Speaker 1: Is this thing on? Hello, that's Ride Hi, guys, I'm back.
Speaker 1: It's your girl, Devin Simon. Look all right, I've been
Speaker 1: busy wedding planning, got a lot to do. But they
Speaker 1: called in the big guns today and I am excited
Speaker 1: to be here on the podcast with you. This is
Speaker 1: MTV's official Challenge podcast, World Championship. We're talking about the
Speaker 1: World Championship now, you guys, so much has happened, so
Speaker 1: much is going on. Can I just a couple of
Speaker 1: just a couple of recaps? Really? Like, first of all,
Speaker 1: t j'all catch TJ in that suit a couple episodes ago, Teach,
Speaker 1: I'm so proud. Didn't he look good? Guys, Like, yes, TJ.
Speaker 1: I mean I was confused about what shoes he was
Speaker 1: wearing in the sand, but I love the look it
Speaker 1: came together. Living for it also, Wow, I didn't expect
Speaker 1: like tensions to heat up the way that they are,
Speaker 1: Kelly An, it just has turned everything on its heads.
Speaker 1: Kind of living for that a little bit, like I
Speaker 1: really kind of am Like that just shows you gotta
Speaker 1: be mindful the people that are the underdogs in the beginning,
Speaker 1: you never know where they're going to end up. In
Speaker 1: this game. Then Danny Mister Danny talked for two episodes
Speaker 1: all season during Challenge USA, and now Danny is just
Speaker 1: like coming after it, coming after people. I don't know
Speaker 1: what's gotten into our sweet and loving Danny. Is it
Speaker 1: because he hasn't mentioned Kiki as much this season? I
Speaker 1: don't know. It could be a thing, but the like
Speaker 1: super soft spoken, really sweet Danny. I feel like we're
Speaker 1: seeing a very different side, a very different side, and
Speaker 1: I don't know how I feel about it. I really don't.
Speaker 1: And look, I know that's controversial. Some people love because
Speaker 1: they're the newbies, newbies. Ishe right coming in shaking up
Speaker 1: things that the Vets or the Legends do, which is
Speaker 1: usually target sort of the less experienced people. But I
Speaker 1: think this game is different right because they're paired together,
Speaker 1: so it's not just a straight like Vets versus Newbies thing.
Speaker 1: It's everybody's intermingled. So if he's taking shots at certain bets,
Speaker 1: he's still potentially taking shots at his own team in
Speaker 1: a way, or his own alliance in his own way.
Speaker 1: And I don't I don't really know how I feel
Speaker 1: about that. I don't always agree with Nanner's but when
Speaker 1: Nanner said, Hey, look, if I were to walk into
Speaker 1: Survivor or one of the other shows, I'd probably sit
Speaker 1: back for a second and just kind of like look
Speaker 1: and see how things go. And I feel like Danny
Speaker 1: and Sarah are pushing so hard to prove that no
Speaker 1: one can be the boss of them that I don't know,
Speaker 1: I just feel like it may come back and bite
Speaker 1: them in the end. Now, look, I know this episode
Speaker 1: things went according to plan at least for Danny in
Speaker 1: a way, and they got a big team out, but
Speaker 1: I just still feel like he's being extra loud and
Speaker 1: he just so so we're gonna move into it. And
Speaker 1: I know that they've been doing like King of the
Speaker 1: Episode and Queen of the Episode, but you know me,
Speaker 1: all right, I like, I like to just stick with
Speaker 1: what we had. So we're gonna do GoldStar and time out,
Speaker 1: and so this week's gold Star. An honorable mention goes
Speaker 1: to the cockroaches who made an appearance. Shout out to
Speaker 1: the cockroaches. I love this inclusivity that we're doing. That
Speaker 1: made appearance when they were in the tunnel. And another
Speaker 1: honorable mantion goes to bananas hiding out in the closet
Speaker 1: that was actually hilarious. But I think that the gold
Speaker 1: Star of the Week is going to go to Yes
Speaker 1: and Emily the way Yes just spouted out those numbers
Speaker 1: like it was nothing like. I love Yes because he's
Speaker 1: sort of laid back in certain ways, but just if
Speaker 1: you've seen him on other seasons, you know he's just
Speaker 1: full of surprises and can really just come at you
Speaker 1: in a great way. So I really respect Yes and
Speaker 1: love his gameplay. And then my Time Out of the Week.
Speaker 1: And I know I've seen the Reddit threads and I
Speaker 1: know some of you are not going to be a
Speaker 1: fan of this, but hey, I just keep it real.
Speaker 1: My Time Out of the Week is gonna go to it.
Speaker 1: It's an honorable mention goes to Sarah. The win is
Speaker 1: gonna go to Danny. I don't love the whining, right like,
Speaker 1: I just don't love the whining, and he's been doing
Speaker 1: some whining the past few episodes. And anytime, in my opinion,
Speaker 1: that you have to tell someone you're a grown man.
Speaker 1: M well, maybe your actions aren't showing it. I don't know,
Speaker 1: it's just thought. It's just thought. I'm just putting out there.
Speaker 1: And look, I love and we were talking strictly about
Speaker 1: the gameplay because I very much like Danny and I
Speaker 1: wasn't a fan of Sarah and Challenge You essay, but
Speaker 1: thinks she came on the podcast and actually very much
Speaker 1: a fan of Sarah as well, and I like her
Speaker 1: more this season. I do like how she's trying to
Speaker 1: play in a lot of ways. But I just feel
Speaker 1: like they're pushing so so so hard and not listening
Speaker 1: to anyone else. And it doesn't mean they have to
Speaker 1: agree with the vets or the legends or whomever, but
Speaker 1: when you listen a little bit, it can actually be
Speaker 1: more advantageous to you. And I feel like they're pushing
Speaker 1: so hard to prove a point and it's just a
Speaker 1: little bit irksome, just to smake just a teeny, teeny
Speaker 1: tiny bit snakes jerksome. But overall, this was a really
Speaker 1: great episode, really interesting. Loved to see the elimination. It
Speaker 1: actually looked like a fun elimination. I don't know if
Speaker 1: you guys do this when watching, but I feel like
Speaker 1: I always go, Okay, is that a challenge daily or
Speaker 1: is that an elimination? I'd want to do like yes
Speaker 1: or no? And the Daily this week is one I
Speaker 1: would actually want to do. I feel like I'd be
Speaker 1: pretty good at that, and the elimination is one that
Speaker 1: I would have wanted to do. I feel basically, anything
Speaker 1: that doesn't involve in endurance all right, I'm in for
Speaker 1: it if it involves endurance. Not a fan. So yeah,
Speaker 1: look like a lot of fun. We are going to
Speaker 1: get into it. And we have our girl Justine on
Speaker 1: Can we just call her like, I don't know, she's
Speaker 1: just so to me. She's so glamorous, she's so she's
Speaker 1: just stunning. She's just naturally like very pretty and beautiful,
Speaker 1: hands smart, and I love the way she's approached her
Speaker 1: partnership with Bananas, like so much to like about her,
Speaker 1: and so I'm excited to have her on this week's
Speaker 1: episode so we can find out what's going on behind
Speaker 1: the scenes, how these relationships are really developing the shade
Speaker 1: when no one told Banana, isn't Justine about the sun?
Speaker 1: You know what I'm talking about. You caught that. How
Speaker 1: would you feel if the whole house didn't tell you
Speaker 1: that they could see the one mistake you made, if
Speaker 1: they didn't give you heads up, but they were cheering
Speaker 1: for the other people. We're gonna get into all of that.
Speaker 1: You know, it's going to be a really good episode.
Speaker 1: Don't worry, my girls are coming back. Shout out to
Speaker 1: Day and Tori and Anissa, all of them. It's all
Speaker 1: love but excited to hang out with you guys today
Speaker 1: and hold it down. So grab a snack, do the thing.
Speaker 1: Don't turn the podcast off and come right back because
Speaker 1: you're not gonna want to miss this episode. All right.
Speaker 1: We have arguably one of the most stunning challengers to
Speaker 1: ever play the game. I'm so glad that we get
Speaker 1: to talk to her today, the fabulous Justine indieba Hi Justine,
Speaker 1: Oh my god, you really that was an intro right there?
