January 7, 2022 • 37 mins
Tori and Aneesa bring on Challenge Champion and 11x Challenger, Brad Fiorenza to talk about working with Jodi, what he learned from a game changing mistake during this week's challenge, and his thoughts on the new school crop of Challengers.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up, guys. It's story and I'm Anissa and this
is MTV's official Challenge podcast, All Stars to edition. Joining
us on the podcast today is a beast of a competitor.
He's a Challenge champion and this is his eleventh season.
Brad Fiorenza. Yes, and he has made quite the impact
(00:20):
on this season and it was really sad to see
him go home. So I'm really glad that we're able
to have him on this episode and I hope you
folks enjoy this interview with Brad. All Right, folks, it
is that time in the podcast where we get to
(00:42):
introduce an interview in All Star. This guy is a
star in my eyes, the man with the large beard,
one time Challenge Champ, eleven time challenger. Welcome Brad sia
NSA to thet everyone. Thank you so much for having me, ladies.
I'm excited to be here. Oh Brad, it's been an
(01:03):
incredible season watching you like you are such a badass
competitor and I mean, we're going to dive into it
more in the episode, but I hope you have your
head high because sometimes shit fucking happens when you're out there,
like and i'd like to know what happened? Are the
hands that big that you can't tie? And I need
to know what's going on? I will say it was.
(01:26):
It was the mixed bag of emotions watching this episode
because I remember how it felt and I knew watching
this would be difficult. Um, it does have a lot
to do with the hands, ironically, at up, should we
get into this? Now? Can we do that? We're jumping
in because it's fresh and it's right there. Just okay.
So I just cut my hand open on a challenge
(01:49):
before this using a stairway getting out of the snote.
So there was a wood screw sticking out and I
sliced my index finger on my right hand, and I was, well,
here's here's how it's lated. So while the rules were
getting read, I had to get my finger taped up.
I probably should have got stitches, but I was just
getting one of those tape jobs to get through the
day and I wanted to make sure my hands would
(02:11):
work properly. So I was concerned going into this. So
I went up to one of the officials and I
asked them to review the rules with me because my
finger is getting taped up. So the rules are described
to me as when I get on the truck, I'll
understand what it is, but I need to open each
box and unlock the keys. Ladies. There was no mention
(02:33):
of untying those knots. So if you see my level
of frustration on the first one, you think, yeah, So
I'm like, I'm literally watching it, and I remember, oh,
i'll know what it is when I get on the truck,
is what I was told. So I'm like, oh, i'll
know what it is. And I get to it and
(02:54):
I have. Now I just had my finger taped up,
so instead of going with the fingerless gloves, I took
the full finger gloves out of my bag because I
wanted to keep my finger that was cut open protected.
Biggest mistake. I should not have had finger full finger
gloves right and I definitely I don't know what I
could have done. I never even crossed my mind to
(03:15):
the knots had to be opened. I tried to untie
them and they didn't happen right away. So the next
thing I did was trying to rip them open, and um,
we saw, holy smokes. I thought it was I thought
they came off a little smoother than it looked. That No,
you hoped them you now you said, now it's a
necklace and ripped off all of the boxes. I mean
(03:36):
you literally lift you the fourth one. You just came
out the whole whole box. I mean, did they have
back up in the art department. I wanted to know
what the art department was thinking when they were like,
he just he just ruined these boxes. Yeah, Oh my gosh, terrible,
you know I felt. I swear to God. I had
an EP come up to me afterwards because I put
it in a note to speak to the EP and
(03:57):
I said, I want you to know I never would
have done that on purpose, and she started laughing, like
we already know that, Like, because I was really stressed
out thinking that they were upset I broke their equipment.
But I also want to add that another factor in
me doing that. So when I got to the semi
trailers and Jody and I were getting ready to go,
I saw them putting wood screws into one of the boxes,
(04:18):
so they were rebuilding it right before I went, And
I thought the group that went before me just read
that exact same thing. Yes, oh, in my mind, ladies,
in my mind, had I not done that. I was
going to lose. I already thought other people had done that,
so I didn't think I was like mine. I didn't. Yeah,
I didn't think I was doing anything innovative. I didn't
(04:40):
think I was coming up with a short cut. I
thought I was doing what everyone else did. And it
turns out I hulk smashed the equipment and I got
dqued right before the final challenge. Oh my god, well
you know what's quaite? Well, I'm just thinking, like, even
though you hulk smashed in dqued, which obviously he sent
(05:00):
you guys right into elimination, but Jody also couldn't get
her knots untied. But did you guys not have a conversation?
Did you guys? Did you not say to her, all right, Jodey,
I'm gonna go up there and I'm gonna rick get
the jokes. Yes, you know, can answer your question, tory Um.
There was no conversation about the knots because Jody and
(05:20):
several other people still did not hear the untying of
the knots. That did hear the rules, and I could
kind of hear the rules while my finger was getting taped,
But just to be thorough, I asked to restate the
rules to make sure I didn't miss anything. So several
other people missed the portion about the knots being untied.
And if you know the game that we play, and
if you played it with Darrell, he asks a lot
(05:41):
of questions. And the reason that him and Janelle knew
to do that was because of the conversations that they
had in the car ride to the semi trucks. And
we did not get to see what anyone else did
except when they passed us. So you kind of know
how that works. It's like maybe one or two seconds
and no clue what anyone actually did. Right, So for
future reference, are you going to ask for like do
(06:02):
a Hulk smash? Or do I not right? Do I untie?
Which rules? Like? Just reask the rules? You know a
couple of times? Like you didn't, Well, Jenny didn't get
it the first two times. Yes, and I have started
to ask questions differently since this experience. Right, I don't know,
I mean, I have to I have to process past this.
It's hard to watch. I can't believe I did that.
(06:25):
I still think, I mean, it's it's it was silly,
but I will say that like you really did incredible
this season, you and Jody were the team to be Um.
How did you feel being back? I mean, we haven't
seen you in a while. We have missed you. Oh,
thank you. I love being back. It's like one of
the best feelings ever U. I mean, you know, it's
(06:48):
not only a great opportunity to catch up with a
lot of people you know and meet new people, but
it's a great opportunity to compete as well. And you know,
when you put as many years into this game, and
when this game becomes such a large part of your
life as it has for us, I feel like there's
just so many gosh, there's so many attributes to this
game that you can't even put into words when you're
(07:08):
a player, and it's such a blessing to be back.
I'm so grateful. Yeah, you've done ten seasons before coming
onto All Stars. What's the biggest difference between All Stars
and other seasons. Oh? Wow, it's a great question, Tori.
I think that this is close, even though it's still
an individual challenge for an individual winner on the male
(07:31):
female side of things, I feel like this reminds me
more of the early challenges that I would show up
to as opposed to Vendetta's or Final Reckoning, it does
have a lot more of that original Challenge vibe, and
I feel like that's probably the biggest difference. And then
(07:51):
you know the time portion of it. Yeah, it definitely
is shorter. But not only has a game changed, I
feel like you're the way you play has changed, Like
I don't I don't know if political Brad was there before.
I feel like it was like a lot of braun,
Like you were just in there, like competing and talking
shit when you needed to, having a good time. You're right,
(08:12):
You're absolutely right. Yeah, what changed this season? So I
actually was really proud of the political game that had
developed for me. And I say it with those words
because I didn't have this plan going into the game,
and it truly did develop as the season started to progress,
and as the King's Palace started to advertise their alliance.
(08:35):
It put me in a very awkward position well because
Nia Maiah's my boy and we had a conversation like
a month before we left for the Challenge about like,
you know, doing what we could for each other. But
when you're three weeks in or two and a half
weeks in and there's been no additional conversation and now
you're clearly advertised in this other alliance after no additional
game talk, and there's more to the story than that.
(08:58):
It just really put me in a position and where
I had to start looking for alliance. The only people
I had game talk with prior to was Durrell and Miamiyah,
and it was very vague. It was if we can
help each other when we figure out the game, we will,
And I like to keep things pretty simple like that.
I don't like to, you know, right checks, my ass
can't cash. So I basically, you know, I was working
(09:20):
with Durrell, Janelle, Jodi, and myself as a core for,
and then we also had mj and h john A
that were kind of you know, they kind of had
deals floating around with everybody. You can kind of see
that that's their gameplay. So they worked out well for
the core for and Durrell calls it the silent sticks
(09:41):
in this episode, but we were all we were all
reciprocating and doing what we could to keep each other safe.
