by Gina Scarpa

This weekend, Survivor's Boston Rob Mariano will team up with Dennis Anderson, the creator of Monster Truck's Gravedigger, for a new adventure. Around The World In 80 Ways, airing on History, takes the pair to Peru, Tanzania, Dubai, Thailand, and the United States to name a few. Along the way, they must employ 80 different methods of transportation, without repeating a vehicle. Today, Rob and Dennis sat down to talk with RealityWanted about their new show and how they got along (or didn't) with one another!

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How were you first approached to do Around The World In 80 Ways?
A. Dennis: I was approached by Thom Beers. I had done some stuff with him before. Once I got some details and found out I was gonna go to places like Africa, I was very interested and then I got interested in what we were going to do. I love his shows and I knew it was going to be good.
A. Rob: Someone contacted my agent and basically told him the premise of the show. They said Thom was involved in it, and he makes the kind of television I like to watch - Deadliest Catch, Ice Road Truckers. I took a meeting the day of the Survivor: Redemption Island premiere in New York. We filmed a mini test pilot in about an hour and a half and I was on my way back to the city and they called me and said, "Do you wanna do the show?" It was just like that. I was like, "Yeah let's do it!"

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How did you handle being away from your family and friends for an extended period of time?
A. Dennis: I've been used to being away, just for little short amounts doing my Monster Truck deal. Doing Around The World In 80 ways, it was 10 ½ weeks, I gotta be honest - in the beginning, I didn't know if I bit off more than I could chew because of the lack of communication with home. I honestly got homesick and I've never been homesick in my life. I got through it, we got it done, and it's all good.
A. Rob: Obviously, I've been away before for Survivor and The Amazing Race. That was 6 weeks, this is 10 weeks, and there's obviously a huge difference. Amber has always been in my corner, supporting me. The one thing that was different about this show is that I was able to have communication back home. On the other shows, they sequester you. No email, no Skype, no seeing your kids. That made it easier. 10 weeks is still 10 weeks though.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Did the two of you know each other beforehand? How did you get along with one another?
A. Rob: We met for the first time when we shot the pilot in New York. We had only known each other for about an hour. It's not really enough time to find out if you want to go around the world with someone and spend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with each other. We got off on the right foot and then we got on the wrong foot and that pretty much happened the entire show. It's a love/hate relationship. We did the most to make it through. I don't spend t hat much time with my wife, you know?
A. Dennis: I agree with that. Really, Rob is like a piece of chocolate. A little bit of it is good. Too much of it gets sickening. When I met him and once we got in New York, I didn't consider it a relationship. This is a mission, we're gonna go around the world.
A. Rob: How long have you been waiting to do the chocolate joke? You were saving that for a long time, huh?
A. Dennis: Yeah, I was! But I'm telling you man, we had a blast. I got respect for Rob and sometimes, I really just hated him. He's like my little brother that I didn't really like sometimes.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: With so many travel shows on tv, what sets Around The World In 80 Ways apart?
A. Rob: More than anything, it's not really a travel show. It's a show about transportation and the different ways we moved around the planet - everything from the very Model T Ford to solar cars. We did all different ways of transportation and that's what's really highlighted. The adventure and us trying to survive each other throughout this journey. I think that's what people are really going to enjoy.
A. Dennis: I agree with Rob. Our interaction has a lot to do with it but you don't even think about it - 80 ways of transportation. We were doing stuff that people have been doing for thousands of years and that's something I never realized. It was a great experience and I've never been to third world countries and seen other cultures of people. If you weren't talking about motors or horsepower, I didn't care. Let me tell you, after Rob and I had done this, I'd come home and say, "If my kids complain about anything, I'm gonna whip them." It was a good experience. At the end, as far as Rob and I's relationship, honestly, I got kinda close to Rob.

Around The World In 80 Ways premieres Sunday, October 2nd, at 10/9c on History.  Read weekly recaps right here at RealityWanted!

(Image courtesy of History)

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