Evan Starkman

Evan Starkman (born December 19, 1984) is a reality television star, best known as a competitor on the MTV reality game shows Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat, The Duel, The Gauntlet III, The Duel 2, The Ruins, and The Challenge: Rivals. He won The Duel 2 and The Ruins. Unlike many of his competitors, he never appeared on Real World or Road Rules; he was discovered at an open casting call and appeared on Fresh Meat in 2006. He hosted the RW/RR Spring Break Challenge in March 2010 with Paula Meronek.

Before appearing on Fresh Meat, Starkman went to college at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York^[1] where he majored in liberal arts and played club hockey.^[2] He was born in Perth, Ontario, Canada^[3] and moved to the United States to attend college. He auditioned for Fresh Meat during his junior year, and took a break from school to attempt the challenge.

RW/RR Challenges

Fresh Meat

On Fresh Meat, Starkman was paired with Coral Smith, one of the alumni of the RW/RR Challenges, and quickly became a fierce competitor who was viewed as a threat to other teams. Unfortunately, he suffered from a hernia in episode 5 and he and Smith, who also obtained injuries during the show, were removed from the competition in episode 11. Starkman and Smith won 5 of the 10 challenges they appeared in.^[4]

The Duel

The Duel began in late 2006 and ended early 2007, and was Starkman's second RW/RR Challenge. He won 6 out of the 13 challenges he competed in, and was defeated by Chris "C.T." Tamburello in the Ascender duel in the 13th episode. Starkman won four challenges in a row, from episodes 9-12, and was quickly taken into the duel afterwards.^[5]

The Gauntlet III

Starkman's Veteran team on The Gauntlet III fought for control of the competition up until the end, and won 10 of the 16 challenges. At the final challenge, however, Eric Banks, a member of the veteran team, ended up in the hospital before finishing the challenge. The rules of the game forced the Veterans to lose because not all of the players in the team finished together.^[6]

The Duel II

The Duel II ended with victory for Starkman. This was his first RW/RR Challenge win. He won two of ten challenges, and went into the Duel three times, each time eliminating the player he was up against. He won $100,000 after a close race with Brad Fiorenza to the finish.^[7]

The Ruins

This marked Starkman's second win in a row, this time with the Champions team on The Ruins. The Champions dominated the competition throughout its entirety, winning 9 of the 10 challenges. He never appeared in the Ruins, and was accompanied by Derrick Kosinski, Johnny Devenanzio, Kenny Santucci, and Susie Meister in the final challenge. He won a total of $51,293 from The Ruins.^[8]

Rivals

Starkman appears on The Challenge: Rivals, which began airing in June 2011.^[9] In an attempt to send C.T. and Adam home in the 6th episode, Evan intentionally lost the challenge which automatically qualified him and his partner for the "Jungle" elimination round, where C.T. and Adam would be voted in to face off against them. Evan's plan was unsuccessful after C.T. and Adam went on to win The Jungle and send home Evan and Nehemiah in the process.

Other work

Starkman started a clothing line with friend and previous RW/RR Challenge teammate, Kenny Santucci.^[10] The line is called Suck Yeah and debuted in 2009.^[11] He also began Branch Out Clothing before Suck Yeah, a clothing company that focuses on sending positive messages into the world - "...When you wear Branch Out apparel you are taking the first step to spreading a positive message. You are joining a movement to change the way people think, the way people feel and the way the world works,"^[12] and sending most of the profits to charity.^[13] The company has featured projects that they promote and donate to regularly.^[14]

He has hosted on MTV Canada several times.

Love Trap

Evan Starkman was also the host of the hidden camera dating show Love Trap. In the show, Evan helps shy romantics "trap" their unsuspecting crushes in real world situations.

Sexual assault allegations

In October 2011, Starkman, along with fellow Challenge castmember Kenny Santucci, was named in a lawsuit filed by fellow Challenge castmember Tonya Cooley, in which Cooley claimed that she was raped with a toothbrush while passed out from heavy drinking, during filming of the Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins in Thailand in the spring of 2009.^[15][16] MTV and Bunim/Murray Productions were also named in the lawsuit.^[17] The case was settled in an out of court settlement on October 24, 2012. The details of the settlement have not been made public.^[18] None of them ever appeared on an MTV competition series again.^[19]

References

External links

• Evan Starkman on IMDb
• Suck Yeah website