So it was a it was It was definitely the
best alliance I've ever been a part of, so I
was super excited about that. Several points of the game,
I was like, holy shit, I'm actually in a good
position with the vote, which before I was kind of
at the mercy of the point. Yeah, it was really
(10:03):
entertaining watching the alliances split up, and I actually loved
King's Palace and I, oh, yeah, I loved the energy
that they brought to the show, like love the song.
You didn't, I'm sure, but I also didn't live in
that house, right, But as a viewer, I'm like, I'm
loving the energy that they bring. I'm wondering if it
like bothered you, like it bothered some of the the
other challengers, Like you see in the beginning of this episode,
(10:24):
they're celebrating, you know, and they're thriving in their King's Palace.
Did it bother you being in the house or were
you happy to see me and Ia doing well? You know,
It's funny you should say that, because I'm always happy
to see me and Iya doing well, whether it's a
game i'm in or whether I'm not in the game.
You know, I was happy to see him doing well.
I loved Tech. I wanted to be aligned with those guys,
(10:44):
but I just saw the weight it was unfolding, and
I'm like, oh, I'm at the bottom of that, lad
Like when the game started to split, and it split early,
as you ladies saw, when the alliances were advertised, I
was like, oh shit, like I get along with every buddy,
so it was kind of like difficult to maintain, you know,
the relationships with the alliances. Really yeah, yeah, I mean
(11:08):
I think everything's really hard, especially live. I mean, the
game's change, things are splitting up. You have to live
in that house. How was living in the house? How
are the house conditions? Are these kids a little cleaner?
We saw a little bit of work, but yes, a
lot cleaner. I'm pretty clean, so I like to keep.
I'll keep. I'll always do my dishes. I don't feel
(11:30):
right leaving a dishes. Think it just feels weird to me.
And like everybody hear that if any challenges are out there,
do you hear Brad saying it makes him feel weird dishes?
Call me out. If you ever see me leave a dish,
you won't see that. Will stand right by the sink, Brad,
You didn't do that dish? Did yet? Oh you'll never
catch me slipping a NISA, But I will say, do
(11:50):
your best to try and with that said, it is
cleaner you have more adults, but I will say there's
always a few, right, And the odd thing is this,
And I kind of laughed to myself because I'd hear
people getting upset about certain people leaving the dishes in
the sink, and I'd kind of just laughed in my head, like,
keep doing that, You're gonna get your assboted out of here.
Like that, no one has much to go off of
(12:14):
on All Stars. Everybody's friends with everybody for the most part,
so you don't really see the feuds the same way,
you know, as you have on other seasons. Even with
the Greek salad in the last episode, I was ups
I love a good Greek salad. I love a Greek
salad favorite, Brad. You were part of the original Pizza Gate, right,
so like you've seen food coming to play before, I
was part of the new unfolding Pizza Gate in this
(12:36):
last season the Spies, Eyes and Allies. There's something to
be said about food in the Challenge House, like absolutely,
And I was having Pizza Gate flashbacks while the whole
salad thing was unfolding, no word of a lie, and
I just couldn't believe how food was brought into the
storyline in such a serious way, and Jody was authentically
upset and Ianna was strict pgically getting under her skin
(13:01):
with the Yeah. She was like, I made love to
that Greek salad. I was wrong with that Greek salad.
I know. Jody was like, damn it, Well, I'm glad
I paid for that fucking Greek salad. She was so
I could see like she would probably like, Yanna, please
come in to the to the lair, right into the
cleaner with me. I have a question I just need
(13:23):
clarification on because we get food catered on the other challenge, right,
and so do you not get food catered on this one?
Like how did she pay for and buy a Greek salad?
How'd that happened? Jealous? One of those nights where we
could go out and like, you know, maybe have a
couple of drinks in order food if you if you
wanted to, And that was her cake home, like her
I'll get to this later kind of thing. So she
(13:44):
kind of got it as a treat, paid for it
with her own money. I've got to tell you something, ladies,
I've never had a Greek salad before in my life.
I just was always turned off by the look of
the dressing, but after it was hyped up to this extent,
I feel like I need to get my hands on one. Yeah,
I have them. I have at least though. Wow, Okay,
(14:05):
what was it like working with Jody? Speaking about Jody? Yeah,
it was great working with Jody. We had the best time,
especially when we were winning, and um, we had so
much fun. We really did. I really felt bad when
I d cute us because had I not dcute us,
she would have made it to the final. Um. I
(14:27):
know it had been a very long time for her
since she made a final. Same thing with me. That
was a lot riding on that challenge, and we had
such a great experience. I didn't realize that there was
gonna be such a ray of light that came from
the hardships of being put against Derek so early because
Derek and I are friends, so after he had left
the game, the next challenge is when I realized, Wow,
(14:49):
Jody's kind of a free agent, and her and I
started to kind of link up. And then the next
thing I knew, um, right when we got all of
our good momentum going, I d cute us on those
damn boxes, and I sent us into elimination, and I
was really proud of everything she did, every step of
the way. Um, you know, looking back, we could always
do a little better, but we really performed well together,
(15:10):
and I would love a chance to do it again.
I mean, you guys crushed that elimination. It was so close,
which makes it even worse. Sometimes like a shutout, you're like, yeah,
we had no chance. But when it's like it's two
I love to it's two kilos, He's like, oh, no,
one kilo. I don't know how much that is, but
it sounds like a little I don't know. That's like
(15:31):
you're like, shit, I know, yeah, it's like a baby
hand weight. I know, I know how you feel. I
mean it sucks. Yeah, I know that. I know that
you probably trained really hard for this one. Yeah, I
mean I did. I mean could always train harder. You
always tweak something in your training program looking back, but
it was one of those things where I knew I
did the best I could. I knew I didn't hear
(15:53):
that about tying the rope, and I knew that even
in that elimination, I did the best I could. But
that still doesn't take away from the look back at
what that two pounds of concrete actually looks like. Is
it the pieces that were sitting outside of the box?
Is there anything I could have done differently? And you know,
I think that the truth is you need a little
bit of luck to win one of these. It's it's
(16:15):
you do. Yeah. You could train, you could train until
you're blue in the face. You could be right. I mean,
you could be the Bruce Lee of Challenge Games, and
you're should be a little luck. Yeah. Yeah, So does
this keep you up at night? Oh god? Any oh,
I'm sorry, Yes, I mean I think there are moments
in challenge history, like in everyone's challenge history. Yeah, there's
(16:36):
that one elimination or that that one challenge where you're like, fuck, yeah.
I think about this sometimes at night when I can't
fall asleep. To be completely honest with you, Anissa, I
think it might a little bit now that we discussed
it in detail. I think I blocked it out right
when I got in the plane ride home. I'm sorry,
but here's the thing, Um, it's all part of the process.
(17:00):
And yeah, I had a whole pot of coffee with
Jody the next morning and she was all banged up
about this, and I just kept telling her, Jody, you
did incredible, Like at some point you have to know
you did your best and just leave it on the field.
And that's what that's I have to take my same
advice looking back, knowing you know, I didn't hear that
about tying the knots I sailed in real world San Diego.
(17:23):
I know knots Bowen's double bowens. This isn't helping your case, Brad.
I know if I knew what I'm saying is what
I'm saying is if I knew that I had to break.
I know with a bow and you crack it first
and then you pull the part of rope through. So
like I could name those knots, I know exactly how
to untie them. I had the full finger gloves on
(17:45):
and didn't know we couldn't. I didn't know we had
to untie them. So when I gave it a couple
of tugs and I got frustrated, I thought, oh my god,
I have to rip these things open. And that wasn't
the right move. But listen, the thing is is you
can only have You're only responsible for your part. And
Jodie also did not finish her nots. So even if
by chance you were to finish them, you guys still
(18:06):
could have been put in the same situation. You just
can't like, but I get it. I've also been in
a situation where I'm like, I had a brick smashing
elimination and I lost by a second, literal second, and said,
you don't forget that stuff. You know, it sits with you.
So I honestly think, like, like you said, this all
part of the healing process. You got to relive it,
you got to talk about it, and then you gotta
let it go because hopefully you get another opportunity in
(18:28):
the future and you're going to come back and kill it. Yeah.
