Civil War w/ Paulie Calafiore

The one and only Paulie Calafiore is on the podcast today! The Big Brother legend sits down with Tori and Devyn to talk about coming to terms with his identity in The Challenge house, the new school Big Brother competitors looking up to him and turning over a new leaf with Johnny Bananas. Also, of course, New Jersey.

Head to Paramount+ to catch new episodes of The Challenge: USA 2 on Thursdays and Sundays, and we'll see you back here right after for a look behind the scenes on MTV's Official Challenge Podcast.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi everyone, It's Devin Simone and I'm Tory Deal and
this is MTV's official Challenge podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
You guys, this episode so many thoughts, what about you?
So many thoughts.

Speaker 1 (00:11):
First of all, before I forget, Josh was wearing a
sleeveless sweater in his interview.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
It looked good on him. Good job, Josh, I.

Speaker 3 (00:18):
Liked to Josh becomes more and more of a snack
every day. I'm really proud of him. And no, no, no,
as a friend. As a friend, you you root for
your friends to look good.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
Oh, don't be No, Josh is cute, look look joy
in person. When I met Josh versun person, I was like, Okay,
he's got some swag.

Speaker 2 (00:35):
Yeah, he's a cutie.

Speaker 4 (00:37):
I'm worrying for Josh.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
What I'm saying is I'm loving watching his growth over
the years. It's nice to see him come back and
stronger than ever.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
And he's got the curls. I mean, he still looked
like a melty candle last week. But yeah, but I
also did Yeah, who are you?

Speaker 2 (00:54):
I'm waiting for the moment.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
The fun fact is I'm really only watching these for
the moment when your hair looks out of place.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
I've yet to see it, and I've watched so many
seasons I couldn't know. But I'm literally waiting for the moment.

Speaker 4 (01:05):
I promise it's coming. I swear to you it's coming.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
I don't believe you. I do not believe you.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
I also to believe the daily that TJ had you
guys doing this week. It seemed brutal. It was even
like gray outside. It did not seem particularly fun.

Speaker 4 (01:20):
Yeah, so like what I.

Speaker 3 (01:21):
Was thinking, and like, I think, what really hits me?
I was like, Yeah, I'll sign up, I'll do a challenge.
I arrive at the challenge, it's like we're in Croatia,
it's like sixty degrees outside, and they want us to
do a water challenge. I'm like, who on production, Yeah,
decided that we're gonna do. Like this is now the
second water thing. Michelle had to be tea bagged the

(01:41):
first week, you know, she got frozen tea bagged and
then we have to go into water, and like, I mean,
I'm sure there's gonna be war water in the future,
So I'm like, why are they giving us so many
cold water challenges?

Speaker 4 (01:54):
But this is part of the challenge.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
This is just what it is thank you guys, and
I'm kidding, I think they love you. But yeah, it's
really it definitely seems really brutal. And then we see
your nemesis team Team Green loose and lose pretty terribly.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
At that such a beautiful.

Speaker 5 (02:10):
Thing to watch.

Speaker 4 (02:10):
I loved it.

Speaker 1 (02:13):
And then we see your name and Banana's never sorry
Amanda's name, and Banana's name gets voted in.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
Oh question about the boats?

Speaker 1 (02:23):
Do they swap out everyone's ball? You know how we
see you guys go up one by one, not when
the team boats, but when everybody does their individual boat
and they go up and they get the ball that
they want. So then so then does production like pause
and then pull the ball out and then we said
it each between each person?

Speaker 3 (02:41):
Okay, Yeah, So the interesting thing about that is like
you would start to get paranoid if you went in
there if your name looked.

Speaker 4 (02:47):
A little crooked, You're like, oh, did they just did
they just put my ball back? Like did something?

Speaker 3 (02:51):
So you would start to like look at minor details
to see if somebody put your name in. But yeah,
it was listen like when we sat down with Blue Team,
I mean, I think that whole deliberation was. I mean,
you saw my face the entire time. I felt helpless.
I also find it. I found Alyssa Lopez to be
a very interesting person to play the game with. One

(03:12):
thing I like about her as a woman, she speaks
her mind, and I enjoy that.

Speaker 4 (03:17):
I can root for that. But her and I are
on opposite sides of the game.

Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah, so it's.

Speaker 4 (03:22):
A little bit like girl.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
I also felt away with her talking about Banana's age.

Speaker 4 (03:27):
Now.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
Look, I know people listening, you're probably rolling their eyes
because I talk about Nanna's being a senior citizen all
the time. But I feel like fifteen years in the
Challenge family or the MTV family, I've sort of earned that.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
Also, I started.

Speaker 1 (03:41):
Real World essentially because of Bananas, which if you haven't
heard that story, it's out there in the world.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Go'll find it. So I feel like we can do that.
You know, It's like when someone talks.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
About your sibling, like you talk about your sibling when
somebody else does, you're like, wait a minute now. And
I did not, like, I did not appreciate just how
much she was going in on Bananas. I want to
be like, bitch, back up, we haven't earned like you're
talking an awful lot to not have done an awful
lot quite yet.

Speaker 3 (04:05):
So, yeah, she's she's a very calculated player. I didn't
get the like I never watched season one of Challenge
with yeah, and she's I did not very I.

Speaker 4 (04:15):
Didn't know what to expect from her.

Speaker 3 (04:17):
I could sense that, like very you know, she's always planning,
she's always plotting. I could feel that with every little
conversation we had. But to see her have that conversation
with Corey that was that was a pretty big conversation
to watch because that adds up.

Speaker 4 (04:30):
So much more when we were sitting there and I'm like.

Speaker 3 (04:32):
Damn, Corey's just folding like it's nothing, not recognizing that
he had already planted seeds elsewhere, which makes way more
sense now.

Speaker 4 (04:39):
But Alyssa Lopez is definitely she gamer.

Speaker 1 (04:43):
Yeah, and she's very smart, and she was very good
on season one and she's come to play here. But
I still don't love her talking about the siblings, But
you know, I get it. And then, were you surprised
by the Paulie that we saw in the house this season?

Speaker 4 (04:57):
Yes, yes, I loved it.

Speaker 3 (04:59):
It couldn't been a more refreshing thing to watch as
a viewer and as a person who's played with him.
He has such a big heart, he really does, and
I think that he explains it like he lets competition
to get the best of him.

Speaker 4 (05:11):
He always is on the defense.

Speaker 3 (05:12):
He hasn't had the ability to understand and express himself
in a healthy way, and then comes back on and
says all of these things that nobody's heard him say, Like,
how can you not look at that? Especially after think
about all of the challengers that come back year after
year and literally never mentioned any never personal growth never.
I'm like, Polly has now just become an icon because

(05:33):
how many people need to do that a lot?

Speaker 4 (05:35):
There's I can name ten on my hands right now.
How many people need to fucking self reflect.

Speaker 3 (05:40):
So it was so refreshing and also from a male's perspective, like, yeah,
what a.

Speaker 4 (05:43):
Beautiful thing to see, you know.

