November 21st, 2006 by Gerard McGarry.
On Friday, I had a long chat with Andy McDonald from Unanimous, who comes across as the unwitting star of the show. Despite showing great integrity in the Unanimous bunker, Andy was outcast from the group making him ineligible to win the money that is the show’s prize. We talk about how he’s been portrayed on screen and how he feels about his fellow contestants…
Brad: So, today we’re talking to Andy McDonald from the Channel 4 show Unanimous. Andy’s recently been made an outcast in the show. Hi Andy.
Andy: Hello!
Brad: Andy, for the benefit of anyone who’s not seen Unanimous, can you tell us what the show’s about?
Andy: Yeah, it’s about nine contestants in a bunker underground, who have to come to a unanimous decision. They have to agree which person will walk away with the money. The longer they take the more the money drops, at the rate of a pound a second. That’s something like £80,000 a day, so the sooner we come to a decision, the better.
You can pretty much do whatever you want to win the money. I was in the house with quite a diverse range of people, so some people wanted to lie, I wanted to cry – although a lot of people thought I was putting those tears on, which I wasn’t. That was the game getting the better of me.
Brad: I suppose with everyone using various tactics, it actually got harder to reach a unanimous vote?
Andy: It definitely did! The ones who used tactics, who were willing to lie or do horrible things to win the money, that kind of person will never, ever get my vote. Once I caught somebody lying or trying to shaft me, I would never be prepared to give them a vote. My strategy was to be as genuine as possible – either you deserve the money or you don’t.
If someone says to me “If I don’t win the money I hope you do”, then turns round and votes me out, then that person will just not get my vote.
I know a lot of people think I’ve come across as a bit of a softie, but at the end of the day, I won’t give someone my vote if I feel they’ve lied to me or gone against their word.
Brad: Unanimous airs every Friday night on Channel 4. The shows seems to be shot over consecutive days, so you’re obviously not locked up all week until Friday night. How long were you actually in the bunker for?
Andy: I don’t know if I’m allowed to say, but it was a week. Every Friday they show about a day and a half.
Brad: But your experience in the bunker is over now?
Andy: Yes, that part’s over.
Brad: Last week, the group voted you off as the third outcast, which means you can’t win.
Andy: Well, you can’t win, but the producers can change the game at their discretion and there are a lot of twists in it. There have already been a few, but there are more twists to come. It doesn’t necessarily mean I can’t win.
Brad: What do you think were the reasons for voting you out?
Andy: Obviously I got voted out by a selection of participants in the bunker who were using their minds to win and they saw me as the biggest threat, which was proven by the questionnaire. I was genuine in there and people liked me, but the people who liked me voted me because they knew I’d be likely to win.
To be honest, anyone who voted me out for a ridiculous reason isn’t going to get my vote, and if they’re going to shaft me, I will shaft them back. That’s just the way it is.
The best thing to happen to me was getting voted out, because it hit me in the face that this is actually a game. I became focussed on making sure the right person got the money and could give other people a taste of their own medicine.
Brad: So, you’re going to be doling out some justice then?
Andy: Yeah, definitely. People are saying “You’re just a big softie” based on what they’re showing of me, and that’s true. I proved to be quite sensitive, but when I meet a new group of people I’ll be nice to them. Once you get done over, you realise and that’s when you start getting your own back.
Brad: At the end of last Friday’s show, you were given a locked steel box which you were asked to open. Can you give us a clue as to what’s in the box?
Andy: (laughs) I’ve been asked this question all week: family, friends, every single person wants to know what’s in that box and I haven’t told anyone!
All I can say is that after I open the box that’s when I realise that my game has begun. That’s when I became willing to lie to other people and play the game to ensure the right person got the money.
Brad: So, we’re going to see Andy’s nasty side this week?
Andy: Yeah, you’ll see all my extreme sides. You’ve seen my sensitive side, then you’ll see my paranoid side, my aggressive side, then my nasty side. You’ll pretty much see all my sides. It was a massive rollercoaster ride for me.
Brad: When you found out you were being made an outcast, were you tempted to walk out of the bunker?
Andy: I would never ever ever walk out of the bunker on anyone. No way, because first of all the money would get cut in half and second of all, I’m going to make sure the right person gets the money. I need to be inside to make sure that happens.