But if you had the opportunity to change something, and
you could change your competitors, would you have Oh, elaborate
on that a little bit. What do you mean if
I could change something? I mean, so, if we could
rewind time and it wasn't Darell and Janelle, Like, who
else would you have rather gone against? Oh? Okay, I
(18:52):
think that Jody and I probably would have beat any
other team there. Wow, I'm just gonna I don't know,
only say things like this, but I'm confident that we
would have I think that, Hey, I got to take
a lot of responsibility for that because they asked me
who I wanted to go up against, and I said,
I don't want to get involved in that energy. Let
(19:12):
the universe in the house decide. That's what I said,
to go. Let the universe in the house decide, and
very old school of you well the way to do
it up. But looking back to what you're saying, like,
what I will say is, um, they were a very
well oiled machine in that elimination, and I don't think
I think they would have been the parrot to beat um. Yeah,
(19:35):
who knows, But you knew you knew Janelle was injured.
So did you going into that, did you think maybe,
like maybe we do have a leg up? That crossed
my mind, But then I pushed that right out of
my mind. That thought with it. You never know what's
really going on with somebody. I believe Janelle. I'm not
saying she's a bullshit or on any level, but what
I am saying is I've seen some wild stuff happen
(19:57):
in the Challenge house going home one minute, you're winning
them next you know, like, let's just so I just
kind of looked at that like, Okay, you're choosing to stay. Well,
if you're choosing to stay, then you're good, and you're
good to compete because I tried never to underestimate anybody,
you know. Yeah, Well, this elimination looked incredible and I've
never seen anything like it before. I mean, I've seen
(20:18):
like a variation of it with brick smashing and trying
to like fill up buckets, but never a house with
TJ's face on it. So what was your strategy going
into this elimination? Oh my gosh, So Tori, I'm looking
at everything in the room, and I'm looking at those
cinder blocks, and I'm thinking those half to weigh the most.
How are we going to smash those the quickest? And
I looked at the sledge hammer and I looked at
(20:39):
the blocks, and I'm like, I don't need this hammer.
That's the first thing I thought is I'm gonna throw
the hammer on the ground and I'm gonna start smashing
the bricks on top of each other right in front
of the hole, and then I'll start shoving the pieces
through the hole as soon as they're big enough. And honestly,
I don't think I would have changed anything about that. Strategy.
It works pretty damn good. Yeah. Did you watch this
on Dirty not Dirty thirty Bloodlines? No, I had no
(21:01):
idea what we were doing when I walked in. I
couldn't believe that they've done this before. Yeah, but you
had to break every single thing in the room and
fit it through a hole. Oh, I didn't know every
single thing. I mean, the sofa, everything interesting. Yeah, so
like I kind of merged yours and that one. Yeah,
well everyone smash house, smash house, and I'm like, I
(21:22):
don't know what that is. Still, like I've oh, right,
yeah that's it. But it wasn't smash house. It was
let's get these cinder blocks through this hole, Jody right now. Yeah,
it was a great elimination. I would have loved to
have won that one for not being like a headbanger.
I think that's a really good one. Um right, we
just didn't have what it too. Yeah, it's just Yeah.
Did you feel like you guys had a leg up,
(21:44):
both you and Jody, since you had been into eliminations
already this season? Oh that was the pep talk that
I gave Jody going in. Yeah, I said, we've already
been in. We know what to do. We'll be fine,
and it just didn't work out like that, you know,
M so after as loss, sorry to keep talking about it.
Do you want to do another season? Yeah? I really do.
(22:08):
You know, honestly, I would do as many seasons as
I can get. I feel like life is short and
we don't get this time back. And I love this game,
so you know, I want that perfect game, like you know,
like we were speaking about before we started this, where
you get to a good training program and you show
up and like your your political games on point, you
perform well. But you know, I haven't had that perfect
(22:32):
game in my mind, and I would like to get
as many experiences like this in because they're all different. Um,
you know, the group of people that you get to
just be around as a blessing in itself, So you know,
I'd like to do as many as possible. For sure.
I would also say another blessing or your abs, So
I think as long as you have them, I think
(22:52):
you should come back and show them off. Thank you
giving these a lot of people from All Stars two?
Were almost on All Stars one? Were you almost so
on All Stars one? Did you get that call? Yess? Yeah,
I kind of screwed up because I didn't take the
(23:15):
process very serious. They were calling me for the flagship
show still, and I got called for like two or
three seasons in a row where I didn't get the contract.
So I was super frustrated because we all try not
to change our life too much, but you get the
call and you start thinking what if, and then you
start training and you know. So I got frustrated to
the point where I really didn't take the process very serious.
(23:35):
On the second season. I had already started watching season
one and I was sold. I wanted in, so I
took it very serious. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you get
any advice from anybody that was on All Stars one?
Not really. Things were pretty busy and it all seemed
to happen very quickly, So I felt like season two
just like I came about back. I think I only
(23:55):
had like two or three weeks before I left once
I got got my contract, so it was pretty quick. Um,
but I didn't really get much of a heads up
from anybody once I got there. It was quite a
bit different. But to be honest with you, ladies, and
maybe you could tell by watching it, season two was
so different than season one. What I'd watched yeah, what
I planned to sign up. You know, I'm like, oh,
(24:17):
this is gonna be one big, fun, little pow wow.
And it was a little bit more competitive than that,
you know, So yeah, I mean a lot a bit more. Yeah,
I would say a lot of it as well. I
just didn't want to I love that last challenge you did.
I would have loved to have done that. Oh it
was cool. They just keep getting more and more. Remember
when we just used to like jump from like platform
to platform or like walk on it unstable bridge or
(24:39):
I don't know dot, you know, jump off boxes or
rollerblade and get a BMW whatever. Oh. Yeah, like this
shit's really changed. Yeah. They do pull out some incredible
challenges every once in a while. Yeah, well, you had
some cool wins this season. What do you think was
the most rewarding challenge win for you? Oh? I think
(24:59):
that it would probably be the one where Jody and
I won the flags probably, I think. Yeah, Yeah, it
was a pretty that was not just fun. Yeah, it
was a fun one and it was a pretty important
one with the shift of the alliances. It was pretty
late in the game, So I would say that was
probably my most favorite this season. So you said that
(25:20):
you got called for the main show, would you do
that one again? Yes? I would. I think the time
frames with All Stars is a lot more pleasant. However, Yeah,
but you know it's like you get so used to
your environment, so like three months. Uh, that's a lot
to picture. However, it's hard to say no. It's a
(25:44):
health and experience. So I would do it. Um, but
I love doing All Stars right now. I'm super happy
where I'm at. So if they keep calling me, I
would be honored to keep coming back. And if they
called me for a flagship season, I would show up. Yeah.
What do you think about like all these New School
competitors end, Like, how would you feel they would pair
up against the All Stars? Like, what do you think
(26:04):
a big battle would be? Like? Oh, I think that's
the best season that we could forecast. At this point.
New versus Old is by far the hottest concept. I
mean that might be challenged forty. To be honest, I think, yeah, wow,
that Tory. I love you, baby, but I'm gonna have
(26:24):
to go against you, oh girl, But it'll be friendly,
I'll be I think, well, I think it'll bring out
the best in every competitor. I agree the young uns
want to show the old people up, you know, for
shirt online, I mean whatever, and it's like we still
got it, like collectively we bust ask Ivt's on our team,
(26:47):
like Brad's there, Jody's there. You'd have some heavy hitters.
But I have confidence in the New School. I have to. Yeah,
but don't let these girls that have been and retire
Emily Rachel, don't let Evelyn come back. Don't make you
suck around him. Birth another challenge competitor right now you're
ready for Misa is not coming, My cat's coming. Maybe
(27:09):
going around and birth The competitor question for you, Tori,
So you've been on a lot of the Flagship season,
so have you an Lissa, So, like, how do you
think a lot of the New School competitors would truly
pair up? Like could FESSI and could FESSI hold his
on with CT? Like I've never seen Fessie in person.
I've heard he's a big man and he can perform well,
So like you know, like does he have that CT
(27:31):
switch where you could just you can know, Okay, um,
not in the same way. I think he's I think
Fessi's really athletic for such a big guy, like he's
a great runner. Yeah, like high knees, all day football player, okay, um.
I think that he's like kind of good, like he
can pick up football, he can skate like he can
(27:51):
he's agile, he's you know, he's smart. He Yeah, but
there's not a CT just like no one he's read.
