June 9, 2025 • 33 mins
Former Bachelorette Rachel Recchia revealed on the Almost Famous podcast that she thinks a fellow pilot is sexy… and she wishes she could have been on his season! Now it’s up to Ashley to confront Peter Weber and get his reaction!
Find out what’s going on in Peter’s love life, how things are between him and ex Kelley Flanagan, and if he ships Kelley and Jason Tartick as much as Bachelor Nation fans do! And find out what he’s doing on the new show “Destination X”!
Plus, Peter shares his expert opinion on all the news with regards to air travel safety. So come fly the friendly skies on the Almost Famous podcast!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast
with on our radio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Hey everyone, welcome back to the almost Famous podcast. I
am flying solo today. You'll get the pun in a second.
So I am here with pilot Pete. So I guess
I'm not flying solo. You are my co captain.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
I'm your copilot.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Let's do it, Peter, are you Are you captain yet
or are you co captain?
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Still? No, I'm still first officer. So I am three stripes.
Hopefully in the near future. I'd say, like maybe the
next two to three years. I probably plan on trying
to put my upgrade in and then that's all dependent
on it. There's open positions like in la Is where
I probably want to stay. So uh yeah, two the
three year mark is kind of what I have.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
My site said on has all the shows that you've
done over the past couple of years kind of put
you back in your career.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
No, no, So it's what's really nice about the airline
industry is everything's predicated office seniority. So the day I
was hired, like and since I was hired May twenty fifth,
twenty twenty one, so that date will follow me my
entire career. Until I turned sixty five and I have
to retire, and then so I can. Essentially, you can
pick up a full schedule, you can pick up overtime
(01:15):
if it's within your far limits, or I can drop trips,
but that doesn't have any bearing on career progression. All
that matters is your seniority number, and if it's senior
enough to take an open position, you can get it.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Okay, that's great. I'm glad that you've been literally able
to become a reality star on so many different platforms.
Now we're going to talk about your new show, Destination
X in a minute. It's on NBC and it's hosted
by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, which is really really cool. But
first we have we have some juicy stuff. So we
(01:49):
recently had Rachel Rekia, a fellow pilot, on our podcast
and the question was, if you can go on any
Bachelor's season that wasn't the one that you came from Clayton,
what would your choice be? And let's roll the audio anyway.
I'll start.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
I would be on Peter Webber season because he's sexy
and we're both pilots. Let's Rachel, you know it's funny.
I heard something about that. That's that's cool. Well, I
appreciate that. It's very sweet of her to say so,
because you.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Guys have that in common and you do follow each
other on Instagram. Have you gotten back and forth at
all about that.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
No, We've never had like a discussion like that. The
only I've only we only hung out like a handful
of times in person. I think the last time I
saw Rachel was I want to say it was in
Miami for our babble. I think it was our buzzle.
I saw her out there, but uh, yeah, we gotta
we gotta connect out in LA. I think she's still
flying her. She kind of like.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Put that, I think she still flies.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
She is okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
So when you guys have I've seen each other in
real life, like, has she called you sexy?
Speaker 3 (03:05):
No? To be honest, no, all that stayed very very platonic.
I think it's. Yeah, that's not to start any rumor.
That's all been very very platonic. But I do appreciate that.
It's very sweet to say.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
I do feel like you could be asked by ABC
The Bachelor again to be Bachelor, because you know, in
recent history, I think that you and Joey have been
the ones that have garnered the most attention. And Joey
seems I think he's going to make it down the
aisle with Kelsey and you are still single. So what
(03:41):
would you think if they were to come to you
again this is like five years removed.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Well, of course would come out here. I actually am
not single anymore, so.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
We're bringing Yes, this.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Is uh, I guess kind of yeah, this is very
very very new, like blessing right now. You know, I
love it. Yeah, I mean to be very honest and like,
I'm really blessing right now. Oh my god. Yeah, it's
very very new, very very fresh. Obviously gonna you know,
want to keep it very private, and you know, kind
(04:14):
of figured we probably get into a little bit of that,
but put any like, yeah, rumors, I guess aside for
any any bachelor type comeback. Hopefully there is never the
need for that, because I'm very excited and I am
very hopeful. So, oh my god, we will see what happens.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
You just moved back to LA. Did this girl have
anything to do with the move?
Speaker 3 (04:33):
No? No, And it's so funny because I literally so
I was in New York for the last like four
years and I, you know, Kelly and I had gone
back on on and off a little bit during that time,
but majority of it was all single, and you know,
I always wanted a relationship with It's no no secret obviously,
but you know it's never going to be someone of
course anything. But all my friends, they were so funny.
(04:55):
It was they were like all predicting when I was
going to come back to La, Like, dude, the second
you get back, you're it is kind of like we
just know you're going to find someone, You're gonna settle
down and it's just all gonna work. And I was like,
I would love that, that would be great, and they
were spot on. They were spot only literally the first day.
The first day, Yeah, first day's not crazy.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Okay, so I'm assuming it wasn't an apupdate then, No, No, it.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Was in person. It was a beautiful old fashioned meet up.
And yeah, I I really like I would I don't
want to, like just because it's like so new and
everything kind of just like keep it more private. But yeah,
definitely really excited. And it's funny how my friends really
predicted it and they all called it and who would
have thought. Literally the first day but kind of funny
(05:43):
how life works out that way.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Can you at least tell us where you met her, Like,
was this like a cute a meet cute at a
coffee shop or something?
Speaker 3 (05:53):
It was not that we met. It was actually on
a on a trip on a well a trip in
l a kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Yeah, okay, all right, well we'll let you have your
privacy now a little a little bit. And maybe that
makes sense as to why Kelly recently said when you
guys saw each other at Coachella that you said that
she was like this sister that you never had.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
I'm I meant that in the most endearing way, like true, true,
and sure, I mean, what are you gonna do now?
I can't take it back, But truly it was, and
she knows that, like I've seen her since and everything
like it. It was the most endearing I was trying
to make as a compliment. It was, you know, obviously
(06:39):
have so much respect for her and obviously love for
her that you know will never go away like that,
and yeah, we just you know, I try. It wasn't
for a shortage of try and write. And you know,
sometimes people work relationship, why sometimes they don't. Sometimes it's
just friends. And I guess if you want to look
at it a weird way, you can misconstrue it. But
it was not anything like that. I was just trying
to it was trying to be in here in comment.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
And I say this thinking that you and Kelly that
truly have a friendship beneath all the romance. Like I
think that you really have that foundation. So you said
that you've seen her since and you have this girlfriend.
Does the girlfriend at all think this friendship is weird?
Because I personally, being part of this bachelor world, I
(07:23):
think that it's totally legit that you would have a
friend in Kelly first and foremost. Does she feel weird?
Speaker 3 (07:30):
No, I honestly no, just I think just a lot
of like honest communication and you know, just talks. I
think I've made it like very clear like and then
you're right, Kelly and I do have like just a solid,
solid friendship. And again that's kind of where that comment
came from. I guess I know how it can be
like misconstruer made it look weird, but you know, I
think she she understands and like there's no worries there whatsoever.