Speaker 1: Hipes me up. Yeah, it's true, girl, It's true. Look,
Speaker 1: ever since your debut on Challenge USA, I was like, Wow,
Speaker 1: she's glistening and glowing, dipping it and doing it such
Speaker 1: just that alone, that alone a fan of it, but
Speaker 1: even more so seeing you kind of come into your
Speaker 1: own this season of the Challenge. Can you tell us
Speaker 1: how was being on the Challenge? You know, this version
Speaker 1: of the Challenge different than when you did your first
Speaker 1: season of Challenge USA. Um, I will say this was
Speaker 1: a lot more challenging. Um, it was scary. This was
Speaker 1: probably one of the things I was like most nervous
Speaker 1: for being on The Challenge, Like I've always wanted to
Speaker 1: be on the Challenge, Like I really love it. I
Speaker 1: love competing, but I've always been nervous about competing with legends.
Speaker 1: And of course they bring they bring Legends in this
Speaker 1: season in the world. It's like y'all really out here
Speaker 1: trying to scare me. But yeah, so that would be
Speaker 1: the biggest difference for me, is like that intimidating factor
Speaker 1: having to compete with people who've done this for so long.
Speaker 1: You know, what do you feel like, what was the
Speaker 1: most like before you met the legends right or before
Speaker 1: you showed up and they were there. What do you
Speaker 1: think in your mind was the biggest fear about working
Speaker 1: with them or competing against them. Was it just their experience?
Speaker 1: Was it you know, their size? Um, well, I mean
Speaker 1: obviously their experience, but all so, it's their relationships, you know,
Speaker 1: like they've been able to like if you're a Challenge fan,
Speaker 1: like you watch them and you see how strong their
Speaker 1: relationships are. Every time they bring in new rookies and stuff,
Speaker 1: they always just dominate and take almost every rookie out
Speaker 1: every season, so it's like those relationships were also a
Speaker 1: big fear aside from also their experience, it's just an intimidating,
Speaker 1: like well rounded like group. Yeah, and you know, it's
Speaker 1: interesting you bring that up, because we're going to dive
Speaker 1: right into it. So do you think that same intimidation
Speaker 1: that you initially felt when it came to potentially competing
Speaker 1: against or working with the Legends was the same and
Speaker 1: or similar to intimidation that maybe Danny and Sarah were feeling. Basically,
Speaker 1: I'm just trying to get down to the bottom of
Speaker 1: them losing their minds a little bit, you know, and
Speaker 1: in the episodes leading up to this and a little
Speaker 1: bit in this episode around you know, pushing back so
Speaker 1: hard against Tory and Bananas and all of that stuff.
Speaker 1: Like did you have any conversations with them about that?
Speaker 1: Do you feel like they were just kind of scared?
Speaker 1: Like what do you make of that? Here's the thing.
Speaker 1: Danny and Sarah are champions themselves, and they they've seen
Speaker 1: so many seasons, so like they just didn't want to
Speaker 1: go into it and have what's been like the recurring
Speaker 1: theme of Legends versus rookies happened. But what made it
Speaker 1: so difficult with our season is that we are partnered
Speaker 1: with them, So it's like you can't write one thing
Speaker 1: unless like you can't not agree on something. So I
Speaker 1: think with Danny and Sarah, they just wanted to preserve
Speaker 1: our squad or USA squad for as long as possible,
Speaker 1: and so their target that meant getting rid of the
Speaker 1: stronger legends from the other countries, which would be the West,
Speaker 1: the Jordan. So they weren't necessarily trying to like cause
Speaker 1: rifts between everybody. It just so happened that the Team
Speaker 1: USA legends that didn't agree with them, and they just
Speaker 1: like we were constantly budding heads because of that. So
Speaker 1: and where did you stand in its own By the way,
Speaker 1: this is the Safe Space podcast, I mean that's not
Speaker 1: basically you get like you could just tell it out
Speaker 1: how it is you and how you feel, and it
Speaker 1: doesn't mean any of us are right, it's just our
Speaker 1: opinions and perspective. But where did you sit within that
Speaker 1: because it seemed like you got along well with you know, bananas,
Speaker 1: we saw busting come to because she's hilarious. By the way,
Speaker 1: I cannot cannot, cannot, okay, wait, what was the other
Speaker 1: one that was Janana's right, Jananas or busting Both of
Speaker 1: them are brilliant, Like really, both of them probably are
Speaker 1: merch worthy. But where did you stand between your buddies
Speaker 1: from Challenge USA and the Vets that it seems like
Speaker 1: you've built friendships with, and then obviously you're with a
Speaker 1: partner who has some of the strongest relationships in the
Speaker 1: house because he's been doing it for since nineteen twelve, Right,
Speaker 1: So I guess like my position with all of that
Speaker 1: was I was team Sarah and Danny, Like those were
Speaker 1: my writer dies. Like we went in there like we're
Speaker 1: gonna help each other get to the final We're gonna
Speaker 1: do whatever it takes. So we're very close. And I
Speaker 1: agreed with most of what they were saying. Like I
Speaker 1: also was like Jordan has to go, Like he's very
Speaker 1: very strong. We have numbers on other sides, Like we've
Speaker 1: also been putting in work as MVPs, like we've been
Speaker 1: putting on work with relationships, so it's like y'all can
Speaker 1: also trust our relationships. But the legends were just very
Speaker 1: much like it's hard to trust relationships y'all have just
Speaker 1: created versus relationships in the past years, which yes, it
Speaker 1: is fair, but also it's like this is a completely
Speaker 1: different game. And for me personally, I agreed that first
Speaker 1: and foremost, Jordan and West had to go, and I knew,
Speaker 1: like picking a partner, my top three people were Jordan, Wes,
Speaker 1: and be. What are the people you wanted to pick
Speaker 1: a teammates as a yes, as a team as a
Speaker 1: partner yea, yeah exactly. So whoever I didn't get knowing
Speaker 1: that they're that strong. I'm like, all right, if you
Speaker 1: are not on our team or alliance in some kind
Speaker 1: of way, like you gotta go because I know how
Speaker 1: strong you are. So I guess my position was I was,
Speaker 1: I was. I know, I agree with Danny and Sarah,
Speaker 1: but also it made it very very difficult because my
Speaker 1: partner was Bananas, and it's like, yes, they're my alliance,
Speaker 1: but Bananas is my number one, like he's the person.
Speaker 1: But didn't you feel like with that? And I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: I don't mean find you your toes, but didn't you
Speaker 1: feel like because you just said, okay, so I picked
Speaker 1: and I agree with you at least for two of
Speaker 1: those top three strong ones you said you wanted. I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna say which two of the three, but I
Speaker 1: agree with um uh shout out to the redhead. Um
Speaker 1: so I I you know, you said, okay, like if
Speaker 1: they're not if they're not my partner, then you know,
Speaker 1: because they're that strong, then I'm going to be mindful
Speaker 1: of them and need to get them out. Totally makes sense.
Speaker 1: Or you know, then you said, or they're not on
Speaker 1: my alliance. But didn't you feel that Bananas in Jordan?
Speaker 1: Like that Jordan and Bananas up into a point because
Speaker 1: obviously once you get closer to the final it becomes
Speaker 1: a free for all. You know, we know that, But
Speaker 1: didn't you feel like having Jordans on was still potentially
Speaker 1: like an ally for you on the legend side, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean? Like, did you feel like that
Speaker 1: team would have been a threat for you otherwise? Um,
Speaker 1: I feel like, okay, we maybe could have worked together.
Speaker 1: But it's also so hard to trust their relationships sometimes
Speaker 1: because you've seen people who are very close to each
Speaker 1: other in the back. So it's like even in the game,
Speaker 1: I had a hard time figuring out where even Bananas
Speaker 1: in the West, Dude, It's like one week I thought
Speaker 1: they were working together and like they had the whole
Speaker 1: world and then the whole world years trying to figure
Speaker 1: out that. I'm literally like, what is going on? And
Speaker 1: I'm like, I'm your partner, like, fool me in. Are
Speaker 1: y'all good? Are you not? Like do I have to worry?
Speaker 1: Or are we good? You know? So it's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: there was literally no telling. And he even would be like,
Speaker 1: I gotta be honest you, I'm not even sure myself.
Speaker 1: Like it was just like, their's fair, yea. So it's
Speaker 1: just like and then with with Jordan, it's almost the
Speaker 1: same thing. It's like you just don't know. And my
Speaker 1: thing is is, yeah, we could be good with them,
Speaker 1: we could help each other get to the end. But
Speaker 1: it's like, I also do not want to run a
Speaker 1: final and compete with Oh of course, So that's what's all.
