Interview with Jessica Schilling from NBC's Treasure Hunters
It's not very often in a competitive reality show that a team who leaves the game early on gets to make an impression on the audience, but not every player leaves under normal circumstances. Talking to us is Jessica of Team Grad Students from NBC's Treasure Hunters, whose perseverance over an injury and help from her team mates to beat out two other teams helped make her and the Grad Students an early favourite with the audience.
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Hi, Jessica! Before we get to the question on everyone's mind, your team unfortunately left the hunt too early for us to really get a chance to know you. Could you tell us a little about yourself - where you're from, what you study as a grad student?
My sister and I are from Lemoore California. It is a very small farm town in the middle of the Central Valley. We left a long time ago and moved to San Diego to go to school. It was NBC who named us the grad students. I assume they were picking up on the trait that we all had most in common. I actually finished my Masters degree in Psych about two years ago. The other ladies are still continuing their education.
How did you meet your team mates, Kat and Melissa, and what made you decide to compete together on Treasure Hunters?
Obviously, I have known Mel for quite some time, about 27 years or so. We met Kat about five years ago in San Diego. It was Kat who decided that we were going to compete on Treasure Hunters. She was approached by a casting director who told her about the show. She brought it to my sisters attention and then they called me. I told them that I wanted absolutely nothing to do with it, and that was final. They actually met with some of the casting people, presented my picture, and told them that I was taking part in a wedding, but I definitely wanted to be there. After they pulled that shenanigan (yes, I said shenanigan) twice, and took me on a rather grand guilt trip, I conceded and went with them to the “on-tape” interview. We had all the directors cracking up, they had to stop taping several times to quiet everyone down. It was hilarious. After that, there were several more interviews with directors and producers, extensive physical and medical testing, and then we were told we would be notified sometime in the future. Months later, we got this mysterious call and an envelope in the mail that said we were leaving in a matter of hours……
In the season premiere your team was hit twice by dirty playing, first by the Fogals taking a clue right out of Kat's hand and then by the Geniuses who unlocked your box. We've had some fun at Realivision taking digs at the "evil" teams, but under it all we know they are just people. Have you spoken to any of them since the game?
All of the teams communicate with each other via email. Everyone gets along just fine now. As far as the season premiere, I’m calling foul play. It actually was a rule, punishable by elimination, that you did not “cheat, or perform any action that would affect that outcome of another teams play”. Obviously, this is how our team was playing the game. Following the taping of episode one, there was some pretty serious meetings and such regarding game rules. Of course, by that time, the damage was already done. Its funny how much really went on while taping the show compared to how much the public actually ends up seeing. The difference is staggering.
Now the biggie - What happened to your knee and how is it doing?
As for my injury…..man that was a bad one. When we were in Boston, we were operating on the presumption that I had torn my MCL , ACL, and a couple of tendons. After we announced we were leaving, I was able to see a surgeon and I found out that I had also torn my meniscus and fractured my tibia. This was an extremely serious injury. Certainly nothing to be crossing a mountain with. :) Following the initial injury, I honestly knew that my knee was really, really bad. I was in excruciating pain. However, it is just so difficult to let go of the game like that. To most people, it was just one of the first episodes, to us, it was week three of this challenging experience that we had already committed too. You wanted to get out of the game because you did something stupid or couldn’t solve a puzzle, not because you fell in a gigantic hole. I honestly have a very high pain tolerance, and I was thinking that the initial pain of the injury might subside if I could just ignore it awhile. We knew that we had a 13 hour advantage on the other two teams. We decided to go to the hospital and have my leg wrapped up to stop the swelling as assess the damage and then continue on until I was just unable to do it any longer. Finishing out that day on the mountain was bittersweet. You have to realize that you guys saw ten minutes of footage when we were really crossing that mountain in the dark for about four or five hours. It was extremely treacherous, and, looking back, extremely stupid. However, our team is really like that in real life. We are always looking for the biggest adventure, no matter the consequences. Of course, I’ll have to wait for my second surgery and another full year of physical therapy before I can jump back on the extreme sport wagon. Though, I suppose, with Kat around, you can always count on being carried….
A recent twist in the game allowed the teams to choose to leave behind a member for the rest of the hunt. When Keith Brown got hurt, his brothers were allowed to choose to continue on with the game or withdraw from the hunt. If your team got the choice, would you have wanted Kat and Melissa go on?
If we had been given the same option as the Browns were given in the last episode, Mel and Kat would certainly have gone on. Getting injured was so frustrating, because we know that we could have gone far in the game. All the teams had assessed each other, and everyone knew the order in which teams were likely to go out. By the time we had gone that far, you already knew what each team was bringing to the table, you didn’t worry about that, only the instances of “dumb luck” that were brought into the game. For example, the Air Force (one of the nicest, most fair teams) arriving at the dig sight and finding a box on their first try. There were several instances of luck coming into play throughout the game, and it was never welcomed.
First you got hurt, then Keith from Team Brown Family, and recently Melissa from Team Miss USA revealed that she had three hairline fractures in her arm. What do you say to people who still keep insisting on comparing Treasure Hunters to The Amazing Race?
