Fourteen years after the debut of legendary television program "GUTS" on Nickelodeon, we are left with but one question: "Where are they now?" These youthful demi-gods that congregated in the Extreme Arena with Mike O'Malley and Moira "Mo" Quirk were role models and idols to us all.
The series, which spawned the not-too-far-off partner show "Global GUTS," also spawned something even greater. The legion of glowing green Aggro-Crag rock winners who accumulated enough points to trample their fellow junior athletes have spent the past decade contemplating their incredible success, and some have gracefully agreed to give interviews with The Beagle.
T.J. "The Rock" Simmons
In his profile for the "Spill Your Guts" portion of the show, a 9-year-old Simmons confessed his affinity for intramural soccer, Gameboy and eating pizza. We wondered if those interests still held true 14 years later. In his interview, the 23-year-old Simmons confessed that while he may have given up soccer in favor of his new favorite sport, "couch-surfing," his love for Gameboy still rings true.
"I'll never stop loving pizza," he said.
Brittany "The Blanket" Bender
In "Spill Your Guts," The Blanket told the world that her favorite things as an 11-year-old included ponies, slumber parties and winning. To Bender, "Guts = equality," and when pressed for what that means to her today, she said, "Yo I dunno, I was like 11." We asked her if her glowing piece of the rock, The Aggro-Crag, still glowed and she said, "That shit is in the garage, ask my dad."
Billy "The Existentialist" Campbell
Campbell said his mom was trying to be funny when she filled out the information boxes on his GUTS profile and that he has never been able to live it down, especially from his hyper-aware philosophy professors. Campbell was fortunate enough to have been the champion of the episode on which A.J. "The Lean Machine" McLean (of Backstreet Boys fame) won the silver medal. The Existentialist firmly believes that if it weren't for his stupid nickname and gold medal, he would have been an international pop superstar instead. And he confirmed that the chunk of the Aggro-Crag haunting his closet indeed still glows.
