The "All-Stars" winner, and the final contestant from the second generation walked through the parking lot, and entered the building, with her long, wavy, curled back hair, ala Farah Fawcett, and Olivia Newton-John. She had the most flowery green sundress on, with even more flowers in her hair, compared to her time on the show. Zoey was more than thrilled for this day, and skipped towards the room, "Hey everyone. I have been looking forward to this day for over a MONTH, but I AM super bummed that everyone I competed got to say their peace before me. I feel like I'm at a disadvantage."

Josh smiled at her optimism, "It's nice to have someone exhilarated at doing these interviews. It's a nice change of pace. Come sit down." He watched her sit in front of him, while he grabbed a stack of pictures, "So we are going to go through everyone you competed with, though the "ROTI" cast will be done before the "All-Stars" from the first generation, and we have a VERY GOOD one to start off with."

Anne Maria's picture was given to her, and all Zoey could do was sigh, "That... was a very hard one to deal with. We were actually in a good place at first, and it was nice to have someone who was as girly as me, since all of the others were too weird. Anne Maria told me that she was a girl's girl back at her home, and I really wanted to make female friends, so we bonded over that, and she was very creative with her interests in fashion. She even liked a lot of my antique and vintage stuff, or... I thought she did. It was disappointing to see things fell apart because I told her some personal stuff, and I was VERY naive with her. As soon as it was revealed that we both liked Mike, or what she thought was Mike, all of the cattiness took place, and I got the message that she attempted to befriend me only because she saw me as a "lesser", and wanted to give herself some more confidence."

"So they kiss in front of you at the fourth episode, and your FIRST interaction is to get mad at her, even over Mike? Why was this the case, when technically, all of you were single, and he was the one who showed interest in you romantically? How did it lead to a physical confrontation at some point?"

"One, she initiated the kiss, so she took the first action towards him, which I saw. We both confided in one another about who liked who, and we both liked... or thought 2-3 people were attractive. She then made a comment about me not being classy, which just proved to me that she had ulterior motives. Chris does what Chris does best, and makes sure it's a non-elimination, since he wanted the drama to continue. We go back to the cabin, and I confront her about the comment she made about me not being classy. She IMMEDIATELY got defensive, and called me a fake feminist for questioning her. I mentioned stuff about her adoption and fake heritage, which I am ashamed of now, she mentioned something about my vintage interests and my parents locking me up in seclusion because they wanted to shelter me. A LOT of HORRIBLE insults were thrown, and Jo was manipulating the situation. We then got into it physically at the next challenge, and after Dawn was eliminated, we ended up fighting, and the producers told us that it was one of the nastiest altercations ever. Hair was pulled out, and we were both bruised for weeks. We gave one another the silent treatment until she quit, but as I'm arriving to Playa des Losers, I am seeing her and Mike getting into a physical altercation. Mike tells me about everything that happened over the last 3 weeks between them, and I run over to fight her in the middle of the night. THAT one was even worse than the last fight we got into," Zoey explained with fatigue in her voice, though there's a hint of sadness as well.

Josh continued poking the situation, "So it's been discussed that you and Mike helped her not be cast on the next season, and you would not see her for a while. How were things after the season?"

All she did was shake her head, "There were a few petty arguments between season. She made a lot of comments about Mike and I not being intimate, so I made comments about her moving onto Lightning, and several other people from the TD cast. I did mention to production about the pre-game alliance forming with some others, and they chose not to cast Anne Maria, but she blamed me. At the premiere party for "All-Stars", she tried to make a big scene and threw some drinks, but I was already over it due to fighting Heather. It wasn't until a few years later where Gwen intervened, and planned with Leshawna to have us meet up, which I had NO IDEA about. It was very awkward, but we talked about everything that happened through the years, where we eventually came to a conclusion, and promised to leave the past in the past. I saw her at events, and we would have a good time, but she did get too involved with Cameron, who told her some stuff about Mike and I, and she made it seem like we were using Cameron. There was a confrontation that happened with the four of us, and I claimed she wasn't over any of the stuff that happened. Personally, I don't have any hard feelings towards her, and whatever issues she and Mike have are between them. I have no interest in having a conflict with Anne Maria, and I hope we could eventually be friends, though most won't believe that."

