What I Learned from the Fantastic Interview with Josh Gates of Destination Truth

I stumbled across this gem of an interview by Eric Olsen with Josh Gates of Destination Truth in my Google alerts this morning. When  I saw the preview last week for this week’s episode, I wondered, “What is the name of that place? Where is that?” (Because I couldn’t really understand the name when Josh Gates said it.)

Thanks to the interview I learned it’s a haunted mining town in Chile. Mines. Great places for potential paranormal activity. And the one Josh and Team Truth are going to tonight does look very promising. So now I’m even more excited than ever for tonight’s episode.

But that’s not all I learned from the interview. Here’s what else I learned:

• TEAM TRUTH’S SECRET FOR GETTING ACCESS TO THE LOCATIONS THEY DO: I’ve been wondering this too. They get permission to Haunt Jaunt to a lot of places others haven’t before, like Chernobyl and the Great Wall of China. How? Josh’s secret? He simply asks!
• RYDER/JAEL INTERCHANGE: I was really bummed when Ryder wasn’t on last season and Jael seemed to take her place. I like Ryder. As Josh said in the interview: “…Ryder is great and brings a kind of sassy element that is a whole other great energy…” Sassy is a perfect word for her and it’s something I really dig about her personality. Not that I don’t like Jael. It’s just that I relate to Ryder more. (It might have something to do with the fact she’s also a fellow volleyball player.) However, Jael will soon be gracing Syfy shows with her presence again. I address that in the next revelation.
• SYFY’S PARANORMAL INVESTIGATORS: I’ve pretty much run my course with Ghost Hunters. The honeymoon’s definitely over there. I don’t even watch anymore. That’s why I rolled my eyes when I heard about the newest ghost hunting show coming soon to Syfy, Paranormal Investigators. Um, isn’t that GH’s schtick? Do you really have room for another such show, Syfy? However, Jael’s moving over to it. Which got me to thinking that maybe it might be worth giving a go. Especially if the producers can give it any kind of Destination Truth kind of charm and whimsy. Jael’s a good start on that front.
• WHERE DOES JOSH GET ALL HIS SKILLS?: I’m a pretty active girl, but my Haunt Jaunts never involve rappelling or diving. Yet every week there’s Josh climbing up or down something or diving into underwater places. Can he really have all these skills? The answer is: No. But also a little yes. He grew up diving. He wings the rest.
• THE NEAR-FATAL CALAMITIES ARE NOT COINCIDENCE: Back in January, when I learned DT would be starting back up in March, I joked that maybe it’d be fun to play a “Guess What Will Go Wrong or Who Might Die on Next Week’s Episode” game. Without fail something goes wrong every week. Vehicles break down, someone slips and falls, the delicacies Josh is fond of making Team Truth sample don’t agree with someone, etc. Olsen addressed this too. Josh admitted it’s a big part of the show and one they purposely incorporate into it. (More via editing though. Team Truth’s safety is always priority one.) But we can definitely expect to see more calamities in upcoming episodes.
• TRUTHS: Josh also discussed what he’s learned from his investigations. He’s learned that witnesses are seeing something. However, they’re also misidentifying a lot of what they see. Most can be explained as already existing animals that aren’t extraordinary. However, he has encountered a few things that he can’t explain and is left thinking, “Hmm, maybe there is something there.” (One of these was the orang pendek they searched for in Indonesia. Another is the Yeti.)
• WE DIDN’T SEE ALL OF EVAN’S ASSAULT IN THE HAUNTED WOODS OF TRANSYLVANIA: Team Truth has captured some evidence that’s pretty convincing, sometimes even disturbing, and placing top of that list was the time Evan was all alone in the Transylvania woods and got jerked backwards out of his chair. Here’s what Josh had to say about that “And we only showed a fraction of it because he was so rattled and shaken up by it that past a certain point it didn’t feel appropriate to show it….That was certainly one of those things I can’t easily explain away.”
• JOSH’S WIT COMES ACROSS EVEN IN PRINT.

These are just some of the highlights I took away from the interview. Josh reveals a lot more. If you’re a Destination Truth fan, it’d be worth your while to read the full interview.

Courtney Mroch

Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.

Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.