Speaker 1 (05:45):
So I'm I was a fan of it absolutely, And
it's important that we give people room and space to grow.
I know we want to hold everyone accountable, which is important,
but I think it also is important to acknowledge if
someone feels like they've grown, if they're trying to show
that they've grown, then you know, whatever happened back then.
You can't keep holding on to that because at that
point you're the one not growing, not the other person.

(06:05):
But we see him. I'm sure he wished he could
have grown a little bit in the sense of holding
his arm up higher. Uh, elimination against Bananas.

Speaker 2 (06:15):
That was.

Speaker 5 (06:16):
That was.

Speaker 1 (06:16):
I feel like producers are getting so interesting with these eliminations. Yeah, okay,
I could see it.

Speaker 3 (06:22):
Fun fact, yes, Bananas and Paully did this exact same
elimination on Final Reckoning, except it was it was Banana's
vers Natalie, which was Polly's partner, holding their hands up
above their heads. So this isn't just the first time
that Bananas is going against Polly.

Speaker 4 (06:39):
It's the exact same. Yeah. Yeah, Yeah, it's wild.

Speaker 2 (06:43):
It's really wild.

Speaker 4 (06:45):
The challenge is just like a big simulation, and it's.

Speaker 1 (06:48):
Just it's always really dude that we're in. It was
so wild and so well played, and it was so
neck and I mean, really was anybody's game.

Speaker 2 (06:57):
Anybody's game. I would say.

Speaker 1 (06:59):
My one feeling sort of is because they've been targeting
you guys, all of the bets in the house, but
particularly in sending in Bananas because they know picked his
name this week. Last week they picked your name. There
is something about seeing you guys, the ones that they
thought they were getting rid of, like the one that
was their initial target to get rid of, coming back,
and sort of proving to yourself that you guys are

(07:21):
icons in this game for a reason, right, like they're
still they're just they're new here.

Speaker 2 (07:26):
Still.

Speaker 1 (07:27):
There's a reason you guys are icons. And it's not
because you're afraid of eliminations. And it's not because you
guys lose a bunch of eliminations. Like you guys are
good at what you do. You guys are champions for
a reason. So it was nice. I hated seeing poly Go,
especially in just seeing like I think it would have
been so interesting seeing more of how he played this
game as it like went on. But it was nice

(07:48):
seeing since so many shots were fired at Bananas, because
I also think some of those people that are trying
to be brave behind the group really are actually not
as brave as they seem. For seeing the person they
took shots at come back. I think some of them
no spoilers tories victorious treat them spoilers. Those are but
I can see. But I feel like some of them

(08:10):
are gonna start to fold because the roaches they're trying
to kill, which would be here Bananas. Isn't nice. I
feel like they're gonna but we'll see. Okay, we have
a long interview for you guys, but a really exciting one.
Before we get into that, you know, we have to
get into our gold Star of the week and our
time out.

Speaker 2 (08:25):
I'm gonna kick it over to my girl Tori so
she can tell us who her recipients are.

Speaker 4 (08:29):
I gotta give again, I've done this before.

Speaker 3 (08:32):
The entire time out goes to the Green team because
they absolutely shit the bed and I loved it. So
it's it's partially a gold star, but it's also it's
also my time out, my gold star. It has to
go to Banana, man, like it has to like like
come on, the house, is the house wants you out
of the game. You you're still in the game. You
go up against somebody who used to be your arch nemesis.
So it goes and then also he had a nice

(08:54):
little sweet talk with Polly at the end, which yeah,
which I like that.

Speaker 4 (08:58):
I think.

Speaker 3 (08:58):
I think, yeah, like Banana's and Polly can share the
beautiful moment, and I think we can give the shit
moment to the Green team.

Speaker 1 (09:05):
I'd say my honorable mention for gold Star goes to
the producer who decided the music engineer who decided to
play that Godfather like music during bananas three minute monologue.
If you don't remember, please go back and rewatch it.

Speaker 2 (09:16):
It's hilarious as he rants about why he should be saved.
I mean, I get it.

Speaker 1 (09:21):
I'd be upset to you, but it's just very very funny.
So that, yes, that gets a little bit of my
gold star or an honorable mention. I'd say my time
out goes to you know, I don't want to say
it goes to Corey because it's like I understand and

(09:41):
FESSI I understand why, Like I get it, they have
to play their own game because it is technically an
individual game.

Speaker 2 (09:46):
I get it.

Speaker 1 (09:47):
But I just feel like, particularly with BESSI even and
I know there are conversations happening in the house that
we're not seeing either, so there's that, but I don't know,
I just feel like, even if they were playing a
different game, they didn't like they could have done it
in a way to where it didn't look like they
didn't care what I mean, is Bananas blew back on
them so hard because like you even said to her,

(10:08):
you didn't realize Corey had other conversations and other whatever's
going on.

Speaker 2 (10:13):
So I didn't love that.

Speaker 1 (10:13):
Also, part of the time out goes to Bananas and
his rant I get being mad, but he did kind
of sound like a big cry baby, being like.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
Why is everybody coming back at me, like this is
going to backfire on you?

Speaker 1 (10:25):
If they win, Bananas, it will not backfire on them
because they won, which is what they're trying to do, so.

Speaker 2 (10:30):
Technically, you know. And then gold Star has to go to.

Speaker 1 (10:36):
Since it actually goes to the rookies as a whole,
because they're organized as hell. It's not that I'm like
on the other side, but I respect how organized they
are in their voting and getting things done and checking
it off the list, Like that's how.

Speaker 2 (10:49):
You do it, so props.

Speaker 5 (10:50):
I want.

Speaker 4 (10:51):
I want to respect it so bad.

Speaker 2 (10:53):
Yeah, and I do, and I do.

Speaker 1 (10:55):
But if it was your kids, if it was like
your little tears, if it was so proud, I'd be
so proud.

Speaker 2 (11:01):
I'd be so proud.

Speaker 4 (11:02):
Yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly.

Speaker 3 (11:05):
Yeah, I think that, like there's a lot to cover
in this episode, and I'm so thankful that Paulie's coming
on to give us the goods.

Speaker 4 (11:13):
He hasn't been on the podcast. I don't think ever, right.

Speaker 2 (11:16):
No, he has not ever ever, And there's been a
lot of chatter.

Speaker 1 (11:18):
Oh, I know Reddit's about to be on fire today,
so get ready, get ready to take notes. We have
a lot that we are going to cover with Poullie.
Grab a snack, get comfy and buckle up.

Speaker 4 (11:33):
Come back.

Speaker 2 (11:34):
We have an amazing interview for you with Polly.

Speaker 4 (11:47):
This Challenger. This is his fourth season. He's been to
two finals, He's been on Final Reckoning War, the World's One,
War the World's two.

Speaker 3 (11:54):
He is truly truly a beast of a competitor, and
this is his return back to the Challenge in years.

Speaker 2 (12:01):
Welcome Polly Califuri.

Speaker 5 (12:05):
I tried so hard to get you to mess up
if my video was on and you were able to
see me. But thank you for that.

