House of Villains is back. Hosted by Joel McHale, the hit reality competition series, now on Peacock, brings together 11 reality all-stars who must scheme, strategize and shade each other in different challenges for a chance to win $200,000 and the title of “America’s Ultimate Supervillain.”
Ahead of the Season 3 premiere, Blavity spoke with Basketball Wives alum Jackie Christie, Selling Sunset‘s Christine Quinn, RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Plane Jane, Vanderpump Rules alum Tom Sandoval, Survivor alum Tyson Apostol, Love Island USA alum Johnny Middlebrooks, Big Brother alum Paul Abrahamian, The Real World and The Challenge‘s Ashley Mitchell, Mob Wives’ Drita D’Avanzo and Below Deck‘s Kate Chastain about all the chaos that ensued in the villain house.
What does it mean to you to be considered one of the greatest villains of all time?
Jackie Christie: For me, it means the world because it’s a good villain. I’ve been known as the bad villain for a long time, and now I’m going to be known as the good villain. So I love it.
Christine Quinn: Exactly what Jackie said. I love being a villain. It’s so fun. I like having the chance to have different relationships and interactions outside of my show, and being goofy and silly and just riffing off of each other. I love it.
Plane Jane: Yeah, being a villain is great.
Tyson Apostol: I mean, I’ve been that guy since 2008, so for me, it’s just a day in the life.
Tom Sandoval: It feels fun to be around a big variety of people from all different shows. It’s really cool to see where everybody comes from. Sort of what they bring into the house and the sort of how it all mixes together and how we all sort of get along. You can see a difference in the different shows that people are on. How they sort of come in their energy. Yeah, it’s pretty cool. It’s interesting. It’s very entertaining.
Johnny Middlebrooks: Wow, that’s a nice label.
Paul Abrahamian: Yeah, it’s kind of nice when you say it like that.
Ashley Mitchell: I think I’ve said this a few times, but I think everyone is a villain in someone else’s story. So, to call us the best villains, good for it. Honey, call me it all day, I’ll wear the crown, and if the shoe fits, you better lace it up.
Drita D’Avanzo: Oh, how sweet.
Kate Chastain: You know, I didn’t think I was a villain, but I will accept the greatest title, and so, I think it’s an honor.
D’Avanzo: I was insulted at first and now I take it with pride. I am very happy about it. Thank you very much to everybody. Do we win anything? There’s no plaques. You guys just throw these things out there. You’re supposed to give us an award.
Chastain: You never know!
D’Avanzo: Oh yeah! What about that? You never know.
What makes a great reality television villain?
Christie: I would just say being able to be witty. Being able to be yourself. Be upfront. Be outspoken. Don’t back down from nothing, but still have a good heart at the end of the day. And be strategic in different things.
Quinn: Absolutely.
Plane Jane: And it can’t be too try-hard. It has to come from a place of authenticity. If you’re just trying too hard to put on a character and be the villain, that just is going to read immediately, and people are gonna be able to clock it. In order to be a villain, you still, I feel like Jackie touched on this, is you still have to show your vulnerability in a way, and you still have to show the good with the bad, and be that girl, but also let people in. Because if you don’t let those walls down, it becomes like very one-dimensional and very try-hard. People see right through it. I feel like in order to be a villain, it comes down to just being yourself. You either have it or you don’t.
Quinn: Plane answered that perfectly. I have no rebuttals. I love watching movies and the villains on TV shows, but there needs to be some redeeming qualities, where you’re like, “Oh, I want to root for them” because there’s arcs and waves and stuff like that. And I think that’s what makes a good villain.
Christie: Beautifully said.
Sandoval: I think that’s more on Tyson’s realm. I mean, somebody who’s just got control, got everybody wrapped around their finger, you know, sort of calling the shots.
Apostol: Self-aware.
Sandoval: Self-aware. Also in the shadows.
