Huge Ajax had two priorities when he walked into Crush House: win the competition and make sure people had a reason to watch. Preferably, he would do both. There would be no coy insistence that he was simply grateful for the experience. When the cast gathered to introduce themselves, he saw an opening and took it.

“I made a point of just saying straight out … I know I’m gonna win, because I’m the best,” he recalls.

It was a declaration, certainly, but also a little showmanship. Ajax understood that putting a group of performers together in a beautiful location wasn’t enough to make good television. Somebody had to be willing to stir things up.

On MENCRUSH’s Crush House, where queer creators navigate challenges, alliances and eliminations in pursuit of a $20,000 prize, Ajax brought an unusually direct approach. He wanted the money. He wanted the competition. And, yes, he wanted some attention.

“I also just wanted to be the main character,” he says.

That candor makes him an entertaining interview. But beneath the confidence is someone who has thought carefully about his work, his independence and even the name he uses to introduce himself.

Ajax’s moniker draws inspiration from The Iliad, though he acknowledges that plenty of people encountering him online might never make that connection. For him, the name serves as a personal reminder to put in the effort and keep his conduct in perspective, even when things don’t go his way. “Even if I’m kind of defeated, or I don’t end up with a result that I want, to behave honorably,” he explains.

There was a practical consideration, too: finding a name he could use consistently across platforms. A little classical inspiration, a little branding strategy. Both have their uses.

As an independent adult content creator, Ajax is accustomed to having considerable say over what he makes and how audiences see it. Creative freedom and ownership matter to him. Handing footage over to a reality television production might seem like a difficult adjustment, but he says this particular opportunity was an easy decision.

Conversations before filming gave him a clear understanding of the setup. He liked the premise, thought it sounded original and saw a chance to do something he had long wanted to try. “I am a performer. I like to put on a show, and I’ve always wanted to be on TV,” he says. “It’s an easy yes.”

The location helped. Ajax remembers arriving at a remote coastal setting with clear blue water and the sense of seclusion he looks for when he travels. Away from crowds, surrounded by nature, he felt immediately at home.

The trip also had another purpose beyond the series. Ajax says it was planned as a much larger collaboration gathering involving more than 30 people, including creators who weren’t competing.

Once filming was underway, the demands of the competition sometimes collided with the work creators had expected to accomplish independently. Ajax recalls long filming days and castmates concerned about finding time for their own collaborations and brand commitments.

He understood that people had businesses to run. But if someone was struggling to stay invested in the competition, he saw that as a perfectly reasonable factor to consider when voting.

“I want to set you free if you have other stuff to do,” he says of his thinking. “Because I came here to win.”

That approach could provoke a reaction. People might complain about the schedule, he observes, without actually wanting to give up their chance at the prize. Hearing another contestant suggest they leave made the choice suddenly feel more concrete. To Ajax, the money deserved to be taken seriously.

“The prize money could make a concrete difference to your life,” he says. “I knew exactly what I needed it for and why I wanted it.”

He also recognized how dramatically the show changed the atmosphere of a typical creator trip. Collaborations depend on chemistry, cooperation and making something everyone feels good about. Introduce elimination votes, and suddenly the person you’re working with might also be deciding whether you stay.

“When there’s voting and elimination, it’s impossible to avoid making things personal, or getting ego bruises,” he says.

Still, Ajax wasn’t looking for a house full of people who approached everything exactly as he did. He appreciated the different personalities, appearances and perspectives in the cast. Some participants were familiar faces; others were people he was getting to know for the first time. Either way, he saw possibilities.

“I can work with anybody,” he says.

And he could appreciate a good move, even when somebody else made it. When Austin Ponce chose himself during a vote for the house’s crush, Ajax was delighted.

“I laughed. I screamed out loud,” he recalls. “That is so funny. That is so smart.”

Ponce also gets Ajax’s vote for the strongest flirt game in the house. The appeal, he says, comes down to humor, sass and a personality that commands attention. But he cautions against mistaking that bubbly presence for an absence of strategy.

“He is extremely sharp and very competitive,” Ajax says.

In fact, Ajax had an ideal final three in mind early on: himself, Ponce and Kyle Krieger. He saw three different kinds of entertainers with a shared desire to win, and he wanted to see what would happen if they reached the end together.

That same thinking carries over to a hypothetical run on The Amazing Race. Asked which castmate he would choose as a partner, Ajax again lands on Ponce or Krieger. He wants someone driven beside him when the pressure arrives.

His own reality television ambitions, though, might take him somewhere considerably quieter.

Ajax is drawn to survival shows, particularly Alone, where contestants must contend with isolation, the elements and their own endurance. He also enjoys Naked and Afraid. The appeal is watching someone test both their practical abilities and their psychological strength.

Appearing on Crush House gave him a better understanding of the work involved in television production, from cameras and audio to the sheer number of people needed behind the scenes. Combined with his experience filming himself as a creator, it left him more confident about pursuing another opportunity.

Whether he could trade a house full of competitors for the solitude of a survival challenge remains an open question. For now, he is enthusiastic about the show he has already made and wants more people to discover it.

He is also keeping a few things to himself. Ajax teases a major twist involving him, but won’t spoil the details. His reaction, he promises, will be there for viewers to see.

Until then, his intentions are already on the record.

“I wanted to win,” he says, “and … I wanted to make a really entertaining show.”

Follow Huge Ajax on Instagram @gardenerajax

'Crush House’ is available on MenCrush’s website.