Steve Helling in the TV series ‘Got to Get Out.’ Photo Courtesy of Hulu.
Steve Helling chatted about starring in the Hulu reality TV series “Got to Get Out.”
Background on the show ‘Got to Get Out’
The synopsis is: 20 people under one roof; $1 million in prizes up for grabs. To win it, they’ve “Got to Get Out”… but that’s much easier said than done.
Lies and lunacy collide in this exhilarating competition series where an outrageous mix of reality icons and crafty gamers must conspire to get out. In this house, time is money. As the clock ticks, the prize money increases.
The longer they stay, the greater their chance to earn more. They can split the money equally in the end or try to make their escape at any point in time with the accumulated money all for themselves, leaving others to start again at $0.
From wild strategies and temptations to shifting alliances and unbelievable escape attempts, the players will try any and every way to make it out of the gate and win the prize.
‘Got to Get Out’ on Hulu
On being a part of “Got to Get Out,” he remarked, “It was good. I really had fun. I always enjoyed reality TV, and I’ve always wanted to do a show of my own.”
“When they reached out to me, I thought it was going to be a fun experience. I played hard, I had fun, I made friends, and realized that it was a good opportunity to make some money fast,” he elaborated.
Lessons learned from this reality show
On the lessons learned from this reality show, Helling reflected, “I don’t know if it taught me anything about myself but it confirmed what I knew, which was doing these reality shows would be a lot of fun.”
“There are certain skills that I have that would go over really well in a show. I am very good at talking to people from different walks of life, and I am very good at meeting people and finding things to talk about,” he acknowledged.
“One thing I learned is that I am better at lying about these things than I even thought I would be. The bigger the lie I told, the more everybody believed it. That was kind of a surprise for me because I didn’t think anybody would fall for it. That was something I learned,” he explained.
Steven Giannopoulos
Helling spoke about being a part of this reality show with Steven Giannopoulos. “At first, we did not see eye to eye. We tried to work together a few times but it didn’t work out,” Helling said.
“Then, a couple of days into it, we became friends,” Helling admitted. “Steven was the person that I told a lot of my plans to. Now, we are very good friends outside of the show. During the show, we weren’t always on the same page.”
“They would call me ‘Trash Can Steve’ or ‘Liar Steve.’ Even though they called my names, I am old enough to the point where it didn’t hurt my feelings. As long as they are talking about me, that’s a good thing,” Helling noted.
“At one point, everybody was in the kitchen, and they were saying all sorts of horrible things about me,” Helling revealed. “I could hear them, and I was delighted because nobody wants to do one of these shows and not make any impact on the show.”
“So, if they are all sitting around talking about me, then that’s a good thing,” he added.
Valentin ‘Val’ Chmerkovskiy
Helling had great words about his co-star Valentin “Val” Chmerkovskiy. “Val is a fun guy as well,” Helling said. “Val was my roommate in the house. He was very friendly to me from day one. We only tried to work together once or twice.”
“Other than that, we didn’t work together too much. Again, we were great friends outside of the house (especially since I had proven to be untrustworthy),” Helling noted.
“A couple of people really did trust me near the end, but most people did not,” he added.
Future plans
Regarding his future plans, Helling shared, “I work in journalism, and I work in TV production. I am working on something for ESPN right now.”
“I have a show in development that is being shopped around to some of the major streaming networks as an executive producer,” he said.
“Then, I do a lot of TV appearances with news. I show up on news stations all the time talking about crimes and things like that, which is much more serious than what I did in the house in Canada,” he noted.
“That was a fun experience to let loose, do a show like that, and then, go back to real life. If another show calls me, I will do it. I’ve talked to other casting people who asked me if I am free and willing to do another show and the answer is ‘yes’,” he added.
The digital age
On being a part of the digital age, Helling said, “I was the oldest man in the house in Canada, and by quite a bit. Most of the people in that house are young enough to be my children. So, I had to really step out of my comfort zone quite a bit. I wasn’t talking to a bunch of people in their 50s. I was talking to a bunch of people in their 20s.”
“So, being a part of the digital age makes me feel younger than I actually am,” he admitted. “I am a senior citizen compared to everybody else on that show. I was cast to be the old guy,” he said with a sweet laugh.
Advice for hopefuls who wish to compete in reality TV
For hopefuls that wish to go and compete in reality TV competitions, he said, “Give yourselves permission to do whatever you want to do. You are hired to play a game and the game involves lying, cheating, stealing, and backstabbing. That is what the game is, and it’s not a reflection of who you are in your real life.”
“Give yourself permission to be as evil and villainous as you want to be for that game, and then, when you step of that game, you can go back to being the good person that you really are,” he explained.
“The other thing I would recommend to people is to try out for these games. Apply for these things; you might find that they are a lot of fun, and you can even make money doing it, and you might make some friends along the way. You might be exactly who they are looking for,” he added.
Stage of his life
On the title of the current chapter of his life, he revealed, “I’ll Try Anything.” “I literally will try anything right now,” he admitted.
Success
“Success means achieving whatever it is that you want to achieve, whether it’s family or a career or financial success.”
“I don’t think that the most successful person in the room is the richest person in the room. I think the most successful person is the happiest person,” he noted.
“The person who has found their happiness has found their joy, and is achieving whatever it is that they want to achieve,” he acknowledged.
Message for his fans and supporters
For his fans and supporters, Helling said, “To anybody that enjoyed watching me, thank you. For anybody who hated me, I don’t care if you don’t like me. Obviously, I’ve made enough of an impact for you to talk about me.”
“For the people that did enjoy me, be sure to follow me on social media. I am very open to interacting with people, so feel free to send me messages; I will probably write you guys back,” he concluded.
To learn more about Steve Helling, follow him on Instagram.
Content shared from www.digitaljournal.com.