It's a very different. CT is just in a class
all his own. I can't really like absolutely compare that,
but I feel like like I think CT is the
one outstanding person that doesn't really have anyone that can
(28:11):
touch him, honestly, but I think every other person, I
think that you could find somebody that there could be
an equal new school to old school. Well, Kells, we
didn't really get to see what he could do size wise,
I think maybe would give CT. But CT has that
like even if, like with Derek like scrappy as shit,
even though he's that small and you don't really get
like intimidated by him, but there is that switch with
(28:34):
Derek all right, yeah, any guy, it's probably getting beat. Yeah. Yeah.
So I mean that too is like a different a
different animal too. When we're dealing with like old school
where we just had to like instinctually just go and
I think we were scrappier in that nature, but it's hard.
I don't know. Listen, we might as well fired up
because I would love to know in New School all day.
(28:57):
Maybe somebody has to be rapping in the New School
on this side. I mean, I love All Stars and
I would love to be on it. But right now,
mother fucking go. That's good, Tory, Tory. My question to
you then, is who is the most competitive male and
female New School competitors in your opinion? Oh that's really tough,
because you know what, I think that there's a few,
Like I think for girls, it's definitely Casey kill a Cam.
(29:21):
I think I'm up there. Um, I'd say for guys,
it's probably Fassy's up there. I mean he's made it
to two finals. Kyle, you can't. Kyle's incredible. Um, if
Devin could get his endurance unlock, he's a fucking brainiact
for sure, no one. Yeah, he's the only person that
could touch CT in a puzzle, just can't touch endurance wise. So, um,
(29:44):
there are some there are some hitters, but it's different.
It's and you know, like it's like you said earlier,
it's gonna come down to luck. It's gonna come down
to what the challenges and how it's going to be.
So I think it would be a very even match.
I think it would be very exciting to Oh same,
I agree. I think it's the most exciting cont up
that's on the table. And I can't stop picturing Devin
with cardiovascular ability now was just no. I mean, because
(30:06):
he's super smart, he's super funny. He's a great game player.
If that man learns to run, oh with time. If
you can run and hold it, you can hold it.
If you can just hold a strong pace, he would
be a serious, serious competitor for a long He posted
a video of his on his Instagram the other day
picking up a ball and smashing it into the ground.
He's likeas he looks like he's turning him on. Some
(30:28):
of us that aren't runners are really trying it well.
Hopefully new versus old happens and we can all just
get an incredible shape and do our absolute past. There
would be nothing. It would be really funny too, oh,
because there are a lot of like old school personalities
like throw Tech in there too, Like the best cheerleader
ever I've never heard. He makes up shit that I've
never heard of, and I'm like, I'm gonna go with
(30:48):
that fucking awesome love. He would cheer for his own team,
and I would take it like he was cheering for me. Yeah, yeah,
he's awesome. I was like, Okay, I don't worry. Yeah
he's awesome. Like that good energy that man. Yeah. So
Brad obviously like it's so sad that you got sent home.
You really did have such an incredible season, so you
should be proud of yourself. But now that you're not
there anymore, who are you rooting for? Um? Well, because
(31:12):
Durrell and Jannelle beat us, there's something that like goes
with being beat by somebody, Like I remember hugging Durrell
in that moment that I just watched, Like, I remember
the feeling of loss, and then I remember hugging Durrell
and thinking, I hope you take this home. So Durrell
and Jannelle, for sure, they're the ones that took us
side of the game. They were also my closest allies
(31:34):
in the game. So with that said, I I'm rooting
for them. Nice, good solid pick, Thank you. I like that.
And at least you didn't have to deal with that
major twist at the end where they're like you're starting
the final now, I mean my stomach dropped. Yeah right too,
I was like, where's support body? Right? Oh my gosh.
And then going right from an elimination straight from the final.
(31:54):
I don't even know what. I'm excited to see what
this is gonna look like because I heard about it
and was like, wow, that's but now we're going to
see how much time they really had and what they're
gonna do. Yeah right, yeah? Crazy? Oh man. All right, Brad, Well,
we have one final question for you, and because niece's
Queen of the Challenge, she is going to ask it. Okay,
I guess that's what they're calling me now, my throat.
(32:18):
So the final question for you, Brad. You're competing on
All Stars, which is about the greatest of all time.
So I would like to know, in your opinion, who
the greatest competitor is, what the greatest season is, and
the greatest challenge. Okay, So I think that the greatest
competitor of all time is CT. I think he's just
(32:39):
cut from a different cloth. The man is incredible. He
shows up heavy, still runs finals and wins them. He
shows up light and still solves puzzles, and you know,
and plays a great political game as well. So I'm
going to just go ahead and give the best competitor
to CT. I think the best season in my opinion,
at least that I was a part of, was Dual One.
(33:01):
There was so many firsts on that season. We had
CT and Dam's love story, We had so many incredible
moments with that. We had the first individual male and
female winners. I got to run that final with West
and Jody. I didn't win, but I was able to, um,
(33:22):
you know, at least be part of that experience. Running
that first final with them in Rio was such an experience.
It was absolutely incredible, no breaks, no no stop watches.
I mean six and a half hours of straight running
up a mountain. Wow. Yes, oh my gosh, incredible. And
you know, to see Jody and West win, I still
(33:43):
I felt like I was part of something special. So
that was definitely my number one season. And then, what's
your favorite type of challenge to compete in? Oh? My
favorite type of challenge? Well, I'll tell you what it's not.
It's not trivia. Yeah, my favorite type would be let's see,
there's so many good ones. I like the semi truck ones.
(34:05):
Those are always cool. I don't mind heights, but let
me gather flags or something. Don't dangle me out there
and ask me a bunch of questions, you know what
I mean? Right, Like, you give me something to look
at and get excited about. But I like the physical
ones usually, like, um, I guess what would that be considered?
The semitruck ones? That's not endurance? What is that? Like
(34:26):
a mad Max? Yeah, the mad Max? Yeah something I
like that. Well, I like all those picks and Brad,
it's been an absolute pleasure to have you on the show.
Thank you so much for coming on talking. You've been
incredible to interviews. Seriously, probably one of my favorite interviews yet.
Oh my gosh, thank you so much. Remember when he's like, well,
thank you for asking Tori, and I'm like, I love him,
(34:46):
thank you. How can we support you? Where can the
fans follow you and send you a lot of love? Well,
Brad few Runza is my handle for Instagram and Twitter.
You can always find me there, and you know I'm online,
so come find me. Cool people. Do not send him
picks of cinder blocks. He has already out. Send him hearts, love, big, strong, muscles,
(35:14):
pictures of him and his abs, race cars, street bikes,
whatever you can, pictures of other men with long beards, whatever,
Just go and support him. Thank you so much, Brad,
Thank you, ladies. I had such a good time. Yeah,
no one, thank you. Love Brad, love you bye. All right, Anny,
(35:41):
So I have to say we're not giving out awards
for best interviews, but I think Brad might take the cake.
I mean all of the cakes. That was it all.
Talking to him is always a pleasure because it's a conversation. Yeah,
it doesn't feel like an interview. It just feels like
you're just talking with your homie. Brad. Oh god, he
was so easy to talk to. It was really pleasant.
I really appre shoot him coming on the show, and
I hope he doesn't have any too many I hope
(36:02):
he doesn't have too many nightmares. But yeah, I just
wanted to work through it a little bit with him.
You know, sometimes we just got to like our podcast
is kind of like therapy a little bit. Yeah, it
definitely is. It's part of the healing process. First you
go on the challenge and then you recover on the podcast.
All right, Anissa, why don't you let us know where
we can follow you and send you some extra lorve.
(36:25):
I love Lorve. You can find me at Anissa MTV
A n E s A MTV on all platforms. Instagram
is the one that I frequent the most, so send
me your listener questions there or any other love. Where
can we find you? Tori, You guys can find me
at Tory Underscore Deal and I love listening to and
reading your messages, so hit me up. Let me know
(36:47):
what's going on in your life. Send me a picture
of a Greek salad from two episodes ago. It's all good.
