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Making friends is an unexpected plus when you are thrown into a reality TV show that is a social experiment with complete strangers, and those strangers comprise beauties and geeks. But, what to do when two couples find themselves pitted against each other, are facing elimination, and are best friends? Erin, a 22 year-old hairstylist and Jesse, a 26 year-old software engineer, found themselves in just such a conundrum as they became the fifth team eliminated on Beauty and the Geek. Is winning more important than friendships?
Hi, Erin and Jesse. Thank you for speaking with me today!
Erin and Jesse: Hi! Thank you!
How did you become interested in becoming a contestant on Beauty and the Geek?
Jesse: I had actually watched all of the previous season of Beauty and the Geek, and usually I would watch it with my brother. He would tell me, “Oh, man, you’re such a geek. You’re just like the guys on that show. You should try to get on it.” So, this last season, they had an ad at the end saying: If you’re a geek, and you could use help from a beauty, make an audition video. At first, I was like, “Well, I don’t know. I don’t think I’m that much of a geek.” But, after I made the video and watched it, I was like, “You know, I really [i]am[/] a geek.” [Erin and Jesse laugh] I could learn a lot out there.
What makes you a geek?
Jesse: Well, what makes me a geek are a lot of my interests—like a Star Wars rap for my audition video, and in school I did really good. I got pretty much got straight A’s all throughout high school and college. I really didn’t go out on dates, or go out drinking, or things like that, so a lot of that qualified me to be a geek.
Erin: I wasn’t really planning on being on the show. I was just out at a club with a bunch of girlfriends after work, and all these people came up to me and were like, “How old are you, what do you do, and blah, blah, blah.” They were like, “You’re perfect for this show. Come in for an interview.” So, I did. I checked it out first to make sure it was legit [laughs], and I made it! So, it was a big surprise. I definitely didn’t think of spending my summer like that.
Had you watched previous seasons?
Erin: No, not until recently. Since I found out I was going to be on the show, I started watching Season 3 to find out what it was all about. It’s actually pretty cool!
Since the premise of this show is being about transformation and personal growth, what were you hoping to get out of the show?
Erin: I was hoping to be looked at on a different level and not be stereotyped as some dumb, ditzy blond, because I mean my hair is blond, and I do get that a lot. So, I kind of wanted to prove that I can be more than that, and look smart, and be smart—actually, and sound smart.
Jesse: I was hoping to get a little more confidence out of the show, and kind of learn what it was that girls were looking for in a guy so I could be confident enough to approach them, and actually be able to know how to dress, and get a hair cut and stuff that would make girls notice me. [Erin and Jesse laugh]
Do you feel as though you accomplished that?
Yeah! I think that Erin helped me out a lot with that. She gave me a lot of good pointers while I was there.
Are you thought of as ditzy now because you are blonde?
Jesse: No one has called me ditzy, yet! [All of us laugh]
Well, you have that really platinum blonde, now, so that is kind of a stereotype.
Both of you seemed well-matched as partners. Was there anyone else you initially wanted to be partnered with?
Erin: Well, for me, no. I wanted Jesse, and I got him.
Jesse: Erin was really my top choice to get paired with, so I was really happy when I got matched up with her.
Erin: Some of the people weren’t getting matched up with the people that they had talked about wanting to be matched up with, and me and Jesse were like, “Oh, cool!”
Jesse: Yeah, we lucked out there!
I don’t remember. Were they trying to put you with somebody else?
Erin: No. Just some of the other people, like, they got paired up with a completely different person than what they had said they wanted.
Oh, right. Along those lines, who do you feel is the most mismatched couple on the show?
Erin: Oh, Jen and William. They don’t get along.
Jesse: I would probably have to agree.
So, it’s as bad as what we see when we’re watching it?
Jesse: I hadn’t noticed it all that much. I mean, but certainly you could tell that there was a little bit of conflict and drama there.
Erin: Yeah, Jen told me that William called her fat, and I was just like, “What?!” Like, I couldn’t believe it, and she was like, “Yeah, that’s so mean.” That is so mean. I was just like, “Okay, I didn’t understand.”
It’s almost uncomfortable watching them interact.
Erin: Yeah.
How do the two of you feel you helped one another or complemented one another as partners?
Jesse: I thought that Erin knew a lot about the type of subjects I didn’t know anything about. She knows a ton about fashion, which she told me that plaid and plaid together is a big no-no. [All laugh] She’s a hairstylist, so she knows a lot about what makes a good haircut, really, and could give me a lot of advice there. Plus, she was really outgoing, so she was able to help me out a lot in social situations and get over a little of my shyness.
Erin: Jesse just basically opened my eyes to a whole new world of history and all that stuff that I’m just really not down with. Actually, he made it interesting. He would tell me stories about history and stuff that happened in the past, and he actually made it interesting for me to listen to—like I wanted to listen to it. I think we had a really good friendship right off the bat, which made us a strong team.
