Josh Martinez, 2018 Big Brother winner and a veteran contestant on the MTV reality competition The Challenge, has done it once more. This go-round, he’s venting his ire over being recently booted off the reality competition series, Destination X. Martinez feels he was a victim of sabotage during the actual game itself — most notably by fellow contestant Rick Szabo.
Running the Map
Despite being pilots of large passenger jets, the contestants on our new show Destination X fly a very different kind of course. Martinez had traveled to Rome only eight months prior to production. He was realizing, for sure, that the first episode would actually, really be set in Rome. His conviction was unshakeable. He’d identified the city in question accurately and was prepared to capitalize on that knowledge during the game.
In the first baggage claim challenge, Martinez was able to solve four of eight tags under the wire. But he ultimately opted to side with Szabo and changed his guess from Rome to Milan. As it turned out, this decision was a costly mistake, as Martinez went on to be the first contestant voted out of the game. After his departure, he took to social media to air his concerns about Szabo’s aims.
“I told people after I got eliminated that Rick Szabo was a snake,” Martinez remarked about his experience during the game. He went on to warn others about Szabo, stating, “I think Rick. Dude, I can’t run away from the meatball thing, can I?” Looking at these comments, you can still detect the sense of betrayal and disappointment in trusting Szabo over one’s gut feeling.
Martinez’s premature eviction has sent him back to the drawing board, reconsidering his approach, decisions and game-play up until this point. He said he wished he’d listened to his gut instinct about Szabo and the venue. “S
