THE SUMMIT: Nick Morgan Talks About His Season 1 Victory

[This post contains spoilers for the Wednesday, December 4 finale of THE SUMMIT.]

THE SUMMIT had one final twist in store for the three contestants who reached the mountain’s peak: Though they would each get $250,000, their fellow former contestants would vote which member of the trio would be granted an extra $250,000 on top of that.

The eliminated group grilled Therron Pittman, Punkin Jackson, and Nick Morgan, ultimately voting to award the bonus money to Morgan.

Here, Morgan talks with Give Me My Remote about competing on the series, having to decide which of his two allies moved forward in the final elimination, and winning it all.



Congratulations! A lot of times when people are on reality competition shows, they can do training, they can prepare. You guys were blindsided by what this show really was until filming actually started. What was that process like for you?
It’s funny, everyone asked me, “Why do you want to do this show?” I go, “I didn’t! I didn’t want to! I didn’t know what we were doing.” [Laughs.] And you’re right, not ever seeing another season before, we were having to figure it out while we were out there. And so for the first day, we’re like, “All we have to do is survive.” Then we make a checkpoint [on] night 2, and we’re voting somebody off. And now the game is turned upside down. So it was just a constant game of “Who can adapt the best at the time?”

I imagine it’s one thing to experience it. It’s another to watch everything play out on television. What surprised you the most about what you didn’t see for yourself during the experience, but was shown in the broadcast?
I guess how hard the obstacles really were. I remember them being absolutely terrifying. 

Now, I’m scared of heights, and I wondered if the camera is going to do it justice. And I felt like it did. Because, let me tell you, these were no jokes. I won’t go on a balcony at the beach, so I’m really scared of heights. But when you’re hanging off some of these mountain peaks, make no mistake, it is like nothing I have ever seen or done before.

So much of the gameplay ended up really being about the alliances you made. What surprised you about what people were saying about you, how you might have been portrayed on the screen, etc.?
It’s a fine line you have to walk. I mean…I guess when the contestants come back, obviously, it’s all about your gameplay that you did. And the one thing I don’t want to do is float. And then there’s also a fine line between playing too hard and, as you can see, getting blood on your hands is not really a good thing. 

So I think I said it early: My game plan was to lay low early in the game and then finish it swinging as hard as I could. I felt like I did that. 

I guess I got surprised by some of the conversations. I mean, Beckylee gunning for me there towards the end, and having to scramble and kind of flip the script on her, was an awesome moment in the season. I respected her gameplay. And just seeing everybody’s strategy play out on television was truly cool to see.

There were a lot of tough moments in the season, but that final elimination seemed particularly hard on you. What was going through your mind as you had to decide between Therron and Jeannie?
I was literally stuck between a decision that I never, ever wanted to have to make, and that was between [the person] who was my best friend, in Therron, on the mountain versus Jeannie, who has basically been like a mother to me this entire time. Jeannie and I and Theron and I have bonded since day one. Jeannie and I, every day, would do a fist bump before we started and go day by day. And Therron and I would hug each other every morning. It was just the longest 14 days of my life, and having to cut one of the people that I cared about most will…It’s a feeling that I’ll never forget, for sure.

Jeannie realized what was going on because she heard it in your voice. What was that moment like?
Yeah, it was a—when she grabbed the walkie-talkie and wanted to talk to me, it definitely was a moment that I was dreading. But, listen, it is a game. I hated seeing her come up short. I think people have already said it: It’s better to go out on day four than it is day 14. That was the hardest part. She was the oldest of the group, and she made it. And any other way, I would have loved to [have] seen her at the top with me. So she was a really good person and a really good game player.

When you were on the final day, as you were almost at the top of the mountain, what were you feeling emotionally and physically? 
And I think they showed a little bit of the clips. I feel like, you know, I have a sports background, and I always had just come up short, whether that’s winning a World Series or a championship game. And until we got there, I kept thinking, “What’s gonna happen at the last second to give me another ‘you just missed it’ moment?” So when I finally got to plant that flag stick in the mountaintop, it was just an abundance of emotions that I probably couldn’t even describe with words.

But then you had to sit down and face your former contestants. Was the grilling as intense for you as it appeared on TV? Or was it edited to show more of them questioning you and they edited out some of the stuff for Punkin and Therron to make your win feel like more of a surprise? 
Listen, no one was more surprised than I was. I promise you, it was just as intense, if not more, in real life. I can tell you…I did not think that I was going to get six votes. There were some people that I had obviously had to pull the rug [out from] underneath them. And, you know, there’s some really good friends that I was behind getting them out of the game. And I just wanted everybody to realize that although it was gameplay, what we had on the mountain, in the time we had, was genuine. I did care for these people. 

