Speaker 1: Hello, Hello, Challenge family. It's your girl, Devin Simone. It's
Speaker 1: my birthday today, so I'm coming in older wiser and moudeer,
Speaker 1: and I am so glad that you're here. I'm holding
Speaker 1: it down. We have such a great episode for you
Speaker 1: today to go along with the great episode that we
Speaker 1: just watch. I mean, can we get into it? You
Speaker 1: were tuned in by the way to the Official Challenge podcast.
Speaker 1: So much to talk about, which is why I'm talking
Speaker 1: so fast, Okay, I just I can't eat between the
Speaker 1: ice cream and the pasta and the puzzles and the
Speaker 1: green sludge. And I'm still reeling over Olivia. Like, can
Speaker 1: we just say I am a living, breathing Olivia Stan account. Now,
Speaker 1: I don't care what anybody says. Just the way that
Speaker 1: she carried herself through all of this and has just
Speaker 1: been such a fighter, The way that Harassio like supported
Speaker 1: her as well, Like that she this is an Olivia
Speaker 1: Stan account. Just she's such an inspiration. The final as
Speaker 1: a whole one hundred hours a hundred out. Do you
Speaker 1: guys know how long a hundred hours is. It's a
Speaker 1: long time. One hundred hours that is like half of
Speaker 1: a week, half of a week with no real shower
Speaker 1: and just like sludge, and then you're eating stuff and
Speaker 1: you know someone's been severely injured. Now, so that's kind
Speaker 1: of like running in the back of your mind because
Speaker 1: you don't want to be injured. And everybody's limping and
Speaker 1: everybody's yelling. It is just pure chaos. And I'm so
Speaker 1: excited because we're gonna get some behind the scenes. You're
Speaker 1: not going to get this anywhere else about the final
Speaker 1: how it all came to be, all of that stuff
Speaker 1: when we get into this interview. Okay, let's talk about
Speaker 1: some highlights from this week now. First of all, someone
Speaker 1: who would be up for a gold Star would be
Speaker 1: Tori and her hair. Because I don't know if you
Speaker 1: caught this, but at about hour fifty, when everybody else
Speaker 1: is looking a mess, Tori emerges from her tent with
Speaker 1: silky smooth. Lucks pay at least one hundred dollars for
Speaker 1: that kind of blowout on a regular basis, And I'm
Speaker 1: not going through the elements. I don't understand what shampoo
Speaker 1: Tori is using or how she managed to look so
Speaker 1: falless coming out of that tent. But you think I'm kidding,
Speaker 1: go back and rewind and look at it. Watch it.
Speaker 1: You'll see the difference. Right. I'm not talking about the
Speaker 1: whole final, but there is a moment about halfway through
Speaker 1: she gets a little asleep, wakes up, and her hair
Speaker 1: looks like a pantine probat. Commercial girl gets a gold
Speaker 1: Star nomination just for that. Okay. Some other nominations come
Speaker 1: from Tory recognizing the pattern, Anissa recognizing the pattern. I
Speaker 1: know people get on Anissa, but what I'm loving about
Speaker 1: this final is that it's not all about just strength.
Speaker 1: It's not all about endurance. It really is like brains
Speaker 1: and braun and stomach capabilities. And our girl, Anissa recognizes
Speaker 1: the pattern, okay on the little puzzle thing points it out.
Speaker 1: And then also, this is really where she gets the
Speaker 1: gold Star nomination. Is patient enough that when Jordan is
Speaker 1: being stubborn about it, she doesn't try and hammer it home,
Speaker 1: but instead she's like, Okay, I laid the pieces out
Speaker 1: for you. I'm gonna just wait and let you figure
Speaker 1: it out. I'm sure that some of you have been
Speaker 1: in relationships with partners where you had to do that,
Speaker 1: where you had to let them think it was their
Speaker 1: idea even though you knew all along I'm here with
Speaker 1: you in solidarity. Uh huh, and Anissa was holding down
Speaker 1: to she gets a gold Start nomination. And then also
Speaker 1: i'd say that, you know, Nanni and Bananas being the
Speaker 1: comedic duo here right, like, I feel like I can't
Speaker 1: think of that like super old, like old old comedy
Speaker 1: troupe that was like super popular. It'll that did like slapstick,
Speaker 1: You'll know who I'm talking about. It's like old old,
Speaker 1: like black and white level old. But that's the vibes
Speaker 1: that Nanni and Bananas are giving me for much of
Speaker 1: this final even if you go back and listen, even
Speaker 1: the music that's played between Nanni and Banana scenes, so
Speaker 1: like when it's anyone else, it's like very intense, you know,
Speaker 1: tent and to and then when it's like Nanni and
Speaker 1: Bananas trying to figure out a puzzle, it's like like
Speaker 1: just just go back and listen. It's hilarious. I appreciate their,
Speaker 1: you know, the comedy element that they are sort of
Speaker 1: adding to this, even if Bananas is trying his best
Speaker 1: to annoy the hell out of Nannie part at the time.
Speaker 1: But they all get gold Star nominations for this week.
Speaker 1: I think the winner is going to actually be in
Speaker 1: terms of who's getting a gold Star, I think it's
Speaker 1: going to be Tor and Devon, and it's actually going
Speaker 1: to be because of their communication level. I'm loving the
Speaker 1: way that they're communicating. I know that there's not a
Speaker 1: lesson in everything, but there isn't a lot of things,
Speaker 1: and the way that they are communicating, like, sure they
Speaker 1: blow up, they have their moments, but the way that
Speaker 1: they come back and own it quickly, the way that
Speaker 1: they speak to each other with love. There's a moment
Speaker 1: where Devon even says, and look, I never thought I
Speaker 1: would give this much fan paire to Devon and or Dave,
Speaker 1: but here we are. The way that they come back
Speaker 1: and say, you know, look I'm frustrated, but I love you.
Speaker 1: Look at what they're able to accomplish so far with that. Now,
Speaker 1: I know they're not in the lead anymore, but still
Speaker 1: they've put up you know, they've been in the the
Speaker 1: majority of the time, and they're really putting up a
Speaker 1: good game. And it comes down to a level of
Speaker 1: respect with their communication. Let that be a lesson in
Speaker 1: our relationships. Now my time out of the week, you know,
Speaker 1: last week it would have gone to the golf ball.
Speaker 1: This week it has to go to Jordan. Jordan runs
Speaker 1: his mouth a lot. I mean a lot. And this
Speaker 1: is coming from someone who runs her mouth and gets
Speaker 1: paid to do it a lot. Jordan, we get that
Speaker 1: you are passionate, we get that you want to win. Like,
Speaker 1: let's even break it down to this, So Anissa hurting
Speaker 1: her ankle, right, and I've seen some of the people online,
Speaker 1: you know, have dipped strong opinions one way or another
Speaker 1: about her ankle injury. It happens, happens to the best
Speaker 1: of us. I do think that Jordan should take some
Speaker 1: ownership because it was his bright idea to run through
Speaker 1: the woods like Hansel and Gretel instead of the clear path,
Speaker 1: and then Alisa rolls her ankle. If they were on
Speaker 1: the clear path, that would have been less likely to
Speaker 1: happen in my opinion. But also him just being so
Speaker 1: mean and doing some low blows like brah brah. Okay,
Speaker 1: maybe you're the terrorist of love, all right, maybe you are,
Speaker 1: like fine, you're passionate about the game, you really want
Speaker 1: to win. But this is true for anyone. Passion withoutcome
Speaker 1: passion is weakness. It's not strength. Okay, I'm gonna say
Speaker 1: it one more time. Passion without come passion is weakness.
