KiMi Robinson|Arizona Republic
Chase DeMoor, an NFL hopeful and TikTok star living in Arizona, thought his life was going to be a nonstop party when he arrived in Turks and Caicos to film a new reality show called “Parties in Paradise” last November.
Within a day of filming, he learned that he had been tricked: There was no forthcoming show about partying on an island. Instead, he and nine castmates — mostly 20-something models who’d flown in from around the world — were on a self-improvement retreat.
They were, in fact, subjects on the new season of the popular Netflix reality show “Too Hot to Handle.” They were unwittingly at the mercy of Lana, an all-seeing, all-knowing, cone-shaped device whose rules included no kissing or sexual acts. Any breach of the rules caused a deduction froma $100,000 prize pot.
Spoiler alert: There were numerous rule breaks in Season 2 — including more than $20,000 worth of indiscretions in one day — and DeMoor was involved in some of them.
With all 10 episodes of "Too Hot to Handle" now streaming, The Arizona Republic spoke with DeMoor about what he learned from his time on the show, the co*ckroach-on-the-face incident and whether he sees a future with Carly or Tabitha.
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Chase DeMoor's football career
Question: Did you grow up in Washington? How did you end up in Arizona?
Answer: I am a Washington native originally. I grew up in a smaller town up there called Eatonville, Washington. (It has a) very small population; it's one of those mom-and-pop towns. My parents lived there; my grandparents lived there.
I ended up ... at a junior college and received a Division 1 scholarship to the University of Nevada. I did have a girlfriend that went to a university back in Washington called (Central Washington University). So I ended up transferring that summer back to Central Washington. I played (football) there for the remainder of my collegiate career before getting to work out with the Seattle Seahawks.
But then I ended up getting signed to the Montreal Alouettes in Canada. COVID ended up canceling the season back in 2020, so I was looking to continue doing offseason training and stuff.
One of my best friends and teammates lives out here in Arizona, and obviously Arizona's, like, a hotbed for a lot of professional athletes who come down here and train. Towards the end of September, early October, I decided to pack it up and get a change of scene.
I came and visited Arizona often growing up and stuff. And it's kind of always been more homey to me anyways. I love the heat, and I hate the rain.
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'I had over 10,000 followers already off of one video'
Q: You’re big on TikTok. How did you get started on the app, and how has it been going?
A: TikTok’s been great. I'd see TikTok videos a lot, but it wasn't really something that struck my interest.
I ended up going and visiting my college town one weekend, and one of my friends was making a TikTok (video). And he was like, ‘I think you should hop on this app. I think you'd be really good at it.' And I was pretty against it at first. I posted one video — it was a workout video, actually — and then deleted the app, forgot about it for a couple of days.
But my phone would kind of like vibrate all the time, and I was getting all these notifications. I started getting these Instagram followers out of nowhere. I was really confused as to where (they) came from and reinstalled TikTok a couple of weeks later and opened it back up. And I had over 10,000 followers already off of one video.
I started doing catches and built a social media persona on there.I'm known as the "best hands on TikTok."I can catch anything; I can do these acrobatic catches involving gymnastics and football. So I just went with that for a while and built a really strong fan base around it.
I hit, I think, a million followers even before I even went on "Too Hot to Handle."It was more of a fun thing that I did during COVID that turned into something that really changed my life.
What filming 'Too Hot to Handle' was like
Q: Looking back, would you have preferred to be on the fictional reality show that you thought you’d signed up for, "Parties in Paradise,"or "Too Hot to Handle"?
A: I'm not going to lie. When I was on the show and I found out that I was tricked into this retreat, I was not the happiest. I'm pretty sure I walked around right after that — I was (cast) by Katie — and I was like, "Put me on the phone with Katie right now.I feel so lied to, so betrayed." My trust issues went through the roof. But looking back, I'm definitely glad I got to do "Too Hot to Handle."
Q: When did you film?
A: We were there (in Turks and Caicos) all of November and all of December, basically.
