NFL star Dhani Jones to VH1 about hosting "Tons Of Cash" which airs tomorrow night.
Hi Dhani! So where are you right now?
Right now I am in Cincinnati at the moment…Where are you?
I’m in New York City. I wasn’t sure if you were still out somewhere between L.A. and Las Vegas picking up the money that the contestants left behind.
Picking up the ton of cash! I was on the road for quite some time for that. It was actually kinda fun being part of that, it’s a different experience when people are sort of in that financial peril.
What’s that like hosting a game show where it’s obvious that those people are so desperate to get the money?
This show is a snapshot of people who are going into these situations who don’t have that much, this one guy is eighty thousand dollars in debt, another person lost their house, all these different situations…and if you put them all in one room and give them the possibility to win a million dollars, people are willing to do whatever it takes and go through whatever extreme in order to bail themselves out.
Where you ever surprised by some of the lengths that people would go through to try and stay on top and stay competitive?
Yeah. I was surprised by a lot of things. I watch reality TV , but unless you have been part of that crew, unless you’ve sort of been immersed in that culture in what’s happening, unless you have been in that concentrated moment, you wont believe it unless you’re there. And with Ton of Cash we just hope that we captured all of the best moments. There were some surprising things that I saw people do. Everything from emotionally disabling, to emotional backstabbing, to people wanting to physically disable people and physically incapacitate people, there were a whole range of emotions they go through in order to make sure they win. People are that motivated to be successful.
In the first episode, the cats looks like they had no idea that the game involved carrying this money.
I don’t think that anybody thinks that someone is going to make them carry one ton of cash between L.A. and Las Vegas, let alone go through different obstacles in the middle to make sure they hold the cash. I’m sure they were not told that much, you don’t want to go in a show with people trying to strategize, you want to keep them excited. When they first came out, they went crazy when they saw all that money in the cage when I took the parachute off the money, they went through all the expletives and all the emotions and all the thoughts they had about the money, and then all of a sudden you see their faces change, they go from excitement to “That’s mine!”
Did you ever see people acting out or getting competitive, or were you mostly behind the scenes and you were told there’s drama?
No, no, I was there. Being the host you are in a interesting position because you’re not playing sides. You get to see and observe as much as you want, you get to see and watch from behind the scenes as much as you want. I like to be involved, I’m the type of person who wants to see all the ins and outs, I want to see what people are doing. Granted, at times I couldn’t be a part of it, because you have to get those elements of reality and I’m just walking in as this person that is presenting and giving them instructions, being a big brother if you will and kind of guiding them along the way, as much as I could in a non-physical standpoint I was able to see exactly what was happening.
Were there any contestants that you thought “I wouldn’t want to go up against them if I was competing on this show”?
You look at people and you can think one thing and all of a sudden eight weeks down the road, they are still around. It could be someone real short and skinny and you can think they are frail and they are gonna fall apart. Human survival is something that you can’t see in another person, you can see if someone has that will to survive or that will to win, you can’t see that, you can only watch that evolve over time.
How did you prepare to host this show?
I started looking at all the pros and guys that do different thing, And I’ve sat and watched everything from Larry King to talk shows, to reality hosts like Jeff Probst in terms of how you deliver your message. I really studied and evolved while I’m on set because it’s always a learning process, and I think as we progressed during Ton of Cash from the first episode to the tenth episode, I think I understood better how to work with people. With TV, it’s the same way as preparing for the game of football. To get better at football, you have to watch the film and watch those who came before you and played the game, and yes the first year you come in as a rookie and you’re not gonna be as good as when you come in as a vet, and I applied that in the same way to Ton of Cash.
Is there always an element of of nervousness on your first day of work?
Oh come on, yes!
There’s never a day when you’re like…”I got this”?
As soon as you say “I got this,” that’s when Murphy’s Law kicks in. You don’t got it. You’re like “Oh, I got this,” and then it takes you ten takes to say the lines. So I never say “I got this,” it’s more like “Okay one more time, one more time,” and I’m a little bit of a perfectionist myself.
You do an awful lot off the football field. Do you ever feel like you’re spreading yourself too thin with so many other jobs?
I manage my time pretty well, I don’t think I’m spreading myself too thin, or I’m really all over the place. Really, I focus on the things that are very important and the things that I care about. This project with VH1 was one that I was so enthusiastic about, taking on this chance or challenge, they had their challenge to go through different obstacles and carry their ton of cash and I had mine to make sure that I did the best job presenting, and allowing them to be successful in every situation. Whether it’s focusing on bow ties, which I work on all the time, whether it’s focusing on Dhani Tackles The Globe which wrapped last season, whether it’s focusing on my book, The Sportsman, or Ton of Cash, or playing in the NFL or working with my creative agency, BMG creative, all of it is something that I’m equally passionate about, but ultimately it’s about how the guys within the league extend themselves off the field, and how they extend themselves onto a platform so that they may be successful after they play to game of football. I’m trying to widen the path for other guys to try and so some of the similar things that I do.
If you had the time to do this series again, would you come back for a second season?
In a heartbeat! Being able to provide an opportunity for people to climb out of financial debt, it sounds like a tag line but its true. If you are able to provide and help them? I love it.
