Speaker 1: Hey friends, It's Devin Simone and I'm Davin Rogers and
Speaker 1: this is MTV's official challenge podcast, We Bang, We are Back,
Speaker 1: We are here.
Speaker 2: Who a lot have these episodes? Man, they just they're
Speaker 2: getting good. They take you on in like.
Speaker 1: Emotional rollercoaster because you have all the fields, literally all
Speaker 1: the fields.
Speaker 2: And then we're so invested with everybody because like we
Speaker 2: grew up with everybody. You know, though, Mike, We're invested
Speaker 2: in everyone. This particular episode was it was something else.
Speaker 2: Tell me how you feel about it, Devon, Uh, yeah,
Speaker 2: it was. I'm still processing. I feel like I'm still
Speaker 2: taking it all in.
Speaker 1: First, we had the challenge right Cloud Catcher, which was
Speaker 1: interesting that these giant balloons, some of them looked like
Speaker 1: they popped with just a sneeze while the team was
Speaker 1: trying to navigate getting them through these pergolas with these
Speaker 1: sharp spikes. The producers really like spikes in this episode.
Speaker 1: Did you catch that day?
Speaker 2: Like, I feel like that was the theme consistently they
Speaker 2: were like, yeah, we're gonna put this all across the board. Okay,
Speaker 2: that was very You had to be creative going through
Speaker 2: that because the spikes were everywhere. The balloons were so huge.
Speaker 2: We did see poor Neamaya. All it took was the
Speaker 2: wind to pop his little balloon. Like I just thought
Speaker 2: that was And did you catch when Jordan was yelling
Speaker 2: at Johnny at one point and then his bo then
Speaker 2: his pots. I'm glad they kept I was like, oh,
Speaker 2: shout out to the editors because it was perfect time
Speaker 2: because he was losing all of his marbles at that point.
Speaker 2: It was Era four ended up bringing it home. My
Speaker 2: people are holding it down. I am so proud of
Speaker 2: them and shout out to them for listening because a
Speaker 2: eve actually solved the riddle. And then we see I
Speaker 2: think it was Johnny was like oh firefire, firefire, like
Speaker 2: she screamed it out.
Speaker 1: I mean, look, that's using your resources.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, And I thought that was like really, I
Speaker 2: wanted to give kudos to them for a listening because
Speaker 2: sometimes you gotta listen when you going through these challenges.
Speaker 2: If you can't figure it out, and somebody get it
Speaker 2: and you at the point where you can get it
Speaker 2: before them, even if it was their idea, look make
Speaker 2: it happen. Okay. Yeah, so I thought that they were
Speaker 2: gonna bring it home. So yeah, finding out Ara four
Speaker 2: brought it out. That was that was a shot everybody.
Speaker 1: And what was interesting to being an air for one
Speaker 1: because last week there was so much drama around Josh
Speaker 1: and Jenny, i know, going and nominating themselves as the targets, right,
Speaker 1: So it was yeah, it was just really interesting that.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm happy for them, it was interesting that
Speaker 1: they won. Now we go into the chamber. Ultimately Josh
Speaker 1: and Jenny choose Cory and John nay Day.
Speaker 2: What are your thoughts on that? Okay, so look, we
Speaker 2: know Josh is my man's pots and pants. I'm gonna
Speaker 2: hold him down. We're gonna stick beside him.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: My thought process in that is I think he had
Speaker 2: to look at it in a sense of it's Johnny.
Speaker 2: We know Johnny and then Laura. They're gonna work together.
Speaker 2: They're gonna win a lot of possibly win a lot
Speaker 2: of stuff throughout the season. I think Josh was looking
Speaker 2: in future tense, like you know, if I scratch your
Speaker 2: back right now, you are more likely to win, so
Speaker 2: you can scratch my back later. And I think that's
Speaker 2: how he was looking at it as opposed to Johnny
Speaker 2: versus Corey and I have to be loyal to Johnny
Speaker 2: over Corey. I don't think it was that type of situation.
Speaker 2: I really think he was thinking of who's going to
Speaker 2: have the best potential of scratching my back immediately next.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna throw a theory out that we just came
Speaker 1: to my mind, all right, I actually think because everything
Speaker 1: you just described, as you said it out loud, made
Speaker 1: me think that doesn't make sense. Not that your perspective
Speaker 1: doesn't make sense for great gameplay, for the gameplay on Josh.
Speaker 1: It doesn't make sense. This is why, because Josh already
Speaker 1: effed up with bananas. Bananas is like an elephant. He
Speaker 1: doesn't forget. So it's not gonna suddenly put Josh in
Speaker 1: great graces with bananas. If anything, it's just gonna neutralize
Speaker 1: it a little bit. It's not gonna endear Bananas to
Speaker 1: you because Banas is still gonna be side on you,
Speaker 1: going I can't fully trust you.
Speaker 2: So then maybe he was trying to rebuild the trust.
Speaker 1: No, I think he was afraid of Laurel. Okay, don't
Speaker 1: come for me, but think about it, think about it,
Speaker 1: think about it, rewind it back, because right you're putting
Speaker 1: in two people, not just one who's the most probably
Speaker 1: one of the most baneful people for.
Speaker 2: Sure, she sees it. No, Laurel is the most Yes,
Speaker 2: she will not.
Speaker 1: Forget, like you know what I mean, Like I mean,
Speaker 1: she says it right, She's like if you do blah,
Speaker 1: so like who are you more afraid of Laurel or John?
Speaker 2: Ay? But look at this though, but look at this.
Speaker 2: When I say that, I'm saying it from also from
Speaker 2: a team aspect, which team is more likely to pull
Speaker 2: out the w when it You know what I'm saying,
Speaker 2: And I get I'm not trying to discredit Jordan and
Speaker 2: none of them that's on that team. But when you
Speaker 2: really sit back and think about it, you got car,
Speaker 2: you got Laurel, you got like that team is stacked
Speaker 2: over there, right, And so I think that's what Josh
Speaker 2: was thinking, like, Hey, this team more likely to win
Speaker 2: the next challenge POSSI and they can look out for
Speaker 2: me sooner than Corey and his team. That's just my thought.
Speaker 2: I can't speak for Tash. Josh. Come to the mic please,
Speaker 2: because I speaking for you. Oh, come and tell us
Speaker 2: what your thought process was. But I do think that
Speaker 2: at the end of the day, we got this excellent
Speaker 2: matchup between Brad and Corey and that was very interesting
Speaker 2: to watch.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was, and Rachel and John as well, which
Speaker 1: is I mean to Howard Holland's Champs. Yeah, and then
Speaker 1: we move into the new target selection. So Rachel selected
Speaker 1: Darrell Nehemayah Jordan and Kyland and Corey selected Tina aviv
Speaker 1: Naya and Michelle selected.
Speaker 2: Is a very word, it was very volunteer astribute.
Speaker 1: I don't like vote like the volunteer. I think there's
Speaker 1: something noble about it.
Speaker 2: It's it's me.
Speaker 3: It's me.
Speaker 2: Like, you can't say that because let's talk about Michelle
Speaker 2: and how Michelle's like, oh, I'll do it only after
Speaker 2: finding out who would potentially who she would potentially have
Speaker 2: to go up against. Now, hey, if it was a Laurel,
Speaker 2: she wouldn't have.
Speaker 1: Put her hand up. And I don't blame her. Yes,
Speaker 1: we're smarter, not harder.
Speaker 2: She wouldn't have done that. So I don't, I don't.
Speaker 2: I don't call it noble. I call it it's luck.
Speaker 2: It's luck for Era four and then for the rest
Speaker 2: of them, it was just like, oh, okay, it's my turn.
Speaker 1: It's no, it's stepping up to the plate and holding
Speaker 1: on to accountability. It's like the one area where I
Speaker 1: feel like they're a little less messy, because they seem
Speaker 1: to be messy everywhere else. Like, let's get into this
Speaker 1: whole Michelle, Devin Bananas.
Speaker 2: Oh that's happening.
Speaker 1: So here's my take, and I'm so curious yours. First
Speaker 1: of all, I actually really like the Devin Michelle thing.
Speaker 1: I think I feel like it makes sense.
Speaker 2: I like it.
Speaker 1: I'm you know, you know how people about challenge romances anyway,
Speaker 1: I feel like there's a lot of toxic ingredients in that,
Speaker 1: but I'm hopeful for them. And this is just going
Speaker 1: off of the first clip we saw and be in
Speaker 1: it's probably did low key do it for selfish reasons.
Speaker 1: I mean, but initially what I wrote down that he
Speaker 1: said to Michelle is, hey, just make sure he's not
Speaker 1: using you for game, which I think from a friendly
Speaker 1: standpoint is fair, Like, yeah, fine, I.
Speaker 2: Would say that to my friend.
