Destination Xhas been throwing curve balls episode after episode, and withthe most recent seeing fan-favorite contestant Rachel Rossette falling in the map room’s clutches, it’s clear the game is tougher than it seems. Rachel, a standout from the start from her retro style and voluminous hair, made it known to viewers early on that she was looking to use her high-level intelligence to her advantage. Keeping it quiet just how knowledgeable she was, Rachel struggled to form the close bonds she needed to keep herself safe, but had a good sense of what was happening throughout the cast.
Despite having some issues when it came to creating social bonds that would help carry her through the game,Rachel was quick to deploy her own strategic gameplay when she had the chance. Throughout the episodes ofDestination Xseason 1, she made it into the map room at every leg, but she also worked hard to keep herself on board of host Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s fascinatingly high-tech bus. Using her general knowledge to keep track of where in the world the cast was with clues from architecture and culture in general, Rachel was capable of going to the end.
Unfortunately,after calling Rick Szabo outin a past episode and making herself somewhat of a target for other cast members, it became difficult for Rachel to build the bonds she needed to survive. While her connection to Tai Lowry, Shayne Cureton, and Ally Bross seemed to be growing, Rachel didn’t have the opportunity to find out where it would go. In her last trip to the map room, she inadvertently put her X over 500 miles away from the group’s location, placing them in Cannes rather than Paris.Rachel spoke to Screen Rant about her heartbreakingDestination Xelimination.
Rachel’s Risk On Destination X Paid Off
Despite Losing Out On The Prize, She Made A Major Impression
Screen Rant: Okay, Rachel, I was so sad to see you go on last night’s episode. You were so wonderful to watch. Tell me about what drew you toDestination X.
Rachel Rossette: I am somebody who never takes like risks in life. I’m not like a crazy, risky, like adrenaline junkie type person. So I show like Destination X, I was like, this is something that I’ve never done and never in my life would have the opportunity to do something like this again. And so I just thought this really is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Who wouldn’t want to do something like this?
Screen Rant: Oh, for sure. It seemed like such a fun game to get into. You were really hopeful that you’d be able to play down your intelligence a bit, play up your sweet Southern Belle energy. What about that strategy do you think helped you and hurt you?
Rachel: I think what really hurt me is that I wasn’t as good as I should have been about making strong alliances. I didn’t want to choose an alliance until I had the chance to like meet everybody, see what their gameplay was. So I tried to be friendly with everybody, but I didn’t like say, okay, let’s be in an alliance. And you know, obviously, as you can see, nobody requested me to be like, let’s be in an alliance. So I think it hurt that I was friendly with everybody, but I wasn’t strategic with everybody. If that makes sense.
Screen Rant: That makes sense - going into this episode, you really were feeling like you didn’t have those connections and you really wanted to start building them. Obviously took a little bit of a hit there, but what strategies were you trying to use to build those connections to save your game?
Rachel: I was trying really hard to feed the information that I did have to people that I thought it would be beneficial from. And you don’t get to see, there’s so much, of course, that we’re trying to fit in one hour episode. So there’s so much that you don’t get to see. But, you know, trying really hard to at least share with the girls, you know, the very small amount of information I did have, because the guys, as you can see on the show, like, I didn’t give a crap. I was like, I don’t really care what your gameplay is. But with the girls, I was like, okay, like, you know, this is what I know, like, I felt like we had a better relationship. And so I think I tried to share what I did have with the girls and was always thinking, okay, like, further down the game, when it does get to the point where I got to, you know, keep some more stuff to myself, I can. But I was the first girl to go.
Rachel Worked Hard To Build Alliances, But Was Too Late
She Wasn’t Able To Find Her Group
Although Rachel wanted to build alliances that would carry her through the game, it was a tough environment to get used to and be social all at once. Throughout the most recent episode,Rachel took the time to build into her bond with Tai, and though Tai clearly wanted her to stick around, she fed Rachel bad intel that led to her demise.Destination X’sdifficult social dynamics made the game tough to play along with in moments, especially when it came to the social side.
Screen Rant: We did see that with the sharing of information with Tai. She then picked you for the croquet challenge right off the bat, how did you feel hearing that she chose your name when you just started to build that bond?