Speaker 1: It is an Achilles heel. It will limit you. I
Speaker 1: don't care how many times you've won this game before.
Speaker 1: You will only be able to advance so far if
Speaker 1: you can't bring compassion along with you. Now, I'm done
Speaker 1: preaching for the episode, but just gonna put that out there.
Speaker 1: Jordan ghost it in time out with some pasta, maybe
Speaker 1: some ice cream, I don't know, whatever suits your fancy.
Speaker 1: Maybe don't want to see that again after what they
Speaker 1: did too in this final eating all that food. Totally
Speaker 1: get it. Also, where was the ice cream eating challenge
Speaker 1: on free Agents? Look, I know it's been ten years,
Speaker 1: but I'm actually a little really like I would have
Speaker 1: you know, I know my strengths, and that would have
Speaker 1: been one of them. It would have been it would
Speaker 1: have hint. Anyway, so many good things happen on this episode.
Speaker 1: I'm still emotional to about Olivia and Harassio, which we
Speaker 1: will talk about a little bit as well. I'm going
Speaker 1: to dedicate this episode to them, to Olivia as well.
Speaker 1: Just yeah, it's an Olivia stand account. Get with it,
Speaker 1: you guys, all right, we have we have Emur hearken on. Now,
Speaker 1: if you've been listening for a long time to this podcast,
Speaker 1: you know who she is. If you haven't, then you
Speaker 1: don't know who she is. I'm going to tell you.
Speaker 1: She is the executive producer. She is the showrunner, which
Speaker 1: is literally the top of the top of the top
Speaker 1: of the top of this season of the Challenge. She's
Speaker 1: going to give us some insight and tea. And because
Speaker 1: we still haven't let it go, and by we, I
Speaker 1: mean me and some of you guys on Twitter and
Speaker 1: read it and Instagram, we also compare and talk a
Speaker 1: little bit about that final from Challenge USA because people
Speaker 1: are still whining about it and I just wanted to
Speaker 1: get the record straight and clear things up about how
Speaker 1: tough that final was comparatively. And she does give some insight,
Speaker 1: so we get all into it. We talk about the
Speaker 1: nose incident with Olivia, We talk about the testing process
Speaker 1: with games. I tried to ask the questions you all
Speaker 1: want to know because you know that I listened to you,
Speaker 1: so shout out to you. Thank you, love you, thank you, guys.
Speaker 1: Also for those who've left positive feedback on Twitter and
Speaker 1: who've left positive feedback on the review on Apple podcasts
Speaker 1: and Spotify and even Reddit. Love you all. You're going
Speaker 1: to love this episode, So hang party with me, your girl,
Speaker 1: Devin Samone, go grab some birthday cake please, and my honor,
Speaker 1: you know, grab a snack, but don't actually go anywhere
Speaker 1: because you're not going to want to miss this episode.
Speaker 1: All the things you want to know coming up right
Speaker 1: after this, stay tened. I am so excited to introduce
Speaker 1: this next guess. You may know her by her lovely accent.
Speaker 1: You may know her as Emer Harkin. I know so
Speaker 1: many of the Challenge contestants and players love and adore Emur.
Speaker 1: You may know of as executive producer. You also may
Speaker 1: know her as Hbic because on the Ride or Die
Speaker 1: season she is literally the head bitch in charge. But
Speaker 1: please welcome Emer Harkin. Hi, my goodness, thank you so
Speaker 1: much for a lovely intro, Devin, It's so true, how awesome.
Speaker 1: Can we just take a moment for those who don't know,
Speaker 1: showrunner means and and Emer so humble by the way,
Speaker 1: because we were like Emur, what exactly was your official
Speaker 1: Because Emur has been in the trenches for years. If
Speaker 1: you didn't know, now you know Imur was around when
Speaker 1: I was doing challenges even she's been around for a
Speaker 1: long time, and so she's like, oh, executive producer or showrunner.
Speaker 1: And for those of you who are listening, just so
Speaker 1: you know, like, executive producer is high up, and you
Speaker 1: know this show is coveted, so to get to that
Speaker 1: position says a lot. But showrunner that means you everybody's mama,
Speaker 1: Like that means you run everything on the show. Hints
Speaker 1: why it's called showrunner, and so that is huge. So
Speaker 1: am this season so cool? Thank you, you're so sweet.
Speaker 1: I actually never really take time to think about the
Speaker 1: magnitude of it, to be honest, but you know, now
Speaker 1: that you've drawn my attention to it, it is. It's
Speaker 1: it's a big job, and it's a lot. You know,
Speaker 1: when it's nineteen episodes in a foreign country with a
Speaker 1: massive cast and a big show like that, it is
Speaker 1: a big undertaking. But I love it. I love it
Speaker 1: so much, I really do. It's it's awesome. It's just
Speaker 1: such a privilege, it really is. Wait a minute, though,
Speaker 1: now it's just hitting me. Does that mean you're the
Speaker 1: evil ass mastermind who came up with this hundred hour final? Oh?
Speaker 1: What the hell? Every I don't know what notion I took.
Speaker 1: You know, I actually had a completely different finale written
Speaker 1: and prepared. Yeah, we were going to do something completely different,
Speaker 1: and I just had this. I don't know, there was
Speaker 1: just this niggle at me and I don't know where
Speaker 1: I kind of cooked this up. But I mean when
Speaker 1: we told the cast, you know, TJ arrived and said like, okay,
Speaker 1: this has happening. It's one hundred dollars. I mean, they
Speaker 1: like several pulled me aside and said, like, that's a joke, right, like,
Speaker 1: it's not actually one hundred diars. And I said, oh no,
Speaker 1: it as you're on the clock, like when we start
Speaker 1: it is tic tick one hundred hours. And they thought
Speaker 1: it was not legit. They thought it was a joke.
Speaker 1: That is so mean. So it was so fun and
Speaker 1: they totally crushed that. I was so proud of them. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean watching it, it has been a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: But one hundred hour, like some of the hardest challenges
Speaker 1: on record or finals on record have been you know what,
Speaker 1: thirty six hours, seventy two hours, something like that, but
Speaker 1: never in the history one hundred hours. And we're gonna
Speaker 1: dig into what we've seen in the finals so far.
Speaker 1: But I'm just curious, like how far in advance does
Speaker 1: this start percolating in your mind? Like where, Like are
Speaker 1: you out one day with Brents having lunch You're like, oh, pasta,
Speaker 1: we should add this to the final, Like totally, do
Speaker 1: you up? You know. It's like, so I start creative
Speaker 1: on show, you know, months in advance, so like we
Speaker 1: will know that the show is right or died, and
Speaker 1: then I'll be thinking along with the team about games
Speaker 1: and fun things they can do, and you know, just
Speaker 1: general creative thoughts about the season. But with regard to
Speaker 1: a final, you know, it's something that's cooking in my
Speaker 1: brain pretty early on because it's a big priority for me.
Speaker 1: You know, it's it's such a big moment. Everybody wants
Speaker 1: to make it to the final, and so I take
Speaker 1: it really seriously and I want it to be something
Speaker 1: that they're impressed by and that they're daunted by. So yeah,
Speaker 1: it's something that's always sort of cooking. But I also
Speaker 1: get really inspired by wherever we're shooting, you know, like
Speaker 1: what's near us, what will feel different, what have we
Speaker 1: not done, what's going to test their limits, what's going
Speaker 1: to make them go what it is this? Oh, like
Speaker 1: this has never happened, and you know it's that's tricky
Speaker 1: after you know, thirty seven previous seasons. But but yeah,
Speaker 1: you just think about it. I'd like, you know, every
Speaker 1: it's it's constantly like your brain's just constantly going U. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's never ending. Really, do you, guys when you
Speaker 1: say you're inspired by your location, is it something where
Speaker 1: you know, long before you guys start shooting, you fly
Speaker 1: down there yourself. I know there's obviously like kind of
Speaker 1: location scouts, but do you go take a look and
Speaker 1: then you kind of add that into whatever you're thinking?