Speaker 1: Yeah, like that I would say that to you. I
Speaker 1: would like, that's totally valid. And then Michelle, we didn't
Speaker 1: really see how she fully communicated it to Devin. We
Speaker 1: just know that Devin took it that Banana said, Oh,
Speaker 1: Devin doesn't really like Michelle and then and then it
Speaker 1: gets into all the messiness, and I'm, by the way,
Speaker 1: Devon's valid, and I thought it was cute when he
Speaker 1: said to Michelle, it should be a red flag to
Speaker 1: you if I wasn't sort of annoyed that someone's trying
Speaker 1: to discredit my feelings for you. Like I thought that
Speaker 1: was like respective, I liked absolutely, but now it's just
Speaker 1: it's just a mess.
Speaker 2: What are your thoughts on a day. I want to
Speaker 2: go on record and say I think that the Michelle
Speaker 2: and Devin situation is very real. I think that relationship
Speaker 2: is very rare. I think that she is him and
Speaker 2: he is her. They are what in the same literally,
Speaker 2: and so I definitely support that. I think it's really cute.
Speaker 2: I'm enjoying watching it grow. When it comes to Johnny,
Speaker 2: I do believe that his intent was to say, hey,
Speaker 2: because that is his friend outside of the game, right.
Speaker 2: I think that his intent was, hey, just watch your back.
Speaker 2: I don't trust this man, and I just want to
Speaker 2: make sure he not playing in your face, specifically about me,
Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying, and so like, I just
Speaker 2: want to be careful with that. But then at the
Speaker 2: same time, that's what I'm saying that's the hard part
Speaker 2: about giving that type of advice in the game, because
Speaker 2: you cannot take away from the fact that we are
Speaker 2: playing a game, right, And so yes, I am going
Speaker 2: to give you this advice as my friend, but on
Speaker 2: a game level, let me also say this to you too.
Speaker 2: So I do think that he had a little Sprinkler
Speaker 2: game in there for sure, for sure.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, I completely agree, and I think he could have.
Speaker 1: I'm actually surprised he didn't de escalate the situation. And
Speaker 1: I wonder if it was sort of an ego thing
Speaker 1: because it was done in front of a group of people.
Speaker 2: Well, what if he felt slighted, Like I was talking
Speaker 2: to you as my friend, why you run it back?
Speaker 2: What if he feels lighted?
Speaker 1: I mean, I do think he probably felt that we
Speaker 1: saw how mad he got in the gym.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like I'm talking to you as my friend.
Speaker 3: What you're doing.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: No, Michelle's not always the least messy in her delivery
Speaker 1: of things, and I don't think she realizes it either.
Speaker 1: Like I think I think Michelle has certain elements of
Speaker 1: Josh where like I don't think her intention is like
Speaker 1: bad or messy, but I think sometimes she communicates things
Speaker 1: that don't like in a way that don't help her,
Speaker 1: Like I don't think she was trying to start a
Speaker 1: fight between Devin and Johnny now at all. Okay, now,
Speaker 1: you know we got to get into these rankings. We
Speaker 1: will see if Davon's gonna treat this like this nineteen
Speaker 1: twenty two inter ration off gold stars again, break them
Speaker 1: off into pieces.
Speaker 2: Yes day, let's hear your air.
Speaker 1: Rankings and then your gold Star place.
Speaker 2: So here are my air rankings, and I think we
Speaker 2: might have different ones this particular episode. Okay, so I'm
Speaker 2: gonna give my goal to Air four. I'm gonna give
Speaker 2: it to the Air four because they pulled out the wind.
Speaker 2: You know, we might not agree with Josh did. That
Speaker 2: might take the Era down in a couple couple levels,
Speaker 2: but I think they deserve the goal Silver's medal. I
Speaker 2: gave it to Era two. I gave it to Era
Speaker 2: two because they pushed. They weren't getting a long car.
Speaker 2: Could have easily done what she says she was gonna
Speaker 2: do and sit this one out right. She was like,
Speaker 2: you know what, I'm gonna do what I'm supposed to do.
Speaker 2: I'm you know, I don't agree with you. I'm not
Speaker 2: really feeling you right now, but this is bigger than
Speaker 2: the two of us, you know what I'm saying. And
Speaker 2: so now I kind of want to give them the
Speaker 2: gold simply for that, because I don't know, that was
Speaker 2: kind of nice. No, I'm gonna stick with silver brown,
Speaker 2: as I gave to Era three, and in participation I
Speaker 2: had to give it to my my good old friends
Speaker 2: in Era one, what about you, we were actually on
Speaker 2: the same page.
Speaker 1: My goal is to Era four because they did pull
Speaker 1: up a win, although again I was a little surprised
Speaker 1: by their wind, but fine, we'll give it to them.
Speaker 1: My silver was to Era two because I did like
Speaker 1: to see that moment where Kara and Laura were working together,
Speaker 1: like to get it done, and Carl Laura was cheering,
Speaker 1: slash bossing Kara, but Kara was like gracious in it,
Speaker 1: like I love. I love the teamwork ladies, like they
Speaker 1: can be so powerful together. So really love seeing that.
Speaker 1: And then my bronze is to Era three. I understand
Speaker 1: Jordan has good intentions with his coaching. Oh my god,
Speaker 1: do we need to work on the delivery. We need
Speaker 1: to work if we can find another deliveries service to
Speaker 1: help Jordan and how he communicates his motivation because my like,
Speaker 1: it's look, I know he's one of the greats, but
Speaker 1: I don't know. For me, it's just getting old at
Speaker 1: this point. It's getting old. Refine it. It's good tips
Speaker 1: with him getting immediately frustrated instead of talking through it
Speaker 1: is annoying. Now. Was he wrong when he told John
Speaker 1: Ay that when Rachel should bend over, Johnny should throw
Speaker 1: the ball. He was not wrong, he was Johnny. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna need you to clue in cis clock in, ma'am.
Speaker 1: She's not paying attention. Now is the time to throw.
Speaker 1: But Jordan in general, with his barking of orders, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna need him to chill out before somebody lets a
Speaker 1: pit bull loose or chiuaa. We know chihahas are far
Speaker 1: more aggressive than pit bulls, to be honest, and by
Speaker 1: Tim because he won't just or be mindful and how
Speaker 1: he's communicating. So yeah, I'm getting worked up just talking
Speaker 1: about he's annoying me. And then obviously Erawan gets participation
Speaker 1: because they did participate and they were there, they were there,
Speaker 1: they were in fact there. Uh. And with that, let's
Speaker 1: get into the time out and gold Stars of the
Speaker 1: Week Day, Who gets your time out this brother?
Speaker 2: Honestly, I don't have a time out this week. I
Speaker 2: don't have a time out this week. No one made
Speaker 2: me feel like I'm gonna go ahead and put you
Speaker 2: in a corner. Now, we could give it to Jordan
Speaker 2: for you know, screaming till his veins came through his neck.
Speaker 2: But that's just Jordan's Like at this point, we've seen
Speaker 2: it for so many seasons, so many it's just Jordan,
Speaker 2: you know. So it's like, but I don't have any
Speaker 2: timeouts for this episode. Now I have a whole lot
Speaker 2: of nominees and said, I'm a surprised to people. I'm
Speaker 2: gonna sursprise the people and I'm gonna give the gold
Speaker 2: star to one person. But I got nominees twenty.
Speaker 3: Four of you. O.
Speaker 2: I am growing, people, I am growing, Okay. So number
Speaker 2: one it's Tina for the way she was cheering for Rachel.
Speaker 2: If I'm in elimination, I need somebody to know for
Speaker 2: mean me down like that. Do you understand cracking me up?
Speaker 2: She really was, Oh my goodness, hold me down like that.
Speaker 2: Nominee Number two is for Kara, but the way she
Speaker 2: held it down and did what she was supposed to
Speaker 2: do and didn't let her pride and her ego getting
Speaker 2: away and try to sabotage it for her team. When
Speaker 2: she had opportunity to do it, she didn't do it.
Speaker 2: So she is also a nominee. I'm gonna also make
Speaker 2: john A a nominee because she is the only person
Speaker 2: that I've been able to see that can fully handled
Speaker 2: Jordan and all of his foolishness. She's come up with
Speaker 2: a method. Okay, and shut up Jordan by Jordan, leave
Speaker 2: me alone, Jordan, stop talking, Jordan. God it Jordan. Like
Speaker 2: She's not phased by it right at all?
Speaker 3: Is she?
Speaker 2: She does not care he's yelling. She's like, okay, whatever,
Speaker 2: It's like a net at a picnic. She's not paying
Speaker 2: it no attention in one of them situations. And then
Speaker 2: also Derek for pushing through and see, I think some
Speaker 2: people might argue that he could be in time out
Speaker 2: for the same exact reason, because sit down, why are
Speaker 2: you pushing through? Why are you pushing through? One you
Speaker 2: might be slowing down the team, and then two we
Speaker 2: need you in the future, So why are you putting
Speaker 2: pressure on something that we're gonna need later on, you're
Speaker 2: further hurting it. So why are you doing this? Are
Speaker 2: you doing this because you really want to see us?
