Yes, I realize how focused I've been on reality TV lately, and this post is just making things worse, but the strike just ended yesterday, people. Several more weeks until the first new episode of a scripted show comes out. Trust me, when How I Met Your Mother gets back on the air, I will not shut up about it and you'll be begging for me to gossip about Paradise Hotel.

The Gauntlet III premiered last night on MTV Canada. I'm a big fan of the Real World/Road Rules  challenges because, in case I haven't made that clear, I love to watch drunk assholes make out and and yell at each other. Lucky me, I got to watch a screener copy a little over week ago, except that I didn't see the first five minutes. Why? Because the screener they sent me had replaced the first five minutes with the last five minutes of an old episode of America's Next Top Model. I'm not kidding. It wasn't even from a recent season -- it was the episode where Naima won. Way to go, MTV Canada. I don't even know how you managed to do that, but I enjoyed the trip down memory lane.

Back to The Gauntlet, with $300,000 on the line this time, obviously everyone is very focused on the competition. 

Way to keep your eye on the prize, guys. 

 Along with receiving a screener of the first episode, I also got to talk to Evan Starkman, the lovely Canadian who has appeared on several RW/RR Challenges. You can find my interview with Evan here, and you can see that I could not even hide my huge crush on him. My boyfriend's not too happy about it, but hey, he can have a crush on Kari from Mythbusters and I can have a crush on Evan. (...Okay, I have a crush on Kari, too.)

Now, a lot of what Evan said didn't make it into the interview, so I thought I'd give you guys a few more choice quotations from him.

Evan Starkman: The Director's Cut

On all the hookups: "There’s something in the water in Mexico. Apparently everyone drank the water and peed in the pool and... yeah. I don’t know, everyone there just fell in love. People came looking for love. Everyone wants to be Heidi and Spencer; they want to be the next Heidi and Spencer. It’s better than being lonely Lauren Conrad."

On filming the daily challenges:  "Super long days. They wake us up about 6 a.m. and we’re at the challenge until 8 or 9 at night. Super long days. If it’s a Gauntlet day, we have a challenge and the Gauntlet that day, so it’s super high stress. If you’re sent home from The Gauntlet, you’re gone. We never see you again. You’re on the first flight home; it’s over. We usually film three or four challenges a week. It’s a high-stress situation. What’s great is – and everyone will see this – the girls getting really mad at the Veteran guys because before a Guy Elimination day, we go to bed early, get up, stretch, get ready to go, but the night before a Girl Elimination day, there’s drinking, partying, going out."

On Beth: "I don’t really have that much of a problem with Beth because she’s never done anything to me directly. You know how young teens sort of rebel against their parents? It’s the same sort of thing. Beth is 38 years old. She’s too old to be doing this. But Beth’s always been good to me. Occasionally, she’ll come to your room and be like, ‘Oh, Evan, you heard CT’s talking shit about you,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I believe that, so what’s the big deal? If you want your camera time, Beth, go ask someone else to get all fired up.' I mean, CT’s not a friend of mine, so if he’s talking behind my back, I’ll believe you and I don’t care."

On his hetero life mate, Kenny: "Kenny’s my best friend ever. I totally love the kid. In his honour, I’ve been developing a Do-It-Yourself Guido kit. It comes with a little comb, some hair gel, a tattoo with a heart with ‘Mom’ written in it, some fake chest hair and a wifebeater. I love Kenny. He’s a great guy, an honest guy. His family’s awesome. I love the kid. We want to live together. He’s like, ‘Come to Jersey!’ and I’m like, ‘I don’t like the smell of garbage. Come to Canada.’ And he’s like, ‘I don’t like poutine.’ We have our issues. We’re like an old married couple."

On what Kenny has done with money he won on previous challenges:  "Kenny installed a huge WWE-style wrestling ring in his backyard, had all the local kids over and put on a show. He did a character called Kenny the Hollywood Kid. They had costumes, light show, DVD, DJ, the whole bit. He’s still got the ring. The ring is in his parents’ backyard. "

On Wes, who isn't on this challenge, which I am happy about, because I hate him:  "Wes is a great guy! He is. He is a douche, but you know when someone is so honest about how much of an asshole they are that you can’t help but love them?" [At this point I point out that being honest about being an asshole doesn't give someone free reign to be an asshole. Remember in middle school, when someone would say, "No offense, but..." and then they'd insult you? Same kind of deal.] "Okay, you have a point, but I don’t mind Wes. He’s living with Johanna, who I adore. I’m only friends with him because I’m positive that he has a genie somewhere and he used up all of his wishes to win The Duel and get Johanna. So I’m just using him to find the secret genie so I can get my three wishes."

On Paula: "I asked a casting director once how they cast people for The Real World and they said that what they’re looking for is someone who starts at point A and by the end of the show, ends up at point B. So they’re looking for people to go through a sort of character arc. The person that Paula is now is who they wish she had become by the end of The Real World: Key West. She’s actually a really grounded person; she eats now. She got brand new boobs, which everyone can see on The Gauntlet III. She’s really cool. She’s really grown into herself, she’s gotten through all the issues that everyone saw on Key West, and now she’s just looking for a good time. I think she has a record for hookups on The Gauntlet. Several partners, male and female."

On Tyler: "Tyler is really annoying. He’s super annoying. Tyler, one, is doing high kicks 24 hours a day, which: dangerous. Two, he just takes every opportunity to remind us that he’s gay. You could be sitting in a room with Tyler having an actual, intelligent conversation and then as soon as you walk into a crowd of people, he’s like, ‘Oh, Evan, let me see your nipples!’ And I’m like, ‘What? We were talking about politics, what the hell are you saying?’ I mean, we all got the memo. We know. Thanks a lot. He’s just a weird guy. He made out with Ryan on the first episode. Both of those guys are looking for a little fame. They’re used to going home early so they figure they have to get their licks in while they can. "

On Casey: "Casey Cooper. For sure, she’s an idiot. But you know what? When I first met Casey, she was an 18-year-old confused little girl. She was just completely clueless. The Gauntlet’s really neat for me because I’ve known Casey and been friends with her for two years and she’s really growing into a woman. Kenny and I, because we become sort of the ringleaders, ask a lot of Casey and she really stands up. She’s equal to the task. She does a lot of cool things on The Gauntlet and she surprises – she surprised me, our entire team, and I think she’ll surprise a lot of viewers."

Really, my interview with Evan was less of an interview and more of just me being entertained for half an hour. Good times.

I'm really looking forward to seeing Brooke act crazy and make out with Ev. Well, I don't really care who she makes out with, unless it has to do with her being crazy, which, let's face it, it almost always does. Shine on, you crazy diamond.