After a sterling first season, E!’s House Of Villains is back again with a stellar group of baddies that audiences will love to loathe. While the show’s debut featured iconic villains like The Challenge‘s Johnny Bananas, Love & Hip Hop: Miami‘s Bobby Lytes, Bad Girls Club’s Tanisha Thomas, Season 2 is stepping it up. With bigger challenges, bigger theatrics, and bigger personalities than ever before, House Of Villains is raising the reality TV stakes once again. One question that lingers for audiences? In a culture that exalts its heroes, why would anyone want to be a villain? We spoke to the Season 2 cast to find out why.
The only returning cast member from Season 1, Tiffany “New York” Pollard of Flava Of Love and I Love New York fame finds it “very easy” to be labeled a villain. “Usually where I’m from, that means that you’re not going to take any s-h-i-t from anybody,” explained Pollard. “You’re going to speak your mind, speak your truth, and stand up for what you believe in.” Bad Girls Club alum Camilla Poindexter sees the villain title similarly and proudly “owns it.” “I’m not a bad person just because I’m doing a villain show,” said Poindexter. “I just have to be comfortable with myself.” To hear Pollard and Poindexter put it like that, it’s a wonder that everyone isn’t more open to being called a villain.
For her part, OG Real Housewives Of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice “hold[s] the title [of villain] very proudly.” “I’ve embraced being a villain,” Giudice affirmed.Beloved for her big heart and fiery temper, she has built a career out of not caring what others think about her. Much like Giudice, The Bachelor star and crown wearer Victoria Larson has a very zen approach to the villain moniker. “If someone is calling you a villain, maybe that’s only their perception,” said Larson wisely. “Everyone is entitled to their beliefs.” 90 Day Fiancé star Larissa Lima shared the same sentiment: “If you say I’m a villain, then I’m a villain.”
Survivor Season 1 winner Richard Hatch doesn’t think the villain role is “a bad thing.” “It’s just a word people have used to label us for a variety of reasons.” On Survivor, Hatch become known as a villain because he carried out the rules to “out, outplay and outlast” his competition. “People didn’t get the game,” said Hatch. Viewers said he “lied” and “manipulated” his competition, but Hatch insisted he merely “influenced” them. Hatch doesn’t mind being hated as long as there is a prize pot to contend for. “So, call me a villain, [but] just give me the money.”
Big Brother alum and OVW star Jessie “Mr. Pectacular” Godderz remembered people telling him he was a “one trick pony” and to enjoy his “15 minutes [of fame].” “15 years later, it’s a beautiful thing.” “Not many people understand me because I have muscles,” joked Godderz. “I’m very polarizing.”
Like Goddrez, some of the other House of Villains stars appreciate the theatricality of the title of villain. “What would Batman be without the Joker?” asked Safaree of Love & Hip Hop fame. “He’d be nothing.” RuPaul’s Drag Race Queen Kandy Muse agreed with Safaree’s take: “Villains are the most iconic people in movies and TV shows.” Muse noted that at the core of being a villain is “being the baddest bitch in the room and not being afraid of what people have to say about you.” Like her cast mates, Muse aspires to always “give [the people] something to talk about.”
Perhaps the villain with the most interesting view on the title is The Challenge legend Wes Bergmann. “Heroes are pushovers [and] boring,” said Bergmann simply. “I don’t want a hero.” As a villain, Bergmann pointed out that he gets to “do bad things to bad people” and “entertain the masses.” “Yeah, we get a weird reputation from those that are not paying attention, but to those that are…we’re actually the people to be.”
See the House of Villains Season 2 crew in action with the show’s two-night premiere! The fun starts tonight, October 9, at 10 PM ET/PT.