Speaker 4 (12:12):
I saw.

Speaker 3 (12:13):
I'm like just trying to keep my eyes on the script,
off of you. Pollie's over here making faces. Polly, It's
great to have you back. How does it feel to
be back?

Speaker 5 (12:21):
I mean feels great. It was a lot of mixed
emotions as we as we saw play out, I didn't
really know where my headspace was going to be at.
I mean, thank you for that introduction. I think I
lived so long with a chip on my shoulder, like
trying to prove something. I never really gave myself the
credit of being a good competitor or being like a

(12:45):
beast of a competitor. And I think that that's something
that all athletes kind of deal with if you don't win,
you know, like every season you lose, you're just kind
of like, m I don't care what happened that season,
Like I was bad, you know, and you know, obviously
with with the people who you go against, you know,
you're not gonna make everybody happy. So like when you lose,

(13:05):
like your enemies are gonna be like, yeah, you saw
like blah blah blah blah. And you know, it's like
using that as motivation to train. So it's like you
never really like forget those things, you know. But what
I kind of found my going into this is like
I stopped listening to those voices. I was kind of like,
you know what, like I'm gonna just train for me,
you know, like I'm gonna I'm gonna just take that.

(13:26):
I'm gonna I'm gonna go into this and then going
back it was so emotional, like uh, hearing TJ's voice,
getting those butterflies, like before you go to a daily,
you know, getting those butterflies like the night of the elimination.
You know, like I really like to take like a routine,
like disciplined approach to like everything. So like, you know,

(13:48):
you probably saw more of this season than you did
any season where it's like I had the same routine
before every daily and every elimination, whether I thought I
was going in or not. And uh, and that's like
that's fun to me. I missed that. I missed it
a lot, So it felt really great to be back.

Speaker 1 (14:04):
Yeah, what do you feel Paully led to your return
this time? Was it a choice on your part? Was
it a choice on you know, the challenge is part.

Speaker 2 (14:12):
Was it both?

Speaker 1 (14:13):
Like what kind of what occurred? And why did you
take such a long break from the challenge?

Speaker 5 (14:21):
Listen, I think the people spoke, you know, I think
I think they missed a little bit of chaos that
I brought in my original seasons. And I hate to
disappoint you know, everybody on that aspect of things, you know,
but it was it was a much needed break for me.

(14:42):
Obviously a lot of things in the world were like
going on that were like added stressors to everything, and
I was like, I don't know if I'm in like
the right headspace where like if I go back, I
could just like kind of compete amicably.

Speaker 3 (14:58):
You know.

Speaker 5 (14:58):
I come from like like that type of athlete. First
of all, I'm from New Jersey. You know, I'm Italian
New Jersey. Yeah, like shot shout out New Jersey. Yeah,
I'm Italian. And I was involved in high level sports
since I was like six years old, like it it
is non stop. Like I was a high level wrestler
throughout like all of my younger years into like my

(15:21):
high school years. You know. I was always away traveling
with soccer, like I'm the national team and all that
stuff like throughout my younger years. And you almost have
to develop this you know this this you have to
grow up fast. And kids are kids are mean like
when you're young and everything, and you kind of build
this wall around yourself of like well, if I just

(15:43):
become better than them, then they can't say anything. They
almost they can't hurt me, you know, and I and
I wanted to stop bringing that to competition shows that
I did because even from the first one that I
ever did with Big Brother, I, you know, like at
first it was fun and I was having a good
time and it was great, and then all of a sudden,
I switched into like competition mode and I was like,

(16:04):
I need to eliminate everybody. I need to get everybody
out of here, and I'm gonna talk smack and I'm
gonna play mind games and I'm gonna get in their head.
Like same thing on my first season of The Challenge,
Like I came in and I was I was kind
of goofy, and I was friendly with everybody. But then
the second that like I got involved in you know,
getting thrown in, I just switched into what I know,

(16:26):
like what protects me, what protects my you know, mental space,
and what case me in that. And then leading into
every season it was the same thing because it was
always that side of it where after Final Reckoning, like everybody,
every single challenger was like he will never make it
and he will never last on a real season of
the Challenge, like put him on, like well, we had

(16:47):
to survive through like he will never ever ever last. Right,
So then it's like going into War the World's Won.
I wanted to make a statement and I wanted to
prove a point, and I trained like an absolute animal
going into War the World's one. In that season, I
controlled the whole game because I won seven dailies, which
like had never been done before ever, like as an
individual repairing like teams like they've won. I think the

(17:10):
record was like thirteen, which I was trying to break.
I War the Worlds too, but I think we only
got to eleven. And you know, going into that season,
people were like, oh, like you know, look what happens
if your friends aren't there. It's like all right, And
then I, you know, wanted to show that I could
be strategic in that. And then I like look back
going into this one, and I was like, man, like
that was just tiring. It was just really tiring, and

(17:34):
and I just want to be able to compete for
the sake of competing. When you look at all the
greats that do anything, they're never sitting there like being like, oh,
like you know, I'm doing this because like fuck that
person and fuck that person, Like they're just genuinely going right,
to be the best just because they love what they do,
and I have that self reflection was like I actually
love competing in this I love playing this game, So

(17:57):
why am I going into it with like such a
chip on my shoulder like like like I hate everyone,
you know, And obviously I needed that song, I think
for therapy and everything.

Speaker 3 (18:06):
Yeah, I think you deserve so much credit for this,
Like I can't even think about the amount of people
who have consistently done the challenge and who like actually
decide to go home and like work on what they've
seen on the edit, Like it takes a lot of courage,
and then to not only do that, to come back
and to publicly admit that you're working on yourself, Like

(18:27):
that's massive. And I think for a man like you,
who is very alpha male, a great competitor, all of
these things, to see this soft side of you and
then to have you open up more like it's this
whole other side of Polly, and regardless of how long
you were on this season for like, for me, it
was like, how could the viewers not be impacted by this?
Like that's such a powerful thing to express.

Speaker 1 (18:49):
I actually think that was the strongest thing, like of
all the things you've described that you've done and the accomplishments,
which are wonderful. I think actually, at least in my opinion,
the strongest, most sort of masculine, if you will, thing
you could do was shake the idea or the importance
of other people's opinions and be honest and vulnerable about

(19:11):
what you were feeling, what you learned and the journey
that you were on. Like that is something that has
an effect tenfold even beyond yourself, and it's authentic, you know,
like you'll always.

Speaker 2 (19:23):
I mean, look, I wouldn't know, because I mean I
used to play.

Speaker 1 (19:28):
Sports as a kid and win, but certainly not on
the challenge. But I'm happy with my third place.

Speaker 4 (19:33):
But I'd like to.

Speaker 1 (19:34):
Believe that most people that are very very accomplished athletes
who are at the top of their game and also
at peace, and that's the key piece, they are at peace,
are ones and this is sort of in line with
what you said, are ones who genuinely are focused on
their own growth and their own truth, and they're playing
to beat themselves. They're not playing to prove something to
anyone else. Because the minute that your energy or your

(19:56):
attention is on someone else, you're either care an additional
weight of that person that they don't have, or your
focus can't fully be on the thing you're trying to
accomplish and achieve. And so watching you come in here
and say, look, you know, I want to adapt my game.
I'm coming in here with a clear head. I'm going

(20:17):
to be smart about it is. And sure, luck and
all of that sort of plays a part with the
hopper and you know whatever and who gets.