Speaker 1: You know, okay, and it's such a beautiful perk to
Speaker 1: the job, you know, I'll go. So this season we
Speaker 1: filmed just outside of Juanasires and Argentina, and so I
Speaker 1: flew down like four months before we shot there, and
Speaker 1: you know, like I'm looking at houses, I'm looking at
Speaker 1: a scenery. I'm you know, scurring the map to see
Speaker 1: what's nearby, what's within striking distance, what looks cool, what
Speaker 1: what feels like it would be? You know what, what's
Speaker 1: impressive on camera? What are the casts going to be
Speaker 1: totally blown away by? So it's a really creative. It's
Speaker 1: a really creative process and it's so fun. Great, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's when. And then how big is the team that's
Speaker 1: helping you craft like the final and the dailies and
Speaker 1: you know how all that works. Oh well, we have
Speaker 1: a challenge development team, a team of like three that
Speaker 1: are coming up with games and eliminations all the time,
Speaker 1: and that that happens like months before we leave, so
Speaker 1: we've got you know again, we'll know the theme as
Speaker 1: right or days and we'll be like, okay, what games
Speaker 1: would be fun? What are scary? What are funny? What
Speaker 1: are really physically assaulting? What's a really fun mental challenge?
Speaker 1: So we'll do they'll do all of that months in advance.
Speaker 1: But the final is something that's more sort of spearheaded
Speaker 1: by the showrunner generally, and every showrunner is differently. But
Speaker 1: I will sort of come up with the concept and
Speaker 1: then utilize you know, my team, my KOEEP, my games
Speaker 1: producers to like help me flash that out and like
Speaker 1: figure out you know, beats and segments within the final.
Speaker 1: But but I like to have pretty strong creative control
Speaker 1: of the final. I jet I come up with most
Speaker 1: of it myself because as I say, it's just a
Speaker 1: huge priority for me. Yeah. And my last question for
Speaker 1: you on the final are you do you ever test
Speaker 1: these you yourself test these things out or like are
Speaker 1: you a big runner? Are you a big puzzle person?
Speaker 1: Like what area of the final do you feel like
Speaker 1: you'd excel most? And he could be all of them,
Speaker 1: but you know, I used to do distance running. I
Speaker 1: actually used to run at national level in Ireland when
Speaker 1: I was like thirteen, and then I hit my teenage
Speaker 1: years and like I gave it all up for like
Speaker 1: you know, boys and partying and all those fun things.
Speaker 1: So I think I could probably handle the endurance, but
Speaker 1: I'm not in that sort of like physical shape anymore.
Speaker 1: I've had two kids in the last four years, so
Speaker 1: I don't think I could take one hundred hours of running,
Speaker 1: but I so that would be okay. I would be
Speaker 1: totally fine with eating and mental puzzles and things. I
Speaker 1: would be fine, but I don't get to test them anymore.
Speaker 1: Like years ago, I used to be able to test everything.
Speaker 1: Like my first season was dual too in News England
Speaker 1: in Queenstown, and I was able to test all those stunts.
Speaker 1: I never fell into water. I was always. I hated
Speaker 1: the drops into water. That was like the one thing
Speaker 1: that I really didn't like. But we're not allowed anymore.
Speaker 1: I'm not allowed to test anymore, so we haven't. Do
Speaker 1: you guys have a separate stunt team or something that's yeah, well,
Speaker 1: we have a we have a test team. So we
Speaker 1: have a stunt team to test all of our big
Speaker 1: stunt builds before we put testers on there. And then
Speaker 1: we have a team of testers who are with us
Speaker 1: for the entire production to test every challenge so that
Speaker 1: we know how everybody's going to play, how people are
Speaker 1: going to try to cheat, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. So we've
Speaker 1: played every chat challenge and every elimination and every part
Speaker 1: of the final multiple times before we ever shoot it
Speaker 1: with our cost, and our cost always do it differently.
Speaker 1: It's bonkers. Yeah. Yeah, So there's two. So it sounds
Speaker 1: like there's two kind of sets of checks and balances
Speaker 1: because you have the stunt team who'd like test it
Speaker 1: out first. Then you actually have a test team who
Speaker 1: test it out as well, exactly having the challengers come
Speaker 1: and do it themselves. Speaking of how people can cheat,
Speaker 1: one thing, I have literally fifty million questions for your Emra.
Speaker 1: I'm so glad you're here. And one thing that stood
Speaker 1: out to me and watching this week's episode was the
Speaker 1: it's the thing I've said that I would thrive in
Speaker 1: in a final, the only part which is the eating
Speaker 1: challenge and eating something good like pasta, even though there
Speaker 1: was no marinara and ice cream chopped ice cream. Of course,
Speaker 1: my question in watching that and when Nanni and Bananas
Speaker 1: were like just shoving handfuls of pasta in their mouth,
Speaker 1: which was actually very smart thing. Using a fork also
Speaker 1: looked really disgusting. What were the rules around being able
Speaker 1: to throw it up? Because I'm sitting there thinking and
Speaker 1: trying to think how people strategize and just kind of
Speaker 1: what I remember from back in the day and doing them,
Speaker 1: and it's like, I'd imagine you just shove it in
Speaker 1: your mouth, shoo it a few times, and then just
Speaker 1: proceed to like like almost the quicker you get it
Speaker 1: in your mouth, the quicker you can kind of quote
Speaker 1: unquote vomit it up. Like what were were there like
Speaker 1: certain rules or things you were eyeing out for that
Speaker 1: to make sure that everyone really tried to like swallow
Speaker 1: it and digest it or you know. Yes, So I
Speaker 1: get asked this question so often it's pretty hilarious. Actually.
Speaker 1: So I was a game as producer, as you remember,
Speaker 1: and when I was a segment producer, I somehow always
Speaker 1: got landed the eating challenges and so I like, I
Speaker 1: really particular about them as a result. And it's really
Speaker 1: the rule is really simple. And no matter what the
Speaker 1: eating challenges that we produce and on my shows, so
Speaker 1: you have to show me that you've swallowed it before
Speaker 1: you compuke. So we've got a efferey on every table.
Speaker 1: So say there was a ref like eyeballing Nanni and
Speaker 1: Bananas and Jordan and Nanis and so on, and you
Speaker 1: are you're just watching show me that you swallowed. And
Speaker 1: now if you want to get sick, no problem. But
Speaker 1: if you puke without showing a ref that you swallowed,
Speaker 1: then your play gets topped up with you add more
Speaker 1: back to the place. Y, Who does anybody have to
Speaker 1: get more added to their plate? No? But also because
Speaker 1: I know the guys so well, Victorian Devin have jumping
Speaker 1: with me before, Jordan and Nisa have done so many
Speaker 1: the same with Nanni and Bananas, so they know the drill.
Speaker 1: They're just sort of like Okay, chomp, chump, chomp, Yeah,
Speaker 1: my mirt's empty, and then they puked like it was
Speaker 1: Actually it was actually really straightforward to manage because they've
Speaker 1: all done it so many times. They've know the drill.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, I love getting tea. This is so good.
