Interview With Amber from MTV’s Teen Mom

I recently had the chance to talk with Amber, one of the mothers featured on MTV’s Teen Mom (which debuts on December 8 at 10 PM). Amber is 19 years old, and is learning to adjust to a new life with baby Leah and fiance Gary, who at the time of taping was working 12 hour days to take care of his new family.

RRC: Hi Amber, thanks for taking time out to talk to me today.

Amber: You’re welcome.

RRC: How’s the baby?

Amber: She’s doing really good. She cracks me up. She’s dancing all the time, shaking her butt. She’s adorable.

RRC: And how are you doing? In the first episode we see that you were having some problems with anxiety and stress…

Amber: Right…

RRC: How’s that going now?

Amber: I don’t want to talk about that (laughing).

RRC: Ok, not a problem. Then, let me ask you this: what do you want to talk about?

Amber: I’m trying to think of how I can really answer that. I don’t really want to blame it (the anxiety) on having a baby. It’s just the fact of basically being young, and all these new responsibilities kind of hit me all at once. And that probably caused a lot of stress in my life.

RRC: Ok. We’re not blaming the baby, but having the baby created the new situation. Am I right?

Amber: In a way, but I think it’s more just the fact of me having more responsibilities so fast. It’s all the responsibility; I just realized that I had them all at once, and it kind of took me by surprise, I guess, after having the baby.

RRC: Yeah, you don’t know until it happens.

Amber: It’s true! You don’t know until it really hits you, and that’s when it happens; after you have the baby.

RRC: At this point, how do you deal with all of the new responsibilities?

Amber: Well, you just have to learn to deal with it. I guess you just learn in time to deal with it. I mean, that’s just really the answer. You can’t just stop; you know you have a child and that’s every day life. You have a big responsibility; you have that life in your hands. You have to mold them into a person and you have to catch yourself.

RRC: What do you do now when you begin to feel overwhelmed with everything?

Amber: You just have to step back and realize what’s going on. It’s kind of hard, but you really don’t have a choice in the matter. You just gotta step back and collect yourself, and jump back in, pretty much. You learn along the way, and that’s the good thing about parents. It doesn’t matter how old you are; any parent who has a child learns along the way.

RRC: In the first episode you were having some issues with not getting out of the house much. Do you have a support system in place; someone who can come over and give you a break?

Amber: Of course I have a support system of family and friends, you know. But it’s really hard. I’m at that stage where I want to go out, and I have to say, “no”. You kind of mature a lot faster, and you just learn. You learn to pick your battles…you can’t go out every weekend, maybe once or twice a month. My life’s completely changed since I had Leah. She’s really my world.

RRC: How old is she now?

Amber: She’s a year.

RRC: Wow. Is she walking yet.

Amber: Not yet, but she’s pretty close. (laughs)

RRC:  Is Gary more supportive  now?

Amber: Yeah, he’s more supportive now. But, I feel like as a mom I take care of her so much more.

RRC: It sounds like you’re taking it one step at a time.

Amber: Right. That’s exactly it; one step at a time. They learn from you; you learn from them, pretty much. You’re just a more loving person, I think, after you have a child. You feel a love that you’ve never felt before. And it’s amazing because you love them unconditionally. It’s got it’s stresses, but it’s still amazing, and it pays off in the end.

Although things are going well for Amber, and she has learned to adjust to the responsibilities of parenting, and think that I need to point out that for some new mothers it is not so easy. All new mothers have to adjust to the hormonal changes and lifestyle changes that come with giving birth, and adapting may not be as simple as “getting over it”. In the first episode of Teen Mom, we saw that Amber sought help from an outside source, which is the right thing to do under those circumstances. It is nothing to be ashamed of and can prevent a stressful situation from possibly developing into something unhealthy or dangerous. If you are feeling overwhelmed by the stress of parenting, talk to a friend or family member, or your doctor or your child’s pediatrician, as they can steer you in the right direction. And don’t forget to take advantage of the mommy blogs and online support groups for mothers. Here are a few to get you started.

