The Quest is a reality competition show set in the fantasy world setting of Everealm. Twelve Paladins must endure and survive training to find the one true hero and defeat the enemy, Verlox. One of the men who finds himse among the final four with the possibility to be the one true hero is Shondo Blades. Although I feel as if Shondo can give a much better introduction, I’ll give it a try…
The leader of the pack, the professor of Swag School, the only person to experience Shondo Speed,…… SHOOONNNDOOOOOOOOOO BLADES!!!
The Quest airs on ABC Thursday at 8pm until 10pm EST. This upcoming Thursday, September 11, is the finale with back-to-back episodes.
A thank you to @Session_Diva for the pictures!
Shondo Blades can be found @ShondoBlades
Tina Degenhart: How did you learn of The Quest and how did your audition process go?
Shondo Blades: I learned about The Quest actually through an MMA show that originally wanted to cast me. When I was told the premise behind the show I said “Show me where to sign up!” My audition process was super cool, I basically went in front of the whole group and told them how from birth I thought being a superhero was the only job on the planet! Maybe a bit cheesy to some but I feel that way.
TD: Can you tell us a little bit about your MMA career?
SB: My MMA career started around 2010. I had played college football but I wanted to do something that I was in full control of, so I started learning off of YouTube. And by the way you can learn ANYTHING off YouTube. Anyway I took my first fight, won in a minute, and I was hooked!
Shondo and Christian face off.
TD: You don’t come off as a huge geek. Do you find yourself having to defend your geek status?
SB: No I never had to defend my geek status I was just me, and the more I talked, the more people said, “wow I have a lot more in common with him than I thought!”
TD: You’re a huge fan favorite and always have at least one line an episode that cracks people up! How do you come up with these lines and is it the same when you’re at home?
SB: As far as one liners go, I don’t create them on purpose. It’s just the situations call for, excuse the third person, but some Shondo Commentary to let you know what’s going on!
TD: Being in amazing shape, did you ever find yourself becoming over confident? Or frustrated when others couldn’t keep up?
SB: No I was never over confident I’m just super positive so to some it may come off that way. As far as getting frustrated with people keeping up; Never! To me the coolest part of The Quest was being able to motivate others to push beyond their previous limits. That’s why I bonded so much with my White Chocolate brother from Another Mother, Jimbo Slice!
Shondo impresses everyone when he shows how well he works with others.
TD: I noticed you tend to give yourself pep talks, does anything come to mind of something all Shondo wannabes should tell themselves?
SB: I truly believe that you need to talk to yourself and be your own self motivator. If I’d have to say anything I would say: Run Your Race. Nobody can beat you at being yourself. Remember that and know that your walking around in life with one victory already in the bag.
TD: Did you ever have a hard time trying to fit into the atmosphere of the show? I had a good long laugh when you were trying to explain to Crio what a hollar meant!
SB: No I never tried to fit it. I was always myself I enjoyed the differences and being able to bring a little Shondo Swag to Everealm. Again excuse the 3rd person! Differences make situations cool because you bridge gaps between worlds and see that we are all truly the same at the core.
TD: Is there a favorite moment, either on screen or didn’t make it, that comes to mind?
SB: A moment that didn’t make it on the show was shortly after seeing Verlox, Andrew and I did push-ups half of the night saying we got to beef the hell up to take this dude on!
Always determined, always focused.
TD: Where did the wolf howl come from? It’s starting to become pretty popular! AAAHHHWWWOOOOO!
SB: The wolf howl I have been doing since I was a kid! I can quote both Teen Wolf movies and I’m an Animal Planet junkie so in a way I feel like werewolf when we compete!
TD: Was there anything you saw during the airing of the show that you wished you knew during the filming of the show?
SB: I wish I could’ve seen where the Fates slept. Damn, they had to be tired of standing all that time. Haaaaa!
TD: Finally is there anything you wish someone would ask you or anything you would like to add?
SB: Nothing Further to add with the exception, “Swag school is in session Thursday Night, Don’t be tardy”!
