Road Rules Week – Tuesday: Josh Clinton Interviews Adam Larson of Road Rules: Viewer's Revenge

Features, Interviews, Shows

Josh Clinton: Hey Adam.

Adam Larson: Hey Josh. What’s going on?

JC: Nothing much. How are you?

AL: Good.

JC: Good. So why did you decide to come back and do a second season of Road Rules?

AL: I believe more in the Road Rules experience than the Challenges. I also have a lot of other stuff going on, and this was going to be in Southern California and I live there. So I thought that was an awesome aspect of it. Also, I haven’t seen California that much because I’ve been acting out here. So the trip enabled me to see places that I would normally want to see, but haven’t had the time or money to go to yet.

JC: Right. So from your first season to now, do you think Road Rules has changed a lot?

AL: Yeah, that’s what I wrote my whole blog on this past week. About the differences between the two seasons. The first time I did it The Real World, Road Rules, and Survivor were it as far as reality TV shows were concerned. Now you probably have more reality TV shows than scripted programming. That’s all happened in the last 5 or 6 years. Second of all, the first time I got off the plane and went to Morocco, went to Spain. I didn’t get to watch a single episode or interact with the viewers or do anything from my original season. This year, every week we get to watch what happened the week before. We get to hear the viewers pass judgement on how they think we should be acting, stuff like that. In the back of your head, whether you like it or not, I think there are two different right courses of action to pick. What you would naturally do, and then what the viewers have been saying along. For example, going into “The Pit” I thought I figured out a good strategy for when to go in, and then the viewers were like “we want to see Adam go against the Pit Crew, you’re strong, prove it.” Prove that losing against Derek in The Gauntlet 2 was just a fluke.

JC: So you like the interactive element of this show then?

AL: I like it, and the alumni like it. It’s the new kids that are freaking out. They’re having crap thrown at them. I’m 28 now, I know what kind of person I am. When you’re 18-23, you’re still formulating your opinions, you’re experiences, and figuring out who you are. Like Tori and Dan and David, they are still kids. They’re bigger than I am, but they are still kids.

JC: Right. What do you think about the new kids on the show?

AL: I love them. I really love them. David is a lot like I was in high school. He would do anything for attention, but has the biggest heart in the world. He would never do anything malicious to anyone. If he’s going to make an ass out of anyone, it’s going to be himself first. Dan grew up like I did. Both of our moms have been really influential in our lives. We get along really well. Tori is like a little sister. I think it’s funny how everyone is so different, and other than Angel, everyone has had an incredible bonding experience. Everyone has been able to get along extremely well on this show. Whereas before on Challenges and other Road Rules where voting and kicking people off isn’t an issue, people haven’t gotten along as well. Honest to god, I would be the first person to ring the bell and say there is b.s. going on. But the way the show is aired is so right one, maybe it’s because they don’t have a lot of time to edit it and create stories that aren’t there, because they are turning the show around in 2 or 3 days. I think there is not as many characters as people on this show. These missions are hard too.

JC: So everything that we see on TV is what really is happening on the RV?

AL: Yeah. The people who are on the show are the same when they are off the show. The new kids are having a hard time dealing with the cameras and certain parts of that. Having everything out there, but the alumni is not going to go for that since we had to deal with it before. We were ourselves for 3 months. Then we had to wait to find out what it was like to have people take bits of pieces of yourself and make a 22 minute show. You live your life 24 hours in a day and you remember certain things that happened that week and then the show comes on and the 22 minutes contains a lot of stuff that happened, but the stuff that you think is important doesn’t always make for good TV. But getting back to what I was saying before. If the new guys are trying to hide something, like the Dan and Tori romance going on right now, they were trying to keep it under the radar. But this week when we were filming, we called them out on every single thing. We told them they had to start being real. You can’t have a relationship when the cameras are not around, hugging and kissing each other, and then when the cameras are around you aren’t interested. I don’t put up with that. I’m honest about myself and I don’t apologize for any of my actions, and I expect the same from the people around me.

JC: You should know something about having relationships on TV, since in your first season of Road Rules you had a little relationship with Ellen.

AL: Oh yeah. We tried to keep that under wraps too. There wasn’t any footage of us making out or getting busy or anything like that, because mainly I tried to be respectful to my mom. I was open and honest about what we were doing, though. Ellen wasn’t someone that I wanted to date, but I was very attracted to her. For some reason Dan and Tori weren’t willing to own up to it, and they got called out on it.

JC: Who has been your biggest competition in all of the shows you have been on?

AL: Probably Alton. I’ve run marathons, trained for a lot of endurance sports, I’ve competed in triathlons. But the competitions in The Gauntlet, they don’t always favor that kind of athlete. It’s hard to film someone running 26 miles. Alton is a fierce competitor, though. But David is one of the strongest people I have ever seen as far as challenges go. That last mission he was built perfectly for.

JC: Is there a challenge or mission that you have done that was like the hardest thing you have done or maybe a favorite mission of yours?

AL: The marine mission was probably my favorite one. The one where drove the race cars was probably the coolest one. And then my first season of Road Rules we got to do a bunch cool things like charm snakes. It was very cultural. That’s one of things about Road rules, they really embrace where we are. If we’re going on Spring Break, we’re going to be interacting with kids. If we are in the mountains, we’re going to be doing something really cool in the mountains. We don’t go to Morocco and try to “Americanize” it. They really try to make sure that it’s really like a real road trip.