We're happy about it, all right. Thank you so much
for listening to this podcast. If you guys liked this episode,
please rate and review us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
It means the world to us, and then join us
Fridays as we pull back the curtain on season two
of the Challenge All Stars only on MTV's official Challenge
(37:11):
Podcast
What's up, guys. It's story and I'm Anissa and this
is MTV's official Challenge podcast, All Stars to edition. Joining
us on the podcast today is a beast of a competitor.
He's a Challenge champion and this is his eleventh season.
Brad Fiorenza. Yes, and he has made quite the impact
(00:20):
on this season and it was really sad to see
him go home. So I'm really glad that we're able
to have him on this episode and I hope you
folks enjoy this interview with Brad. All Right, folks, it
is that time in the podcast where we get to
(00:42):
introduce an interview in All Star. This guy is a
star in my eyes, the man with the large beard,
one time Challenge Champ, eleven time challenger. Welcome Brad sia
NSA to thet everyone. Thank you so much for having me, ladies.
I'm excited to be here. Oh Brad, it's been an
(01:03):
incredible season watching you like you are such a badass
competitor and I mean, we're going to dive into it
more in the episode, but I hope you have your
head high because sometimes shit fucking happens when you're out there,
like and i'd like to know what happened? Are the
hands that big that you can't tie? And I need
to know what's going on? I will say it was.
(01:26):
It was the mixed bag of emotions watching this episode
because I remember how it felt and I knew watching
this would be difficult. Um, it does have a lot
to do with the hands, ironically, at up, should we
get into this? Now? Can we do that? We're jumping
in because it's fresh and it's right there. Just okay.
So I just cut my hand open on a challenge
(01:49):
before this using a stairway getting out of the snote.
So there was a wood screw sticking out and I
sliced my index finger on my right hand, and I was, well,
here's here's how it's lated. So while the rules were
getting read, I had to get my finger taped up.
I probably should have got stitches, but I was just
getting one of those tape jobs to get through the
day and I wanted to make sure my hands would
(02:11):
work properly. So I was concerned going into this. So
I went up to one of the officials and I
asked them to review the rules with me because my
finger is getting taped up. So the rules are described
to me as when I get on the truck, I'll
understand what it is, but I need to open each
box and unlock the keys. Ladies. There was no mention
(02:33):
of untying those knots. So if you see my level
of frustration on the first one, you think, yeah, So
I'm like, I'm literally watching it, and I remember, oh,
i'll know what it is when I get on the truck,
is what I was told. So I'm like, oh, i'll
know what it is. And I get to it and
(02:54):
I have. Now I just had my finger taped up,
so instead of going with the fingerless gloves, I took
the full finger gloves out of my bag because I
wanted to keep my finger that was cut open protected.
Biggest mistake. I should not have had finger full finger
gloves right and I definitely I don't know what I
could have done. I never even crossed my mind to
(03:15):
the knots had to be opened. I tried to untie
them and they didn't happen right away. So the next
thing I did was trying to rip them open, and um,
we saw, holy smokes. I thought it was I thought
they came off a little smoother than it looked. That No,
you hoped them you now you said, now it's a
necklace and ripped off all of the boxes. I mean
(03:36):
you literally lift you the fourth one. You just came
out the whole whole box. I mean, did they have
back up in the art department. I wanted to know
what the art department was thinking when they were like,
he just he just ruined these boxes. Yeah, Oh my gosh, terrible,
you know I felt. I swear to God. I had
an EP come up to me afterwards because I put
it in a note to speak to the EP and
(03:57):
I said, I want you to know I never would
have done that on purpose, and she started laughing, like
we already know that, Like, because I was really stressed
out thinking that they were upset I broke their equipment.
But I also want to add that another factor in
me doing that. So when I got to the semi
trailers and Jody and I were getting ready to go,
I saw them putting wood screws into one of the boxes,
(04:18):
so they were rebuilding it right before I went, And
I thought the group that went before me just read
that exact same thing. Yes, oh, in my mind, ladies,
in my mind, had I not done that. I was
going to lose. I already thought other people had done that,
so I didn't think I was like mine. I didn't. Yeah,
I didn't think I was doing anything innovative. I didn't
(04:40):
think I was coming up with a short cut. I
thought I was doing what everyone else did. And it
turns out I hulk smashed the equipment and I got
dqued right before the final challenge. Oh my god, well
you know what's quaite? Well, I'm just thinking, like, even
though you hulk smashed in dqued, which obviously he sent
(05:00):
you guys right into elimination, but Jody also couldn't get
her knots untied. But did you guys not have a conversation?
Did you guys? Did you not say to her, all right, Jodey,
I'm gonna go up there and I'm gonna rick get
the jokes. Yes, you know, can answer your question, tory Um.
There was no conversation about the knots because Jody and
(05:20):
several other people still did not hear the untying of
the knots. That did hear the rules, and I could
kind of hear the rules while my finger was getting taped,
But just to be thorough, I asked to restate the
rules to make sure I didn't miss anything. So several
other people missed the portion about the knots being untied.
And if you know the game that we play, and
if you played it with Darrell, he asks a lot
(05:41):
of questions. And the reason that him and Janelle knew
to do that was because of the conversations that they
had in the car ride to the semi trucks. And
we did not get to see what anyone else did
except when they passed us. So you kind of know
how that works. It's like maybe one or two seconds
and no clue what anyone actually did. Right, So for
future reference, are you going to ask for like do
(06:02):
a Hulk smash? Or do I not right? Do I untie?
Which rules? Like? Just reask the rules? You know a
couple of times? Like you didn't, Well, Jenny didn't get
it the first two times. Yes, and I have started
to ask questions differently since this experience. Right, I don't know,
I mean, I have to I have to process past this.
It's hard to watch. I can't believe I did that.
(06:25):
I still think, I mean, it's it's it was silly,
but I will say that like you really did incredible
this season, you and Jody were the team to be Um.
How did you feel being back? I mean, we haven't
seen you in a while. We have missed you. Oh,
thank you. I love being back. It's like one of
the best feelings ever U. I mean, you know, it's
(06:48):
not only a great opportunity to catch up with a
lot of people you know and meet new people, but
it's a great opportunity to compete as well. And you know,
when you put as many years into this game, and
when this game becomes such a large part of your
life as it has for us, I feel like there's
just so many gosh, there's so many attributes to this
game that you can't even put into words when you're
(07:08):
a player, and it's such a blessing to be back.
I'm so grateful. Yeah, you've done ten seasons before coming
onto All Stars. What's the biggest difference between All Stars
and other seasons. Oh? Wow, it's a great question, Tori.
I think that this is close, even though it's still
an individual challenge for an individual winner on the male
(07:31):
female side of things, I feel like this reminds me
more of the early challenges that I would show up
to as opposed to Vendetta's or Final Reckoning, it does
have a lot more of that original Challenge vibe, and
I feel like that's probably the biggest difference. And then
(07:51):
you know the time portion of it. Yeah, it definitely
is shorter. But not only has a game changed, I
feel like you're the way you play has changed, Like
I don't I don't know if political Brad was there before.
I feel like it was like a lot of braun,
Like you were just in there, like competing and talking
shit when you needed to, having a good time. You're right,
(08:12):
You're absolutely right. Yeah, what changed this season? So I
actually was really proud of the political game that had
developed for me. And I say it with those words
because I didn't have this plan going into the game,
and it truly did develop as the season started to progress,
and as the King's Palace started to advertise their alliance.
(08:35):
It put me in a very awkward position well because
Nia Maiah's my boy and we had a conversation like
a month before we left for the Challenge about like,
you know, doing what we could for each other. But
when you're three weeks in or two and a half
weeks in and there's been no additional conversation and now
you're clearly advertised in this other alliance after no additional
game talk, and there's more to the story than that.
(08:58):
It just really put me in a position and where
I had to start looking for alliance. The only people
I had game talk with prior to was Durrell and Miamiyah,
and it was very vague. It was if we can
help each other when we figure out the game, we will,
And I like to keep things pretty simple like that.
I don't like to, you know, right checks, my ass
can't cash. So I basically, you know, I was working
(09:20):
with Durrell, Janelle, Jodi, and myself as a core for,
and then we also had mj and h john A
that were kind of you know, they kind of had
deals floating around with everybody. You can kind of see
that that's their gameplay. So they worked out well for
the core for and Durrell calls it the silent sticks
(09:41):
in this episode, but we were all we were all
reciprocating and doing what we could to keep each other safe.
