Four words have dominated the conversation around Netflix’s reboot of the beloved early 2000s reality show The Mole, and they are, as expected: Who is the mole?
One person we know is not the titular saboteur is Greg Shapiro, who was eliminated in the show’s eighth episode, which aired on Friday, October 14. Today, the season finale will air on Netflix and the season-long mystery of the game will be solved. For those not familiar with the show or its format, a group of contestants are tasked with completing a series of puzzling missions while one member, whose identity is unknown to everyone in the group and the viewers, is silently sabotaging them to thwart the cash prize.
Although not the mole, one of the standout contestants of the Netflix reboot has been out gay man and marketing professional Greg Shapiro, who consistently stoked the group’s suspicions as he played coy and close to the chest. Now, in an interview with Them, he talks extensively about his approach to the game, which included getting “snatched,” practicing nonverbal communication, and opening his throat chakra.
Note: This interview contains spoilers for The Mole and was conducted prior to the airing of the show’s final episodes on October 21.
So, obviously, given what happened last week, you are not the mole. But, as your friends and loved ones watched the show, did they have suspicions as to whether you were the titular saboteur?
I think people really really close to me, like my best friends and family members, do not think I’m the mole, but I think anyone who is kinda one degree out from there think I’m the mole, just because they know I’m a little bit mischievous and they know I’m a big fan of reality shows. So in their minds it’s like it’s a no brainer: Greg is definitely the mole.
When you entered the show, you spoke a lot about your marketing background, especially your work with focus groups, as being a particular asset to you. Can you talk about how you thought those skills would help you out here?
I think there’s two parts to that: The first is the TV show part of that. When I recruit for focus groups, I am interviewing people, trying to figure out if they are who they say they are, if they are the right fit for the client and I’m casting a variety of characters to make a conversation interesting and dynamic. On the show, I'm in a role reversal, I am one of the characters, not the moderator. But in the competition sense, I need to quickly decide why someone might say something explicitly, and whether the content of what they're saying doesn’t match up with their intent and that’s something as a focus group moderator that I dig into. You have to ask the question a few different times before you get to the real heart and soul of what is driving someone’s behavior and that's exactly what the show is all about. The people who say, “I’m a team player,” why do they feel the need to say this over and over again? What are they hiding?
