Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Stars On Mars episode "Resupply Mission." Read at your own risk!
Stars On Mars shook up the show in a major way when it brought in four new people to the habitat. For those who missed the episode and haven't had a chance to tune in with their Hulu subscription, the current celebrities successfully rescued and welcomed a fresh batch of talent into the game, and one of them I'm really excited to see in action.
Out of television sidekick Andy Richter, Bachelor alum Ashley Iaconetti, Iron Chef vet Cat Cora, and NBA legend Paul Pierce, which am I most excited to see? Pierce is high on my list of celebrities I think can win it all and may be one of the most exciting in the game. If you're familiar with him, it isn't hard to understand why.
Why I'm Excited For Paul Pierce To Join Stars On Mars
Perhaps the biggest thing that Paul Pierce will bring to Stars On Mars is more athleticism. No offense to the remaining actors in the game, but I think it's clear that the habitat needs more people like Marshawn Lynch and Ronda Rousey than they need people like recently-eliminated reality star Tom Schwartz. Whether it's fair or not, this game requires a lot of physicality and those who aren't athletes haven't fared well. For that reason alone, Pierce is going to be some added help to the team and maybe even shield remaining non-athletes from shouldering the blame for failed challenges.
Another thing about Paul Pierce is that he is no stranger to controversy. The former Boston Celtic lost his job with ESPN after a raunchy video of his went viral, and if you think he's learned from that experience, you haven't been keeping up with him. In fact, Pierce went viral again fairly recently when he showed up to Kevin Garnett's livestream commentary of the NBA Finals and made various comments that had Garnett visibly uncomfortable during the event.
Paul Pierce doesn't seem to be afraid to speak his mind, which showed on Stars On Mars when he almost immediately insulted Ashley Iaconetti when trying to explain her run in the Bachelor franchise to other people. Pierce said that Iaconetti's now-husband Jared Haibon picked "another girl" while filming Bachelor In Paradise, and Iaconetti "stole" him after the show.
Pierce also went right after actress Ariel Winter, saying he didn't appreciate the tone of her voice when she told everyone to quiet down so the team leader could talk. Winter thought it was incredibly bold of a newcomer to try and challenge one of the vets, while Pierce explained in a confessional he's already working on the social element of the game. Honestly, since he's already doing exactly what he needs to do to survive in an elimination-style game like this, I wonder if he watches Big Brother. In any case, he's brought a good deal of excitement to the game already, so I can't wait to see where he goes from there.
Stars On Mars airs on Fox on Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET. It's currently the only show on primetime where you can consistently see William Shatner, and that alone has solidified it as one of my top picks for the summer season.