Unfortunately, the game wasn’t all of us making it. So it was just as intense. It was crazy. And if you would have told me, “Nick, you’re gonna get six votes,” I would have told you, there’s no chance.

Did you feel like you got the brunt of the interrogation from your former contestants during that sit-down? 
I definitely felt like I got the worst of it. Now, that could just be me taking it that way. Everyone got their own fair share of it and had to answer for their time on the mountain. I think I might have been behind a little more of the vote-offs. So I think I got the brunt end of that. But just an incredible twist that no one saw coming. 

And, wow, it’s still crazy to think about. I remember it like it was yesterday when Amy’s time to vote came, it felt like it lasted hours. And I’m just sitting here waiting. And she started it with talking about Punkin, and I remember going, “Just short. Story of my life. It’s another one of these.” And then when she said my name, I just couldn’t believe it. And Amy is another one that I was extremely close with, and an incredible human being,

What was going through your mind when Jeannie voted for you? 
Honestly, what’s crazy is, when it got to Jeannie, I was honestly less worried about winning the game in terms of votes on that. We had a real bond on that mountain, and I was extremely worried that she would hate me as a person. So it was tough. It was tough.

Even though you won the extra money, there really were three winners. What did it mean to you that Therron and Punkin won, too? 
With the three winners…it couldn’t have happened to two better people [than] Therron and Punkin. They are really, really good people, and people that I respect a lot to get to where they got. Punkin’s background in the military, Therron’s background, and the things that we’ve seen on the show that he had to overcome. I was very ecstatic to be up there with the people that I was up there with; truly deserving people. And I think it was a great ending to what was a great show.

You were open about some pretty big ambitions in your personal life. From what you’re comfortable sharing, what are you hoping to do with this money, and what comes next? 
Well, I can tell you, I no longer have a girlfriend—I have a fiancée. We are engaged. And it just means a lot because we’re obviously going to plan on starting a family. And this is such a step in the right direction in terms of where we’re going to start our lives. And who knows? Maybe I’ll be giving [host] Manu [Bennett] a call and seeing if he wants to fly us out to the mountain peak and maybe marry us on the mountain. Who knows?

Did you tell her about the flag you planted calling her your future wife before it aired? Or was she surprised by that when she saw it on TV this week?
She knew nothing. She got to see it with our family and friends last night at my parents’ house. It was a pretty emotional moment for everybody involved.

Looking back at your time on the show, what moment—outside of the very big win—meant the most to you?
Ooh. Strategically, if we’re talking strategy-wise, I loved the flip the script on Becky. I thought Becky played a phenomenal game, and I respect Becky as much as anyone on the mountain. She was a killer. She played a great game, and being able to be the one to take her out felt pretty good.

As far as the emotional side, the relationship side, I’ll never forget some of the relationships that I made on that mountain, and that goes all the way to people that were eliminated early, like Bo, like Tony, like Amy, Jeannie, everybody. There were some really unique people on that mountain and some of the closest friendships. And I’ll cherish them for a long time.

On that note, how much have you been in contact with your fellow contestants since the show wrapped?
A lot, actually. I spoke with a lot of the cast yesterday before the finale. Got some really good calls, especially from Jeannie and Therron and Amy. It was a really good group and everybody was real happy for me. And we’re going to stay friends, and a lot of them you’ll see at my wedding coming up.

RELATED:

• Who Won THE SUMMIT?
• THE SUMMIT Exclusive Clip: Can An Injured Jennye Make it Across a Rope Bridge?
• THE SUMMIT Exclusive Clip: Can the Contestants Scale a Cliff?
• THE SUMMIT Exclusive Clip: Geoff Grows Suspicious of Dennis
• THE SUMMIT Post-Mortem: Kevin Lee on the Brutal, Unexpected Elimination
• THE SUMMIT: Kevin Lee Explains How the Show Cast Season 1
• THE SUMMIT Showrunner Kevin Lee Breaks Down the Premiere’s ‘Emotionally Devastating’ Moment
• THE SUMMIT’s Manu Bennett Previews CBS’ Wild New Competition Series: ‘This Mountain is the One with the Final Word’

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