"Alright, that's an... interesting note to end on. We're going to move onto B, though I doubt you would have any meaningful interactions with the mute who was booted early in your season, and you weren't even on the same team with," the interviewer mumbled nonchalantly, while handing her the picture.

She looked at the picture with a lack of a reaction, "No, Beverly and I have never had much of a relationship. We never had a chance to get to know one another while we were doing the show, or even attending the "Total Drama" events. I think he made some pre-conceived notions of me, and has held onto it throughout this entire time, which isn't fair to me. When we first spoke, and I was shocked that he was able to speak, but he mentioned that he didn't like how I treated Dawn while we were in the game. I did find her... odd, and VERY intrusive, but looking back, I could have handled it a lot better, but it wasn't his fight. There was... a point in time when Cameron was distant from Mike and I, where he was living with B, and I think Cameron told B some stuff, that B never got over about me. In general, it is mainly that we have two VERY different personalities; I am an extrovert who wants to get to know people, while he is an introvert who is stuck in his ways."

Josh went to grab another picture, "Brick is the next person on the list. We didn't see much of the two of you interacting, despite you being his teammate for most of his run."

"Brick and I bonded due to the fact that we both came from military parents, but the main difference was that my parents left a bit before I was born, while his parents are still involved in the military, even to this day," she explained in fondness. "Despite that, I was not his closest person in the season, and he was not one of my closest people in the season, though there was a lot of respect between us. I think where things started falling apart for us was when he would tell Mike, Anne Maria and I to cut it out with our drama, but his drama with Jo was just as big as ours, and directly affected our team. Hell, our sole loss at the time was due to him and Jo fighting through the entire episode, which only happened because the three of us called out him and Jo's dysfunctional, toxic attraction to one another. Despite that, and us not talking much during the next 3 weeks, I still wanted to pay him his respects when he was eliminated for going out like a hero, so the three of us decided to salute him like the hero he was."

"Let's get to the goods; why did you get him kicked off "All-Stars", especially if you were so close to him, and respected him as a man?"

All she did was shake her head, "When we were at group events together, we would have good conversations, but we did not remain close like that after the show, but the people he chose to remain close to... showed that he prioritized them, and not Mike, Cameron, or I. Production was trying to kill off the pre-gaming, and he was a part of the large attempts of pre-gaming, so it got him kicked off the cast. Staci posted a bunch of allegations about what our parents did while in the military, and that bonded us together for a bit to get that shut down. I remember him and Cameron having a shocking feud after the show ended, which was odd because they were so close when we started our season. I had to mediate between the two of them, and they came to an understanding. We are friends, or friendly, and speak here and there, but not one of my good best friends."

He sighed before reaching for the next picture, "Alright, I know you and Cameron are good friends, but I am NOT interested in you attempting to sanitize some bullshit between the two. So keep it real and unfiltered when you talk about him, PLEASE."

Zoey groaned at his reaction, "You are extremely overdramatic Joshua. Cameron and I never had any serious issues for there to be any "dirt", "tea", "juice", or whatever, so if our wholesome friendship over a decade period bothers you, that is your issue, and not mine. We have very similar lifestyles with being sheltered, and having our parents control what we are exposed to, but the main difference is that he didn't seem to mind his situation, while a part of me always resented my parents for not letting me find myself, and I had to FIGHT to do the show. We were friends before him and Mike were, and I did feel like I was being left out when the two of them were becoming friends, they felt the need to exclude me from a lot of things, which was a HUGE trigger for me, due to things that happened in my past. Even after Mike was eliminated, we tried to remain as close in comparison to the first half, but things were never the same. We disagreed on strategy so much, and we had different ideas on who we wanted to target; like he wanted Lightning and Jo gone, and I wanted Scott gone. The meltdown happened, and that all culminated in what happened during my last week in the game, where we were very distant. I... I would LIKE to blame it all on Commando Zoey, but I can't."