Speaker 5 (20:23):
Kicked off close.

Speaker 2 (20:25):
Yeah, and for those of you.

Speaker 1 (20:28):
One centimeter, I have so many And the smell I
really want to know about the smell of that erect
like ahead to be gross, but.

Speaker 5 (20:35):
We'll get fortunate enough. It missed me and whatever did
hit me? I mean it hit me, but we had
that suit on. So when I took the suit off,
I was like, oh thank god.

Speaker 1 (20:44):
Yeah, yeah, because I'd have to imagine you coming back
home smelling like fish. I mean, I know car would
still love you, but I feel like she'd be like ill,
you know, like the back up of it.

Speaker 5 (20:53):
Yeah, yeah, she'd be like, you know, you need to
wash that thing.

Speaker 3 (20:56):
But wait, can I can I just tootch on this
for a second because I feel like TJ told us
that it was slud.

Speaker 4 (21:02):
I don't remember him ever saying it was fish cuts.
Did he say that there?

Speaker 5 (21:07):
I don't. I you know what, Listen Usually when it
comes to these seasons, Like my memory is pretty photographic,
Like I could recall everything this season, and I think
it's because I actually like went there and just like
had a genuine good time and like genuine fun I
remember more so not even the little details of things,

(21:27):
but more so like kind of the connections I made
with people, Like you know, obviously this this didn't make
the couple. Like when I got eliminate the like I
almost everybody standing up on the sand like ran down
and hugged me, and I like I started I started
crying because I was like, you know, Johnny was like
sitting there hugging me afterwards, and I'm like sitting there,
I'm like what world am I living in where people

(21:48):
are actually sad to see me leave?

Speaker 6 (21:50):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (21:51):
You know a show and like you know it really
it goes to show you like you know, there's two
the saying of like the two wolves, right, like you
feed the good wolf for the wolf and that's the
one that owns the day on that day, you know,
and and touching back on your point, Devin, you know,
I do. I do think that it was really uh
that it was a big thing, like and that was

(22:12):
my main thing coming into this of like, you know,
what what is like you know, the actual uh you know,
definition of like a strong alpha presence and like what
masculinity is. And I dove into that being like you know,
it's it's somebody that's like you know, can get along
with everybody, that's a protector that like focuses on uh themselves,

(22:32):
doesn't really focus on all the other things. And I
think transitioning out of that like toxic masculine mindset of
like kill kill kill, you know, that develops not only
it wasn't just through you know, athletics, like you know,
gowing up in New Jersey, like there's you know, it's
it's tough, right, Like people bully each other, people get

(22:53):
into fights and everything. And and I never was one
to like, you know, make fun of people. I was
never one to like you know, say things. But like
if people picked on me and people were bullying me,
I just fought back, like with my fists, and I
fought back you know with that, and like that's a
very old school mentality, and then that translated into athletics
where it's like if you played against people, you had

(23:15):
to not just win and you didn't have to just
beat them, you had to dominate them. Like it was
almost like this war mentality that like you didn't need
to have. So once I was able to separate that confidence,
competition and success can happen without those other things. It
was such a huge game changer for me, you know,

(23:36):
and once again, like you know, the whole uh, like
being able to come out and actually talk about, like,
you know, my sexuality, and being able to dress the
way that I always dressed my entire life when I ever,
when I first came out to TV, I didn't dress
that way because I was like, oh, how are people
going to look at me? But like I always dressed
like my favorite lead singers growing up, who I thought

(23:59):
were like hyper actual beings, and they all wore women's clothes,
you know, like you look at like the lead singers
of like Motley Crue, Arrowsmith, you know, Freddie Mercury, who
is a gay icon, like those like these were all
the people that like I grew up not just loving
their music, but I grew up idolizing them in the
stage presence that they had and just commanding the audiences
that they have. And even as an athlete, like I

(24:21):
loved like trying to command that same like presence, and
like when I had athletics, I loved it because I
was like, I could dress however I want off the
field because people watch me play and like they're like, damn,
he's good.

Speaker 1 (24:33):
When you came into the house, did you make the
decision that you were going to have that conversation around
your sexuality and be so open or was that a
game time decision, Like as you were prepping to literally
walk in the house, so you've flown out, they've stolen
your phone, you know, all the prep work that goes
into getting ready to go in the Challenge house. What
conversations did you have in your mind about what your
boundaries would be this season or did you just roll

(24:55):
with it as you got into the house.

Speaker 5 (24:57):
Honestly, I just kind of rolled with it because, like
I think the environment kind of sets the tone and
and like I said, like throughout all of like the
therapy sessions and everything, like what I truly learned was
something that I feel like I always knew which was
like you control the environment, right, like you control how
you react to things, you know, So all this time

(25:19):
of like doing these things and kind of keeping it like,
you know, all suppressed, it's because I wasn't really controlling
the environment in terms of keeping it a peaceful place.
You know, like the walls would come up, something would
like immediately, you know, trigger me, like even if it
was something like little and I'd be like, that's it
gotta fuck you up, like sorry, you know what I mean.
And I think this time around, and like I got

(25:42):
like this house was more stressful than any of the
houses that I had ever been in, But it seems
like I never felt I never felt stressed. Like this
mirrored like a Big Brother house almost. It was so
small and condensed in terms of the hallways. The doors
actually shut, you know, and like you could hear everybody
talking everywhere, and any commonplaces, everybody was able to just

(26:03):
walk in and then immediately like that just starts the
paranorim everywhere. And you know, I felt accomplished that people
were coming to me in the house being like, you know,
you seem like a place of zen and yeah, I'm
like I'm like that's crazy. Because nobody would ever say
that from past seasons.

Speaker 3 (26:21):
And you know, this was my question at least for you,
because when you walked into a regular Challenge season and
you see people who have.

Speaker 4 (26:27):
Done like Real World, are you the one the Challenge?

Speaker 3 (26:30):
And then you know you came from Big Brother, but
now you're walking into a Challenge season full of Big
Brother players, full of other people who have been on CBS.

Speaker 4 (26:37):
Did it feel different walking in?

Speaker 3 (26:39):
Like did you feel like maybe more safe because this
is kind of your home ground?

Speaker 5 (26:47):
I don't know, you know, here's here's here's the thing.
Like when I walked in first of all, once again,
I was just shocked that people were like giving me
my my roses, so you know, like and like, once again,
what people don't understand about the challenges, Like there is
a lot of psychological stuff goes into it. So if
you could take out a good competitor by mentally getting

(27:09):
in their head before they get into a rhythm, like
you've won, And like that's something that I've leveraged and
utilized on any season that I did and coming and
like I feel as though like that would happen to me,
like going into every season. It would just be like
you suck, you suck, you suck. I'd show up and
be like you suck, you suck, you suck. And you know,

(27:29):
I always put up the wall because I was like, Oh,
they're just trying to They're just trying to get to me.
They're trying to break me. I'm not gonna let them
break me. And it was weird this time around, like
going in and like the CBS people were the ones
coming up to me and being like, dude, you're a legend.
And I was like what.

