You may recognize Tyson Apostol from his four seasons of \u201cSurvivor,\u201d \u201cMarriage Boot Camp,\u201d \u201cThe Challenge: USA\u201d or even the upcoming \u201cHouse of Villains.\u201d And after so many years spent on reality television, he has plenty of insight into the modern era of the genre where former fan-favorites are popping up on rival networks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s amazing, but it\u2019s hard. I got my start on \u2018Survivor,\u2019 but a lot of times their attitude is like, \u2018We made you,\u2019 and it\u2019s like, no, I made myself,\u201d he told TheWrap. \u201cAll these claims about them finding people, they didn\u2019t make anybody \u2014 except for maybe Rupert, the pirate; anybody who plays a character. Sure, maybe they created that person a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
More from TheWrap<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a><\/figure>\n \u201cBut for a long time, that was the attitude: you should be grateful. But people on reality TV that are cast have talents that make them perfect for reality TV. Speaking for myself, I don\u2019t have any discernible talents that make me extra marketable except for my personality, and that\u2019s what reality TV is,\u201d Apostol continued. \u201cSo when \u2018The Traitors\u2019 and \u2018House of Villains\u2019 and these other shows are essentially giving opportunity and building an environment where someone like me feels good about coming on TV, not feeling like I\u2019m getting exploited and then not getting a call back for six or seven years. With these shows cropping up, it\u2019s good for us, because it forces other networks to treat everyone professionally.\u201d<\/p>\n Audiences were first introduced to Apostol on \u201cSurvivor: Tocantins\u201d in 2009, followed by appearances on \u201cHeroes vs. Villains,\u201d \u201cBlood vs. Water\u201d (which he won) and \u201cWinners at War.\u201d He\u2019ll next be seen this coming season on \u201cHouse of Villains\u201d as the competition show moves from E! to Peacock.<\/p>\n \u201cDo I identify with being a villain? In a reality sense, yes. As a human, that would maybe be more insulting,\u201d the Trulieve spokesman shared. \u201cBut if you look at the breakdown of \u2018Heroes vs. Villains,\u2019 it was the schemers and the people who played hard versus the people who got a hero\u2019s edit since they were not schemers. We were not afraid of anybody on the Heroes tribe outmaneuvering us strategically.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOn \u2018House of Villains,\u2019 it was a little bit more insulting. I was like, \u2018Am I one of these guys?\u2019 Because I watched the last two seasons, I don\u2019t know that I fit. Even on the calls, I was like, \u2018I don\u2019t know if I am what you\u2019re looking for,’\u201d he joked. \u201cSo I showed up, part out of spite for \u2018Australian Survivor,\u2019 because they made me an offer; they were excited to have me there, but then went in a different direction. \u2018Casting is like a puzzle and the pieces have to all fit together.\u2019 That\u2019s what they told me. Spare me the analogy. That\u2019s the most insulting part, not that you decided to go in a different direction, but that you gave me the puzzle analogy 20 years into my reality TV career. Like I haven\u2019t heard that a million times.\u201d<\/p>\n Tyson Apostol crowned Sole Survivor \u201cSurvivor: Blood vs. Water\u201d (Photo by Trae Patton\/CBS)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n So what can changes can fans expect in Season 3 when it premieres in 2026?<\/p>\n \u201cTheir budget was bigger, they were feeding us more, catering everything, keeping the fridge totally stocked. Just anything you ever wanted, plus a three-course lunch. They pampered us pretty well,\u201d Apostol shared. \u201cWe got it almost too easy, they took care of me. Much different experience than what I went through on \u2018The Challenge,\u2019 as far as being treated like a human.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed, Apostol was a runner-up on Season 1 of \u201cThe Challenge: USA\u201d on CBS \u2026 but don\u2019t expect to see him on the classic MTV version anytime soon.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m 46, I can\u2019t go back on \u2018The Challenge.\u2019 That\u2019s too much,\u201d he admitted with a laugh. \u201cA lot of them were unaware that we were co-workers. Some productions understand that you\u2019re co-workers. As long as you also understand that they\u2019re your co-worker, I think it works out great for everybody. [Otherwise], it\u2019s when either somebody is a diva or production treats you like a commodity rather than a living, breathing person who likes to be respected as they respect you.