Apostol: I think someone who is unafraid to be themselves when they know they’re being labeled a villain. To still embrace it and push forward. I think so many people are trying to put whatever they want their persona to be, but it’s not really them. And then they either get called out or they end up playing a character the rest of their life, which has to be exhausting. So I think people who embrace that villain side of them and aren’t afraid to let people know who they are are the best villains. Unless they’re terrible people, then they’ve gone too far, and people should stop celebrating them for their villainous.
Abrahamian: Someone who’s not afraid to be themselves and someone who’s not afraid to express themselves, that’s for sure. Somebody who will just leave it all out on the table and truly not give a shit. I think that’s what makes a good reality TV villain.
Middlebrooks: Yeah, you do what you want to do, you do what you feel like is right for your game. And I think sometimes people shy away from doing the things that they truly want to do, but they don’t want to do it because they’re afraid of the judgment. And we’re all sitting here because we do the shit that we feel like we want to do. She’s gonna steal a million dollars away from somebody because she’s like, “I just met this guy last week. I’m taking home the money.
Mitchell: But deservingly so! I mean, to be fair, he might have deserved it.
Mitchell: Thank you. But you know, you have to be a villain sometimes.
Abrahamian: Yeah, someone’s got to do it.
Mitchell: Someone’s gotta do it.
Chastain: I think a great reality TV villain is somebody who’s not too concerned with what other people think. So they’re free to express their opinion, whether it’s good or bad, and it’s usually probably bad if they’re a villain.
Besides your fellow co-stars, who are some of your favorite villains of all time on reality TV?
Christie: Wow, Nene Leakes. Oh my God, there’s so many of them.
Plane Jane: Kim Zolciak.
Quinn: I love her.
Plane Jane: We’re obsessed with Housewives, honey. Kim Richards.
Quinn: Yes, yes, yes, yes, Jenn Shaw, Lisa Barlow, some would say, although I don’t really think she is.
Apostol: Oh, nobody from my cast? Sorry, Tom, I was gonna say you.
Sandoval: I would say the most legendary one, Richard Hatch.
Apostol: Season one of Survivor.
Sandoval: The creator of alliances, and he was really good. I even watched him on another Survivor episode, too, and he was also really good.
Apostol: All-Stars. Yeah, I like him, personal friends with Boston Rob. He’s an amazing villain. Lots of people from that villain’s tribe are really incredible. There’s so many to choose from, but I would say, yeah, I don’t know, favorite? I like the wackadoos. Like, those are my favorite people on TV. Like the real weirdos.
Abrahamian: I’m gonna say Gordon Ramsay, he’s hilarious. He roasts people for maybe salting something a little too much.
Mitchell: I would say any of the Real Housewives. I think probably all of them are villainous, so just pick one. Eeny, meeny, miney, moe. Pick one.
Middlebrooks: It’s a tough one for me, really, I’ll just say Gordon Ramsay too.
Chastain: I love Jeff Lewis, and I know that not everyone does. I don’t think of him as a villain, but that’s because I understand he’s just being direct. I think a lot of people do think of him as a villain.
D’Avanzo: I don’t think I have a favorite.
Chastain: You like Johnny from on our show, from Love Island.
D’Avanzo: Oh, from House of Villains?
Chastain: No, just in general.
D’Avanzo: John from House of Villains is my favorite villain. And he loved that title.
Chastain: The way his eyes sparkle when he’s a villain.
D’Avanzo: No, how about the way he sits. When he was super villain, forget it. He wanted an outfit.
Chastain: Yeah, that’s his super villain flower blossom. It’s really, it’s something quite special.
D’Avanzo: It’s true.
Now, if you are the greatest villain of your original series, who would be the greatest hero?
Quinn: Well, they’d be the Joker to our villain, right?
Plane Jane: That’s a tough question to answer.
Quinn: Because that implies that they’re good.