"Alright, so I was told that you and Cameron lived in the same province, so it was easy for the two of you to hang out in between seasons. You wanted him to attend the same high school as you, but he rejected it, and you allegedly took it personally. Why was this the case?" Josh inquired, intentionally spinning things in a more dramatic lens.

All she did was start tapping the table, "He claimed that it was due to him not wanting to put himself out there, though he was the most confident I have ever seen after he won the season. We talked about wanting to go to the same school during the season, and then he suddenly changed his mind. I don't know if it's because he wanted to not set Mike off, who was insecure about us being closer than he was, or he didn't want to spend that much time together. We still hung out at our houses, so it wasn't like we didn't speak. There was a notable shift once "All-Stars" started, because he wanted to be with us ALL THE TIME, and what he presented as confidence initially turned out to be co-dependent. We all discussed that we wanted to show everyone that you can play a good game, and make it to the end with your friends, and not all of the cutthroat stuff the show is known for, which is why we all grouped up. We did bond over Mike acting differently, and people acting like we both were fake, just because we refused to put up with people's bullcrap and horrible behavior towards us. Of course the Sierra situation made things difficult for us, since it HONESTLY seemed like a HUGE misunderstanding, but is stating that caused him to be pissed off at us."

Josh could not get rid of the grin on his face, "You see, I was going to mention that, but you read my mind, and I didn't even have to bring it up. Your friend accuses someone of raping them, and instead of supporting him, you both kind of just ignore his trauma."

"THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN! Sierra DID cross boundaries, and we addressed them in defense of Cameron, and she admitted that she did a lot that was wrong. But what crossed boundaries was all of the stuff that happened. Cameron felt like we didn't have his back enough, though we did, and I PERSONALLY supported him more than Sierra. He got caught up in the drama Sierra and Gwen were going through at the tine, and I think he told B, and some others stuff. Cameron was feeling left out, and we also knew that Mike and I needed to focus on our relationship... without him around. We visited him on campus every few weeks while we all went to University, and we moved together without him. Of course there was the drama with Anne Maria, and she took advantage of what he told her and some others, but Cameron realized that Mike and I would NEVER use, or take advantage of him. There were moments where I felt like he had Anne Maria's back more than I did, so I understand his perspective on stuff like that. He kept our wedding a secret, which is shocking due to his tendency of not being able to keep secrets, and is planning our public wedding as well. Cameron's still my best friend outside of Mike from the show."

"Now it's time to move onto Dakota, and for someone who claimed to want to befriend women, you snubbed her, and she did absolutely nothing to you in order to warrant that. How do you justify that?" he questioned, while placing Dakota's picture in front of her.

Zoey looked at the picture, and then had a strained look on her face, "The Dakota I saw most of the season was a selfish, vain, egomaniac who had no interest in befriending any of the girls, and just wanted camera-time. I felt like Anne Maria was more authentic than she was, which says A LOT. But most of that comes down to me never having a chance to get to know her until... Dakotazoid happened, and I did feel really badly for what happened to her. I did support her initially, and wanted to have that remain, but she kept on trying to hold things against me, like her being a decent person as some sort of leverage, and whenever someone does that, to me it just means that they are using you, and their actions are not genuine. Dakota needed to figure things out that had nothing to do with the competition, so I voted her out, as well as her being a hazard to my health, the health of others, and the competition being hazardous to her health as well. Once I was eliminated, she did not take well to the comments I made about the situation."

He raised his eyebrow with the way she phrased the last part, "You allegedly badmouthed her PRETTY BADLY after her boot, calling her a spoiled, manipulative, entitled, vain, and foul person. OF COURSE she was going to be annoyed with you. How did you handle her after you were booted, and after the season ended?"

