T-Pain Previews ‘Go-Big Show’ Finale & Talks Participating in Death-Defying Acts

When T-Pain stepped in for Snoop Dogg as a judge on the Go-Big Show, the Grammy-winning rapper and producer didn’t expect to have knives flung at him. It’s been quite the Season 2 of the competition series heading into the finals. 

Now T-Pain and the rest of the lever-pulling panel including Rosario Dawson, Jennifer Nettles, and Cody Rhodes have their work cut out for them. They’ve got to score and decide who walks away with the $100,000 out of wildcard Annaliese Nock (“Dare Daughter”), James Carter (“Motocross James”), Manu Lataste (“Bull Jumper”), and Darren Taylor (“Professor Splash”). Watch a sneak peek at the action below:

We asked T-Pain to weigh in on the final four and look back at his death-defying experience. 

Did you know what you were getting into as a judge?

T-Pain: I’m so used to Hollywood and movie magic that I thought it was going to be a breeze. A fake show. It’s not that. What gave me the most confidence is I kept saying to myself was, “I don’t think they are allowed to kill you on TV.” It’s a different kind of show. I thought it was going to be chill with me getting to sit in a chair and tell people how they did, and if they sucked or not. It was not that. It was very involved and in-your-face. 

Rosario mentioned you liked magic. What were some of the acts that really resonated with you?

Anything magic. That was my jam, but I’d never been a part of those things. Not until recently anyway. Not to sound like an ass, but my celebrity has allowed me to get pretty close to some pretty huge magicians. Having magician friends, they don’t really tell you the illusion behind their act. As an adult being part of these things, it’s still magical. It’s dope. Seeing Annaliese get up there and do her thing. There are really no wires. We go to the circus and see these things from afar, but they made me a part of it. We all did a lot of that stuff. Even things we did, a lot of the footage didn’t get used. There was always an off day where Jennifer would go, “You know that act from yesterday? Can I try that sh–?” They would let her go and try it. I want to say it wasn’t dangerous, but it was. All of it. 

TBS

Wait, what did you try that we didn’t see?

I got to try the wheel thing. It wasn’t to any degree to what was done on camera. That was scary as well. A lot of the high-flying stuff, you would think that is sturdy. It’s not. It’s really shaky. It just sways. It’s scary as hell. 

What was it like for you to get to know the other judges?

They always keep us in the back to make sure we don’t know what the next act is going to be. It’s always a surprise for us. They would have us in the dressing room for hours and have us come out and the whole building had changed. Experiencing all these things really brings you close together. Me and Rosario were sitting next to each other. Directors and showrunners had to tell us to shut up a lot because we were talking over stuff. It was special going through all this at the same time. It really puts things in perspective and makes you friends. People from different backgrounds. Me and Jennifer found love for the same stuff. I found out Cody lives a mile away from me. We hang out. It brings you closer watching people almost die. 

You mentioned Annaliese. What made the “Dare Daughter” the judge Wild Card?

Her acts were the ones we tried the most. When I tried to get into the ring of death, it felt real and brought us back to earth. These aren’t tricks. She was 40-feet up in the air doing a handstand. When we saw it was no tricks or wire and required skill we thought, “Why not bring her back and give her another shot?” 

TBS

It is a very eclectic final four. How do you think the contenders measure up?

“Professor Splash” is my damn hero. He has done some incredible things. We’ve seen him blindly jump off the top of the building and do incredible things, especially for 60 years old. The crazy thing is Manu wows us every time, but he has the variable. He is the one working with an animal. That’s something you can’t predict and practice every time. You really have to become one with your animal. It’s incredible to see what he has pulled off. I have a massive fear of motorcycles. Seeing James come through and do his thing and go so high in the air before coming down. He came into the new environment and didn’t get much of a chance to rehearse.  What he does is super difficult to do, but he is bringing it. We’ll see what happens. 

We know you as this music mogul. However, if you were on this show stage as a contestant, what would you bring to the stage that would surprise people?

It would be something with horses. I can tell you that. I’m super dope with horses. I wouldn’t be doing handstands or anything like that, but something with horses. I can also take a PlayStation apart and put it back together. 

Go-Big Show, Season 2 Finale, Thursday, March 10, 9/8c, TBS