by Gina Scarpa

Dunbar Flinn made it pretty far on The Real World/Road Rules Challenge this season before being called into The Ruins.  In fact, he only ended up there because he was the last male competitor standing for the Challengers team.  Up against Johnny Bananas, the two battled it out in The Ruins, where one player had to yank a rope away from the other.  Johnny ended up winning and Dunbar was sent home with nothing.  Today, Dunbar spoke to RealityWanted in an exclusive interview about his experiences on the show.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What brings you back for another challenge?
A. Dunbar: To be honest, it’s a combination of money and the adventure and travel.  Wes and I were talking and it’s like a drug.  You come home, you get situated, you start your real life… most of us are college graduates focusing on our careers… then two months later, they call you.  That’s what it is.  You get there and then you get sucked into the game so fast.  A lot of the guys are very competitive.  You want to be there when it’s all said and done. 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You had a lot of Sydney cast members on The Ruins but you weren’t aligned with them.  Who were you looking out for?
A. Dunbar: In real life, I’m friends with Isaac and Cohutta.  On the show, I do what I can to keep Cohutta out of the fray but I never cared about any of the girls from the Sydney cast.  I don’t understand this theory that you have to look out for your castmates.  I didn’t like you two years ago, why would I look out for you now?

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You and Kelly Anne got into it over who said what about your relationship.  Have you two reconciled?
A. Dunbar: Yes, only because my relationship with Wes… we’re close.  It’s stupid.  Kelly Anne has taken something way to the extreme.  Did something go in something?  Yes, for a couple of seconds.  You can call it whatever you want but technically, that’s intercourse.  When we were doing The Island, I was still dating my girlfriend.  Kelly Anne would always try to drop that.  She had this thing hanging over my head. 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Does it surprise you how crazy some people get on these challenges?
A. Dunbar: To be honest, no I’m not surprised.  I think the government should shut these things down.   It’s like a cruel, social experiment.  I hang out with Evan, Kenny, Wes, Cohutta, and Isaac.  Those are the guys I hang out with.  We go into a challenge.  Everyone changes.  Everyone becomes an evil politician.  You can’t trust Kenny, Wes turns into an arrogant weirdo, Cohutta gets super country… everyone changes. 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You managed to stay out of the line of fire for most of the season.  Were you trying to stay under the radar?
A. Dunbar: I was.  I didn’t drink so much on the challenge.  I didn’t party so much because I had a girlfriend.  I was trying to be good, which is so freakin’ hard to do!  It’s not about what you really do.  It’s about what you’re portrayed doing.  I no longer have that girlfriend.  I tried to limit the drinking, go to bed at midnight.  Most of the stuff you see in the house happened between midnight and 3am. 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: It must have been a tough blow when Brad was taken out of the game.  What was your reaction to the fight between him and Darrell?
A. Dunbar: Brad came into the room and I had just gone to bed.  Brad was actually in bed and got up to start that.  Half of his face ended up swollen up.  When I heard Darrell hit him, I thought, “Awesome, one of their guys is going home.”  It took a while for me to find out that Brad was going, too.  We joked around all the time in the house and wrestled.  I’m not gonna snap and throw 10 punches because of it.  Tension was really high.  It was a bad situation.  I had to eat my meals alone.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: In The Ruins Replay on MTV.com, Johnny says that you said you didn’t understand the rules of the rope challenge.  What happened?
A. Dunbar: I let go intentionally.  I flew from Thailand to Singapore with TJ and he was like, “What did you do that for?”  I haven’t even watched the episode, to be honest.   Johnny didn’t beat me.  Johnny shows up 200 pounds and jacked.  I’m 200 pounds, natural, out of shape.  I still wanted to call him out just because he screwed me on The Island.  He kept saying, “You need to get over The Island.”  My life sucked after that.  I lost my house, my girlfriend… anyway, my relationship with Johnny was not a good one.  The girls went before us and every time you go out of the circle, you can let go of the rope.  If you’re in the circle, you have to hold on.  That’s what was explained to us.  The girls went for 45 minutes.  Every time they stepped out of the circle, you could let go.  They changed the rules last second.  The girls had to go 2 out of 3 and the guys went winner takes all.  It was very unclear.  I just ended up in a bad spot behind him.  I’m not gonna let go but I have no leverage.  We even shared a little back and forth dialogue.  I just rolled over him and let go freely.  I was very, very upset.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Do you have another challenge in you?
A. Dunbar: I’m not going to be on the next one but hopefully, the one after that.  I’m involved with a movie project right now which I’m really excited about.  I wanna keep legitimate work going…. but if they call me again, I’ll go. 


The Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins airs Wednesdays at 10pm ET on MTV.

(Image courtesy of MTV)


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