“I’m Not a Villain”: An Interview with the ‘Outback Jack’ Boomerang, Marissa

Outback Jack, like many other reality dating shows, has had more than its fair share of twists. One of them involved the women voting off one of their own. They picked Marissa, who had become the villain of the show. But in Australia they have boomerangs – you might throw them away but they come right back. Marissa became the boomerang and showed up again at the end of last week’s show. She’s back in the running for Jack’s heart and RealityNewsOnline had a chance to talk to her about the show, what we’ve seen so far, and what we might expect in the remaining shows.

RealityNewsOnline: Hi, Marissa! Let’s start at the beginning – how did you end up on Outback Jack?

Marissa: I was actually in a club in New York City. They were doing mini-auditions for a contest with a cash prize. All you had to do was walk down a runway. So I said okay. Half an hour later, I had the cash. That’s how they got my phone number. They called me several times to ask me to audition. I turned them down at first, but then I decided to do it and they flew me to L.A.

RNO: What did you think you were getting yourself into?

Marissa: I thought it was a cool dating show like The Bachelor, with hot tubs, champagne, and caviar. Whoa, was I wrong!

RNO: What were your first thoughts when you found out you were going to Australia?

Marissa: I was still really excited. I thought it was fabulous.

RNO: And what about when you found out you were going to the Outback?

Marissa:I was like, “What?” But I still didn’t know what to expect ‘til we jumped out of the plane. Then when we were on the ground safely, it was like, “Holy crap.” We were in denial.

RNO: What, exactly, happened when you got sick early on?

Marissa: It had been a long day, the day before. Then I didn’t get much sleep. It was a blazing hot morning and I didn’t have much water. We hiked up the mountain and I decided lay in the sun for two hours. Then we hiked down. On the way down, I started getting sick – I became delusional. It was heatstroke. Before I knew it, I had IVs in my arm and everybody was freaking out, including myself.

RNO: How long were you out of the game then?

Marissa: About 24 hours. When I came back I was still not ready, but I was determined to stay in game. I didn’t want to be out.

RNO: The other women accused you of using your illness to get extra time with Jack. So, did you?

Marissa:Absolutely not. It was so bad when I got heatstroke that I thought I was going to die. I wanted to finish the game and get better. I was so shocked to see on TV when they were talking about the extra attention. I would have traded them if they could have taken the heatstroke.

RNO: Was that the start of the break between you and the other women?

Marissa:Yeah, definitely. All of them were jealous. Yeah, he did pay a little more attention to me, but it took me several days if not a week to feel like myself again.

RNO: Did you realize at the time that you would end up as the designated villain?

Marissa: I hadn’t a clue. I’m a good person, a nice person. I liked everyone there at that point. I had no clue they had those feelings. I think I became the villain because I had the biggest connection with Jack and it was obvious. Girls are catty.

RNO: Did you get along with any of the women?

Marissa:Yeah, I did. There were times when we were all getting along. But the competition started getting tougher and it came down to fewer girls, it was each girl for herself. But I was like, “I’m here for Jack, I’m not here to make friends.”

RNO: Do you realize that that’s the designated reality show villain saying?

Marissa:No, but it’s my saying so I’m sticking to it. It’s a competition, it’s a game. When you’re trying to win, you’re trying to win.

RNO: Were you trying to win for winning or because you really wanted to be with Jack?

Marissa: Initially, I just wanted to have fun and didn’t care about winning. But once I got to know Jack and we had chemistry, it was a whole new thing. I wanted to win this because I care about Jack.

RNO: How would you describe each of the remaining women?

Marissa: Ummm. I don’t know if I can answer that question. It’s hard to have great things to say about people when you see them on TV constantly bashing you. I don’t want to be mean or rude. I have no cruel intentions.