Speaker 2: When are you doing this because you trying to prove
Speaker 2: a point about you? So it could go either way, right,
Speaker 2: But I'm gonna stick over here on the star side
Speaker 2: and i'ma I'm gonna give him, I'm make him a nominee,
Speaker 2: but ultimately I'm gonna give my goal star this week
Speaker 2: to carl Ra. Hmmm. That's I'm gonna get my goal starts.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna give it to the Carra And for no
Speaker 2: other reason than that.
Speaker 1: It's because she saw you all Twitter messages and then.
Speaker 2: I promise you I don't care about no, how about you?
Speaker 2: All right?
Speaker 1: So my time out of the week. Uh, my nominees
Speaker 1: are okay, I'm just really, Jordan, Jordan, just shut up.
Speaker 1: Jordan's just the idea that this is just who he is. Yes,
Speaker 1: but we can all be better, and I bet you
Speaker 1: he would bark at any one of us to be
Speaker 1: better physically or athletically, So like, be better at your communication.
Speaker 1: Work on that, bruh, work on it. You've been We've
Speaker 1: seen you barking at people all week long. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: need you.
Speaker 2: To at yourself and get it together.
Speaker 1: So he is getting my time out now my gold
Speaker 1: star of the week. I too have some nominees, including
Speaker 1: some of which you mentioned. Tina, Tina really was cracking
Speaker 1: me up. Kara is a nominee for how she Kara
Speaker 1: and Laurel for how they worked together on their team
Speaker 1: this week.
Speaker 2: I thought that was beautiful.
Speaker 1: Derek is a nominee for really pushing through. I respect
Speaker 1: him not wanting to quit. I don't think he was
Speaker 1: fully a liability. I respect that he was really trying
Speaker 1: to say, look, I want to earn my part and
Speaker 1: be a part of this team, especially since they are
Speaker 1: a smaller team.
Speaker 2: I thought that was beautiful.
Speaker 1: And then Rachel is also a nominee because Rachel, when
Speaker 1: she went into that elimination, honey, Rachel just she did
Speaker 1: the thing. Rachel just did the thing from doing the
Speaker 1: defense and her offense, like, great job Brad for putting
Speaker 1: up a good fight ultimately. And then Corey Corey for me,
Speaker 1: Corey in the elimination was amazing. But before we even
Speaker 1: get into that again, I can't get over I love
Speaker 1: people who stand on business and I love that when
Speaker 1: Josh came to him. He wasn't doing the woe as me.
Speaker 1: Even though he was disappointed, he wasn't like, oh my god.
Speaker 1: He was just like, bet, I'm a better myself. And
Speaker 1: it was really beautiful to see. And ultimately my gold
Speaker 1: star goes to the Brad and Corey combo. And this
Speaker 1: is why when I saw at the end of that game,
Speaker 1: which came down close when I if you go back
Speaker 1: and watch the way they hug each other, hype each
Speaker 1: other up, and even Corey, who won and had been
Speaker 1: in the lead the whole time, ultimately he was like, man,
Speaker 1: it came down to the last ball, like good shot,
Speaker 1: Like just It's like you could tell he wanted Brad
Speaker 1: to know that he was a worthy opponent. And I
Speaker 1: thought that was just so beautiful to see between the
Speaker 1: two of them, that coupled with those nineties two thousands
Speaker 1: glasses and the little curls that came out front when
Speaker 1: they were at the bar and Corey had his hat down.
Speaker 1: I just it was a winning dynamic, a winning combo.
Speaker 1: They both get a gold star from me.
Speaker 2: Love that also love this guess we about help. I'm
Speaker 2: so excited we have the man the myth the legend
Speaker 2: the Beard coments hey got with us on the podcast.
Speaker 2: So sit back, relax, and don't forget show snacks because
Speaker 2: this is gonna be a good one. Okay, guys, let's
Speaker 2: get back to the show.
Speaker 1: All right, Challenge fam, we are so excited to welcome
Speaker 1: this next guest. It's actually a two for one. One
Speaker 1: is known for being an icon on the Challenge. I
Speaker 1: mean he goes way back and the other is his
Speaker 1: trusty sidekick.
Speaker 2: Please give it up.
Speaker 1: For Brad and his Beard coming to the podcast.
Speaker 2: What's up, Brad?
Speaker 3: What is up? I love that intro. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 4: I want to say it's been a minute since I've
Speaker 4: seen you at the initiation party, but it's always good
Speaker 4: to touch base.
Speaker 3: I love your energy.
Speaker 2: Brad. Oh my goodness, I feel like I haven't seen
Speaker 2: you in a long time, but I'm excited to see
Speaker 2: you back on the main show. How do you feel
Speaker 2: about being back on the main show?
Speaker 4: Dave Bond, We've always gotten along. So while I it's
Speaker 4: our hawks, how long has it been?
Speaker 3: Was it? What was't the last time I saw you
Speaker 3: before this?
Speaker 2: It was final reckoning?
Speaker 3: It was so it was final reckoning.
Speaker 4: Briefly, saw you at the initiation party because we had
Speaker 4: to like walk.
Speaker 3: Past and everybody was busy and exhausted the jet lag.
Speaker 4: And here we are, and I just want to say
Speaker 4: that I'm grateful to reconnect again because I've always enjoyed
Speaker 4: your energy, and between the two of you, I already
Speaker 4: know this is going to go amazing.
Speaker 2: Absolutely well, welcome back. Tell us, yes, I want to know,
Speaker 2: how does it feel being back on this main show.
Speaker 3: I'm so sorry I just avoided the question.
Speaker 2: All Right, I'm gonna bring you back.
Speaker 3: Thank you. This is perfect.
Speaker 4: So it feels amazing. It's such a big season, season forty.
Speaker 4: I mean, what an anniversary. I've been a part of
Speaker 4: this game for so long that just the number forty
Speaker 4: alone was somewhat triggering for the legacy factor of the game,
Speaker 4: and it really did help me focus in extremely difficult times.
Speaker 4: I just want to say that, you know, even on
Speaker 4: All Stars four, I had a pretty rough performance. I
Speaker 4: came into this season struggling with sleep, and I do
Speaker 4: want to talk just a little bit about that to
Speaker 4: explain not just my performance, but to help make connections
Speaker 4: to anybody else that might be struggling with something like
Speaker 4: what I was going through. You know, I was just
Speaker 4: having too many personal issues that I didn't make the
Speaker 4: choices with where family members were making horrible choices that
Speaker 4: I was getting looped into the energy with. And what
Speaker 4: I want to say is this, and I'll keep the
Speaker 4: family stuff as private as possible. Sleep was very scarce,
Speaker 4: not just on All Stars four, but you know also
Speaker 4: on season forty when I showed up to this game.
Speaker 4: This is a true story, and I cannot believe it.
Speaker 4: I'll never forget getting my first promo pick and seeing
Speaker 4: my face because I only felt what it looked like.
Speaker 4: I mean outside of let me just say this, I
Speaker 4: didn't sleep for five full nights upon arrival. So I
Speaker 4: moved and I went over twenty four hours on the
Speaker 4: plane and that time I was like, Okay, we're just
Speaker 4: excited to be here.
Speaker 3: We're adjusting to the time zone.
Speaker 4: And then we were in the hotel for a holding
Speaker 4: period of roughly five or six nights. I want to
Speaker 4: say it was four or five nights, but probably five nights,
Speaker 4: and that that became a blur for me because I
Speaker 4: just could not sleep, and when I would finally try
Speaker 4: to even fall asleep to meditation music and stuff on
Speaker 4: the cable TV provided in the hotel room, my mind
Speaker 4: just kept, unfortunately defaulting back to the recent trauma at
Speaker 4: home that again I still had no control over. And
Speaker 4: I've done my best as a family member to encourage
Speaker 4: the others involved to seek the same type of professional
Speaker 4: help that I have been for eight months now, and
Speaker 4: they just won't do it. And unfortunately that did take
Speaker 4: a toll on my sleep, It took a toll on
Speaker 4: my game and my decision making ability. But to be
Speaker 4: honest with you ladies in this moment, as much as
Speaker 4: I wish I did better and I have so many
Speaker 4: notes that I've taken from my own performance this season,
Speaker 4: I'm proud that I made it through and that I
Speaker 4: was still a part of such an important season because
Speaker 4: this game has been so good to me. I'm honored
Speaker 4: to have been in the presence of Season forty and
Speaker 4: the competition that took place.
Speaker 3: And I wish I could have, wish I could have whatever.
Speaker 3: You know, we all have those.