Baby Center

Cafe Mom

Everything Mom

Mommy’s Getaway

Reality Roll Call Talks With College Humor About Their New Show, “Pranked”

Streeter and Amir of College Humor Talk About Their New MTV Show Pranked in Part 1 of Our Interview

Reality Roll Call had the chance to talk to Streeter and Amir from CollegeHumor.com about their new show, “Pranked,” loosely based on their internet video series, “Prank Wars.”

(Since I spoke with both Streeter and Amir over the phone there were times when I didn’t know who was answer my questions. As a result, “CH” in the interview stands for “College Humor”, which represemts both of them.)

RRC: Tell us about Pranked.

Amir: It’s like taking the funniest pranks from the web and delivering them right into your television.You know how America’s Funniest Home Videos was, but only for online prank clips. And me and Streeter are the Bog Saget.

RRC: So you’re both Bob Saget.

Streeter: No one man can be quite as good as Bob Saget, so MTV had to hire two.

RRC: Where do you get the clips? Did you guys say, “Hey, send us your clips, or do you look for the clips on the web?

Streeter: I don’t think we’re allowed to solicit clips. I think that’s illegal. So, pretty much the production company that’s been putting this show together will send us a bunch of clips, and we’ll watch them and say which ones we like, which ones we don’t like, which ones we think are fake, and that’s how the show comes together.

RRC:So the show is based on Prank Wars (an online CH video series where Amir and Street pull elaborate pranks on one another). It sounds like it is kind of based on Prank Wars,but not really, because in Prank Wars you guys had elaborate set ups. This is more every day stuff, right?

CH: These are much more simple. We never actually show Prank Wars on the show. It’s loosely based on Prank Wars in that they’re prank clips, but that’s where the association kind of stops. A lot of the pranks are much shorter, simpler, and more digestable than the Prank War clips.

RRC: Can you give us an example of some of the things we’ll see?

CH: There’s a clip of some guy bungee jumping, and as he jumps off the bridge his friends throw a rope that’s not attached to anything, and they tell him, “Wait, wait, wait! Hold on!” as he’s falling you see this rope not attached to anything, and as he’s falling  towards this river he’s convinced himself that he’s gonna die. It’s just a little ten second clip.

RRC: It’s probably for the best that it was short, because this guy probably released some bodily fluids…

CH: For better or for worse the camera’s pretty far him as he’s falling so we can’t exactly see the exact moment he shits his pants, but I’m sure it’s in there.

RRC: Were there clips that were really good that you know you couldn’t show on TV?

CH: There have been a couple that the censors said no to, but I’m having trouble recalling them. Usually the ones that are mean spirited or dangerous get the axe, because they don’t want anybody emulating that. But the ones that made the final clip are not the vanilla, boring ones. It’s just that the ones that are very, very dangerous probably aren’t going to make it on air.

RRC: So you can be naked…

CH: Oh yeah. Definitely.

RRC: Excellent.

Streeter: Amir and I shot most of the show naked.

Amir: All the shots you see of us are in the nude.

RRC: So that’s better than Bob Saget.

Streeter: Ha! This is cable after all.

Pranked airs Thursdays at 10:30, starting tonight, on MTV. Check back with Reality Roll Call next week for the second part of the interview.

Reality Roll Call Interviews Jay from Two Months Two Million

Jay Rosenkrantz of 2 Months 2 Millions Talks About The Professional Poker Lifestyle

Twenty-two year old Jay Rosenkrantz is one of the four young pokers players in the G4 reality series, Two Months, Two Millions. We had an opportunity to speak with the Long Island native about the show and what professional online poker is about:

RCC: In your own words, what is Two Months, Two Million about?