Brad: At the end of the second show, the producers introduced a twist. For each second a unanimous decision hadn’t been made, one pound would be deducted from the prize total. What was the reaction of the group to that and how did you feel when the money started to disappear?
Andy: Well, I absolutely loved it. When it came to talking about the game, I would take a back seat and watch everyone. I didn’t care about the money as such – I was either going to win it or I wasn’t – so there was no point worrying about it. When I saw the screen and how much was being lost I laughed and thought it was quite funny. But you looked around and saw people’s eyes, people swallowing, their reactions…
Brad: Desperation?
Andy: Yeah, like desperation, greed. It’s just brilliant to see what people do when they’re faced with that amount of money, it’s crazy.
At the end of the day, I don’t value money as much as I value other things. It’s not that important to me. If I need money, I’ll earn it.
When they said they were taking a pound per second, some people were in tears.
Brad: Who did it affect the most?
Andy: It affected everyone in a different kind of way. For instance, Kelly was like “Oh God! I want that money, I need that money!”. Her ambition is to have that money, that’s her ambition. She paniced.
Whereas Anna, it made her get desperate and say really stupid things.
Brad: Wasn’t Anna an outcast at that point?
Andy: That’s right, she’d been outcast over secrets. There reason she’s in there is that she believes she’ll get back in the game. She wants to win that money.
Brad: She does seem to be a strong character in the group. In the last show, we saw her tell everyone that she’s planning to block a unanimous vote. She seems intent on causing trouble.
Andy: I think Anna’s had a lot of success in business. She’s worked hard to get to where she is, she’s in her own right full of herself. But she thinks everyone’s as greedy as she is, whereas I didn’t give two hoots.
It’s kind of embarrassing to think you need to make your money off a programme. It’s not like a life or death situation. Anna thought she was a mother figure and that she could control the group.
But the funny thing is, no matter how smart she thought she was, she did a lot of stupid things. How can she be that smart when she’s guaranteed never to get my vote?
Brad: When you walked into the bunker, were you meeting the other contestants for the first time? What were your initial reactions to them?
Andy: Yeah, I was meeting them for the first time. My first reactions were totally different to who they ended up being. For instance, I met Kamran first. I thought he was just an arse, some hard nut. I thought he was a bully, which he’s not.
Because I was pretty much thrown into the bunker at the last minute, I didn’t apply, I didn’t go to any auditions. It was different for me, because I didn’t even think what the contestants would be like. I was just excited because it was a different experience for me.
Brad: I wasn’t going to mention the pretty-boy picture you have on the Unanimous website….
Andy: (laughs) Ah, you mean me in my pink shirt? It’s embarrassing…
Brad: Judging from the pose, I was expecting to see ‘male model’ or something as your occupation, but I see you’re an athlete.
Andy: Yeah, I’m an athlete.
Brad: On Unanimous, at the moment you’re ineligible to win the game. If you could award the money to another person, who would you choose?
Andy: Actually, at the time I was voted outcast, I would have liked to give the money to Sian.
Brad: Er..because she’s blonde?
Andy: (laughs) Because she’s a nutter!
Brad: Do you think she’s a genuine case then?
Andy: She’s genuine. Obviously you’ve got to convince eight other people. There were a few people I’d have given it to, but Sian was at the top of my list.
The game I played throughout was that I had eight other contestants who I could give my vote to. What I did was to elminate them. One by one people slowly fell off my list. At the point where I was made outcast I would have given it to either Sian, Beverley or Kamran.
Brad: Was there anyone who you immediately ruled out giving the money to?
Andy: Ah yes, there were a few that I ruled out, especially when I found out who voted for me. As soon as I was outcast, that’s when my games started.
Brad: One of the things I like about the show is that it encourages you to have a strategy, to be nasty.
Andy: Yeah, even being genuine is a strategy, because I knew that to win the money I wanted people to know that I’m nice. That was my attitude. I got to where I wanted to be within only two days.
Brad: Do you think you peaked to soon?
Andy: Yeah, but again I didn’t think it would go that way, because the first outcast was made because of secrets, the second was down to a vote. I thought the third would be done differently, maybe an interview or showing them people’s houses or their friends. I did not think they’d do two votes in a row.