Plane Jane: Well, yeah, that’s the thing. Like in my, in my storybook, I am both the villain, the hero. I’m the reason for the season, you know what I mean? There is no hero because I am the hero. There is no villain because I am the villain.
Christie: See that’s villain right there. That’s villain mentality.
Plane Jane: The topic of conversation, to name someone the foil or the hero to your villain, is a very anti-villain. I don’t believe in promoting anyone other than myself.
Quinn: I love that.
Plane Jane: Like why would I answer that?
Christie: I have somebody that could be the counter to me, which would be Vanessa Ryder. She’s my partner in crime. I’d say that. She’s my counter villain.
Quinn: That’s, that’s excellent. So I had counter villains, too in my show, and that would be Nicole and Davina from Selling Sunset.
Mitchell: I will never answer that question, but you better come here, and I don’t know what you’d have to do to me, but even if you gave me another million dollars, there is nobody on my show that’s a hero.
Abrahamian: Yeah, I don’t know
Middlebrooks: It’s hard. I know the behind the scenes.
Mitchell: I know them personally.
Sandoval: I mean, from Vanderpump Rules? I don’t know.
Apostol: No heroes. Vanderpump Rules could also have been called House of Villains.
Apostol: JT Thomas from my season. One of the first perfect games in Survivor of all time. Everybody was very excited for him to win, so he would probably be the hero.
If you are the villain of your series, who would be the hero of your original series?
Chastain: I was the hero of the original series. The only people that I was a villain was the ones that I asked them to do their job that they agreed to. I was carrying that show on my back, which makes me a hero.
D’Avanzo: Yeah, I was carrying a show on my back. But, God rest her soul, Big Ang was, you know, amazing. She made Mob Wives incredible, but you’re asking if, if we thought we were heroes or villains on our show. Ang was the hero for sure.
What are some of your favorite villain moments from reality TV history?
Middlebrooks: I’m gonna keep saying it honorable mention, when she stole the money from what’s his name?
Mitchell: Hunter.
Middlebrooks: A million dollars.
Mitchell: He said that earlier, and I got a little teary. That was the nicest thing he’s ever said to me.
Mitchell: I’m gonna have to say New York when she thought David was dead on UK Big Brother, and she told the whole house that David had died, and it was a different David. That was the best thing that ever happened. And she called Gemma out. That was good.
Abrahamian: I, I don’t know. I watched like 90 Day Fiance, so I don’t know that there’s a a winner in any of those scenarios, so.
Mitchell: The show, just the whole show’s concept, actually.
Quinn: Tiffany and Omarosa were really good.
Christie: I would say some of mine are from Basketball Wives, but I won’t name the wives because they’re beneath me, and I had to take their little project away.
Plane Jane: All of us have had ours.
Christie: Even on House of Villains, there’s some villainous moments on there that this season that’ll blow your mind.
Quinn: We can’t say it because it’s a lot of bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleeping.
Christie: Oh yeah, you have to beep this whole thing.
What would you say are some of the greatest reality TV moments that have become so iconic?
Chastain: “Get up, Karen.”
D’Avanzo: Mhm.
Chastain: “Get up, Karen,” was a good one. I think that personally for me, making a humongous dick out of a blanket was iconic. I think that’s up there. What do you, what else do you need? “Get up, Karen,” and dick blanket. That’s great. And then more are coming on this season of House of Villains.
D’Avanzo: I think it’s when people watch something that they wish they had like the balls to do themselves. It’s a big deal because they’re like, “I wish I could do that,” or “I wish I could be outspoken like that,” or fight for myself.
Chastain: It should be called House of Big Balls.
D’Avanzo: And she has the pillows that go with it.
Would you say you’re more villainous on your original show or on House of Villains?
Christie: I personally, Basketball Wives. On here, it’s a different type of villain. And mine is later in the show.
Quinn: I think it’s different types of villainy.