"We did have an... exchange after I was eliminated, and after the fight with Anne Maria settled down about it. I personally did not get why she was so upset at me, since I made my intentions known, I told it to her face when she was eliminated, and it seemed like she was just mad at me for refusing to let myself be blackmailed into a friendship by her. If she was interested in getting to know me, she would have done so in the previous 7 weeks. I did decide to be the big girl and apologize, where we agreed to let bygones be bygones. I tried supporting her in the little we dealt with one another in-between seasons, but we were not very close, and she LOST IT on social media after we booted Sam early, where she made A LOT of personal insults." She started getting emotional recalling the memories, "The ONLY thing Sam wanted to do that season was to make her feel proud, and not ashamed of him, but he was deteriorating, and we did him a favor of getting rid of him earlier than later, but she made him SO ASHAMED that he was going to put himself in harm's way JUST so she wouldn't leave him. Anyways, some years went by, and they both just deteriorated together, and individually, where I did feel bad for what Dakota was going through. Mike invited her to one of his events, and I apologized for everything that happened to her, and how I contributed to her feeling inferior and depressed over the years. I wasn't expecting an apology from Dakota, but she gave me one. It was nice to put everything in the past, and we do share the occasional text here and there, and I don't mind seeing her. We're on good enough terms."

He shook his head with a fake disapproval as he grabs another picture, "And Dawn is ANOTHER woman who tried befriending you on the season, but you shut her out, because she was "too weird", despite being all for weirdos, according to yourself. What is your justification for this?"

Zoey's eyes started gazing for a bit, as she thought about it, "Dawn... is clearly a nice person, but she continuously crossed boundaries, and she should have understood that people do not want their most personal, deep, and traumatic thoughts to be revealed, much less being revealed in front of other people, on camera for millions of people to see, and it being revealed without their consent. Almost EVERYONE was uncomfortable with her, and couldn't connect with her, especially when Dawn never told us anything about her personal life, how she developed her aura skills, and whatever powers she had. Dawn thought that I did not make sense, or my interests kept on conflicting with one another, in addition to the stuff she revealed without my consent. I was trying to open up during the season, but when stuff like that happened, it made me closed up and closed off."

"How did you deal with her after the season? We all know that the casts hang out for a significant portion of the time LONG after their season finishes airing," he inquires with a know-it-all tone in his voice.

A smile started to form on her face, "I didn't realize how... affected she was by what people said about her, and how my actions hurt her. She came off as someone who was invincible, and was not easily hurt or upset about things, but it... humanized her in my eyes. We all do our exit interviews once our boot episodes, or the finale airs, and she did hers where she expressed it all. I reached out to her privately, and apologized for making her feeling that, and for not being as welcoming as she needed. We had a LONG conversation about everything that happened and our personal lives, especially with me telling her about the Commando Zoey stuff, where we were able to start over. Over the years, she talked a lot about her documentaries, and how she didn't just want to talk about nature. She knew I was huge in the sociology/psychology stuff, and she wanted my input in a lot of her work. This came to be due to Bridgette being friends with her, and I'm friends with Gwen, who is also friends with Bridgette. We all just connected, and we're planning on doing a few more stuff together. I'm glad we got over our misunderstanding, and are friends now."

He raised his eyebrows while looking at the next picture, before handing it to her with a curious look on his face, "So Jo is the only other relevant woman from your generation, outside of yourself. But on the show, we barely grasp how the two of you interacted or even felt about one another. How do you see Jo?"