So it was a it was It was definitely the
best alliance I've ever been a part of, so I
was super excited about that. Several points of the game,
I was like, holy shit, I'm actually in a good
position with the vote, which before I was kind of
at the mercy of the point. Yeah, it was really
(10:03):
entertaining watching the alliances split up, and I actually loved
King's Palace and I, oh, yeah, I loved the energy
that they brought to the show, like love the song.
You didn't, I'm sure, but I also didn't live in
that house, right, But as a viewer, I'm like, I'm
loving the energy that they bring. I'm wondering if it
like bothered you, like it bothered some of the the
other challengers, Like you see in the beginning of this episode,
(10:24):
they're celebrating, you know, and they're thriving in their King's Palace.
Did it bother you being in the house or were
you happy to see me and Ia doing well? You know,
It's funny you should say that, because I'm always happy
to see me and Iya doing well, whether it's a
game i'm in or whether I'm not in the game.
You know, I was happy to see him doing well.
I loved Tech. I wanted to be aligned with those guys,
(10:44):
but I just saw the weight it was unfolding, and
I'm like, oh, I'm at the bottom of that, lad
Like when the game started to split, and it split early,
as you ladies saw, when the alliances were advertised, I
was like, oh shit, like I get along with every buddy,
so it was kind of like difficult to maintain, you know,
the relationships with the alliances. Really yeah, yeah, I mean
(11:08):
I think everything's really hard, especially live. I mean, the
game's change, things are splitting up. You have to live
in that house. How was living in the house? How
are the house conditions? Are these kids a little cleaner?
We saw a little bit of work, but yes, a
lot cleaner. I'm pretty clean, so I like to keep.
I'll keep. I'll always do my dishes. I don't feel
(11:30):
right leaving a dishes. Think it just feels weird to me.
And like everybody hear that if any challenges are out there,
do you hear Brad saying it makes him feel weird dishes?
Call me out. If you ever see me leave a dish,
you won't see that. Will stand right by the sink, Brad,
You didn't do that dish? Did yet? Oh you'll never
catch me slipping a NISA, But I will say, do
(11:50):
your best to try and with that said, it is
cleaner you have more adults, but I will say there's
always a few, right, And the odd thing is this,
And I kind of laughed to myself because I'd hear
people getting upset about certain people leaving the dishes in
the sink, and I'd kind of just laughed in my head, like,
keep doing that, You're gonna get your assboted out of here.
Like that, no one has much to go off of
(12:14):
on All Stars. Everybody's friends with everybody for the most part,
so you don't really see the feuds the same way,
you know, as you have on other seasons. Even with
the Greek salad in the last episode, I was ups
I love a good Greek salad. I love a Greek
salad favorite, Brad. You were part of the original Pizza Gate, right,
so like you've seen food coming to play before, I
was part of the new unfolding Pizza Gate in this
(12:36):
last season the Spies, Eyes and Allies. There's something to
be said about food in the Challenge House, like absolutely,
And I was having Pizza Gate flashbacks while the whole
salad thing was unfolding, no word of a lie, and
I just couldn't believe how food was brought into the
storyline in such a serious way, and Jody was authentically
upset and Ianna was strict pgically getting under her skin
(13:01):
with the Yeah. She was like, I made love to
that Greek salad. I was wrong with that Greek salad.
I know. Jody was like, damn it, Well, I'm glad
I paid for that fucking Greek salad. She was so
I could see like she would probably like, Yanna, please
come in to the to the lair, right into the
cleaner with me. I have a question I just need
(13:23):
clarification on because we get food catered on the other challenge, right,
and so do you not get food catered on this one?
Like how did she pay for and buy a Greek salad?
How'd that happened? Jealous? One of those nights where we
could go out and like, you know, maybe have a
couple of drinks in order food if you if you
wanted to, And that was her cake home, like her
I'll get to this later kind of thing. So she
(13:44):
kind of got it as a treat, paid for it
with her own money. I've got to tell you something, ladies,
I've never had a Greek salad before in my life.
I just was always turned off by the look of
the dressing, but after it was hyped up to this extent,
I feel like I need to get my hands on one. Yeah,
I have them. I have at least though. Wow, Okay,
(14:05):
what was it like working with Jody? Speaking about Jody? Yeah,
it was great working with Jody. We had the best time,
especially when we were winning, and um, we had so
much fun. We really did. I really felt bad when
I d cute us because had I not dcute us,
she would have made it to the final. Um. I
(14:27):
know it had been a very long time for her
since she made a final. Same thing with me. That
was a lot riding on that challenge, and we had
such a great experience. I didn't realize that there was
gonna be such a ray of light that came from
the hardships of being put against Derek so early because
Derek and I are friends, so after he had left
the game, the next challenge is when I realized, Wow,
(14:49):
Jody's kind of a free agent, and her and I
started to kind of link up. And then the next
thing I knew, um, right when we got all of
our good momentum going, I d cute us on those
damn boxes, and I sent us into elimination, and I
was really proud of everything she did, every step of
the way. Um, you know, looking back, we could always
do a little better, but we really performed well together,
(15:10):
and I would love a chance to do it again.
I mean, you guys crushed that elimination. It was so close,
which makes it even worse. Sometimes like a shutout, you're like, yeah,
we had no chance. But when it's like it's two
I love to it's two kilos, He's like, oh, no,
one kilo. I don't know how much that is, but
it sounds like a little I don't know. That's like
(15:31):
you're like, shit, I know, yeah, it's like a baby
hand weight. I know, I know how you feel. I
mean it sucks. Yeah, I know that. I know that
you probably trained really hard for this one. Yeah, I
mean I did. I mean could always train harder. You
always tweak something in your training program looking back, but
it was one of those things where I knew I
did the best I could. I knew I didn't hear
(15:53):
that about tying the rope, and I knew that even
in that elimination, I did the best I could. But
that still doesn't take away from the look back at
what that two pounds of concrete actually looks like. Is
it the pieces that were sitting outside of the box?
Is there anything I could have done differently? And you know,
I think that the truth is you need a little
bit of luck to win one of these. It's it's
(16:15):
you do. Yeah. You could train, you could train until
you're blue in the face. You could be right. I mean,
you could be the Bruce Lee of Challenge Games, and
you're should be a little luck. Yeah. Yeah, So does
this keep you up at night? Oh god? Any oh,
I'm sorry, Yes, I mean I think there are moments
in challenge history, like in everyone's challenge history. Yeah, there's
(16:36):
that one elimination or that that one challenge where you're like, fuck, yeah.
I think about this sometimes at night when I can't
fall asleep. To be completely honest with you, Anissa, I
think it might a little bit now that we discussed
it in detail. I think I blocked it out right
when I got in the plane ride home. I'm sorry,
but here's the thing, Um, it's all part of the process.
(17:00):
And yeah, I had a whole pot of coffee with
Jody the next morning and she was all banged up
about this, and I just kept telling her, Jody, you
did incredible, Like at some point you have to know
you did your best and just leave it on the field.
And that's what that's I have to take my same
advice looking back, knowing you know, I didn't hear that
about tying the knots I sailed in real world San Diego.
(17:23):
I know knots Bowen's double bowens. This isn't helping your case, Brad.
I know if I knew what I'm saying is what
I'm saying is if I knew that I had to break.
I know with a bow and you crack it first
and then you pull the part of rope through. So
like I could name those knots, I know exactly how
to untie them. I had the full finger gloves on
(17:45):
and didn't know we couldn't. I didn't know we had
to untie them. So when I gave it a couple
of tugs and I got frustrated, I thought, oh my god,
I have to rip these things open. And that wasn't
the right move. But listen, the thing is is you
can only have You're only responsible for your part. And
Jodie also did not finish her nots. So even if
by chance you were to finish them, you guys still
(18:06):
could have been put in the same situation. You just
can't like, but I get it. I've also been in
a situation where I'm like, I had a brick smashing
elimination and I lost by a second, literal second, and said,
you don't forget that stuff. You know, it sits with you.
So I honestly think, like, like you said, this all
part of the healing process. You got to relive it,
you got to talk about it, and then you gotta
let it go because hopefully you get another opportunity in
(18:28):
the future and you're going to come back and kill it. Yeah.
