> Boston Rob gave an interview to Reality TV Magazine about his new show
> Tontine. He made a few new points:
>
>
> Reality TV Magazine: Do you think physical fitness or mental strength
> will be more important with contestants [on Tontine]?
> Boston Rob: You’re going to have to have a combination of both. There’s
> going to be physical challenges, mental challenges, but you’re going to
> need to be well rounded. You have to be able to do well in both of
> those areas, as well as strategically, which is very important.
>
> Reality TV Magazine: As you’ve mentioned, Tontine takes place on seven
> continents, including Antarctica. What kind of cost and trouble is
> involved with traveling down there and filming?
> Boston Rob: The logistics of it, I mean, I’m not on the production end.
> I know that we’re going there. I know that we’re filming this show in
> the Fall, which is actually the Spring time in the Southern hemisphere,
> and last year in November when I was on the Amazing Race All Stars, we
> went to the Southern tip of Argentina, and we were about a hundred miles
> away from Antarctica, not even, you could see it from one island to the
> other, and it wasn’t too bad. It was like twenty-five or thirty
> degrees, so it wasn’t like there were fifty mile an hour below winds.
> We’re going there in essentially what is the cusp of their Summer, so
> just imagine what we’re going to be able to do in Antarctica for
> challenges, and people can say they went to Antarctica.
>
> Reality TV Magazine: Tontine has 15 contestants and it lasts 100 days.
> Will all 15 contestants be there for the all 100 days or are there
> going to be eliminations every week?
> Boston Rob: No, there’s an elimination element to it, and each
> contestant is going to be given a key at the beginning of the game. The
> key represents the ability to unlock part of the ten million dollar
> fortune, and they’re going to compete for each others keys. Essentially
> your key is your life in the game, and if you lose your key to another
> contestant, you’re out. In the end, the person that possesses all
> fifteen keys will be declared the winner.
>
> Reality TV Magazine: How will contestants be eliminated from the show?
> Do they get kicked off for losing a challenge or is there some type of
> elimination vote?
> Boston Rob: I don’t want to get into the whole logistics of everything
> that’s going to happen, but I can tell you that what we have planned is
> pretty intense competition, unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.
>
> Reality TV Magazine: Will the contestants that don’t win get anything?
> Will they get paid anything for like second place?
> Boston Rob: Winner take all....
>
> Reality TV Magazine: What made you select Nashville as one of your
> casting cities?
> Boston Rob: Nashville has always been great for Southern, middle
> America, working class people, and just great television. I mean you
> guys have that Nashville Star television show born out of here. You
> know, you have a very diverse group right here in Nashville with the
> whole music and the culture. You know, it’s something different that
> you don’t see in a lot of the big cities, so it’s definitely one of our
> top stops....
>
> Reality TV Magazine: Other than the $10 million prize, what else makes
> Tontine different or better than other reality TV shows?
> Boston Rob: It’s the only show that’s ever been done on all seven
> continents. It’s not like the Race where they go to a few each time.
> It’s the longest show in the history of production. Survivor is 39
> days. Tontine is three times as long, and it’s ten times the biggest
> prize that’s ever been offered. Other than that…I mean it’s basically
> like these other shows on steroids…. . . .
>
> Reality TV Magazine: Are there any castmates from Survivor or Amazing
> Race that you keep in touch with?
> Boston Rob: There are a few. Peter Harkey from the first season of
> Survivor. The guy that actually got voted off first in my season is
> from Massachusetts. Whenever I go home to Boston, we go out to dinner
> or hang out together. I talk to Sean [Rector] from my season, but for
> the most part…John Vito from the Amazing Race I speak with pretty
> regularly, when I go to New York I see him…that’s about it. Survivor
> All Stars, a lot of people, half the Survivor All Stars couldn’t get
> past the fact that it was a game and took a lot of what happened real
> personal. I don’t know if it was just bad feelings or jealousy, but it
> never really materialized to the point of continued friendships. I mean
> with these shows in general, like my motto was I’m not going into these
> things to make friends, I’m going in to try to win the game. The
> ultimate irony there is that not only did I make a friend, but I made my
> best friend and the girl that I married. Reality TV has given me a lot,
> and I’m grateful for it. I’m excited about this next stage. Like I
> said, making that transition from contestant to host is something that
> really hasn’t been done, not on a major network in a real big primetime
> show, and I was honored to be asked, and I’m excited to do it. I mean
> that’s part of the reason why I’m actually traveling the country this
> Summer doing the casting call is that I want to be actively involved in
> the contestants that we choose.
>
> http://www.realitytvmagazine.com/blog/2007/07/tontine-the-ins.html
>
>