(07:55):
There's no like drama or anything like that, which is
awesome and like I really appreciate that too. So again,
we Kelly and I, like we've been broken up for
a while. You know, she she's had a very serious
relationship post me and everything, so you know, there's been
a lot of time to like heal and move on,
and you know, obviously always wish the absolute best for her,
but there's like there's no drama like that and all involved,
(08:17):
like you know, moving forward with my current situation.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Okay, that's good. And Kelly was is currently being shipped
with Jason Tarctic. The fandom wants them to be together.
What do you think about them together? You were in
the same house as them during Coachella.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
And I because that's a weird thing to talk about.
I it wouldn't be like weird for me, Like and
it may sound odd, but it really wouldn't. I both
you know, to be completely crazy, like I, they're both
very they could work, Like honestly, I could see it.
(09:00):
Like they both are you know, I think similar people
in like certain regards. And again, like when I think
of both of them, I think, like the first thought
that really come into my mind is like it's just
respect both ways and like I look up to both
of them in a lot of different aspects of life,
and yeah, I zero hard feelings if that, if that
(09:22):
ever happened, that ever came to be. You know, I
don't really know where exactly that stands, but yeah, I
guess I'm happy that I can say that too. Like I,
you know, I would want everyone to be happy, and
if if that ends up being the case, you know, great,
If not, I think they'll be great friends. But yeah, zero,
zero hard feelings on the side of it.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
When they're together, do they like feel the pressure to
be flirty together because that's what people are rooting for.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
I honestly, like, I don't want to speak for them,
but I honestly think it's maybe being played up a
little bit more than it is. Like if if I
had to guess, like that's my impression, so yeah, I don't.
I don't like, No, I don't see them, you know,
turning it on or something or flirting with each other
feeling they need to do that. But I think it's
being played up a little bit more than it is.
If I had a guess, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Has your mom Barb met the new girl?
Speaker 3 (10:12):
Not yet? Not yet? Yeah, not yet. This is like so,
like I said, like, we met like very early on,
but you know, getting together has been a much more
recent thing.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
So did she watch you on the Bouchelor?
Speaker 3 (10:27):
No, okay, that's probably a good thing.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Is she tempted to watch back?
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Now it's not going to.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
You're like block like eye to the Apple and well,
I think apples where you can always stream every season.
I don't know where yours Elsier season might be.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
But yeah, no, I probably I think the healthiest thing
is probably not to not to do that.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
But yeah, okay, so you are on this new show
Destination X. I think that there. It seems obvious for
(11:11):
me to think that your wonderful game play on Traders
played a role in you being on this new show.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
I think, so, yeah, I wouldn't be surprised by that.
I you know, obviously same network with NBC and with
with Peacock. But I mean for me, going on the
Traders is like, you know, obviously, you know, like going
on the whole Bachelor experience and whatnot, it was such
a unique experience in its own right, but I doing
the whole Traders thing really opened my eyes, like the
whole gaming world and like how much I really love
(11:42):
that and just it's definitely more my niche. You know,
even if I wasn't with someone I don't, I would
never really do a love show again. Just that's not
my thing. And yeah, I think I just found my niche.
I love it. I'm extremely competitive, you know. I think,
you know, some success and traders probably helped me with
this next opportunity. And this was just one like I
(12:02):
for sure like never could have said no to is
right up my alley. Just the whole aspect of travel
and how passionate I am about that. Yeah, it was
kind of felt like I was like made for this
specific one.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
If Ben were here, he would say that Wells was
too good, has too much of a mind for traders,
and that's why he got eliminated so early. People didn't
want him. There you and Wells both in the same
trader's house.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
What happens ooh ooh, you know what, I really don't.
I gotta like, I gotta meet Wells more. I really
don't know Wells that well. It's interesting. I think he
obviously was like the bananas of my season, and I
think coming in as like probably a threat, it obviously is.
You know, if you follow TV and follow stuff that
(12:48):
well done. You can tell you's the very there's like
a very intelligent person and very sharp and that is
that can definitely be kind of maybe a turn off
for you know, contestants in a castle, you're trying to
compete with them like that. That seems like competition and
that seems like I think I think Kim and Bananas
definitely kind of played a similar role in that. So
I think if I played with Wells in a future season,
(13:12):
I would I don't know how I would go about that.
I think my mind's like spending like a million miles
an hour here. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Well, what about Gabby? How are you? How did you
do you know Gabby at all? Personally? Did you expect
her to do as well as she did?
Speaker 3 (13:27):
No? Also, honestly, I first I knew the most was
Dylan that went on that season. We had kind of
he had called me up and we chatted a little
bit before he left and tried to give him just
any advice that I could.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
You did you did well?
Speaker 3 (13:41):
You did? He won? Yeah, he killed. He played an
incredible game. Gabby though, she surprised me like no other. She.
I think she's the perfect blend of just of smarts
but also flying under the radar, you know, has the
perfect personality for like reality TV. They can also maybe
distract the little little bit from how intelligent she really
(14:02):
is and what kind of a game she's really playing
under the radar. So she's like, in my opinion, like
the perfect blend for I mean, obviously she won as well,
so I would love to play with Yeah, with all
of them, it'd be sweet if like to do like,
you know, an all star kind of season at some point. Yeah,
cool games, it's a blast.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
So you went from that show hosted by Alan coming
Big Star to Jeffrey Dean Morgan in this show and
that's cool. So how much interaction did you have with
both of them?
Speaker 3 (14:31):
So Alan's funny, I've gone to aland a little bit
more post show. It was, you know, more after everything
was already filmed. Like we did a couple of fun
So he's got this club called Club Coming in the
Lower East Side in Manhattan, and so he would host
a bunch of like watch parties. So we'd go there
and it was fun to just like kind of like
have a couple of nights like just let loose and
we're not really filming anything and just have fun and show.
(14:54):
So I got to know him a little bit better there, Jeffrey.
It was crazy. We actually bonded and he has a
bunch of tattoos, and he has like a bunch of
finger tattoos, and we're like on this one probably the
coolest challenge I think I got to do on the
show on Destination X. But we're like having some downtime
and I'm like looking at his tattoos. I'm like, all right,
(15:16):
I'm gonna try to like bond with him, so like, hey,
I have a tattoo as well.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
That is the easiest way to start a conversation with
somebody who's talking about the meeting behind their tattoos.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Yeah, it's so true though, And he had a bunch
of finger tattos. So I showed him mine and mine's
like the twelve for the Seahawks and he's from Seattle.
Didn't know it, and he's a diard Seattle Seahawks man.
So we started like connecting over that, and then we
both got invited. This is post show. Had no idea
either one of us was going. We got invited to
the Seahawk game when the Seahawks are playing the Jets
in New York and we both show up and we're like,
(15:46):
we're sitting right next to each other, like no freaking way,
like one of the odds of this. So it was
kind of like a full circle moment. He's a really,
really cool dude. He's the perfect guy, perfect host for
this kind of show.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
So tell us about the show. What's the premise and
how you come into play because people are going to
have to watch a few episodes to see you come in.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Yes, So premise of this show is it's the ultimate
adventure game. It's ultimate. Remember like the game like back
when we were like elementary school, Like where in the
world is Carmen that computer game? Yeah, Karma Sino, that's
what I forget our last name. It's it's pretty much
like that, but you put a game board all across
Europe and everything's fair game and you get in a
(16:26):
bus with however many contestants are left at that point,
the bus has all fogged out windows, you can't see outside.
