Here, I transposed an article from Woman's Own magazine about LC...this article was out in the March edition...and don't ask cause I never heard of the magazine either, but the article is 100x more informative than the Entertainment Weekly article, so I thought i'd pass it along.The article is basically an interview with teh host of LC and the producers....does a great job explaining the rules fo the game and some of the crazy stuff that went on, generally speaking of course.
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CRUSIN’ FOR LOVE: 16 Singles Get Sexy at Sea (and you can watch)
In the tradition of reality TV, the steamy “shipmates” as they are called on the show, will have cameras capturing every tantalizing moment. “We have cameras in the cabins where the couples will bunk together, as well as on the deck and on the beach,” disclosed 26 year old cruise director/host Justin Gunn. “We’re there 24 hours a day.”
Casting off in Grenada, Love Cruise will journey to various exotic ports of call in Venezuela and then on to Aruba. “Love Cruise is a fantasy situation; it’s a mating dance. It’s the opportunity for 16 fun loving singles to have the trip of a lifetime and the chance to find love,” says Executive Producer Jonathan Murray.
A lawyer, a stockbroker, a single mom, an aspiring screenwriter, to name a few– this voyage has no shortage of beautiful, sexy people. After an exhausting casting process, only 16, between the ages of 21-34, were selected out of the thousands who applied. Amongst the group are a wide range of personalities with different interests, attitudes and degrees of exhibitionism. “It’s a very handsome group. There are people who are extremely attractive with killer bodies and others who are a bit more shy,” claims Gunn. “In reality shows like this, success hinges on the casting and the execution of the show itself and both were phenomenal.”
The characters become more intriguing as time goes on and are put to the test in many ways. “They’re all rich characters and it was fun to watch them evolve as they went through the roller coaster of events and emotions that go along with this show,” expresses Gunn. “Some of these characters you’ll love, and others you’ll absolutely love to hate.”
After laying eyes on each other for the first time aboard the ship in Grenada, the shipmates engage in a game of Flash Dating, giving each of them six minute dates with the opposite sex.
Every 3 day period, a man and a woman will couple up and during the time that they’re together they will compete as a couple against the other couples on the ship. Bringing back memories of choosing sides in P.E. class, there’s absolutely no science to the selection process, its based solely on human emotion. “Its very direct; they would line up and approach who they wanted to be with. Some people have multiple people who they have to choose between,” says Gunn.
“Its amazing to see how when you strip people down to their core elements and really challenge their basic human tendencies, how schoolyard it actually is. It really changes people. It was an interesting experiment in human behavior.”
The sleeping arrangements can and do get rather interesting. The couples stay in small cabins with bunk beds, one bed obviously less desirable than the other. “We’ll be able to watch, through our surveillance cameras, either arguing over who gets the more comfortable bed or compromising and, who knows,” suggests Gunn, “maybe even sleeping together.”
When the shipmates are not busy with the ship’s official activities or challenges, they are free to do as they please. And boy, do they ever!! “I’ve never seen a more raucous, even salacious, experiment in human behavior in my life,” exclaims Gunn. “This group likes to have fun, they like to party, and like to get loose. We have several exhibitionists in the cast; open nudity is a fairly common occurrence. We’re not talking about struggling to survive and eating rats here {{ read: please don’t sue us Mark Burn-it}}, were talking about a 5-star cruise, exotic beaches, deserted islands, and crystal clear waters. It’s the opposite end of the spectrum; its luxury.”
And their shenanigans don’t go unnoticed behind closed doors. “There is definitely some hanky panky going on that is caught on camera. There’s some rustling under the sheets. There are a lot of moments where I wondered, ‘How are we going to air this?’”
Instigating the sexual fervor on the journey, of course, is the production team. The Hot Seat, a glorified “Truth or Dare” is designed to give them opportunities to ask anonymous questions of their shipmates. If not answered honestly, the person in the Hot Seat has to perform a dare, which is submitted by their fellow cast mates. “There are some really funny moments where it gets hot and sexy. There are people licking caramel chocolate off of various body parts,” says Gunn. “It gets a little out there.”
Unfortunately, it can’t be all fair weather and sooner or later the shipmates are bound to hit some rough waters. “At the end of every episode, the guys are going to vote one of the women off and the women are going to vote one of the guys off,” says Murray. “Sort of like life, ultimately its about who’s interested in who and gradually we’ll have less and less people on the boat but hopefully more and more connecting.”
