Chapter Text
Tess Sinclair looked at herself in the dressing room mirror. She pursed her lips, glistening with red lipstick, and took a hard look at herself in the mirror to make sure she looked perfect. She did, actually; Monica, the makeup artist, had done a fantastic job as usual, and Jesse had styled her hair wonderfully. As usual, it was parted on the left side and fell down her left cheek, ending just above her breast on the right side with the rest of her hair tucked neatly behind her ears, but whatever new product Jesse had used had given her hair a bit more volume and made her curls positively radiant. She raised one perfectly plucked eyebrow, just to make sure everything was in place, and then faked a smile. The mirror reflected it back at her, and the only hint that she wasn't happy was the lack of interest in her green eyes.
Internally, Tess let out a sigh. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She had graduated from college in four years with amazing grades, membership in several clubs, and a double major in Journalism and Economics. With such a resume, she'd had no problem getting picked up by a news organization, and had moved on from there to a position with a local news team in Albuquerque before being tapped for an audition by a talent scout from the Universe News Corporation to fill a spot on Celebrity Manhunt–apparently there had been some behind-the-scenes drama with their former female host, and they needed somebody to step in and fill her shoes quickly.
Tess had never been a big fan of celebrity news, or entertainment news in general–it always seemed like just so much fluff. But it was a well-paying position, with plenty of vacation time and, of course, a reasonable amount of fame, so she'd jumped at the opportunity. Although celebrity-stalking wasn't her cup of tea, she quickly became accustomed to what was expected of her and started putting her own spin on the news. Sure, there was only so much substance that could be added to an expose on Mel Fender's cats (actually, none at all), but her sense of humor and genuine inquisitiveness made her a fan favorite.
More importantly, it made her an interview favorite. She'd always been good at getting people to open up to her, and as it turned out, her willingness to actually let people talk (a trick Josh had never been able to master, although she'd never actually say that) made celebrities want to be interviewed by her. Soon, instead of just hoping for a few soundbites from a B-lister (or having to deal with the camera-hogging tendencies of a desperate D-lister), those B-listers were willing to actually sit down in the studio with Celebrity Manhunt and actually talk–to her, at least. Josh, not so much.
Of course the studio execs caught on to this. It helped that Tess was a triple threat–audiences loved her, interviewees loved her, and she was really good-looking. And that's how Tess found herself being offered her own weekly show on October 24, just ten days after her 25th birthday.
She agreed, of course. Hosting her own show, just over two years after she graduated college? Only having to come in to the studio one day a week? Conducting long-form, in-depth interviews? She'd have to be crazy not to jump at that opportunity. And yet, somehow, Tess was beginning to get the sense that...maybe she was crazy.
Not in the psycho killer kind of way. She'd never felt the urge to skin somebody and feast upon their organs–well, not frequently, at least, and only when somebody was really irritating her. No, she was just...dissatisfied.
She was dissatisfied, and it didn't make sense. Sure, this wasn't her dream job, but it was 95% of the way there! She interviewed people, on television, in front of a wide audience! So what if it was celebrities and the biggest part of her job was to make them feel good about themselves and get the public excited about their newest project? She still had most of what she had always wanted–or at least what she told herself she wanted–and she was a lot closer than she should've ever been expected to get, especially with how young she was. Things might not be perfect, but they was pretty close. And besides, if she wanted to host a hard-hitting news program, or another interview show (perhaps with guests that weren't celebrities), this show would be a fantastic thing to have on her résumé.
Tess shut her eyes and tried to ignore the heat behind her eyelids. She felt that she should rub them, but refrained, both because she didn't want to run the risk of messing up her makeup and because she didn't want to take a chance on dislodging a contact. All things considered, she should be happier.
So maybe she just needed to see a shrink. Or maybe she needed to make a change in her life, since what she was doing wasn't working. Either way, she had an interview to do. Some actor-turned-reality host was here to pimp the next season of his show, and she was going to help him do it.
Tess took a deep breath and put a smile on her face as she got up and stalked purposefully towards the stage door.
"...and that's why my boyfriend no longer wears thongs," the comedian onstage finished.
Tess smiled to herself, genuinely this time. One thing UNC did right was have a roster of comedians before their live shows to warm up the crowd. It made her job a lot easier, since the audience was genuinely interested in watching the show by the time she came on. It meant that the first ten minutes of her show weren't greeted with complete silence.
