A Charles County, Maryland, woman is competing on the cutthroat TV series “The Anonymous” on USA Network.
Episode 4 airs Monday at 11 p.m. — fittingly right after WWE’s “Monday Night Raw.”
“I’m gonna lay the smack down right on ’em,” Tyrenna Tolbert told WTOP. “I’m so excited to see what goes down tonight. I’m telling you, if you’re not watching tonight, you are missing out on some big stuff. You’ve gotta watch.”
The show pits contestants against each other in various group challenges as they live in two different houses. First, they share face-to-face interactions mingling on the grounds of the lavish “Circle House.” Then, they spend each night in the “Square House,” where they log into a digital realm to hide behind anonymous avatars.
“You’re two different people,” Tolbert said. “You have this ‘Anonymous’ mode, you pick out a handle from different characters … something so removed from your personality that you can throw people off. In anonymous chat mode, you can talk as much trash as you want. … In the real world, you have to be this phony kumbaya, ‘you can trust me, tell me your secrets,’ then you use that against them because at the end of the day, it’s about $100,000.”
Filming took place over about a month back in April, with one consistent theme emerging.
“Don’t trust anybody, that is the whole premise,” Tolbert said. “When money is involved, you have to make sure, double, triple, don’t trust anybody at face value because who you think is your friend may be your frenemy, your enemy, your backstabber, your front stabber, trust no one. $100,000? You have to always be sharp and ready.”
Proudly born in the Bronx in New York City, Tolbert moved to Charles County in 2004, meaning this year marks her 20th anniversary of living in the DMV working for the federal government.
“It’s part of Southern Maryland, so I’m kind of in the backwoods, so to speak, but it’s a really nice place,” Tolbert said. “I moved because my job was here and a better quality of life, so that’s how I ended up in the Maryland area. Working for the government brought me down here, they moved me here, it was a promotion, so I took the job, they paid for me to move here, it was a great opportunity, so why miss it?”
Her big break into TV came when she auditioned for a different show but didn’t make it.
“I loved this show called ‘The Circle,’ I had been watching it all during COVID, just binge-watching, so I applied,” Tolbert said. “I got a call and thought it was a spam call, so I almost hung up and realized that it was an actual legit casting agent. Fast forward, I got all the way to the end and I wasn’t selected, but I then got another call for ‘The Anonymous’ asking would I be interested and of course I said yes because it was something right up my alley.”
If the 54-year-old wins the competition, how would she spend the $100,000 prize money?
“I’m a little bit more seasoned; I would probably put some away toward my retirement,” Tolbert said. “I have two wonderful parents that I would definitely help out with whatever needs they had around the house, same with my fabulous daughters, just so I can share some of it amongst my family — and of course take a fabulous trip! You just have to be luxuriating and demure in all of the gloriousness of that $100K that I can stand on a trip.”
Listen to our full conversation here.
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