Plane Jane: It was, for me, probably Drag Race too. It was a little tricky to navigate this particular show dynamic as a villain, for me, because the name of the game here. On Drag Race, you’re sort of responsible for your own fate. If you f– up in the challenge, you get to save your ass and lip sync for your life. Here, if you f– up, your fate depends on everybody in the house. So you can’t be as much of a bitch to everybody because you depend on these people to stay. So it’s definitely like a different kind of villainy where it’s more schemy.
Quinn: Yes, behind the scenes.
Plane Jane: And you may not mean everything you say to somebody’s face.
Sandoval: I think I’m more villainous on my original show. My first season of Survivor, I think, was my most villainous. A lot of people say when I played The Challenge I was about as villainous as my first season of Survivor, but I think less villainous. I think this show really leans into being silly and fun and humorous, and the celebration of the ridiculousness of the situation. I think that brings a levity to it that isn’t present in Survivor or in The Challenge as much.
Sandoval: Really, in a lot of shows. I think this one sort of stands out on its own, in that aspect.
Mitchell: My villainness never stops. I’m just saying, anyone can get it. It’s rated E for everyone. Anyone that wants it, they can have it. Just mess with me.
Abrahamian: It’s like evolved versions, you know what I mean. An adaptive versions. I can’t say I was more or less villainous, just different.
Middlebrooks: I think I’m consistently just myself, and I consistently do what I feel like I should do for my, for my own game.
Chastain: Oh no, I was my most villainous in House of Villains because I’m a hard worker and I do the job I’m asked to do. I’m just here to be a villain. OK, you don’t have to tell me twice. Let’s go.
D’Avanzo: Yeah, I’m a mirror to people’s personalities. So you’re nice, I’m nice. You’re nasty, I’m nasty. You want to fight, we fight. It’s very simple. Then you want to play a game and try to knock me out, that’s the same thing. House of Villains, even if you go in there being the sweetest person, now it’s time to play a game with a bunch of people that are not being the sweetest person.
Chastain: Which will turn you into a villain.
D’Avanzo: And how you carry that title is up to you.
Now, Plane, did you take any drag children from this experience?
Plane Jane: Do you know what? No, but I came away with a few drag mothers. These beautiful women right here. Drita and New York. They’re all my drag moms now. But children, stay tuned because Paul has really been wanting me to put her in drag. So stay tuned. We might, we might make her Paulina.
Quinn: I like that. Polly Pocket.
Plane Jane: Oh, I love that!
There it is. Which cast member surprised you the most from your cast?
Christie: Wow. Dritaa for me.
Quinn: I would say Kate, just because I watched her on her show, and I was like, “Oh my God, I love her,” and then I worked with her, and I’m like, “Oh.”
Christie: Everyone is like that.
Plane Jane: I’m actually gonna say Christine. Christine surprised me the most.
Who surprised you most from this cast?
Sandoval: I think one thing that surprised me about New York is she has like two different sides to her.
Apostol: Tiffany and New York.
Sandoval: She has Tiffany and New York, and it was cool to see the other side of her. I was also shocked to see, I thought Christine was just going to be this over-the-top, crazy, obsessive villain. And that surprised me that she wasn’t.
Apostol: I was horrified of Christine initially from her reputation. I was like, I don’t want to get yelled at and screamed at and belittled. And so I’ve tippy-toed around her for a little bit, and then I wasn’t afraid of her at all.
Which of your co-stars from House of Villains surprised you the most?
Mitchell: Maybe Tom. He was maybe a little bit nicer than I thought he would be. A little bit more sociable than I thought he would be. Down to earth than I thought he would be. Louder.
Middlebrooks: I think, not that I was surprised, but Drita, I didn’t know me and Drita were gonna be really cool, and we just like got along really well. She said she watched my show prior to this one, and I’m like, wow, I feel kind of honored cause she’s a legend as well, so that kinda just surprised me.
Who surprised you the most from this cast?
