The Mole Season 2 returned on Netflix in June, with 12 new strangers working on a series of challenges. However, only one of them would take the prize, while the rest would go home empty-handed. In each episode, one player is eliminated —specifically, the one who knows the least about The Mole.

The Mole hides among the players, and their assignment is to sabotage the group’s efforts to complete tasks successfully and earn money. The players need to closely examine each other, gather clues, and try to figure out the Mole’s identity. Season 2 of the show had a new host: the very talented and charming Ari Shapiro. The multi-talented host is also a singer (check out his cabaret show with Alan Cumming), a radio host, and a book author. He is married to attorney Michael Gottlieb and lives in Seattle. We sat down with him for a fun conversation about his favorite game show.

Ari Shapiro Wanted to be a Player But Became the Host
Image via Netflix

I saw your Instagram post, and you said that you had to hid it for a year that you are going to do this

“Yes, I have been keeping this a secret since last July and I’m so excited that I can finally talk about it.

Who was the first person you told?

“My husband, of course. I mean, actually I found out that I got the job during an intermission of a play. He and I were seeing ‘Sweeny Todd’ and he was like, do you wanna stick around for act two? do you want to check out? and I was like, no, this is good. So I had to sit in this theater with all of my excitement that I had gotten this dream opportunity hosting ‘The Mole’, listening to, you know, this bloody Steven Sondheim musical play out in front of me.”

And this has been your dream for a while. Were you a fan?

“This is the only reality show I have ever auditioned to be a contestant on and that was more than 20 years ago. That was back when it was on ABC and Anderson Cooper was the host. I just always felt that this show is thrilling and dynamic, and it never feels unnecessarily cruel to the players, but there are so many twists and turns. I loved that every episode is in a different location and so you visit these spectacular places and there’s an element of puzzle solving and strategy that I find really appealing, so it’s always been a favorite show of mine and now to be able to be the host of it is such an incredible position, to be able to see this thing that I’ve been fascinated by for years.”

The Host Isn’t Told Who The Mole Is

Last year did you watch it and did you guess who was the Mole?

“I did watch it and I totally got it wrong, but even this season as I was filming, you know, I didn’t know who the Mole was, nobody told me. Only the executive producer and the show runner knew. And so, as we were filming, I was trying to guess and figure out who the mole was and I got it wrong a bunch of times. Like there were moments when you were watching elimination this season, and you will see this look of shock on my face and that’s because the person who is just the eliminated is the person I was totally confident was the mole.”

Could you have been a Mole, a good mole?

“Could I have been a mole? I’m not that good a liar to be the mole successfully. You have to be able to just keep such a straight face and have such a stiff spine, because for 10 full episodes, like 20 missions or six weeks, you are lying to everyone around you. And there is no like, when the filming stops, you go out for drinks with your friends and you can tell them the truth. You don’t get to tell anyone the truth the entire time. So no, I think it would have been a terrible Mole.”

So you don’t have a poker face

“No, I don’t think I have a poker face. I think, unfortunately, I like, wear my emotions on my sleeve and what I tell you is pretty much what the truth is.”

Shapiro’s Secret How to Deal With The Heat
Image via Netflix 

The first episode I watched you are in Malaysia and everyone is sweating, and it’s so hot and humid, and you are coming cool and collected like it doesn’t bother you at all…

“I’m so glad you thought it looks like I’m cool because I wasn’t cool at all. That is the incredible talent of a very good wardrobe team. What you don’t see is every time they called ‘cut’, the fans, the sprays, the shade thing. Like I didn’t know these things existed. One of those neck fans that you wear like a scarf just blows air upwards, and I’m wearing a blazer. What you can’t see is that they tore out the lining of the blazers so it wouldn’t be quite as hot.”

So that’s the secret

“That is the secret.”

What other reality shows do you watch and love?

“Well I have to shout out to my dear friend, he’s like a big brother to me, Alan Cumming who hosts The Traitors. Alan and I have a cabaret show together called, ‘Och & Oy! that we like sing songs and crack jokes and tell stories. We’ve been doing this show since before he was a reality host, before I was a reality host. We’ve been friends for about 10 years or so, and so I love watching him and being able to call and ask for advice when I was filming the Mole, I’ve never done not just reality TV, any television before really. And so, he was a great kind of phone a friend resource while I was having this brand new experience.”

How did you manage to do that? Because you had the cabaret show, and then you had to host this show…..

“And I also have my day job hosting ‘All things considered’ on NPR [National Public Radio] every weekday afternoon and NPR was incredibly flexible and gracious and kind and when I said, Hey I have this opportunity, I would love to do it, would need to go away for six weeks, they said, we support you, we think this is a great opportunity for you and I said: well I hope it means that some Netflix subscribers becomes fans of ‘The Mole’ and will tune into ‘All things considered’. So that’s my hope.”

You already wrote two books?

“One book, ‘The Best Strangers in the World: Stories From a Life Spent Listening’. It just came out in paperback, it’s a memoir.”

Is there another book in the works?

“I have so many projects that I’m excited about the right now. I don’t know what a second book might be, but I could imagine myself writing a second book at some point in the future I just need to wait for inspiration to strike.”

You had lots of fun hosting this show. Are there any other shows that you would like to host?

“Right now my wish and my dream is to do another season of The Mole in some other country. One of the things I love about this show is that every season takes place in a different country and, so before we sign off for any other show, I’m gonna try to ride this train to the end of the track.”

I watched Season 2 and it was so interesting. Every episode you think someone else is the mole. I was sure they told you who the male was.

“I’m really glad they didn’t because I was afraid that if they did tell me that I would accidentally spill the secret.”

All Seasons of The Mole are all available to stream on Netflix.

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