The only thing you can see is sun. That's the
only thing you can tell, like from the bright light,
but anything else you can't see. And the whole premise
is Jeffrey essentially takes us all around Europe and puts
us in certain cities, you know, for every episode, and
(16:48):
we have to guess where we're at. And how do
you do that. It's you got a couple of challenge
options throughout that episode that week for that episode, and
if you win the challenge, you get information. And that
information obviously is gold, and it's up to you how
to share it, if you want to share it, but
also if you want to decipher it, because not all
the information you're getting this accurate, and that's where the
twist comes in. So there could be red herrings out
(17:09):
there that can be a complete distraction, or it could
be legit information and so puts a lot of different
kinks in it and twists and turns. But it's all
about just creating alliances and trusting your gut, using your knowledge,
using any skills you have to give yourself the most
educated guess of where you're at in Europe. And then
(17:29):
at the end of every week, a certain amount of
people get selected to go to what's called a map room.
It's in the bus and we go to the map room.
We have to put our X down wherever we think
we are, and the person that's furthest away from that
from the correct location gets booted for that week, and
then you go so on and so on until the finale.
So Ultimate Guessing Game. It's a little bit of Amazing Race,
(17:51):
but a whole different twist huge. It's got the travel
of Amazing Race to like the social social aspect game
of Traders guessing there too, and just alliances, And honestly
it's it's I think it's first that it's kind I've
seen anything out there that's quite like this.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Do your skills as a pilot help you out figuring
out where you are?
Speaker 3 (18:13):
I had, Yeah, there was a couple instances. I honestly
thought it would have been more. But the main things
that like I brought from the flying aspect, I used
them like celestial navigation as much as possible throughout it.
So again that's dependent on having to have a clear
night and be able to see the north star, but
and you to be outside at some point. But if
(18:34):
I could see that, I could measure roughly my latitude
of where I was. So going into the game, I
kind of had you know, some key cities marked out
of what their latitude was and had that memorized, and
so I would use that information to compare with other
stuff that i'd gotten and other information I'd gathered from,
you know, anyone that I was constantly working with to
like give myself the best guess. So it helped me
(18:55):
in that aspect, and there was one time where it
came in super clutch. I recognized a anytime we were
new airports, obviously, I would like, you know, my alert
would go up a little bit, and I recognize the
departure corridor. We have what's called SIDS Standard Instrument Departure procedures,
so when you take off out of like a big airport,
every airplane follows the same course, and I recognize a
(19:17):
certain departure procedure I'd done a couple of years prior,
and that was super clutch for me because I at
that point was very very lost and very confused, and
so that was that was huge. So I would say
those are the two biggest ways that the piloting aspect
helped benefit me.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Oh my gosh, that's so cool. You must have felt
very like special, and you must have felt like you
I would have felt like, oh, I'm cool, I'm smart.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
I just felt lucky. At that point, because this the
hard part about this show is like and there's a
lot like almost every place you'll go through and you'll
think there's no way in the world like this setting
or this topography is in this country. And it is though,
and they do, like the creators that they showed it
such a good job of finding like such uniques in
each country, and like nothing's obvious, like people think this
(20:03):
game is this is the hardest thing I've ever done.
And so I was off. Believe me, I was off
a lot too, and you know, it's very humbling to
like realize, holy I was damned, Like this alliance just
may have saved me there or whatnot. But yeah, in
that case, I was really really stoking happy that I
finally got something because I was pretty lost at that point.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
I guess most people out there listening, we're probably like, okay,
but if you go buy a restaurant, you're going to
see a menu, You're going to see street signs with
the language. How do they hide that from you?
Speaker 3 (20:36):
You don't, So nothing's really there is a handful of
times where and you're only there after a challenge or
an elimination kind of round has been completed. There's only
a handful of times where you're really in like an
area with a lot of other people, like most of
the places. And that's what's kind of cool too about
the show, Like the shots are just going to be
epic and so stunning because it's just some of the
(20:58):
most beautiful landscape that Europe has to offer. That's where
we were spending most of our time. It wasn't like
in a specific town or a city where you would
have access to license like I remember researching like all
license plates and like and flags, brushing up on that,
but that would have been too easy, right, So they
you're always more it's more secluded, except for like a
handful of times where and you'll see how that makes
(21:20):
sense in the game.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
What's bus life like with these guys.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
Very difficult, a lot different than like a trader's aspect,
just because you have zero privacy. You're close quarters with
each other all the time, you know you have you're
sleeping on the bus daytime on everything's on the bus.
You're traveling hours every single day to get to the
next spot, which made it difficult. Like in Traders, you
could you wanted to have a talk and you wanted
(21:46):
to have a chat with you know, one person or
a crew here, and you wanted to get some privacy,
you go walk outside or you go into a room
and close the door. Here, you can't do that, like
you literally it's a lot of whispering. What was cool though,
is eventually, like as the game kind of progress, everyone
kind of got a common understanding that might listen, everyone's
in this together. It sucks for everyone, like no one
can only chat. Let's like give each other the respect
(22:07):
to like go and have private talks, like not trying
to butt in or be that guy. So it made
it a little bit easier towards the end, we kind
of all understood how to play it. But also, yeah,
I mean it's bus life, so it's you know, crame
quarters and just a different different experience than you know,
living in a mansion on The Bachelor or asshole in
the Traders.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
In a tam my question that everybody loves to know
about bus life, did you have to tell the driver
when you had to poop?
Speaker 3 (22:34):
We had everything? Well, we were fully like stocked everything.
We had a bathroom, showers, everything.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
You can do. Number two Yeah, okay.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
Good, you wouldn't you wouldn't want to, but I can
get really comfortable real quick, but you could if you
had to, if it was an emergency.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
So you and Janey are the two celebrities from this show.
She's from Love Island, USA, and you two come in
together toward you know, not in episode one. I'll just
let people know that no spoilers, but not in episode one.
Why would they just pick two celebrities to reality stars
(23:27):
to join this cast of Not to be rude in
any way, but like of normies.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
I don't know. I think I think you kind of
saw that that that format. So there's also Josh Josh Martinez.
He met him after the fact. He had I guess
we already episode two, but he had left episode one,
so we actually didn't get to see him. He was
I think he was big Brother and the Challenge, and
so there was three of us, and I don't know,
I think you kind of saw that format and Traders
(23:54):
season one you kind of had like a split thing.
Oh that's right, just yeah, it's it's a different take.
It's it's a different format. You know. Maybe there's just
who knows, like storylines that we had from that or
assumptions to be made from players because of you know,
people's past, you know experiences. Who knows, but I think, yeah,
(24:16):
it went, it went great. It was there was like
really no issue with that one.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
All right, Well, we are so excited to watch this show.
This is awesome. Thank you for explaining concept like that.
It's really really fun. Yeah, speaking of travel, are our
producer who is so scared of flying? The woman hasn't
flew flown since nineteen ninety nine. No, yes, she couldn't
(24:41):
go to Ben's wedding. She couldn't get to my wedding.
We've known it for almost a decade. HALLOAI News Sugarvin. Yeah,
I mean, I know she's not alone out there. Lots
of people won't fly, but like she won't even be
medicated to fly. It's sad. It's sad she's missing out
on some of life. And now she's particularly well, she's
feeling findicated after like so many like close calls and
(25:03):
of course that awful crash and the Potomac a few
months ago. What's going on with air travel? Do you
think that there's anything different? You think we're just hearing
about it more?