Speaker 1: All right, we're gonna take a quick break, y'all know,
Speaker 1: we gotta pay the bills, but don't go anywhere because
Speaker 1: we're gonna get right back into it right after this.
Speaker 1: It's definitely a final of veterans, although Olivia and Harassio
Speaker 1: arguably go down in history as some of the most
Speaker 1: fearless rookies I know I've ever seen. I'm curious, you know,
Speaker 1: how you would categorize Olivia and Harassio's performance throughout this season.
Speaker 1: I couldn't agree more. And they were awesome. They didn't
Speaker 1: balk at anything. They took everything that we threw of
Speaker 1: them through at them, and they just you know, embraced
Speaker 1: everything with a smile. They were like, sure, no worries,
Speaker 1: can't wait. And they really were fearless, and I think
Speaker 1: they're they showed and there they were never scared. You know,
Speaker 1: in their performances you can see that, and so they
Speaker 1: were really they had just bad luck, bad luck, bad
Speaker 1: luck with the final. It was a really difficult day.
Speaker 1: It was such a bummer. Yeah, you wonder too, like
Speaker 1: how much of that in the final was bad luck?
Speaker 1: And I, you know, I don't know the answer, and
Speaker 1: I'd love to know your take how much of it
Speaker 1: was bad luck and how much of it was there
Speaker 1: sort of the rookiness or the novice nature showing right
Speaker 1: like just about things. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I guess, I
Speaker 1: mean maybe that came into it, that you know, sort
Speaker 1: of novice nerves could have been involved in what happened.
Speaker 1: I think that nerves that you feel in the final
Speaker 1: are so different to nerves that you experienced throughout the
Speaker 1: rest of the season. It's, you know, it's everybody's been
Speaker 1: building to this for months. Literally you're a step away
Speaker 1: from you know, glory, and it's it's a lot. So
Speaker 1: for sure, there's different, you know, nerves are a different level.
Speaker 1: But I think that they you know, they're they're just
Speaker 1: they're obviously not as seasoned as the others. And I
Speaker 1: think with Olivia and during her finger, what happened was
Speaker 1: totally late, random and maybe they weren't being as her
Speaker 1: full you know, the others know that if they know
Speaker 1: how to handle apparatus, and so do Olivia Harassio. But
Speaker 1: I think that, you know, maybe they were just sort
Speaker 1: of jittery and not as as meticulous with their handling
Speaker 1: of things. So like sure, like maybe had she been
Speaker 1: like super careful, but then in saying that, she would
Speaker 1: have been slowing down and they were just like so
Speaker 1: gong hole to get it done. But when it came
Speaker 1: to the slang shot, Oh, I hate talking about it
Speaker 1: because it was just those are terrifying moments as a showrunner.
Speaker 1: What was run through your head when you because I
Speaker 1: imagine were you right there when she got hit in
Speaker 1: the face with the golf ball where no, no, I
Speaker 1: had just advanced, because so we leap frog with the finals,
Speaker 1: so like at parts, I'll be with first place, I'll
Speaker 1: be with second place, or I'll be with third place.
Speaker 1: At that for that portion, I had advanced, and but
Speaker 1: the medic and our safety supervisor were there and I
Speaker 1: got word on walkie immediately and I was back within
Speaker 1: you know, like ninety seconds. But I tested that game,
Speaker 1: like I don't know for how many hours we had
Speaker 1: played that game In an earlier challenge, as you would
Speaker 1: have seen and so to just have tested every iteration
Speaker 1: of it. Yeah, but you know she I guess the
Speaker 1: injury was caused because she had damaged her finger and
Speaker 1: so she wasn't really plated. Like yeah, so like it
Speaker 1: was just so it was just such a freak awful accident.
Speaker 1: And but like that's the that's the worst case scenario
Speaker 1: for me, Like I hate anybody getting injured. It's it's awful.
Speaker 1: It's it's always scary. Yeah, but again, they handled it
Speaker 1: really well. They were they did handle it really well.
Speaker 1: And I mean I teared it. I knew it was coming,
Speaker 1: and yet even watching it back, I couldn't help but
Speaker 1: just tear up. And their support of one another and
Speaker 1: Olivia's wanting to continue to fight. I mean, I if
Speaker 1: I had more room in my Instagram bio, I would
Speaker 1: change it to Olivia's standing out now because I do.
Speaker 1: I just She's She's been iconic all season. Yeah, like
Speaker 1: I love her so much, and um, you know there's
Speaker 1: been talk after that aired about the like watermelon challenge
Speaker 1: that happened on Amazing Race years ago. Did you ever
Speaker 1: see that? I did you have thoughts of that? You
Speaker 1: know afterwards that moment, Like, what are your thoughts of
Speaker 1: people comparing the Watermelon Challenge and what happened to Olivia. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, look, of course it's going to draw comparison,
Speaker 1: and I think everybody is always wary of sling shots
Speaker 1: and catapults for that reason. And the type of ball
Speaker 1: that we had was selected for a reason, you know,
Speaker 1: what had to go with certain distance, if to break
Speaker 1: through a certain fabric and so on. So like it's
Speaker 1: I suppose with any of these things you sort of
Speaker 1: you it's it's it's calculated risk, right, Yeah, you just
Speaker 1: you make the game as safe as you possibly can
Speaker 1: and you hope nothing happens. And in that situation, you know,
Speaker 1: it was that one in a thousand hit and and
Speaker 1: it was just so awful. But I think unfortunately, as
Speaker 1: a challenge producer, that's something that we all have to
Speaker 1: do with the show. You know, what we do is
Speaker 1: serious and people can get injured and the stone you know,
Speaker 1: whether we're you know, at one hundred story building and
Speaker 1: we're throwing people off a roof or whatever that is,
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's really dangerous. So whether it's a
Speaker 1: slingshot or whether it's building, or whether it's somebody falling
Speaker 1: into water. There is always that risk and and so
Speaker 1: it's it's it's a lot of responsibility, and it's it's
Speaker 1: that's a heavy part of the job for sure. And
Speaker 1: you are what I loved seeing too with you, and
Speaker 1: it's that much more impactful in my opinion since you
Speaker 1: are the HBI cum her show runner. Is we saw
Speaker 1: you um and not everyone may know this, but you
Speaker 1: were the one who hugged Rascio out to fight and continue.
Speaker 1: And so I love that you sort of broke the
Speaker 1: fourth wall and just stepped into frame and really gave
Speaker 1: him a hug and and supported him in that moment
Speaker 1: um that was so mad. But what was what was
Speaker 1: going through your mind? Was there ever a consideration that
Speaker 1: that I know the theme was you live and ride,
Speaker 1: But was there ever a thought that maybe he'd be
Speaker 1: able to continue? Like? What what didn't What did we
Speaker 1: not see in that moment? So what we what you
Speaker 1: didn't see is that the most important thing first of
Speaker 1: all is that Olivia's okay. So when I I arrive,
Speaker 1: I get informed by our safety supervisor, by the medics,
Speaker 1: like what's happening? Getting her the correct medical care, which
Speaker 1: by the way. She didn't want to avail off because
Speaker 1: she wanted to keep playing. I had to like absolutely
Speaker 1: insist that she go because she's just that badass. And
Speaker 1: Haracio was just amazingly supportive, and they were just what
Speaker 1: you saw was very real. You know, they were just
Speaker 1: totally supportive of each other. But because I knew the
Speaker 1: mechanics of the rest of the final, I knew that
Speaker 1: he needed a partner, and there was no iteration of
Speaker 1: him being able to continue on his own, so I knew.