Speaker 1: That's what I'm looking forward to. You know. I'm also like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I know, if Bananas and I get there, like we
Speaker 1: want the best shot at winning, and getting Jordan out
Speaker 1: would be the best way to do that. So yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's that's totally fair. I think, just as a viewer
Speaker 1: watching it, you know, there is a there is a
Speaker 1: fine line, because right, it gets tiring seeing sort of
Speaker 1: like the Legends versus the rookies or whatever else all
Speaker 1: the time. And I do love that there was this
Speaker 1: twist where you guys were, um, you know, sort of
Speaker 1: fair together. Yeah, like you know, intermingled, so you couldn't divide.
Speaker 1: There was not a clear divide because you guys are
Speaker 1: working with each other. But I also think there was
Speaker 1: something to be said about Nana's point of, hey, look,
Speaker 1: if I came on Big Brother, if I came on Subscribe,
Speaker 1: if I came on an amazing race, I would sit
Speaker 1: back for a second at least and really look at
Speaker 1: the big picture and kind of learn. And it felt
Speaker 1: like Danny and Sarah were gunning so hard to prove
Speaker 1: that they can't be told what to do that they
Speaker 1: were missing some bigger picture pieces a little bit. I
Speaker 1: don't know, that's just how it came across as a viewer,
Speaker 1: but it was interesting seeing you kind of like, you know,
Speaker 1: be the neutral ish party in the middle. And then
Speaker 1: we saw in watching the episode, they showed you and
Speaker 1: bananas and the American Eagle and the flag behind Maybe
Speaker 1: that was like the official logo of Busting or Jamanna's.
Speaker 1: It was so funny showing you guys kind of as
Speaker 1: a neutral party. M okay, now take us to the
Speaker 1: daily challenge. So you arrive when you first just see
Speaker 1: like this hole in the ground and these poles with chains.
Speaker 1: What are your initial thoughts. I'm like, listen, as long
Speaker 1: as every time I pull up to a challenge, I'm like,
Speaker 1: as long as it's not heights and as long as
Speaker 1: it's not water, I'm good. I said, bring on whatever
Speaker 1: it is. But you killed it in that water challenge
Speaker 1: the other day, justin can we girl? You killed it?
Speaker 1: Thank you? After USA, like, I have always known how
Speaker 1: to swim, but it's just I'm not strong in the water.
Speaker 1: So after USA, I said, I gotta. I was doing laps,
Speaker 1: trying to like just everything I can. I'm taking notes
Speaker 1: from a movie before going on my right, I was
Speaker 1: just like, she looked like a gliding Yeah, she looked
Speaker 1: at me. It was I was mesmerized. I've never been
Speaker 1: more mesmized watching someone swim than I was watching Emily swimming.
Speaker 1: But yeah, no, I just was happy that it wasn't that,
Speaker 1: because even though you know I've gotten better at swimming,
Speaker 1: I just still hit the water like I will never
Speaker 1: me you will never get along yeah, yeah, yeah, you
Speaker 1: guys aren't friends, will you. You looked amazing day, just
Speaker 1: let me just say, and you looked skilled. And the
Speaker 1: way you cleared that bar, like, I mean, I would
Speaker 1: have thought, look if a limit. If Emily hadn't gone
Speaker 1: after you, I would have thought, that's borderline on the
Speaker 1: big level. And then Emily went and you know, like
Speaker 1: her stroke from not like just you know, we see
Speaker 1: why she holds the gold. But you did a really
Speaker 1: excellent job with that. So you show up to this
Speaker 1: daily though you're like, all right, good, it's not heights,
Speaker 1: it's not swimming. Then how do you feel when you
Speaker 1: find out that the legends are just gonna be kicking
Speaker 1: back and you guys, the MVPs are going to be
Speaker 1: doing the majority of the moors. And that was the
Speaker 1: part that had me shook. I said, I walked in
Speaker 1: here comfortable and you said this, and I'm like, all right,
Speaker 1: hold on, wait a minute. It definitely made me nervous,
Speaker 1: just because like it's nice to rely on your partner,
Speaker 1: like rely on each other, and like you you kind
Speaker 1: of your nerves aren't, as you know, crazy when you're
Speaker 1: both competing and you're both participating. So when it's on you.
Speaker 1: And then it's like literally all the pressure is on you.
Speaker 1: So I just was like, I hope I don't shit
Speaker 1: the bed or anything, because literally, if we lose or
Speaker 1: end up in elimination somehow, it is literally your fault,
Speaker 1: like all you had to do but right right, you know,
Speaker 1: not getting list So there's a lot of pressure. We
Speaker 1: saw some of the teams like we saw it was
Speaker 1: actually a nice moment of seeing Danny, even though they
Speaker 1: were second guessing each other the whole time, seeing Danny
Speaker 1: and Ben work together in that tunnel, right and just
Speaker 1: be like, look, we're gonna help each other out. Even
Speaker 1: the cockroaches had commentary on it, apparently according to the
Speaker 1: subtitles that were shown in the upright, But did you
Speaker 1: decide to work with your competitor too? Or we're it
Speaker 1: like every like, what was kind of your strategy going
Speaker 1: into this tunnel? So, I mean right before the challenge
Speaker 1: of everybody, everybody starts to figure like, okay, whoever I
Speaker 1: am partnered with going in there, it's like do we
Speaker 1: want to work together or or not? And I think
Speaker 1: everybody just kind of realized if we do, it betters
Speaker 1: our chances of not getting less, and I was I
Speaker 1: was going with Kiki, and I had a pretty decent
Speaker 1: relationship with Kiki and Durrell, so I was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: this is good. Even though they're Australia, I know that
Speaker 1: we can work together. So I wasn't nervous at all.
Speaker 1: We're going in with Kim. I knew that we would
Speaker 1: do well if we helped each other. And how did
Speaker 1: you guys approach it, Like what was the strategy going in?
Speaker 1: So was it like each of you cover a side.
Speaker 1: Were you guys looking for specific flags, like pretend we
Speaker 1: the listeners are I'm I'm Kiki and you're telling me
Speaker 1: how we're going to do this when we go down there.
Speaker 1: M So we're in there. We are just we're both
Speaker 1: looking like we're both you know, on opposite sides, shining
Speaker 1: the light, counting together making sure or like not or
Speaker 1: miss So like we're really doing such a good job
Speaker 1: communicating in there. If flags are missed, we let each
Speaker 1: other know, like we just we killed it and they're together.
Speaker 1: That's amazing. And so it was just counting the number
Speaker 1: of flags of each country and then putting that number
Speaker 1: up on the board and then doing the math to
Speaker 1: solve the people? Right? Did each person have a different
Speaker 1: like you know when you got to your actual boards,
Speaker 1: because we saw where like yes, for example, was yelling
Speaker 1: out answers to math problems? Right? Did each team have
Speaker 1: a slightly different board though, like even though you guys
Speaker 1: had the same number of flags, were the answers different
Speaker 1: or was it a thing where like you could just
Speaker 1: listen to somebody else's answer and get it right? Yeah? No,
Speaker 1: the answers were different. So you were doing your own
Speaker 1: math equations after you got the numbers. Okay, So each board,
Speaker 1: a team's board has some different thing. Okay, gotcha? And
Speaker 1: were you confident in your math skills going into that
Speaker 1: or you know, were you like, dang, I should have
Speaker 1: paid more teams? Like you know, I mean, listen, I was.
Speaker 1: I was a finance major and every time I say that,
Speaker 1: oh okay, Justine, well damn all right, now you drop
Speaker 1: that piece in here? Do you know what I can't?
Speaker 1: I can't with you? You're like, well, you know, I
Speaker 1: was feeling so uncompetent. It was okay, Well I was
Speaker 1: a finance major girl, by all right? Cool? So you
Speaker 1: had all a's math class and then majored in it.
Speaker 1: I mean, listen, I was doing my best. I mean
Speaker 1: we also had calculators. Girl, I'm like, I haven't done
Speaker 1: a math equation and I couldn't even tell you how long.
Speaker 1: So I mean I was still nervous for sure, but
Speaker 1: I was like, I know that I'm competent enough to
Speaker 1: be able to solve this, you know, as long as
Speaker 1: you just stay um. And so Kiki did finish before me,
Speaker 1: and I had a point where I had a few
Speaker 1: like I had like my first check was wrong, and
Speaker 1: I just was like, okay, I just need to breathe,
Speaker 1: like girl, you know math, like just stay calm and write,
Speaker 1: and you know I recalculated or whatever and got it right.
