In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that I'm a little bit in love with Evan Starkman.

For the past couple of years, the 23-year-old Canadian has been winning my love as a contestant on MTV's Real World/Road Rules Challenge. It wasn't just his nationality that bowled me over (though, admittedly, it helped), but his complete willingness to talk about how stupid some of the other contestants are. Even now, chatting with Starkman about The Gauntlet III, the latest RR/RW Challenge (airing Wednesdays), he is eager to fill me in on all the dirt.

For example, when asked who his least favourite player is, Starkman doesn't hesitate.

"Katie Doyle is a complete waste of air and a waste of skin," he says. "She contributes nothing to society and nothing to our team."

What I'm saying is: I love Starkman because he speaks my language.

Starkman is one of the few players never to have appeared on either The Real World or Road Rules. While attending Cornell University in upstate New York, he was cast on Fresh Meat, the 2006 installment of the RW/RR Challenge.

"MTV decided to throw a casting call about 30 feet from my house, so I went with an outspoken girlfriend of mine just for laughs," he remembers.

After months of interviews and very extensive psychiatric testing ("I really believe that people in casting know more about me than I do," he says), producers invited Starkman to join Fresh Meat, and he jumped at the chance.

On the show, players from past challenges got to pick all-new contestants to partner with. Lovable bitch Coral quickly paired with Starkman because, as she put it, "he outran a black dude." The duo dominated the challenges week after week, but the two were abruptly disqualified when Coral hurt her knee and he developed a sports hernia.

"They really pulled out the rug from under us," Starkman remembers. "You know what? I could prolong dying a little bit for $125,000 American dollars. I guess that's not so good anymore, but it used to be. That was, like, $3 million Canadian around then."

Still, Starkman had captured the hearts of viewers and was invited back for subsequent challenges—The Gauntlet III is his fourth one in two years.

"I treat the challenges with this mentality: if I ever had something better to be doing, I'd be doing it," he says. "They're a lot of fun, you know; it's a free vacation. I get to do things that people don't even believe. I feel like my kids are gonna think I'm a liar. 'No, kids, I swear to God, I was in Mexico. I jumped off a thousand-foot building.' So I'll keep doing them while they're still fun."

On The Gauntlet III, the players have been separated into two teams: the Veterans, who have competed on at least two prior challenges, and the Rookies, who have competed in fewer than two. The teams compete against each other in physically-demanding tasks, with the losing team sending home one of their players. At the end of the challenge, one team will win $300,000 US.

It's not all about the money, though, and Starkman is quick to reveal some entertaining non-competition moments.

"There are breakups, new people join the house, people leave unexpectedly, there's fighting, there's pregnancy," says Evan. "At one point, Casey Cooper is naked in a closet with Johnny Bananas. As soon as the cameras burst in, she freaks out, runs, punches out a window, and tries to jump through the window naked. She gets caught and eventually she falls out the window and is trapped in this little patio area that you can't get out of. She's running around naked, yelling at us to throw her a towel."

Also returning this season is CT, the guy who was kicked off during the first episode of the last challenge for punching another player in the face.

"I think that there is growing concern that CT is a liability," admits Starkman. "This season's no different. Everyone remembers CT for punching Davis on The Inferno III and now he's back and angrier than ever, I would say.”

Starkman reveals that one of his favourite parts of doing the show is watching T.J. Lavin, the charismatically-challenged host, try to pronounce the names of locations.

"Producers are huge fans of going to these exotic locations, and T.J., I'm pretty sure, spends most of his time trying to figure out how to pronounce where we are," Starkman laughs. "It usually takes about 49 takes for him to be like, 'Hey, guys, welcome to the Papagaio Resort in Mexico!' Make sure to watch T.J.'s face when he's trying to say where we are. Hilarious."

Another reason to love Starkman is that he's is one of the few contestants to have a life beyond MTV: he recently helped found Branch Out Clothing, a not-for-profit clothing company that donates their proceeds to different charities. Each shirt comes with a code, and when you enter the code on the company's website, it will tell you where the money from the sale has been donated.

"You walk into Abercrombie or American Apparel and it's like, humour tees, 'Will Work for Handjobs' or something," Starkman says. "And you're like, 'Why is a 13-year-old girl wearing this shirt?' Can't we say something a little more positive? Make people a little more aware that you can change the world by the shirt you wear. It should be that easy, it really should."

Now that he has graduated from Cornell, Starkman has moved back to our great white north, making my schoolgirl crush that much worse.

"You definitely haven't lost me to the States. I'm back in Toronto permanently. I'm open for business," he says. "If anyone would like to take me out for coffee or slow-dancing or salsa dancing, I'm willing."

Swoon.


The Gauntlet III airs Wednesdays on MTV Canada at 10 p.m. ET/PT, 9 p.m. MT.

Check out what Evan has to say about other contestants on The Gauntlet III

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