New episodes of “Destination X,” hosted by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, air Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.
INDIANAPOLIS — NBC’s newest competition show is all about contestants figuring out where the “X” they are in the world.
In “Destination X,” Europe is turned into a real-life gameboard as 10 strangers participate on the trip of a lifetime and guess where they’re at.
“(Audiences) will see a lot more than we do when they are watching the show. We literally saw nothing. In the preview, it says the windows (of the travel bus) are blacked out most of the time,” said Indianapolis native and model Shayne Cureton, one of the inaugural season’s competitors. “The difficulty of the show is picking up things — some were clues, some were red herrings, so it was like you never really knew what to pick up, what to utilize, but it’s definitely gonna be a good watch.”
Cureton grew up in the Pike area before moving to Avon when he was in the sixth grade. When Cureton graduated from Avon High School, he said multiple people had reached out to him about pursuing a career in modeling — and he made a deal with his mom about helping him find a modeling agency.
“I wanted to have the sleeves and the artwork, so I say to her, ‘If I  don’t have a modeling agency by the time I get back from my first semester ~ I would have been 18 – more than likely, I’m gonna be tatted.’ And so she found me one within like a week,” Cureton said.Â
Cureton was first represented by the Hellen Wells Agency, then went on to work for Abercrombie and lived in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.
In each episode of “Destination X,” the players get off the bus to compete in challenges that will help them figure out where they are. At the end of each episode, the person who guesses furthest away on a map from where they’re at is sent home.
“I don’t feel I had the best prep for the show, so I was all over the place,” Cureton said. “I don’t want to give too much away, but I relied on an alliance, and it really is difficult — you have to look at everything.”
Actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan (“The Walking Dead,” “The Boys”) hosts the competition show, joining the contestants on the trip across Europe, with a few tricks up his sleeves.
“He is perfect for this role,” Cureton said. “Getting to interact with him, he came off like a real person. It was refreshing to have met somebody that has been so successful but is still able to have a conversation with you, ask you things, be intrigued by you as a person.”
The 10 contestants come from all walks of life — a sports bettor, “Big Brother” winner, flight attendant, international bird watcher and more.
“Totally different energies that some blend, some don’t, some grow on you, some don’t,” Cureton said. “I love every bit of the cast selection. It really opens up your mind how other people are living.”
The final player standing at the end of the season will meet Morgan at the ultimate Destination X and win $250,000.
“My biggest take from (filming ‘Destination X’) is not having to be on my phone. There’s a difference between not being able to and not wanting to, but the fact that I was able to kind of detach and get to know these new individuals and really touch the communication aspect of being a human, I feel a lot of people miss that,” Cureton said.
As for what’s next for Cureton, the world is his oyster.
“I’m keeping that up to fate. I’m doing what I can and what I want to do to help push – and hopefully the show will help push – what I have going on. I have a production company. My end goal is a streaming platform, the content in itself and being able to start producing that,” Cureton said. “I started out with podcasts because they’re the easiest, so I’ve produced a few of those. I have a few more that I’m working on now, trying to drop multiple at a time just to build that streaming platform.”
New episodes of “Destination X” air Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.
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