Speaker 1: So um, I don't know. I'm sure you'll get to it.
Speaker 1: But I think that that was Kaz's downfall. She really
Speaker 1: like panicked. Yeah. Do you think it's that she just
Speaker 1: it wasn't a strong suit for her. Do you think
Speaker 1: it was the pressure that got to Kaz that like
Speaker 1: made her kind of freak out? One percent think the
Speaker 1: pressure got to her because like you could tell she
Speaker 1: she was getting so flustered. She started to just like
Speaker 1: shake like she was nervous. Yeah, it was for sure,
Speaker 1: the pressure because I think if she was able to
Speaker 1: stay calm, she probably could have figured it out. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's fair. And how was it overall partnering with Bananas, like,
Speaker 1: you know, strategically smart move picking him? Did you have
Speaker 1: any concerns going in into what that partnership or any
Speaker 1: reservations of what it might be like? Girl, Absolutely, it's
Speaker 1: literally bananas. So, I mean the pros of picking him,
Speaker 1: I'm like, he is a seven time champion, right, you know, Like,
Speaker 1: I know we'd be good. He has relationships with a
Speaker 1: lot of people. But then there's also the downside of
Speaker 1: some of those relationships, you know. So but I felt
Speaker 1: confident enough that, like, I would be good because most
Speaker 1: of the relationships that he had and there were positive.
Speaker 1: And my other concern was, I'm like, you know, he
Speaker 1: is he'd be out here every season like he's known,
Speaker 1: you know, he's always It felt like watching him felt
Speaker 1: like he was doing a lot and I'm very much
Speaker 1: like a laid back and I was like, Okay, this
Speaker 1: will be great because it'll we'll balance each other out.
Speaker 1: I'm like, you know, not the most outspoken. I just
Speaker 1: want to take no, I want to learn from y'all.
Speaker 1: So I'm like, this will be good. We'll balance each
Speaker 1: other out. And he did a really good job this
Speaker 1: season of just laying low, not causing too many riffs
Speaker 1: at all. Like we were literally just like skating by,
Speaker 1: like we showed up, competed, made sure we didn't come
Speaker 1: and last stay didn't stay out of the house drama.
Speaker 1: So I was like, and I literally for a point
Speaker 1: was like, we're gonna kill it if we just keep
Speaker 1: doing this, Like let's just stick beside this. The final
Speaker 1: comes and we just kill it. So Okay, this is
Speaker 1: getting good. We need to take a quick break, so
Speaker 1: don't go anywhere and we'll be right back after this.
Speaker 1: By the way, before I forget this, because you mentioned
Speaker 1: there was top three, right you said Bananas, Jordan and Wes.
Speaker 1: Who was your first choice partner? But if you got
Speaker 1: to pick first, not me out, So Jordan was my
Speaker 1: first pick, but I'll tell you why. Obviously, I know
Speaker 1: that he's a really good competitor. But I also got
Speaker 1: to meet him before this season, so like we hung
Speaker 1: out like one so I already felt comfortable that we
Speaker 1: wouldn't necessarily have to start from scratch and build that
Speaker 1: like relationship. He kind of already had something with Wes
Speaker 1: and Bananas. It's something that I would have to develop,
Speaker 1: not knowing their their personalities in person. So that's really
Speaker 1: why Jordan was my first pick. Okay, gotcha, and then
Speaker 1: obviously been in it is a second pick. And then
Speaker 1: there's wells Um, I'm just kidding. I love West. He's hilarious,
Speaker 1: but he that man just talks so much on episode No,
Speaker 1: not at all, like I do. I haven't seen West
Speaker 1: in person a long time, but when I did, he
Speaker 1: was so he were broth from Kansas City and he's
Speaker 1: a total like sweetheart. Um, but he just West comes
Speaker 1: in like I don't know if you recall a few
Speaker 1: episodes ago when they show him talking to like individual
Speaker 1: MVPs and he's like, yeah, because I'm brilliant in business
Speaker 1: and yeah I do dada die and yeah. I'm like
Speaker 1: that's just West. Like West just lets it all hang
Speaker 1: out and that is any thought he's thinking. Any Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm dad. I found him so likable. I'm not even
Speaker 1: gonna lie. Oh I like West. No, no, no, I
Speaker 1: like West. Don't get me wrong. I actually think West
Speaker 1: is entertaining and hilarious. I just think from a realistic
Speaker 1: strategy standpoint. He does this every single time where he
Speaker 1: it's the opposite of what you said you wanted your
Speaker 1: gameplay to be right where you said. Look, I'm thinking
Speaker 1: if we could sit back in the cut right and
Speaker 1: just like watching observe and play a good game, we
Speaker 1: can make it far. West will never West has never
Speaker 1: sat back in the cut. It just chilled and watch it.
Speaker 1: Wes is forever like watch the playback. West is forever
Speaker 1: in the which his mouth. I think it's in trouble,
Speaker 1: but I think West is. He's a fun person like
Speaker 1: I West as a personality, I thinks a lot of fun. Um. So,
Speaker 1: how do you mentioned earlier too that when I asked
Speaker 1: you about kind of Danny and Sarah's approach to things, um,
Speaker 1: you know, and I've had We've had Danny and Sarah
Speaker 1: both in the podcast. I actually came to really like
Speaker 1: Sarah on the podcast. I did not like her on
Speaker 1: Your Challenge USA season, but I really liked her on
Speaker 1: the podcast. And we've had Danny and Kekey on the podcast. Yes,
Speaker 1: Keiki shut it down. But on this season, I don't know,
Speaker 1: I feel like we're seeing a different side, not so
Speaker 1: much of Sarah, but definitely of Danny, and you said
Speaker 1: though that you you kind of agreed with their gameplay,
Speaker 1: but you didn't really mention where you stood with Ben.
Speaker 1: So what at this point in the game, what are
Speaker 1: your views on Ben? Because it seems Danny and Sarah
Speaker 1: don't trust him at all or like him. What are
Speaker 1: your thoughts? Girl? I felt like I was literally just
Speaker 1: trying to play like peacemaker with everybody, because so before
Speaker 1: going into this season, me, Sarah, Ben and Danny had
Speaker 1: a group chat. Sarah, Sarah, Danny and I already had
Speaker 1: a group chat once we found out Ben was going
Speaker 1: to be there. We were like, all right, like me
Speaker 1: and Danny are looking at each other, like, listen, as
Speaker 1: long as these two not have drama, And Sarah's like
Speaker 1: She's like, listen, I'm here to help each other, like
Speaker 1: get as far as possible, so willing to put all
Speaker 1: the drama in the past. Ben says the same thing.
Speaker 1: Sarah mentions they had a great conversation before going in,
Speaker 1: so I'm like, bed, we in here, like we're good,
Speaker 1: Like we're about to be so solid. As soon as
Speaker 1: we get in there, we start to notice, like Ben
Speaker 1: not being part of our talks that much. She's hanging
Speaker 1: out a lot with like the Legends and just like
Speaker 1: other people, which obviously is part of the game. But
Speaker 1: it started to be like, Okay, but he's doing that
Speaker 1: more than he is with us, so it's like should
Speaker 1: we be worried? Yeah, And then there was a point
Speaker 1: where I just lived. I can't even remember what happened.
Speaker 1: I think I think this was after we like got
Speaker 1: voted in. I really just had to sit with Ben
Speaker 1: and be like, listen, like what's going on? Like where
Speaker 1: I thought we were all good, Like why, Like what's
Speaker 1: the drama? He sits there and starts bringing up things
Speaker 1: from like survivor things from Team You, like from from USA.
Speaker 1: I literally had to sit there be like, Ben, these
Speaker 1: are all things you guys have already talked about and
Speaker 1: already like resolved, Like this is a different game. We
Speaker 1: came in here solid forgetting about all of that, And
Speaker 1: I'm like, if your issue is past stuff and nothing
Speaker 1: that you and Sarah have gone through in this game,
Speaker 1: it's like, what are you been? Like what's happening right now?
Speaker 1: You know? So I don't know just Ben's paranoia will
Speaker 1: always be a thing. I don't know if he just
Speaker 1: has that whole thing with Sarah will just never go
Speaker 1: away for him, no matter how many times they talk
Speaker 1: about it and resolve it. I don't know what it is,
Speaker 1: but it's so frustrating for people who have to work
Speaker 1: with him. So as far as me and Ben, I
Speaker 1: got to a point where I'm like, I know, I'm
Speaker 1: good with everybody, but you are just I can't. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you just felt like he was kind of a taking time,
Speaker 1: but like you didn't know where he yea be right.