Speaker 3 (25:14):
Listen, air travel is you guys? I'm not going to,
you know, say anything you haven't heard before. Air travel
is the safest form of transportation out there by far.
It doesn't even compare when you compare it to cars, trains,
more just whatever it is. There's nothing safer than air travel.
You obviously, it's some really really sad and devastating you know,
(25:34):
news from some of those you know, unfortunate accidents that occurred.
You know, I can't speak too much on on all that,
you know, I'm not in like the we call it
NTSB National Transportation Security Board. They're the ones that like
have the full investigation on that and they know everything.
But it's it's tough. If there's anything I can say, listen,
(25:55):
it's that, you know, it's unfortunate with every accident though
in this anything in life, any type of transportation, it
makes it safer moving forward. It's obviously horrible that ever
happened in the first place, but we always there's something
to learn, and I can honestly tell you, like I
I have zero fear of flying, you know if I
fly obviously all the time for work, for you know,
(26:16):
pleasure to get you know, to get places too. Like
it's there's no reason to be scared. It's not like
there's this you know, crash down of ATC now all
of a sudden isn't working or airplanes aren't working anymore.
It's nothing like that. It truly isn't. And I know
it's just unfortunate, really unfortunate timing with stuff that's happened.
But I really hope that people, you know, trust in,
(26:37):
you know, in the training we all do you know,
whether it's ADC, pilots, fly attendants, everyone, mechanics, everyone that's involved.
It's such rigorous testing and consistent training on an annual basis.
There's I you know, I know people are gonna be terrified,
and I get that, like someone like Amy, and it's
it's a fear, and you know they're they have every
right to have that fear. But I promise you flying
(26:59):
it extremely safe. And I would not just be saying
that if I had any doubt in my mind that
wasn't the case. And it still is by far the
safest form of transportation that you can ever do.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Reagan is my hometown airport, being from Northern Virginia. I
always have heard I've always heard that it's one of
the airports that pilot's most dread flying in and out
of because of like the no fly zone and for
some reason I remember, like the Washington Monument or something
like that. Do you have you flown in and out
(27:33):
and like, do you find it to be an annoying airport?
Speaker 3 (27:36):
I know, I wouldn't. I wouldn't use those words for it.
It's just definitely a complex airport because you had a
lot of really restrictive prohibited airspace, so you can't fly
over with obviously the White House, a lot of the
monuments there, so you have a specific departure again, kind
of get into what I was talking about with you know,
sid's standard instrument departure procedures. It's very strict procedures flying
out of there, and when you have to make specific
(27:56):
turns to not overfly you know, a certain sensitive areas.
To be honest, I enjoy that. I enjoy, you know,
kind of being in it, and I don't like, I don't.
I don't really think a pilot would say like they
shy away from that. I think, you know, if pilot's
talking about shining away from something, it's probably not shying away.
That's not the right word, but kind of like being
(28:18):
whatever it is yeah, is more like airports with like
just a lot of delays and like going in and
where you know it's going to be, you know, just
because there's so much congestion on the field. But as
pilots were never you know, the skill level that we
keep in like the proficiency that we keep at all times,
there's never a case where we're going into worried or
nervous of are we going to be able to handle this.
(28:39):
We're always always qualified and ready to handle whatever situation
is going to we're going to encounter. So yeah, with Reagan, again,
yes there are complex procedures there, but we're trained to
do all that and we wouldn't be flying into that
airport still if that wasn't the case. So hopefully this
can kind of like you know, ease some fears with
with people flying. But I get it it's a sensitive
topic right now, especially with stuff that's been on the news.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Thanks for that, Peter. It's it's nice to have a
pilot so that they like that challenge rather than a
dread it. They dread delays though and crowded airports, which
ones top of mind for you.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
Let's see here, probably my favorite airport to fly into well,
it's always been in San Diego. I love flying in
San Diego, love flying into LaGuardia. I don't get to
do those too often now because I'm mainly all international.
Atlanta has a lot of delays. That's just you know,
a nature of the beast. That's, you know, I think
the biggest airport in the in the country. I'll probably say,
(29:36):
I guess maybe Atlanta, but I don't really fly that
much anymore. I'm not domestic.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
And yeah, you're not. You were Delta one point.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
I was. Yeah, I flew three years for Delta and
then not through at United.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Great and United is what your dad has retired from, right.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
Yeah, yeah, you're retired three years ago, almost three years
ago at the day I got That's what I got
to do is retirement flight.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
Oh my gosh, three years ago. Wow, I was flying
and that's not even my life.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
Much some three years ago now and since then, Jack,
my little brother, he now flies for us too. We've
actually been able to do a trip. We actually flew
to Shanghai together. So that was a cool bucket list moment.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
No way, that's so cool. I love how close your
family is and you just became an uncle because he
had a baby girl, Willow.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
Yep, little Willow funkl I got funkle duties going on.
So he is absolutely precious and has definitely definitely done
something to me. You know, you hear people say it
to you like, oh, you're gonna love being an uncle
or an aunt, and it's definitely it's cool, you know,
obviously my little brother, but I look up to him
in so many ways and just seeing the father that
(30:47):
he's become to Willow and like the love that he
has for her, it's just such a beautiful like I'm
so proud of him, and I like, I just want
to be you know. I know he has an amazing
model like in our dad and you know, our parents,
Mom and dad. But I can't wait too uh, I
can't wait for that day and hopefully it's not not
too far, you know, around the corner. So, but he's
(31:08):
definitely inspireming.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Oh yeah. My sister is just obsessed with our boys.
She's our third parent basically, and I'm always wondering because
she has she's so close to them and she talks
to them every single day when she has kids, Like,
is it going to be different for me? Because I
was the parent first, and then the aunt.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Is she older or younger?
Speaker 2 (31:32):
She's two and a half years younger. So staying again, right, yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
Well so you're you're I'm the older one. My little
brother has the older one.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Oh yeah, yeah, but I had the kids first, Yes,
I just yeah, I don't know. I'm like, I'm going
to feel the same way about your kids as you
have had the opportunity to feel about mine because you
didn't have kids, you know, I guess.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
Yeah, it's an interesting take. I mean, I would probably
assume it might be a little bit different just because
it's your first time being around them. But yeah, now
I'm obsessed with Willow. She is absolutely adorable and uh
yeah excited. That was a huge reason too to come
back to LA which has been great, just to be close.
And I knew that, you know, they were pregnant, so
they were having Willow on the way and timing just
(32:15):
kind of worked out. So it's been great.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
So you are a West Coast boy through and there.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
Yeah, don't get me wrong, I love New York City.
I have been able to go back a couple of
times since, and of course now it's you know, the
best time of the year. Out there and I'll love
forever have a love in my heart there. But yeah,
I mean, I grew up in LA I grew up
at her West Coast, so it's good to be back.
I'm in like a different area now, so it's cool.
(32:41):
It's like it's something new still and getting my bearings straight.