Speaker 4: This was a pretty serious one, but the beauty of
Speaker 4: it is and I'll try to wrap this up. I'm
Speaker 4: sorry I'm taking so long to answer the question, but fine,
Speaker 4: thank you. So like the beauty of this really is
Speaker 4: that without these experiences, without getting away from the trauma
Speaker 4: that I was experiencing in my family locally, I never
Speaker 4: would have been able to make the realizations with the
Speaker 4: professional help that I have, I would have been consumed
Speaker 4: by them. And you know what I will say is this,
Speaker 4: I'm so grateful for every soul that I crossed pads
Speaker 4: with in this experience, including you ladies at the initiation,
Speaker 4: because just seeing you sparks the memories I have with you,
Speaker 4: and you know, and that goes for every person that
Speaker 4: I crossed paths with on both sides of the lens.
Speaker 4: And it was so therapeutic to be able to come
Speaker 4: back and still go back to my dedicated work plan
Speaker 4: with the new information that I had, with the break
Speaker 4: that I had from the energy I was you know,
Speaker 4: being pulled into and helped me make decisions that I
Speaker 4: know will help my children for the rest of their life.
Speaker 4: So I just want to say that I'm so grateful
Speaker 4: for that, even though it wasn't my best performance, I'm
Speaker 4: so proud to have been a part of it.
Speaker 1: We love that, Brad, and we appreciate you so much
Speaker 1: for sharing. And you know, this show has such an
Speaker 1: impact on I think everyone right and when used correctly
Speaker 1: or paired correctly, can actually be a tool that contributes
Speaker 1: to our growth in the long run. And so hearing
Speaker 1: that you are being proactive in your mental health and
Speaker 1: you know MTV has mental health resources to even us.
Speaker 1: You know your Challenge sisters too are here even off
Speaker 1: the podcast recording too. But sure we appreciate you sharing that.
Speaker 1: And it was beautiful seeing you on this season, Brad,
Speaker 1: because you are such a huge part of this show's
Speaker 1: legacy and seeing you come back, seeing you fight, and
Speaker 1: I was tearing up, not to like jump ahead, but
Speaker 1: the moment with you and Corey was really special. I
Speaker 1: actually found myself tearing up because not only was it
Speaker 1: a great game to watch, but the I feel like
Speaker 1: the beauty of the sport really shine through in the
Speaker 1: two of you all's competition. So we do we want
Speaker 1: to talk about all of that and share. There's no
Speaker 1: such thing as TMI here, Rad, so share what you're comfortable.
Speaker 1: Know that we support you. We are going to be
Speaker 1: in your business a little bit. And because of our
Speaker 1: last episode, I.
Speaker 2: Do have to start right, man.
Speaker 1: We we had your Challenge Season forty romance on last
Speaker 1: week shout out to Emily and so just wanted to.
Speaker 2: Tap in check in with you.
Speaker 1: See, Uh, you know, what was that experience like for
Speaker 1: you in the house? Uh how did you What do
Speaker 1: you think drew you guys together? Like what was that connection?
Speaker 4: Like? Really, I came into the house just like I
Speaker 4: explained to you. And if you if you don't mind,
Speaker 4: I just like that. I'll start with recapping. Yeah, you
Speaker 4: just said about the hashtag mental health awareness, and that
Speaker 4: is in my own dedication to the cause. What I
Speaker 4: will say I found just to help anybody if you
Speaker 4: feel like there's more negative than positive and that your
Speaker 4: overall thoughts by the end of the day were not positive,
Speaker 4: you are probably struggling with mental health and you know,
Speaker 4: and to get back to Emily and that because this
Speaker 4: kind of this goes hand in hand in a way.
Speaker 3: Because I was.
Speaker 4: So dedicated to my health, I really have taken my yoga, meditation,
Speaker 4: and you know, just overall organic eating to another level.
Speaker 4: I've done a lot of self study and research on
Speaker 4: a lot of different topics to really project a positive
Speaker 4: message into my network of beautiful people that have helped
Speaker 4: me through some dark times. And it's really it's the
Speaker 4: response and return on investment has been astronomically beautiful.
Speaker 3: But let me tell you that's not why I did it.
Speaker 3: What I'll say is this.
Speaker 4: Emily became an immediate, reconnected part of that journey because
Speaker 4: when I showed up, I was meditating at sunrise every
Speaker 4: morning and sunset every day at my home. I also
Speaker 4: pray when I meditate, so at some point of deep meditation,
Speaker 4: it becomes prayer. And it's one of these beautiful combinations
Speaker 4: I can't put into words until you experience it, but
Speaker 4: it's worth the work.
Speaker 3: And it took me years to find.
Speaker 4: But Emily was well into her spiritual journey and meditation,
Speaker 4: so we were able to connect in the mornings at
Speaker 4: sunrise meditations. I would literally wake up in the morning
Speaker 4: and see like a shadow moving in the in the room,
Speaker 4: even on like the second and third night, and lo
Speaker 4: and behold, it was her every morning, and we just
Speaker 4: happened to be on the same start your day with
Speaker 4: gratefulness routine and these I was meditating, you know, on
Speaker 4: the other side of the pool to give her space
Speaker 4: at first, but then a few times I just kind
Speaker 4: of noticed how dedicated to peace and beauty she was,
Speaker 4: and that kind of turned into an infatuation at some point.
Speaker 3: Where we just kept seeing each other in the morning.
Speaker 4: So I started bringing her tea and I brought my
Speaker 4: own oohlong tea, and I started to share that with her,
Speaker 4: and it was strictly just a friendship. And then the
Speaker 4: game got intense, and then I was talking to somebody
Speaker 4: before I left. But we had not locked in a
Speaker 4: relationship because I was honest with her about my commitment
Speaker 4: to internal work before I could be in a relationship.
Speaker 4: Because if I'm going to be in a relationship, I
Speaker 4: wanted to be a beautiful relationship.
Speaker 3: I'm not filling voice.
Speaker 4: And Emily had told me when I brought up the
Speaker 4: topic of possibly you know, like just our feelings.
Speaker 3: I mean, I want to say.
Speaker 4: We were roughly two weeks into the experience and I
Speaker 4: said to her on a night we were out, I just.
Speaker 3: Simply asked her.
Speaker 4: I said, hey, you know, like I've never connected with
Speaker 4: somebody like this on this level with meditation.
Speaker 3: That's a fact. I don't even have a close second.
Speaker 4: So I just said, like, is it possible that there
Speaker 4: is something more to explore? And she said something that
Speaker 4: really surprised me that I never thought she would say,
Speaker 4: and it's not what you think.
Speaker 2: What is it? Because yeah, I'm curious.
Speaker 3: I figured you want to know.
Speaker 4: And I'm trying to think of I wonder if she's
Speaker 4: gonna get mad at me for saying this.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, we got to take risks on these things.
Speaker 3: We don't have parents sometimes.
Speaker 2: Can we go.
Speaker 4: I'm thinking, you know, like I'm talking about possibly laying
Speaker 4: the groundwork for like a real showmance because of our mornings.
Speaker 3: I'm thinking it's possible this is going to go to
Speaker 3: the next level.
Speaker 4: And she said something to me, and I learned a
Speaker 4: lot about her in this moment, and it just unfolded
Speaker 4: from here. She said, well, I don't know about a showmance,
Speaker 4: but like if some hot guy like pulls me in
Speaker 4: the bathroom or whatever, it's like whatever.
Speaker 3: And I'm like, oh, yeah, like I mean no him, yes, yes,
Speaker 3: so yes.
Speaker 4: So like that's kind of how everything aligned and went
Speaker 4: down the way it did. The power went out, we
Speaker 4: kind of made out for a little bit, and that
Speaker 4: was the end of it, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: Not y'all taking advantage of the power. The sparks are
Speaker 1: flying that much, Brad that y'all made the power go out.
Speaker 4: Something like that or I mean, I don't know what happened,
Speaker 4: because honestly, the power went out, and I thought the
Speaker 4: power went out, and I'm thinking, oh, the universe, because
Speaker 4: she had just said this to me maybe three to
Speaker 4: five days prior the power goes out, and I'm like,
Speaker 4: that's a default mechanism almost like you know, I'm on
Speaker 4: a reality TV show. This was said, We've already connected.
Speaker 4: Are you going to show up and do your job
Speaker 4: today or not?
Speaker 3: Brad? That's how I felt, you know, I mean, it
Speaker 3: almost felt like.
Speaker 2: That, are you going to show up today and do
Speaker 2: your job?
Speaker 3: I did?
Speaker 2: I did well while you were making connections and you know,
Speaker 2: dealing with the power outages that may happen. Your era
Speaker 2: was dwindling down in numbers, okay, gosh, And as that's happening,
Speaker 2: as you're watching it and you guys, it's like, where
Speaker 2: is everybody going? So then we see Johnny call you
Speaker 2: guys the bad news beer. Do you think that was accurate?
Speaker 3: Like?
Speaker 2: How did it feel going from a big team to just.
Speaker 3: A little bit spot out accurate? Honest to god?
