Why Jeffrey Dean Morgan Said There's "No Way" He'd Ever Be a Player on Destination X
The Destination X host relishes in the drama that unfolds on the blacked-out bus but shares why he’s happy to stay safely at the fringes of the game.
This article contains spoilers to Season 1, Episode 1 of Destination X.
The premiere episode of Destination X pulled no punches, giving contestants a tough challenge to figure out and saying goodbye to its first person so far.
For those unfamiliar, in Destination X, contestants are blind-folded and where they actually are is kept under wraps as they travel on a blacked-out bus across Europe. With challenges and clues, they have to guess where they are for the chance at a $250,000 prize.
Who was eliminated in the first episode of Destination X?
Having a winning resume in the reality competition series doesn’t necessarily give you a leg up in Destination X. Just ask Big Brother alum Josh Martinez, who sadly had to say his goodbyes in the premiere episode.
The reality show star took home the prize in Season 19 of Big Brother. He joined 12 strangers on the ride of a lifetime for the new series but his run didn't last nearly as long.
Martinez stood out immediately to host Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
“I mean the thing is they were all very game savvy,” Morgan told NBC Insider in chat ahead of the premiere. “I think they’re grown up watching these shows, but Josh in particular… Just watching blind, if they were like, ‘Jeff, pick out the person who’d done one of these shows before,’ just three minutes of watching them, I would’ve guessed Josh right off the bat.”
His first impression of Martinez boiled down to his confidence going into the game and the way he acted, Morgan explained.
“We’ll b-tchsl-p the confidence out of you real fast on this show,” Morgan said with a chuckle.
In the first episode, Martinez incorrectly locked his guess into Milan instead of the actual Italian destination, Rome.
“Reality gladiator cut down his prime at the Colosseum,” the host told Martinez as they stood in the streets of Rome in the episode. “Very poetic, don’t you think?”
Jeffrey Dean Morgan prefers to stay as “game master” than competitor in Destination X
Fans have watched Jeffrey take on vastly different roles in his career. Now, as host of the adventure competition series, he’s enjoying the trip.
“I’ll take the game master,” he said when asked if he’d every consider playing, adding with a laugh: “I’m too old. I don’t like people enough for that kind of extended period of time, to live on that bus for six weeks in those tight of quarters. I need to have at least half my day, like don’t talk to me unless you’re my kids or my wife.”
He admits he could "never" play the game.
“You see Josh for instance, who was a Big Brother champion and in two days he’s already going insane,” Morgan furthered. “I look at him and I’m like this guy comes from this world and Big Brother is similar in a lot of ways. You can’t go anywhere, but at least you could go into like a bedroom or a something to get away from people. There — on the bus, there’s nowhere to f-ck-ng go. Like you’re there, there’s nothing to look at. We got the windows blacked out, so you have to look at the person sitting across from you for 24 hours a day. There’s no way.”
Try your own hand at guessing the destinations with the clues by watching Destination X Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Episodes are available to stream next day on Peacock.
