While reality TV is known to have ballooned into its own genre in the 2000s, a decade prior, it was alive and well on MTV. First came The Real World, becoming a hit sensation with the then-nouveau concept of taking seven strangers from different walks of life, forcing them to live together and filming the outcome. And, three years later, on July 19, 1995, came Road Rules.
A spiritual sibling to The Real World, Road Rules similarly took five or six 18 to 24-year-olds and had them sharing the same space. Only this time, that space was an RV that traveled to a series of locations. But this is not your ordinary travelogue show, as the series also had the cast competing in “missions” to help them towards ultimately earning their “Handsome Reward” at the end of the season. During its time on the air from 1995 to 2007, a number of “Road Rulers” have gone on to prominent on-screen roles. Alumni include hit comedian and podcaster Theo Von, Access Hollywood anchor Kit Hoover and Grimm star David Giuntoli.
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Perhaps the biggest thing that came out of Road Rules, however, is The Challenge. Originally conceived as Road Rules: All Stars, the concept kicked off what would become one of MTV’s biggest series, and the longest-running reality show in TV history. Many former “Road Rulers” continued their reality career by appearing through a number of the current 40 seasons of the show, becoming outright legends in the process. And the hit podcast “Challenge Mania” is giving us our own “Handsome Reward” for Road Rules‘ anniversary, bringing together a handful of the show’s biggest alumni to look back on the milestone on July 27 at the Brea Improv.
“There’s a lot of shows that took notes from Road Rules after its premiere, such as Fear Factor, The Amazing Race,” Mark Long, Road Rules Season 1 cast member and the self-proclaimed “Godfather” of The Challenge, tells Parade exclusively. “The Challenge itself was a direct derivative of the original Road Rules. So I’m proud of that. And people still come up to me today telling me how much it influenced them and how myself and the other castmates and the show became part of their lives.”
For Road Rules‘ 30th anniversary, Parade spoke with Long, Rachel Robinson (Road Rules: Campus Crawl), Shane Landrum (Road Rules: Campus Crawl) and Susie Meister (Road Rules: Down Under) to talk about what got them into their respective RVs, their most life-changing experiences on the show and whether Road Rules should be brought back today.
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What made you decide to apply for Road Rules? And how did the experience measure up to your expectations?
Mark Long: I think I’m probably the only cast member that never actually applied for it. I almost got cast on The Real World: Los Angeles. And then when Puck got kicked out off The Real World: San Francisco, they flew me to meet the roommates as a potential roommate change. They ended up picking a girl. I went back to college, and a few months later they reached out to me asking if I’d like to participate in a new spinoff show pilot. I don’t even think they knew the show title at that point. I ended up flying out to Los Angeles and shooting the pilot for Road Rules with four other people. We shot it on Catalina Island, and it was pretty awesome. But the caveat was, because I did the pilot, I wouldn’t be considered for the show if it got picked up. Long story short, the show got picked up. They ended up only keeping me from the pilot and casting for 4 other strangers that ended up being Season 1 “Kit, Carlos, Allison, Shelley and myself.” Pretty wild story.
Rachel Robinson: Back when I auditioned, Road Rules and Real World were defining generations. It was the biggest thing you could land. And I, bored in college, wanted an adventure, excitement. I wanted to grow and see the world. It was the perfect fit for me, and thankfully, the casting agents agreed.
Shane Landrum: I had been a fan of Real World and Road Rules since Day 1 of each respective shows. For me personally, I was drawn much more deeply to Road Rules; specifically, I found the storyline much more engaging as a viewer. The very challenging nature of the show itself solidified the cast much closer than the cast members on Real World. I desperately wanted a chosen family like that, one that drew inspiration from each other as they overcame their personal adversity, in addition to the physical adversity faced as a team. When I applied for the show, my application specifically stated “WANTED FOR ROAD RULES :).” I was not interested in taking whatever role they give me. I was a “Road Ruler” through and through.
Susie Meister: I was the show’s biggest fan when I was in high school. On Season 2, there was a cast member named Timmy Beggy and he was from Pittsburgh, and I wrote him his first fan letter. Since I was from Pittsburgh too, it made me think I it would be possible for me to be on the show, and if I got picked maybe Timmy would go on a date with me. I decided, when I turned 18, I would audition. So on my birthday, I made a VHS (!) tape of myself in my childhood bedroom telling them why I should be on the next season. And miraculously, it worked.
Mark Long: I think the first season of any show is always the best. One reason is you have nothing to compare it to, it’s brand new, organic. There’s no previous show to say, “Oh yeah, that’s what that show looks like.” Looking back, being on the first season was awesome. It was in the mid-90s. There were no cell phones, there was no GPS, we actually had to use maps, and we actually had to communicate with each other, no social media at all. It ended up being a huge influential part of my life.
