by Gina Scarpa

 

This week, MTV unveiled its latest Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat 2. When Fresh Meat season 1 winner Darrell got the first pick this time around, he chose Cara Maria, who did extremely well in the combines the newbies competed in in order to impress the vets. They found themselves an immediate target and were voted into Exile the first chance their fellow competitors had to oust them. In the elimination challenge, they went up against Jillian and Pete but lost, mostly because they were unable to complete the puzzles along the way in a race to the finish line. Today, Cara Maria spoke to RealityWanted in an exclusive interview about her experiences on the challenge and whether or not she'd want to do another one.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What made you want to be a part of Fresh Meat 2?
A. Cara Maria: Honestly, I originally applied for The Real World. I'm more of a kick back and not have to worry about being exiled and enjoy life kind of person. I applied three years ago. They kept calling me back and eventually I got a call that said they wanted me for the challenge. I had never even seen the challenge before. I thought, "This is even better." The other shows are mostly about the drama. This one, you can actually say, "I did this, I kicked ass," even though I clearly didn't. It's something you can show for yourself.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: I watched the "Meet The Meat" episode on MTV.com and you did so well in the combines. Do you do a lot of physical activity and exercise in your everyday life?
A. Cara Maria: I actually don't. My main sport is horseback riding. I ride 2-3 hours every day. That works your arms, your back, everything! It's a huge workout! People don't understand unless they ride. That's basically my workout

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What was your opinion of the Fresh Meat girls when you first me them? How did you feel you stacked up?
A. Cara Maria: Even as far as when we all met before we got on the plane for Canada, you instantly start sizing each other up. I see Sandi and she looks like a cute little girl who didn't look very physical. Mandi looks like a girl from The Hills. I love Carley but when I first saw her, I saw her boobs and thought she wasn't going to do anything. The only one that stood out to me was Laurel. I was like, "They brought Megatron! How am I going to stack up against her?" I'm so mad at myself for doing well in the combines. I actually wish I did crappy so people would underestimate me.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How did you feel about Darrell as a partner and about him picking you first out of everyone else?
A. Cara Maria: It was a good thing and it was a bad thing. Darrell was pretty much the only person I knew. I hadn't watched the challenges so right now, I'm watching every single challenge they've ever aired and doing my homework. I should've done that first. I really hoped Darrell picked me and when he did, I saw the prize money. I was like, "We're winning this." You guys didn't see this but Darrell jumped the gun and picked Laurel first. He originally picked Laurel but as soon as she started skipping towards him, TJ made him redo it. He switched his vote and he picked me, basically because of the size. I was excited but it was a lot of pressure to have him as a partner. I asked him about his past challenges and his last Fresh Meat partner and he said that she was really good at puzzles. He usually played the card where he was the neutral guy. He didn't take sides and hung out in the background and that's how he coasted his way to the end. He never played politics. It worked for him the first few times but this time, it's what killed us. Everybody had a target on Darrell and the guys wanted me as a partner. They were like, "These people need to go now!"

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Did Wes want Darrell out because of revenge from past challenges or because he was scared to go against him in the end on this challenge?
A. Cara Maria: I think Wes wanted Darrell out of the house no matter what the cost and as soon as possible. It was probably a combination of both. Actually, I don't think it was revenge. He didn't wanna piss Darrell off. If we stayed in the house and drama came up, we probably would've ended up leaving because they would've gotten into a fight.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: If you could go back, do you wish that you weren't so emotional about being sent into Exile and were you more focused on winning the elimination challenge?
A. Cara Maria: Looking back on it, my biggest regret is how emotional I was because I'm not that person but yet when you're set in a world where cameras are on you 24/7 and you meet all these people and everything turns against you, it was like, I didn't' get to do anything! As soon as they called us out, I wasn't looking at that as, "We're going to win this." I was looking at it like we already lost. That's what totally killed me but when it came time for the challenge, I was like, "Game on!" That was the mode I was in.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Despite only being there a short amount of time, did you form lasting friendships and do you keep in touch with people?
A. Cara Maria: Oh I do! I still talk to Carley all the time. We text. I talk to Vinny cause he's from Boston. Darrell I was talking to a lot after the challenge but we haven't talked since the Aftershow. He's probably busy with his girl and his family. There's a few that I hope to stay in touch with.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Would you want to do another challenge? Was this a satisfying experience?
A. Cara Maria: Yes! I have to do another challenge because there's no way I want people to remember me like that! The only thing that I'm pissed that they didn't show is that... people are kind of blaming it on me that we lost the Exile because basically, it was Darrell's fault that we went to Exile first because he didn't play the politics. People are blaming me when in reality, if you watch it, even though they didn't edit it right, Pete and Jillian walked the whole thing. We didn't complete 3 of the 4 puzzles. Jillian and Pete only didn't complete the first one. They completed them all fast. Me and Darrell had to sit through the puzzles so we were hauling ass to make up for the time we lost. If it was just a footrace, we would've won. We had to sit there the whole time limit and wait til it ran out. We got screwed! Pete and Jillian had time to walk it and get lost and we're just sitting around.

 

The Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat 2 airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on MTV.

 

(Image courtesy of MTV)

 

Follow Gina at twitter.com/ginascarpa