Speaker 1 (27:43):
I was like what?

Speaker 5 (27:44):
Like I even had conversations with like Wes and Johnny
where they were just like, yeah, no, we only told
you that you were bad because we didn't want you
to actually think you were good, you know what I mean.
And I'm like sitting there there and like I'm sitting
there being like, oh, well, guys, we could have been
way more cooler, Like like way through I was like
like listen, I was like, I never wanted to like
put you guys on defense mode. I said, I always

(28:06):
wanted to give you guys credit for what it was.
I said it maybe I came across too aggressive, being
like if you're not going to pass the torch I'm
taking it, you know what I mean, And like it
should have been like, oh, you're not giving me credit
for being good, but I'm going to force you to
say I'm good by sending you home or making these calls.
And this time around, I was like, damn. I was like, actually, guys,
all really wanted for you guys to say, was like, hey, listen,

(28:27):
you've got potential, You're good. But Paul, I'm just.

Speaker 1 (28:30):
Gonna say your name that you should worry. It's when
people aren't checking for you. And then we'll dig into
because so much happened in this episode. But when you
were talking about sort of you know, hate and love
are kind of like or what opposite side the same coin,
and difference is the real issue. So when they're not
talking about you, if Bananas, if you're not on Banana's radar,
that's the indicator that he sees you as no child.

(28:52):
You meet him going at you all those past times,
and I know hindsight is easy, but like that means
that he one hundred percent saw you as a threat
and was threatened by you.

Speaker 5 (29:03):
Girl.

Speaker 3 (29:04):
I don't know about you, guys, but I need to
take a quick break, So don't go anywhere.

Speaker 4 (29:08):
We'll be right back after this.

Speaker 1 (29:19):
Now as a viewer, since I wasn't there, I want
to I'd be remiss if we didn't get to like
digging deep into some of what happened in this episode.
First question kind of goes to what Tory said a
little bit before about the fact that you too are
kind of in a hybrid position, which could work to
your advantage at the moment, right because you come from CBS,
but then you also are a longtime challenger. Did you

(29:43):
feel as this like all out attack started happening on
the Vets right and you started seeing I'm sure started
hearing that and seeing that. How did you feel initially?
Did you feel like you would still kind of be safe?
Did you feel like, oh, I got to protect the Vets, Like,
how did you play that?

Speaker 5 (29:58):
I didn't, to be honest, I mean, I think the
first elimination was the only time I had no votes
on my name. I had votes on my name every
other elimination, And it was tough coming into this house
because I actually I knew the I knew the Vets
more than I knew the CBS people, like I'm Big
Brother Survivor and all that, but also I was caught

(30:20):
up in a lot of conversations everywhere, So I almost
felt like on the Big Brother Survivor Amazing Race side,
they were looking at me as lead the charge and
like you know, and it was almost like we're watching you,
We're hyper fixated on you. If you don't lead this charge,
you're next, right, yeah. And then it was like looking

(30:43):
at the Vets where I was like, Ory doesn't like me?
John why doesn't like me? Josh doesn't like me? Wes
is Wes never played with John a before, you know,
and like Amanda, we've never been on opposite ends things, right,
but her relationship with Carr I was like where do
where do I stand there? Right? And like, you know,

(31:05):
the first vote was like pretty eye opening on my
side because having no votes on my name was kind
of like, oh okay, Like are the Vets kind of
cease firing because they almost need you know, yeah, numbers
the middle people to go. And then I kind of
like looked where all the balls kind of went on
that side. I'm like, all right, well, like this, you know,

(31:25):
the Big Brother Survivor Amazing Race people, they're not all
completely unified. I said, So why am I? I said,
why am I going to be the one that like
almost revives this flame and like leads this charge and
like you know, almost steps up and it's like, if
anybody doesn't vote for the vets, oh I'm coming for you.
Like I felt like that was the case on my side,

(31:48):
you know, and I did what I did to try
and stay as not seen as possible.

Speaker 1 (31:51):
But yeah, that didn't work, Like I mean, I feel
like it kind of did a little bit. I mean again,
that hopper will get you every time.

Speaker 5 (32:00):
Yeah, I was sending in a good position, but the
hot forgot me.

Speaker 4 (32:06):
Can I can I spill some tea?

Speaker 2 (32:08):
Yes? Please do so.

Speaker 4 (32:09):
Obviously, Unfortunately Pauli goes home.

Speaker 2 (32:11):
But after Paullie was gone, what gives spoilers?

Speaker 5 (32:18):
You guys? So spoilers? I'm off.

Speaker 3 (32:25):
No, So Pauli, it was said in the house, and
like you know, people can say whatever they want to
say when after people leave.

Speaker 4 (32:32):
So that's why I want to give you the opportunity
to address it.

Speaker 3 (32:35):
People were saying that you were going around talking to
other like survivors and big brothers telling them to vote vets,
but then weren't voting vets.

Speaker 4 (32:46):
Is that true?

Speaker 5 (32:50):
And it's tough. Now you want me to give away
how I how I play the games?

Speaker 2 (32:54):
You don't worry.

Speaker 5 (32:55):
Yeah, us until everybody since.

Speaker 3 (33:02):
You know, so.

Speaker 5 (33:05):
In the time that I was there, right, my main
focus was building relationships with everybody, as many people as possible, right,
And you know when people start pulling you into conversations
like this game to me felt like Big brother like
one thousand percent. Like it didn't feel like a challenge,

(33:26):
you know normally like in challenge games, which is what
I personally loved more than Big Brothers. It's like you
got to say with your chest and you got and
you gotta be like I did that. I said that, Yeah,
you know what I mean. And like the thing is,
before before I even had a chance to enter the house,
m they were all coming up to me and being like,

(33:47):
so you're gonna leave this charge Hunt And I'm like
I'm sitting there like huh. I'm like I'm sitting there
like been from of course. Yeah. This mean like even
like when the Vets first got there, like West had
said so to me, it was like, you're in so
much trouble. I was like, yes, so were you guys,
And like they're kind of like oh and I'm like
sitting there and then I'm like God, And I had
these conversations with like Josh, Corey Wes and Johnny and

(34:12):
I'm like, guys, I said, me and Josh are in
a very interesting position, I said, because we're being looked
at like like yeah, which way, which way are they flowing?
And nobody really looks at us as like riding you know,
you know, so for me, I was part of plenty
of conversations, right, But the first thing that I learned

(34:32):
was like, listen, I'm gonna let people suggest things. I'm
gonna smile and nod, and then I'm gonna keep my
cards close to my chest because it's so early in
this game that I don't to say or initiate anything.
But I'm gonna talk to the I'm gonna talk to
the vets too, And I'm just there because everybody knows
if there's one giant side, but not everybody's there. Like

(34:53):
That's how I was able to gather numbers on War
of the Worlds too. It seemed like there was one
giant side, but I was noticing wh it was on
the bottom of everywhere else and I was like, hey,
come over here, like don't. You don't have to vote now,
but like when the time comes, like just give me
a vote, and I'll like look at you and nod
and be like it's time.