Speaker 1: I knew that it was either the two of them
Speaker 1: or nothing, So Harassio continuing on his own. Unfortunately, it
Speaker 1: was never going to be an option. But I gave
Speaker 1: him several minutes to let it sort of digest, and
Speaker 1: he was obviously super emotional, and he was like, em
Speaker 1: or please, I'll do whatever it takes. I will whatever
Speaker 1: you need me to do. And I had to. I
Speaker 1: just like I had to, you know, just like let
Speaker 1: it sit. And then after a couple of minutes, I
Speaker 1: stepped in and I and then I think when I
Speaker 1: hugged him and I said, I was just so sorry
Speaker 1: for the way this was happening. I think that's when
Speaker 1: he realized, Okay, like it's it's game over. But it
Speaker 1: was a horrible I hate, you know, saying goodbye to
Speaker 1: anybody when they're eliminated from the game. In any the
Speaker 1: capacity is awful, whether they've lost an elimination or um
Speaker 1: or it's injury. In this situation, it was just so cruel.
Speaker 1: It was so heartbreaking for them, and it was you know,
Speaker 1: it's painful for me as well as them, especially after
Speaker 1: how much they had contributed to the season. You know, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's it's always heartbreaking. Kind of reminds me of UM
Speaker 1: back in the day when car Maria wanted to continue
Speaker 1: and she'd broken her wrist and she wasn't able to um.
Speaker 1: She was medically dcuted, which is remember, you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: so sad. What would you say or some of the
Speaker 1: moments without giving spoilers of what we're going to see
Speaker 1: next week, but so far, like, what are some of
Speaker 1: your proudest moments of this season? Oh? Wow, it's so hard.
Speaker 1: It's so hard. You know, it's because it's such a
Speaker 1: long shoot. I mean, it was a very long shoot.
Speaker 1: So I was just so proud of the crew and
Speaker 1: the cast for getting through it. You know, ten weeks
Speaker 1: to keep up momentum and energy for that amount of
Speaker 1: time is a lot. So I think just like getting
Speaker 1: everybody you know through, delivering a good product is obviously
Speaker 1: always super super meaningful. I think that I just loved
Speaker 1: our cast. I thought they were so awesome. There were
Speaker 1: just such beautiful moments and true friendship and like having
Speaker 1: each other's backs. I love the romanceing. I loved like
Speaker 1: the final for me, and I don't want to give
Speaker 1: any spoilers because it really was a very different final
Speaker 1: and it was something that I'm really proud of. You know.
Speaker 1: It was sort of it felt very much of like,
Speaker 1: you know, the ilk of a regular final for the
Speaker 1: first for the first you know, like fifty or sixty hours,
Speaker 1: and then it just completely flips upside down and it
Speaker 1: goes like somewhere that nobody will be expecting. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: so I really was proud of that. And to hear
Speaker 1: Tori and Devon and Bananas and Nanny, I think Jordan
Speaker 1: Ninissa did so they said that what happens at the
Speaker 1: end of the final, they said it was the coolest
Speaker 1: thing that they had ever seen on the show, And
Speaker 1: so that meant a lot, like they were totally and
Speaker 1: we really are able to give them this gigantic surprise
Speaker 1: moment in the final episode, and that is important to me,
Speaker 1: that I have really caught them off guard. That that's
Speaker 1: really important. And also whenever the players came back, you know,
Speaker 1: whenever Mariah and so one came back and we're playing
Speaker 1: to get back in the game, that was a curveball
Speaker 1: that they weren't expecting either. You know, they were genuinely shocked,
Speaker 1: And that's important to me because it's hard to keep
Speaker 1: anything secret from newcast members. As you know, you guys
Speaker 1: are always you have eyes and ears everywhere. So I
Speaker 1: think that's that's probably my takeaway from the season. The
Speaker 1: ability to surprise at certain moments was awesome. You definitely good.
Speaker 1: I mean the first episode where we saw one of
Speaker 1: someone who got eliminated sort of come back, you know,
Speaker 1: when TJ was like, I think it was Nelson, right
Speaker 1: when TJ wasn't Nelson. No, it wasn't Nelson who got
Speaker 1: I forgot But anyway, it's been a long time. I'm
Speaker 1: old now, but I just remember when we had the
Speaker 1: first of the episodes of the Rider Die season where
Speaker 1: they walked back and TJ is standing there doing that
Speaker 1: hand rub thing that he does, and he's sort of like,
Speaker 1: you know, you're not out yet, and my jaw just dropped,
Speaker 1: like my mouth was just like I could not believe it.
Speaker 1: It was such a surprise and so cool and fascinating
Speaker 1: the way that you guys did that. Yeah, it was
Speaker 1: that was full and well Nelson actually was the first.
Speaker 1: It was we had and you know, we had like
Speaker 1: Bananas and Nanni comme in. We had like Jordan and
Speaker 1: Nissa come in, like we had Drell and Veronica coming in.
Speaker 1: That was fun. And then to like tell Nelson he
Speaker 1: was still in with a shot, and then you know
Speaker 1: when Race went died and then they couldn't continue in
Speaker 1: the game. There was really there were profound moments of
Speaker 1: sort of you know, shock and surprise, and that is
Speaker 1: That's something that I think is really fun and I
Speaker 1: think the cast members get a kick out of it
Speaker 1: as well, which I love. Speaking of getting a kick
Speaker 1: out of things, did you guys get a kick out
Speaker 1: of having Jordan come on, it's a surprise tory this season?
Speaker 1: Be honest, What was the process behind that and how
Speaker 1: hard was it could convince him? It wasn't hard to
Speaker 1: convince him at all. It was not hard to convince. Jordan,
Speaker 1: he was so darn it was amazing, and we he
Speaker 1: did ask if Tory was going to be there for sure.
Speaker 1: You know, it's very real. What they've gone through is
Speaker 1: just such a you know, it's just they've been through
Speaker 1: so much together and it's a lot. And I think that,
Speaker 1: you know, it was obviously a concern. I think it's
Speaker 1: really compelling as well. You know, they're just they're both
Speaker 1: awesome people and awesome characters. And I think that's shown
Speaker 1: in the fact that we're also interested in that. And
Speaker 1: I think I, you know, I wasn't interested and intrigued
Speaker 1: and you know, really excited to see what would happen,
Speaker 1: just like everybody else. But it was definitely like we
Speaker 1: were all like, oh my god, he's really going to come.
Speaker 1: Did you tell Marie? He asked if Tory was going
Speaker 1: to be there, because obviously Tori didn't know, surprised she
Speaker 1: didn't know. Did you tell him that, yes, she would
Speaker 1: be on the season, or did you you did No,
Speaker 1: I told him, yeah, I never liked it. If I'm
Speaker 1: asked something like if I can't answer, I'll just say,
Speaker 1: look I can't answer that question. But yeah, no, I
Speaker 1: told him because he also you know again, like I say,
Speaker 1: you guys have eyes and ears everywhere you kind of
Speaker 1: you like, you know, you know, he probably knew that
Speaker 1: she was gone anyway, but he was right, it's going
Speaker 1: to be there, and so I just said, yeah, look
Speaker 1: she is, and he thought about it for a second
Speaker 1: and said, I'm down. You know. He was ready to
Speaker 1: come and perform, and of course, typically Jordan was like,
Speaker 1: you know, but he had been in Ukraine volunteering, and
Speaker 1: he was like, I'm really out of shape, you know,
Speaker 1: like I'm really not like in my best shape. And
Speaker 1: then he rises and I was like, are you joking?