Dividing into Gender Juries, the men and women deliberate openly in front of the cameras. “Its very interesting to watch the difference between the thought processes between men and women,” explains Gunn. “Men are quick to snap to judgment, much more cut and dry; women take a lot more care and its much more difficult for them to make sharp, biting decisions when the options are not clear as to who should or shouldn’t be voted off the ship.”
There is a way to weather the storm, however, and save yourself or someone else from being eliminated. In each episode, the couples compete against each other in a variety of tests. These competitions take place at different locations on various islands. “There’s a huge range of events; some are adult party games and some we created specifically to bring out different aspects of their personalities,” says co-executive producer Bruce Toms. “You can’t be a one-dimensional person and walk away with the prize; you need to be able to bring a lot to the party to win this game.”
The competitions are important because if they win, one of the teammates is awarded a Switch Card. “That Switch Card is power,” says Murray. “That allows them the power to stay on the boat even if someone or group as a whole decides they’re leaving. They can turn things around.” But, that sort of power can bring with it all kinds of ramifications.
“They stand up and announce who’s getting voted off,” says Gunn, “so you have very dramatic moments where the person who is getting voted off has a chance to make their case to whoever holds the power to prevent elimination.”
The voted castaways must leave the ship immediately. “We put them in one of the launches and give them their luggage and we say goodbye,” remarks Gunn. “We take them to the nearest island where they hop on a plane and go off to ‘Loser Island’ somewhere in Aruba.”
Once a loser, not always a loser......at least not for this game.
“Just because you’ve been selected to leave the ship doesn’t mean you’re out of the game,” reveals Murray. “There are two places where someone can literally reach back and pull you back to the ship and send someone in your place,” he says. “Because what we really want for our final competition are two couples who sincerely want to be together.” The shipmate’s antics on Loser Island are documented as well. As far as bringing someone back from Loser Island, the shipmates don’t know how that works until it works. “We throw a lot of surprises at them,” says Gunn.
Jealousy. Elation. Betrayal. Anger. Backstabbing. Alliances. Lying. “I think you see every basic human emotion that could come out of a situation like this,” says Gunn. “The situation that we basically thrust them into is not only about love, but its very competitive and political as well.”
As the group gets “hotter and heavier”, the decision to vote people off gets more difficult. Personal relationships get tighter. Certain betrayals of friendship get more severe. “Because there’s so much recombination, there’s a lot of loyalty and there’s a lot of betrayal,” divulges Gunn. “I can honestly say that I think you’ll be surprised in every episode.”
On the ship, ignorance is not bliss; what you don’t know can and will hurt you. “There are times when certain characters on board are very trusted by their shipmates, but we at home might be privy to some information that they on board are not,” states Gunn, “So it becomes a real question of trust.”
Strategy is the name of the game. Throw in trust or at least the perception thereof and liability and you just may have a chance. “What’s interesting is how the different characters choose different strategies. Its really, I guess, how they would choose strategies in life. Some people are a bit more proactive and scheming and others just sit back and let it come to them. Its interesting to watch how each of those strategies plays out in the end.”
But lets be honest, its every man and woman for themselves. “I think people when put in a situation like this ‘where there is a real prize to be had’, are there to win,” confides Gunn, “so while you’re getting in the good graces of other people on the ship- to try to prevent yourself from being voted off– at the end of the day everybody’s competing with everyone else. As it gets down to the wire, it gets crazy.”
In the final episode, a few zingers are thrown in that definitely spice things up and those asked to walk the plank return from Loser Island to vote for the winning couple. “The ending of the show is so on the edge of your seat, and so much fun,” says Gunn. “It could not have been written any better with any more twists, turns and surprises. The final episode is outrageous.”
“Love Cruise is honest to goodness real life human drama and its something that everybody can identify with,” says Gunn. “If there’s one theme of the show, looking back on it all, its unpredictability. Things have to unfold very fast so every day there’s interesting stories coming out. The characters are fascinating. I think it turned out even better than anybody had imagined and the entire show is too hot for TV.” So the ultimate question is, “Can someone find true love or lust on the high seas?” You’ll just have to tune in and see.
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