But yeah, being close to the family has definitely been nice.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Yeah, all right, guys. Well, the new show Destination X
new episodes on Tuesdays, ten ninth Central on NBC and
it will stream I'm assuming the next day on Peacock Pilot. Pete,
you're killing it. I assume you kill it again on
the show. I don't know anything, and we wish you
(33:10):
the best of luck with the new girl and with
you know, United continuing with that and Uncle life, and
we're just so happy for you.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
I appreciate it. Thank you so much. Always great connecting.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Yes, until next time, I've been Ashley. Bye, guys.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Follow the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcasts on
iHeartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast
with on our radio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Hey everyone, welcome back to the almost Famous podcast. I
am flying solo today. You'll get the pun in a second.
So I am here with pilot Pete. So I guess
I'm not flying solo. You are my co captain.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
I'm your copilot.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Let's do it, Peter, are you Are you captain yet
or are you co captain?
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Still? No, I'm still first officer. So I am three stripes.
Hopefully in the near future. I'd say, like maybe the
next two to three years. I probably plan on trying
to put my upgrade in and then that's all dependent
on it. There's open positions like in la Is where
I probably want to stay. So uh yeah, two the
three year mark is kind of what I have.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
My site said on has all the shows that you've
done over the past couple of years kind of put
you back in your career.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
No, no, So it's what's really nice about the airline
industry is everything's predicated office seniority. So the day I
was hired, like and since I was hired May twenty fifth,
twenty twenty one, so that date will follow me my
entire career. Until I turned sixty five and I have
to retire, and then so I can. Essentially, you can
pick up a full schedule, you can pick up overtime
(01:15):
if it's within your far limits, or I can drop trips,
but that doesn't have any bearing on career progression. All
that matters is your seniority number, and if it's senior
enough to take an open position, you can get it.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Okay, that's great. I'm glad that you've been literally able
to become a reality star on so many different platforms.
Now we're going to talk about your new show, Destination
X in a minute. It's on NBC and it's hosted
by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, which is really really cool. But
first we have we have some juicy stuff. So we
(01:49):
recently had Rachel Rekia, a fellow pilot, on our podcast
and the question was, if you can go on any
Bachelor's season that wasn't the one that you came from Clayton,
what would your choice be? And let's roll the audio anyway.
I'll start.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
I would be on Peter Webber season because he's sexy
and we're both pilots. Let's Rachel, you know it's funny.
I heard something about that. That's that's cool. Well, I
appreciate that. It's very sweet of her to say so,
because you.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Guys have that in common and you do follow each
other on Instagram. Have you gotten back and forth at
all about that.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
No, We've never had like a discussion like that. The
only I've only we only hung out like a handful
of times in person. I think the last time I
saw Rachel was I want to say it was in
Miami for our babble. I think it was our buzzle.
I saw her out there, but uh, yeah, we gotta
we gotta connect out in LA. I think she's still
flying her. She kind of like.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Put that, I think she still flies.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
She is okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
So when you guys have I've seen each other in
real life, like, has she called you sexy?
Speaker 3 (03:05):
No? To be honest, no, all that stayed very very platonic.
I think it's. Yeah, that's not to start any rumor.
That's all been very very platonic. But I do appreciate that.
It's very sweet to say.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
I do feel like you could be asked by ABC
The Bachelor again to be Bachelor, because you know, in
recent history, I think that you and Joey have been
the ones that have garnered the most attention. And Joey
seems I think he's going to make it down the
aisle with Kelsey and you are still single. So what
(03:41):
would you think if they were to come to you
again this is like five years removed.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Well, of course would come out here. I actually am
not single anymore, so.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
We're bringing Yes, this.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Is uh, I guess kind of yeah, this is very
very very new, like blessing right now. You know, I
love it. Yeah, I mean to be very honest and like,
I'm really blessing right now. Oh my god. Yeah, it's
very very new, very very fresh. Obviously gonna you know,
want to keep it very private, and you know, kind
(04:14):
of figured we probably get into a little bit of that,
but put any like, yeah, rumors, I guess aside for
any any bachelor type comeback. Hopefully there is never the
need for that, because I'm very excited and I am
very hopeful. So, oh my god, we will see what happens.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
You just moved back to LA. Did this girl have
anything to do with the move?
Speaker 3 (04:33):
No? No, And it's so funny because I literally so
I was in New York for the last like four
years and I, you know, Kelly and I had gone
back on on and off a little bit during that time,
but majority of it was all single, and you know,
I always wanted a relationship with It's no no secret obviously,
but you know it's never going to be someone of
course anything. But all my friends, they were so funny.
(04:55):
It was they were like all predicting when I was
going to come back to La, Like, dude, the second
you get back, you're it is kind of like we
just know you're going to find someone, You're gonna settle
down and it's just all gonna work. And I was like,
I would love that, that would be great, and they
were spot on. They were spot only literally the first day.
The first day, Yeah, first day's not crazy.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Okay, so I'm assuming it wasn't an apupdate then, No, No, it.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Was in person. It was a beautiful old fashioned meet up.
And yeah, I I really like I would I don't
want to, like just because it's like so new and
everything kind of just like keep it more private. But yeah,
definitely really excited. And it's funny how my friends really
predicted it and they all called it and who would
have thought. Literally the first day but kind of funny
(05:43):
how life works out that way.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Can you at least tell us where you met her, Like,
was this like a cute a meet cute at a
coffee shop or something?
Speaker 3 (05:53):
It was not that we met. It was actually on
a on a trip on a well a trip in
l a kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Yeah, okay, all right, well we'll let you have your
privacy now a little a little bit. And maybe that
makes sense as to why Kelly recently said when you
guys saw each other at Coachella that you said that
she was like this sister that you never had.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
I'm I meant that in the most endearing way, like true, true,
and sure, I mean, what are you gonna do now?
I can't take it back, But truly it was, and
she knows that, like I've seen her since and everything
like it. It was the most endearing I was trying
to make as a compliment. It was, you know, obviously
(06:39):
have so much respect for her and obviously love for
her that you know will never go away like that,
and yeah, we just you know, I try. It wasn't
for a shortage of try and write. And you know,
sometimes people work relationship, why sometimes they don't. Sometimes it's
just friends. And I guess if you want to look
at it a weird way, you can misconstrue it. But
it was not anything like that. I was just trying
to it was trying to be in here in comment.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
And I say this thinking that you and Kelly that
truly have a friendship beneath all the romance. Like I
think that you really have that foundation. So you said
that you've seen her since and you have this girlfriend.
Does the girlfriend at all think this friendship is weird?
Because I personally, being part of this bachelor world, I
(07:23):
think that it's totally legit that you would have a
friend in Kelly first and foremost. Does she feel weird?
Speaker 3 (07:30):
No, I honestly no, just I think just a lot
of like honest communication and you know, just talks. I
think I've made it like very clear like and then
you're right, Kelly and I do have like just a solid,
solid friendship. And again that's kind of where that comment
came from. I guess I know how it can be
like misconstruer made it look weird, but you know, I
think she she understands and like there's no worries there whatsoever.
(07:55):
There's no like drama or anything like that, which is
awesome and like I really appreciate that too. So again,
we Kelly and I, like we've been broken up for
a while. You know, she she's had a very serious
relationship post me and everything, so you know, there's been
a lot of time to like heal and move on,
and you know, obviously always wish the absolute best for her,
but there's like there's no drama like that and all involved,
(08:17):
like you know, moving forward with my current situation.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Okay, that's good. And Kelly was is currently being shipped
with Jason Tarctic. The fandom wants them to be together.