I can’t really comment about the Amazing Race because I have only seen one episode one time. I understand that it consists of people racing across the globe to different places. TH is completely different in that you are intellectually and physically challenged throughout the game. If you can’t compete physically, you are not going to make it. If you aren’t smart enough (or, it seems, charming enough to get help), you are not going to make it. What the public sees of the physical challenges is only the half of it. You have to understand that we are all operating with no sleep and no sustenance of any kind. Those quick little ten minute drives that you guys saw on t.v. were actually a full ten hours of driving, then do a challenge, then drive eight hours to the next site, then another ten hours to the next one. All the while, you are not sleeping or eating, though the crew is doing all of that all around you, and seeing days just sort of pass you by in a blur. It is absolutely necessary to wear contestants down and stress them out to the maximum so that they will “show their true colors”. And, any injury that occurs is absolutely “good tv”
If you could do it all again, would you?
Wow. This is a difficult question. My comrades will be looking at this one. The girls are dead set on going back. It seems that we have something to prove. As I already said, the hard part was having to leave because of something so stupid like a fractured leg. If we were going down, we wanted it to be because we did something to deserve the elimination. I would have to say, yes, I would lead my ladies back into battle….
Are there any other competitive reality shows you would like to try?
There is no other show that I have seen that I would be interested in participating in.
Could you tell us a little about your website, www.gradstudentsnbc.com?
Do you have any plans to keep it going or grow it?
We were asked to build a website to field questions/interest that NBC was getting regarding us. It is just a simple sight letting people know who we are. We plan on keeping it going for as long as it is necessary. We always encourage fans of the show to email us directly through the site. We are able to communicate directly with people that way. Also, I think we are all hoping that some new adventure comes from all of this. If anyone out there from the Discovery or Travel channel is looking for some crazy adventurers or hosts, let us know. We are definitely up for the challenge. :)
Any favourite teams left that you're cheering on now?
Yes, we do have our favorite teams still playing.
It's becoming a bit of a tradition here to ask a couple of silly questions to end on, so who was the best James Bond?
Sean Connery (sp)….hands down…
Favourite minor Simpsons character?
Don’t know the simpsons
7-Up or Sprite?
Are either one of those coffee?
Motorola or Nokia?
Okay, I'm kidding with that last one. Thank you very much, Jessica, and we wish you all the best in your future and we'll be keeping our fingers crossed for continued recovery.
Thank you and you are welcome. I am sure that post-show, many great stories will come out that will surprise you. I know that I am keeping my mouth shut…for now..at any rate.. Like I said, the girls are ready to rock the show again….I am truly opting for one on the travel or discovery channel. Thanks, jess
***
Treasure Hunters airs Mondays on NBC in the United States and Global in Canada.
***
Hi, Jessica! Before we get to the question on everyone's mind, your team unfortunately left the hunt too early for us to really get a chance to know you. Could you tell us a little about yourself - where you're from, what you study as a grad student?
My sister and I are from Lemoore California. It is a very small farm town in the middle of the Central Valley. We left a long time ago and moved to San Diego to go to school. It was NBC who named us the grad students. I assume they were picking up on the trait that we all had most in common. I actually finished my Masters degree in Psych about two years ago. The other ladies are still continuing their education.
How did you meet your team mates, Kat and Melissa, and what made you decide to compete together on Treasure Hunters?
Obviously, I have known Mel for quite some time, about 27 years or so. We met Kat about five years ago in San Diego. It was Kat who decided that we were going to compete on Treasure Hunters. She was approached by a casting director who told her about the show. She brought it to my sisters attention and then they called me. I told them that I wanted absolutely nothing to do with it, and that was final. They actually met with some of the casting people, presented my picture, and told them that I was taking part in a wedding, but I definitely wanted to be there. After they pulled that shenanigan (yes, I said shenanigan) twice, and took me on a rather grand guilt trip, I conceded and went with them to the “on-tape” interview. We had all the directors cracking up, they had to stop taping several times to quiet everyone down. It was hilarious. After that, there were several more interviews with directors and producers, extensive physical and medical testing, and then we were told we would be notified sometime in the future. Months later, we got this mysterious call and an envelope in the mail that said we were leaving in a matter of hours……
In the season premiere your team was hit twice by dirty playing, first by the Fogals taking a clue right out of Kat's hand and then by the Geniuses who unlocked your box. We've had some fun at Realivision taking digs at the "evil" teams, but under it all we know they are just people. Have you spoken to any of them since the game?
All of the teams communicate with each other via email. Everyone gets along just fine now. As far as the season premiere, I’m calling foul play. It actually was a rule, punishable by elimination, that you did not “cheat, or perform any action that would affect that outcome of another teams play”. Obviously, this is how our team was playing the game. Following the taping of episode one, there was some pretty serious meetings and such regarding game rules. Of course, by that time, the damage was already done. Its funny how much really went on while taping the show compared to how much the public actually ends up seeing. The difference is staggering.
Now the biggie - What happened to your knee and how is it doing?