Speaker 1: And then he also and I just was like, okay,
Speaker 1: so where does that leave mean you? And he was like, well,
Speaker 1: you're just close with Sarah And I'm like, oh, so
Speaker 1: I'm just catching heat by default. That's crazy. I've never
Speaker 1: done anything to you, so that's wild. So that's how
Speaker 1: I felt. Yeah, who would you say you were closest
Speaker 1: to in the hall? Like who is your your closest
Speaker 1: girl that maybe we didn't really get to see just
Speaker 1: in what we've seen so far. And then who was
Speaker 1: the guy that you were closest to? Oh, Danny and Sarah.
Speaker 1: My number one is Sarah. Like our relationship wasn't shown
Speaker 1: so much, but we were very very close. We were
Speaker 1: like yeah and then I would say, Danny, I mean
Speaker 1: I saw you there for the proposal when I think
Speaker 1: was it Emily proposed to Sarah with the fake ring,
Speaker 1: and you were on the bed because they were making
Speaker 1: fun of and Tory saying that she wasn't going to
Speaker 1: vote her ex fiance, and and I guess Sarah and
Speaker 1: Emily reenacted that they wouldn't have to vote each other.
Speaker 1: And then we see you lying on the bed right
Speaker 1: underneath it all just not saying anything. I was just
Speaker 1: working on my Sodoku book. Girl, I said, I'm here
Speaker 1: to brain right now. What's something else that Because we
Speaker 1: know a lot of things go on in this house,
Speaker 1: right and there's only so much shaken show just from
Speaker 1: a time perspective, What were some other things, whether it
Speaker 1: be like alliances, friendships, hookups that were swirling about in
Speaker 1: the house that we haven't really seen. Um, not many
Speaker 1: hookups at all. Um Yeah, I mean as far as
Speaker 1: like that juicy stuff, there's nothing really going on. But
Speaker 1: like as far as alliance is like when I tell
Speaker 1: you bananas, and I felt so solid with everybody, Like
Speaker 1: you know, I had my relationships, he had his relationship,
Speaker 1: so it's like it didn't it didn't matter which side
Speaker 1: we went, like, we just felt like good, you know,
Speaker 1: um Kiki and Darrell too, Like I remember Bananas was
Speaker 1: like I have a very good relationship with Darrell, Like
Speaker 1: we're solid. Danny and Durell had a good relationship. I
Speaker 1: had a good relationship with Durrell. Um. Yeah, yeah, I said,
Speaker 1: that's I said, that's why there's gonna be a lot
Speaker 1: of blind sides in this episode. Right at a certain point,
Speaker 1: there's gonna be yeah, because it gets to a point
Speaker 1: you can't take everyone to the end. But I feel like,
Speaker 1: you know, those who've played, when you play the game
Speaker 1: or watched it or played it for a very long time,
Speaker 1: it's like you start to make I don't want to
Speaker 1: say tears of alliances, but I think that sometimes is
Speaker 1: the Vets strategy, right of or the Legend strategy of
Speaker 1: let's not make super big moves just yet. It's like
Speaker 1: they acknowledge that their big moves are gonna be made,
Speaker 1: right because there's only one winner. There's only one winning team.
Speaker 1: But sometimes you try to look out for there's like
Speaker 1: a ABC list, you know, guest lists right if you want,
Speaker 1: and so it's like you're you're looking out for you
Speaker 1: slowly start to eat away with it, eat away at it,
Speaker 1: rather than like just sporadically blowing things up. Speaking of
Speaker 1: sporadically blowing things up, let's talk about Kelly Ann because like, so,
Speaker 1: wait I heard that. Wait a minute, it back? What
Speaker 1: was that When I said, let's talk about what are
Speaker 1: your thoughts about Kelly in her gameplay? I mean, I
Speaker 1: will give it to her. Kelly Ann obviously was brilliant
Speaker 1: this episode. Um, And I mean I guess just like
Speaker 1: the season, she's she's fighting, she's doing all the things. Um.
Speaker 1: But to me, I'm just like I not respectfully not
Speaker 1: sure I would ever want to do another scene with
Speaker 1: because here's the thing, She's just very very unpredictable and
Speaker 1: so and I mean I know that like John Ay
Speaker 1: caught a lot of heat, but I also can understand
Speaker 1: where she was coming from. It's hard to align yourself
Speaker 1: with somebody who is just that unpredictable, you know, as
Speaker 1: a person like I like her. She's she's good people,
Speaker 1: but just in a game sense. Yeah, give an example
Speaker 1: of something she's in because from a viewer perspective, you know,
Speaker 1: while you do see these and I do feel like
Speaker 1: they've really played up that you do see these little
Speaker 1: moments of like kind of an evil smile or whatever,
Speaker 1: like you know, and you kind of guess what's going
Speaker 1: on in her mind that she makes certain moves. But
Speaker 1: most of the things she said so far, in my opinion,
Speaker 1: have seemed relatively logical from the jump, at least in
Speaker 1: this season. Right, So, like she and John A were
Speaker 1: good friends. I understand that it's a game, but I
Speaker 1: certainly wouldn't expect my good friend to kind of like
Speaker 1: come at me in the beginning, right, we talked about
Speaker 1: that ABC tier list thing, like I would expect that
Speaker 1: that might be a later on thing. John A tells her,
Speaker 1: Yet we should be aligned. Then she gets sent in.
Speaker 1: Now she has it out, she's pissed, and she's like,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna come for you. Like all those things seem
Speaker 1: fairly rational, even if she does have a hint of,
Speaker 1: you know, smirketter face. So, what are some things? But
Speaker 1: I know there's so much we haven't seen, So she
Speaker 1: had some light on us, Justine, what are some of
Speaker 1: the things in the house that you feel were kind
Speaker 1: of either, you know, unpredictable that would make even you say, hey,
Speaker 1: you know what, I wouldn't necessarily want to do a
Speaker 1: season or be aligned with that in a future season.
Speaker 1: Here's the thing, Like, I feel like what people don't
Speaker 1: see is that the people in power every single week,
Speaker 1: Yes they make the decision, but they always want to
Speaker 1: go with the house vote so that they pissed as
Speaker 1: very little people off as possible. So with John nay
Speaker 1: knew the whole house agreed upon Tristan and Kelly Anne.
Speaker 1: And so that's why it was even over Bingi and Jody.
Speaker 1: Why why over Bingi and Joe? Like what was her
Speaker 1: allegiance to no, no shade to Bingi and Jody, But like,
Speaker 1: what was the even from the house perspective to John
Speaker 1: A's perpective, Why did they feel so strongly about one
Speaker 1: over the other. Because I think with Jody she had
Speaker 1: started to create relationships with people who wanted to work
Speaker 1: with her. So as far as and Kelly Anne, I think,
Speaker 1: like I said, some people saw that she she could
Speaker 1: be a little bit unpredictable, sometimes very vocal. When like
Speaker 1: that could be dangerous in a game where you kind
Speaker 1: of want to just sit back and not be necessarily
Speaker 1: in the drama. So when she would do things like that,
Speaker 1: people were just like, oh, well, it's gonna be hard
Speaker 1: to work with her, and so that's why it was
Speaker 1: pretty much a majority like house vote. So that's why
Speaker 1: it was difficult for John Ay to be like, well,
Speaker 1: I want to protect my friend when but if I
Speaker 1: do that, the whole house is going to be like,
Speaker 1: all right, well now I'm you know, gonna be under
Speaker 1: the chopping block low key. But but also yes, I
Speaker 1: do understand, like, you know, as somebody's friend, like you know,
Speaker 1: I'm not logically John A. Two. Also she made her
Speaker 1: mistakes whatever, But yeah, that's just that's my opinion with
Speaker 1: the whole Kelly and thing. Yeah, yeah, it's yeah, it's
Speaker 1: been really interesting to watch and and kind of fun
Speaker 1: a little bit. We talk about mixing things up, I
Speaker 1: feel like this storyline is one that kind of mixes
Speaker 1: things up because she was on the back foot so
Speaker 1: much in the first few episodes and now to be
Speaker 1: in power and even when Tory came over. Because this
Speaker 1: leads into you guys being sent in but like, well,
Speaker 1: first of all, how did you feel when Tori did
Speaker 1: that sort of rousing United restand speech And you guys
Speaker 1: are all sitting there like, what are you thinking? This
Speaker 1: is some bs. Are you thinking good, they're finally all
Speaker 1: getting along? Like what are your thoughts in that moment
Speaker 1: when Team USA is sort of, you know, strategizing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I had a big sigh of relief because
Speaker 1: like for me, I would just sit there and be
Speaker 1: like everybody, please, like calm down, Let's just figure out
Speaker 1: how to work together. Like I had no qualms with anybody.