Speaker 4: Like he said that, and I'm like, if anything, Johnny,
Speaker 4: that was a compliment at this point, like I don't
Speaker 4: even know you know what I mean, like because we
Speaker 4: had the team, you know, in my opinion, I hope
Speaker 4: I'm not getting off topic here, But like I showed
Speaker 4: up just coming out of survival mode. I was still training,
Speaker 4: I was still doing everything I could, and you know,
Speaker 4: I showed up like ready to focus.
Speaker 3: But what I hadn't done as much as I would have.
Speaker 4: Liked to is probably had some prior conversations with people
Speaker 4: that had twenty years of experience.
Speaker 3: And I think that because of.
Speaker 4: That, I believe that there was an awkward packing order
Speaker 4: I wasn't aware of. And so I saw that first
Speaker 4: vote where there was like the over volunteering between Derek
Speaker 4: and Durell. And once that started to take place and
Speaker 4: I started thinking, like, okay, I don't have an alliance
Speaker 4: on a side with Mark or anybody else, I automatically
Speaker 4: started to see my position with the guys and it
Speaker 4: wasn't good.
Speaker 3: So I think I still showed up and did my
Speaker 3: best every day.
Speaker 4: But this is one theory on that I don't think
Speaker 4: we we just didn't work together as a team. It
Speaker 4: was almost like the old school challenge, where like people
Speaker 4: are just yelling blah, yeah.
Speaker 3: You know, like even and and and for not for nothing.
Speaker 3: It was exhausting.
Speaker 4: I first of all, I want to say this because
Speaker 4: I saw it and I was there. That boat did
Speaker 4: not paddle like a canoe. And I did a horrible
Speaker 4: job in the rear. But it wasn't as it was bad.
Speaker 4: But like even when I was trying to call out,
Speaker 4: when I realized the steering didn't do as much as
Speaker 4: I wanted it to, and I tried to collaborate with
Speaker 4: my team, nobody listened at all. I mean like nobody.
Speaker 4: That's when I kind of started to really take notes.
Speaker 4: Fro'm Like I would ask CT to stop paddling and
Speaker 4: he would do like a water break thing on the
Speaker 4: left side when somebody was And the crazy thing about
Speaker 4: the boat was and I think the whole challenge unfolded
Speaker 4: this way.
Speaker 3: To be honest, I know it didn't watched it.
Speaker 4: It was like we would just get frustrated and we
Speaker 4: would just I mean we we'd we'd try, but everybody
Speaker 4: was so in their own world that we didn't work
Speaker 4: together as a team. We had good stand loan athletes
Speaker 4: that could show up and get a job done, but
Speaker 4: we had the weakest collaboration out of four eras.
Speaker 1: Do you think there was too much seniority there, like
Speaker 1: because you guys were all coming in being like, oh
Speaker 1: I've done this before, I know it. That sort of
Speaker 1: everyone was stuck in their ways.
Speaker 4: I think that's spot on accurate. I think we had
Speaker 4: moments of trying to unfold out of that. But the
Speaker 4: thing is, and the reason I use the term unfold
Speaker 4: is because it's not a one trigger deduction. You're looking
Speaker 4: at people that are so set in their lives, they've
Speaker 4: programmed and mapped their brains to be in this zone.
Speaker 4: And then we get put into a competition not seeing
Speaker 4: each other for an extended period of time, and then
Speaker 4: we are forced to collaborate.
Speaker 3: And I think that because of that, and.
Speaker 4: Especially because of outside issues that I won't even bring
Speaker 4: up of other peoples, but.
Speaker 3: I'm able to make connections with my own. I see
Speaker 3: where there was just too many distracts, you know.
Speaker 4: I think that there was a lot of stuff going
Speaker 4: on at home for a lot of people.
Speaker 3: I think that was a factor.
Speaker 4: And I think that we still did have our challenges
Speaker 4: in the collaboration laid out for us prior to starting.
Speaker 3: But beautiful team.
Speaker 4: Let me say this, I love them all Era one
Speaker 4: for life and I want to read you.
Speaker 1: Come on, all right, we have to take a quick break,
Speaker 1: but we'll be right back after this.
Speaker 2: Okay, let's get back to this show in Brad's beard. Derek,
Speaker 2: Now that's a boy. And then most importantly, let's let's
Speaker 2: let's get into the challenge as well. We're watching Derek
Speaker 2: out there non stop. How was that watching him to
Speaker 2: keep going like that?
Speaker 1: What happened to his leg in the first place.
Speaker 3: Derek's like a brother to me, so I'm actually like
Speaker 3: silently pissed. He's a grown man.
Speaker 4: I'm not going to tell him what to do, but
Speaker 4: I'm thinking, like I tried to get him to preserve
Speaker 4: his leg. I can already tell he's in PTSD Derek
Speaker 4: elimination mode, you know what I'm saying, where.
Speaker 3: It's like I'm going home.
Speaker 4: It's like, bro, you're we need to preserve ye. Like,
Speaker 4: I was like so frustrated with him. In fact, I'm
Speaker 4: the one that talked him into going to the hospital.
Speaker 3: At the end, I was the one that talked him
Speaker 3: into it. He was not going to go.
Speaker 4: Everyone was like, dude, it's toosteric and I'm like, unbelievable.
Speaker 4: He's got a newborn son coming. He needs to be
Speaker 4: able to walk for the next thirty years, Like he's
Speaker 4: going to the hospital, you know. Like, and I love
Speaker 4: his heart, I love his competitive spirit. He is a
Speaker 4: beautiful animal. But you know what, you gotta preserve something
Speaker 4: that nice.
Speaker 2: Yeah, what actually happened?
Speaker 3: Like?
Speaker 2: What what happened?
Speaker 4: So we were both going into that ditch that was
Speaker 4: filled with the mud in the water, and I was
Speaker 4: running right beside him, and all of a sudden, I
Speaker 4: just heard him scream in a way where I felt
Speaker 4: like I accidentally signed up for the military and got deployed,
Speaker 4: because it just sounded like a war cry coming from
Speaker 4: behind you. So I didn't know what had happened yet,
Speaker 4: But the minute I got through the pergola and had
Speaker 4: come back through, I had noticed where he was.
Speaker 3: I tried to help him. I tried to get him
Speaker 3: to stop, but he was You could just tell.
Speaker 4: By his aura and his energy in the moment he
Speaker 4: was in that I'm going against Joss movie phase, you
Speaker 4: know what I'm saying, And like, you gotta let a
Speaker 4: man do his thing when he's made his choice.
Speaker 3: And it was so clear in his eyes. That's where
Speaker 3: he was.
Speaker 2: Can you explain these balloons to us? Because the people
Speaker 2: were struggling? The people were struggling, were they like very
Speaker 2: flimsy and thing like what?
Speaker 3: What?
Speaker 2: Was it?
Speaker 3: So like they were all different sizes. That was such
Speaker 3: a big factor.
Speaker 4: I don't know if you pick up on that, but
Speaker 4: like some of them fairly through the pergola, and some
Speaker 4: people are just running them through with one person.
Speaker 1: I mean the other factors. You guys clearly had fewer
Speaker 1: people and then one of them lost a leg in
Speaker 1: the challenge.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, it's not that wasn't the only factor.
Speaker 3: You're right, Thank you for correcting me because it's so active.
Speaker 1: No, No, wasn't to correct you because you were there.
Speaker 1: We were, But it's like you guys really came in
Speaker 1: as the underdogs in this particular challenge today. Anyway, just
Speaker 1: from all those other factors.
Speaker 4: You know, it wasn't our season for me. I can't
Speaker 4: even say it was any thing about that, because our
Speaker 4: whole season unfolded with like the analogy Johnny used, you know,
Speaker 4: I felt like he went a little easy on us.
Speaker 1: Do you think if you could do it all over again,
Speaker 1: like coming into season forty what do you think your
Speaker 1: team would do differently, or what would you suggest to
Speaker 1: your team to start the season off right? Because you
Speaker 1: came in pretty strong, just in the sense I know
Speaker 1: when we saw you guys. You guys are obviously super excited,
Speaker 1: but you're a very strong team. You're a very knowledgeable team.
Speaker 1: We've had challenging dailies already that include trivia where it
Speaker 1: sort of felt like you guys should know the answers
Speaker 1: because you've been there, you know, basically.
Speaker 4: And so I knew the answers this season out of
Speaker 4: all the seasons in trivia, I got pulled before I
Speaker 4: even got the answer question because my history in trivia
Speaker 4: is not good. I got to be honest, ladies, I
Speaker 4: was there for ninety percent of the questions. It was
Speaker 4: the one season right.
Speaker 1: So what would you tell your season starting over again?
Speaker 1: What do you think you guys should have done differently
Speaker 1: from the jump that maybe would have kept you in
Speaker 1: the game, or is there anything you could have done differently?
Speaker 4: I would say that I would truly and passionately pursue
Speaker 4: motivational speaking before and in between the challenges to just
Speaker 4: draw the attention away from internal alliances, worrying about votes.