Jay: The show is kind of interesting in that normal reality televison shows come up with an idea, and then they go out and cast certain people to fill those roles to perform that idea. And what happened with Two Months Two Million it was very much built around the four of us. We’ve known each other for three or four years; we’ve been friends that long. We’ve been professional poker players for the last four or five years. We’re playing with our own money.It’s basically documenting our lives. The premise of the show is that the four of us go out to Vegas this summer, and our goal is to make 2 million dollars in two months through playing poker, through playing other people in poker, live poker, online poker; pretty much anything you can think of with regards to poker. And it’s about watching what comes with that high-stakes poker lifestyle in Vegas. Letting us sort of run free like we normally do and capturing that freedom is a really big theme. It’s also about exploring what that 2 million dollar goal means to us individually.

RRC: And you’re all using your own money, right?

Jay: People assume that G4 put up the money. They’re a small network and this is their first big show.It’s completely our own bankroll. We play games ranging from $1,000 buy-in to$100,000 buy-in. And how we decide which stakes to play depends on the players playing in those games.

RRC: I read somewhere that you made 1 million dollars in one month,your biggest win . Since you started playing professionally, what has been your biggest loss?

Jay: I’ve probably lost $250,000 of my own money  in a day. I’ve lost $100,000 of my own money more times than can remember. $200,000 is the treshhold that hurts me; it doesn’t feel good. I’m used to anything below that. It’s interesting to think about because we all started out with basically no money at all. None of us are trust fund babies.We all slowly, slowly worked our ways up. The first time I lost $1,000 I wanted to kill myself I was so depressed.The first time you lose $10,000 it feels the same way. You get used to it; it’s all relative to the amount of money you have and the amount of money you play for.

RRC: In your video bio you said that there are a lot of bright college kids that study poker. Briefly, explain what it means to study poker.

Jay: Once Chris Moneymaker won the World Series in 2003, the poker boom started, which is sort of like a microcosm of the the dot-com boom. It’s basically creating an industry around playing poker professionally because all these online sites have sprung up. Because of that you have all these people that draw paralells between playing poker and investing in the stock market. It’s very similar at its core.

In terms of investing, you’re not going to invest half your net worth in a risky stock, right? So you wouldn’t play for half your net worth in a risky poker game either. So around that the concept of bankroll management, the mathematics of it started being studied in more detail. A culture of learning developed on internet poker. Ten years ago when you played a hand of poker the only people you could discuss it with was your poker buddies. Now there are these forums that are devoted to people posting hands and talking strategy.So not only are you playing hands at a much more rapid pace, you’re able to talk with some of the best players in the world.You can be reading about hands and the strategies behind them.

RRC: And we’ll get to see all this on the show.

Jay: In the conception of the show it became clear that it’snot interesting to watch people click buttons and playpoker. So then the question became, “How do you use poker and the fact that these guys’ lifestyles is supported byvpoker to tell a compelling story that people will want to watch?” And at the end of the day it’s about what those wins and losses do to us. When we win, how do we celebrate? When we lose, how do we deal with that? How does it affect our lives and relationships?

Jason aka “pr1nnyraid” aka “Krantz”

Infatuated with No Limit Texas Hold ‘em since the age of 12, Krantz was once a waiter, mouse-pad cutter, tent cleaner, toy-shelver, freelance writer, legal assistant and gas pumper. Now this 25-year-old has found his calling as a professional online poker player, a title he secured four years ago. Feared throughout the world for his relentless aggression and ingenuity at the tables, Krantz is the Founder and Creative Director of a poker training community called DeucesCracked.com, and was the biggest winner in online No Limit cash games for 2007-2008.

Two  Months Two Million debuts Sunday, August 16th at 9:00 PM on G4.

Reality Roll Call Interviews Brett August of The Next Food Network Star

Brett August is this week’s Person of Controversy in reality TV news. The second contestant to be eliminated from The Next Food Network Star, he left judges and viewers trying to figure him out.

Chef Bobby Flay and the rest of the show’s judges  always seemed to wonder if Brett actually wanted to be in the competition, because his presentations lacked the focus and energy they expected from someone who wanted to be the star of their own cooking show. On Sunday’s show, he left the judges stymied with his presentation of an April Fool’s Day menu, although he felt that he had won them over.