But if you had the opportunity to change something, and
you could change your competitors, would you have Oh, elaborate
on that a little bit. What do you mean if
I could change something? I mean, so, if we could
rewind time and it wasn't Darell and Janelle, Like, who
else would you have rather gone against? Oh? Okay, I
(18:52):
think that Jody and I probably would have beat any
other team there. Wow, I'm just gonna I don't know,
only say things like this, but I'm confident that we
would have I think that, Hey, I got to take
a lot of responsibility for that because they asked me
who I wanted to go up against, and I said,
I don't want to get involved in that energy. Let
(19:12):
the universe in the house decide. That's what I said,
to go. Let the universe in the house decide, and
very old school of you well the way to do
it up. But looking back to what you're saying, like,
what I will say is, um, they were a very
well oiled machine in that elimination, and I don't think
I think they would have been the parrot to beat um. Yeah,
(19:35):
who knows, But you knew you knew Janelle was injured.
So did you going into that, did you think maybe,
like maybe we do have a leg up? That crossed
my mind, But then I pushed that right out of
my mind. That thought with it. You never know what's
really going on with somebody. I believe Janelle. I'm not
saying she's a bullshit or on any level, but what
I am saying is I've seen some wild stuff happen
(19:57):
in the Challenge house going home one minute, you're winning
them next you know, like, let's just so I just
kind of looked at that like, Okay, you're choosing to stay. Well,
if you're choosing to stay, then you're good, and you're
good to compete because I tried never to underestimate anybody,
you know. Yeah, Well, this elimination looked incredible and I've
never seen anything like it before. I mean, I've seen
(20:18):
like a variation of it with brick smashing and trying
to like fill up buckets, but never a house with
TJ's face on it. So what was your strategy going
into this elimination? Oh my gosh, So Tori, I'm looking
at everything in the room, and I'm looking at those
cinder blocks, and I'm thinking those half to weigh the most.
How are we going to smash those the quickest? And
I looked at the sledge hammer and I looked at
(20:39):
the blocks, and I'm like, I don't need this hammer.
That's the first thing I thought is I'm gonna throw
the hammer on the ground and I'm gonna start smashing
the bricks on top of each other right in front
of the hole, and then I'll start shoving the pieces
through the hole as soon as they're big enough. And honestly,
I don't think I would have changed anything about that. Strategy.
It works pretty damn good. Yeah. Did you watch this
on Dirty not Dirty thirty Bloodlines? No, I had no
(21:01):
idea what we were doing when I walked in. I
couldn't believe that they've done this before. Yeah, but you
had to break every single thing in the room and
fit it through a hole. Oh, I didn't know every
single thing. I mean, the sofa, everything interesting. Yeah, so
like I kind of merged yours and that one. Yeah,
well everyone smash house, smash house, and I'm like, I
(21:22):
don't know what that is. Still, like I've oh, right,
yeah that's it. But it wasn't smash house. It was
let's get these cinder blocks through this hole, Jody right now. Yeah,
it was a great elimination. I would have loved to
have won that one for not being like a headbanger.
I think that's a really good one. Um right, we
just didn't have what it too. Yeah, it's just Yeah.
Did you feel like you guys had a leg up,
(21:44):
both you and Jody, since you had been into eliminations
already this season? Oh that was the pep talk that
I gave Jody going in. Yeah, I said, we've already
been in. We know what to do. We'll be fine,
and it just didn't work out like that, you know,
M so after as loss, sorry to keep talking about it.
Do you want to do another season? Yeah? I really do.
(22:08):
You know, honestly, I would do as many seasons as
I can get. I feel like life is short and
we don't get this time back. And I love this game,
so you know, I want that perfect game, like you know,
like we were speaking about before we started this, where
you get to a good training program and you show
up and like your your political games on point, you
perform well. But you know, I haven't had that perfect
(22:32):
game in my mind, and I would like to get
as many experiences like this in because they're all different. Um,
you know, the group of people that you get to
just be around as a blessing in itself, So you know,
I'd like to do as many as possible. For sure.
I would also say another blessing or your abs, So
I think as long as you have them, I think
(22:52):
you should come back and show them off. Thank you
giving these a lot of people from All Stars two?
Were almost on All Stars one? Were you almost so
on All Stars one? Did you get that call? Yess? Yeah,
I kind of screwed up because I didn't take the
(23:15):
process very serious. They were calling me for the flagship
show still, and I got called for like two or
three seasons in a row where I didn't get the contract.
So I was super frustrated because we all try not
to change our life too much, but you get the
call and you start thinking what if, and then you
start training and you know. So I got frustrated to
the point where I really didn't take the process very serious.
(23:35):
On the second season. I had already started watching season
one and I was sold. I wanted in, so I
took it very serious. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you get
any advice from anybody that was on All Stars one?
Not really. Things were pretty busy and it all seemed
to happen very quickly, So I felt like season two
just like I came about back. I think I only
(23:55):
had like two or three weeks before I left once
I got got my contract, so it was pretty quick. Um,
but I didn't really get much of a heads up
from anybody once I got there. It was quite a
bit different. But to be honest with you, ladies, and
maybe you could tell by watching it, season two was
so different than season one. What I'd watched yeah, what
I planned to sign up. You know, I'm like, oh,
(24:17):
this is gonna be one big, fun, little pow wow.
And it was a little bit more competitive than that,
you know, So yeah, I mean a lot a bit more. Yeah,
I would say a lot of it as well. I
just didn't want to I love that last challenge you did.
I would have loved to have done that. Oh it
was cool. They just keep getting more and more. Remember
when we just used to like jump from like platform
to platform or like walk on it unstable bridge or
(24:39):
I don't know dot, you know, jump off boxes or
rollerblade and get a BMW whatever. Oh. Yeah, like this
shit's really changed. Yeah. They do pull out some incredible
challenges every once in a while. Yeah, well, you had
some cool wins this season. What do you think was
the most rewarding challenge win for you? Oh? I think
(24:59):
that it would probably be the one where Jody and
I won the flags probably, I think. Yeah, Yeah, it
was a pretty that was not just fun. Yeah, it
was a fun one and it was a pretty important
one with the shift of the alliances. It was pretty
late in the game, So I would say that was
probably my most favorite this season. So you said that
(25:20):
you got called for the main show, would you do
that one again? Yes? I would. I think the time
frames with All Stars is a lot more pleasant. However, Yeah,
but you know it's like you get so used to
your environment, so like three months. Uh, that's a lot
to picture. However, it's hard to say no. It's a
(25:44):
health and experience. So I would do it. Um, but
I love doing All Stars right now. I'm super happy
where I'm at. So if they keep calling me, I
would be honored to keep coming back. And if they
called me for a flagship season, I would show up. Yeah.
What do you think about like all these New School
competitors end, Like, how would you feel they would pair
up against the All Stars? Like, what do you think
(26:04):
a big battle would be? Like? Oh, I think that's
the best season that we could forecast. At this point.
New versus Old is by far the hottest concept. I
mean that might be challenged forty. To be honest, I think, yeah, wow,
that Tory. I love you, baby, but I'm gonna have
(26:24):
to go against you, oh girl, But it'll be friendly,
I'll be I think, well, I think it'll bring out
the best in every competitor. I agree the young uns
want to show the old people up, you know, for
shirt online, I mean whatever, and it's like we still
got it, like collectively we bust ask Ivt's on our team,
(26:47):
like Brad's there, Jody's there. You'd have some heavy hitters.
But I have confidence in the New School. I have to. Yeah,
but don't let these girls that have been and retire
Emily Rachel, don't let Evelyn come back. Don't make you
suck around him. Birth another challenge competitor right now you're
ready for Misa is not coming, My cat's coming. Maybe
(27:09):
going around and birth The competitor question for you, Tori,
So you've been on a lot of the Flagship season,
so have you an Lissa, So, like, how do you
think a lot of the New School competitors would truly
pair up? Like could FESSI and could FESSI hold his
on with CT? Like I've never seen Fessie in person.
I've heard he's a big man and he can perform well,
So like you know, like does he have that CT
(27:31):
switch where you could just you can know, Okay, um,
not in the same way. I think he's I think
Fessi's really athletic for such a big guy, like he's
a great runner. Yeah, like high knees, all day football player, okay, um.
I think that he's like kind of good, like he
can pick up football, he can skate like he can
(27:51):
he's agile, he's you know, he's smart. He Yeah, but
there's not a CT just like no one he's read.