What’s one particular moment you felt was the most life-changing (either from a person, task, etc.) from your Road Rules experience?
Susie: I grew up in a super strict, Pentecostal Christian home. And being exposed to the other five cast members and their diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, worldviews, and personalities changed me forever. I was the token, virginal Christian, naive, girl-next-door. And the show accomplished what it intended to do. It brought completely different people together and opened my eyes to a whole new world, changed my mind, educated me about different kinds of people, and altered whole I saw the world. I would never be the same, in the best possible way.
Rachel: The biggest life-changing experience for me was learning and dealing with not being the best at everything. Anyone who has done The Challenge or Road Rules long enough will run into something that just doesn’t go their way. It’s learning to deal with failure that taught me the most. I remember once we had to flip a car on Road Rules and I didn’t do it. It was dealing with things like that, that made me a better person and more empathetic to everyone around me.
Mark: A lot of people might not remember this, but we actually did a skydiving challenge. My initial parachute didn’t open and then my reserve chute wouldn’t open. There’s a CO2 cartridge that, when you hit a certain altitude, actually fires your reserve parachute out. It was a pretty traumatic experience for me. I remember jumping out of the plane after Kit, but actually landing on the ground before she did because I was having all of those problems. On a personal level, though, I look back and had gained a new best friend, Kit Hoover. She and I still talk and text all the time 30 years later. In fact, when I’m out in Los Angeles for the Road Rules 30th anniversary event, I’m actually going on her show Access Hollywood the Friday before with her and Mario Lopez.
Shane: Such a difficult question, as the show itself is the most life-changing experience I’ve had in my entire life. However, I was the last cast member to leave the Winnie, which meant that I got to say goodbye to each cast member as they left for their flights (and the goodbyes for the final scenes of our season). And then it was just me and our crew, the unspoken, unseen cast member of the show. And, instead of filming me saying goodbye to cast members, the cameras were put down, and the crew members said goodbye to me. The camera-man Bruce, a man who saw everything, every moment, hugged me deeply and said in my ear, “And you have finally learned to love and be loved by others.” It hit me like a ton of bricks. And I found myself unable to let him go as the emotions overwhelmed me in his embrace as the crew encircled me for one last goodbye.
It hit me because it was the truth. I had never allowed anyone into the deepest parts of myself, the shame, the fear, the anger of my personal experiences. And with my cast, with Rachel, Darrell, Eric, Kendall, Sarah, Raquel, and these crew members, I had allowed myself to finally be vulnerable and free. And in that freedom, I found that I was worthy of being loved. And through that love, I was finally able to safely love others in return. That acknowledgment of truth is something I try to remember every time I found myself repeating old patterns of fear or trauma. That it is okay to let people in, and it is okay to love others even if they aren’t letting you in.
How significant were the relationships you made with your fellow Road Rulers (both on your season and in other seasons)?
Rachel: They are truly lifelong friendships. No matter how much time passes, we pick up right where we left off. My original season is very special because I am naturally still so close to the majority of the cast, especially Shane and Darrell. So it’s really nice to be able to have all the history and always have each other in your life. Tina, Veronica, Mark, and Derrick – also “Road Rulers – are friends for life. There is truly a special bond we all have.
Shane: My god, this is such a loaded topic amongst my personal circle of non-cast member friends. Yu are making me put into words which I try to keep myself so they don’t hate me [Laughs.].
There is no bond like a cast member bond. My original cast was just A-List people, truly the best of the best I have ever known, so I was lucky in that regard. Not only did I have a deep bond from the Road Rules experience with everyone, but it is a bond with the type of person you want in your life because of the high-quality human they are.
But in regards to all cast members, even cast members who are my mortal enemy on the show, I will have a bond that can beat some of my best friends. Not all cast members, but most. The sheer amount of downtime with no distractions leads to some incredible bonds between us all. In addition to that month to three-month downtime of creating incredible memories and opening up through conversations, we end our show and then get the shared experience of watching the show and reliving it through the fans’ eyes. That is a whole ‘nother experience on par with the actual experience of filming it itself.
Mark: I think once you experience something like that, especially being in a Winnebago 24 hours a day for months at a time, it really does become sort of like a family while you’re on the road. You might have the sister that drives you nuts, the girl that you get along with and you guys flirt all the time, the brother you might not always have wanted but end up being friends with. I think you can’t help but develop relationships with your classmates. It’s inevitable when you’re putting a scenario like that.
Susie: The relationships were life-changing. Since I had literally just graduated from high school and had been completely sheltered, being around completely new people and having new experiences, and completely outrageous adventures was invaluable. And I can only imagine the patience they had to have with my ignorant ass. But I am eternally grateful because it changed me and made me a better human being.