But what happened at the final judging caused a strong reaction among viewers. Brett suddenly brought up the fact that he and a fellow competitor helped Melissa with her dish. Indeed, we saw him help Melissa put her dish into ramekins earlier in the program, but no one expected that he would tell the judges. Especially not Melissa, who was brought to tears upon this startling public exposure.

A lot of people felt that either Brett shouldn’t have helped Melissa when he saw she was in trouble, or he shouldn’t have mentioned it to the judges. At his exit interview,  I started to ask him about the incident with Melissa, and he cut me off.”What did you think of the situation,” he asked me.

What did I think of the interview?  I told Brett that when I saw him tell the judges that he helped Melissa with her dish, I was taken aback. I told him that I thought that maybe it was a bad idea, that it seemed like he was throwing Melissa under the bus to save himself.

Brett explained that in the unique experience of competing on a television show like The Next Food Network Star, there is no such thing as throwing a competitor under the bus.

“When you work in a kitchen, and you’re an executive sous chef like I am, and you’re working your way up in the ranks, all of a sudden, at that moment the competition almost goes out the window, and it’s just helping somebody because that’s what you do for a living,” he explained. “When I’m playing basketball with somebody and I knock the other guy down…I pick them up and help them. If the girl is having trouble, I’m going to help her, and that’s just how it is.”

Still, if he helped because it was instinctive for him, why did he have to make sure the judges knew he helped Melissa? Brett says that it was just his competitive nature displaying itself. Clearly, a person who draws paralells between a food competition and playing basketball is indeed a competive man. The likeable New York native  says that if viewers thought that what he did on the show was a bit “edgy,”  we might not want to see him play basketball in Central Park.

But, there is no bad blood between Brett and Melissa. In fact, he says that the two of them are good friends, and intend to go out for a martini together very soon. He says that she is very talented, and that he wishes her and all of his fellow contestants the best of luck.

Looking back on his experience on the Next Food Network Star, he is grateful for the experience and hopes that his time on television will open the door to other opportunities. If he had the chance to do anything differently during the competitiion, he would be hard pressed to say what it would be.

“Overall you take it as a learning experience, and you hope that you move on from it, and you take the knowledge and the wisdom that they offer you and you become a star.”

Interview With Maci From 16 and Pregnant

MTV’s 16 and Pregnant debuted this week, following the lives of teen mothers from pregnancy through birth. Each of the 6 episodes devotes one hour to a unique mother, showing the consequences, benefits, and drawbacks behind her decision. Reality Roll Call had a chance to speak with Maci, 17, one of the subjects of the show. Maci got pregnant at 16, and MTV started filming her when she was in her third trimester up until her son Bentley was 3 months old. Here’s what Maci had to say about the filming experiencing, and what it’s like to be a teenage mother:

Reality Roll Call: Do you feel that being filmed all the time made you see yourself differently?

Maci: No, not really. Since everyone else was already in my business, I just went along with everything and it wasn’t that weird to have crews following us. They actually became part of the experience.

RRC: Tell me a little bit about your decision to keep the baby.

M: From the very beginning I never considered adoption or abortion. As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I was like, ok, let’s go. None of the other options were something we even considered.

RRC: What do you feel are the advantages of being a mother at 16?

M: You definitely learn more about life a lot quicker, and I feel like I have more energy to take care of a newborn baby than an older person might. And, you also get your body back really quick.

RRC: Its hard being a teenager anyway, feeling like everyone’s judging you. Do you feel people judge you more because of your decision?

M: Of course they do. I’m kind of known as “that girl with a kid” rather than just being Maci.

RRC: What was your favorite part of doing the show?

M: I loved seeing how a show is put together, and what you have to go through to be on TV. Knowing how everything works and seeing yourself on TV is pretty cool.

RRC: Is there anything that you look back on and say, “Wow, I wish I hadn’t done that on TV,” or anything that you wish you had done just to show another side of yourself?

