After 10 epic episodes, Destination X has come to an end, and a winner has been crowned. Rick Szabo takes home not just $250,000, but the chance to call himself the first ever winner of this new reality series.
This was certainly a game with highs and lows. For a while, Rick was left out in the cold thanks to Josh’s words in just the first episode of the series. However, he got a chance to form an alliance when Peter and JaNa joined the bus.
In the end, the odds were ever in his favor. He used his knowledge and skill to figure out the final X. It was all about time.
Rick Szabo shares who he told and why he chose Big Ben in Destination X
GeekSided: So, you called your wife at the end of the Destination X finale to tell her. Who else did you tell, and who watching with you last night found out for the first time?
Rick Szabo: It was so hard to keep this secret. I told my wife, I told my three kids, and two of them are married, so their spouses. That was it. I didn’t even tell my parents. I strung them along up until last night. They were at the finale watch party with me, and I had planted some serious doubts, so seeing their faces when it was revealed that I won, I’ll never forget that.
My best friends, for 10 months, I’ve had to keep this quiet, and they’re probing and asking. So, it’s fun to have them see the process unfold and watch all the episodes with me. It’s been magical.
GS: The kids asking for money now?
RS: I think I got my first money request halfway through the finale last night.
GS: They’re kids. They’re always going to ask mom and dad for money.
RS: Nothing will change with that.
GS: How much do you love Big Ben now?
RS: I think it’s the best place in the entire world. If I had a fourth kid, I would name him Ben for sure. That’s my favorite name.
GS: You nearly went for the Tower of London. What made you realize that it wasn’t Destination X?
RS: Yeah. I finally looked close enough to the $100 bill. I thought, ‘Why are they giving us this? They don’t use U.S. dollars in England. They use pounds.’ So I thought if they were talking about the Crown Jewels or the Bank of England, they would use British money. The fact that it was the U.S. dollar bill meant I had to look closer.
It’s not about the money, but about something else. That’s when it clicked. Benjamin. Ben.
GS: For me, it was the hourglass for time.
*Rick picks up the card with the hourglass on it, showing us he’s kept them all*
GS: That’s the one. Let’s go back to the beginning, because you found yourself unfairly ostracized by everyone else thanks to Josh’s words. What was that like to navigate, because this was also a social game?
RS: I underestimated how hard the social side was going to be. I thought I was gonna come in and play this clean game. This unassuming dad, this fun uncle. You know, say, ‘Hey, I don’t know much about this. I haven’t traveled much. I’m just gonna hopefully mark my X’s, but nobody’s gonna know how smart I am.’
As soon as Josh threw me under the bus and said Rick’s a snake, my back was against the wall. Nobody wanted to trust me. Nobody wanted an alliance with me. I just felt myself just completely alone on the bus. I remember for two days, I was sitting at the front of the bus, and everyone else was at the back of the bus. I was the leper nobody wanted to sit next to. I’d be poisoned. Josh ruined my game.
But it worked. It allowed me to have Peter and JaNa. I would have been gone had they not come on the bus. The only reason I won is because they got on the bus and there was a new shield for me. Now, everyone is trying to go after the new people, and they forgot about trying to go after Rick. I just kept sliding by.
GS: Were there any points you realized the alliance was starting to come out? Biggy didn’t know, but Shayne, Mack, and Ally did. Were there signs pointing to that?
RS: Maybe they knew in hindsight, but there still isn’t a single confessional where someone says on air, ‘We know Rick and Peter are working together.’ Whether it didn’t make the edit or it’s on the cutting room floor, but I was working so hard to keep it secret. You saw me the few times I had to sit next to Peter after a challenge or before on a team together. That’s the only time I would sit next to Peter.
That’s why the secret alliance worked, because we never publicly talked or whispered. That’s why that one time in the last episode in Monaco we’re whispering, and they’re like, ‘That’s weird. They never whisper.’ I kept trying to tell Peter, ‘You gotta be quiet. Stop whispering.’
GS: So, I do have to ask when it comes to threats in the game, because Peter was your biggest competition. When it came to the Final Five, why did you choose your alliance and not choose to keep Ally when you knew she was your weakest threat out of her and Peter?
RS: I was never going to keep Ally. I was never going to keep Biggy. It was Peter. The only reason I was in the game was because of my alliance with Peter with that shield. They had all the opportunity to have an alliance with Rick. They all said no to be at the beginning of episode 2, so I had no loyalty to them.
But Peter, we were a team with JaNa. So, that was the choice, and we said that we were going to go together to the end. Had we kept Ally, then I probably would have gone home at the roulette wheel, or I would have gone home at the Final Three. I needed somebody in this game. You cannot do it alone.
Kim was not gonna win by herself. Mack was not gonna win by herself, because there’s always some sort of loophole and some sort of twist and turn that we haven’t figured out yet, where you need votes. You need somebody on your side. That’s how Pete and I won the roulette. I wasn’t going to get rid of Pete. He was too important to me.
GS: So you didn’t mind the competition at the very end?
RS: I wasn’t worried at the end with a one vs. one with any of them, except Mack. I was okay going up against all of them at the end, because I knew it was going to be a straight-up game. At that point, there’s no blindsides. There are no tricks and turns. It’s just how well you know your geography. How well do you know your European trivia? I felt that besides Mack, I was the most prepared for that.
GS: I loved how you were never in Destination X until the very end, and even then, you were never actually at X. What was that like trying to put all the clues together?
RS: Yeah, I had been to every single X destination in my travels. I’d been to Monaco. I know the boundaries of the territory. We were nowhere near that in our riding the horse challenge. I did not have Monaco at all in my mind. I thought Nice or Cannes or somewhere in the south of France.
I should have gotten the blues. I was the only one that had all four clues. I just couldn’t put it all together.
GS: Those were hard. It was only when Biggy said something about artichoke hearts that I realized hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades.
RS: Yeah, it was hard.
GS: Then in London, you’re changing X from a city to a monument. How did that change things up for you, and how exciting was it to explore London?
RS: I love that part. I love being able to have the goggles off and then it became like this Amazing Race where you’re putting clues together, and you’re running from place to place. That game is built for me. I’m athletic, I know all the skills, the geography, I’ve been to London many times. I knew that map. I didn’t need the taxi driver. I was like, ‘Let’s go! Put me behind the wheel.’ At some points. I wanted to drive.
I love driving; I love speed; I love trivia; I love geography. This game was built for me.
GS: My last quick question is which show next?
RS: Hmm, something about deception, something about lying to people, something about hidden danger? NBC, put me on Traitors, baby! I’m ready for this!
GS: That’s awesome, but I do think you’d be great at The Amazing Race since you mentioned it.
RS: Yeah, my wife and I would crush it. It wouldn’t be fair. We travel, we work together, she’s got the gains, and I’ve got other skills. We can do this.
Destination X is available to stream in full on Peacock.