Speaker 1: Like this okay, okay, sure Jordan, right, he made it
Speaker 1: all the way to the final. So do you do
Speaker 1: you think that? Because in watching what we're seeing so
Speaker 1: far in this challenge, we're just so fascinating because I
Speaker 1: love that there there is a lot of endurance, which
Speaker 1: seems like my worst nightmare, but then there are a
Speaker 1: lot of checks and balances around these puzzles, Like there's
Speaker 1: a lot of these moments that are the great equalize,
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of equalizes, which is what we're
Speaker 1: seeing now because now we left off with this episode
Speaker 1: where Nanni. You know, Banana or Banani is in the
Speaker 1: lead when it had been Tori and Devin for a
Speaker 1: long time, and Nissa and Jordan, even with her injury,
Speaker 1: aren't far behind, like, so it would less kind of
Speaker 1: in the words of Steve Harvey and family feud, anyone's game.
Speaker 1: But do you do you think you know? Watching the
Speaker 1: communication between partners has been really fascinating, particularly during the final,
Speaker 1: and like you said, everything's heightened and there is a
Speaker 1: level of stress that like no one knows unless they've
Speaker 1: been in a final, right, Like there's just a level
Speaker 1: of pressure that you just don't know until you're there.
Speaker 1: It's still haunt ten years later, it still haunts me.
Speaker 1: So but it's interesting. You know what I'm picking up
Speaker 1: is it almost seems like Devin and Tory are thriving
Speaker 1: because they really are best friends, right, like even off
Speaker 1: the show they are, but they co parent a duck
Speaker 1: together that I believe Devin got a garage shale once
Speaker 1: who's on The Aftermath a couple of seasons ago. But
Speaker 1: they really are like best friends in that way, And
Speaker 1: not that there aren't strong bonds with the others, but
Speaker 1: I just feel like their ability to really adapt and
Speaker 1: support one another has been to their advantage where you
Speaker 1: see these other teams, even with a level of closeness,
Speaker 1: start to become individuals right in this final even though
Speaker 1: it's a right thing. Yeah, yeah, I agree to some level.
Speaker 1: But I think also it's really down to individual personalities
Speaker 1: because Tory and Devin just sort of have quite and
Speaker 1: measure dispositions. They generally don't fly off the hand, they
Speaker 1: generally don't go too high or too low. And whereas
Speaker 1: Bananas and Nanny, like, I'm probably more like them personally
Speaker 1: as well, because I'm like, like if I go crazy,
Speaker 1: I go crazy. Yeah, Like you know, my highs are high,
Speaker 1: my loads are low, and like and I think that,
Speaker 1: you know, you really see that with Bananas and Nanny,
Speaker 1: But I they're so tight and they adore each other.
Speaker 1: But I think it's just their way, do you know
Speaker 1: what I mean? Like, I think that that's just their
Speaker 1: disposition anyway. So like if something's going wrong or like
Speaker 1: they screw something up, they get so frustrated because they're
Speaker 1: because that's just sort of who they are, you know.
Speaker 1: And and I think it's the same with Jordan and
Speaker 1: Nanisa and Nissa's like probably more level than Jordan's because
Speaker 1: Jordan's in this so like it. I guess, of each
Speaker 1: of the pairings, I think the Tory and Devon are
Speaker 1: probably the most similar. Yes, your words, your words, my friend,
Speaker 1: I'm retired, I can say, yeah, I love you. So
Speaker 1: I think that they I think that they are just
Speaker 1: probably the most sort of even and I think that
Speaker 1: that really helped them. They never you know, they're they
Speaker 1: didn't really ever have that much conflict they had throughout
Speaker 1: the season as well as the final, you know, right,
Speaker 1: or they seemed to apologize about it and say it
Speaker 1: doubled down, like yeah, in the little bit that we
Speaker 1: saw at least right where um who when they were
Speaker 1: doing the puzzle thing, you know where they were standing
Speaker 1: up on the puzzle thing. There's seventy five puzzles in
Speaker 1: the final, but when they were doing the one where
Speaker 1: they had to climb up on that pole to like
Speaker 1: look down to get and it seemed like everybody was
Speaker 1: kind of cracking at that point, Like we literally saw
Speaker 1: a scene where every male partner yelled at his female
Speaker 1: partner in that particular like segment, Yeah, including Devin or
Speaker 1: Dave yelling head. But then we saw and obviously there's
Speaker 1: certain levels of editing, but we still saw a fairly
Speaker 1: quick turnaround, you know, like I love you or I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: but I'm just frustrated here, whereas with the others we
Speaker 1: saw some kind of like heel digging before coming back
Speaker 1: together or before dropping it. Maybe it's a matchmaker in
Speaker 1: Me and the Day Covid. I just seeing the dynamics
Speaker 1: of those partnerships and yelling versus being able to really communicate,
Speaker 1: which I feel like is what this season is largely about, right,
Speaker 1: Like Ryan dies, It's like really being able to communicate
Speaker 1: with your partner, Like that's your greatest asset. You don't
Speaker 1: necessarily have to be the fastest or the strongest. That's right.
Speaker 1: That's right. And I think we've seen time and time
Speaker 1: again over the season, like use they succeed, those that succeed,
Speaker 1: and those that want It was all hinged on like
Speaker 1: how well they really knew their partner and how well
Speaker 1: they can really function as a unit. And I think
Speaker 1: that that's really compelling. And I think that as the
Speaker 1: final evolves, you'll see that more and more and like
Speaker 1: and that's ultimately what the goal was. You know, we
Speaker 1: wanted to show who was the realist writer Die, and
Speaker 1: like that that true true bond and not true friendship
Speaker 1: and knowing of each other would be like you say
Speaker 1: your greatest set, I'm not and I think we get
Speaker 1: see that's right at the final Yeah, and I love
Speaker 1: that pairing. I love that theme. Um, I'm going to
Speaker 1: circle back to this question and give you time to
Speaker 1: think about it. It's a question that probably no listener
Speaker 1: really cares about, but I care and I want to
Speaker 1: know emer if I were casting this Sea season, who
Speaker 1: would you cast as my writer? Die will come back
Speaker 1: to that answer, but I'm curious. Um, I also want
Speaker 1: to know, what is something else? Just for the the
Speaker 1: Committed Challenge family fans that listen to this podcast, I
Speaker 1: know they love when we get tea or a little
Speaker 1: bit behind the scenes. What something else you can share
Speaker 1: with us that happened throughout the season behind the scenes
Speaker 1: that we'd be surprised to know. I mean, you guys
Speaker 1: know about the alternates and everything. Is that interesting? Like, yeah,
Speaker 1: you can tell us a little more about that, and
Speaker 1: like that speculation a little bit about it, but yeah,
Speaker 1: we always have alternates to travel to location. I think
Speaker 1: that's probably something that people might not know as much Abart.
Speaker 1: So like we have like backup right or die pairs
Speaker 1: that will bring out and or if it's just you know,
Speaker 1: any season, we bring alternates as well in case someone
Speaker 1: gets sick or gets injured, or there's any reason, like
Speaker 1: towards the start of the show, if anybody needs to leave.
Speaker 1: So like we had you know, pairs from different parts
Speaker 1: of the world, like holding in a hotel room that
Speaker 1: like a hotel like five minutes from the cast house
Speaker 1: for like a week and a half and had you know,
Speaker 1: had anything happened. So that's sort of like a little
Speaker 1: behind the scenes thing that happens every season. And those
Speaker 1: pairs got called up like because because it's we heard
Speaker 1: like um Jordan and a Nissa, right, were they an
Speaker 1: alternate pair or like the combination of the two of
Speaker 1: them were like an alternate pair? They weren't. They weren't.
