July 23 - 29, 2023
celebrityq&a
BY JAY BOBBIN
Phil Keoghan OF TOUGH AS NAILS ON CBS Note: This interview took place before the SAG-AFTRA actors’ strike.
‘Special Ops: Lioness’ roars into action on Paramount+
Q: With “Tough as Nails” now in its fifth season, where did the idea for the reality competition come from? A: The inspiration for “Tough As Nails” comes from my grandfather. When I was in high school, I used to go over to my grandparents’ place. My parents were overseas at the time. Both my grandmother and my grandfather never got a chance at a high school education, but they were two very bright people … actually the brightest in their class when they were in middle school. And I always admired how both of them were able to be such contributors to the community. I got to spend so much time with my grandfather, learning how to use tools. I always looked up to him, and it always irked me that some people somehow look down on people who maybe didn’t get a chance at an education, but who still have these incredible life skills. Q: What are your main rules for “Tough as Nails” contestants? A: That’s where you can get men and women competing against each other, people who are young, people who are old, tall, short. How many times have all of us judged somebody by the way they look, and we misjudge them? The idea that you never judge a book by its cover is really a big part of what “Tough As Nails” is all about. Q: What is the ultimate message that you want “Tough as Nails” to put across? A: There’s lots of shows out there that have honored people who are really good at singing, dancing, designing. Maybe they are good-looking and they are going to be models, but I felt that maybe there was a place for acknowledging those people who keep a country running, real people in real life who are real tough. (They are) people who haven’t necessarily had a chance to be in the limelight because maybe they aren’t that great at singing, or maybe they sing in the shower and maybe nobody hears them, and maybe they really are good singers. The people who keep our country running, the people that maybe sometimes we’ve taken for granted in the past, because they are the ones that keep the lights on.
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Zoe Saldana stars in “Special Ops: Lioness”
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