and they HARASSED me during my last week in the game. He would say a bunch of stuff about hoping I get paralyzed, and how my joints should be dislocated, so when he got injured after his elimination, I didn't care at all."
"So how did you handle things with him after that season? Whether it was on "All-Stars", or in real life in general? You had to have had some run-ins with him afterwards."
"In between seasons, we did not interact at all, since he was focusing on his physiotherapy, and it seemed, emphasis on seemed... like he was humbled. When we got on the next season together, we had no need to speak to one another, since he was so focused on getting with Courtney, and I was making new friends, but he did throw some shots about how I was a "pity casting", and how my fatass was going to make even more of a joke of myself from not fitting in the cast. Outside of that, we stayed out of one another's way, and he was only at Playa for a week, so we didn't spend much time together. AS SOON as he arrived to the hotel, HE ATTACKED CAMERON, and went for him like 5 times. Eventually, I had to step in, and sock Scott, where it took him a day or two to realize it was me. When that happened, he threw out every slur he could get, and we did get into a fist fight. I did make fun of his relationship with Courtney at the time, and in the years since, as he made fun of mine."
Staci's picture was placed on the table, "Now it's time to move onto the first boot of the season Staci. She was on your team, and you were both early boots. Were you affected by her gossiping, and twisting things around?"
"Yes," Sam replied quickly and bluntly. "A part of me did feel bad for her from the short time we competed together, but she never took the time to actually listen to anyone, so it was very easy for her to be voted out first. After getting eliminated, I did try getting to know her, and I did relate to her with being picked on due to being... chunkier, and more dorkish. I feel like there's a lack of an empathy chip in her, not to say that she is a bad person, but everything about all of us is so salacious, and because she is not interested in herself, she exploits all of us. Even at Playa des Losers, it became clear to ALL of us that she would spill stuff that we all would have in our private conversations, and tells people about it, but adds her own twists onto it as well. When we all left the island, she did all of that, but reported our tea to the TD bloggers, which definitely did a lot of damage. I kind of had to put her on a VERY long distance, until she MISREPORTED Dakota and I's breakup, claiming that I gave her a disease because I didn't want her to revert back fully. I DID yell at Staci for that, and even got her blog shut down."
to be continued...