What did you think of the twist with the female geek and the male beauty, and what kind of effect do you feel it had on the group dynamic within the house?
Erin: I think that the male beauty was kind of unfair. I think it had a really negative effect on a lot of people in the house. I think everyone felt kind of threatened by him. Obviously, Sam was a very strong beauty, and it kind of ruined the other beauties chances to win challenges because he kept winning everything.
Jesse: As soon as they showed up and Sam was there, I was like, “Oh, man! There goes the geeks’ chances for any kind of Jennilee and Nate type romance. [Erin and Jesse laugh]
That’s kind of funny because I had written that down, Jesse, as my next question—that you had said that! Since we’re talking about that, what are your thoughts about the Rebecca/Sam romance? One of the contestants stated that the show isn’t supposed to be a dating show, but rather a learning experience.
Jesse: I would say that it probably interfered with their growth a little bit because you’re supposed to be learning a lot from people who you wouldn’t normally interact with. Here they were just kind of spending all their time hanging out with people who are just like the people they would hang out with and date back home.
Erin: Yeah, I think it kind of interrupted the whole purpose on an experience of being on the show, so it stunk!
Erin, you called Will out for being hypocritical, and the following week, you sent Rebecca and Will to elimination and successfully got rid of them. Was that revenge-motivated?
Erin: No! It definitely wasn’t out of revenge at all. Their reasoning for putting me and Jesse in the elimination room was because they said that we weren’t opening up to a lot of people in the house. Okay, if anything, that is the worst possible reason to put anybody in the elimination room because obviously that means that the metamorphosis isn’t complete yet, or they need to stay longer to learn more. Basically, if me and Jesse were up there safe from the elimination room, we’re going to choose a really strong team who is already very comfortable in their skin winning challenges. Obviously, the challenges were difficult, so we felt that they should go because they won a lot of challenges. Obviously, they took offense to it because they had sent us the week before, but it was put in the wrong way.
Jesse: Will and Rebecca were very dominant, and for all we knew, they would have won every challenge from then on out, and we wouldn’t have ever gotten another chance to send them.
What kind of strategy did you employ, and how does a couple actually win this thing? It doesn’t seem to be about the growth of the couple, but rather seeking out the competition and destroying the perceived power of the house.
Jesse: That is kind of the way it seems to be turning out. Lots of the strongest teams have been getting eliminated right off the bat. I think almost at this point the best strategy would be if you could just lay low and fly completely under the radar, and then kind of turn it up and come on strong at the end. I think that would be really helpful. Like, I thought that Erin and I were laying pretty low early on. I didn’t think we were threatening in any way, and then we pretty much got called out and sent to the elimination room, so that was a big shock.
Erin: Yeah! It didn’t even feel like a game or a competition. We were just in it for the fun and for the experience, and then all of a sudden it blew up in our face, and we were like, “Whoa!” I guess you’ve got to fight back a little bit, but still, we didn’t get rid of the purpose of our reasons for being there.
How difficult was that super hero concept to pull off, especially for the guys with sewing and coming up with costumes?
Jesse: The sewing was a big challenge for us guys I’ll tell you! [Erin and Jesse laugh] We got out there at first, and there’s all that fabric and different colors, and we’re trying to figure out what kind of stuff would kind of match. Then, you have to get your pattern and lay it out and figure out the girls’ sizes, and then actually try to figure out how to turn on the sewing machine. After about two hours, we had figured out how to jam up the sewing machine! [All laugh] When we’d go back to our beauties and kind of report on our progress, it would be like, “That’s all you’ve got done in all that time!”
Erin: It was like probably five or six hours later, and Jesse had some Velcro on the skirt, and I’m like, “What have you been doing!” [laughs]
Yeah, but that was one fine surf board, you have to admit!
Jesse: Thank you! That took about two hours, too!
So, Sam and Nicole won that challenge, but who did you feel had the best concept and costume?
Erin: Well my personal opinion—if I wasn’t going to choose, obviously, me and Jesse—I would probably choose John and Natalie, and not just because we were really close with them. I really liked Natalie’s idea of being a super villain. She completely twisted it up, and I thought that her story was just really good, and she was kind of like a dark side. I thought that was really creative. Her costume was awesome.
Jesse: Yeah, John did a really good job on the costume. Out of all the geeks there, he was the one who had mastered the sewing machine!
Do you feel that everyone is playing on a level field, or do Sam and Nicole have an advantage in the challenges?
Jesse: I would have to say that Sam has a huge edge so far. I mean, he has pretty much won or come in second in almost all of them. Definitely, I would say his career and stuff—like the confidence that he can portray and stage presence that he has developed, it has really been a big asset for him.