What do you think about them together? You were in
the same house as them during Coachella.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
And I because that's a weird thing to talk about.
I it wouldn't be like weird for me, Like and
it may sound odd, but it really wouldn't. I both
you know, to be completely crazy, like I, they're both
very they could work, Like honestly, I could see it.
(09:00):
Like they both are you know, I think similar people
in like certain regards. And again, like when I think
of both of them, I think, like the first thought
that really come into my mind is like it's just
respect both ways and like I look up to both
of them in a lot of different aspects of life,
and yeah, I zero hard feelings if that, if that
(09:22):
ever happened, that ever came to be. You know, I
don't really know where exactly that stands, but yeah, I
guess I'm happy that I can say that too. Like I,
you know, I would want everyone to be happy, and
if if that ends up being the case, you know, great,
If not, I think they'll be great friends. But yeah, zero,
zero hard feelings on the side of it.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
When they're together, do they like feel the pressure to
be flirty together because that's what people are rooting for.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
I honestly, like, I don't want to speak for them,
but I honestly think it's maybe being played up a
little bit more than it is. Like if if I
had to guess, like that's my impression, so yeah, I don't.
I don't like, No, I don't see them, you know,
turning it on or something or flirting with each other
feeling they need to do that. But I think it's
being played up a little bit more than it is.
If I had a guess, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Has your mom Barb met the new girl?
Speaker 3 (10:12):
Not yet? Not yet? Yeah, not yet. This is like so,
like I said, like, we met like very early on,
but you know, getting together has been a much more
recent thing.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
So did she watch you on the Bouchelor?
Speaker 3 (10:27):
No, okay, that's probably a good thing.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Is she tempted to watch back?
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Now it's not going to.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
You're like block like eye to the Apple and well,
I think apples where you can always stream every season.
I don't know where yours Elsier season might be.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
But yeah, no, I probably I think the healthiest thing
is probably not to not to do that.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
But yeah, okay, so you are on this new show
Destination X. I think that there. It seems obvious for
(11:11):
me to think that your wonderful game play on Traders
played a role in you being on this new show.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
I think, so, yeah, I wouldn't be surprised by that.
I you know, obviously same network with NBC and with
with Peacock. But I mean for me, going on the
Traders is like, you know, obviously, you know, like going
on the whole Bachelor experience and whatnot, it was such
a unique experience in its own right, but I doing
the whole Traders thing really opened my eyes, like the
whole gaming world and like how much I really love
(11:42):
that and just it's definitely more my niche. You know,
even if I wasn't with someone I don't, I would
never really do a love show again. Just that's not
my thing. And yeah, I think I just found my niche.
I love it. I'm extremely competitive, you know. I think,
you know, some success and traders probably helped me with
this next opportunity. And this was just one like I
(12:02):
for sure like never could have said no to is
right up my alley. Just the whole aspect of travel
and how passionate I am about that. Yeah, it was
kind of felt like I was like made for this
specific one.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
If Ben were here, he would say that Wells was
too good, has too much of a mind for traders,
and that's why he got eliminated so early. People didn't
want him. There you and Wells both in the same
trader's house.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
What happens ooh ooh, you know what, I really don't.
I gotta like, I gotta meet Wells more. I really
don't know Wells that well. It's interesting. I think he
obviously was like the bananas of my season, and I
think coming in as like probably a threat, it obviously is.
You know, if you follow TV and follow stuff that
(12:48):
well done. You can tell you's the very there's like
a very intelligent person and very sharp and that is
that can definitely be kind of maybe a turn off
for you know, contestants in a castle, you're trying to
compete with them like that. That seems like competition and
that seems like I think I think Kim and Bananas
definitely kind of played a similar role in that. So
I think if I played with Wells in a future season,
(13:12):
I would I don't know how I would go about that.
I think my mind's like spending like a million miles
an hour here. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Well, what about Gabby? How are you? How did you
do you know Gabby at all? Personally? Did you expect
her to do as well as she did?
Speaker 3 (13:27):
No? Also, honestly, I first I knew the most was
Dylan that went on that season. We had kind of
he had called me up and we chatted a little
bit before he left and tried to give him just
any advice that I could.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
You did you did well?
Speaker 3 (13:41):
You did? He won? Yeah, he killed. He played an
incredible game. Gabby though, she surprised me like no other. She.
I think she's the perfect blend of just of smarts
but also flying under the radar, you know, has the
perfect personality for like reality TV. They can also maybe
distract the little little bit from how intelligent she really
(14:02):
is and what kind of a game she's really playing
under the radar. So she's like, in my opinion, like
the perfect blend for I mean, obviously she won as well,
so I would love to play with Yeah, with all
of them, it'd be sweet if like to do like,
you know, an all star kind of season at some point. Yeah,
cool games, it's a blast.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
So you went from that show hosted by Alan coming
Big Star to Jeffrey Dean Morgan in this show and
that's cool. So how much interaction did you have with
both of them?
Speaker 3 (14:31):
So Alan's funny, I've gone to aland a little bit
more post show. It was, you know, more after everything
was already filmed. Like we did a couple of fun
So he's got this club called Club Coming in the
Lower East Side in Manhattan, and so he would host
a bunch of like watch parties. So we'd go there
and it was fun to just like kind of like
have a couple of nights like just let loose and
we're not really filming anything and just have fun and show.
(14:54):
So I got to know him a little bit better there, Jeffrey.
It was crazy. We actually bonded and he has a
bunch of tattoos, and he has like a bunch of
finger tattoos, and we're like on this one probably the
coolest challenge I think I got to do on the
show on Destination X. But we're like having some downtime
and I'm like looking at his tattoos. I'm like, all right,
(15:16):
I'm gonna try to like bond with him, so like, hey,
I have a tattoo as well.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
That is the easiest way to start a conversation with
somebody who's talking about the meeting behind their tattoos.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Yeah, it's so true though, And he had a bunch
of finger tattos. So I showed him mine and mine's
like the twelve for the Seahawks and he's from Seattle.
Didn't know it, and he's a diard Seattle Seahawks man.
So we started like connecting over that, and then we
both got invited. This is post show. Had no idea
either one of us was going. We got invited to
the Seahawk game when the Seahawks are playing the Jets
in New York and we both show up and we're like,
(15:46):
we're sitting right next to each other, like no freaking way,
like one of the odds of this. So it was
kind of like a full circle moment. He's a really,
really cool dude. He's the perfect guy, perfect host for
this kind of show.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
So tell us about the show. What's the premise and
how you come into play because people are going to
have to watch a few episodes to see you come in.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Yes, So premise of this show is it's the ultimate
adventure game. It's ultimate. Remember like the game like back
when we were like elementary school, Like where in the
world is Carmen that computer game? Yeah, Karma Sino, that's
what I forget our last name. It's it's pretty much
like that, but you put a game board all across
Europe and everything's fair game and you get in a
(16:26):
bus with however many contestants are left at that point,
the bus has all fogged out windows, you can't see outside.