It's a very different. CT is just in a class
all his own. I can't really like absolutely compare that,
but I feel like like I think CT is the
one outstanding person that doesn't really have anyone that can
(28:11):
touch him, honestly, but I think every other person, I
think that you could find somebody that there could be
an equal new school to old school. Well, Kells, we
didn't really get to see what he could do size wise,
I think maybe would give CT. But CT has that
like even if, like with Derek like scrappy as shit,
even though he's that small and you don't really get
like intimidated by him, but there is that switch with
(28:34):
Derek all right, yeah, any guy, it's probably getting beat. Yeah. Yeah.
So I mean that too is like a different a
different animal too. When we're dealing with like old school
where we just had to like instinctually just go and
I think we were scrappier in that nature, but it's hard.
I don't know. Listen, we might as well fired up
because I would love to know in New School all day.
(28:57):
Maybe somebody has to be rapping in the New School
on this side. I mean, I love All Stars and
I would love to be on it. But right now,
mother fucking go. That's good, Tory, Tory. My question to
you then, is who is the most competitive male and
female New School competitors in your opinion? Oh that's really tough,
because you know what, I think that there's a few,
Like I think for girls, it's definitely Casey kill a Cam.
(29:21):
I think I'm up there. Um, I'd say for guys,
it's probably Fassy's up there. I mean he's made it
to two finals. Kyle, you can't. Kyle's incredible. Um, if
Devin could get his endurance unlock, he's a fucking brainiact
for sure, no one. Yeah, he's the only person that
could touch CT in a puzzle, just can't touch endurance wise. So, um,
(29:44):
there are some there are some hitters, but it's different.
It's and you know, like it's like you said earlier,
it's gonna come down to luck. It's gonna come down
to what the challenges and how it's going to be.
So I think it would be a very even match.
I think it would be very exciting to Oh same,
I agree. I think it's the most exciting cont up
that's on the table. And I can't stop picturing Devin
with cardiovascular ability now was just no. I mean, because
(30:06):
he's super smart, he's super funny. He's a great game player.
If that man learns to run, oh with time. If
you can run and hold it, you can hold it.
If you can just hold a strong pace, he would
be a serious, serious competitor for a long He posted
a video of his on his Instagram the other day
picking up a ball and smashing it into the ground.
He's likeas he looks like he's turning him on. Some
(30:28):
of us that aren't runners are really trying it well.
Hopefully new versus old happens and we can all just
get an incredible shape and do our absolute past. There
would be nothing. It would be really funny too, oh,
because there are a lot of like old school personalities
like throw Tech in there too, Like the best cheerleader
ever I've never heard. He makes up shit that I've
never heard of, and I'm like, I'm gonna go with
(30:48):
that fucking awesome love. He would cheer for his own team,
and I would take it like he was cheering for me. Yeah, yeah,
he's awesome. I was like, Okay, I don't worry. Yeah
he's awesome. Like that good energy that man. Yeah. So
Brad obviously like it's so sad that you got sent home.
You really did have such an incredible season, so you
should be proud of yourself. But now that you're not
there anymore, who are you rooting for? Um? Well, because
(31:12):
Durrell and Jannelle beat us, there's something that like goes
with being beat by somebody, Like I remember hugging Durrell
in that moment that I just watched, Like, I remember
the feeling of loss, and then I remember hugging Durrell
and thinking, I hope you take this home. So Durrell
and Jannelle, for sure, they're the ones that took us
side of the game. They were also my closest allies
(31:34):
in the game. So with that said, I I'm rooting
for them. Nice, good solid pick, Thank you. I like that.
And at least you didn't have to deal with that
major twist at the end where they're like you're starting
the final now, I mean my stomach dropped. Yeah right too,
I was like, where's support body? Right? Oh my gosh.
And then going right from an elimination straight from the final.
(31:54):
I don't even know what. I'm excited to see what
this is gonna look like because I heard about it
and was like, wow, that's but now we're going to
see how much time they really had and what they're
gonna do. Yeah right, yeah? Crazy? Oh man. All right, Brad, Well,
we have one final question for you, and because niece's
Queen of the Challenge, she is going to ask it. Okay,
I guess that's what they're calling me now, my throat.
(32:18):
So the final question for you, Brad. You're competing on
All Stars, which is about the greatest of all time.
So I would like to know, in your opinion, who
the greatest competitor is, what the greatest season is, and
the greatest challenge. Okay, So I think that the greatest
competitor of all time is CT. I think he's just
(32:39):
cut from a different cloth. The man is incredible. He
shows up heavy, still runs finals and wins them. He
shows up light and still solves puzzles, and you know,
and plays a great political game as well. So I'm
going to just go ahead and give the best competitor
to CT. I think the best season in my opinion,
at least that I was a part of, was Dual One.
(33:01):
There was so many firsts on that season. We had
CT and Dam's love story, We had so many incredible
moments with that. We had the first individual male and
female winners. I got to run that final with West
and Jody. I didn't win, but I was able to, um,
(33:22):
you know, at least be part of that experience. Running
that first final with them in Rio was such an experience.
It was absolutely incredible, no breaks, no no stop watches.
I mean six and a half hours of straight running
up a mountain. Wow. Yes, oh my gosh, incredible. And
you know, to see Jody and West win, I still
(33:43):
I felt like I was part of something special. So
that was definitely my number one season. And then, what's
your favorite type of challenge to compete in? Oh? My
favorite type of challenge? Well, I'll tell you what it's not.
It's not trivia. Yeah, my favorite type would be let's see,
there's so many good ones. I like the semi truck ones.
(34:05):
Those are always cool. I don't mind heights, but let
me gather flags or something. Don't dangle me out there
and ask me a bunch of questions, you know what
I mean? Right, Like, you give me something to look
at and get excited about. But I like the physical
ones usually, like, um, I guess what would that be considered?
The semitruck ones? That's not endurance? What is that? Like
(34:26):
a mad Max? Yeah, the mad Max? Yeah something I
like that. Well, I like all those picks and Brad,
it's been an absolute pleasure to have you on the show.
Thank you so much for coming on talking. You've been
incredible to interviews. Seriously, probably one of my favorite interviews yet.
Oh my gosh, thank you so much. Remember when he's like, well,
thank you for asking Tori, and I'm like, I love him,
(34:46):
thank you. How can we support you? Where can the
fans follow you and send you a lot of love? Well,
Brad few Runza is my handle for Instagram and Twitter.
You can always find me there, and you know I'm online,
so come find me. Cool people. Do not send him
picks of cinder blocks. He has already out. Send him hearts, love, big, strong, muscles,
(35:14):
pictures of him and his abs, race cars, street bikes,
whatever you can, pictures of other men with long beards, whatever,
Just go and support him. Thank you so much, Brad,
Thank you, ladies. I had such a good time. Yeah,
no one, thank you. Love Brad, love you bye. All right, Anny,
(35:41):
So I have to say we're not giving out awards
for best interviews, but I think Brad might take the cake.
I mean all of the cakes. That was it all.
Talking to him is always a pleasure because it's a conversation. Yeah,
it doesn't feel like an interview. It just feels like
you're just talking with your homie. Brad. Oh god, he
was so easy to talk to. It was really pleasant.
I really appre shoot him coming on the show, and
I hope he doesn't have any too many I hope
(36:02):
he doesn't have too many nightmares. But yeah, I just
wanted to work through it a little bit with him.
You know, sometimes we just got to like our podcast
is kind of like therapy a little bit. Yeah, it
definitely is. It's part of the healing process. First you
go on the challenge and then you recover on the podcast.
All right, Anissa, why don't you let us know where
we can follow you and send you some extra lorve.
(36:25):
I love Lorve. You can find me at Anissa MTV
A n E s A MTV on all platforms. Instagram
is the one that I frequent the most, so send
me your listener questions there or any other love. Where
can we find you? Tori, You guys can find me
at Tory Underscore Deal and I love listening to and
reading your messages, so hit me up. Let me know
(36:47):
what's going on in your life. Send me a picture
of a Greek salad from two episodes ago. It's all good.
We're happy about it, all right. Thank you so much
for listening to this podcast. If you guys liked this episode,
please rate and review us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
It means the world to us, and then join us
Fridays as we pull back the curtain on season two
of the Challenge All Stars only on MTV's official Challenge
(37:11):
Podcast
Hosts And Creators
Tori Deal
Aneesa Ferreira
Devyn Simone
Da'Vonne Rogers
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