Road Rules: Viewers Revenge follows six former Road Rulers picked by fans who compete in various challenges and missions throughout the state of California while viewers at home are given the opportunity to interact with the show by going online and voting. Drew Bell, host of Road Rules: Viewers Revenge, was kind enough to chat with BuddyTV in-between filming to talk about the show and his experience as the host.
BuddyTV: You’ve been on a few MTV shows, like, “The Call to Greatness.” How did your relationship with MTV start?
Drew: You know I moved down to LA when I was 19 and decided I was going to be in entertainment, and got an agent and started going on castings and you know…MTV has been like a good father, a good mother to me…that I worked on a bunch of different shows for them. I’ve done…gosh, I was involved in “Undressed” back in the day, I did a Tyler forum called “Spider Games,” I was on the Andy Dick show which is like this comedy sketch show they did, and then “Call to Greatness.” It seems like I keep going back, there really good to me.
What were you doing before the whole MTV gig, before you moved out to LA?
You know I went to college for a couple of years, I went to Rutgers University. Then I decided that college wasn’t probably the best place for me because I couldn’t stay focused on my classes as well as I should have been. So I just decided that I should probably just move to LA and give it a shot. Because I just kept wanting to come out here and do it, and I was like, you know what, I should just do it and see what happens.
You mentioned some of the shows you’ve been on; what’s been your favorite gig so far with MTV?
You know, I have to say and honestly say that Road Rules is by far the coolest job I’ve had. And I’ve had some fun jobs before, you know, “The Call to Greatness” was an awesome experience. We got to travel around and attempt to break world records, but you know it’s a pretty physical job you got to be in top shape. Your actually trying to break world records, eating records, physical records, you know, put your life in danger a little bit. Road Rules is such a sweet job because I’m the guy that gets to explain what these people have to do and then I get to watch them try and do it, and I’m in a kind of a safe zone, its pretty fun.
So how did you end up hosting Road Rules?
I went on casting and they were seeing a bunch of different people, a bunch of different hosts and you know, lightning strikes twice I guess, and I got lucky and got this great opportunity. It was really cool.
Viewers Revenge is a little different in that rather than filming the show months before airing, it’s actually being filmed and broadcast near real time and then fans have the opportunity to interact with the show. How different is this approach and how has this experience been for you?
Dude, it’s pretty wild. We’re one week ahead so everything I shot Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of last week is on Wednesday night 10:30. So there’s definitely a lot of pressure on production to deliver this show which, and on top of it, the viewers are voting for who’s going to be battling in the pit and who’s going to try and get on this RV. So it adds a real element of excitement, and you know, the pressure to make this show great is that much more intense because we only have what, five or six days to deliver this show. It’s pretty cool every week we don’t know who’s going to be in the pit, you know the viewers vote, we just tally it up and then next thing you know its like, oh cool, I guess Derrick’s here, Angel’s going to be here…who knows, you know?
On the road, while filming, what do you do when you’re not hosting? How do you spend your time?
What have I been doing? We went up to the Mountain Marine Warfare Training Center, I guess that was last week’s episode if I remember correctly, and it was just so beautiful up there and I got to use the marine. They’ve got this unbelievable gym and I got to kick it with some marines. I mean, I’m really getting cool experiences, I rode around in one of their crazy vehicles. What else do I do? I read a lot, I listen to my iPod, I have a Nintendo DS and I’ve been playing the new Super Mario Brothers obsessively; it’s a good one.
What’s your favorite place that you’ve visited so far?
I had so much fun in Monterey at the Mazda Laguna Seiko Raceway. I met Randy Buck, was his name, he’s the head of the Skip Barber Racing School and he took me around the Laguna Seiko Raceway in one of the race cars and he also let me do a little drifting, so I got to learn how to turn a car in a tight turn and spin. It was a really cool experience.
You’ve said a lot of positive things about how great of an experience hosting the show has been for you; what’s the most challenging part about your job and what you’re doing right now?
You know, just being on my game and being an exciting host but not trying to take over because this show really isn’t about the host the shows, it’s about these kids and the experience that these guys are going through: One, getting on the show for the first time, two, the mission and trying to win the cash…and the third aspect about it is their relationships with each other and the experience they’re having on the show. It’s like when they get to the pit or to the missions, I’m there to make the show exciting and explain the rules, explain what’s going down, but not trying to take over and make it my thing. So it’s finding that fine line between being a good host and being an obnoxious host, kind of, you know what I mean?
Do you have any spoilers or anything you can sneak out there for fans about tonight’s episode?
Ooh…lets see, you know, I am not allowed to say a word. (Laughs) I would, I wish I could, but if you go to roadrules.mtv.com and you check it out, you’ll see a sneak peek of what’s going down in the pit. You won’t actually see who wins the pit but you will get to see who exactly is in the pit and what’s going down in the pit, which is a lot of fun. It’s pretty cool how quickly they put it online so that the viewers have a chance to see what going on and make decisions based on it.
What else do you have planned after Viewers Revenge? Will you continue to work with MTV or do you have some other things in the works outside of MTV?
I’ve always been…I produced a few independent shorts, I wrote, produced and directed a feature when I was 23 years old called Fast Lane, it was in Blockbuster for a while, and I have a movie in Blockbuster right now, its kind of a love story horror movie, it called Freak Show. It’s my first I directed it and um, it’s in Blockbuster, I don’t know, I kind of want to get back into producing and directing. I really enjoy that aspect of it. But if there are other chances to host, if I could do another season of Road Rules, I’m there in a second.
Any final thoughts for the fans out there?
You know what, the fans have been awesome. This show is doing so well because of their interest and because they care, because they’re blogging, because there voting, and I just want to say, thank you because it’s such a cool experience. Road Rules has been on, this is the 14th season, and it’s the first time they’ve had a host, and it’s been such a cool experience. I was a fan for all those years, watching Road Rules myself, so to actually be a part of it is a dream come true, and I really appreciate the fans being apart of it.
(Interview conducted by Royce Yuen)
Interviewer, BuddyTV
