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Cheat!

When Reality Bites

Cheat!

Sony Music

True Crime, Tv & Film, Society & Culture

4.81.7K Ratings

🗓️ 12 April 2022

⏱️ 35 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We’ve all watched reality tv shows like Survivor and thought…”I could do that”. But have you ever wondered how the sausage is made? Who these people are coming up with these crazy ideas in the first place? And how they find the people willing to put themselves in these ridiculous situations? In the early 2000s one student had an idea for the next big reality show. He promised his contestants a life of fame and fortune…little did they know, there was dark truth hiding behind the scenes. A Somethin’ Else production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

St. Vincent, a tropical island in the West Indies. It's home to bright sandy beaches, beautiful

0:18.4

blue oceans and palm trees. For many, it's the perfect holiday destination. For Daniel

0:24.6

Pope, it's home. Daniel is just graduated from college. He's 24 and starting to figure

0:31.6

out what to do with his life. One day, he's scrolling through the internet on his laptop,

0:36.9

clicking through different sites. Maybe he'll find a graduate job. But then, he stumbles

0:42.8

upon an ad. Basically, he's saying, you know, if you're a characterful, resourceful,

0:49.1

energetic, I'd like for this show. The ad was for contestants for a new TV show, but beyond

0:56.2

stating what characteristics were needed, no further information was given. Daniel was

1:01.9

suspicious, but not as much as he was curious. Why not give it a go, he thought. I mean, he

1:08.4

probably won't hear back, but what did he have to lose? To his surprise, he actually

1:17.7

got a reply. It came from a company called Nikita Russian Productions. Surprisingly enough,

1:24.5

it was run by a guy named Nick Russian. So Nick Russian is really fascinating character.

1:32.9

You've probably never heard of Nick, but for some people, he's a name and face they'll

1:37.9

never forget. He was charismatic. I think quite good looking guy. You're quite big. A charming,

1:45.4

good looking guy big in size with big dreams. Dreams of making the next hit reality show.

1:53.8

When I read about Nick Russian, I was like, I'd watch this show. And then I realized, I was like,

1:59.4

what is wrong with me? What is wrong with me? Then I was like, I would watch this.

2:05.0

Nick Russian's plan was a simple, but effective one. Gather a group of normal people, ask them to

2:11.2

give up their entire lives and compete in the show. Perform well and you can expect fame and

2:17.9

riches. One of those normal people was none other than Daniel Pope. After Daniel received the

2:25.0

email from Nick, he decided to trade in paradise and head to the cold gray city of London,

2:30.7

all for a chance to be cast in Nick's show. You know the saying, the best laid plans of

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