As for my injury…..man that was a bad one. When we were in Boston, we were operating on the presumption that I had torn my MCL , ACL, and a couple of tendons. After we announced we were leaving, I was able to see a surgeon and I found out that I had also torn my meniscus and fractured my tibia. This was an extremely serious injury. Certainly nothing to be crossing a mountain with. :) Following the initial injury, I honestly knew that my knee was really, really bad. I was in excruciating pain. However, it is just so difficult to let go of the game like that. To most people, it was just one of the first episodes, to us, it was week three of this challenging experience that we had already committed too. You wanted to get out of the game because you did something stupid or couldn’t solve a puzzle, not because you fell in a gigantic hole. I honestly have a very high pain tolerance, and I was thinking that the initial pain of the injury might subside if I could just ignore it awhile. We knew that we had a 13 hour advantage on the other two teams. We decided to go to the hospital and have my leg wrapped up to stop the swelling as assess the damage and then continue on until I was just unable to do it any longer. Finishing out that day on the mountain was bittersweet. You have to realize that you guys saw ten minutes of footage when we were really crossing that mountain in the dark for about four or five hours. It was extremely treacherous, and, looking back, extremely stupid. However, our team is really like that in real life. We are always looking for the biggest adventure, no matter the consequences. Of course, I’ll have to wait for my second surgery and another full year of physical therapy before I can jump back on the extreme sport wagon. Though, I suppose, with Kat around, you can always count on being carried….
A recent twist in the game allowed the teams to choose to leave behind a member for the rest of the hunt. When Keith Brown got hurt, his brothers were allowed to choose to continue on with the game or withdraw from the hunt. If your team got the choice, would you have wanted Kat and Melissa go on?
If we had been given the same option as the Browns were given in the last episode, Mel and Kat would certainly have gone on. Getting injured was so frustrating, because we know that we could have gone far in the game. All the teams had assessed each other, and everyone knew the order in which teams were likely to go out. By the time we had gone that far, you already knew what each team was bringing to the table, you didn’t worry about that, only the instances of “dumb luck” that were brought into the game. For example, the Air Force (one of the nicest, most fair teams) arriving at the dig sight and finding a box on their first try. There were several instances of luck coming into play throughout the game, and it was never welcomed.
First you got hurt, then Keith from Team Brown Family, and recently Melissa from Team Miss USA revealed that she had three hairline fractures in her arm. What do you say to people who still keep insisting on comparing Treasure Hunters to The Amazing Race?
I can’t really comment about the Amazing Race because I have only seen one episode one time. I understand that it consists of people racing across the globe to different places. TH is completely different in that you are intellectually and physically challenged throughout the game. If you can’t compete physically, you are not going to make it. If you aren’t smart enough (or, it seems, charming enough to get help), you are not going to make it. What the public sees of the physical challenges is only the half of it. You have to understand that we are all operating with no sleep and no sustenance of any kind. Those quick little ten minute drives that you guys saw on t.v. were actually a full ten hours of driving, then do a challenge, then drive eight hours to the next site, then another ten hours to the next one. All the while, you are not sleeping or eating, though the crew is doing all of that all around you, and seeing days just sort of pass you by in a blur. It is absolutely necessary to wear contestants down and stress them out to the maximum so that they will “show their true colors”. And, any injury that occurs is absolutely “good tv”
If you could do it all again, would you?
Wow. This is a difficult question. My comrades will be looking at this one. The girls are dead set on going back. It seems that we have something to prove. As I already said, the hard part was having to leave because of something so stupid like a fractured leg. If we were going down, we wanted it to be because we did something to deserve the elimination. I would have to say, yes, I would lead my ladies back into battle….
Are there any other competitive reality shows you would like to try?
There is no other show that I have seen that I would be interested in participating in.
Could you tell us a little about your website, www.gradstudentsnbc.com?
Do you have any plans to keep it going or grow it?
We were asked to build a website to field questions/interest that NBC was getting regarding us. It is just a simple sight letting people know who we are. We plan on keeping it going for as long as it is necessary. We always encourage fans of the show to email us directly through the site. We are able to communicate directly with people that way. Also, I think we are all hoping that some new adventure comes from all of this. If anyone out there from the Discovery or Travel channel is looking for some crazy adventurers or hosts, let us know. We are definitely up for the challenge. :)
Any favourite teams left that you're cheering on now?
Yes, we do have our favorite teams still playing.
It's becoming a bit of a tradition here to ask a couple of silly questions to end on, so who was the best James Bond?
Sean Connery (sp)….hands down…
Favourite minor Simpsons character?
Don’t know the simpsons
7-Up or Sprite?
Are either one of those coffee?
Motorola or Nokia?
Okay, I'm kidding with that last one. Thank you very much, Jessica, and we wish you all the best in your future and we'll be keeping our fingers crossed for continued recovery.
Thank you and you are welcome. I am sure that post-show, many great stories will come out that will surprise you. I know that I am keeping my mouth shut…for now..at any rate.. Like I said, the girls are ready to rock the show again….I am truly opting for one on the travel or discovery channel. Thanks, jess
***
Treasure Hunters airs Mondays on NBC in the United States and Global in Canada.
posted by Tabby at 7:47 p.m.
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