Rachel: In my head, I thought, okay, knowing Tai and knowing the relationship that we have, I really felt like going against her was a good idea, because I thought she does have an advantage now that she can save somebody. So I thought, even if, you know, she doesn’t win, she can save herself. And I thought maybe she picked me because she would either way save me if I lost. And so in my mind, I didn’t really think that the relationship between Tai and Shayne, I didn’t realize that they were closer than, you know, I thought I didn’t think I honestly thought that, you know, when it came down to it, she would pick me, but she did share the information with me about her clues, which ended up sending me home. But I know that she really was trying to get me to stay. I think she really did think that that’s that we were in Cannes and not Paris.
Screen Rant: It definitely didn’t seem like she was doing that maliciously, and we have kind of seen that here and there in the past. Now, this was your third time in the map room - you were the map room veteran thus far. How did you feel going in? What were you taking from the clues that you had?
Rachel: Going into it, I honestly felt like I didn’t have much of anything. Because of course, when we got to the challenge, and we saw where Jeffrey was, obviously looked very French. And all of the pastries on the table were for it. You know, you walk in, you’re like, this is very Emily in Paris, right? Like this is, I know the country. But in terms of the specifics, I was like, I don’t know, you know, we’re in France. And I’m trying in my head to think about like the most famous places in France, which is right. And then I was thinking, of course, the Cannes Film Festival, which I wouldn’t have even put stock into really, if it weren’t for all of those clues. And so going into the map room, I really was just trusting that I would at least be in a better shot than maybe some of the other players. I was like, I don’t think I’m going to be the closest ex. But I don’t think I’m going to be the furthest away, which ended up happening.
Screen Rant: It’s such a tough blow when you see, especially on the episodes, when you see how far the X’s were placed, it’s always so shocking.
Rachel: I feel so stupid looking back, because we don’t get to watch until we’re live with all of you guys. So, I never had any idea where exactly we were, who put their X where, because everybody has an idea of where they put their X. But then you like zoom out compared to everybody else. It’s like, well, I was way off. Honestly, watching it back, I’m like, I’m a dummy. I never put my X in the right place. If you go back and look, I’m like, well, didn’t need to know that.
Screen Rant: I can imagine like those social dynamics kind of putting everything into place in conjunction with the geography just makes everything that much tougher. Like you don’t know who to trust, you don’t know who to take information from and whether it’s good or not. I’m curious, obviously, you got clues relating to Cannes, but why did you really trust Tai in that moment when you were making your guess? Or did you go more off of the information you had?
Rachel: A million percent. It was because I trusted Tai. Like Tai and I were really close on the bus. Actually, Tai and Matt were the two people that I really felt the closest to on the bus for sure. Like, I think we had a really good relationship and I really trusted them to an extent, right? Like I knew that as the game progressed, quite possibly, I wouldn’t be able to trust all of that. But I’m like, listen, we’re so early in that I had no doubt that anything that Tai was going to tell me that that was true, you know? So I went into it 100% being like, I trust Tai. Like, I wouldn’t think that she would lead me astray. And I think she did. It’s just a tough game.
That’s the thing with Tai is that she is like, she’s very, she’s very loyal, and she’s like, honest. And it is a game. You have to look at everything within the context of like, we’re all trying to win a quarter of a million dollars. But as much as you’re able to be in that kind of environment, like Tai never had any malicious intent toward anybody. Tai’s like an amazing person, even within the context of that game. So there was no reason for me not to trust her.
Rachel Thinks Rick Is Playing The Best Game On Destination X
He’s Got Some Tricks Up His Sleeve
Screen Rant: I’m curious at this point, now having watched a few episodes, who do you think is playing the best game?
Rachel: That’s such a good question. You know, I really, really underestimated Rick. Because as you can see, Rick didn’t get off on the right foot with just about anybody. Like, for good reason. Like, I really underestimated Rick, especially because I felt so betrayed by him in the second episode that I was like, F this guy. But he had good gameplay. And, you know, I think that he was really good at figuring out where we were on his own. As a player in general, super underestimated, because in my head, I just kept thinking, like, like, next episode is gone. Next episode, he’s gone, you know, my head when I was and then it’s like, he just won’t leave. I was like, there were so many birds! I had a bird whisperer on the bus. Maybe I would have been nicer to him [if I’d known].
Screen Rant: Incredible. And my last question for you, if you were to play the game again, what would you change?
Rachel: I would be so much better about making solid alliances, like day one, hour one, be like you, me, and you…because that’s the issue, I didn’t trust anybody enough to feel like I wanted to bind myself to them. Bad move, such a bad move on my part. And if I were to do it all again, I would definitely be a lot more strategic and building good alliances from the get-go.