Speaker 1: So when we were finally able to just get along
Speaker 1: and have a conversation, like, I think we all understood like, Okay,
Speaker 1: if something is going to happen, it's probably going to
Speaker 1: be this week, and we need to do everything that
Speaker 1: we can to avoid it being any of us. So
Speaker 1: I think we were we were all under that understanding
Speaker 1: and we're able to come together because of that, And
Speaker 1: I just was like finally, Like I really was like
Speaker 1: sigh of relief for sure. Yeah. Yeah. When the first
Speaker 1: team said your name when you're in deliberation, are you
Speaker 1: feeling like this must be an accident? Like what's your
Speaker 1: first thought when you hear you know, Janana's being called? Yeah,
Speaker 1: that first time I heard it, I was like, oh okay, cool,
Speaker 1: like burnboat you know expected at some point, like but
Speaker 1: it's fine, we got the numbers. We're gonna be good.
Speaker 1: Tory had her conversation like I was not worried even
Speaker 1: after hearing our name on that first one, but as
Speaker 1: they kept going, I said the second third, I said,
Speaker 1: wait a minute, wait a minute. Like the way I
Speaker 1: felt I was. I was completely blindsided sitting there. I
Speaker 1: was like, how did this happen? M did bananas feel
Speaker 1: that way too? Um So, after talking, after talking to
Speaker 1: him after juliarus, I was like, did you know that
Speaker 1: was going to happen? He was like, um no, he
Speaker 1: was like two minutes before we sat down at that table.
Speaker 1: I had a conversation with Tory asking how her conversation
Speaker 1: with Kelly Anne went, and he was like, immediately I
Speaker 1: did not feel great. I felt uneasy, And He's like,
Speaker 1: I didn't want to scare you, but like seconds before
Speaker 1: walking down, I just did not feel confident. I was like, damn, wow, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: Kelly Anne really wielded the power many I give her props.
Speaker 1: I'm telling you. I was like, huh, how did this happen?
Speaker 1: How did we get here? Yes, she was a little
Speaker 1: mastermind for sure. Do you when they did say your
Speaker 1: name and then when it was revealed that it would
Speaker 1: ltimately be you and Nanna's and THEO and Sarah, did
Speaker 1: it click for you in that moment that it was
Speaker 1: definitely going to be you and Bananas because of Sarah's
Speaker 1: relationship with Emily or were you still holding out hope? Absolutely?
Speaker 1: And this is the thing that I just I still
Speaker 1: would was trying to process and I didn't understand is
Speaker 1: that when it came down to Ben and Casey. I
Speaker 1: understand that Ben very much wanted it to be Sarah
Speaker 1: in there, but by them not by them still not
Speaker 1: saying our name, which they didn't say our name because
Speaker 1: of Casey. I developed a friendship with Casey, so I
Speaker 1: was good with her. I was like, I knew Ben
Speaker 1: wasn't he didn't care regardless, but in burning a vote
Speaker 1: automatically sent us in and I was like, it just
Speaker 1: I don't know, everybody knew that with Emily and Power
Speaker 1: it was not going to be Sarah. So I was like,
Speaker 1: with this Sarah and THEO vote, it's automatically putting me
Speaker 1: and Banana and the whole house knew that, right, So
Speaker 1: that was that was the frustrating part. And I just
Speaker 1: was like, so it was really for sure target against
Speaker 1: Bananas and I and not even just USA, because it
Speaker 1: didn't matter if they if they wanted a USA, they
Speaker 1: should have done Ben and Casey and Me and Bananas
Speaker 1: and made them choose, you know, right, right, Did anyone
Speaker 1: come up to you afterwards when your name was announced
Speaker 1: and try and cover themselve anyone who voted for you
Speaker 1: or anything like, did you learn some tea after the
Speaker 1: vote was official? Spill it um not? I guess not
Speaker 1: necessarily just me, but like me and Bananas together. So
Speaker 1: there were a few people that we were very, very
Speaker 1: surprised about, which was Kekey and Durrell and and for Bananas,
Speaker 1: Loki Kelly An because they had started to develop a
Speaker 1: friendship and like, but I do understand Kelly and felt
Speaker 1: like regardless she would be at the BA on him
Speaker 1: of that picking order. But yeah, but he was. He
Speaker 1: was definitely surprised by that because he thought that, you know,
Speaker 1: they were still at least trying to work together. With
Speaker 1: Kekey and Durrell, we had a relationship with them, and
Speaker 1: there was even points where Bananas was like, I will
Speaker 1: not say Durrell's name. Yeah, And so when we said
Speaker 1: their name, we knew it wasn't going to be them,
Speaker 1: and that's why we were like, it won't, it won't
Speaker 1: affect our relationship. But in them saying our name, we
Speaker 1: were like, oh this hurts. And and then also with
Speaker 1: Ben and Casey at that point, me, Sarah and Danny
Speaker 1: were like, we are just done, because yes, we understand
Speaker 1: their mindset of like if we still made again, it's
Speaker 1: going to be us, but we didn't know it was
Speaker 1: going to be you, Like you know, it's just you know,
Speaker 1: we don't and I understand them not wanting to take
Speaker 1: that risk, but it's like it's also taking a big
Speaker 1: shot at our whole team, you know. So it was
Speaker 1: just a lot many. Do you think it would have
Speaker 1: been Casey and been realistically like if Emily were left
Speaker 1: a pick, did they have beef with Emily? I mean
Speaker 1: like no, That's the thing is I don't I don't
Speaker 1: know who they would have chosen. But I think Sarah
Speaker 1: and Danny were close enough with um, Emily and Yes
Speaker 1: that they would have seen a bigger picture and throwing
Speaker 1: in Casey and Ben would have not been a good idea,
Speaker 1: And especially if Australia and you are trying to work together.
Speaker 1: So I think they would have fought for them and
Speaker 1: told them like, I don't think even in a stale
Speaker 1: meat situation that it should be Casey and Ben and
Speaker 1: that that was the Like. I just was like, there
Speaker 1: were so many ways to avoid this, and it just
Speaker 1: seemed like we were very much targeted and there was
Speaker 1: just no excuse for all the people that ended up
Speaker 1: blind sitting us. You know, I sound Cole, I sound bitter, huh,
Speaker 1: I sound hurt. No, But girl, I don't. I don't
Speaker 1: blame you. And people say take emotions out, girl, I'd
Speaker 1: do the same thing. I'm mad for you, and actually
Speaker 1: I'm more mad about this other piece that we're gonna
Speaker 1: get to in a minute. I don't. I don't blame you. Um.
Speaker 1: It's also why I low key am like I understand
Speaker 1: Kelly Anne being mad. I mean, I get wag Jay
Speaker 1: and I love I think both those women are wonderful. Um,
Speaker 1: have done challenges with both of well, Kelly An was
Speaker 1: on ours about two point about seconds, but have been
Speaker 1: with both of those women in you know, in a
Speaker 1: competition sense or whatever. They're both great. But I understand
Speaker 1: I understand Johnny's gameplay, but I understand Kelly am being
Speaker 1: mad because I'd be mad. I would be one hundred
Speaker 1: percent mad too. Um okay, So now we're going into elimination.
Speaker 1: How are you feeling knowing you guys are going up
Speaker 1: against Jordan and Kaz Are you competent about it or
Speaker 1: you like, let me make sure I've really packed everything
Speaker 1: nice and good because I'm probably going home. What are
Speaker 1: your thoughts? I mean, it was it was fifty fifty
Speaker 1: because they're obviously a strong team, Like I wouldn't we
Speaker 1: wouldn't be trying to get them out all season if
Speaker 1: we didn't think that they were, you know. Yeah. But
Speaker 1: as far as me and Bananas, I was like, I know,
Speaker 1: I have a great partner in USA. I was an
Speaker 1: elimination twice, so I feel like I'm good under pressure.
Speaker 1: I just you know, I good. I think it was.
Speaker 1: I was like, it's going to be pretty evenly matched.
