An Interview with Victoria Vesce & Lilly Jenkins from ‘The Anonymous’

THE ANONYMOUS -- "Divide & Conquer" Episode 108 -- Pictured: (l-r) Lilly Jenkins, Victoria Vesce -- (Photo by: Rico Torres/USA Network)

While it was lovely to see Nina be crowned the winner in the season one finale of The Anonymous on USA Network, others had to be sent home to make that happen, and to pay them their dues as gamers, we sat down with all of the runners up from season one, starting with Victoria Vesce and Lilly Jenkins!
 
John Betancourt: So, I’d like to start by looking at the tough stuff, just because you two had some rough exits in this final episode here, and I'm very curious how tough it was to leave the show in the last episode,
 
Lilly Jenkins: For me, it was honestly devastating, especially to come that far and have the rug ripped out from right underneath me. But I think the hardest part was knowing who did it. If it was a strategic move, and it absolutely made sense for their game to send me home... I would have respected it, but because I had a really close relationship with Marcel, and I trusted him, and I basically tried to tug him along when everybody was against Marcel besides me, so finding out that Marcel was the one to kind of ruin that opportunity for me to get to the end was really hard to hear.
 
Victoria Vesce: I mean, for me, I really didn't even get an ending to the story, so I just literally was like, “Bye. See you later. See you back at home.” Um, so I feel like, for me, that was like… the bitter part of it wasn't even like Marcel eliminating me or who sent who home. It was just like; I didn't even get to have my mic drop moment and my little runway exit. I was I was ready. I was like, I want to work and twerk on the runway, but it's okay. Um, I just feel like I keep telling myself, like, you know, I may have not got the ending I deserve, because maybe it's not really, truly an ending for me. It’s just the beginning.
 
John Betancourt: Obviously, hindsight is always 20/20 and I've been very curious, if there's anything you could have done differently in your strategy, especially for you two, because what you both did, works so well.
 
Victoria Vesce: Well, I felt like for me, I mean, I can hate it on my Showmance all I want, but it really did help me in a longevity standpoint, but I feel like in a winning standpoint, it did not. So, I wish I could just go back and maybe minimize the Showmance a bit, or just, like, be just friendly to Christopher and not so, like, goo-goo, ga-ga, whatever I was doing, I have no idea. Like, what? I'm telling you, when you get your phone taken away from you for a month, I was like, what do you do? Like, you rely on that phone like, you're like, so that was very eye opening to me, but yeah, like, I wish I could go back and just not be so heavily connected to a person, because I feel like that ruined the potential to have, like, really strong alliances with the girls and with other people that could have helped my gameplay to potentially win.
 
Lilly Jenkins: I think for me, it would obviously be to not have stuck my neck out so far to where I dang near broke and I'm in paralysis at this point, because obviously Marcel sent me home, so I would not have stuck my neck out for him. And then also with my third handle, Rainbow, I think I should have done a much better job at concealing my identity and going a little bit harder in the paint on that one.
 
John Betancourt. Now, I want to talk about the great parts of this experience too, because everything I've heard from everybody I've talked to, is that this was a lot of fun. What are each of you going to miss the most about being in season one of this show?
 
Victoria Vesce: I mean, I feel like what I missed the most they didn't even show on TV. So yeah, I feel like there's a lot of parts like that weren't shown that I honestly, genuinely had such an amazing time with the cast. I feel like the best is yet to come with the cast. So, I just don't think this is, I mean, obviously I hope this is not my ending, Jesus. But like, I don't really think it's anyone's ending. I feel like everyone's got that opportunity to do more TV stuff. But, yeah, I think I'm just going to miss, like, having the anticipation of my stomach in knots on Monday nights and then trying to, like, drink five energy drinks to stay up for a midnight premiere. (Laughs) But you know, I think it's been fun while it's lasted, and I'll definitely rewatch it on Peacock.
 
Lilly Jenkins: I think for me, what I'll miss the most is honestly, having so many roommates, I wasn't sure how I was going to react. Coming from, you know, only living with my husband and my two dogs to all of a sudden, having 11 other people that I'm sharing a house and a bathroom with. But honestly, I really loved it, and you always felt like you had somebody, you know, so we are social beings. So, it was just so nice to have so many people on sleeping in a bunk bed. I mean, it just made you feel like you were at like a stowaway camp as a kid again. And so honestly, it was something I'll treasure.
 
John Betancourt: I think another cool thing to watch about this show is, is how you two grow as the season comes along, because there is that kind of initial confusion. But by the end, you two were gaming pretty hard and doing a great job with it. And I'm curious what this journey has meant to each of you.
 
Victoria Vesce: For me, I've, you know, maybe The Anonymous gave me nothing, but I feel like the one thing The Anonymous, quote, unquote, did give me, or I should say, like I gave myself was I was able to connect with so many people and make friendships, like, Lilly is definitely going to be a forever friend. Like, I hope she comes down to West Palm to see me like, there's so many forever friends in the cast. Dillian. We talk like almost every day. Andy, I love me some Andy, Nina is my queen. I talk to Marcel almost every day. So, like, those are friendships I'm going to, like cherish and really carry over for a lifetime, because we all shared this experience that's so unique just to us. We were Season One, the inaugural Anonymous. And, yeah, so and I'm just really blessed to have met Lilly. She's just such a great person and just a great human and, yeah, I hope me and her can do something together on TV, make a splash.
 
Lilly Jenkins: I would love that. I mean, honestly, I don't even know if I could top that. I mean, Victoria said it best of the experience. Obviously, we both, neither one of us won The Anonymous, but we walked away with, you know, meeting the most incredible people, having an insane, once in a lifetime experience that we'll be able to hopefully tell our grandkids about someday. I mean, it was just something we gotta think like we're all… all of us are here today, gone tomorrow. So do something. Do it.
 
John Betancourt: That is wonderful advice, to say the least. The last question that I have for each of you today, what are you most proud of when it comes to what you accomplished in this first season of the show?
 
Victoria Vesce: I feel like I mean getting this far as a new person, and you don't see a lot of like newbies on reality shows making it to the end. I feel like they always kind of get knocked off, like they're like they're a bombshell on Love Island or something. Like, you don't, you don't ever see like, anyone who enters a game later on really make it to the end. So, I'm kind of, you know, I'm proud of myself for almost making it to, like, the Final Four. I was right at the cusp, so top five. I mean, I can't help that, but, you know, I really stayed true to who I was. Again, a lot of parts weren't seen by you know, the viewership, but like, within the cast, like everyone knows who I am, they know my story, and I'm proud. Like, I didn't put on, like a persona, like, I thought maybe I should like, I didn't think of what I should do. I thought what, what do I want to do in this game? And I played the game like I wanted to. You know, looking back there were probably some choices I could have changed up, but at the end of the day, like, everything happens for a reason, and I'm a firm believer in that. So, you know, my journey on The Anonymous happened for a reason, and I'm really proud of how far I came and how baller I was. I mean, got two big threats out of the game. So, what can I say?
 
Lilly Jenkins: Okay, so for me, what I'm most proud of is, honestly, that I was even able to make it, you know, that I was on, you know, on The Anonymous in, in the domain. For me, coming from BFE, Michigan, small town girl, like I never thought that that would be something that would be feasible for me. So just getting out of my element and seeing the world and meeting insanely cool people that, like I literally have told all my friends and family about. So, I think I was just proud that I got there and then to make it to the end was honestly, it was incredible. I didn't think that that was going to be my story, especially soon as I got there, being up for elimination every night, I thought for sure I would be, you know, out, early on. So, making it to the end was a huge accomplishment.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

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