Speaker 1 (35:10):
So you're saying that big brother nesss of you you
identify as a challenger largely, but you're saying that that
big brother nesss of you still comes out from time
to time, Polly, is what That's what I'm hearing.

Speaker 5 (35:20):
Is that what you're hearing is I tried my best
to keep myself safe first and like kind of be like, yeah,
let me get some numbers because like other people were
in those conversations.

Speaker 2 (35:30):
Well of course, yeah, you know who.

Speaker 5 (35:31):
Like I was like, all right, we're all playing the
same similar game here. Let's let's see where this game
of telephone goes. And what made me realize, which ultimately
was like yo, I need to kind of ride with
the vets was it kept coming back to me, like
from people who I had on the veterans side, like
you know, people are saying you're leading the charge, and

(35:53):
I'm like, okay, I said, I know for a fact
that I'm not the one.

Speaker 2 (35:58):
Bringing this up to lead they to use you as
a shield.

Speaker 5 (36:01):
Said yeah, I said so they want me as a
shield so that they want to like the fall guy. Well,
it's like, we want to take shots at the Vet,
but we know if we make him the hyper fixiating thing,
they already have a reason to want to take shots
at him. I was like, man, I was like, I
can't get played like this, not.

Speaker 2 (36:18):
By any newbies.

Speaker 5 (36:19):
You can hold on those Survivor and Big Brother players are.

Speaker 1 (36:23):
But their news to the challenge, which, by the way,
Banana's made a comment in here which is very interesting
as we saw Bananas sort of unravel, which I would
ask you both about that and being there in that moment. So,
but Banana's made a comment when he started to get
really mad and he was like, you guys are letting
when he was yelling at FeSi and Corey and he

(36:43):
was like, you guys are letting them come in here
and take over our game. I don't know if you
guys caught that line, but it was a very interesting
authentic moment.

Speaker 2 (36:52):
Of like where his mindset is and how mad he was.

Speaker 1 (36:55):
What was it like being in the house hearing Bananas
really just kind of have a melt down like that.

Speaker 4 (37:01):
I mean, I loved it because I like was feeling it.
I just didn't have Yeah, you know, I still had
my my wall up, so I was like, I'm not
gonna let him know.

Speaker 2 (37:10):
I feel like a bitch inside right now. Like, but
I loved it.

Speaker 4 (37:13):
I was feeling everything he was saying.

Speaker 3 (37:14):
You know, I think when you put so many years
into this game, you always want to be the one
on top, and so when you get the rug pulled
from under you, you have to recalibrate. It's not the
best feeling. But you know, yeah, we did our We
did our best.

Speaker 5 (37:28):
I mean I think I think my conversations with Johnny
is what ultimately, you know, flipped my mindset of like
kind of playing this Middle s esque game because I
sat there and my light bulb went off and I
was like, well, hold on a minute. All of you
CBS people as not to be an asshole, but I
kind of paved the way for you guys.

Speaker 6 (37:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (37:51):
Where I went through hell yea on my first three seasons, Yeah, yeah,
was not fun. I did not come in, I had
no friends. Not only did I have no friends in
the game, but outside of the game, every single challenger
was like, you don't belong here, get off of our show,

(38:13):
like you you don't belong here. This is our show,
not yours. And I said, well, guys, I kind of
relate to this more than I relate to Big Brother.
I didn't like Big Brother. I like this, you know
what I mean. So going into that game and being like, damn,
they're they're really trying to set me up to be
like the Shield, the fun guy, I was like, damn,
Like that's cold, you know what I mean? And like

(38:35):
for me, you know, I don't want to I don't
want to sit here and kind of be like whatever.
It's like, I don't know if I would team up with.

Speaker 4 (38:46):
You like moving forward, Yeah, you know what I mean. Yeah,
I feel you.

Speaker 5 (38:52):
I feel you.

Speaker 4 (38:52):
Oh, I feel you hard.

Speaker 3 (38:55):
My next question going forward is like, so, like you
unfortunately were only on for three episodes, and you played
a very safe and the safest strategic game you could
have played. Had you had the ability to go back
in time, would you do something different knowing that your
time was going.

Speaker 5 (39:12):
To be short? No, you can't do that any anytime.
Like whatever happened happens, you know what I mean, Like
even looking back and being like, yeah, my time was short,
like I knew what my next moves were gonna be
like I love looking at this game like a chessboard, right, Yeah.
And the thing is, it's like what happened was it's
like I was playing chess and the hopper was like,

(39:33):
fuck your day.

Speaker 2 (39:34):
Yeah you know what I mean, left you and just
threw it in the pool.

Speaker 5 (39:38):
Yeah, like that's what happened. But I was like sitting
there and even going into that elimination, I was like,
whoever wins this elimination between Johnny and myself, I said,
actually actually has the best best position in the game.
Like in my head, like it may have looked like
I was staring through Johnny's soul, but.

Speaker 2 (39:56):
I was like I really did.

Speaker 5 (39:57):
By the way, in that month, I was actually I
was looking him in the eye because I was sitting
there in my head being like, you're in pain.

Speaker 1 (40:02):
I was.

Speaker 5 (40:05):
I was trying to manifest the pain, and I was like,
you're hurting right now. You're back is hurting right now.
I'm like, your are your shoulder doesn't want to be
sore tomorrow, like you just want to Like you're having
a miserable time here. It's cold, the showers are cold,
everybody's ganging up on you. You don't want to go
back into this. Like I'm sitting there saying that, but

(40:26):
in my head, I'm also like, dude, if you win
this elimination, you have a very good shot like me personally.
This is not being cocky or anything. I said, very
good shot of like going the distance here and uh
and you know, listen, that just goes to show you that, like,
sometimes fate has other plans for you. And I think
that almost having that humbling moment, that humbling experience and

(40:47):
having it be against you know, Johnny, where like I said,
before I went into the elimination, I said, this is
this is where it ends.

Speaker 1 (40:56):
Right here in this culmination as years of yeah, yeah wow,
And it was beautiful to see it really was, And
it was beautiful to see you guys.

Speaker 2 (41:04):
I always get emotional at these.

Speaker 1 (41:06):
Moments, but I just love to I love good sportsmanship
and so seeing you guys hug seeing you get the
validation you had been wanting so long, and seeing yeah,
it was just all it was all beautiful. And then also,
what's weird about this season. It's making me feel mixed emotions.
It's like when I go to see a suspense or
like a really scary movie, which I usually don't want
to go and my husband drags me, kicking and screaming.

Speaker 2 (41:27):
But then I also get into it once i'm watching it.
That's what I feel about the season.

