The Chronicles of Candida: An Extensive Interview with Rebel Billionaire’s Candida

The following interview is actually an almagation of a series of phone calls and emails beginning around Christmas and spanning two weeks. Candida is a very busy lady! I’m glad she had time to share her experiences on The Rebel Billionaire: Branson’s Quest For The Best with the RealityNewsOnline readers.

The format of this interview is that we started with a few pre-show items, then ran through points of interest in each episode, and concluded with some general questions. It’s really comprehensive, so get comfy and settle in for an interesting read!

PRE-SHOW

Brian: How did you get involved with the selection process for this show? Did you know about Branson’s “eccentric hobbies” beforehand?

Candida: I originally auditioned for The Apprentice, Season 1. I had made it all the way to the end, only to be pulled out at the last minute. I went all the way through the process and was told I was on the show, then I wasn’t, then I was, back and forth. It was devastating, I’d been through a week’s sequestering, psyche testing, medical testing, everything, and after six months I ended up as the last person not chosen.

Brian: They got it wrong, you would have been great!

Candida: Oh, I would have loved it! But I thought, the hell with reality TV, it’s too painful. But I was turned on by the prospect of a show that involved business challenges, because that’s what I do for a living. So a friend saw the ad for this show and eventually I decided to go to the open call. To prepare, I read Branson’s book and I was very impressed by his journey. For my final audition tape, I went skydiving, which I don’t recommend to anyone, I hated every second of it! And I found out on a Friday afternoon that I should fly to London on the coming Monday!

Brian: Before you got to London, how much did you know about the nature of the game or what the prize was?

Candida: It was played extremely close to the vest. We were only told, it’s an adventure, you’ll be traveling around the world, and we’re looking for adventurous entrepreneurs. Maybe they should have said “crazy entrepreneurs.” (We laugh.) Going into it blindly was really tough.

Brian: When was the show filmed?

Candida: From July to September of this year (2004).

LONDON-INITIAL:

Brian: When half the players were selected for the balloon challenge, what did the rest of you think? It didn’t seem to make sense that half the players got a total pass in the first challenge.

Candida: Those of us not selected felt badly that we were left out. We didn’t know it meant we were safe at that point. There was some concern that the next task was for us and it was even wilder. And, it looked absolutely terrifying to me, the balloon was massive.

Brian: And climbing up that long rope ladder, it would have been very difficult.

Candida: After the reception of the night before ended at 1 A.M., they woke us up at 3 or 3:30 A.M. for this. So we were exhausted! Some people were able to fall back asleep, but I couldn’t. Between the time we arrived in London and the show started, we had one chance to climb a rope ladder, it was short and attached to a tree. It was really tremendously exhausting, you use so much energy to climb.

Brian: You had time in London before the show? A week?

Candida: Yes, the week we arrived in London, we were dropped off at a hotel in the country and sequestered. We knew and heard nothing for four days. I was alone, I had no British money to spend on entertainment or transportation, they don’t take American money, and I wasn’t even sure this was a real, legitimate show.

Brian: So the first time you met each other was in the cab ride? Did any of the folks in your cab say anything to put themselves in jeopardy?

Candida: I rode with Sam and, I believe, Tim. I instantly knew that something was fishy with the cab driver, and I motioned to the others, so we minded our P’s and Q’s in the cab and stayed out of trouble. When we met with the others, I shared with them, “You knew that was Branson, right?” Being familiar with Branson from his book I knew he was unconventional and a prankster. However, the cab driver had the hands of a working-class person, and that put some doubt in my mind, because I knew from before that Branson’s hands are very smooth.

NOTE: To refresh your memory by accessing my recaps of previous episodes, you can access a list of their links here. It is set to open in a new window, so you can click on the link and the page will be patiently waiting for you if you want it.

HONG KONG:

Brian: This was the first instance of you firing off a long list of ideas. In fact, it seems like your team doesn’t have much time to consider one idea before the next ones come along. Do you think you overwhelmed them with the volume of your input?

Candida: What I learned from that was that I think I tipped my hand too quickly. Let me give you a little background. We were held for about four hours at the airport before our groups could get together to discuss the challenge. I couldn’t wait, I was brainstorming this whole time, but I was surprised that the rest of the group wasn’t interested in brainstorming. This was also true on the plane. Jermaine never offered a single idea, just assigned roles like secretary or treasurer. Meanwhile, all these times Sara’s group (the guys) was brainstorming feverishly, and I felt we were falling behind. I felt if even two percent of my ideas were good, we were ahead of the game. This is what I do in my real life. So I had 75 ideas ready. But no one else was submitting any ideas.

Brian: That’s what I’d have been doing, there’s no reason to spend four hours staring out the window.

Candida: Exactly! But we were playing a Machiavellian game and I didn’t realize it at the time. I learned early on in Hong Kong that we were not a cohesive team, not really supporting each other. It may have been a mistake for me to tip my hand too early as an enthusiastic idea person. Instead, this was met with resistance by the group. I was seen as a threat, not an asset.