M: I definitely feel like I stand up for myself more in my relationships than is portrayed on the show. I wish that had come across more clearly when Ryan and I were having issues and I was dealing with his behavior. Otherwise, no- I feel like everything that happened, happened for a reason. Ryan and I both learned a lot from what we went through, and we’ve both grown so much from it. So, I wouldn’t change anything I did or said.

RRC: What does the future hold for you?

M: Right now I’m a stay at home mom for the summer. I’ll go back to school in the fall and continue doing what I need to do. Ryan and I have plans to get married on Oct. 3rd. And, ultimately, I want to write a book about my experience as a teen mom, and I’d also love to open a restaurant.

RRC: What advice do you wish you had received?

M: I think I got all the advice I needed. Both of our mom’s are very supportive, they let me know everything beforehand about what to expect. I was pretty prepared when Bentley came. The best piece of advice I got was to nap when my baby naps.

RRC: I know abstinence education is a big part of the political debate right now. Was it practiced at your school? Do you think it’s realistic?

M: I remember having one class on abstinence when I was a Freshman, it lasted a few days long, but that’s the only time we had it during high school. I don’t really think abstinence is realistic- people are going to do what they’re going to do, when they want to do it. It’s a personal decision. Sometimes abstinence has an impact and sometimes it doesn’t. I was the one who held out on having sex longer than anyone I knew, and I was the one who got pregnant.

RRC: If you could go back, what would you have done differently?

M: I don’t regret anything now, since this is the situation I’m in. Now, knowing what I know and seeing what my life, I wouldn’t do anything differently. What happened to me has made me happier. Even though it’s very hard, this is the best thing for me.

I would say though, that I hope this series reaches other teens and helps them understand what you really go through when you’re a teen mom. Its hard work. For teens who aren’t in this situation, I hope they protect themselves. And, for young girls who are pregnant, I hope that they see my story and understand that there are options for them. It can be done, and you can still find ways to be happy.

Malik Talks About His Time on MTV’s Taking the Stage

Tonight MTV ends its first season of  “Taking the Stage” with a 90 minute finale at 10pm. I had a chance to touch base with dance and vocal arts major Malik Kitchen, who shared his thoughts on the “Stage” experience:

RRC: How would you describe the experience of doing a show like “Taking the Stage”?

Malik: The experience was very fast paced. It was very exciting. There were a lot of ups and downs to it; mostly ups. The time when there were break ups, they were down times. But most of it was very fun; very exciting. We all learned a lot. It was just a great time; the whole experience.

RRC: What are some of the things that you learned about yourself from doing the show?

Malik: It’s taught me to be very humble; very strong. I can refer back to the first episode; how I acted when I lost that talent show.. I’ve learned that I’m not going to win everything; I’m going to have to lose some things. The show has helped to understand that, so that when I go out into life and I don’t get an audition or something, I’m going to be much more okay with it than I would have been before I experience all of this. Read more

Interview with Billy Garcia from Survivor: Cook Island

Heres a recent interview that Billy did with one of his fan sites. Check it out if you’re a Billy fan. Heck if you’re not check it out anyway because its good interview.

Billy’s responses:

Hey Brenda….

Thank YOU for the interview. I’m flattered.

OF: Where were you born?

BILLY: In a part of New York City called Washington Heights. It’s a very large Dominican community. The hospital I was born in burned down two weeks after I was born. I swear I didn’t do it! ha ha ha.

OF: Where did you grow up?

BILLY: Partly in Washington Heights and partly in Miami, Florida. I’m back living in Washington Heights and if you ask people that know me they’ll say I never did grow up. ha ha ha.

OF: Do you have family~ siblings?

BILLY: I have an older sister, Laurin, My mom Marina who is a famous Astrologer and Reiki master in the Hispanic community and my dad Virgilio Sr. I have crap loads of cousins. ha ha ha.

OF:Who was your hero growing up~ who had the biggest influence on your life as a youth?