Speaker 4: I think consciously and subconsciously when I say that, because
Speaker 4: we're all instinctual and by nature, so like, obviously there's
Speaker 4: a big season with a lot of pride on the line.
Speaker 4: You've got a huge check and so much pride, and
Speaker 4: I feel like a lot of us, especially for me,
Speaker 4: just coming on with no prior conversations, thinking I was
Speaker 4: going to do the same thing as every season, and
Speaker 4: that's just play my heart out, and however the chips fall.
Speaker 4: Usually there's some people that need help and you end
Speaker 4: up being one of them. You show up that way,
Speaker 4: and it's always been my strategy. I will say I
Speaker 4: had prior conversation with Rachel before this season. Outside of that,
Speaker 4: there was no real alliance in place for me, but
Speaker 4: Rachel and I did say we would do the best
Speaker 4: to kind of do what we could for each other
Speaker 4: because we keep in touch outside the game, and I
Speaker 4: think she's an amazing person.
Speaker 3: So that is one conversation I had.
Speaker 4: But once I saw the Derek and Durrell volunteering and
Speaker 4: I saw, you know, even prior to Mark leaving as
Speaker 4: early as he did, I saw that there was I
Speaker 4: feel like.
Speaker 3: He was almost their third more than him and I
Speaker 3: were going to.
Speaker 4: Work like they were, and it kind of put me
Speaker 4: in a position where I had to start thinking, I've
Speaker 4: got ct and that's the only other person that I
Speaker 4: could possibly work with, and in order for that to
Speaker 4: even start to unfold, we would need so much game
Speaker 4: to unfold because Cet and I don't speak that often
Speaker 4: outside of the game, and we don't have that kind
Speaker 4: of rapport because everybody kind of campaigns to play with
Speaker 4: him because he's an absolute showstoper player. So I was
Speaker 4: in the hardest position for defaulting to an alliance. So
Speaker 4: I was just hoping that we could stick to performance
Speaker 4: and I could show up every day while I was
Speaker 4: struggling with the sleep and catching up and everything else
Speaker 4: I needed to do.
Speaker 3: So I hope I answered your question again. Yeah, didn't
Speaker 3: get far.
Speaker 2: No you did.
Speaker 1: It sounds like you're saying that you recognize the value
Speaker 1: in being a unifier, so you would have done more
Speaker 1: of motivational speaking to kind of unify the team, and
Speaker 1: then also that alliances in this stage of the game.
Speaker 1: I think people we're seeing it with Genny two in
Speaker 1: this episode where people coming in who think, oh, I'm
Speaker 1: just going to come in as is play the game
Speaker 1: and kind of make friends along the way. It's really
Speaker 1: the people that make it far. I mean, i'd be
Speaker 1: down to even say that maybe gone are the days
Speaker 1: at all that you can kind of just come in
Speaker 1: and play like you have to lean on some relationships
Speaker 1: that have been made prior to in the game or
Speaker 1: with some other show and some other capacity.
Speaker 3: I think that you're right.
Speaker 4: The days of being able to show up without having
Speaker 4: prior conversations they've been over. And unfortunately for my situation,
Speaker 4: I just had the immediate scenarios that.
Speaker 3: I had to dress before I left, and.
Speaker 4: I did, and that prevented me from having the free
Speaker 4: time to do that. And I think that Jenny is
Speaker 4: playing the same way that I showed up.
Speaker 3: And I don't make a.
Speaker 4: Lot of phone calls, but I'll normally at least call
Speaker 4: a few people that I know I'm close with if
Speaker 4: I had if I hadn't already spoke with them recently,
Speaker 4: and I don't think Jenny is doing that. For example,
Speaker 4: a lot of people don't know this. Jenny and I
Speaker 4: are a lot closer than people know, because we were
Speaker 4: alternates for War of the Worlds and we were in
Speaker 4: South Africa together for two weeks. We went to two
Speaker 4: dinners a night because we were confined to our hotel rooms.
Speaker 3: So we would work out in.
Speaker 4: The morning every morning, and then we would go to
Speaker 4: dinner early, and then right before the restaurant closed, we'd
Speaker 4: go to dinner again. And we had the best two weeks.
Speaker 4: We really bonded, so I really understood when they were
Speaker 4: talking about you know who with Casey. In the beginning
Speaker 4: of the episode, she goes, you know, all Jenny talks
Speaker 4: about is snacks or guinea pigs and somebody else. And
Speaker 4: I was dying because I heard. I knew every one
Speaker 4: of her guinea pig's names by the end of the
Speaker 4: two weeks.
Speaker 2: Okay, wait, at least two of them.
Speaker 4: Oh my god, I'm glad I did it for my
Speaker 4: I have other stuff to focus. I didn't, you know
Speaker 4: what I mean right home riding down the studium when
Speaker 4: I got home. But I was able to relate because
Speaker 4: at the end of that trip a few years ago,
Speaker 4: I was like, I knew more about guinea pigs on
Speaker 4: my departure than I ever knew existed. Like they're a
Speaker 4: legit pack animal and they have like real issues, almost
Speaker 4: like people. I guess I don't know how you get
Speaker 4: that deep into that the guinea pig game, but she
Speaker 4: was not focused. She's an amazing athlete, she's an amazing,
Speaker 4: amazing competitor. That's blatantly obvious. Her social game is hurting.
Speaker 4: I can relate, you know, like I've had seasons that
Speaker 4: were like that, and sometimes you really do have to
Speaker 4: just compete to the best of your ability. But the
Speaker 4: other half of the game is the social game. And
Speaker 4: that's where I feel like she put herself in that
Speaker 4: position without seeing it. Because other people were having quality
Speaker 4: conversations about game talk.
Speaker 3: Two weeks in, she's still hitting them with the guinea
Speaker 3: pig talk.
Speaker 4: We already know one plus one is two, so that
Speaker 4: guinea pig talk is actually going to de escalate your position.
Speaker 3: In that setting. And I mean that.
Speaker 4: I mean that in the no we get no get
Speaker 4: you can build report in the you know, like where
Speaker 4: we were. But if I'm looking for game talk and
Speaker 4: all I keep hearing about getting guinea pigs, even if
Speaker 4: I like you, you're still getting de escalated on my
Speaker 4: I Got You list because other people are saying things like, hey,
Speaker 4: if you do this for me, I got you moving forward,
Speaker 4: and that is a more valuable conversation a week three
Speaker 4: and four than hearing about that guinea pig, you know,
Speaker 4: recap one more time.
Speaker 1: I mean, you could be like, hey, Ginny, I'm doing
Speaker 1: this for your guina. I'm fighting the good fight for
Speaker 1: your guinea pigs too, so keep.
Speaker 2: Me in, you know.
Speaker 3: I we'll use that next season, say.
Speaker 2: A good fight.
Speaker 1: So so talking about kind of like Alliance's relationships and
Speaker 1: the dynamics.
Speaker 2: There when you go into the chamber.
Speaker 1: You didn't actually give up any names regarding who you
Speaker 1: wanted to go against, but Daveon wants to know who
Speaker 1: do you want to actually want to go against?
Speaker 4: You know, I was so authentic in that moment when
Speaker 4: I said that Rachel was right about being in the
Speaker 4: better position not having to go in and try to
Speaker 4: like argue our way. We already knew that we were
Speaker 4: going in. I think that's better than not knowing and
Speaker 4: you have to go through the whole process.
Speaker 3: Of the angst. But I meant it. I gotta be
Speaker 3: honest with you.
Speaker 4: I didn't have one, and I can't make one up
Speaker 4: because I just didn't have one.
Speaker 3: I'm sorry to disappoint.
Speaker 4: No, well, well, and I just I just was at
Speaker 4: the position where I was so tired of losing.
Speaker 3: I meant what I said in my mind, I thought
Speaker 3: I was.
Speaker 4: I mean, I knew I was going to do my
Speaker 4: best without expectations, but to do my absolute best with
Speaker 4: every fiber of my being. And I felt like I
Speaker 4: did that. I overpowered those throws. I'm going to get
Speaker 4: I won't get off topic, but like I, I just
Speaker 4: it wasn't my season and it wasn't ERA one season.
Speaker 3: So like it.
Speaker 4: You know, when I looked at my physical contributions and
Speaker 4: even my team contributions for the whole season, I don't
Speaker 4: have very many regrets there. I just know when I
Speaker 4: was up against coming in and uh yeah, it just
Speaker 4: didn't come together for for a lot of us.
Speaker 2: Okay, So then then answer this, do you think that
Speaker 2: Josh made the right choice?
Speaker 3: You know what?
Speaker 4: So the honest answer to that is, I have a
Speaker 4: hard time following Josh's game.
Speaker 1: I girl, we know, don't Davon. You have some explaining
Speaker 1: to dostly if you didn't know Davon is a Josh
Speaker 1: Ryder diy.
Speaker 3: Well, you know what? So am I So I'll probably
Speaker 3: help her with half.