Brad: Can I ask you about the newspaper reports that the producers actually asked you to appear in the show?
Andy: What happened was, I got a phone call telling me about the programme and to be honest, I’m not into reality TV all that much, but the phone call said I had a chance to win a substantial amount of money. They wanted competitive people, and I love a challenge. I’m very competitive, through athletics and stuff.
Anyway, they sent me out an application form and I half-filled it in and sent it with a photo of me on a night out. I got a phone call back – whatever way I’d answered the questions, I was obviously a character they were looking for, and they asked me to go to audition. I had to say no, because I was up at the Highland Games, but they asked me again a couple of weeks later and I said no again.
I think they liked my dedication, because they saw how I put my athletics first. However, they phoned me up again and gave me a last chance to attend an audition and I said no thanks.
So, that was fine. Come the end of the summer, the games season was over and I was got a phone call asking if I could come down to London. I went down, got put in a big hotel, met with the psychologists, met the team. Next thing you know I was thrown in a bunker! So it was pretty exciting stuff!
I didn’t have as much of a chance to think about it as the other people.
When I found out what the game was, I didn’t think it was much of a challenge at all. I just thought that it was important that the person who deserved the money the most got it. I didn’t want to be winning money when someone else needed it more than me.
Brad: How did the producers become aware of you and why do you think they were so keen to have you on the show?
Andy: I know that through my success in the Highland Games, I’m on the Internet in a few places because this summer I broke the Scottish professional long jump record. I broke nineteen ground records throughout Scotland this year as well, which is almost like a record itself.
They obviously liked the look of me, and what I’ve done. I think I must have fit what they were looking for. Next thing you know, I’m in a bunker with a bunch of weirdos!
Brad: It’s amazing how quickly it all happened! It’s one thing to apply for one of these shows, but quite another to be persued to appear on a show.
Andy: Yeah, it was a bit of a shock when I heard about it. I didn’t think I could go through with it, but I spoke to my Dad and he said “No, don’t do it.” Because this year, I got sponsored by Baxters and I’ve got to give athletics my full focus. But if I’d won the prize, that would allow me to focus fully on athletics more than I could imagine.
I wouldn’t have to worry about part-time work during the year, so this would make a huge difference. After talking to my Mum and my friends, I started to get excited about the possibilities so I decided to go ahead with it.
Brad: On the Unanimous website, your profile says you’d like to take part in the 2010 Olympics representing the UK…
Andy: The Commonwealth Games 2010…
Brad: What event would you like to participate in?
Andy: My goal is to represent Scotland, which you can do on the Commonwealth and I’d do the decathalon, which is multi-events. I don’t like concentrating on one event, I prefer to do a variation of training. It involves a lot of running, a lot of power, a lot of jumping. The decathalon is ten events over two days, and that’s what I’m focussing on.
Brad: How’s it been watching yourself on TV, and what’s your opinion on them spacing the show out over eight weeks?
Andy: Watching myself on TV is crazy, not what I imagined at all. Because they’re fitting it all into an hour, they’re just showing the game not the fun factor. What they’re showing is me being quiet, while a lot of the time I was being entertaining, playing silly games and having a laugh. That’s obviously not what they want to show the viewers.
I thought they’d be showing the day-to-day living, but obviously they’re not. So my personality hasn’t come through at all, although they’ve shown too much of my sensitive side.
Brad: Do you feel your personality’s been sort of shoehorned into the programme?
Andy: Absolutely, that’s not me they’re showing. I’m not quiet and I’m not a softie whatsoever. I’m polite and I’m good mannered, but that can come across as being soft.
Brad: Andy, whenever I watch reality TV shows and see people crying, I want to shake them and say “pull yourself together”. Can you shed any insight into this from having been in that position?
Andy: I can tell you now when I went in there I said “this is a game, I ain’t gonna cry”. I wasn’t going to let the game get to me. I think by going in and being myself, I made a lot of friends, so when these friends started backstabbing me and voting me out after being nice to my face, I was shocked. That’s what first got to me.
I was actually crying because I couldn’t believe that people would lie to me like that.
Brad: If you were given the chance, would you go back on Unanimous again?
Andy: No, I wouldn’t.