Speaker 1 (41:30):
The Challenge, because on one hand, it's very suspenseful, and
I kind of do love that I can't tell what's
going to happen except for any spoiler's toy gives because
the rookies are so organized and they're so smart about it,
and they're not just complaining.

Speaker 2 (41:46):
They're making moves but in like a smart way. And
so I both hate it because I love the Vets.

Speaker 1 (41:51):
I know you guys are fair. You know that's a
part of my family too. I've been with the Empty
family for fourteen plus going on fifteen years now, and
it's a very long time, and so I like love them,
but I also like this shake up. But you guys
would become the underdogs for the first time ever, which
is weird. So it's like this whole emotional turmoil going on.

(42:14):
Watching the season, it like hurts so good in a way,
and that was true watching your elimination Round Polly as well,
And it sucks because it's like they keep getting two
vets in and I just I like want I want
it not to be two vets like down there, you know,
in the thing. But it's also probably the thing that
really was needed all these years, which is cool. What

(42:38):
does it feel like for both of you guys, because
I feel like Tori you kind of mentioned it too,
being the underdogs for going from champions or you know, Poullie,
I know you haven't won a season, but you two
are very accomplished challenger and now you're like an underdog
this season.

Speaker 2 (42:56):
What is What does that feel like?

Speaker 5 (43:00):
I kind of I prefer it that way. I mean
like I feel like that that's what made me into
the challenger that I was. I mean I was like
I was the Redemption House king that you know, somehow
made it out, made the final, came into the next
season by himself really and was like I'm gonna make
it to the end, and then came in this season
after that was like, oh man, I'm outnumbered here. How

(43:22):
do I get the numbers? I know it? You know,
sometimes it's hard when you know when it's when you're
blinded by like the aggressive gameplay. But like it feels
good to be an underdog and that's why I'm sitting
here being like, you know, like CBS is where I
came from, right, Big Brother is where I came from.
But if y'all are gonna, you know, come in here

(43:44):
and almost kind of be like, yeah, that's that's cool.
Thank you for opening the door a little bit. Now
go fuck yourself. It's gonna make me feel a certain
type of way. And you know, I would prefer to
be the underdog and go against a whole group of
of people who maybe don't want me around at all.

Speaker 1 (44:03):
Sounds like now it's Paully instead of Polly versus the challengers.
It's Polly versus the CVS, Big Brother Survivor Amazing Race people.

Speaker 5 (44:12):
What was that? What was that Michael Jordan thing?

Speaker 1 (44:14):
And uh?

Speaker 5 (44:15):
And the lastwer is like and I took that personal.
I know I've had all this growth and I shouldn't
be taking things personal anymore, but it's a little personal. Yeah,
Like I saw votes come my way from Big Brother people, I.

Speaker 4 (44:29):
Was like, ah, yeah, it doesn't feel great.

Speaker 5 (44:31):
It was the third vote.

Speaker 2 (44:32):
I feel like it was Wes no, no no way.

Speaker 4 (44:35):
No way, dude, no no thank you, no way. I
mean I don't know because I don't know, but I.

Speaker 5 (44:42):
Was like, who was it?

Speaker 3 (44:43):
I don't even remember who I voted for, Like, definitely
wasn't you. I told you that day that I wasn't gonna.

Speaker 5 (44:50):
Yeah what a season?

Speaker 4 (44:52):
Yeah it was, dude.

Speaker 3 (44:53):
I think like ultimately, it's like to watch it back
and to like think about it. And Devin and I
mentioned this the first two episodes, Like in the very
first elimination, it was Michelle. That's somebody who's been on
a challenge before. Then it was me and John a
two vets. Now it's you and Bananas.

Speaker 4 (45:07):
It's like, holy crap. I know that they want us
out of the show, but sure are they giving us
this season?

Speaker 3 (45:12):
Like the yts, this is like it's not, you know,
the underdog. It's a tough path to walk, but it's
the most glorified one. And even if you don't come
out on top, think about how many people are going
to be rooting for you coming forward when you do
come back.

Speaker 5 (45:26):
Pollie, you know, I've never thought of it this way
like this, you know, spoiler, you know, I like I
always take it. After every season, I do talk to
a therapist, Like, regardless of what it may, I just
do it just to make sure I'm right. And like
this time around, I was like, I was like, guys,
I was like, I don't even care that I lost
to somebody who we've had so much history. I said,

(45:49):
this is the first time I've ever like went home
early in like anything in my life, like stepping back
to like wrestling tournaments when I was six and seven
years old. Soccer tournaments were when I was like that age.
I never I never went out that early. That was
something a process where I was like, how do you
bounce back from something like that? Like how you know?

(46:12):
And then I'm like, well, all right, man, I mean
like if you ever really do want to be a
champion and like be considered really great, like you have
to bounce back from this. But I don't know how
it gets perceived as an underdog. Is I had never
been in that situation before.

Speaker 2 (46:25):
All right, we need to take a quick break, but
don't go anywhere. We'll be right back after this.

Speaker 1 (46:38):
Now, let's talk about this daily, all right. When you
guys showed up, you see boats, you hear capsizing. It
looks gray and cold. I'm gonna just say that wasn't there,
but it looked cold. Tory's hair was blowing lusciously in
the wind. What are you all's thoughts when TJ explains
what you're gonna have to do in today's daily challenge?

Speaker 5 (46:58):
Brutal? It was brutal. I had been leading the charge
of morning cold plunges with the whole house. Oh yeah,
so I was. I was like sitting there being like, well,
thank god we did that, I said, but I also
helped like half of the people that I'm going against here. Yeah,
but it was so cold outside. The only thing that

(47:19):
I could think of before going in the water and
after getting out of the water was like, how am
I gonna not freeze? Watching the other teams go, I
mean you.

Speaker 3 (47:28):
Were you were such a fast swimmer, and obviously you
guys had to go first, but watching you from the stands,
I was like, wow, like Polly's really Pauli's got it,
Like it was just another reminder of why Josh picked
you for as is, you know, like I'm like, I
get it.

Speaker 5 (47:43):
That was That was a strategic play by that kid,
Like I gotta give him credit for that, because that
ultimately that probably could have changed the game in terms
of how I might have played exacting being on another team,
you know, like say if I was on a team
with like Wes or Corey, like would they have been

(48:05):
the devils in my ear? To just be like Josh,
maybe who knows me, you know what I mean, like
get us in with the CBS people, those guys, you
know what I mean. You know, I don't know. It's
crazy how how fate works, man. But yeah, I mean
I listen, y'all sleep on me as a swimmer. I
mean like I was right behind Jordan on all them
seasons too.

Speaker 3 (48:26):
Dude, you're you were a beast. I mean ultimately, like
that that was super cold. Like I just remember being
in the water and like, holy crap, I can't wait
for this to be over. But I'm telling you, the
joy of winning was not nearly as good as the
joy of Green Team losing because.

Speaker 6 (48:41):
Watching watching them struggle. I mean, you have to understand,
I was bitter because I had just understand you know
what I mean personal was partly personal, but yeah it
was you know, I took it personal.

Speaker 5 (48:55):
You get me, you get I got you?