BILLY: My Karate Sensei (teacher) Grandmaster Moises Colon. He kept me on the right path. I could have went wrong on many occassions But Sensei trained my mind as much as my body. When I wrote on my Survivor bio that Kurt Angle was my hero it was a joke like a lot of my favorites, I tried to be funny. Moises Colon is my real hero.

OF:What did you want to be when you were a child?

BILLY: I was always a big dreamer. Sometimes it was a Pro-Wrestler, sometimes it was a rockstar, sometimes it was a TV/Movie star. It pretty much explains why I’ve made the career choices I’ve made.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Survivor related questions:
OF: What made you decide to do Survivor? Were you a fan of the show?

BILLY: I was and still am a big fan of Survivor. But being on TV was a goal since childhood. I could care less if I won or loss, I just wanted to be memorable.

OF: When were you made aware of the twist concerning the tribes being divided by ethnic groups?

BILLY: The night before the game started. They pulled each one of us aside one by one and broke the news to us. It was so dramatic. Geez, you’d think they were telling us who really shot JFK.

OF: What were your thoughts regarding this twist? Did you think it would help or hurt your game?

BILLY: When the news was broken to me I told Jeff Probst and Mark Burnett that it’s a great twist for Survivor but it sucks for me cause now I had no chance of winning. That I was not going to survivor this twist. I thought I need to make it to the Jury to be memorable and that this was the one way we could be divided that I couldn’t use my charisma to get by which was my whole game. Putting that much pressure on us meant no one wanted to joke around and laugh and take it light. Now the pressure meant that portraying a surtain image of our race was a priority. I knew that would play a major role in my demise and it did.

OF: What were your first thoughts when you saw your tribal flag that first time and when you first set foot on the island?

BILLY: I wanted to celebrate but no one else did. It was GET TO WORK! ha ha ha. Thanks to conversations on the raft ride to the island I already knew that I was out numbered. Four from California, and just me from the other coast. Four were continental Latinos and just me as a Caribbean Hispanic. I was already trying to think of a way to wiggle out of that situation. I think I just made things worse for myself in the long run.

OF: What is your most cherished memory from filming Survivor that happened on the island? What is your most oddest? How about funniest?

BILLY: All of the above was after we jumped off the ship and got on our raft, we got ran over by the ship. Cecilia was getting sawed in half and sucked under by the front of the ship as it crashed up and down on our raft churning us like butter. JP tried to convince Cecelia that she’s alright but she screamed back that she’s not. I mean come on, Cecelia was geting Sucked under and JP was like “everything is fine.” Hello! Celecila is getting killed, that’s not fine. This went on for a while, then I screamed “We’re All Gonna Die!” That didn’t help things but it was funny. I managed to grab hold of Cecilia and pull her up on to the raft as Cristina pushed us off the ship. We all lived but what a start to an adventure. I’m still really ticked off that they edited that out. That was one of my funniest moments.

OF: What did your family and friends think of you doing Survivor?

BILLY: “The Dreamchaser has caught another dream!”

OF: Of all your tribe mates which one(s) did you feel the closest to while on the island?

BILLY: That’s easy, Cristina was my only friend while on the Island. Since then, Cecelia has become a very good friend that I’m very fond of, but at the time she was in with Ozzy and JP. She was in the majority so I don’t blame her at all. I think a great scene that DID make the edit was after the thrown challenge Cecelia says “He looks like a Zombie. I feel bad for him. Don’t you JP?” and JP says “NO, I don’t.” That sums up how it was with Cecelia and JP. Cecelia was in the majoirty but understood we’re all human beings and genually felt bad about the way things went down. JP was just mean to me out there. He was a lot nicer once we were both eliminated. But during the game, yikes. He got off easy with the edit but I guess that’s ok since I’ve seen that he’s really not such a bad guy outside the game. I think that meanest was just a defense mechanism because he and I couldn’t get along in the game.

OF: During filming what was camp life like for you?
How about the extremes ~ the hunger, the boredom, the game itself, the challenges, being in front of cameras, did you think it would be the way it was or was it a total shock to you?