Speaker 1: And your finance major, I mean, you have a lot
Speaker 1: going for you, so you could do a lot, you can,
Speaker 1: you know if there's math involved, like you got it
Speaker 1: and it's very smart. Good about my skills? Yeah? Absolutely, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I feel good. I felt good for sure. And so
Speaker 1: then when you saw what the actual challenge was, how
Speaker 1: did you feel about it, Did you still feel equally competent,
Speaker 1: or was there anything that was an indicator to you that, oh,
Speaker 1: this might be harder than you know I anticipated. Yeah. So,
Speaker 1: I mean I was happy to see what the elimination was.
Speaker 1: I mean I was hoping it'd be something a little
Speaker 1: bit more with like endurance, because I'm like, I got
Speaker 1: that in the bag, Like I know, I got a
Speaker 1: good partner. Because it came down to Bananas and Jordan
Speaker 1: are probably evenly matched. So I was looking at me
Speaker 1: and Kaz of strength, you know, I was like, I know,
Speaker 1: my girl, she little, She's not the greatest under pressure,
Speaker 1: as we saw in the challenge. As far as endurance,
Speaker 1: I was like, I was training like seven miles a day,
Speaker 1: Like I was like, I got that. Yeah. So when
Speaker 1: it came to seeing the barrels, I was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm not the strongest, you know, like that's not my
Speaker 1: strongest suit. Um. But once we started going in, I
Speaker 1: was like, oh, these aren't heavy, Like we got this,
Speaker 1: Like we're good. Um. So I still felt pretty confident.
Speaker 1: So then what was the hardest part of that elimination round?
Speaker 1: Was it just finding the details? Was it organizing them, like,
Speaker 1: what was the toughest, no one, it was it was
Speaker 1: the detail because even as we were going, like we
Speaker 1: were at least two three barrels ahead of them the
Speaker 1: whole time, so we were like we were good. It
Speaker 1: was just the details that was so difficult. Like all
Speaker 1: the especially the Australian and the UK flag, they looked
Speaker 1: exactly the same, like every arrow was the same. So
Speaker 1: it was definitely like we had to really not you
Speaker 1: shade in their flag. Girl Now, I said, y'all lucky,
Speaker 1: it's all the same, just like their accents is all
Speaker 1: the same. We can't tail um. Yeah. So we see
Speaker 1: you guys put everything up and we see you press
Speaker 1: the buzz or and TJ says that's wrong. What do
Speaker 1: you guys do immediately after? Do you go and take
Speaker 1: some down? Like what's happening there? We are literally just
Speaker 1: standing there looking back and forth, back and forth, being
Speaker 1: like which one is wrong? When I tell you, we
Speaker 1: stood there for a good like thirty seconds to a
Speaker 1: minute and we could not figure out which one was wrong,
Speaker 1: like we were and we had like at one point
Speaker 1: bananas were like, are you guys sure you didn't make
Speaker 1: a mistake? Like which one is it. So we were like,
Speaker 1: we literally could not figure it out. But I think
Speaker 1: we were paying attention so much to the the UK,
Speaker 1: to the flags, to the UK and Australia flags, that
Speaker 1: we completely didn't even notice that it was. It was
Speaker 1: like literally the most obvious one. Did you know there
Speaker 1: were two sun barrels? No? No, I did not like
Speaker 1: and I was I was the one kind of our strategy.
Speaker 1: I was the one kind of looking for the pieces
Speaker 1: and bringing them over and then Bananas would put them up,
Speaker 1: and so there was like afterwards, I was like, did
Speaker 1: I see us like a sun before I had put
Speaker 1: that one over there? And I think in that moment
Speaker 1: I was like maybe I did see one, but m yeah,
Speaker 1: it just it all happened so fast and it was
Speaker 1: just yeah, yeah. So then when we see kazing Jordan
Speaker 1: run over to press the buzzer, we also see Bananas
Speaker 1: and you like over there by the buzzer. What was
Speaker 1: up with that? Did you guys run back to press
Speaker 1: it again or what? Um? So, after we were standing
Speaker 1: there for a little bit like trying to figure out
Speaker 1: which one was wrong, they they had corrected one. They
Speaker 1: you know, they had some time, and so then we
Speaker 1: were like Okay, let's just try to press the buzzer
Speaker 1: again because like maybe maybe they made the mistake because
Speaker 1: we literally it could not figure out what was wrong.
Speaker 1: So we were like, all right, let's just run and
Speaker 1: try to press it again. And yeah, so that's that's
Speaker 1: what that was. And about how long after you guys
Speaker 1: press it again Kaz and Jordan were announced the winner,
Speaker 1: did the group say, oh, it was the sun? Like
Speaker 1: how soon? Like how long did it take for them
Speaker 1: to tell you? Within seconds? And that was the most
Speaker 1: disheartening part because even after TJ butherhorn, we were like,
Speaker 1: what is it like? Because we were looking at TJ
Speaker 1: and the producers being like, okay, like did you guys
Speaker 1: make a mistake? Like which one is wrong? They didn't
Speaker 1: even tell us the entire like everybody standing up there
Speaker 1: was like it was the sun. It was the sun,
Speaker 1: And so that was when we realized. So y'all really
Speaker 1: stood there and knew which one was wrong and nobody
Speaker 1: said anything because we still had plenty of time after
Speaker 1: we pressed the buzzer the first time. There was so
Speaker 1: much time for them to tell us this is what
Speaker 1: it was, and we could have fixed it. So that
Speaker 1: was sad and I mean bo betrayed by Sarah in
Speaker 1: that moment or Danny, like some of your closest allies
Speaker 1: in the game. That's the part that I struggle with
Speaker 1: because I'm not sure who all knew. Like, I know,
Speaker 1: there's certain people that knew. Obviously, it seemed like Tory knew.
Speaker 1: So I'm wondering if if Tory knew, if Danny knew,
Speaker 1: I don't know. But and even just aside from Danny
Speaker 1: and Sarah, I'm like, really, nobody up there wanted to
Speaker 1: tell us. Yeah, out of everybody, like that's wild. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean at that point there was just nothing we
Speaker 1: could do. But I just we felt pretty betrayed. But like, yeah, Fairhouse, Yeah,
Speaker 1: because that was the fact that they this turn on
Speaker 1: you guys are blindside and being voted in, and then
Speaker 1: the fact that no one gave you a tip off
Speaker 1: of what the thing was. Yes, pretty telling. When you
Speaker 1: go back into the challenge house, and I'm saying when
Speaker 1: because you're a fierce competitor, you are amazing at swimming
Speaker 1: despite what you think, and you look fly all the time.
Speaker 1: I literally part of the reason I watch is to
Speaker 1: watch you serve looks girl, and you're like I am
Speaker 1: so proud, Like I'm like, yes, girl, yes, look at
Speaker 1: her just glowing all the time. Literally Yes. So when
Speaker 1: you come back to challenges, is there something you learn
Speaker 1: from this one that you didn't learn from your first
Speaker 1: go round? And challenge you to say that you would
Speaker 1: do differently moving forward? What would you do differently? Absolutely?
Speaker 1: I learned so much, especially because I did learn a
Speaker 1: lot in USA for you know, it being my first
Speaker 1: competitive show, but then with this one, playing with the legends,
Speaker 1: I learned even more. And I would say that I, well,
Speaker 1: I would I'm gonna work at creating my own relationships
Speaker 1: because I felt like even though I was doing that here,
Speaker 1: I relied so much on Banana's relationships that I didn't
Speaker 1: necessarily have my own, where if I had done a
Speaker 1: better job at doing that, maybe it would have been like,
Speaker 1: well this is you know, because I felt like a
Speaker 1: lot of people were targeting Bananas and not so much me.
