Okay guys, I know I said that I would come back and answer some more questions, but I just haven’t had a chance until tonight...so I hope this isn’t too late and most of you are still checking out the boards. Anyway, here are some answers to your latest batch of questions..CaesarGirl asked:
Just curious, exactly how long ago was this thing filmed?
ANSWER: The show was filmed between September 16, 2000 and October 5, 2000. So, just about a year ago.
Also, I am another person who didn't really like Melissa. The simple fact of the matter is she wasn't single if she had a boyfriend so she shouldn't have been on the boat in the first place!
ANSWER: Actually, several people on the show had girlfriends or boyfriends back home....Tomiko, Andrea, Ralph just to name a few, but the fact is that Melissa is the only one who was upfront about it and honest about it from day1. And the only reason people made an issue about it is because they were jealous or upset that Melissa and Darin had far and away the closest thing to a “love connection” on the show. The people that got to know the two of them and become good friends with them on the show, people like myself, Tomiko, Jeanette, Greg, Adrian and some others were able to see from early on that they had a real connection and were happy for them, we never made it an issue. Darin never made it an issue. Melissa never made it an issue. So, if those are the people that are most affected by it and it didn’t bother them in the least then why should it bother anyone else?
The fact is that Darin and Melissa knew each other for three weeks on that show and became very close friends during the show. To this day they remain very close friends so with that in mind, please tell me what is so wrong about their relationship or how Melissa led Darin on in any way?
Also, we all knew that Mel had a boyfriend yet none of us wanted to vote her off. That should tell you how great a person she is and how much we wanted her on the boat just cause she was and is so fun to hang out with. You know, its not all about finding true love or someone you can screw around with, it’s more to do with finding people that you can see yourself being friends with long after the cameras off, and someone who’s company you enjoy enough where you would want to travel around the world with that person. In that respect, Darin and Melissa were definitely a worthy couple of winning.
I was really enjoying the show but that ending put a sour taste in my mouth. I can't believe they had another couple join the finals that is the dumbest thing I have ever seen.
ANSWER: Tell me about it. The second they told us they were adding the third couple I told several crew members that they had just ruined the whole show, and I had to wait a year to unfortunately see just how right I was. I did finally get some satisfaction in hearing from some friends at BMP who acknowldeged that they completely screwed the whole ending of the show up. It would’ve been so much better and so much more dramatic if it was just the final two couples going at it at the end...just imagine the turmoil that Anthony, Ralph and Toni would’ve gone through knowing that they had to vote for either me or Melissa to win the money...that would’ve absolutely killed them and made for great TV in the process...instead, they all got a cop out by having the third couple to vote for.
NYRNMel asked:
Thanks for letting us know the inside story! My question is...What is the edited out "carrot story"?
ANSWER: Well, we had a contest on board sponsored by Polaroid where we were each given JoyCams and told that at the end of the show we would vote on the best picture taken and the winner would receive $1000. Let’s just say that a certain female cast member, we’ll just call her Mel for the sake of anonymity, decided to go for the prize by turning her butt into a smiling face using fruits and vegatables such as cherries, orange slices and well, every face needs a nose so there was a carrot involved...and that carrot wouldn’t just stand up on its own soooo, well, I’m just gonna leave it right there and let you use your imagination.
Oh, by the way, it looks like Polaroid stiffed us on the prize cause we voted on the photos last January and the unofficial head count had me winning with a photo I took of Crazy Tony...and I still haven’t received the $1000 yet. The way this show ended up, big shock right?
Sunnyd asked:
Would you ever consider going on a regular Windjammer cruise?
ANSWER: Sure, if Windjammer would be so kind as to offer myself and the cast a free trip as gratitude for all the wonderful publicity the show gave them I would love to go. All kidding aside, I think it would be great to go on a real Windjammer singles cruise some sort of promotional trip, that would be a blast.
daveaston asked:
Anyways, my question is: will you give us any chance to get in touch with Melissa? I would love to be able to send her an email or something. Do you have an email or even mailing address for us Melissa-fans?
ANSWER: I am a little hesitant to give up my fellow cast members email addy’s, but I’ll tell you what I can do.....here is my email address so go ahead and email me anything you want forwarded to a Melissa.
As for the other cast members, there are several that I talk to and could get messages to....some don’t have email access so you’re out of luck. Here are the cast members that you can reach through me....Greg, Tomiko, Darin, Bob, Jeanette, Melissa, Lisa, Laura, Ralph and Adrian. I could also reach Anthony if you want to send him something, but I haven’t talked to him since the show started so I don’t know how receptive he is to emails from fans of the show.
Just send any emails to orzoff@21stcentury.net and I’ll forward them on...put the name of the cast member you want to reach in the subject line.
jenn_kehoe asked:
A few of us were just curious...have you ever been told that you look EXACTLY like Michael Dell, the CEO and Chairman of Dell? I just kept linking into different sites and saw a picture of you, or what i thought was of you on a dell website, and then i realized it might not be you, but that it might and a few of us are missing some stuff....please aswer!
ANSWER: As a matter of fact I have had a few people tell me that. I went and looked at the Dell website last night for the first time and I must say that we do have a few similar features like a similar smile and forehead, but the eyes and chin are a lot different...and he has a lot more money than me, even if I won that damn show.
AshleaA asked:
Mainly, my questions are Chicago related, since it is my favorite city to visit. How is it that so many cast members are from Chicago? Did you grow up there, or are you a transplant
ANSWER: There were eight cast members from Chicago and that is simply because Chicago is the best damn city in the world! Actually, I was very surpirsed to see how many Chicagoans were on the show so I asked the producers and they told me that they just met a lot of people here that they really liked and didn’t want to say no to. They appear to have been right when you look at how many of the stronger cast members came from Chi-town.
As for the second part of your question, I was born and raised here and with the exception of a few years away at college I have lived here my whole life.
Boston_Girl asked:
I'd be interested in meeting up when I come home to visit. I'm sure you get alot of these types of requests, but I promise, you won't be disappointed. I'm happy to divulge more info. about me if you're interested. What do you think?
ANSWER: I, on the other hand, can not make such promises of non-disappointing sex. But hey, go ahead and email me and you are more than welcome to meet myself, Melissa and Jeanette next time you are gonna be in Chicago partying. We are always meeting new people and having a lot of fun these days and always looking to add to our P Diddy sized entourage. Seriously though, and this goes for anyone who is in Chicago, we go out a lot on the weekends and are more than happy to hang out with fans of the show so don’t hesitate to drop me an email if you are gonna be in town and I’ll let you know where we are gonna be so you can meet up with us and see if you can keep up with the LC’ers in the partying department.
Guess who?