In a world full of social experiment reality shows, All Star Shore is conducting a different kind of experiment. Premiering June 29 on Paramount+, All Star Shore brings in stars from Jersey Shore, Bachelor in Paradise, Love Is Blind, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Love Island, The Circle, Geordie Shore, and more to compete in a show best described as drunk Survivor — except these players don’t need life-threatening conditions to ramp up the drama. They’re fully capable of doing that on their own.
TV Insider chatted with Angelina Pivarnick (Jersey Shore), Giannina Gibelli (Love Is Blind Season 1), Vanessa Vanjie Mateo (RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 10), Blake Horstmann (Bachelor in Paradise Season 6, The Bachelorette Season 14), and Trina Njoroge (CBS‘s Love Island Season 3) about the competition series ahead of its premiere. They tell all about how their experiences on their OG shows compare to this new one, which they all say they would do again in a heartbeat.
Narrated by Pauly D, All Star Shore is a first-of-its-kind party competition series featuring a variety of epic party-style challenges, like “Party Pong” and “Shots and Found.” Contestants come together for an epic vacation at “the ultimate shore house” in the Canary Islands where they’ll take on physical challenges and face elimination in the battle for a cash prize and global bragging rights.
The series certainly lives up to its party competition title. But Angelina says that while players “were all hungover every day” during physical challenges, there was still less drinking than on Jersey Shore.
“Back in the day, we did party a lot. But on this show, we were kind of limited on the alcohol intake, which I was kind of annoyed about,” she says.
“Due to certain individuals that were consuming too much, let’s say,” Trina adds, as Miss Vanjie herself pipes in, “People were passing out! We had the ambulance coming.”
Giannina may have found love with Blake on the series, but fans already know her for trying to find love on Love Is Blind — Netflix’s notoriously chaotic dating series and predecessor to the somehow even more messy The Ultimatum.
“My social experiment was straight for the jugular, your heart. It was very mental, very emotional, so to do a physical competition and to only worry about having fun and trying to win some money, that was the polar opposite of what I did, which is exactly what I wanted,” Giannina says. “I didn’t want to do another dating show. It was the other side of the coin, and it was way better.”
Blake was also looking for love on his past reality shows. Who knew he’d find it while playing life-size beer pong?
“I was on a couple love shows that were very serious and heartfelt,” he shares. “The reason I decided to do this show is because it was something different, something out of my comfort zone. I’m a competitive person, so I really liked that aspect of it, and the money didn’t hurt.”
As for the Jersey Shore OG, she had something to prove to herself. “I wanted to actually physically be able to say I did that. I went and did a challenge show. This is new for me!” Angelina says. “You just see me partying all the time — which by the way, I do that again with this crazy crew here — but just to see that I pushed my body. Now, looking back at it, I couldn’t believe I went that far.”
“We had to push her off the cliff a couple times, but you know, we got there,” Giannina chimes in, making everyone laugh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXN-Ki_KPuw
For Trina, her dramatic turn on Love Island made her want to show a different side of herself on All Star Shore.
“It was kind of like a redemption moment for me, because I did go through a situation on my show,” she says. “I wanted to show another side and let loose and have fun. This was the best opportunity to show people that Trina does have a personality, she’s not just about nursing. It was cool! There was a little drama here and there, but I enjoyed it.”
“A little?! A lot,” Angelina replies, as Trina teases back, “Yeah, just a tad.”
Vanjie’s reality experience is much more glamorous than the others, but the drag queen says the athleticism of the show was unexpected.
“It’s kind of similar to Drag Race, but Drag Race you can prepare for. It’s something that I do all the time. This one, you can’t really prepare, because they don’t tell you what to get ready for,” Vanjie says. “I didn’t really think we were going to be doing too many athletic challenges. They asked me to do it, but I didn’t really think I was going to be running up and down, jumping up and up. Little did I know! I came with the mindset of ‘I just want to have fun, I’m going to compete, but at the same time I just want to get drunk and kiki.’”
The fun of it all was the most appealing aspect for everyone. That is, until they found out there was a $150,000 cash prize at stake. Viewers will see the players’ reactions to the cash prize reveal in the series premiere.
“That’s when the strategies came in,” Vanjie says of the moment. In fact, most of the competition details were kept secret from the cast.
“We were kept in the dark with a lot of things. We just walked up in there and they hit us with it, that’s it. I was through the roof,” says Angelina. “Walking on the beach every time and not knowing what challenge it was going to be, it was crazy. It was adrenaline going through my whole body, all of us.”
“I did not prepare for any of the challenges we had,” Trina says before asking her cast mates, “Did you guys work out? ‘Cause I did not.”
“I was working out in my hotel room. I was ready. But I thought I was going to be the least athletic, which I was not,” Giannina adds, teasing the other players.
Blake was more than ready to compete. “I was really excited for the competition, but then the competitions were so creative and out-there, you can’t prepare,” he says. “This is completely different from any other show on television.”
Gerardo Valido/Paramount+
The stars know how funny the idea of them doing drunk Survivor is. As Vanjie exclaims, “You’re trying to give us puzzles?!” Despite the “difficulty,” fans can expect some epic wins and hilarious fails on the series, and also a little bit of drag.
“There definitely will be drag. I’ll tell you, there’s gonna be drag,” Vanjie teases. “There’s gonna be people in drag, there’s gonna be people getting dragged up and down doing stretches and s**t!”
“That was a night,” Angelina ominously adds.
Another…interesting night is showcased in the series premiere, and it threw Blake for a loop.
“There were multiple moments where I was like, ‘Where am I? How did I get here?’ That was night one,” Blake says of the moment, which went down right next to his bed (also petition to let these adults upgrade from twin-sized beds, please). “I was like, ‘I am not on ABC anymore.’”
Except for Angelina, all of the players tell us they’d never do their original reality shows again. Turns out, the grass is greener.
“Jersey Shore is my life,” Angelina says. “Being on that show has been amazing for me and my life, but you guys are so crazy, I love all of you. We’re like a big family now. If they do a number two, I’m in.”
All Star Shore, Series Premiere, Wednesday, June 29, Paramount+