"Jo and I never had a blow up, or a fall out of some sorts, but my instincts IMMEDIATELY told me to NOT trust her. Both Anne Maria and I agreed with her being off, and how it was clear that she was jealous of all the other women on the cast, but masked it under being very male-identified. Clearly there was a lot going on with Jo, and there IS a vulnerable side to her that I wanted to see some out, since I do think she would have been happier if she allowed herself to express her emotions, and to embrace her femininity. Jo from the beginning tried to stir stuff between Anne and I, which we ignored at first, but when she asked us about who was the most attractive guy on the cast, things drifted. At the same time, we could not ask her the same questions, so asking her about Brick made her REALLY upset; asking her why she refuses to wear anything curvy or anything with color, or that aren't sweats; why she never talks about her mother, etc. Jo just became a HUGE hypocrite, and was clearly repressed in whatever, but Brick would bring something out of her. MANY of us saw them do something, but she LOST HER MIND. After that, we did not deal with one another a whole lot, but she was telling me at the merge that she saw Mike sleep with Anne Maria, how he did it because I had no personality, and all of the other stuff, but I REFUSED to let her psyche me out. Once I WAS eliminated, she told me that she respected how badass I became at the end, and how I should embrace Commando Zoey more. I told her that the feminine side of her during the fashion challenge is nice, and that she should embrace it more as well."

All Josh did was make a "hmm" noise for a while, "Seems like there was some sort of Cold War between the two of you, where there was dislike, but a sense of respect between the two of you. How were things once you two got on "All-Stars"? It must have been weird to have 5 women from the first generation, and just you and Jo representing your generation."

Something about her face just instantly grew softer, "I... I thought that she was learning how to relax, and we were starting to form a bond..., at least in between seasons. I wanted to not let anyone walk over me anymore, and I wanted to hold my own physically, so during the group events, in addition to the training I was doing back at home, I asked Jo to help me improve my athleticism. We had a lot of fun working out together during that year in between seasons, and it seemed like she was lightening up. Things changed however when the pre-gaming for the next season started, and her pre-gaming did not work well for her AT ALL. Once we GOT there, she made a HUGE scene about us reporting it to the producers, but it was clear she was mad that Brick wasn't on, and that Sam was not going to tolerate her crap. She said a lot of rude things to me, and I was honest about reporting it to the producers, but they were already going to cut those people anyways. She accused me of being a fake friend to Brick, which I am shocked she would care about that, due to her use and dump methodology, and also because she claimed to not have any feelings for him at all. It was a lie, and she got mad that I was outperforming her in challenges, since she had so much of her identity built around being the strongest and most athletic woman ever. We just lost all contact, and there was nothing worth salvaging after that season, ESPECIALLY with some of the horrors she did to some of the others in our cast."

"Well, Lightning is next on the list, and you made it VERY clear in your audition tapes that you HATE jocks, due to some horrible experiences that you had with them in your hometown," the host narrated, with some playful venom in his voice.

Lightning's picture was placed in front of her, and Zoey could not help but roll her eyes, "Alrighty, so Lightning DID remind me of all the jocks who would harass my family through my town, and harass me in school for YEARS. Like... I was JUMPED a few times by those people, so seeing Lightning was... TRIGGERING, and how he treated everyone in the cast only heightened that. Every time we did try to speak, everything about Lightning just pissed me off, and it lead to some tense moments. Everything was handed to him through nepotism from his father, so I didn't respect anything about him, and he always claimed that I was unattractive, as everyone was overreacting about my supposed good looks. Lightning was OBSESSED with making me out to be a whore, saying that I flirted with Scott more than what actually happened, and I called him out for bullying Cameron. While him and Cameron got into it HEAVILY during the last 2 weeks, there was no love lost between the two of us from the VERY beginning, so I knew that I was getting booted at 3rd. Instead of listening to my critiques about how he grew up, Lightning tried to race-bait me, though he would complain about other's experiences as a racial minority as well."

Josh raised his eyebrows, "It seemed like you were borderline obsessed with him, and Lightning just reacted. There was discussion that you were obsessed with his sex life, after the season aired, and even once you all met with the third generation cast. And of course there was something that allegedly happened in "All-Stars"?"