Speaker 4: Of her explaining right here, because there we truly see
Speaker 4: his energy. Him and I sat next to each other
Speaker 4: on the plane there, read a lot of the same books,
Speaker 4: follow the same authors, and what I really was impressed
Speaker 4: with was, you know.
Speaker 3: Just his overall aura and his personality traits.
Speaker 4: And I I had seen him on prior seasons of
Speaker 4: being a very emotional man. I got to be honest
Speaker 4: between us. I appreciate that. I know I can be
Speaker 4: a little extra for some people sometimes and I've seen
Speaker 4: the comments and I understand where they're coming from on
Speaker 4: some of it. But for me personally, I appreciate his
Speaker 4: openness and his display of emotion to the extent where
Speaker 4: people can at least scrub personal situations.
Speaker 3: With what they're seeing. And that's why I'm so open
Speaker 3: and honest about even.
Speaker 4: My personal stuff prior to arrival, is because I think
Speaker 4: Josh is a difference maker. And if you're a difference maker,
Speaker 4: I'm going to ride with you.
Speaker 2: And that's really sweet.
Speaker 1: He is a difference sometimes chaos, but he is a difference.
Speaker 4: Well yeah, and at the end of the day, you
Speaker 4: really have to go by somebody's intention, and that is
Speaker 4: what I evaluate when it comes to Josh, and he
Speaker 4: is an amazing person, and for that reason, I think
Speaker 4: whatever choice he made was the right choice. But I
Speaker 4: will say this so I don't sound like I'm just
Speaker 4: pad admittance.
Speaker 3: He is very difficult to follow. I was.
Speaker 4: I was hoping at some point, because our rapport, that
Speaker 4: we might have an opportunity to play this game together,
Speaker 4: to build a little report moving forward. Yeah, didn't really
Speaker 4: see the opportunity because the notes I took where, Wow,
Speaker 4: this dude is so overwhelmed with bullshit from priorcy.
Speaker 3: Do in thirty minutes, let alone tomorrow with the I
Speaker 3: mean sure, he can't even commit to the lunch option
Speaker 3: right now.
Speaker 1: He's like that kid that got a credit card right
Speaker 1: out of high school and is like still trying to
Speaker 1: pay it off, like he's only making interest payments. It's
Speaker 1: he is all like his heart, it seems so good.
Speaker 1: He's all over the place. And Corey's reaction to that
Speaker 1: was wild, well not wild. It was interesting when Corey
Speaker 1: was kind of like, oh, you've already made your choice now,
Speaker 1: like it's done.
Speaker 4: That's so fair like and it's like it's not personal
Speaker 4: at this point, You're playing this scattered eye just got
Speaker 4: all these favors. May not like, who in their right
Speaker 4: mind could take that many notes and follow that when
Speaker 4: they're trying to play their own game like you're you're
Speaker 4: you're literally you're disc combobulating people in conversations. When you
Speaker 4: start to you know, I got all this stuff from
Speaker 4: last season and then five years ago, I did, you know,
Speaker 4: it's like, whoa dude, this is not a confessional, bro, Like,
Speaker 4: what is this? You know? So again, to truly state
Speaker 4: how I feel about him, He's an amazing person, but
Speaker 4: I was hoping to play more game with him, and
Speaker 4: seeing the way him and Corey had that that I
Speaker 4: wouldn't even call it a falling out. I would say
Speaker 4: a conversation about new terms is what I would say.
Speaker 3: What they did.
Speaker 4: I think Corey did an amazing job of setting new
Speaker 4: terms based off of Josh's havoc style game.
Speaker 2: Okay, I like that new terms. That's good.
Speaker 1: You know, we appreciate you sharing that. Now, please help
Speaker 1: us appreciate this elimination strategy, because my head.
Speaker 3: Going, it's gonna be a hard sell, ladies.
Speaker 2: Okay, try, just try.
Speaker 3: I have to be honest with you. So leading up
Speaker 3: to this, we just lost CT.
Speaker 4: I just we chalked up the l Derek's legs in
Speaker 4: critical condition at the moment, we don't know what it
Speaker 4: is and real talk.
Speaker 3: Durrell told me this, I'm still you, ladies. No, I'm
Speaker 3: I key.
Speaker 4: I'm clean, like I got this big beard. But this
Speaker 4: beard usually smells like good high end conditioner.
Speaker 3: You know what I mean. I take I take good
Speaker 3: care of myself and I stay clean. It's just what
Speaker 3: it is. So I heard this.
Speaker 4: I don't know how true it was, but this sucks
Speaker 4: because it tapping on prior challenges. The cleaning crews come
Speaker 4: in and they rotate the blankets. Okay, I kept a
Speaker 4: very clean bed, but at this point I had heard
Speaker 4: that CT filed the callouses off of his feet into
Speaker 4: his comforter before he had left, right before me, and
Speaker 4: I was laying in bed, and I happened to realize
Speaker 4: that I had now been laying inside the CT's comforter
Speaker 4: and Durrell at by the time Lady's true.
Speaker 3: Story ten PM before an elimination, and I go, oh man,
Speaker 3: they gave they switch the comforters again, and there.
Speaker 4: All goes, yeah, yours is over here, and he goes,
Speaker 4: oh man, you got cts he just shaved all of
Speaker 4: his callouses off his feet on his before he went home,
Speaker 4: and I'm like, dude, I'm like ready to puke. Girls,
Speaker 4: I'm like, honestly, lady, I am ready to throw up
Speaker 4: in my mouth in this moment. And then I realized
Speaker 4: it's probably the same sheets, and I just want to
Speaker 4: It was hard not to.
Speaker 3: Want to go home in that moment. I'm gonna tell you,
Speaker 3: we've been chalking up els.
Speaker 4: This is happening, and all I'm saying is you got
Speaker 4: to you gotta perform tomorrow.
Speaker 3: You gotta perform tomorrow.
Speaker 4: I may be pulled off two three hours of sleep
Speaker 4: because of that whole like whatever you want to call
Speaker 4: that experience.
Speaker 3: For me, it was just like we're not home.
Speaker 2: Right, not CET's dirty feet.
Speaker 3: Oh I can't.
Speaker 4: Yes, And honestly, like I just I still felt like
Speaker 4: I showed up, but usually And hats off to Corey.
Speaker 4: Your strategy was better than mine. The chess passed the
Speaker 4: way you have screened it brilliant, very oh perfect, it
Speaker 4: was perfect. But we went first. I didn't get to
Speaker 4: watch somebody else. I was tired. I thought, laser beam accuracy,
Speaker 4: let's go, you know, and it's like then I watched
Speaker 4: the playback, and I'm like, oh, when I saw Bory's
Speaker 4: chess past strategy, I realized I could have done a
Speaker 4: lot better. I still gave him a pretty good run.
Speaker 4: I want to point this out. I showed up struggling
Speaker 4: to get sleep and did the best I could.
Speaker 3: Corey is in the prime of his Challenge career.
Speaker 4: I'm proud of him, honestly, Like when I hear about
Speaker 4: how hard he's still working to get champion status, like,
Speaker 4: you got to really realize what you're up against. You're
Speaker 4: on two three hours of sleep, you showed up struggling,
Speaker 4: You're doing your best.
Speaker 3: But this guy, he's been dialed in.
Speaker 4: He's been showing up to Flagship Challenge games for consecutive
Speaker 4: years on end, and he's so motivated and focused on
Speaker 4: getting that first W to get the champion status. I mean,
Speaker 4: I had the ship stacked against me and it's still
Speaker 4: made it pretty close.
Speaker 3: So you know, I will say, hats off to Corey.
Speaker 3: You beat me.
Speaker 4: I did my best, my absolute best in the moment
Speaker 4: with what I had, and you know, I can only
Speaker 4: say as if you know, I ever go against Corey again,
Speaker 4: I'll be damned if I'm giving him two oh but
Speaker 4: for right now, congratulations and hats off to.
Speaker 3: You, my brother.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was really beautiful to watch, Like just it
Speaker 1: was nail biting because it's like, we appreciate you both,
Speaker 1: and so it's nail biting to watch.
Speaker 2: But it was beautiful to see.
Speaker 1: How you guys just like hugged it out at the
Speaker 1: and how you hyped each other up, and it was
Speaker 1: just all of it was I don't know, it was
Speaker 1: really special to see that and see you guys there
Speaker 1: and I wish we could see so much of that.
Speaker 1: And I also think it was really nice and I'm
Speaker 1: glad that editing included that. It was a nice balance
Speaker 1: to some of the drama we've seen in the previous episode,
Speaker 1: like a reminder of the family side.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was.
Speaker 3: It was really good. That goes so far with me.
Speaker 3: I truly appreciate that absolutely.
Speaker 2: So here comes the fun part of the podcast. Are
Speaker 2: you ready, Brad?
Speaker 3: Go?