Speaker 1: I kind of just you know, was yeah, right, I
Speaker 1: was like basically the scapegoat, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: I just was like, no, I felt like maybe if
Speaker 1: I had created strong relationships, it would have made it
Speaker 1: harder for them to be like, ah, well, Justine is
Speaker 1: not just somebody who's like Okay, I mean it sucks
Speaker 1: we like her. It would have been like, no, I
Speaker 1: can't because I feel really good about her, even as
Speaker 1: more than I eight bananas, you know, or like one banana,
Speaker 1: which is what I feel like. Even with Casey, like
Speaker 1: I had developed a relationship with her that you know,
Speaker 1: ultimately they put me in, but like they still wouldn't
Speaker 1: say my name, And I'm like, that's what I would
Speaker 1: want to create relationship where it's like it would make
Speaker 1: it hard for you to say my name. Um, so yeah,
Speaker 1: I would. I think I would just that's what I
Speaker 1: would do. I'd rely less on other people's relationships and
Speaker 1: just try to create stronger ones with my own. Who
Speaker 1: do you still talk to off the show from that
Speaker 1: particular season from the season, Yeah, I talked to Sarah,
Speaker 1: Danny m Casey, and Tori a little bit. Bananas I
Speaker 1: talked to a lot obviously, Um yeah, I mean and Kaz. I. Actually,
Speaker 1: Kaz and I are really good friends, despite oh yeah,
Speaker 1: despite her taking us out, Like yeah, that's that's but
Speaker 1: that's really sweet, that's cool. I feel like you guys
Speaker 1: would be a total power duo if you have a
Speaker 1: group chat. I'm just gonna make a suggestion, but if
Speaker 1: you have a group chat with any of those people,
Speaker 1: you should just change the name. And you have an iphund,
Speaker 1: you just change the name of the group chat to
Speaker 1: a son emoji like the sun with the face emoji.
Speaker 1: Just change it to that. Say nothing, give no context.
Speaker 1: Just changed it to that and we're back. All right.
Speaker 1: I'm any sun emoji anything to her like I want
Speaker 1: no more sunshine ever. Yeah, that's that is. That is.
Speaker 1: It's really tough, um, But you played an amazing game,
Speaker 1: and again it was. It was so wonderful watching you
Speaker 1: do it. And look the fact that you keep in
Speaker 1: touch with Bananas, like he's a wealth of knowledge in
Speaker 1: this game. And so it's cool. That sounds like you've
Speaker 1: already done a good job before Jane relationships, and it'll
Speaker 1: be fun to watch you put the Justine spin on
Speaker 1: it as time progresses, and you know that those relate
Speaker 1: relationships like strengthen. Um, because you're definitely gonna win one,
Speaker 1: like I can like totally, You're you're gonna win one
Speaker 1: and I'm here for it, and I know you're gonna
Speaker 1: look fabulous when you do. Across the finish line, I
Speaker 1: would be like, yes, thank you so much. It's true,
Speaker 1: I'm probably the only one who watches the challenging judges fashioned.
Speaker 1: But shout out to TJ wearing a suit a couple
Speaker 1: weeks ago. He looked really great, and TJ never He's
Speaker 1: come a long way from those rocker t shirts. But yeah, Justine,
Speaker 1: you bring a little runway to the challenge and I'm
Speaker 1: here for it. You do. I appreciate it. I try,
Speaker 1: I said, listen, if I'm more than competing, who wants
Speaker 1: to both thank you? Thank you girl? You did what
Speaker 1: I cannot. Also, I found when I was doing the
Speaker 1: challenge back in the day, I used to do makeup
Speaker 1: tutorial lessons with some of the girls in the house.
Speaker 1: The boys hated it because I would do it in
Speaker 1: the boys room because it was the biggest But I
Speaker 1: found that it passed the time and it helped keep
Speaker 1: you out of drama. And it's one of those things
Speaker 1: that helped forge relationships with people because anytime you're giving
Speaker 1: value of any sort, and I don't mean the kind
Speaker 1: of value West gives when he gives his unsolicited advice,
Speaker 1: I mean like value, like hey, you want to learn
Speaker 1: this thing? Or blah blah blah, or just listening to
Speaker 1: other people that people connect with that. Um and when
Speaker 1: it's genuine and then that can help you know. Fortunately, Yeah,
Speaker 1: for sure. Yeah, a lot of fun. Um. Okay, so
Speaker 1: we know that you don't win this season unfortunately, although
Speaker 1: you gave it a valiant try. Who are you now?
Speaker 1: Who are your top two teams that you're rooting for? Um,
Speaker 1: here's the thing I want to like. Obviously, Danny's my guy.
Speaker 1: I hope he wins. But it's like, right now, after
Speaker 1: we're watching this episode and knowing that Tory helped the
Speaker 1: other team, I'm like, girl, I don't know that I
Speaker 1: want this for you. It's a little bitter, but still
Speaker 1: love her. Um. I would say Sarah and THEO and um, yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know the rest of the house. She said
Speaker 1: they can all kick rocks, all right, that's fair, she said,
Speaker 1: they get all kick rocks. But I'm rooting for Sarah
Speaker 1: and THEO. All right, I respect it. Um. Thank you
Speaker 1: so much Justine for joining the podcast today. It was
Speaker 1: such a pleasure. I hope you had fun, much fun.
Speaker 1: Oh good, We'll come back girl anytime. Um. And yeah,
Speaker 1: we can talk more. Tea and game and whatever. Uh.
Speaker 1: For those who want to keep in the know of
Speaker 1: Justine or just see your fabulousness or book you for
Speaker 1: other things, Like you said you're trying to get book
Speaker 1: for other things. Where can they find you on social
Speaker 1: media on all platforms? Just enjoy three one two, I
Speaker 1: love it. What's the three one two stand for? That's
Speaker 1: my birthday three twelve. I'll get a girl. I love that.
Speaker 1: I just turned thirty a few weeks ago. Yeah, we
Speaker 1: know what. Welcome to the club, no joke. It's better
Speaker 1: over here, I promise, I was, I was nervous. It
Speaker 1: really is. Life only gets My career has gotten better. Love,
Speaker 1: life's gotten better. Everything's gotten better, like it's gotten my edges,
Speaker 1: maybe not so much, but everything else, everything else has
Speaker 1: indeed gotten bank accoun it's gotten better like everything. So
Speaker 1: welcome to the club. Shot listen. That's what I'm looking
Speaker 1: forward to, that bank account and that relationship. That's literally
Speaker 1: I'm like, please do better in my thirties. Yes, yes,
Speaker 1: it'll get better. I promise. Well, thank you again, keep
Speaker 1: please keep in touch. Everybody go followed Justine. I can
Speaker 1: say with fairly good confidence that this is a future
Speaker 1: challenge legend. So excited to have you as part of
Speaker 1: the family and can't wait to see what you do next.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. I appreciate it. You guys. Uh,
Speaker 1: just when I didn't think I could love her more?
Speaker 1: How did you like that? Did you learn some things?
Speaker 1: What a wonderful interview with the fabulous Justine. I know
Speaker 1: we're gonna see her more challenges we have to I
Speaker 1: we have not gotten enough, and it seems like she's
Speaker 1: just growing more and or in this game, so it's
Speaker 1: gonna be great. Make sure you go follow her on
Speaker 1: social and hey, if you missed me. If you don't
Speaker 1: follow me, make sure you follow me on socials too.
Speaker 1: You can check me out at my website. It has
Speaker 1: all the links there. That's Devin Simone dot com, Devin
Speaker 1: with the Why Smoth and I or on Instagram, Devin
Speaker 1: Simone dot com, Twitter, Devin Samone dot com and TikTok
Speaker 1: Devin Simone d E v y N SI m O
Speaker 1: n E on Yeah TikTok as well. Also, you can
Speaker 1: follow me on Amazon. It's Devin Simone's gift closet. So
Speaker 1: there's a link on my website where you can just
Speaker 1: google Devin Simone's gift closet and did it'll come up
Speaker 1: on Amazon and I'll give you a shout out when
Speaker 1: we do our live streams. And so after you've done
Speaker 1: the follow if you like this episode, I know you guys.
Speaker 1: Did I know you had fun? We always have fun together.
Speaker 1: Rate and review us on Spotify or Apple Podcast. Tell
Speaker 1: your friends, your family, your dog if they'll listen, Tell anyone,
Speaker 1: even the stranger on the street. Hi, Hello, have a
Speaker 1: wonderful day, and make sure you go rate and review
Speaker 1: this podcast. We appreciate you guys listening and joining in.
Speaker 1: We love you being a part of the Challenge fan.
Speaker 1: And then after you've done all that, a fabulous week,
Speaker 1: and then don't forget to catch new episodes of The
Speaker 1: Challenge World Championship Wednesdays on Paramount Plus. You know it's
Speaker 1: gonna be salved the teaser. Everybody looks like they're getting sick.
Speaker 1: Some stuff's really going down, so it's gonna be fun.
Speaker 1: Make sure you catch that. And then once you've watched that,
Speaker 1: we'll see you right back here for a brand new
Speaker 1: episode of MTV's official Challenge podcast. Your favorite listening experience