Destination X’sintense finale is right around the corner, andshowrunner Andy Cadman is sharing more about his experience in bringing the geo-guesser competition to lifeahead of its exciting final leg. Andy, who’s been part of the production ofLove Island, Love Island USA,and other competition shows likeThe TraitorsandThe Anonymous,worked tirelessly to bringDestination Xseason 1to life.
The series, adapted from a Belgian version of the competition, needed some serious fine-tuning to be palatable to an American audience. Working through the show’s development and making it clear that the game needed to be shifted to work within the American market for competition reality,Destination Xshifted into more of a social strategy gamethan ever before, creating new opportunities.
WithDestination Xseason 1’s cast mixing reality TV veteransand new personalities who were able to stir the pot, the competition was like no other as it moved from week to week. With host Jeffrey Dean Morgan on board as the game master, the series quickly became a unique product.Showrunner Andy spoke to Screen Rant about developing the game and watching it unfold.
Screen Rant: WithDestination Xhaving been adapted from a Belgian format, I’m curious, how do you as a team and as a creative like decide what to retain and what to kind of amplify for a US format?
Andy Cadman: Well, it’s a good question. I mean, I guess when I first saw the Belgian format, I loved it and I quickly realized that it wasn’t suitable for a US audience and you know, I’ve made plenty of things now for Europe and for America, for the US. So it was a case of sort of looking at it and trying to work out what are the elements that a US audience really love, like what are people really buying into at the moment and you know, social strategy is such a wide-ranging term but it’s such a brilliant, it’s been part of most of the stuff that I’ve made over the years and I was really keen that we bring that social strategy into the Belgian format without losing what was at the heart of it, you know, which is geo-guessing, you know, which is sort of also at first look a little bit of a kind of a niche genre.
When it was first told me it’s geo-guessing, I was kind of like, all right, okay and I think we kind of unlocked it when the decision, you know, when we made the decision to not have everybody go to the map room every episode. I think that was kind of what unlocked it for us, the idea that a challenge would allow you to save yourself and your friends and, you know, by extension sort of put other people in trouble and that kind of, that element really was something that then sort of, yeah, as I say, really unlocked it for us and I think it gave the cast, it changed the dynamic of the show.
The Belgian format was fairly purely the contestants against the producers, so the producers would hide where they were and the contestants would try and find out and it was a fairly straight relationship. I think what we wanted to do more than that was create a situation where the island, where the contestants were much more pitted against one another and so that idea of not everybody going to the map room and challenges determining, you know, the haves and have nots of information of course but also who is and isn’t sort of safe.
Screen Rant: You mentioned social strategy, which comes out quickly when you have new players and veterans. In terms ofDestination X,how do you choose which personalities to bring together? Can you anticipate how those dynamics will play out on camera?
Andy: I think what was great about the mix was that I am always very keen to discover new characters and kind of, you know, celebrate new people and great new personalities that we’ve not met yet. I think what was brilliant with the mix was that it allowed us to see people that we think we know in a different environment and that was kind of why I was into it was kind of unlocking a different side of people’s personality and seeing just, you know, people in a different light. You had seen JaNa [Craig] surrounded by hot people and then she was, you know, she was on a bus and trying to figure out where she was. I think it’s, it does work really well. I think it ups everybody’s game genuinely. I think the rest of the cast when they saw Josh [Martinez] on day one were like, okay, this is a serious competition and I think that that really helps and I think, you know, for an audience it gives you something to hold on to, doesn’t it?
Like, you know, it gives you something to grip onto, something you’re familiar with and something to look forward to, you know, having JaNa and Peter [Weber] coming in slightly later I think just gave people something to look forward to which is always exciting I think for a show like that.
Peter Weber’s Choice To Eliminate Mack Fitzgerald Left The Crew Speechless
Andy Explained No One Saw It Coming
Screen Rant: Absolutely, yeah, I think it’s interesting to see. Even the final three ofDestination Xhaving Peter involved. It’s such an interesting mix of people who, like, someone like Rick [Szabo] who’s this big personality player and then someone like Peter, who’s kind of known for being a little bit more of an honest, truthful player, so it’s interesting.
Andy: And interestingly, [Peter] was the one who made the biggest kind of strategic move of the entire season when he read of Mack [Fitzgerald], you know, like, that was something that nobody saw coming and it was, like, I was, I mean, the gasps in the control room were audible. It was, you know, everybody was really taken aback because I think, you know, we knew that he liked her as a person and we knew that he was threatened by her in a competition sense but we never thought that would be enough for him to pull the trigger and it was, it was really, it was such a boss move from him that you’re kind of like, oh, wow, and that’s what I mean, I guess, like, unlocking a different side of Peter where you’re like, oh, he’s got an edge, you know.
Screen Rant: Absolutely. Do you think, would you say that was the most surprising moment of the season or is there something bigger?