JC: That’s cool. In a lot of these shows, you are often looked at as the leader. Why do you think that is?

AL: Most of it is because that’s how I feel comfortable. I don’t feel comfortable taking a backseat and not knowing whether or not I’m going to have a good time. Another thing is that naturally I enjoy being good at things. So there have been a lot of experiences in the past where I got through on my own. So when it comes time do some of these things again, it’s not my first rodeo, that type of thing. If we’re skiing, I’ve been skiing before. If we’re rock climbing, I’ve been rock climbing before. I’ve pushed the limits in my life, and enjoy doing that on the show as well.

JC: Is there any people from the shows that you have been on that you are still friends with off of MTV?

AL: Blair from my original season of Road Rules is like my best friend. He’s in New York City working for MTV right now, doing a lot of the shows. Timmy from Road Rules: USA Tour 2 is like a big brother to me. Certain girls are cool as well like Katie from my first season. There are a lot of people that I love and there are a lot people that I hate. There is really no in between. All of these people have unique personalities. They are not your regular Joe Schmoes. These are people who will push buttons and have their own opinions. I don’t think we are designed to all get along, although I think we all respect each other since we have all been put in awkward situations.

JC: So who are the people that you hate or can never get along with?

AL: Haha, I’m going to sell some people down the river right now. I can get along with anybody, but there are some people that I have no use for whatsoever. Stephen from The Real World: Seattle, I just don’t respect him at all. I’ll try not to sell any of the girls out. But I think I can state the obvious without mentioning any names. It’s the type of girl that would never act like a slut or a bitch or whatever in real life, and then she gets on the show and she gets a lot recognition for doing something extremely immoral. Like it was a moment of weakness, but they get a lot of recognition for it and then actually try to embody that horrible characteristic and become that bitch in real life. I think it’s tough on the girls, because they get that a lot. They are not a lot of good girls portrayed on the show. They tend to take a backseat.

JC: So explain the big fight that you had with Abram earlier this season on Road Rules: Viewer’s Revenge?

AL: He came on the show and just came off of another show, and I don’t know if he got along with people or not. Um, I guess I have to go back a little further than that. Abram is one of 9 or 10 children. So I’m sure he’s used to competing for everything. The oldest usually gets to be in charge. So when he got on the RV, it was like an alpha male type of thing. I can sit back and listen to him if had a good opinion about something, but he really didn’t impress me at all. He had a natural paranoia to all of his actions. The only time he would every talk to anybody was when he thought they were conspiring against him. He would just go in and sit next to them and give them evil stares, and I just got tired of it. I’m not going to be anybody’s camp counselor, but I just got tired of his behavior and called him out on it. What you saw on the show was only like 2 or 3 minutes of it. That actually took about 15 minutes. There was more finger pointing and chest thumping going on than you could possibly imagine. We both stood up a couple of times and got nose to nose, and he had plenty of opportunity to push me or punch me when I was directly in his face. It wasn’t expected. I was about to grab him and jump in the pool with him and be like cool down. I’ve gotten into fights like that in my life before, but never at that level. Never with someone that out of control, that paranoid. It was like dealing with a caged animal, rather than fighting for a reason.

JC: Right. That’s interesting. Do you think that there will be a day where there won’t be a new Real World/Road Rules Challenge or The Real World or Road Rules airing on MTV? Do you think that these shows will go on forever?

AL: I don’t know. There are rumors. It’s all up to MTV, but really up to the viewers. I do think that The Real World and Road Rules are the only reality TV shows made for younger audiences that older people can still appreciate. The other popular shows right now like Flava of Love, Survivor, The Apprentice, The Amazing Race, they tend to be a 35+ type of crowd. I think I Love New York is a little bit younger, but I hope that MTV always has something for the younger generation. I actually wish they would go even younger. I know you’ve got kids that are under 18, who can’t sign off liabilities, but I wish there would be parents who would be willing to send their kids to “Camp Road Rules” or something like that, where the Road Rules alumni are like camp counselors. It would give the kids the chance to not only get to know those cast members, but it’s a learning experience as well. You run into people who have similar backgrounds as yourself. It doesn’t matter where you are doing it, you can relate to someone and you can feel like you are not the only person in the world with those same problems. Yes, this type of programming can be exploitive, but there are so many more good shows out there than bad shows, in my opinion. Will it go away? I don’t know. I couldn’t tell you. But if they do go away, I hope that they get replaced by something that is equally entertaining.

JC: Do you think you would like to do future challenges after this show is over with?

AL: I would like to bookmark my MTV reality career with the two Road Rules experiences. If I do another Challenge, it’s because I REALLY need the money! I can’t think of a better way to come in or go out. I feel like that I want to get into the production side of things. I’ve been talking to some of the producers of MTV and some of the companies they work with. So I would like to produce my own shows. But also the wine industry and the hospitality industry, since I went to school for that. There are a lot of things I want to do. I want to entertain, but if the acting doesn’t pan out I have to start looking in other directions. I don’t want to be 38 years old and still doing reality TV shows. No matter how broke I get, I think there’s a time to grow up and pass the baton on.

JC: I completely understand that. Alright, well thanks for your time and good luck with everything.

AL: Alright, thanks. Talk to you later.

Coming up tomorrow to conclude “Road Rules Week”, I’ll preview this week’s episode and have some final thoughts on the second half of this season of Road Rules: Viewer’s Revenge. 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!