Unwell Winter Games Addresses Rumors 1 Cast Member Was A Plant

Unwell Winter Games was always going to be an unconventional reality show, but it’s first episode went all the way off the ski slope into uncharted territory. After creator Alex Cooper was filmed freaking out over one contestant not showing up for the competition, the podcasting mogul made the quick call to pluck a producer named Andrew Vetter from the crew and have him join the cast at the last minute. The stunt felt a bit orchestrated, especially since Vetter went on to become an unexpected main character in the rest of the show, but apparently, the casting switch-up was not staged.

According to an April 8 TMZ report, Love Island USA Season 6 star Kendall Washington actually did fail to show up for Unwell Winter Games, leading Cooper to ask an unsuspecting crew member to take his place so the two teams would have an even amount of players.

Washington was initially cast to take part in the YouTube competition show, but because cast members were in charge of scheduling their own flights to Park City, Utah, there was a lot of travel issues, including Washington missing his flight, per TMZ’s sources.

The unnamed sources also claim that Cooper selected Vetter for the cast without him having any prior knowledge that he’d be in front of the cameras instead of behind them.

Suspicions around Vetter’s casting were pretty immediate among viewers, after the last-minute addition became arguably the biggest breakout star of the first few episodes of Unwell Winter Games. Right off the bat, Vetter gave the series its first major twist by volunteering for an elimination challenge to save his co-star Hallie Batchelder. When Vetter kept showing up in the chalet following his elimination, giving the show its core romantic story with Batchelder, some fans wondered if the charismatic snowboarder was always intended to be on the cast.

However, it sounds like the Unwell team really did just unwittingly strike gold by subbing Vetter in at the last minute.