PW: Congrats on surviving the first cut against Tonya – but you couldn’t have actually been nervous facing the most hated woman on “The Island,” could you?
Kenny: Well, pride comes before the fall, so I didn’t want to be overconfident, but I would have been pretty pissed off if she stayed.
PW: You two fought right off the bat, did you buy her whole “reformed woman” speech?
Kenny: No, because that’s exactly the same thing she said on “Fresh Meat.” Tonya is one of these girls who thinks she really can be reborn and that people are going to buy her bull****. I never understood why people disliked her before I started doing these shows – how can one person be so bad? – but she’s just one of those people you feel bad for because they’re so pathetic.
PW: You got involved with the show as part of the “Fresh Meat” season – do you ever wish you had been on “The Real World” or “Road Rules?”
Kenny: I get ragged on sometimes for having not been on one of them, but half the kids on those shows might as well have been wallpaper – who cares about them now?
PW: What were your life plans before “Fresh Meat”?
Kenny: Wow, at the time – May 2005 – I had just graduated from college with a degree in fine arts and education and I was going to be an art teacher. But then this opportunity came up and I’ve been rolling with this ball as far as I can go.
PW: Right, it looks like someone breaks their arm?
Kenny: That was me and Dan wrestling – it gets a little aggressive. This is the first season I’m excited to see what happens because I know there was a lot of stuff going on behind my back.
PW: Isn’t there always though?
Kenny: Well, a lot of times you know what’s going on because everyone does the same challenges, but it’s very much every man for himself this time so you have no clue what’s going on throughout the island. You can’t catch everything, so even as a castmember, I’m excited to see what happened.
PW: Do you still have more challenges left in you?
Kenny: You know, I’d like to say I’ll give out while on top – but truth is, I’m going to ride this wave as long as possible. When it’s time to bow out, I just hope to do it gracefully.
“The Island” airs Wednesdays at 10 pm on MTV.