Road Rules Week – Sunday – Josh Clinton Interviews Susie Meister of Road Rules: Viewer's Revenge

Features, Interviews, Shows

Josh Clinton: Hi Susie.

Susie Meister: Hi Josh. What are we going to talk about today?

JC: Well why don’t we start from the beginning. Why did you decide to do this second season of Road Rules?

SM: I feel like this is the end of my reality career, and I liked the idea of bookending my experiences with Road Rules. I did a couple of challenges in the middle and I thought it would be fun to end with Road Rules again. Many times I thought about my experience with Road Rules the first time and thought I would like to do it over again and get a different experience and really enjoy it. That was my original plan for this one.

JC: Obviously this season is a lot different than your first season. You didn’t have to vote anyone off in your first season.

SM: Yeah, the show has changed a lot. There was no voting off and it wasn’t so much about the money at all. It was just about having the ultimate road trip. But now the stakes have been raised.

JC: Right. So what do you think of the interactive element of this show then?

SM: Well it’s sort of a mixed bag. It’s pretty awesome to hear people’s reactions to the show, while we are taping it. That’s pretty unusual, since you usually tape it and wait like six months before it airs. So you get to hear immediate feedback. You get to hear people commenting on your behavior and decisions, which can be both positive and negative.

JC: So I bet your glad to be back on the RV?

SM: Well I’m glad to be back on the road. It is hard to live on the RV, though, especially with a lot of people. It’s really cramped, but it is an adventure and I get to do things that I would never get to do back home. Like the episode that aired this week. Working with the marines, I hated every minute of that but it’s almost like it was “too fun”. When you are looking back on it, you will see how awesome it was to do that and you forget how bad it was. It’s like child birth.

JC: Right, well I wouldn’t know about that, but I believe you. What exactly did you hate about being in the “Pit Crew”?

SM: I loved the fact that I got to be home, while I was in the “Pit Crew”. I’m married, so I was with my husband, and I liked the idea of taking a mid-season break to relax. The part I didn’t enjoy was not knowing whether I was going to be the one to fly back and compete in “The Pit”. It’s a stressful experience. Being in the “Pit Crew” actually made me have a new found appreciation for what the new guys had to go through. They’re on Road Rules, but then they have to sit back and wait until they get on the RV, and they may never get on and that’s hard.

JC: So what do you think about the newcomers on the show?

SM: Well I love Tori, of course. I feel like I’m passing the torch to her. We have a lot in common and we are both similar kind of people. I love having her on. I really don’t know Ivory that well, but I don’t think we hang out in real life. But that’s what Road Rules is all about. You live with people and interact with people that you probably would normally never hang out with in real life.

JC: On most of these shows, there is this unwritten rule about the newcomers having to pay their dues, so to speak. They are usually the first ones kicked off.

SM: Right, they definitely are more vulnerable. We’ve been on the road for awhile not, and we are still trying to work out strategies. But yeah they are more susceptible to be voted off.

JC: I talked to David earlier this week. What do you think of him, since he came onto the RV with you?

SM: I’m actually pleasantly surprised by David. I was a little nervous about living with him. He has this reputation of being crazy and always creating madness. So I was really nervous about living with someone like that, but he has surprised me a lot. He’s so positive and happy to be there on the RV. I adore him and I think he’s adorable. I’ve got to find him a girlfriend, because I think he’s great.

JC: Awesome. Do you have a favorite show that you have been on so far?

SM: I definitely like my original season of Road Rules. It was such a pure and awesome experience. I’m still really good friends with the girls from that show especially, Christina. I think that your first show is always going to be your favorite, because it’s a completely new experience.

JC: Do you think that the way they cast these shows now are to go with “superfans” who are in this to be famous and not for the experience of it?

SM: Yeah, I’ve definitely seen a shift over the years. They used to cast a variety of different types of people. Now it’s more one type of person, which is the party-animal type of person. Like when I was on Road Rules the first time, no one really drank. The landscape has really changed as far as the people who do the show. We were all like lets have an adventure, go to all of these awesome places, do new things, and meet new people. I think now it’s more about the fame. When I was on there was no Survivor, there were no reality shows besides The Real World and Road Rules. So the experience was more pure then. It’s different now. It’s not really wrong, it’s just a different animal all together.

JC: You said that Christina was a good friend of yours. Is there anyone else that you are friends with away from MTV?