Andy: For me, for sure, like, I genuinely did not see that coming and, you know, we think we’re so smart and we think we can see everything coming and we think we know what everyone’s going to do and he really kind of pulled the rug out from everybody that, that day. No, for sure, that was the most shocking.
Screen Rant: I was so surprised by it. In terms of shows that involve that strategic social politicking, how much of that is structured into your design ahead of time? Like, obviously, you’re able to’t anticipate specifics but do you anticipate that politicking is going to happen pretty frequently, or is it something that really emerges from cast to cast and show to show?
Andy: Going into, I mean, going into every show, I always have that in the back of my mind and, you know, my, one of my favourite things to do, this may say more about me than it does about the shows, is what I love to do is put people in difficult situations where when you’re sitting at home as a viewer, you’re like, oh wow, I don’t know what I’d do because that’s tough. Like, either way, like, either way, it’s kind of, it’s difficult and it’s going to hurt somebody or it’s going to, you know, it’s going to ruin something or it’s going to make something difficult for somebody else and I love those sort of situations. I love, kind of, I love subterfuge and, you know, people being sneaky.
I also quite like shows having a slightly dark edge and so always in the back of my mind coming into shows and new formats, I have that in the back of my mind of how do we turn the dial on that element of the show so that we can really, that’s when I’m on the edge of my seat as a viewer and that’s when I’m really leaning in when people are having to make decisions and you don’t know which way they’re going to go and that Peter example was such a good example of that where, you know, you’re sort of, you know, the decision is in the hands of the cast and at that point, as producers, we’re like, all right, it’s on you and, yeah, that for me is when I lean in.
They Developed Extra Roadblocks For The Contestants
Screen Rant: In terms of challenge design and working with editors, narrators, production design, all of those moving pieces to build these big moments from episode to episode, how does that really play out? How much of that are you able to anticipate? Or are you just kind of connecting the dots as you go along?
Andy: No, I mean, I think with the challenges, we always have a variety of ways that they can play out and, you know, I don’t speak for anybody else but certainly going into this, we had a variety of sort of options for even simple things like how the team’s going to be decided and how, you know, how many people at the end of this are going to get the thing that allows them to be safe from the map room and, you know, and then other things are, were completely decided on the fly, you know, other things were completely invented as the, as the show kind of unfolded, you know, like the Biggy [Bailey] dilemma, for example, that unfolded in the moment because, I mean, you know, before, before we started shooting that episode but it unfolded in advance of that episode but while we were on the road because, because we knew they were really good at the game.
[Laughs] Like they were much better than we thought they were going to be and that’s another thing, you know, you can’t really predict especially on the first season is like how much homework people are going to do and they really surprised us because we were kind of like, oh Americans coming to Europe, they’re not going to know left from right and then of course, like what a stupid thing to think because they all know, they all did their homework and they were super smart. We had to come up with stuff on the road that would challenge them in new ways and make them ask different questions so more or less everything from that point on was, was kind of informed by that, by that moment, you know, by the Amsterdam episode so at that point we kind of, we sort of, sort of loosened our grip on it a little bit and we maybe gave us a bit more freedom to play. Certainly then going through the castle overnight and all of that, like we felt a make decisions a little bit more on the fly and yeah, really drive the production design team crazy with last minute changes and, you know, all of the sort of logistical nightmares that go with, you know, showrunners and EPs kind of doing that on the fly but it’s the only way really I think to, to ensure that, that it keeps delivering because, you know, especially on the first season you, you can’t, you just cannot know, can you?
You can’t, you cannot predict what’s going to happen so I think, I think the biggest danger in that situation is trying to hold too tight to what you had planned because, yeah, I don’t think, I don’t think that way is, is the best alley.
Screen Rant: Other than Peter, because we had such a shocking moment from him, who surprised you the most from this cast?
Andy: I think probably Biggy. I knew he was going to be great, like when I met him I knew he was going to be great. I don’t think I anticipated how brilliant he was going to be at playing the game, and he was one of those guys who really did do his homework. Like, he’d never left America, he was kind of thrown into this. He’d certainly, you know, he’d never done television, he’d never done anything of this kind really and so I was really surprised. He was like a duck to water, like he was instantly in the game, he was in the middle of everything, he was part of every conversation, um, so I think he surprised me.
I think Mack, Mack didn’t surprise me, but I was just so pleased for her. I was so pleased in terms of how it allowed her to grow and kind of figure stuff out for herself and, you know, you can kind of, you can get a little bit maybe too high and mighty about these things sometimes, but I genuinely think she had like an experience. I think, you know, someone who doesn’t give much of themselves very often, to sort of be in a position like that to really give everything to, to other people and to really share, to share her time and her, you know, herself with others was a really big step for her, like stuff like that you can’t see coming and then you, it kind of happens and you’re like, god, that’s like really special for her and fans to see.
Destination X
Cast
Destination X: A group of contestants embarks on a mysterious road trip in a blacked-out bus, facing a series of challenges that provide location clues. Deceived by misleading hints, they must deduce their ultimate destination, turning their journey into a real-life game.
