EXCLUSIVE | 'The Titan Games' Season 2: Bodybuilder Joshua Porter says show's fun but a 'one-time thing' for him
We are edging closer to the premiere of Season 2 of 'The Titan Games'. Hosted by Dwayne Johnson, the show sees people from all walks from life compete with professional athletes, for the prize of $100,000. Like Sherlock would say, "The game is ON, Mrs Hudson."
MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) caught up with participant Joshua Porter, a weightlifter and bodybuilder from Fayetteville, North Carolina. Asked how this opportunity presented itself to him, he said, "A few friends reached out to me randomly about The Titan Games without knowing essentially what it was all about." He says that he applied just to see what "he could do with himself". Porter says that the show was quite physically taxing for him. "Absolutely. It pushed my body to different limits."
He says that his biggest takeaway from the show was learning the limits his body could go to as well as being around different people. "The type of people that we got to be with. It was being around all these different people and different athletes and how they train and compete." Porter says that the most challenging part of being on the show was trying to stay grounded. "To get everything going.... had to keep telling myself, yep. I'm trying to keep my head in the game. Competing was challenging too." How did his family react? "Everybody's super excited. Everybody's super nervous and super excited to see how it turns out," he says.
He says that his most memorable moment with Dwayne Johnson was when he bonded with Porter's dog. "Dwayne gave me a hug, so that was super satisfying. When you see The Rock holding your dog, give him a kiss, and then give you a hug, it means a lot."
Contestants like Dasha Kuret and Shantal Athill have said that there was no backstabbing on the show and all the participants were close. Speaking about this, Porter says, "We've stuck together through the end of it and we've all become better friends. Post-competition we've all they stayed in touch and I've met up with Dasha. I've hung out with a few other competitors. The biggest takeaway, I guess I can say for all of us, is the friendship that we were able to have with each other. So we all clicked together pretty easily."
Porter says the show was more tedious than stressful. "It was more tedious because it's about your pride as you're competing against people that you're calling friends and hanging out with afterwards. And then it's just trying to find the time to train and keep yourself up on nutrition, in between all of that. I think the more painstaking part of that was keeping the body fuelled."
Would he like to take on another reality show and continue being on television? He says he would rather not. "The whole process was, it was fun, but it was definitely a one time experience for me. My work schedule is super busy."
'The Titan Games' Season 2 airs on NBC at 8pm on Mondays.