Speaker 2: So this is what we do. We let our guests
Speaker 2: give us superlative to each of the era. So superlatives
Speaker 2: most likely too. And so we'll start with your era,
Speaker 2: Era one most likely too.
Speaker 3: That's probably the toughest one.
Speaker 1: I mean a lot of people have been saying you
Speaker 1: guys are most likely to need to go to bed
Speaker 1: early or no.
Speaker 4: I'm just I'm in the best shape of my life
Speaker 4: and I've worked hard to get here, so I can't
Speaker 4: say that, and I love that, thank you. I see
Speaker 4: Rachel still showing up, I mean Tina showing up on
Speaker 4: next level. I still see all the potential and all
Speaker 4: the gentlemen. Honestly, some of us were just pulling injuries
Speaker 4: a little bit more than others. I don't like to
Speaker 4: go to bed early thing because I still think that
Speaker 4: we're some I still feel like we're young at heart
Speaker 4: when we're not hurt.
Speaker 1: Yes, Brad wrap your era, go ahead, and and then
Speaker 1: I would say, I would say, most likely to come
Speaker 1: back stronger than you ever seen before in your life. Okay, okay,
Speaker 1: come back.
Speaker 2: I like it. I like it. What about to Yeah,
Speaker 2: what's air too?
Speaker 3: Who's most likely going to listen to? Johnny Bananas?
Speaker 1: Interesting?
Speaker 3: Okay, Okay, the voice of their team.
Speaker 4: I think I think that even though they had they
Speaker 4: had they had cohesiveness.
Speaker 3: Cohesiveness I believe because of it.
Speaker 4: But I think because Johnny was the default mechanism and
Speaker 4: they didn't have the same issues as Era one that
Speaker 4: I felt like he kind of had a good motivational
Speaker 4: role on that team.
Speaker 1: I think that's fair because Johnny's almost like Era one hybrid,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, and he doesn't have I
Speaker 1: think if Johnny was on Air one, he wouldn't have
Speaker 1: the same level of respect from his teammates, Like they
Speaker 1: wouldn't listen to him reach.
Speaker 4: H Yeah, you'd see a totally different Johnny because he's
Speaker 4: smart enough to bring a different approach.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yep, I completely agree.
Speaker 3: God, he has the social game down.
Speaker 1: What about Era Three's.
Speaker 3: Likely to pull it off? And I'll tell you why.
Speaker 4: I see so many strong players on that team. I
Speaker 4: saw the leader of that teams, Devin Walker. I think
Speaker 4: Devin Walker is a genius that functions well into a
Speaker 4: genius level. Yeah, that is a force to be reckoned with.
Speaker 4: He is going to get creative in ways a lot
Speaker 4: of people won't. He's going to take calculated risks with
Speaker 4: serious return of investment attached to them, and he's most
Speaker 4: likely going to pull it off because he is just
Speaker 4: that player and I appreciate playing the game with him.
Speaker 4: I wish our games intertwined a little bit deeper. That's okay,
Speaker 4: I still appreciate being a part of the game. And
Speaker 4: I'll tell you anything, if I showed up in the
Speaker 4: future and didn't have prior conversations with him or some
Speaker 4: kind of an agreement that I believed in, I would have.
Speaker 3: To go for him early in the game because I
Speaker 3: see the way he unfolds.
Speaker 4: So you know, I'm just going to put that out
Speaker 4: there because it's true, and he is a friend of mine,
Speaker 4: and if he hears this, I wanted to think to
Speaker 4: call me if we ever both.
Speaker 1: Yeah, is brilliant. He really is a brilliant player, And
Speaker 1: I also like that. I feel like he's a player
Speaker 1: with integrity. Whether you like his moves or not. I
Speaker 1: think he follows through on what he says he's going
Speaker 1: to do or not going to do, and I think
Speaker 1: I just respect that in.
Speaker 3: A player so much so it goes a long way.
Speaker 2: Okay, Era four, what's their superlative.
Speaker 3: Deal with Era three?
Speaker 2: Yeah, Brad, I'm so glad you came to hang out
Speaker 2: with us on this podcast. We love you so much
Speaker 2: and we're so grateful that you came to hang out
Speaker 2: with us. Tell the people on the socials of the
Speaker 2: media's where can they find you?
Speaker 4: My social is at Brad Fiorenza, the last name is
Speaker 4: spelled ephis and frank Io R E n Z eight.
Speaker 4: I've got an amazing podcast coming up that I'm really
Speaker 4: excited about. I hope you guys look me up and
Speaker 4: check it out. We also have a merch line with
Speaker 4: some fun items in there that I'm excited to unfold.
Speaker 4: And you know, I'm gonna do a little less traveling
Speaker 4: because I'm working on some art with some amazing local
Speaker 4: artists and I'm excited to share that with you guys too,
Speaker 4: So please look me up. And I want to thank
Speaker 4: you ladies so much for having me on this show.
Speaker 4: You were both amazing and it was so great to
Speaker 4: reconnect with your energy again.
Speaker 2: Oh you too, Brad.
Speaker 1: We appreciate you so much, Brad, and it was wonderful
Speaker 1: watching you. We're excited to hear about your podcast and
Speaker 1: all the great things that you have in store, and
Speaker 1: thank you for just your intentionality and the beauty that
Speaker 1: you're trying to put into the world.
Speaker 2: It's a lovely things.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much for saying that.
Speaker 4: I've truly just enjoyed this whole interview and I just
Speaker 4: want to say one last thing to close out at
Speaker 4: I couldn't be more serious about just, you know, making
Speaker 4: sure that just encouraging people to at least consider a
Speaker 4: focused self evaluation process, especially if you feel like you're
Speaker 4: going through stressful situations, especially situations you can't control. And
Speaker 4: the point that I'd like to just make for the
Speaker 4: hashtag mental health awareness is this, if you're having more
Speaker 4: negative thoughts than positive per day, and if that happens
Speaker 4: repeatedly for more than a couple days in a row, two.
Speaker 5: Three days, then you probably are. You're probably avoiding a
Speaker 5: lot of red flags in your life that need to
Speaker 5: be addressed. So I just want to recap that I
Speaker 5: encourage anybody that is feeling like they have negative energy
Speaker 5: in their life, whether they're responsible for it or not,
Speaker 5: I just urge them to seek professional guidance and lean
Speaker 5: on the valid resources in their network that can help them,
Speaker 5: because it's helped me tremendously, and I look forward to
Speaker 5: demonstrating this healing moving forward, and I hope to make
Speaker 5: a difference doing so.
Speaker 2: Love that love, Yes, Fred, we appreciate it. You're wonderful.
Speaker 1: Thank you, James, thank you again, and we look forward
Speaker 1: to seeing you in future seasons of the challenge for sure.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, thank you ladies. It was so nice
Speaker 3: to reconnect.
Speaker 2: Great interview. So glad that Brad came to hang out
Speaker 2: with us. He is such a joy. His energy is contagious,
Speaker 2: like he's just such a joy to have. Now, Where
Speaker 2: can the people find you? On the socials of the
Speaker 2: media's miss Devin.
Speaker 1: Yes, love, you can find me and all the places
Speaker 1: you can go to. My website devinsimone dot com is
Speaker 1: Devin Withthewismo with an I dot com. Click on that
Speaker 1: you'll see my socials there. But you can check me
Speaker 1: out on TikTok. I'm probably a little more like stripped
Speaker 1: down and chill on TikTok, so that's at Devin Simone.
Speaker 1: Instagram is a little more polished, but I like to
Speaker 1: post a lot of behind the scenes stories and snapchat.
Speaker 1: I'm there occasionally. Also if you want to give some
Speaker 1: commentary positive usually then you can find me on Twitter
Speaker 1: at Devin Simone. If it's negative, you might get a
Speaker 1: clipback or blocked, So take your pick day. Where can
Speaker 1: they find you?
Speaker 2: You can find me not clapping back of people. I
Speaker 2: have been delivered praise the Lord were realized. Basically You
Speaker 2: can find me on all of the social media's at
Speaker 2: Davon Diane Underscore, and you can also find me here
Speaker 2: on the best podcast ever have It. We want to
Speaker 2: thank you guys so much for joining us for another
Speaker 2: episode of MTV's official.
Speaker 1: Podcast, Absolutely, and tell all your fellow Challenge fans to listen, rate,
Speaker 1: and follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts and leave a
Speaker 1: five star review on Spotify.
Speaker 2: Yes, and on a serious note, I know we talked
Speaker 2: a lot about mental health today, so remember MTV has
Speaker 2: resources for you. You don't have to be an expert
Speaker 2: to help a friend. Just ask, Acknowledge support and keep
Speaker 2: in touch. For more information, you can go to askthfhelp
Speaker 2: dot com.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and of course join us every Thursday to hear
Speaker 1: brand new episodes of MTV's official Challenge podcasts, available wherever
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. We'd like to dedicate this episode
Speaker 1: to Jenny's Guinea Bags