Battle Campfeatures reality TV stars from all corners of the Netflix universe,includingSelling The OCstars Polly Brindle and Gio Helouin a whole new setting. Coming fromSelling The OC,where glitz and glamour are the name of the game for the O Group real estate agents, joiningthe cast ofBattle Campwas an incredibly different experience for Gio and Polly. While both are accustomed to the reality TV grind, competing on a new show with completely different rules and parameters was a whole new world that pushed both Polly and Gio to entirely new places.
As two of the most long-tenured cast members ofSelling The OC,Polly and Gio have been able to experience reality TV from a specific angle. With both of the O Group agents having created space for themselves within the structured reality TV space, the pair seemed excited about their experiences onBattle Campseason 1, even though it was completely different than what they’ve done in the past. ForGio, who’s typically known for his more lavish, standout ways onSelling The OC,joiningBattle Campwas a whole new way to engage with the world of reality TV.
ForPolly, her strategic mind as a top-selling agentat the O Group was a helpful tool to navigate the ins and outs ofBattle Camp.While both of them were excited for the experience, it’s clear that joiningBattle Campand being pushed to compete was a very different experience than either of them are used to. Even so, the pair, who were placed on different teams on the series, did a great job moving through the new world together.Polly and Gio sat down with Screen Rant to discuss their timeon the brand-new competition show.
I felt such like genuine devastation that you were going home.
Screen Rant: Obviously the two of you are paired onSelling The OCfrom time to time, working together. We’ve seen you guys in that environment – that being said, this issonot the same world asSelling The OC.
Polly Brindle: Not even the same universe – it’s not even the same universe! Not at all, very out of our comfort zone.
Gio Helou: To say the least.
Screen Rant: What were you expecting when you stepped intoBattle Camp?
Polly: We were not told much about what to expect, other than that it’s going to be physically grueling and mentally challenging, and that there was going to be a social aspect to the game - but we had no concept of the whole camp that had been made, any of the challenges, any of the people that we were going to be with. We just knew that it was going to be very intense. And yeah, I kind of walked in ready for anything. Honestly, I was prepared for anything.
Gio: I feel like that’s your daily attitude.
Polly: Yeah, but it definitely did push me to my absolute limits. I, you know, nearly kind of crumbled a couple of times. And I was just so grateful to have, you know, not only a colleague, but a friend with me to go through that, because it was such a high-intensity situation.
Gio: Yeah, it’s the complete opposite of my comfy bubble here. So, it was truly grueling, and I mean that in the most fun way possible. I can say that after that, when I got home, I looked like I had gone to war and come back. Like I was like, I don’t know, I was just very emaciated.
Polly: You lost a ton of weight. Oh my gosh.
Gio: They took great care of us, but it was just such an intense competitive environment. My gosh, just every day, you never knew what to expect, because they didn’t give us any heads up on anything. So, you just, it’s kind of like being a realtor - you have to be prepared for everything.
Polly: Yeah, and our job, it is so competitive. You know, obviously we work together, but there is a level of competition between realtors, especially in high-end luxury real estate in OC. So, that element going in, I kind of felt confident, but it being a competition show and everybody else in the camp had come from competition show backgrounds, I was like, oh wow. [laughs] like I can’t, I’m not good at strategizing in terms of gameplay for this show. I’m just going to be myself and hope for the best.
Screen Rant: Polly, did you feel like generally not being fully in the competitive TV space almost helped you to see the competition better?
Polly: Absolutely. I knew within minutes of joining the camp that I wasn’t the most physically strong, I probably wasn’t the most mentally strong. I definitely, you know, was out of my comfort zone. So my thought process was be yourself, don’t be a target. I’m quite athletic, I’m very competitive, and I am really good in social situations. I’m kind of a social butterfly. So, I felt confident enough that I could not have a target on my back and I was hoping it would take me far. And it actually did. I wasn’t excelling at anything too much that people wanted me out because I was a threat, and I wasn’t bad enough at anything that I was a weak link and people wanted me out. So, that did me really well - the fact that I just kind of coasted along helped me make it really far.
Screen Rant: You had quite the even strength, yeah. Gio, so when you saw Polly come in, were you excited? How did you feel?
Gio: I was elated. It didn’t matter whether she was on my team or not, just seeing a friendly face [was great] because I was in an environment that was just so foreign to me. Having her there just made it feel like a little piece of home, you know, made it toBattle Camp. So, you know, even though we weren’t on the same team, we were definitely still watching out for each other’s backs.
Polly: Which was helpful. Like the fact that I’m an Eagle, he’s a Bear, and the fact that we are so close, it didn’t even need to be said that we have each other’s backs. So, if there was any gameplay going on, it was almost like we could tell each other that and it helped us out in the game.
Gio: It was a level of trust that I don’t think any of the other campers could quite have matched. Yeah, it was a huge benefit, just both personally and strategically when I saw Polly show up to camp.
Polly: I think if we had have been on the same team – because I didn’t know what team I was going in as being the first replacement – I think we would have had targets on our back because we would have been such a duo and people would have been like, these two need to get out, so it worked out pretty well.
Screen Rant:Gio, your elimination was really rough. Can you take me through how it felt to see your name on that wheel?
Gio: That was, oh my gosh, that was not expected. I thought I would definitely be there tomorrow and having my name up on the wheel just the one time, I thought, okay, I have some skin in the game. It’s kind of funny, because we had been safe for so long as team Bears, and when it hit my name, after it hit Avori [Henderson]’s name, it was just like, what just happened? My entire world collapsed. I was just, I was in disbelief, I think, for a couple of days, because I was so sure I wasn’t going home that night.
Polly: There were 16 slots on there – you were on there once and it hit. Honestly, it’s so wild. I hit the floor, like disappeared underneath me. I felt such like genuine devastation that you were going home. Like, I don’t care that it’s another person out of camp and I’m closer to that $250,000 grand prize. I don’t care that you’re on a different team or whatever. I lost a family member in that moment. And I was devastated, I ugly cried so hard. I was devastated.
Screen Rant: I’m so glad to see you guys back together now! I hope to see you both on something likeBattle Campagain in the future.
Gio: Yes, yes.
Polly: [laughs] Nope! I’m never doing it again, nope. [laughs] We’re back in our comfort zone, we’re good here.