\u201d<\/p>\n So what does this reality TV veteran think of the \u201cSurvivor\u201d Season 50 cast after starring in four seasons himself?<\/p>\n \u201cSeason 50 is coming up. Lots of questionable choices, because it is not the celebration of eras of \u2018Survivor\u2019 like they promised. I noticed online, it got a very poor grade as far as casting is concerned, but people are going to enjoy watching, of course. There\u2019s still four or five absolute wackadoos on there, and that\u2019s going to drive the season no matter what. There\u2019s going to be background fodder,\u201d he teased. \u201cIf you packed it all with absolute superstars, somebody is going to be background noise anyways, so why not just get a standard background noise person to fill their role there and then you don\u2019t have to argue in the editing room who\u2019s going to be background.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou look at other franchises that have been built on their talent and have catapulted into the stratosphere because of that. For so long, some shows would purposely try to keep their talent from getting too big so that they could utilize them more in the future,\u201d Apostol further noted. \u201cNow it\u2019s kind of backfired, because you could have an army of 800 former contestants who all have a million followers on Instagram promoting your stuff for free, but the lack of tagging people in posts for a decade and all of that has really hindered their marketing strategies.\u201d<\/p>\n Outside of competing on national television, Apostol has spent a large portion of his life as an athlete \u2014 whether that was in pro-cycling, collegiate swimming or, more recently, pickleball. It\u2019s that wear and tear that inspired him to team up with Trulieve to understand the health benefits of cannabis.<\/p>\n \u201cI grew up in a pretty conservative household, so I never really experimented with with anything growing up. As an adult, I was having aches and pains, my back was hurting \u2014 this was before \u2018Winners at War\u2019 \u2014 I had a herniated disc in my back or something, bedridden,\u201d Apostol recalled. \u201cI don\u2019t like how I feel taking hundreds and hundreds of milligrams of Tylenol or Aspirin or anything like that, and I know how bad that can be on your body, so I thought I know that people have had positive experiences with cannabis and I need to try that rather than opioids or tons of over-the-counter pain relievers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat was in my late 30s. I came into \u2018WaW\u2019 just off of all these back issues and was still able to play the game, be physical enough; but I was probably not in great shape then, compared to even now,\u201d he added. \u201cBut as you age, I\u2019ve definitely had a harder time sleeping, either from the stresses of life or extra physical activity too late in the day, so I use cannabis for that. I\u2019ve been using cannabis edibles in my wellness routine to recover, to get sleep, to take away some of the aches and pains that I\u2019m feeling and keep me going.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have regular everyday stresses and things on my mind, so when my mind\u2019s racing at night or I\u2019m having a hard time, it definitely helps calm me down and get the rest that I need,\u201d Apostol concluded. \u201cThat helps me be better the next day.\u201d<\/p>\n The post Tyson Apostol Readies for \u2018House of Villains\u2019 Stint After a Reality TV Career Spent at CBS<\/a> appeared first on TheWrap<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You may recognize Tyson Apostol from his four seasons of \u201cSurvivor,\u201d \u201cMarriage Boot Camp,\u201d \u201cThe Challenge: USA\u201d or even the upcoming \u201cHouse of Villains.\u201d And after so many years spent on reality television, he has plenty of insight into the modern era of the genre where former fan-favorites are popping up on rival networks. \u201cI […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1956684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[362199,305249,350925,362198],"class_list":["post-1997215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-house-of-villains","tag-reality-television","tag-the-challenge","tag-tyson-apostol"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Ryan-Reynolds-Dwayne-Johnson-Tessa-Thompson-and-More-Set-Panels.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1997215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1956684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1997215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1997215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1997215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/div>