The only thing you can see is sun. That's the
only thing you can tell, like from the bright light,
but anything else you can't see. And the whole premise
is Jeffrey essentially takes us all around Europe and puts
us in certain cities, you know, for every episode, and
(16:48):
we have to guess where we're at. And how do
you do that. It's you got a couple of challenge
options throughout that episode that week for that episode, and
if you win the challenge, you get information. And that
information obviously is gold, and it's up to you how
to share it, if you want to share it, but
also if you want to decipher it, because not all
the information you're getting this accurate, and that's where the
twist comes in. So there could be red herrings out
(17:09):
there that can be a complete distraction, or it could
be legit information and so puts a lot of different
kinks in it and twists and turns. But it's all
about just creating alliances and trusting your gut, using your knowledge,
using any skills you have to give yourself the most
educated guess of where you're at in Europe. And then
(17:29):
at the end of every week, a certain amount of
people get selected to go to what's called a map room.
It's in the bus and we go to the map room.
We have to put our X down wherever we think
we are, and the person that's furthest away from that
from the correct location gets booted for that week, and
then you go so on and so on until the finale.
So Ultimate Guessing Game. It's a little bit of Amazing Race,
(17:51):
but a whole different twist huge. It's got the travel
of Amazing Race to like the social social aspect game
of Traders guessing there too, and just alliances, And honestly
it's it's I think it's first that it's kind I've
seen anything out there that's quite like this.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Do your skills as a pilot help you out figuring
out where you are?
Speaker 3 (18:13):
I had, Yeah, there was a couple instances. I honestly
thought it would have been more. But the main things
that like I brought from the flying aspect, I used
them like celestial navigation as much as possible throughout it.
So again that's dependent on having to have a clear
night and be able to see the north star, but
and you to be outside at some point. But if
(18:34):
I could see that, I could measure roughly my latitude
of where I was. So going into the game, I
kind of had you know, some key cities marked out
of what their latitude was and had that memorized, and
so I would use that information to compare with other
stuff that i'd gotten and other information I'd gathered from,
you know, anyone that I was constantly working with to
like give myself the best guess. So it helped me
(18:55):
in that aspect, and there was one time where it
came in super clutch. I recognized a anytime we were
new airports, obviously, I would like, you know, my alert
would go up a little bit, and I recognize the
departure corridor. We have what's called SIDS Standard Instrument Departure procedures,
so when you take off out of like a big airport,
every airplane follows the same course, and I recognize a
(19:17):
certain departure procedure I'd done a couple of years prior,
and that was super clutch for me because I at
that point was very very lost and very confused, and
so that was that was huge. So I would say
those are the two biggest ways that the piloting aspect
helped benefit me.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Oh my gosh, that's so cool. You must have felt
very like special, and you must have felt like you
I would have felt like, oh, I'm cool, I'm smart.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
I just felt lucky. At that point, because this the
hard part about this show is like and there's a
lot like almost every place you'll go through and you'll
think there's no way in the world like this setting
or this topography is in this country. And it is though,
and they do, like the creators that they showed it
such a good job of finding like such uniques in
each country, and like nothing's obvious, like people think this
(20:03):
game is this is the hardest thing I've ever done.
And so I was off. Believe me, I was off
a lot too, and you know, it's very humbling to
like realize, holy I was damned, Like this alliance just
may have saved me there or whatnot. But yeah, in
that case, I was really really stoking happy that I
finally got something because I was pretty lost at that point.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
I guess most people out there listening, we're probably like, okay,
but if you go buy a restaurant, you're going to
see a menu, You're going to see street signs with
the language. How do they hide that from you?
Speaker 3 (20:36):
You don't, So nothing's really there is a handful of
times where and you're only there after a challenge or
an elimination kind of round has been completed. There's only
a handful of times where you're really in like an
area with a lot of other people, like most of
the places. And that's what's kind of cool too about
the show, Like the shots are just going to be
epic and so stunning because it's just some of the
(20:58):
most beautiful landscape that Europe has to offer. That's where
we were spending most of our time. It wasn't like
in a specific town or a city where you would
have access to license like I remember researching like all
license plates and like and flags, brushing up on that,
but that would have been too easy, right, So they
you're always more it's more secluded, except for like a
handful of times where and you'll see how that makes
(21:20):
sense in the game.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
What's bus life like with these guys.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
Very difficult, a lot different than like a trader's aspect,
just because you have zero privacy. You're close quarters with
each other all the time, you know you have you're
sleeping on the bus daytime on everything's on the bus.
You're traveling hours every single day to get to the
next spot, which made it difficult. Like in Traders, you
could you wanted to have a talk and you wanted
(21:46):
to have a chat with you know, one person or
a crew here, and you wanted to get some privacy,
you go walk outside or you go into a room
and close the door. Here, you can't do that, like
you literally it's a lot of whispering. What was cool though,
is eventually, like as the game kind of progress, everyone
kind of got a common understanding that might listen, everyone's
in this together. It sucks for everyone, like no one
can only chat. Let's like give each other the respect
(22:07):
to like go and have private talks, like not trying
to butt in or be that guy. So it made
it a little bit easier towards the end, we kind
of all understood how to play it. But also, yeah,
I mean it's bus life, so it's you know, crame
quarters and just a different different experience than you know,
living in a mansion on The Bachelor or asshole in
the Traders.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
In a tam my question that everybody loves to know
about bus life, did you have to tell the driver
when you had to poop?
Speaker 3 (22:34):
We had everything? Well, we were fully like stocked everything.
We had a bathroom, showers, everything.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
You can do. Number two Yeah, okay.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
Good, you wouldn't you wouldn't want to, but I can
get really comfortable real quick, but you could if you
had to, if it was an emergency.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
So you and Janey are the two celebrities from this show.
She's from Love Island, USA, and you two come in
together toward you know, not in episode one. I'll just
let people know that no spoilers, but not in episode one.
Why would they just pick two celebrities to reality stars
(23:27):
to join this cast of Not to be rude in
any way, but like of normies.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
I don't know. I think I think you kind of
saw that that that format. So there's also Josh Josh Martinez.
He met him after the fact. He had I guess
we already episode two, but he had left episode one,
so we actually didn't get to see him. He was
I think he was big Brother and the Challenge, and
so there was three of us, and I don't know,
I think you kind of saw that format and Traders
(23:54):
season one you kind of had like a split thing.
Oh that's right, just yeah, it's it's a different take.
It's it's a different format. You know. Maybe there's just
who knows, like storylines that we had from that or
assumptions to be made from players because of you know,
people's past, you know experiences. Who knows, but I think, yeah,
(24:16):
it went, it went great. It was there was like
really no issue with that one.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
All right, Well, we are so excited to watch this show.
This is awesome. Thank you for explaining concept like that.
It's really really fun. Yeah, speaking of travel, are our
producer who is so scared of flying? The woman hasn't
flew flown since nineteen ninety nine. No, yes, she couldn't
(24:41):
go to Ben's wedding. She couldn't get to my wedding.
We've known it for almost a decade. HALLOAI News Sugarvin. Yeah,
I mean, I know she's not alone out there. Lots
of people won't fly, but like she won't even be
medicated to fly. It's sad. It's sad she's missing out
on some of life. And now she's particularly well, she's
feeling findicated after like so many like close calls and
(25:03):
of course that awful crash and the Potomac a few
months ago. What's going on with air travel? Do you
think that there's anything different? You think we're just hearing
about it more?
Speaker 3 (25:14):
Listen, air travel is you guys? I'm not going to,
you know, say anything you haven't heard before. Air travel
is the safest form of transportation out there by far.
It doesn't even compare when you compare it to cars, trains,
more just whatever it is. There's nothing safer than air travel.
