If your perfect match was standing right in front of you, would you even know it? MTV’s hit reality series Are You The One? is back for its season 4, and it puts this million dollar question to the test with the craziest season yet. Ten women and ten guys who haven’t had much luck with love travel to Hawaii to try and find their perfect match through challenges and the elusive truth booth.
In preparation for this season, TNWU’s MTV fan correspondent, Amy Mancini, and I, were able to attend the Are You The One? premiere party and catch a first look at the pilot episode. After the screening, we sat down Giovanni Rivera, one of this season’s contestants. He talked about what to expect from this season and how he stayed true to himself.
Was this your first time being in Hawaii?
“Yes! It was my first time being in Hawaii, so this was a dream. It’s a fantasy.”
Did you like it there?
“It was amazing, it’s a beautiful place. You know, I come from a rough area where you only can dream about going to a place like that. That’s literally a dream and that’s all it’ll ever be because there’s no money. You’re just stuck in the city, stuck in the wrong area. So I was fortunate enough and I feel great that I got out there.”
Have you seen the episode yet?
“(laughs) No, I haven’t… What did you guys think of it?”
It was amazing! We don’t want to spoil anything, but it was super funny.
“It’s only going to get better!”
Did you always want to do reality TV?
“I grew up watching MTV. That’s just not something that I’m saying because I’m biased and I’m on it now (laughs). I grew up watching the Real World, I grew up watching The Challenge, and it’s always something that I thought I’d be a good fit for.
I’m a very honest person, I’m a very open person, and I feel like I bring something to the table that isn’t on a network. Something that hasn’t been on a previous (Are You The One?) season and I don’t think they could bring it again. I take a lot of pride in myself in being a unique, honest, genuine individual.
As the season goes on, people are going to get to know me a lot more, they’re going to see what I bring to the table and they’re going to want me on other sh*t, honestly.”
It’s not easy putting people in the truth booth, so can you explain the process. How do you guys choose which couple to throw in there?
“You know throughout the season you’re going to see the house get torn between strategy and following our hearts. We’ve seen that in the previous seasons too, but I was a strong influence and an advocate of following your heart and f*ck everything else.
At the same time, your heart isn’t in your chest, your heart is in your brain and you’ve got to love smart. You’ve got to be smart about how you love. There were times when people were with me, and there were times when I was by myself, and so it’s tough.
It’s a social experiment. It’s extremely difficult to make connections with strangers and open yourselves up, and I think the biggest part of it is fear. I walked into the house with no fear, and I left the house with a great experience. I took away a lot of knowledge from it because I had no fear. I wasn’t scared to be myself, I wasn’t scared, to be honest. I wasn’t scared to put myself out there and I gained a lot from the experience.
Some people were scared until the very end. So I can’t speak for them, but I doubt that they had a great experience, I doubt that they have no regrets.”
Did you ever have more than one match in mind?
“No, one of my issues is when I was younger I used to be a player. I used to talk to multiple girls. I had a girlfriend for like five years and I cheated on her. I made a lot of mistakes when I was young, but one thing I’m learning about myself is that I don’t need ten girls. I just need one good girl. I would love to just focus on one girl.
I love to be faithful, I love to see it through to the end and that’s what I tried to do on the show. I tried to just be honest and faithful. I tried to be a good man.
It’s hard because I didn’t grow up with a father figure. I didn’t grow up around the right people. I didn’t have somebody teaching me how to be a man. I had to learn how to be a man through trial and error, and it took me a lot of mistakes and a lot of misfortune to get to the position where I could say that I’m a good man. I like the man I am and I feel like I’d be a good husband, I’d be a good father. That’s goals for me. Those are honestly my goals.”
If you were to win the whole million dollars, right now, what would be the first thing that you would do?
“(laughs) If I were to win the whole million dollars right now, I would definitely take care of my Mama! I gotta pay some bills. I got a baby sister at home, and I would definitely put some money away from her, to make sure she can go to college. I’d definitely invest some money, but you know it’s family first. You’ve got to take care of your family.
My family always took care of me and I never forget that kind of thing, I’m the type of person where I’m real selfless, so no matter what kind of wealth or success I encounter in life, it’s always going to be family first. I’m always going to do my best to give back to everybody.”
Keep an eye out for our interviews with some of the other cast members from this season! You can catch the Season 4 premiere of Are You The One? on June 13th at 10/9c on MTV.