Speaker 1: So like we we had like the craziest start to
Speaker 1: the show, and there were a lot of changes, you know,
Speaker 1: like we live in a COVID world and it's a
Speaker 1: very real thing and you can imagine, you know, we
Speaker 1: have a crew of over a hundred, right, and we've
Speaker 1: got over thirty cast and trying to get everybody safe
Speaker 1: and healthy to location is virtually impossible, so we had
Speaker 1: to make a lot of last minute adjustments. As you
Speaker 1: would be able to tell in the first few episodes
Speaker 1: of the show, there were like people coming in and
Speaker 1: people going. But Nam and his partner were alternates who
Speaker 1: came in, and Olivia Harassio were alternates who came in.
Speaker 1: So like we got really we got really lucky, you
Speaker 1: know with people that we picked and who came in,
Speaker 1: and then we needed like we called up Jordan and
Speaker 1: Anissa and you know, Bananas and Nanni were like a
Speaker 1: kind of a last minute edition because casting is such
Speaker 1: a massive jigsaw and like people are available at different
Speaker 1: times for different things, and you know, it's just it
Speaker 1: really really is a massive jigsap. Although that we you know,
Speaker 1: it's a permanent shuffle, so it all fell into place.
Speaker 1: You know. I was just so stoked at the end
Speaker 1: because I was like, oh my yeah, like we really
Speaker 1: had an awesome fast you know, like we had Laurel,
Speaker 1: we had Nanny, we had the return and but nan As,
Speaker 1: we had you know, it just we it felt like
Speaker 1: we had a really good spread. So that was cool. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, you said that there was another final that
Speaker 1: you had initially intended for this season. I'm curious because
Speaker 1: there's been so much chatter still about this, do you
Speaker 1: think that there would be final? Because I feel like
Speaker 1: we already know the answer regarding the current final, because
Speaker 1: it's pretty much the hardest ever arguably from what we've
Speaker 1: seen so far. But the final you had in your
Speaker 1: mind that was almost for the Rider Die season. Do
Speaker 1: you think it would have been harder than the Challenge
Speaker 1: USA final or less hard It was so different. It
Speaker 1: was more water based, so it was sort of more specialist,
Speaker 1: and you know that where as the USA final was
Speaker 1: just like based so brutal. Well, it was so brutal,
Speaker 1: you know, it was just like an assault, a physical
Speaker 1: assault really and you know, you really like to even finish.
Speaker 1: It was just like such an achievement, whereas the Challenge
Speaker 1: Final was going to be more you know, we were
Speaker 1: in one of the biggest waterfall systems in the entire world,
Speaker 1: so there was a lot of that. Like, it was
Speaker 1: amazing scenery. There was stuff in water and in boats
Speaker 1: and on like cliff pathways around the water, so it
Speaker 1: was sort of more location based. Yeah, but I don't
Speaker 1: think it would have been as tough as the USA
Speaker 1: final or the final that we've that we do on
Speaker 1: rid or Dice. It just would have been different. Yeah,
Speaker 1: can you give some insight then, because there's been a
Speaker 1: lot of whining about that USA final, Like a lot
Speaker 1: of whining and as we saw, most people quit. If
Speaker 1: you guys haven't want to challenge USA, sorry spoiler alert
Speaker 1: should have said that two minutes ago. But um uh so,
Speaker 1: what how hard? Because it looked hard like all finals
Speaker 1: are hard. It certainly looked uncomfortable and hard. But the
Speaker 1: amount of quitting we saw, I felt like was unprecedented.
Speaker 1: And so there's some people saying, oh my gosh, it
Speaker 1: was so hard, But a lot of those people haven't
Speaker 1: experienced other finals because those are all non challenged people.
Speaker 1: So it's hard to compare what is your genuine thought
Speaker 1: around how that particular final compared to other Challenge finals
Speaker 1: in recent years. I was in touch with the team
Speaker 1: on the Grind when they were there, and the showrunner
Speaker 1: of USA and I our dear friends, and so it
Speaker 1: sounded like it sounded like the conditions were really brutal.
Speaker 1: It did really sound like it was. It was. I mean,
Speaker 1: you can tell like it was really the cold giving yeah,
Speaker 1: like and you've you know, and you've been in that situation,
Speaker 1: den like it's it's legit. Yeah. Also, you know, it
Speaker 1: was an unprecedented level of quitting, and I think that
Speaker 1: it's because a lot of those people hadn't ever writing
Speaker 1: put through something like that before, whereas like our challengers
Speaker 1: are like, and I say this all the time, and
Speaker 1: I really yeah, Like you guys are like, like, you
Speaker 1: just don't stop, Like it's so impressive. It's funny. That
Speaker 1: was never really a concern for me at any stage
Speaker 1: with the hundred hour finals, yeah, and not funny, like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I never worried about it ever, right, And that that's
Speaker 1: not And I think that's why, you know, the other
Speaker 1: co host myself and Davon, like we talked about it
Speaker 1: and why we ride so hard for And I think
Speaker 1: that makes the challenge or people who kind of were
Speaker 1: raised up in the challenge a bit of a different breed.
Speaker 1: Is like, you know, not taking away that that final
Speaker 1: in USA was hard, because it looked hard. It didn't
Speaker 1: look comfortable for anybody, but that we know you're fighting
Speaker 1: for the opportunity to get to the hard and I
Speaker 1: feel like, right, when you live in the challenge, you
Speaker 1: know that that's the expectation, like we were in you know,
Speaker 1: as I watched them bike on the one hundred hour final,
Speaker 1: the first thing I'm thinking is like, wow, they're taking
Speaker 1: their shirts off. It must be tim where, like like
Speaker 1: nice temperature, whereas when we did it, for in Chile,
Speaker 1: it was freezing cold and Nannie got Offen was like,
Speaker 1: you know, crying and like you could see our breath
Speaker 1: come out. It was freezing cold to do that just
Speaker 1: to be able to sleep. And then of course we
Speaker 1: were hiking the snow covered volcano or what have you,
Speaker 1: and so it's like, yeah, it was cold there too.
Speaker 1: It wasn't nice. It was pretty brutal for us as individuals.
Speaker 1: Yet you don't quit, like you just you don't quit
Speaker 1: on the Challenge. So so basically you're saying that, like, yes,
Speaker 1: it was hard and traumatizing. So they're not all complete babies,
Speaker 1: and we've had them on the podcast board, but you're
Speaker 1: also saying that it is in line with other Challenge finals.
Speaker 1: So it's not like it wasn't one hundred hour final.
Speaker 1: It wasn't like, yeah, I was shocked, to be honest,
Speaker 1: because it wasn't anything more. You know, it was comparably brutal.
Speaker 1: It's what I would saying, so it does. It didn't
Speaker 1: feel like anything was devised. It was that preposterous. It
Speaker 1: was just really it was really brutal and really brutal
Speaker 1: conditions and I think certainly comparable to all their finals
Speaker 1: that we've done on the Challenge for sure. Yeah, got it,
Speaker 1: And thank you for sharing that in that insight. That's
Speaker 1: super valuable and just gives a little bit of we
Speaker 1: can continue to ride them about that. Is there anything
Speaker 1: I know there is? Can you give us just a
Speaker 1: little hint of what we should look forward to for
Speaker 1: next week's episode the grand finale of this masterful final
Speaker 1: that you have put together. What should we be like
Speaker 1: looking forward to or keep our eye out for. Well,
Speaker 1: thank you. First of all, you're very very sweet. I
Speaker 1: think that it's just such a surprise. There's a giant
Speaker 1: spectacle that is something TJ and I had so much
Speaker 1: fun with like create in creating it and building it
Speaker 1: and designing it, like it's it's almost sort of all
Speaker 1: their worldly the environment that they go into, and so
Speaker 1: it was, like I say, you know, there was a
Speaker 1: lot of like secrets and surprises this season. This was
Speaker 1: like the best kept secret and the revel when you
Speaker 1: guys see it. Just to know that behind the scenes,
Speaker 1: we had crew hiding and pitch Black night for like hours,
Speaker 1: hiding their phones, hiding their equipment, hiding you know, everybody
Speaker 1: was in hiding. T J and I were in hiding.
