An Interview with Tough Enough 2's "Danimal" - Part 3

We finish up our interview with Danny "the Danimal" Carney, from Tough Enough 2, as he discusses his time on TE2, what the cameras didn't show, how he was portrayed, and much more.

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RNO: It seemed that there was a lot of partying going on with the contestants. Was this really the case, or was that something to do with the editing on the show?

Danny: There was definitely partying going on, but not as much as the show made it seem. What people don't realize is, we'd bust our butts all week long, so once the weekend arrived we wanted to go out and have a good time. Even Big would tell us over and over, "We work hard, so we play hard." He loved going out with us, to restaurants and such.

RNO: The ratio of partying to working was definitely lower than it seemed on the show?

Danny: Oh yeah, by far. We would only go out Friday or Saturday nights, but we trained Monday through Friday.

RNO: Speaking of which, do you think that the episodes showed the contestants as they really were? Any examples of editing showing something that just didn't happen, or twisting the facts?

Danny: I think the episodes were relatively true to life, although I'm not entirely pleased of the way I was portrayed. They made me out to be the hard worker with no sense of personality or charisma, and that's just not entirely accurate. I definitely could have done a better job "charismatically" while I was there, but for all of you doubters, all I have to say is come watch a wrestling show I'm on and then make the call for yourself. Don't believe everything MTV tells you, because they don't show it all.

RNO: What did you think about the show itself that aired, like the editing, what they focused on, that sort of thing?

Danny: I felt that TE2 was too focused on the drama between the contestants and not enough on our progression as wrestlers. As far as the training goes, being there doing it and watching what is shown on TV are two entirely separate things. There were plenty of interesting things that they could have showed but didn't, because it wouldn't have fit into the "roles" they were trying to portray people as.

RNO: What kinds of things?

Danny: Fun times in the house, interesting things that happened during training, stuff like that.

RNO: What did you think about the training? Was the obstacle course really as predominate in reality as the show made it out to be (it seemed to overshadow the training in the ring)?

Danny: The wrestling training was fun but incredibly hard. It IS painful (especially when starting out), and the pace was very fast. Optimum fitness was very effective, but it was hell. The obstacle course was everyone's least favorite part of the day, we all really dreaded going to the beach.

RNO: How horrible was "jock strap Monday"?

Danny: It wasn't horrible at all, at least for me (some poor sports on the cast wouldn't agree). I got a kick out of it, I thought it was hilarious. How many people can say they've been on national television in nothing but a jock strap??

RNO: When you did the promo (the one in front of the Dudleys), did you feel that this was going to be the decisive moment on whether you would stay or not?

Danny: Not at all, especially since no one did that well and several people did worse than me. After I was done, a couple cast members told me that they thought I did the best job of everyone. Then I got cut. Go figure. All I can say is that MTV didn't show the entire thing.

RNO: Did you have ANY clue that you would be cut?

Danny: Not one little bit. I wasn't worried at all, I was very happy with how things were going.

RNO: Why do you think they cut you? Did the promos really have that much to do with it?

Danny: I have my theories, other people have their theories, and the WWE and MTV have their theories. I'll honestly never know exactly why I was cut, but I'm pretty sure there's more to the story than what we saw. As far as I'm concerned, if they think I'm "not charismatic enough," which was their official reason, than it's my job to prove them wrong.

RNO: Did you get any explanation from the staffers as to why they cut you?

Danny: All I remember is Al saying "your personality isn't what we're looking for." He's also told me that I don't have that star presence about me that makes him want to watch me. All I can say is come see a wrestling show I'm on sometime and decide for yourself, because I've had plenty of people tell me the exact opposite of what he told me.