"And now, I'd like to put your hands together for one of the best reporters in all of Canada, the one, the only, Tess Sinclair!" the comedian announced.
Tess grinned and walked onstage to loud applause. She had to admit, even if she wasn't feeling that happy these days, an audience cheering for her still managed to be one of the greatest thrills she'd ever encountered. It had been strange, working in front of an audience when she started, since everything else she'd ever done had been in a studio and had usually been taped. Still, she'd adapted quickly, and it was impossible to replicate the feeling of a live performance–or, if it was, she'd never experienced it.
"Good evening, friends and enemies, and welcome to another fantastic hour of Talking with Tess!" Tess announced. She'd never been a fan of the name, but it apparently tested well with focus groups. She glanced at the teleprompter. "We've got a great show for you tonight! Greg Fawkes will be talking with us about his new film, including some tales of on-set rivalry you won't want to miss, Lauren Sinova will be with us to tell us about her new single, Heartache in Minneapolis, and Audrey Williams will make an appearance, fresh off shooting the fifth season of Caroline's Strangers! But first, of course, we have the inimitable Chris McLean, here to tell us about the soon-to-be released next season of Total Drama!"
A scruffy-looking man, about 5'3" in height, walked onstage to the sound of applause, although there were several boos hidden underneath the claps. He took a seat on the interviewee's chair and flashed a million-watt smile at the camera before angling his head to look at her.
"So, Chris," Tess said. "Another season, huh?"
Chris grinned. "Yep! Kind of hard to believe we've lasted that long, but hey, when you keep cranking out quality entertainment, why not?"
Tess nodded. "You know, a lot of people thought your last season was a downgrade, and that seems to be the general response whenever a cast gets to continue on to a second season. Despite that, you've had multi-season casts three times now–and it looks like this is going to be the third season for this cast. What's up with that?"
All the mirth went out of Chris's eyes, although he continued smiling. "Actually, Tess, a lot of us at Total Drama thought we did a good job last season. Sure, there were some unexpected hiccups, but a lot of us thought that it was an upgrade from the previous year."
"Right, but–" Tess started to say. Chris cut her off.
"As for keeping the cast on, well, a lot of reality shows like to just introduce players and then get rid of them after one season," Chris said. "C'mon, really? You introduce a bunch of people, you get the audience involved, relating to them, rooting for them, and then just toss them away after one show? We like to make sure that the relationship the audience builds with the cast can, well, y'know, be explored a bit more. Give the audience a chance to really connect, really dig in, really learn what our contestants are all about. And I believe that that's one of the reasons Total Drama has been so successful, along with my dynamite hosting and our fantastic challenges."
Tess pursed her lips. "So, if people really want to see more of your players...why are the sequel seasons often seen as being inferior by fans and critics?"
Chris shrugged. "I think it's just because people get a better idea of what the players are like. It turns out that nobody's perfect, and when that starts to become more apparent–which it always does, nobody can last long enough and get enough screentime in two seasons to be considered a major player and still come off as an angel. It strikes me that that's usually one of the downsides of doing these multiple-season casts–sure, the audience gets to know the contestants better, but it also means that they get to see our players' flaws more clearly."
Tess nodded. Internally, she thought Chris was full of shit. "So, this is the...third season for this cast, correct?"
"That's correct, Tess, although not everyone is returning," Chris agreed.
Tess grinned and looked at the camera. "That's right, and tonight we've got a special surprise for you. Chris McLean is going to reveal the complete list of returning contestants, here, live, on Talking with Tess!"
The audience burst into loud applause. Tess sat back, smiling, and noticed Chris doing the same. Now came the difficult part: she was going to have to get Chris to talk about who was coming back, one by one by one. She didn't want to do this, but the studio had forced it upon her in their notes for this week's show: for some reason, Chris had only agreed to do this interview (which the producers were sure would be a smash success, and which was not being pushed upon her due to "synergy through the Universe brand"–UNC was not the owner of Total Drama's production company, don't be silly!) if he got to drag it out endlessly. Still, she'd watched a few episodes of Total Drama in preparation. She knew his M.O.
"And to make it more exciting," Tess continued once the applause died down, "we're going to go through the cast members one-by-one to find out who returns...and who doesn't."
The audience gasped. Tess turned to Chris again.
"So, Chris," Tess said. "Let's talk about a certain very, very, very angry scientist."