by Gina Scarpa

Three years ago, it was hard for an unknown Evan Starkman to imagine that by 2009, he’d be a power player on MTV's The Real World/Road Rules Challenges.  He first appeared on Fresh Meat, as Coral Brown’s partner, but left halfway through the season due to injuries.  From there, he went on to compete on The Duel, The Gauntlet 3, The Duel 2, and this season’s challenge, The Ruins.  Earlier this month, his Champions team walked away the winners of The Ruins and tomorrow night, MTV will air a special full of never before seen clips.  Today, Evan spoke to RealityWanted in an exclusive interview about his time on The Ruins and what he has coming up in 2010.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What brings you back challenge after challenge, since Fresh Meat?
A. Evan: I got nothing better to do!  No but really…going on the challenges is like I won the lottery.  In truth, it’s partly because I’m not doing anything a lot better and when someone calls and says we’ll pay you to come to Thailand and you might win some money, you feel like the luckiest kid in the world.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: When you first did Fresh Meat, could you have anticipated that you would end up becoming such a high profile player on these challenges?
A. Evan: Absolutely not.  When I showed up for Fresh Meat, I was like, “Oh my God, what did I just get myself into?”  It happened really fast.  Everyone seemed bigger, stronger, savvier…  I never thought I’d get invited back.  Kenny and I were just talking today and saying that, as much as we’d like to take time off to focus on Suck Year or other long term goals, we’re kind of in a position of power.  When we did Fresh Meat, we weren’t in a position of power and we didn’t win.  They keep inviting people back who are friends with Kenny and I.  If we take time off, and come back in 5 years, it’ll be a whole different group of people. 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Is it tougher to do these challenges, considering that you all know each other outside of the game, as opposed to something like Survivor, where everyone are strangers?
A. Evan: Yeah it does make it a lot harder.  The people that I’m really good friends with can separate the game and real life so that when we all go back, it’s kind of understood.  There are also people like Paula who I was really close with and who took what happened on The Duel 2 to heart.  I get it and we hear all the time, “You and Kenny are this or that.”  I know how the show looks and I’m not proud of certain things but it’s a game show.  I wish we could all sit around and win money and I don’t have a bad word to say about people but this is my job and I’m here to win.  I don’t make up the rules.  It’s either you or me and, if that’s the case, it’s going to be you.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: On the videos backstage from the reunion, on MTV.com, Katie said you were the biggest jerk this season.  What was your reaction to that?
A. Evan: Katie has a problem with me only because we really get along outside of the game and as soon we get there, I’m like, “You gotta go home.”  She’s another one of those people that takes the show to heart.  It’s like, “No offense Katie, but you can’t swim.”  Imagine if someone called you to be on Survivor.  It’s not like they call you the day before.  For 4 or 5 months, you know you’re going to be so wouldn’t you think, “I’m going to learn to swim.  I’m going to learn to fish.  I’m going to learn to make a fire”?  We knew we were going to Thailand for 5 months and she can’t even run a mile.  What are you bringing to the table?  It’s not like Katie doesn’t know what the show is.  She’s done 10 of these things.  She just takes it to heart. 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: For a moment there, in the finale, it looked like Sarah and Kelly Anne were going to beat you.  How nervous were you guys?
A. Evan: Very, very nervous!  For a moment?  For 90% of the race, they were winning by a lot.  It was bad.  I was like, “Oh my God, these girls are going to pull this off.  This is Gauntlet 3 all over again.”

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Johnny was very nervous about taking Susie to the end.  How do you feel about her?
A. Evan: This is the first challenge I’ve done with Susie.  I’ll say this - of all the people on the show, Susie is the biggest snake in the grass.  She runs a tight game.  She’s got a big set of balls.  She’s say anything to anyone’s face.  She never double crossed me.  She never backstabbed me.  She never did anything wrong to me. I had no reason not to trust her other than the obvious, which was Johnny saying we couldn’t trust her.  In the final challenge, it was in her best interest to throw it but she came through. 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How are you feeling about tomorrow night’s episode of The Ruins, “The Sh*t They Should’ve Shown”?  Have you seen it yet?
A. Evan: I haven’t seen the show.  I know what I was asked about and I’m excited for it.  I think it’s going to be funny.  I’m always disappointed with how little they show of the fun times we have.  One thing they didn’t show is that every time that TJ did an entrance to The Ruins, I did a big intro for him and everyone would be dying laughing.  Eventually, the head producer said, “You can’t do that anymore.”  It’s like: why?  Sometimes, I feel like they always make it look so hyper dramatic and, a lot of times, there are a lot of fun things going on.  The tone of the show is not what they make it to be.  Yeah, sometimes people are fighting and crying and other times, people are having a really fun time.  I think fans would love to see that.  I never get nervous about things they show.  I know what I did.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Will you show up on a challenge in 2010?  What else are you up to now?
A. Evan: I don’t know.  I hope that I have something better to do.  Kenny and I have Suck Yeah and you can check out our website.  That’s keeping us really busy.  I’m living in Canada and I have a charity called Dream Now which empowers youth to change the world.  I’m also a spokesperson for Because I’m A Girl, which focuses on that everywhere else in the world except North America and Europe, women are second class citizens and that’s not cool.  It’s about getting third world women into high school.  I’m definitely really busy right now. 


The Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins - The Sh*t They Should’ve Shown airs Wednesday night at 10pm ET on MTV.

(Image courtesy of MTV)

SEE ALSO

The Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins - Finale Recap

The Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins - Exclusive Interview with Sarah Rice

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