Erin: Well, yeah. He’s an actor, so. . . .
Did you know that on the show?
Erin: We had no clue!
Our readers discovered that a long time ago. They already figured that out a long time ago!
Erin: Yeah, we kind of had a clue. We were like, “Oh, my goodness. Is he an actor or are both of them an actor?” Like, we didn’t know, and then we come home, and there is stuff all over the place. Like, “Oh, my God! Sam Horrigan—actor.” And, we’re like, “What?!”
Jesse: Yeah! At first when they showed up, I was like maybe this isn’t even real. Maybe, they’re not really contestants. Maybe, they are actors, and this is just like a joke, and they’re going to tell us tomorrow that they’re not really contestants.
You thought they might just be plants, but not really part of the contestants?
Jesse: That’s what we thought!
You seemed to genuinely care about Natalie and John, and that had to be difficult going against them in the elimination room. Tell me about that, and did you have an alliance with them?
Erin: We didn’t have an alliance. We weren’t like, “Okay, well, if you don’t eliminate us, then we won’t eliminate you.” It just wasn’t like that. We were just really close friends, so just natural nature, that wouldn’t come up to eliminate them. What do you think, Jesse?
Jesse: I would say all we had was a friendship. To call it an alliance would put undertones to it.
Erin: Yeah, that’s kind of harsh.
Jesse: Definitely, I would have never wanted to send them to the elimination room because they were our best friends there. When you really enjoy spending time with people, you don’t want to see them go home. Coming up against them in the elimination room was really tough because, basically, no matter which team wins, you’re split up, and you still kind of lose in a way.
That was really an emotional farewell, and I felt rather choked-up watching it.
Erin: I cried, too.
I know you did!
Were you surprised to develop such a bond with people in such a short period of time?
Erin: I was definitely surprised. I didn’t think that that was going to happen at all, and I was actually pleased.
Jesse: I never would have thought it to be possible to come in here, and in a span of three weeks, you’re like practically best friends with some of the people you’ve met. I guess like being cut off from the outside world, really, and getting to spend so much time together, and having this experience together really helps to form a close-friendship.
What was the most difficult aspect of the show for you?
Jesse: For me, the most difficult aspect was probably getting over some of my shyness and nervousness. Like, when I first showed up there, I could just barely eat anything for a whole week ‘cause I was so nervous being around all these pretty girls. [All laugh]. I mean, they were so nice all the time that it really helped me kind of get over that.
Erin: My most difficult thing would probably be all the studying that we had to do. The geeks got to do a lot of “hands-on” stuff—like, they got to go make the baskets, they got to sew, and decorate costumes. How fun is that? And, we got to read all this crap, and we’d get so bored. I just kept eating, and eating, and eating because I got so bored. Then, I would read and be like, “All right, I’ve got this.” Then, I’d forget all the information. It was really frustrating. It was difficult.
What is your favorite memory you’ll take from the show?
Erin: Oh, my God! There are so many! I think one of my favorite memories is probably last night’s challenge of the super heroes challenge. I think it was really cool that we were able to do a team challenge, and me and Jesse really bonded. I was so proud of both of us. We were like a team. Like, we worked together. It really meant a lot to me.
Jesse: I thought that it turned out really well, too. I mean, just in general, a really favorite memory of mine is the people there. All the times that I got to spend hanging out with Erin, and John and Natalie, and Hollie and Josh.
Who do you want to see win this competition?
Both: John and Natalie.
What’s ahead for both of you?
Erin: I’m hoping to move to California to possibly do hair out there—like bigger and better, besides working in a salon. Or, pursue an acting career. I don’t know. Wherever the wind takes me!
Jesse: For me, I want to keep doing computer programming. I mean, that’s interesting work, and it’s something I enjoy. I hope to also go out more, and hang out, and do some of the things that I kind of missed out on in the past.
Are there any final words you’d like to leave with our readers?
Erin: I want to say I love our fans ‘cause I’ve seen on the message boards and stuff we have a lot of Erin and Jesse fans, and I think that it’s so cool. I’ve never had fans before! I love them so much. They are so cool, and thanks for watching, and thanks for all the support, and it was a lot of fun!
Jesse: Yeah, I’d say to everyone who has been watching and rooting for me and Erin, “Thank you.” I’m really glad, I appreciate it, and it really means a lot to me, and, definitely, I hope you enjoy the rest of the season!
Erin: Don’t judge a book by its cover!
I just want to thank you for taking the time to speak with me today and congratulate you on making it as far as you did, and good luck in the future!
Both: Thank you!
Many thanks to THE CW and Erin and Jesse for this interview opportunity!
Photo Credit: THE CW
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Aw, I just love this little show and these contestants in particular. 
It was great to see that they shared a lot of laughs during your interview, SweetViolet. Thank you for a wonderful job. 