BILLY: I thought we’d starve more. But the hardest part for me was the dehydration. What I didn’t know was that everyone’s metabolism is different so everyone physically adapts at a different pace. Some one who has been in the outdoors a lot like Ozzy has more than just a skill advantage. His body doesn’t have to go through any major changes internally like the rest of us. That first challenge was a highlight for me. I really don’t care how it was edited, I wipe my butt with that edit. ha ha ha. I know what really happened and that, along with Cecelia and Cristina I was a big factor in our success in that first challenge. I had that whole challenge figured out before we saw it. I thought I proved myself with figuring out the whole challenge from the clue and coming up with the strategy that won us immunity. If I had more support who knows what would have accomplished. But it’s a game with only one winner. I think that got in the way of us repesenting our race like we would have wanted to.

OF: Of all the Survivors who have ever played the game who would you say, in your opinion, is the best Survivor in these categories:

BILLY:

A. Strategy Player – Rob C./Richard Hatch
B. Challenges – Colby Donaldson/Terry Deitz
C. Overall best Survivor – Boston Rob/Stephannie Lograsso

OF: Other than CI what other season(s) is your favorite?

BILLY: Borneo, Pearl Islands, Austrailian Outback, Allstars, Africa

OF: Who is your favorite villain? How about favorite Survivor?

BILLY:

Villain – Richard Hatch/Jonathan Penner
Favorite – Rupert/Big Tom/Lex

OF: I am a huge Mark Burnett fan (he is a hero of mine LOL), what is he like in person?

BILLY: Very personable. I can talk to him like I would anyone else. I can tell he really enjoyed doing Survivor: Cook Islands. He really liked that cast and the location and loved the ship that started the game.

OF:What is it like to be at Tribal Council?

BILLY: Hot as hell! There is a lot of fire at TC and it makes it super hot! Plus TC is about 3 hours long. Brutal! But it was also the most bitter sweet moment of my life. It was the final part of a dream realized.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now to our fave subject OZZY!!!!

OF: When you first met Ozzy what was your first impression of him?

BILLY: Pompus little monkey boy but damn can he climb cocoanut trees! ha ha ha.

OF: As you were there on the island with Ozzy did that impression change?

BILLY: Yeah, once you live with someone 24 hours a day, everyday in a row with nothing else but one another to keep you company, even when they stand against you, you grow attached to your tribe. Me, Ozzy and JP had an alliance for the first three days and I really wanted to make it work but JP and I couldn’t coexist. Otherwise, Ozzy and I would have been on the same side. That’s something else I’m upset that got edited out. It makes Ozzy and Me look bad to our race when It was poor chemistry between me and JP and a fear that it would lead to me targeting them later in the game that was behind what happend in our tribe not lazyness or selling out the Latino race like how it was protrayed.

OF: What are your thoughts concerning how he turned out to be such a challenge demon LOL did it surprise you how athletic he was? How about his overall skills in camp was that a surprise to you as well?

BILLY: Ozzy has an unprecedented amount of outdoor skills for Survivor. Being in the out doors all his life also gave him a physical advantage as well. His body did not suffer the adverse effects that plagued the rest of us and everyone else that ever played Survivor. That’s the secret to his success in challenges.

OF: What is your funniest memory of Ozzy while on the island? How about off the island and back home?

BILLY: I have no Funny Memories of Ozzy on Survivor….He and JP were WAY too serious for my taste. I tried to tell jokes and lighten things up and the two of them acted like I was disturbing a funeral. My funny Survivor memories were all with Cristina and Cecelia. Off the island, I’ve done one event with Ozzy, that was Traverse City Castaways in Michigan. Ozzy came up to me after about 30 seconds on a slot machine and said he shouldn’t have bet his lucky quarter. Now he regrets losing his lucky quarter. I guess that quarter wasn’t so lucky.

OF: What are your overall thoughts about Ozzy? Plus if you could choose an adjective to describe Ozzy what would it be?