You obviously, it's some really really sad and devastating you know,
(25:34):
news from some of those you know, unfortunate accidents that occurred.
You know, I can't speak too much on on all that,
you know, I'm not in like the we call it
NTSB National Transportation Security Board. They're the ones that like
have the full investigation on that and they know everything.
But it's it's tough. If there's anything I can say, listen,
(25:55):
it's that, you know, it's unfortunate with every accident though
in this anything in life, any type of transportation, it
makes it safer moving forward. It's obviously horrible that ever
happened in the first place, but we always there's something
to learn, and I can honestly tell you, like I
I have zero fear of flying, you know if I
fly obviously all the time for work, for you know,
(26:16):
pleasure to get you know, to get places too. Like
it's there's no reason to be scared. It's not like
there's this you know, crash down of ATC now all
of a sudden isn't working or airplanes aren't working anymore.
It's nothing like that. It truly isn't. And I know
it's just unfortunate, really unfortunate timing with stuff that's happened.
But I really hope that people, you know, trust in,
(26:37):
you know, in the training we all do you know,
whether it's ADC, pilots, fly attendants, everyone, mechanics, everyone that's involved.
It's such rigorous testing and consistent training on an annual basis.
There's I you know, I know people are gonna be terrified,
and I get that, like someone like Amy, and it's
it's a fear, and you know they're they have every
right to have that fear. But I promise you flying
(26:59):
it extremely safe. And I would not just be saying
that if I had any doubt in my mind that
wasn't the case. And it still is by far the
safest form of transportation that you can ever do.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Reagan is my hometown airport, being from Northern Virginia. I
always have heard I've always heard that it's one of
the airports that pilot's most dread flying in and out
of because of like the no fly zone and for
some reason I remember, like the Washington Monument or something
like that. Do you have you flown in and out
(27:33):
and like, do you find it to be an annoying airport?
Speaker 3 (27:36):
I know, I wouldn't. I wouldn't use those words for it.
It's just definitely a complex airport because you had a
lot of really restrictive prohibited airspace, so you can't fly
over with obviously the White House, a lot of the
monuments there, so you have a specific departure again, kind
of get into what I was talking about with you know,
sid's standard instrument departure procedures. It's very strict procedures flying
out of there, and when you have to make specific
(27:56):
turns to not overfly you know, a certain sensitive areas.
To be honest, I enjoy that. I enjoy, you know,
kind of being in it, and I don't like, I don't.
I don't really think a pilot would say like they
shy away from that. I think, you know, if pilot's
talking about shining away from something, it's probably not shying away.
That's not the right word, but kind of like being
(28:18):
whatever it is yeah, is more like airports with like
just a lot of delays and like going in and
where you know it's going to be, you know, just
because there's so much congestion on the field. But as
pilots were never you know, the skill level that we
keep in like the proficiency that we keep at all times,
there's never a case where we're going into worried or
nervous of are we going to be able to handle this.
(28:39):
We're always always qualified and ready to handle whatever situation
is going to we're going to encounter. So yeah, with Reagan, again,
yes there are complex procedures there, but we're trained to
do all that and we wouldn't be flying into that
airport still if that wasn't the case. So hopefully this
can kind of like you know, ease some fears with
with people flying. But I get it it's a sensitive
topic right now, especially with stuff that's been on the news.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Thanks for that, Peter. It's it's nice to have a
pilot so that they like that challenge rather than a
dread it. They dread delays though and crowded airports, which
ones top of mind for you.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
Let's see here, probably my favorite airport to fly into well,
it's always been in San Diego. I love flying in
San Diego, love flying into LaGuardia. I don't get to
do those too often now because I'm mainly all international.
Atlanta has a lot of delays. That's just you know,
a nature of the beast. That's, you know, I think
the biggest airport in the in the country. I'll probably say,
(29:36):
I guess maybe Atlanta, but I don't really fly that
much anymore. I'm not domestic.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
And yeah, you're not. You were Delta one point.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
I was. Yeah, I flew three years for Delta and
then not through at United.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Great and United is what your dad has retired from, right.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
Yeah, yeah, you're retired three years ago, almost three years
ago at the day I got That's what I got
to do is retirement flight.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
Oh my gosh, three years ago. Wow, I was flying
and that's not even my life.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
Much some three years ago now and since then, Jack,
my little brother, he now flies for us too. We've
actually been able to do a trip. We actually flew
to Shanghai together. So that was a cool bucket list moment.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
No way, that's so cool. I love how close your
family is and you just became an uncle because he
had a baby girl, Willow.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
Yep, little Willow funkl I got funkle duties going on.
So he is absolutely precious and has definitely definitely done
something to me. You know, you hear people say it
to you like, oh, you're gonna love being an uncle
or an aunt, and it's definitely it's cool, you know,
obviously my little brother, but I look up to him
in so many ways and just seeing the father that
(30:47):
he's become to Willow and like the love that he
has for her, it's just such a beautiful like I'm
so proud of him, and I like, I just want
to be you know. I know he has an amazing
model like in our dad and you know, our parents,
Mom and dad. But I can't wait too uh, I
can't wait for that day and hopefully it's not not
too far, you know, around the corner. So, but he's
(31:08):
definitely inspireming.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Oh yeah. My sister is just obsessed with our boys.
She's our third parent basically, and I'm always wondering because
she has she's so close to them and she talks
to them every single day when she has kids, Like,
is it going to be different for me? Because I
was the parent first, and then the aunt.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Is she older or younger?
Speaker 2 (31:32):
She's two and a half years younger. So staying again, right, yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
Well so you're you're I'm the older one. My little
brother has the older one.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Oh yeah, yeah, but I had the kids first, Yes,
I just yeah, I don't know. I'm like, I'm going
to feel the same way about your kids as you
have had the opportunity to feel about mine because you
didn't have kids, you know, I guess.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
Yeah, it's an interesting take. I mean, I would probably
assume it might be a little bit different just because
it's your first time being around them. But yeah, now
I'm obsessed with Willow. She is absolutely adorable and uh
yeah excited. That was a huge reason too to come
back to LA which has been great, just to be close.
And I knew that, you know, they were pregnant, so
they were having Willow on the way and timing just
(32:15):
kind of worked out. So it's been great.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
So you are a West Coast boy through and there.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
Yeah, don't get me wrong, I love New York City.
I have been able to go back a couple of
times since, and of course now it's you know, the
best time of the year. Out there and I'll love
forever have a love in my heart there. But yeah,
I mean, I grew up in LA I grew up
at her West Coast, so it's good to be back.
I'm in like a different area now, so it's cool.
(32:41):
It's like it's something new still and getting my bearings straight.
But yeah, being close to the family has definitely been nice.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Yeah, all right, guys. Well, the new show Destination X
new episodes on Tuesdays, ten ninth Central on NBC and
it will stream I'm assuming the next day on Peacock Pilot. Pete,
you're killing it. I assume you kill it again on
the show. I don't know anything, and we wish you
(33:10):
the best of luck with the new girl and with
you know, United continuing with that and Uncle life, and
we're just so happy for you.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
I appreciate it. Thank you so much. Always great connecting.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Yes, until next time, I've been Ashley. Bye, guys.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Follow the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcasts on
iHeartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
Hosts And Creators
Ben Higgins
Ashley Iaconetti
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.