When “Destination X” premieres Tuesday night on NBC, host Jeffrey Dean Morgan won’t be the only familiar face viewers will find on this road trip of a lifetime.
That’s because three reality TV alumni are joining the travel competition series alongside nine other fresh meat to the genre — “Big Brother” and “The Challenge” regular Josh Martinez, “The Bachelor” and “The Traitors” star Peter Weber and “Love Island USA” Season 6 fan-favorite JaNa Craig.
Ahead of the “Destination X” series premiere, Martinez opened up to TheWrap about the logistics behind his 12th stint on television, ultimately revealing that this was actually the most challenging show he’s taken on so far.
“For all my other experiences — ‘The Challenge’ is like seven, six, 10 weeks; I did 14, 15 weeks of ‘Big Brother’ — so I’m like, ‘I can do this no problem. It’s six weeks, you’re living on the bus traveling, it’s a couple challenges? Cake walk.’ I was not even nine hours into the bus ride and I was like, ‘This is going to be f–king hell,’” he admitted. “I realized that I’m just a very claustrophobic person, and I didn’t know that before ‘Destination X.’ I also get annoyed very quickly, which I do know about myself, but being confined, people were driving me crazy. I felt very deep connections very quickly, but with some people I was ready to start a riot. It was really hard.”
“I can’t say any experience prepared me for ‘Destination X.’ On a social side, I just genuinely connect with people and build relationships; I’m a very friendly, easygoing person,” Martinez continued. “But from an experience being confined on a bus and traveling and trying to figure out where the hell we’re at, there’s nothing that can prepare you for that. Just like ‘Big Brother,’ nothing can prepare you for 102 days locked in a house.”
“Destination X” will follow Martinez and his fellow 11 contestants as they traverse Europe via a blacked-out bus with the goal of using their pop culture and historical knowledge to guess their location … and not being the person farthest away from the correct answer. It may sound similar to other travel shows like “The Amazing Race” or “Road Rules,” but this is actually the American version of a hit Belgium series.
“‘Amazing Race’ is great, but — I’m going to get in trouble for this — it’s missing something. It’s missing a lot, honestly. ‘Destination X’ is just a whole different beast of its own. There’s no other show like it,” the “Big Brother” Season 19 winner explained. “This is my 12th competition show and this was the hardest, gnarliest, craziest experience of my life … it’s truly my personal opinion from somebody that has been in the reality space for eight years now, it’s going to be a hit and one of the best shows that has ever existed, because it’s so different from everything.”
So after so many years competing on CBS/MTV/Paramount properties, what was it like for Martinez to test the waters over at NBCUniversal?
“A dream come true. Even when I got the call, I got off of another project and my sister was like, ‘You just got another gig, another opportunity.’ I wanted to be done, but she’s like, ‘No, this is NBC.’ And I was like, ‘I’m doing it,’” he shared.
“I fly out and instantly fell in love. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I’m an adrenaline junkie, I love adventure and I love competing. I kind of live for it. To know that it was for NBC, which has been absolutely crushing the reality space, was such an honor and such a cool experience. I felt very lucky, very grateful.”
“Destination X” premieres Tuesday, May 27 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC, before streaming next day on Peacock.