Chastain: New York. She’s my roommate, and I am so happy that she was because I was able to get to know Tiffany, and not just New York. And Tiffany is just really lovely. Although she could get a little quicker at answering my DMs.
D’Avanzo: I worked with New York, but that’s how I felt when I did Scared Famous with her also. So I know like, you know, everybody’s always judgy and they see someone for whatever they think of them, but I felt the same way about New York. And as far as like surprised me? I won’t say who because it was ended up being not good. Like it was opposite.
Chastain: Spoiler alert, yep.
Jackie, Christine, coming from a more documentary-style show into a competition show, what was the hardest adjustment?
Christie: For me, it was just letting people, they all were themselves. They didn’t come in with any preconceived ideas. It’s a war zone when you’re doing an ensemble show like I’ve done on Basketball Wives. Being the matriarch on there and the mother of the show, and trying to get all the women together and get everybody to get along. Always a catfight and a dogfight. On here it’s not that way. Everybody is just pretty much themselves. They want to strategize, but they’re going to give you a chance to get to know them. They want to get to know you. It’s way more pleasant for me.
Quinn: And I think there’s a larger opportunity to get to know people as individuals. On an ensemble cast, basically, you walk in, you have your 2 hours to shoot. You come in, you’re mentally ready, boom, boom, boom. You shoot, you’re done, you go home, you decompress. We didn’t have the luxury of decompressing, right? We were just having stronger relationships, and it was getting harder to play the game. It was just different in that way.
Absolutely. Now, Tyson, you come from a gamer background. Tom, you recently played a game. How did you bring that game quality to House of Villains?
Apostol: I just brought my same experience with dealing with people. You talk about gamer, and you talk about just a personality versus gamer, but I also think there’s a third tier, which is gamer who deals with a jury. And I think a lot of these shows, like The Challenge, there’s no jury at the end. So you can bulldoze your way to the end, however you want, without repercussion. But in a jury game, you also have to manage interpersonal relationships. And I think a lot of people, even though they’re thinking gamer, and non-gamer, there’s also some finesse to being in a house where that house is going to be the jury at the end. It is interesting to watch people navigate that, and some people don’t even care or know. And some people are very aware of that, and yeah, you can tell pretty quick.
Paul, what’s harder to live with a bunch of random people for 100 days or a ‘House of Villains’?
Abrahamian: A bunch of random people for 100 days, any day of the week, is the hardest thing that I’ve ever done for sure. With villains, you know. You know! You know what you’re gonna get, you know what I mean? You’re like, “I can expect that, or I can premeditate that.” We’re all horrible in our own ways. With a group of strangers, I mean, the horrors are even worse.
Mitchell: Honestly, I think the people who fake it, I think there are a lot more evil, evil people than who are on this show. Just because we’re a villain does not make we’re evil.
Abrahamian: Yeah, you better figure out if they’re evil. Whereas here, you kind of know, Like, “Yeah, you’re probably an asshole, but I could live with that.” Where, over in the Big Brother world, you’ve got to spend like 50 of those days figuring out who they are.
Mitchell: Yeah, at least here you start off, you know everyone’s an asshole, and you don’t have to think someone’s gonna stab you in the back.
Abrahamian: That’s who they are.
Middlebrooks: All those heroes on the other shows, all the good guys, they’re typically wolves in sheep’s clothing, you know what I’m saying?
Mitchell: Exactly.
When it comes to reality television moments in general, what are some of your favorite iconic moments?
Abrahamian: I don’t care what happens before the boiling point. I love the boiling point when all hell just breaks loose. Things go out the window. I think it is f–ing hilarious. There’s a lot of those tense buildup moments on Big Brother, or when really like the band-aid gets ripped off. Cause a lot of these shows, there’s a beginning period where everyone’s kind of just like ha ha he he. Whenver that first band-aid rip off is, and people are like, all right, f– It gloves off. That moment to me is like so satisfying
Abrahamian: Absolutely pots and pans. Somebody just really going to the brink of insanity. Whether they’re crying. Ashley. Really when somebody loses it, in any shape or form. Physically, emotionally, mentally, that is when I start. I’m locked in. When you see like real, a real reaction.