About that co*ckroach on the face scene ...
Q: I’m sure it’s weird to watch stuff that happened six or seven months ago.
A: Yeah, it's definitely a weird feeling, especially because how the show works is it wasn't shown in, really, chronological order. They kind of put things together in the sense of making it look like a storyline, which is fine because all of it didn't really fit together. So seeing one scene and kind of remembering how it actually went versus how it was edited was definitely weird.
Obviously, an iconic scene is the co*ckroach; I could never forget that. I got a text yesterday from Saquon Barkley with the (New York) Giants; he sent me the same clip, and he also (told) me that Jason Derulo was commenting on the clip as well. So a lot of celebrities have seen this and are on my case.
Q: I mean, who’s the bigger star? You or the co*ckroach?
A: Yeah, I know. I was like, "That co*ckroach got more screen time than I did."
Chase and Carly 'have a really great relationship' now
Q: How do you feel about everything now, from your breakup with Carly to Tabitha coming in?
A: I haven’t seen the (last) six episodes, but so far I think the first four went really well.
A lot of people were rooting for me and Carly. So I am anticipating that there's going to be some really, really, hurt feelings coming up as me and Carly do end up separating and going our separate ways.
Me and Carly, to this day, have a really great relationship. She calls me every day. We talk all the time. I think she's actually going to come out here to Arizona, and we're going to hang out. Obviously, Tabitha lives in the UK. I'd love to go see Tabitha too because (she) and I also have a really good relationship.
The breakup, it wasn't as bad as a lot of people might think it was. Going back, I feel like I would try once or twice again to see if I could make something work with Carly on the show rather than go for Tabitha. (I’m not saying that) to take away from Tabitha because Tabitha is great also.
But I think, for the most part, I'm pretty happy with how everything shook (out). We all have really good relationships with one another. We're all in group chats. We all FaceTime one another. So there's definitely no hard feelings anywhere across the board.
That's not to say there's nothing in the future for Carly and I, or Tabitha and I. As of right now, we're all on really great terms. And this is all happening so fast. We've just got to see how everything plays out.
Q: Do you think you made Lana more disappointed or proud of you during your time on "Too Hot To Handle"?
A: I would definitely think Lana is very proud of me. I was definitely one of her tougher students. When I came in there, just the amount of ego and the persona I had going in there, I feel like Lana definitely was trying to work me out in the sense of, "We've got to break Chase down before we can really fix him."
You saw the workshop, the Carly (and being) gagged workshop. Sitting through that alone was, I think, pivotal in my development there on the retreat.
The person that went in that retreat and the person that left are two different people. All those workshops, (I learned) all those different skills I use to this day. I think Lana, looking at me when I came in versus now, would be very, very happy with the result that she got out of it, just purely based on the person that I became (upon) leaving.
'A pivotal point in my development'
Q: What do you think is the most valuable thing you came away with from the retreat?
A: I think the most valuable thing I honestly left there with was the ability to listen to other people. I think that was something that I lacked.
Another workshop that we did was letting go of masculinity. I think that was also a pivotal point in my development there on the retreat.
Q: There’s nowhere to run while filming the show; you have to confront everything very head-on.
A: Absolutely. There’s no running. There’s no “do not disturb” or “block” button, you know? (That was something) Carly loved to let me hear.
Q: What can we expect from you in the future?
A: Me and Marvin, we have such a great relationship. That's my best friend. We've already taken trips together. We actually spent a month in Mexico, so you (can) definitely expect lots of YouTube vlogs from me and Marvin. I've done the same thing with Nathan. He comes and visits me often over here in Arizona. Melinda has (come) and visited me. I spent New Year's with Joey and Carly. You can definitely expect to see all of us together often, taking all these trips together.
(I’ll continue) to play football. I mean, having an opportunity again in the NFL is going to be huge within the next couple of weeks.
Reach the reporter at kimi.robinson@gannett.com or at 602-444-4968. Follow her on Twitter @kimirobinand Instagram @ReporterKiMi.
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