Speaker 1: And then there is this moment, this reveal, and suddenly
Speaker 1: you're like transported to this crazy other world and it's
Speaker 1: it's awesome, it's so fun. Oh my gosh, I can't wait.
Speaker 1: You were I kidnot wait, I'm so excited. Okay, I
Speaker 1: know you have to go. Um one more. We're gonna
Speaker 1: circle back to that question I mentioned earlier, because I
Speaker 1: don't forget things. Um, unless who would you cast? Is
Speaker 1: my ride on the Ride or Diason? Well? You see, okay,
Speaker 1: if it was a rider die season, so you would
Speaker 1: have had to be partnered with a dude. I mean,
Speaker 1: oh my god, would we I don't know? Um not Zach,
Speaker 1: thank you, but Zach? Who would we pair you with?
Speaker 1: Oh my god, so hard? Who would you want? I
Speaker 1: don't know who? And I talked to a majority of
Speaker 1: the cast in doing the aftermats and the I'm not
Speaker 1: going to tell you who I'm closest with because we
Speaker 1: would have been eliminated season episode one, um if you
Speaker 1: did pair me with that person. So um. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm curious, who would you That's so hard. I mean,
Speaker 1: you see, it's sort of like I would want every
Speaker 1: probably like you would have wanted Bananas. Yeah, I would
Speaker 1: have won it because we actually do well together. Well,
Speaker 1: we talked about I would say I'm his unofficial relationship advisor.
Speaker 1: He doesn't listen to UM. And you know, I've always
Speaker 1: credited Bananas with being the reason I even did the
Speaker 1: Real World and then the challenge. Really yeah, yeah, because
Speaker 1: I met him. No, I never watched him, but I
Speaker 1: met him in colleague event in college, and I was
Speaker 1: tasked with being keeping an eye on hit, like taking
Speaker 1: him around the sea set event and he ate my
Speaker 1: McDonald's and I was really annoyed by that, but also
Speaker 1: intrigued about his personality. And then it made me. Literally
Speaker 1: that weekend, I went home and applied for the next
Speaker 1: season of Real World and got after meeting didn't know this,
Speaker 1: Yeah that's so cute. Yeah, I didn't know that, so
Speaker 1: I'd taken You would definitely take a bananas for sure. Um,
Speaker 1: it's hard because I'm trying to think who are you
Speaker 1: closest with and like Unfortunately, but chet chet we get
Speaker 1: eliminated right away. Um, yeah, certainly not Zach. Yes, I
Speaker 1: mean no, shade to Jet. Not your guy. He's not
Speaker 1: your guy. No. If he yelled at me like that, Nah,
Speaker 1: wouldn't work. Wouldn't We used to yell at me, you know?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I know right, But he doesn't, not anymore.
Speaker 1: He doesn't anymore. We're friends. He never yelled at me.
Speaker 1: We always had fun time together. But I mean defense,
Speaker 1: he always it was always during a game because yes,
Speaker 1: I was probably yelling at him to stop trying to
Speaker 1: cheat or something. That is very true. And that's like
Speaker 1: all of us. I have my eyes and my loves
Speaker 1: with all of you. You're like, yeah, we're my dysfunctional children.
Speaker 1: We are. We are like your dysfunctional. Oh I miss you,
Speaker 1: amur you too, call me when you're in La I will.
Speaker 1: You are such a delight and it's so cool seeing
Speaker 1: you thrive and b the HBIC like admire that and
Speaker 1: aspect it so so much. Thank you for making time
Speaker 1: to come on um the Little Podcast that Could and
Speaker 1: share a little behind the scenes, excited to see this
Speaker 1: epic thing you have planned for us next week. I
Speaker 1: know it's going to be great. I'm probably gonna be
Speaker 1: like DM in you or texting you like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: so cool. Is there anything else you want to say
Speaker 1: before you roll out? No, I feel like I'm like
Speaker 1: VIP right now. You're so eight you start to the day.
Speaker 1: Um no, thank you for having me. I'm sad I
Speaker 1: missed dave On. Please send her my luves And that's it.
Speaker 1: You guys, keep kicking ass. Thank you everything you do.
Speaker 1: You guys are the bomb. Thank you you as well,
Speaker 1: emer and also just for a mom out there kicking
Speaker 1: ass too. The fact you said you had two kids
Speaker 1: last four years, Like just seriously, like you right here
Speaker 1: are just um goading it for sure. I think that's
Speaker 1: so so phenomenal. So you gonna make bye oh bye,
Speaker 1: I know, bye. Thank you so much, Thank you, bye guys,
Speaker 1: Bye bye you guys. Uh. That was such a great
Speaker 1: interview with Emur Harkin. I love that. So glad that
Speaker 1: she made the time and what can you believe it?
Speaker 1: Okay that there was a whole other final devised amazing,
Speaker 1: brilliant wonder when we're gonna see that in future seasons,
Speaker 1: because you know they're going to use it at some point.
Speaker 1: Also love seeing a woman in charge of all of
Speaker 1: these Challenge crazies. Just wow a lot of tea and
Speaker 1: put Challenge USA on notice. Officially that final was hard,
Speaker 1: but it was as hard as other Challenge finals. I
Speaker 1: now rest my case. Thank you guys so much for listening.
Speaker 1: If you want to keep up with me and say hi,
Speaker 1: possibly get a shout out in a future episode, then
Speaker 1: you can go to my website Devin Simone dot com.
Speaker 1: That's Devin with a why Simon with an I. Scroll
Speaker 1: to the bottom you'll see my socials. You can also
Speaker 1: follow me on Amazon. You can reach that via my
Speaker 1: website or you can go to Amazon dot com slash
Speaker 1: shops as Devin Simone, Twitter ig, same thing, Stevins Pretty consistent.
Speaker 1: I started posting on TikTok now too, guys, and like
Speaker 1: my video has a lot of views. I'm kind of
Speaker 1: proud of myself. I gotta get back in there, but
Speaker 1: go follow me on TikTok now. Maybe we'll connect over there.
Speaker 1: Thank you guys so much for listening. If you like
Speaker 1: this episode, if you want us to do more of this.
Speaker 1: You want more or t then make sure that you
Speaker 1: tell a friend, a sister, mama, cousin, uncle, daughter, cat dog,
Speaker 1: and also rate and review on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcast. We do really appreciate your
Speaker 1: uplifting feedback. We appreciate your support and just being here
Speaker 1: and know that the Challenge family, Tory, Anissa, and da
Speaker 1: Von we're all here. We're still going to be here
Speaker 1: and so excited to watch the season finale of The
Speaker 1: Challenge Ride or Dies next Wednesday at eight pm on MTV.
Speaker 1: You heard it here from Emer who designed the final
Speaker 1: that it's going to blow our minds. So can't wait
Speaker 1: to watch that. And then make sure right after that
Speaker 1: you come right back here because we'll see you for
Speaker 1: a brand new episode of MTV's official Challenge podcast. I'm
Speaker 1: your host, even Simone, And this is the place that
Speaker 1: you want to be. Have a good week.