SM: Yeah, I talk to this guy named Shayne. He’s never done a challenge or anything. But he’s from Canada and I talked to him in Los Angeles. It was great to see him. He’s doing great. He’s married and has babies. Unfortunately, I’ve lost touch with Piggy, but I will always have a place in my heart for those guys since we shared that experience together.

JC: Is there anyone that you can’t get along with from all of the shows that you have been on?

SM: Yeah, I hate Tonya from The Real World: Chicago! She was on the Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno 3 with me. She’s literally my least favorite human being on the planet. I’m sure she feels the same way about me as well. We just do not get along. Other than, I’m pretty happy about everything. Everyone has been pretty nice to me. I appreciate our differences, but I don’t like her one bit.

JC: On these shows, women are usually portrayed in two ways. Either they are strong and agressive and often called “bitchy”, or they are nice and then they are called “fake”.

SM: Yeah, that’s right. Those are the two categories. I always talk about how I can yell at people and be mean, and it would never get shown. The editors are determined to make me a sweetheart. Sometimes that’s good, but sometimes that makes me look weak and fake. I can honestly say that I’m the feistiest girl I know, and that never comes across on the screen. I’ve said it in interviews before, if you are assertive you are a bitch, and if you are nice you are fake. The days of me trying to please the public are over with. I just try to be real and authentic.

JC: That’s good. So is the Susie we see on TV the same one we would see off of TV then?

SM: Yeah, that’s really me, but there is a lot more to me than that. I’m more assertive than most people would probably realize. I’m pretty darn feisty.

JC: Is there any interesting RV road stories you want to share from this season so far?

SM: Let me think. Well there is a lot of gas on the RV. I can’t tell you how many fights I have gotten into with Adam over his gas. But other than gross bodily functions, it’s pretty tame. There’s not too much drama. We’re all entralled in the Dan and Tori story. So we’ve been watching that before our eyes, but I’m sure there is more drama to come. Since the show is so long, the drama usually doesn’t really start until right about now. Up until this point, we’ve all been pretty nice to each other since we had to live with all of these people. But I think it’s about to start to get interesting.

JC: So what do you think about the whole Dan and Tori thing?

SM: I think they are both young and have mixed feelings about each other. I do think they are going to be friends forever. But in the mean time, I think there’s going to be lots of ups and downs.

JC: Right. Do you think that the drama that’s on the show gets created just for the sake of drama?

SM: Some people do create drama. They feel like that’s what they are supposed to do. But on the other hand, when you have cameras in your face it exasperates your emotions and everything heightens. Your highs are higher and your lows are lower. So those emotions sometimes creates drama.

JC: Do you really think this will be your last MTV reality experience?

SM: Yeah, everyone says that, but I’ve already promised my husband. He’s tired of all of these road trips and having to watch episodes and hope that his wife doesn’t do anything to make a fool out of him. So I have a feeling that this is my last one. I really want to win this one and go out on a high note. I really want to cherish how awesome it is to be apart of this experience. That’s my goal. I’m going to do everything I can to win and that will be it.

JC: Cool. So what’s your life like outside of MTV? What do you want to do with it?

SM: I live such a normal life. I’m a reporter for TV station in Pittsburgh and I’m an editor of a magazine. This is actually my 5 year anniversary with my husband. So it’s hard to be away. But I just live in the suburbs and have a normal existence. It’s really wonderful and I’m really lucky.

JC: Well again, I wish you nothing but luck. Thanks for your time.

SM: Thank you. Good talking with you.

JC: Yeah, nice to talk with you too Susie.

Coming up tomorrow on “Road Rules Week” is my exclusive interview with one of the most infamous players of the MTV Reality Television game, Veronica Portillo. Stay tuned…

Road Rules: Viewer’s Revenge airs on MTV on Wednesday nights at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT time

For the first time ever, the audience is in control of the game. With a real-time shoot schedule, viewers rule this new season as they call the shots to determine which of the Road Rulers will end up in the Pit Battle elimination round at the end of each episode and who from the Pit Crew will replace the loser. It all happens at http://roadrules.mtv.com where Road Ruler hopefuls can enter to win a chance to become part of the Pit Crew. Fans can also browse Road Ruler blogs, watch online-only previews and find other exclusive Road Rules content.

Sir Linksalot: Road Rules: Viewer’s Revenge

I'm not embarrassed to say that my favorite television show of all-time is The O.C. I live by the motto "you can't fight fate!" More importantly, I watch WAY too much television, but I do so for the benefit of everyone reading this now. So to my mom and my wife, I say thanks for reading! To everyone else that might stumble across this, remember TiVo should be your best friend!