‘Destination X’ Host Jeffrey Dean Morgan Says Things Are Going To Get “Really, Really Sticky” In The Finale: “These Alliances Have Been Going Back And Forth”

No one is more surprised than Jeffrey Dean Morgan himself that he is hosting a reality show. Encouraged by his wife Hilarie Burton, Morgan found himself drawn to Destination X when approached about heading the series. “I’m still surprised that they came to me to do the show,” said Morgan. Inspired by the Danish series of the same name, the NBC reality competition follows contestants from the U.S. as they travel across Europe in a bus with blacked-out windows and are tasked with figuring out their location through various challenges and earned clues. The bottom players each week are sent to the “map room” to guess where they are in Europe. Whoever’s guess is farthest from the actual site is eliminated. At stake is a grand prize of $250,000.

New to reality TV, Morgan was awed by the scope and complexity of the production, saying he traveled from location to location on “planes, trains and automobiles.” Morgan, who admitted he hasn’t done much traveling abroad, was “just as much in awe as the players” as he got to traverse Europe with the production. “It wasn’t like a vacation, but I got to spend a little time in Venice, which was beautiful,” said Morgan. He also noted that the series director Ben Archard and his crew “have been together for quite a while” and done shows like The Traitors and more, which put Morgan at ease during the six-week filming period. “Ben and his all-star team wanted our version [of Destination X] to stand on its own,” said Morgan. And they succeeded!

Morgan made it a point to be there for the contestants during the filming process and especially as they got eliminated. “If I thought I could do something to bring them a little bit of a smile, then I absolutely thought that was a good way to go,” explained Morgan. “I didn’t think there was any reason to rub salt into that wound.” But who will take home the money?Sports bettor/content creator Christian “Biggy” Bailey? Professional birdwatcher/family man Rick Szabo? Or reality TV veteran/pilot Peter Weber? Morgan wouldn’t give any hints. “It’s tricky because alliances been going back and forth all game,” noted Morgan. “Let’s say it’s going to get really, really sticky.”

Morgan spoke to Decider over Zoom to discuss the season, the intense production schedule, and where he would like the series to go in a potential Season 2.

DECIDER: First of all, you’ve done such a good job as the host of Destination X. I also thought your Rampage co-star Joe Manganiello did a good job as the host of NBC’s Deal Or No Deal Island. Why do you think shows are forgoing the traditional “reality TV host type” for people like you and Joe who are a bit more authentic?

JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN: Boy, I wish I had an answer to that because I’m still surprised that they came to me to do the show. Maybe it brings an element of surprise because we don’t know what we’re doing necessarily [laughs] whereas a traditional host does. I just had so much fun with the contestants and the challenges. I mean, the smiles that are on my face are pretty genuine smiles. It took me a minute to find my sea legs, and it took us all a minute to kind of figure out exactly how the game would work. A lot of the show was found in the edit process, which was really interesting.

I was really impressed by the caliber of the contestants.

We had contestants who were fun and willing to do anything. The problem was that they were all too smart [laughs]. I was surprised at how much studying people had done. I don’t know that I would have done that much studying going in. For people who hadn’t really traveled, they knew an awful lot about Europe. Biggy is a perfect example. He’d never left Tennessee, but he was a brilliant player. He, and the rest of the contestants, got off the plane playing the game on Day 1.

I know the contestants are in the bus, but can you tell me how you traveled to and from locations?

Planes, trains, and automobiles [laughs]. The crew followed in a bus, but I would travel by train, car, or plane to a location. As soon as the map room was over, I would travel by whichever means made sense and meet at the next location. It was a lot of travel. The longest we were anywhere was Germany, and we were there for like three days. Otherwise, for six or so weeks we were in and out of locations very quickly. It wasn’t like a vacation, but I got to spend a little time in Venice, which was beautiful. Some of the locations were so stunning. I was just as much in awe as the players because I hadn’t been to a lot of the places myself.

At one point, contestant Rachel Rossette said: “I don’t like Jeffrey’s games, but I like his wardrobe.”

Her and my mom [laughs].

Who dressed you for your European excursion?

Most of what I wore was stuff from my own closet. Mind you, I’m more of a jeans and T shirt kind of guy. However, we knew all the locations beforehand, so my manager and I tried to see what I would need. I brought parkas and stuff for the Alps, but it was 70 degrees when we were there. A trench coat over a suit or whatever became my go-to. We had a great costumer on the show who decided what I would wear on which days so I would just put everything on and go shoot. Easy.

When players get eliminated and step off that bus without the goggles, they are in shock, but you are so kind to them. How did you approach that difficult moment?

Every time somebody got off the bus, I did have some snarky thing to say. It wouldn’t be any fun if I didn’t [laughs]. I think a couple of people were not all that bummed to be getting off the bus, but the majority of the time, people were either sad or pissed. However, I always felt for them. It sucks for someone when they get eliminated. If I thought I could do something to bring them little bit of a smile, then I absolutely thought that was a good way to go. I didn’t think there was any reason to rub salt into that wound.

A couple of eliminations made me sad. For instance, I was really bummed when Mack [Fitzgerald] had to leave. That really kind of broke my heart because she was such a great player. I felt horrible about how the game went that night.

If there is a season two of Destination X, would you like to go back to Europe or is there another area of the world you’d like to explore?

Well, the world is our oyster, right? There are many places in Europe that we haven’t seen, which is cool, but I’d be game to go anywhere. I love to travel. I wish we could have worked it out so that I could have stayed in one location for three or four days before we had to move on because we had to move so, so fast. I’ve never been on a train or in a car more often in my life.Or in a car for that matter.

It sounds like an intense production schedule.

There were a couple times when I flew to the next location so that I could get a day of rest. We had such a great crew. Our director Ben and his team have been together for quite a while and done shows like The Traitors. There is the Danish Destination X, but Ben and his all-star team wanted our version to stand on its own. I don’t think anybody anticipated the players being as sharp as they were, not only with their knowledge, but as far as just gameplay. These guys grew up watching and learning from Survivor and The Amazing Race.

I was also fascinated by what was going on inside that bus. When I wasn’t there, we had a feed that allowed me to see what was going down. Or the next day, someone would give me a breakdown about the alliances that were forming or about people hooking up. When I would then get on the bus to announce the challenges, I was armed with information that the players had no idea how I knew. That was awesome [laughs].

You also got to play croupier in Monaco! What was it like being on that yacht while Biggy, Peter, Shayne, and Rick were gambling to stay in the game?

It was awesome. I loved doing that challenge. At that point, we were getting right down to it. We had 4 players sitting down at that roulette table, and only 3 would be continuing . Tensions were running high, and the boys were all sweating bullets. I enjoyed that [laughs]. The closer we got to the end, the more uncomfortable people got because the stakes were so high. That is something that I got to have a bit of fun with.

Out of the final three, who should audiences be keeping their eye on?

Well, it’s tricky because alliances have been going back and forth all game. Rick has spent the majority of the game not in an alliance until Peter joined him midway through. At the same time, Rick and Biggy have always had each other’s backs. Um, let’s say it’s going to get really, really sticky.

Well, I can’t wait to watch the finale. I really love the show!

I’m glad you like it. I’m actually getting calls from people that I haven’t heard from in years, saying that they love the show, They don’t care about zombies or anything else I do, but they love Destination X, including my own mother. She loves the show.

The finale of Destination X airs Tuesday at 10/9c on NBC.