"Lightning and Anne Maria were obsessed with MY relationship with Mike, and what we allegedly did or didn't do in our relationships during real life. If you're going to talk about my REAL relationship in real life, I'm going to talk about your SLEAZY rendez-vous that came off as a revenge plot. We did have an argument about his failed pre-game planning, and I told him that he WAS going to leave Cameron alone this season. Thankfully, I did not have to deal with him for much, since he was out second due to his own bad gameplay and personality, and I never went to Playa des Losers, with most of the cast going home before the finale really took off. And with the third generation thing, I just wanted to warn the twins that they are messing with someone who is NOTHING but drama. We met the third generation, formed our own relationships, and they ask us about things. I just mentioned how him and Anne Maria blew up in flames, that I always knew it would, as a sign to them. He got mad at me for that, but it's the truth."

Sam's picture was put on the table, "We are saving Mike for last, so we are going to move towards Sam. You competed on both seasons with him, but due to him being booted early, and him being on different teams with you on the first season, the show didn't show your interactions. How was it like with Sam?"

Her demeanor started getting lighter in a positive way, "Sam was someone who always had a positive spirit and aura, so he was always someone I had interest in getting to know. Unfortunately, we did not get that chance on our first season, due to the reasons you stated, but when he did talk to us in between challenges and on day offs, he was a great person. I did feel bad with how his teammates treated him, but he did tell me once I was eliminated that he didn't appreciate how I treated his girlfriend, which was one of the first indicators that there was an issue between Dakota and I. There was some... communication between the two couples in between seasons, where we discussed how we dealt with being long distance from one another, and acclimating to real life again, while trying to fit your partner in our real lives. They were so much closer to one another than Mike and I were, so Sam and I had a lot of conversations about that, and he helped me look at the bright side, while he told me about some of the issues that they were having. I really appreciated him for helping me out through that tough time, and I was excited to hear the news that he was going to be on "All-Stars"."

"So how did it happen? Did you tell the producers to put him on? And why did you boot him fourth? I'm SURE he told the three of you how he wanted NOTHING but to last long in the season, especially with most of the cast thinking he was undeserving to be there anyways?"

A regretful sigh came from her mouth, "That... is going to need to be narrated, and you asked me a bunch of questions that involved a time skip. The producers asked me who should replace Brick, and I said that it should be another guy, that's it. Sam did tell me that he wanted to prove that he is a good player, and begged us before the season to take one another to the final 4, which we agreed to. But once we GOT THERE, he told us that he wanted to turn into a monster for Dakota, since he thought it was the only way to save his relationship, but I knew that was a bad idea, especially with the stuff he told me about Dakota being resentful. I was concerned for his mental health IMMEDIATELY after that comment. He started becoming a HUGE punching bag from the producers, he was malnourishing VERY quickly, and his head was NOT in the game. And even despite ALL OF THAT, as well as the bullying, he STILL wanted to turn into a monster. It was a nice time getting to know him, and all of us bonding about our morals, as well as wanting to redeem ourselves. We had some good times together, and I did feel right about booting him for his own doing, but maybe we should have booted Sierra, just so he would not have gone downhill, and to avoid the mess that happened with Sierra and Cameron. It was the best for his mental and physical health for him to leave early."

Josh saw some sort of anguish in her face that he wanted to tap into, "Sam mentioned that he felt like you did what you did because you got a lot of flack for being "anti-women" in your first season, so keeping Sierra was to help kill this narrative. And apparently you two did not speak for years?"

"Yeah... He was REALLY hurt by Mike and I, and we tried reaching out to him, but he just REFUSED to indulge, which was sad, especially because Dakota was in his ear, and their relationship just got even worse. After a while, I did just give up, especially since we were never best friends, and he became toxic in his own ways, that HE needed to deal with on his own. We were never best friends, but we were... friends. Sam went to a dark place, which was what I most fearful of even back then. He did reach out to Mike and I, where we had a nice conversation, and were able to let things go. I think we're in an okay place now."

to be continued...