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MTV’s bad boy, Paul Calafiore, is house hunting in the Columbia metropolitan area.<\/p>\n
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Reality TV star and entrepreneur Paulie Calafiore is well-known\u00a0from popular TV shows like Big Brother<\/em> or The Challenge, <\/em>and his social media keeps everyone updated on his grueling fitness routine. He recently talked to Carolina News & Reporter on his time in Columbia and where he is headed next with his career.\u00a0<\/p>\n Where is your home base?<\/strong><\/p>\n You know, New Jersey and New York is where I grew up and where I had spent my whole life and it got to the point where I needed out of there. I hate LA because people are fake and disgusting. So, I moved to Montana because of the elevation. I was thinking like training mode…let me run at elevation for three months\u00a0(in the Montana mountain ranges) and then my lungs will be like steel. But I just got back in Montana a couple of days ago and its 28 degrees and a snow storm happened. So, yeah, I would rather be in the 100-degree weather. I am actually house hunting in and around Columbia right now.<\/p>\n What brought you to South Carolina?<\/strong><\/p>\n I graduated from Rutgers University and I played soccer there. I was an exercise science major and Shawn Arent [the recently named chair of USC\u2019s Exercise Science Department] worked in that department and also was working closely with the soccer program. After I graduated, me and him had always liked the same bands so we started going to concerts together. We became very close after graduation and we have been by each\u00a0other’s side every step of the way. Before I left for the last couple seasons of The<\/em> Challenge<\/em>, he was the one who trained me and got me ready.<\/p>\n When Shawn got the job at USC,\u00a0<\/strong>I came down here to train with him. Nobody gets me more prepared for whatever I got to do than him and his team.<\/p>\n How did you like Columbia?<\/strong><\/p>\n I loved Columbia, I even got to go to a tailgate. I went to the Memorial Lots and I was wandering around like a lost puppy. It was insane. Up in Jersey and in the Northeast tailgates are pretty mild so this was my first real Southern tailgate. I was like, ‘Wow people are wild down here;’ but in a good way. I loved it.<\/p>\n For someone who is out of the loop, what do you do?<\/strong><\/p>\n I mainly do MTV\u2019s The Challenge<\/em>; it\u2019s a competition show on MTV that incorporates a lot of things. You have to be well-rounded. its speed, agility, climbing, swimming, endurance running, wrestling as well as mental tests like puzzles and Sudoku\u2019s. It\u2019s like Survivor<\/em>\u00a0meets Real World<\/em> meets Big Brother,<\/em> all in one show. Between therapy to rehab my body after the competitions and training, it\u2019s a full time job. I take it way more seriously than my castmates they are like \u201coh yeah vacation, TV, drinking, sex\u201d and I\u2019m super competitive. I don\u2019t drink when I\u2019m training or on shows. My mood is how can I dominate and how I can win. I\u2019m not an a**hole in real life, but in a competition I am an absolute savage.\u00a0<\/p>\n Is that your persona? <\/strong><\/p>\n I wouldn\u2019t say I am mean, but people who I rock with, I rock with and people who I don\u2019t, I\u2019m just cutthroat. I enjoy smack talk and mental games. I enjoy mentally breaking my competition and that isn\u2019t always well received.<\/p>\n Is it ever hard to differentiate who you are on TV and who you are in the real world?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think for me I am still good because I have only done reality TV for three years and I think I go through the right steps when I am off TV like talking to my therapist to bring me back to real life. I have seen people who have done it for ten years and they can\u2019t differentiate who they are on the show and who they are in real life. I put mental health first, then physical health and that keeps me grounded. I also have a lot of things I am working to get off the ground in real life. A lot of people on these shows when they aren\u2019t on TV they just sit around and hang out on social media being toxic just to stay relevant. I try to distance myself a little from social media and work on what I\u2019ve got to work on so when I finally retire from this, I actually have something to do when I\u2019m in my 40s.<\/p>\n How did you get started on this journey, was this your life plan in your head?<\/strong><\/p>\n Honestly it really wasn\u2019t. It\u2019s so crazy how this all happened. When I left college, I had a brief stint in the MLS and when that ended due to injury, I was like, “‘that\u2019s it” I will never be able to play at the highest level again. Let\u2019s just start working and I moved to Manhattan and I got a corporate job and I was doing fitness on the side and I was MC\u2019ing high end bar and bat\u00a0<\/span><\/span>mitzvahs on the weekends. I was hyping up crowds and dancing for the Manhattan elite. I happened to be MC\u2019ing with my brother on this one event and there were producers from CBS there who came up to us afterwards saying they liked our energy and our look. They were like \u201cHave you guys ever heard of Big Brother<\/em>?