Derrick Kosinski's Podcast (1/29/12) RECAP

I listened to Derrick's podcast yesterday, where he, Johnny and Mark discussed their thoughts on the first episode of The Challenge: Battle of the Exes. 


What we learned:
By all accounts, production has gotten really strict with the cast members and according to Johnny and Mark, prisoners have more rights than cast members do while filming. Johnny said production threatened to fine him and Mark because they'd re-arranged the furniture in their bedroom.
According to Johnny, when cast members get sick or injured, before going to the hospital, production generally turns to the female cast members, first, because they are always stocked with a "pharmacy" of various pills on them such as painkillers, Adderall, etc.
According to Johnny, when not having sex, Mandi tends to keep herself and has a very wallflower-like, boring personality when sober. Johnny thinks the reason MTV invites her back is because she is pretty.
All three guys give Camilla a lot of respect for standing up to Wes and not falling for his feeble attempt at manipulation. They also acknowledge she is a great competitor and a force to be reckoned with. Johnny says that what makes Camilla stand out from most of the other females on these challenges is that she is "fearless." She also fit in well with the boys, and apparently hung out in their room quite often and Mark referred to her as the "cigar girl" in their "gentlemen's club."
However, according to Johnny, her confrontational nature is both a strength and a weakness.
Johnny jokes that MTV keeps on asking Paula back to these challenges "for the pure shitshow factor" because even after watching herself on TV and regretting some of her actions, she never learns from it and repeats her mistakes all over again on each challenge.
Cast members get very comfortable with each other, and it's not uncommon for the guys and girls to walk in on each other naked in the bathroom and be unfazed by it, and so any sexual chemistry tends to fade and according to Johnny, they "become like sisters" to him after a while.
Mark says that one night, at a club, he and some of the boys convinced some of the Dominican Republic girls that Dunbar was Tom Cruise.
Johnny says the honey challenge was a lot tougher than it looked, Mark agrees.
Derrick and Johnny agree that Abe's biggest potential downfall as a competitor is his sometimes strange approach at motivating his teammates/partner.
Johnny agrees with Diem's comment that the teams who have good chemistry tend to do well, and credits his Rivals victory with the fact that he and Tyler were able to work really well together.
Derrick gives Camilla this week's Challenge MVP.