Interview with Jake Nodar of "Full Metal Jousting"

All photos by Clinton Gaughran for AfterElton

Jake Nodar first caught our fancy during his stint on the wilderness adventure show Out Of The Wild, and then filmed his own video series for us, the gay guide Surviving The Wild (best tip - never glitterbomb a bear!)

Now he's back in the spotlight as part of the reality competition series Full Metal Jousting, which premieres Sunday, February 12th at 10 PM ET on The History Channel.

We got a chance to talk to Jake about the new show, and what he's been up to since we last saw him.

AE: Hey Jake! It's been a while since we heard from you. We first got to know you during Out Of The Wild: The Alaska Adventure, and then you did the video series Surviving The Wild for us. What's been going on since then?
JN: Since doing Out Of The Wild I've been back to working with horses full time. I've been trying to take some periodic breaks to do some of my crazy adventures. Last year I bought a bike and threw my tent and sleeping bag on the back and rode from Florida out to California.

AE: Wow, that is an adventure!
JN: It was a wild adventure! Thirty-six days of a lot of alone time and personal thoughts, but it was fantastic. But I got out here to California and decided that this was where I wanted to call home. So now I am on the west coast back to training horses.

AE: We heard you were living in West Hollywood?
JN: I am in West Hollywood. It's the first time in probably fifteen years that I've been in a city, and it's been wonderful. I've got the best of both worlds. I've got city life, and then I train on a farm that's about eight miles from here, so it truly is the best of both worlds.

AE: It also looks like you've been working out quite a bit since the last time we saw you.
JN: I have been doing a bit of working out. I wear my Shape-Ups, which has helped tremendously, I've been hiking pretty much daily, and I've been trying to hit the gym a couple of times a week as well.

AE: Let's talk about the new show. How did you hear about Full Metal Jousting?
JN: I found out about it when several of my clients posted links from various equine publications on my Facebook page, and within a day I probably had ten different messages from various friends and clients. They were looking for experienced horsemen to try out for the show.

AE: What was the audition process like?
JN: It was a very rigorous interview process, and then a very intensive bootcamp to see if we could hold up to riding in eighty-five pounds of armor, and being able to control an eleven foot lance on a two-thousand pound horse. It was very intense, and they slowly knocked the group down, and finalized with sixteen of us.