“So, when it came to the challenges on this show, I was just happy I wasn’t having to do them,” continues Bones, who hostsSnake in the Grass, which premieres Monday night on USA Network. In an interview with PEOPLE, Bones shares what it was like filming for a month in Costa Rica and how hiswife Caitlin Parker Estellhas taught him to be more “vulnerable.”
“I’m not a brave person. I’m not,” says Bones of filmingSnake in the Grass. “I would have people walk me to the high stuff and then hold my hand until I got there and then tie me to a rock. I’d watch [the contestants] and just thank God I wasn’t having to do it.”
Snake in the Grass contestants.Chase Bjornson/USA Network
Snake in the Grassis a new competition series in which four contestants join together to win $100,000 — but one of them is a saboteur intent on undermining the team’s efforts and winning the cash for him or herself. Bones says that while the Costa Rica location and the extreme challenges are fun, his favorite part of the show is the psychological aspect.
“What I like about the show is you can actually learn something because we talk about tendencies that generally dishonest people have,” Bones explains. “I pop up on the screen and go, ‘When someone’s fidgeting and they’re scratching their ear, that could be a sign [that they’re lying].'”
Despite the tropical locale, Bones didn’t enjoy filming. He and the rest of theSnake in the Grasscrew were in Costa Rica for a month, which involved daily two-hour drives across bumpy roads and sitting in a hot tent for 12 hours. Bones was car sick every day.
“Filming was really hard and actually it sucked, as in physically. I got so car sick,” he says. “I guess they knew I don’t demand the fancy Hollywood stuff, so I didn’t have a room or anything [while shooting on-location]. I had a tent.”
Once Bones was finally done filming, he’d arrive back at his hotel room and jump on air for his 5-hour radio show. Despite the long days, he says it was worth it once he got to see the finished show.
A scene from Snake in the Grass.Chase Bjornson/USA Network
“I cried every day because I thought I was going to die every day,” says Bones. Estell was also there for her husband when he was filmingSnake in the Grass, even though it wasn’t as fun as Bones had promised.
“It’s been awesome to actually have someone that I can learn to be a bit vulnerable with,” Bones says. “I really struggle with that and spent a lot of time in therapy with that.”
After growing up in poverty, Bones focused almost exclusively on expanding his career. But Estell has pushed him to take occasional breaks. “At first, I did not like that at all, but now I’m understanding I should be a human being sometimes.”
Estell has also helped shift Bones’ perspective on his own importance, the host explains.
“I used to think I was the sun in the solar system, and that was the only sun, and there were no other solar systems, honestly,” he says. “I’ve now learned that I’m like a comet. I’m not even a planet. And we’re all working together and the world does not revolve around me and it shouldn’t. I still struggle with that, but she’s awesome in that way.”
Estell is well-matched with her competition show host husband. For their one-year anniversary, the couple climbed mountains and rode bikes in Utah.
“She’s really athletic, and it’s annoying because I used to think I was a pretty good athlete,” jokes Bones. “But she is just naturally really strong and good at everything.”
Bones and Estell also enjoy verbal jousting.
“She’s smarter than me, [and] I’ve really never been in that before,” says Bones. “So, now I’ve learned that when I’m in an argument, and I know I’m losing, I just go, ‘Well, I’m not even going to talk anymore because I’ve just had it.’ But really that means I’m not going to talk anymore because you just dominated me in this conversation and I don’t want to admit it.”
Teasing aside, Bones says their first year as a married couple has been wonderful.
“[It’s been] new and refreshing that I actually will get sad in front of someone and happy in front of someone, which I really would never do,” he says. “To share the wins and the losses, that’s just different.”
Snake in the Grasspremieres on Monday, Aug. 1 at 11 p.m. on USA Network.
source: people.com