BILLY: Geez, I guess good luck with the acting career. That’s a hard industry to find work in. Is Monkeyboyish an adjective? ha ha ha.

OF: If you could think of a person or character, real or fiction to describe Ozzy, who would that person or character be?

BILLY: oh lord….I think JP said it best when he called Ozzy Mogly from the Jungle Book.

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Post Survivor~

OF: So what was the finale like for you? How did it feel to see CI end? What are your thoughts overall on CI as a series? Would you do it again if asked?

BILLY: Hell yeah I’d do it again. The Finale was fun because we got to reunite in a party atmosphere. CI had a lot of characters and I felt that it went to waist a bit because in the editing there was too much focus on fishing and cocoanuts and the people on the show is what Survivor has always been about. As for seeing it end…it’s never really over. A few weeks back I did a round of interviews for South African press because CI had just begun to air there. Plus I think most people will always think of me as Billy from Survivor. I’ve been asked a few times by the South African press how can I perceive my Survivor experience as a dream come true considering how it turned out? Well, when I was a kid, my parents were too poor to buy me a pure breed dog so I had to settle for the last mutt of the litter that no one wanted. We got that dog for free. It was an ugly dog. It looked like it lost a fight with a grizzly bear it was so ugly. Everyone that saw it would laugh and crack jokes about how ugly it was. But it was my dog. I loved it and I was proud of it because it was mine. Same thing with my Survivor experience. No mater how many laugh and crack jokes about how bad of a car wreck my game was, it is my dream and I love it and am proud of I because it is mine. I will always be decadent about regrets regarding my time on Survivor. So much so, that I’ll wear that damn t-shirt to my grave.

OF: How often do you see any of your fellow tribemates? How about Ozzy~ how often do you see him?

BILLY: Like JP, Ozzy does his own thing. I’ve seen Ozzy only once since the CI finale at that Traverse City Castaways event I mentioned. I see Christina & Cecelia all of the time. I also see Cao Boi, and Flica all the time too. I see Stephanie and Nate from time to time and I saw a lot of CI people at Cocoa Beach florida for that big event. That was my first time really talking to Becky. I haven’t Sekou though. I miss him the most. But I’ve visited Cao Boi in Virginia and we went hiking up Peter’s Mountain together and we hung out at the Moose Lodge together. I even joined the Moose. I can’t imagin my life without Cao Boi, Flica, Cristina and Cecelia in it. They are a big reason why it doesn’t matter how the game turned out for me.

OF: What are your passions in life now?

BILLY: My Music is always a passion for me. My band Forsakken has finished our album…hopfully we’ll announce a realease date soon. Checkout www.forsakken.com for info. Karate is also something that’s part of my life. I’ve backed off the Pro-Wrestling a bit because of time but I’ll be making time for it again soon. Charities are big to me. And of Course my Family and Friends which include my Survivor Family.

OF: Which charity(ties) are you most involved in?

BILLY: Reality 4 Diabetes, Traverse City Castaways, & Johnson City Good Samaritan Survivor Challenge. I’m hosting an event on December 8th, 2007 at the Sports Center in Long Island New York called Reality Castaways Dodgeball. It benifits Reality 4 Diabetes. Checkout www.myspace.com/realitycastawaysdodgeball or www.thesportscenterinc.com
Before Survivor, I still did charities but I was always frustrated with how limited my efforts were. Now I’m proud of how much good I can do with my Survivor fame. It feels good to know that I’ve made a difference in a lot of lives.

OF: What is Billy Garcia up to of late? What are your plans concerning what the future holds for you?

BILLY: I’ve always been a dreamchaser. That won’t change. I’ll continue to chase dreams and I’ll catch my share.

Thanks Billy! I love ya alot dude and think you are the sweetest and one of the most caring Survivors I have run across here on MySpace. You are the best for consenting to do this interview. ROCK ON!!!!!!

BILLY: It’s my pleasure. Thank you for having me.

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