Mitchell: I love a crazy bitch on TV. And that can be, that is not gender specific, just to say.
Johnny, what’s more fun: Playing for money or for love?
Mitchell: Yuck
Abrahamian: That’s crazy.
Middlebrooks: No, I think, I think playing for money is just the most honest way I can think of it. Ever since my first season of Love Island, that was the first time I was just doing it for the love aspect, but I couldn’t lie and say that I didn’t acknowledge the money. But moving forward, ever since then, it’s been all about the money.
Kate, if you had to be Chief Stew for a charter of this cast, would it be smooth sailing?
Chastain: I mean, I probably would jump on one of the flying pigs that are cruising by the window and get the hell out of there. I would maybe ride my unicorn off into the outer space to join you. That’s how likely that would be.
And Kate, do you think Drita would be a better faithful or a Traitor?
Chastain: Oh, I think you would be a great traitor if you started from the beginning, because then you would be being loyal to your traitor group. But you’d be good faithful as well.
What can you tease about this upcoming season without spoiling too much?
Plane Jane: Don’t say the name of the song. What’s your favorite song?
Christie: You teasing. I think it’s a turbulent ride from beginning to end. As you see everybody arrive in the black SUVs and get out the car, you’re going to be excited. You’re going to want to see who is it, who’s in there, and then start watching our interactions. From what I’ve seen, I absolutely love it. I know it only gets better and better and better through the whole season.
Plane Jane: I’m going to say this. Without spoiling anything.I feel like the season is going to start out one way, and then there’s going to be a complete 180, and it’s going to end a way that you would never expect. So that is what I would say without spoiling anything.
Quinn: I think that’s perfect. I couldn’t have explained it any other way. You see one show, you see the 1st 3 episodes, and you’re like, “Oh, OK, I totally got this.” Then you’re thrown for the biggest loop of your life.
What can you tease us about this upcoming season? What’s the biggest surprise the fans should be ready for?
Sandoval: Well, first of all, they should be really excited to see the birth and the growth of Ty-Sandoval. Me and Tyson’s friendship and all the fun things that we do and bring out in the show. It’s got a newer, different feel to it. Now it’s a Peacock show. It feels like it’s leveled up a little bit. The cast is really great, and seeing the people that maybe you didn’t think we’re gonna end up getting along, getting along, working together. I think that’s really sort of going to be the thing people are surprised about. And there’s lots of cool, ridiculous challenges that we do. It’s just really funny to see how we all handle those situations.
Abrahamian: Chaos.
Mitchell: Chaos.
Abrahamian: Chaos.
Mitchell: Not rated PG.
Abrahamian: Just diabolical behavior.
Middlebrooks: Unpredictable.
Mitchell: Inappropriate. Embarrassing for my mother.
Abrahamian: And mothers everywhere.
What other surprises and teases can we hear about from this upcoming season?
Chastain: There is a makeout session between cast members I did not expect. There are tears. There’s laughter.
D’Avanzo: There’s fights.
Chastain: Uh huh. There’s excitement.
D’Avanzo: There’s everything in this.
Chastain: It’s the funniest show I’ve ever done.
D’Avanzo: It’s so funny. Did you enjoy the 1st 3 episodes?
D’Avanzo: Yes!
Chastain: Well, obviously.
D’Avanzo: I was thinking when the show was over I was like, “How are they going to top this cast?”
Chastain: Well…
D’Avanzo: Our cast could do anything and it would be great because it was so different.
Chastain: This is next level. I love this cast as a viewer.
The post ‘House Of Villains’ Season 3 Stars Christine Quinn, Jackie Christie And Others On What Makes A Reality TV Villain And More appeared first on Blavity.