How do you look back on your reality TV debut at such a formative young age, especially compared to what we’ve seen of you in the years since?
Shane: I absolutely cherish my memories on my show and each subsequent show I have been on. Like all life experiences, in different places in my life, I would reflect differently on the experience and the lens I viewed it through. Ultimately, filming the show and participating in Road Rules and The Challenge is A+. But sometimes being watched on Road Rules and/or The Challenge, not so much. The best part about this experience is that our viewers have gotten to grow up with us. And there is a lot of understanding on their end as they watch us through our evolutions of character each season.
Susie: I am so thankful that I got to go on reality TV in the year of our lord 1998, when it was a far more authentic experience. It was truly a documentary (albeit heavily edited). Producers did not interfere or try to make us do anything inauthentic. And I praise the good lord even more that I got to do it before social media existed. I didn’t even have an email address at that time, and cell phones were barely a thing.
Rachel: I was 18 when I was cast. I look back and can’t believe what a baby I was, but also how confident and ready for it I also was. It has shaped me in every way. There is truly no way to describe the experience; one must live it.
Mark: This is a great question. I actually watched the entire first season of Road Rules a few months ago. The first season was so great because it was so organic. There was nothing to compare it to. In fact, when I watched it, it seemed so innocent and vanilla. Unlike some of the reality shows today that are so edgy and overly produced. The relationships we had back then were honest and real. And the fights we had were just as real and true.
What is it about Road Rules that has created such a lasting impact, especially considering the shows that came after it?
Susie:Road Rules embodies the power of travel, adventure, and friendships in opening your mind, improving your life, and enriching your spirit. I don’t think Love Island can do that.
Rachel: We are all really real people that have massive heart and care for each other so much. That’s what makes it different. Modern-day reality TV, you won’t find that.
Mark: If you look back at the reality genre as a whole, Road Rules premiered in 1995. It was at the height of pop culture and nostalgia. The music was great, everyone was enjoying life without social media and smartphones. There’s a lot of shows that took notes from Road Rules after its premiere, such as Fear Factor, The Amazing Race. The Challenge itself was a direct derivative of the original Road Rules. So I’m proud of that. And people still come up to me today telling me how much it influenced them and how myself and the other castmates and the show became part of their lives.
Shane: I can speak for myself on this one. Watching Road Rules as a child showed me there was a place for me in this world. The casting was the same as Real World, different people, from different backgrounds, and different places in the world, forced to live together and see what resulted from that experience. But where Road Rules stood apart was the Missions.
They say the allure of a scary movie as a first date is that the shared adrenaline experience can create a tighter bond after the movie ends. (Make a mental note on this pro tip for those of you who didn’t know this first date trick.) And as a viewer, I could see that same bond form between “Road Rulers” as they overcame each adrenaline-inducing mission. “Road Rulers” loved each other deeply by the end of their season, and I believe it was the shared adrenaline experience that forced us to make up quicker, learn to evolve and expand as humans stronger, and leave a lasting impression of love to viewers much better than other reality shows. As a viewer, I longed for that experience. And as a viewer, I was able to see myself in cast members in all seasons of the show.
Do you believe Road Rules is a show that could (and should) be made today, and why?
Rachel: Sure! I think it would need a twist and turn, something that made it fresh and new age. But it is definitely something that should be brought back ASAP!
Shane: We live in a world today where television and viewer attention [are] in such complete and total flux in regards to the last 40 years of television, which did not see much, if at all variance. This show could be made today, but it would take a complete and total redirection in regards to its production work and release. There would be a need to have a more immediate turnaround of what is happening. It needs to be social media ready: Reels, constant 24/7 cameras. The ast would need to be able to use their social media and speak immediately to viewers in “REEL” time about their experience.
I think the isolation aspect of the show, which helps the cast bond, would be completely lost in today’s 24/7 consumerism of entertainment. AND that’s okay. Things can sit in history and be appreciated for their history and place in this world. I am not going to lie, though, as someone who has been watching La Casa de los Famosos religiously through Reels, Instagram Stories, and catching every episode possible through streaming choices, I know if we could offer the same level of capture that these shows do, our audience would eat it up. Maybe not as Road Rules, but for its predecessor The Challenge, it is going to become a necessity if it’s going to evolve and grow with a new audience in the future.
Susie:Road Rules, more than any other reality show, deserves a reboot. It could be a conduit for bringing people together, revealing how much we all actually have in common, and demonstrating the magic of diversity, adventure, and unity.
Mark: I would hope a version of Road Rules could be successful today. I’m just not quite sure it could capture the innocence and purity of 1995. But we’ve all seen the huge success of The Challenge All Stars. So never say never!
Related: ‘The Challenge’ Returns for Season 41 With ‘Vets and New Threats’: Everything to Know
