Explorer Josh Gates Talks 'Expedition Unknown' Season 2 Premiere On Travel Channel! EXCLUSIVE!

Travel Channel takes viewers beyond their everyday destinations with the Season 2 return of Expedition Unknown. In an exclusive interview with MStars News, explorer Josh Gates (Destination Truth) talks about the highly anticipated season premiere as he tackles the mystery behind iconic legends.

As the official website mentions, Expedition Unknown seeks answers to the world's most captivating unsolved stories and legends. Gates is on a never-ending mission to find the ultimate truth behind each iconic legend. By digging through years of historical evidence, facts and myths. Gates promises to leave no stone unturned as his adventures take him around the globe.

Before the second season of Expedition Unknown premieres Wednesday, October 7 at 9pm on the Travel Channel, explorer Josh Gates discusses his upcoming adventures around the world, what audiences should expect in the season premiere, and shares his thoughts on social media.

MStars News: Tell me how Expedition Unknown came about?

Josh Gates: We had a long life at Syfy doing Destination Truth. One of the things we found while traveling around, we were bumping up against really cool legends, stories, and mysteries. I really want to find an outlet to talk about these really big stories. We met with Travel Channel and it seemed to be a good fit all around. That was really how the show was born.

I think that we really wanted to get into telling some of these really great legends and talking about those kinds of stories. That was really the birth of the show. It was just to cast a light on these really great stories.

MS: What is the aim for the upcoming second season?

JG: We're going to be following up on the Amelia Earhart disappearance in the South Pacific. We're going to be doing some ambitious episodes in the second season. I think for me, I keep thinking about the second season, we're going further, digging deeper, and we're even having bolder adventures I feel.

MS: What are you most excited about in the season premiere?

JG: For the premiere, we have a really interesting story about King Arthur. This is a legend everyone knows. Everyone knows these characters, but there's this question, Was this a real person? Was King Arthur a real guy? We know about Merlin, Arthur, and Guinevere, but are they based on someone real? We have this really great great adventure that takes us through England, Scotland, and Wales. It really dives into the story behind the story.

MS: What should viewers expect in the upcoming episodes?

JG: We're going to search for things like, the lost tomb of Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan controlled one of the largest empires in the world and yet we have no idea where he's buried.This is an expedition that takes us deep into Mongolia. It's one of the most remote countries in the world. So it's a really cool opportunity to bring our viewers to a place that's really hard to get to; it's really remote.

We have really exciting things coming up in the second season. We have a Japanese Atlantis, this sunken formation off the coast of Southern Japan. We're going to be doing stories about Sultans in Turkey, mystical relics, lost cities in the desert of Africa. Huge adventures!

MS: When you look into these iconic legends, are you looking for closure, answers, or a sense of deconstruction?

JG: I think that's a great question! I think it depends on the story. It's not going to be possible in a lot of cases to close the book on stories as big as this, in the time that we have. What we're always trying to do; link in with scientists, explorers, archeologists, who are on the verge of discovery, who have made new headway into these stories, who have new things to tell us.

To link in with them, to document what they're doing, so what we are able to see discovery that might answer questions or raise more questions. For me, it's a case by case thing.

it'More than anything, what we want to do is really bringer viewers on a real adventure to a place, where a real discovery is happening.

MS: You're also on Twitter and Instagram. With the rise of social media, do you feel you're taking audiences closer to the discovery as well?

JG: I really do. Social media has changed everything for all of us. And for me, it's a great way to connect with viewers because I can fire off a photo in the middle of the expedition, in an instant, and show theme where we are, what we're filming, and really give them an insight.

It's also a great way to connect with fans of the show. One of the things I love about social media is that it's also a conversation. I use twitter quite a lot. It's a way to get feedback from fans, answer questions, do Q&As on there, giveaways sometimes. For me, it's a way to share what we're doing and it's a way to hear what people are interested in and excited about.

6 DAYS until the season premiere of #ExpeditionUnknown on @travelchannel! pic.twitter.com/MzLUsEulcE

— Josh Gates (@joshuagates) October 1, 2015

MS: After Destination Truth and Ghost Hunters Live, does it feel natural being on camera now? Or do you still get a bit nervous?

JG: No, it always seems weird! [Laughs] Anytime someone's walking around, filming you with a camera, it's weird. In some ways, for me it's really exciting, I'm able to bring people with us. Whenever you go on a trip, whenever you have a cool experience, you always wish, "Man I wish I could share this with people, or explain to them how cool this experience was." That's a way to do that. That's a way for us to bring the camera along. It's less about showing me and more about bring the viewer by the hand. This is a cool thing that we're doing! This is an adventure that we're having! That's the part of it I love! The rest of it is weird, but I'm used to it.

MS: Is there a particular legend you're interested in exploring, but never got a chance to?

JG: There's lots. But one of the things that amazes me is, the more we travel, it's not like we're checking things off the list and adding more things to it. Every time we travel somewhere and investigate a legend, we hear about three more, that I didn't know about before!

For me there are a lot of things I wanted to tackle for a long time. The submerged ruins off the coast of Japan I've heard of for a long time. It's a really fascinating story about whether these really strange underwater formations are natural or are they evidence of manmade structure. I'm thrilled to go over there and investigate that.

We did a thing on Blackbeard that was really cool! One of the most famous pirates in history, we know his name but we really on't know anything about him. Investigating the character of his piracy, his famous story of his buried treasure, whether it could be out there, was a real thrill for me.

MS: What other projects are you working on now?

JG: This is a full time project for me! Right now, as we're talking, we're beginning to do a set of new episodes. We're going to Africa to film more stories for our second season. One is about a lost city and the other is missing millions of money in gold bars and coins. This is pretty much the full court press here. We're getting ready for these stories and we're trying to make them as fast as we can to get them ready for air. Last year, we did 13 episodes and now we're doing 20 of them this year. We're really swinging trying to get all these expeditions planned and filmed, and get them ready to air.

Season 2 of Expedition Unknown premieres Wednesday, October 7 at 9pm on the Travel Channel.

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