An Interview with a Reality TV Contestant

The following is an interview from a contestant who was on a reality show called Blind Date. Blind Date follows a couple on date through the course of several activities, lunch, dinner and usually drinks. Here is what this reality TV show contestant had to say about his experience:

Q: When were you on Blind Date?
A: I was on Blind Date several years ago. The show has been running for a while now. In fact, I think they only show re-runs now, but I did the show when it was fairly popular, back in 2001.

Q: What was it like being on Blind Date?
A: I mean the overall experience was great. I’ve always wanted to be on TV and it was tons of fun later, watching the episode after it aired with my friends. The actual filming though was a pretty long day. The camera crew follows you around for practically 12 hours.

Q: The crew followed you around for 12 hours. How long was your stint on the show when it aired?
A: It’s pretty funny actually. The film crew picks you up at noon and drops you off at midnight, so it was a pretty long day. For 12 hour of filming I think my section was only on TV for about 15 minutes.

They only air two dates per half hour episode and mine was one of the two.

Q: Was it weird having cameras following you around? Can you describe the experience?
A: It was only weird at first. The strangest part is how other people react. During our dinner, we had several interruptions from the people around us who were obviously trying to get on camera. So the crew would have to stop things, and ask us to pick up on a conversation that ended with the interruption a half hour previous. At first it was kind of nerve wrecking having the cameramen follow you and record your every word. I’m not gonna lie, I was trying to look and say the exact right thing. Mostly because I knew my friends would eventually be watching and I didn’t want to look stupid.

Q: When you saw the show on air what was it like?
A: It was weird. Just thinking about how much film-time went into such a short amount of time on the show. They cut out a lot of stuff. But for me it was cool. If you know Blind Date you know that they edit pop-ups and comments on the screen so make the dates even funnier. They usually choose a side. I kind of came out ahead since the girl I was on the date with was a little strange. So I think when I saw it, they made her look worse than it really was. But I get it – it was for TV.

Q: So there were things on air that seemed to play out differently then the way it was in real life?
A: Oh yeah. Like as part of our date, I had to go buy her a promise ring. I would never do that on a date! It looked like I planned the date and bought a thousand dollar ring. I mean, that was all the show, none of it was me or my idea.

Q: Would you do it again?
A: Ha, ha. Yes. It was fun. It’s fun being in front of the camera and seeing yourself on TV afterwards. It’s a long day of filming so I don’t know if I could do it all the time, but yeah – I would definitely do it again. It was really fun.

Q: How did you get on the show?
A: Well I knew someone who worked there and they needed people for dates, so I got kind of lucky. It’s funny though, I had actually applied online to be on the show before but was never selected.

Q: Do you have any advice for people going into reality TV?
A: I guess, just be yourself. The editing team will more than likely make the show look differently than it really is and you can’t do anything about it. I think though, if you’re a good person you’ll look like a good person when it’s all over and done with. Oh, and have fun! The filming lasts forever, so just enjoy the ride.