\u201d They offered to get us both on the show. I guess I made such an impact on my season that MTV was waiting for my contract with CBS to be over and they were asking me about The Challenge<\/em>.<\/p>\n How does editing of reality TV affect how viewers perceive you?<\/strong><\/p>\n I feel like they edit me in a way that is left open to interpretation a lot of times. I have a lot of people that love me and a lot of people that hate me. I think they have found that I am a versatile character. I can be a villain and then the next season I can be a hero. I look at it as if I am just liked or just hated. I am only capturing a small percentage of viewers but if I am liked and hated I am capturing the entire percentage and it means I am doing the job right.<\/p>\n So you don\u2019t mind being a villain?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n No I definitely don\u2019t. I always rooted for the villains. Obviously I love Batman but I love the Joker way more. So I would say my persona kind of embodies the Joker. If I\u2019m going to be a villain I am going to be a likeable villain. Not a super bad guy.<\/p>\n What\u2019s next for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n I don\u2019t think a lot of these people on the shows realize how fast you can burn through money. For me, I am more strategic. I understand there\u2019s a shelf life to this. I think I really learned that as an athlete because I thought I was going to be a professional soccer player and that was cut short in a year, and I didn\u2019t have a life plan after that. There is a time when you will have to retire, only 2% of people who make it on TV start having recurring roles. If you don\u2019t take advantage of your time and your window you\u2019re going to end up having nothing. \u00a0<\/p>\n I can\u2019t publicly talk about what shows I am or am not doing, but definitely keep your eyes open. And I have also been working with a group of people to slowly figure out a way to do an online fitness program that would be available to people in their homes that can get people out and active. I want to do it the right way so it\u2019s a long-term goal.<\/p>\n I also started my own management company for social media influencers and reality TV people so I can help guide and push people in the right direction and help them get paid what they should get paid and not be taken advantage off. There\u2019s a lot of things cooking. It gives my life routine.<\/p>\n When is the next time you will be back in Columbia?<\/strong><\/p>\n No matter what, I will be back this winter to train. It might get cold but it won\u2019t be anything like Montana!<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ custom_padding__hover=”|||” custom_padding=”|||”][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 1″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.29.1″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” align_tablet=”center” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Calafiore_P2W_HP.jpg”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 1″ _builder_version=”3.29.1″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left”]<\/p>\n Calafiore trains all year to be ready for the various physical and mental tests he faces on The Challenge.<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 2″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.29.1″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” align_tablet=”center” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Calafiore_P3W_HP.jpg”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 2″ _builder_version=”3.29.1″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left”]<\/p>\n Calafiore recently spent time working on his fitness at Apex Athletic Performance in Columbia.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 3″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.29.1″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” align_tablet=”center” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Calafiore_P4W_HP.jpg”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 3″ _builder_version=”3.29.1″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left”]<\/p>\n You can stay updated with where Calafiore is headed next via his instagram @paulcalafiore_.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “I\u2019m not an a**hole in real life, but in a competition I am an absolute savage.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":208,"featured_media":23562,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" [et_pb_section bb_built=\"1\"][et_pb_row][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[42,71],"tags":[947,96,948],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22393"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/208"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22393"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23862,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22393\/revisions\/23862"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}