Speaker 3 (48:59):
So but like, yeah, that was that was epic. That
was an epic feeling. It made it worth it too.
I mean I think the Green Team took like we
took what thirty six minutes? You guys took forty three.

Speaker 4 (49:08):
I think they took like fifty minutes.

Speaker 3 (49:11):
I mean, like, thank god we had what suits on,
but even then they didn't have the sleeves on, so
all of us had rashes.

Speaker 2 (49:19):
Like, yeah, it was a long, long day.

Speaker 5 (49:22):
At first we were cracking jokes at green and then
it got to WoT we were like, oh, just please finish.

Speaker 1 (49:27):
Yeah yeah, yeah, because you guys wanted to go into
the warm too, like be done standing out there.

Speaker 5 (49:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (49:33):
My favorite thing is that they were in there for
fifty minutes and still got one wrong. They could they
could have gone way slower. I think what happens when
people are in water and it's cold, It just gets
your mind just starts to shut off. Like it was
a brutal challenge, a happy, happy to get it over
with and out of the way.

Speaker 1 (49:48):
I mean, both of you guys do well though in
cold water, to be fair, because Toy, we saw you
on ride or Dies doing that cold plunge bath with Devin.
Like you guys were sitting at a spot getting a
two for one spot treatment. Yeah, it was no big
deal when it was cold as hell, So clearly you
guys are abnormal.

Speaker 4 (50:04):
You know, I have a little fat on my body
and it's a good thing. Like I'm a Hungarian woman.
I'm built for this kind of stuff. You know, that
explains so much explains I'm Hungarian. Baby, put me in
the cold water. Hungarian's listening to this, They're gonna be like,
what the fuck is she talking about?

Speaker 2 (50:23):
They literally this.

Speaker 5 (50:24):
One wants this one wants to cold water. I don't
know if that's a Hungarian, might have been German, I
don't know.

Speaker 2 (50:33):
I don't know, Polly, if.

Speaker 1 (50:39):
You had one, this elimination let's played out. We don't
know what happens next week because the editors decided to
leave us on a cliffhanger.

Speaker 2 (50:48):
But well, not next week, technically this week. I think
there's two episodes at least that's good.

Speaker 1 (50:52):
But if you had one against Bananas, would you have defected?
And if so, what team would you have gone to?

Speaker 5 (50:59):
No spoiler, Yeah, I was one. I was going to
go to the where I was going to the Blue team?

Speaker 2 (51:06):
Who are you going to kick off? Of the Blue team?

Speaker 5 (51:08):
I was I was going to remove Sebastian.

Speaker 2 (51:12):
Wow.

Speaker 5 (51:13):
Yeah, because dude, I don't want I don't want to
give how I do. But anyway, so obviously you know
Torri and Sebastian were very close in terms of like.

Speaker 4 (51:24):
Yeah, they were close, right, you were that close, guys,
there was no kissing at this time.

Speaker 5 (51:30):
However, one of my one of my go to moves
that I've always done in past seasons is I will
target people's somewhat number ones in order to detach them,
to pull them closer to.

Speaker 2 (51:42):
So basically, you break up happy homes please.

Speaker 4 (51:44):
Sebastian was not my number one.

Speaker 5 (51:47):
I know I know who your number one was, but
let's say there theoretically, I wasn't going after that person. Yeah,
why would I do that?

Speaker 2 (51:57):
But stories number one? Hold, I'm sorry?

Speaker 1 (51:59):
Who was? We don't like any any tea left unspilled
back up? Who was Toy's number one on the.

Speaker 5 (52:05):
Male or female side?

Speaker 1 (52:07):
Male?

Speaker 5 (52:08):
Johnny?

Speaker 1 (52:11):
It's just.

Speaker 5 (52:15):
It was the shot right down, Well, I know that
she mean no One. Well, I know you're close to you're.

Speaker 3 (52:24):
Close to john A, Okay, and then where what well no,
exactly exactly elimination, that's exactly.

Speaker 5 (52:32):
That's exactly why people probably made that happen, right like so,
and it wasn't anything to do with that but they were,
they were close, which means that she always had a
vote to always use whenever she needed it. Right, So
if I could have split that to another team, then
that's a vote that she doesn't have in a setting
where like and then also you know, somewhere else, like

(52:57):
on another team, if there was a way.

Speaker 1 (52:58):
To just I think.

Speaker 2 (53:01):
You know and I have strength.

Speaker 5 (53:04):
I love Sebastian, I do love I do love me
some sea bass.

Speaker 2 (53:07):
Do Yeah, Tory, do you love him as well? Are
we using the word So what we're.

Speaker 3 (53:12):
Going to continue to talk about is anything else? Listen, dude,
I'm I'm I'm taking all the friends I can get.
I think it's pretty clear. It's pretty apparent. I've got
one point one person, one point people in this game
having my back.

Speaker 2 (53:29):
It is clear.

Speaker 1 (53:30):
But Toy, can we say this and I say this
with all the love because I hope you know I
have your back, But I will also smack that ass
if I feel like you're.

Speaker 2 (53:41):
So desperate and apparent about it. Torri Uh, there are.

Speaker 1 (53:45):
Bots within the gameplay when you're like, oh my god,
I'll be your friend, like please, I need your friend,
Like I know that you have no like quote unquote
friends in the game, like if there's an out there's
an oversized number of rookies or whatever, and then of
the remaining sort of vets, we know there's one that
you kind of have a feud with, and everybody else
I feel like you're neutral issue with, but like you,

(54:08):
I feel like you undermine yourself when you stoop to
certain people or things and you're like, okay, but be
my friend. And I know you're kidding, but I'm also like,
where's the strong Hungarian woman?

Speaker 5 (54:21):
I know that I yeah, and I don't. I don't
want to say, take a page out of my old
playbook because that person, that person's dead and gone. However,
you know, it's kind of cool to walk into a
into a place and be like, no friends with something,
motherfuckers you coming yeah, you know, like.

Speaker 4 (54:38):
You know, not like in a mean way, but it's
just kind of like, let me just say this, it's
coming up. You know, I will leave this.

Speaker 3 (54:45):
I will leave this as the spice for the fire
for the next episode because I like that bitch up
yes girl.

Speaker 4 (54:51):
And don't give a fucking comes down.

Speaker 2 (54:54):
No, yes, no, the Hungarian Bitch is coming out next week.

Speaker 4 (55:00):
Yes, yes, good, She's tired, she's ready to go.

Speaker 1 (55:04):
It's just a time because you've you've you've earned that place,
you've earned that space to where like you don't have
to kick ass, like if they're not smart enough to
get on the train or and I don't I don't
even say they're not smart enough because realistically they're playing
a very smart game and they're going after you. The
same thing we said about Paullie, Like the only reason
they're targeting you is because you're a threat, right, Like

(55:25):
if you were not, if you were a me, they'd
be like, I'll let that bitch make it to the
final so like that, which no, but it's true, and
also it works very well for my gameplay, so I
don't mind, but I but I like to see the
strong like the same thing Paulie said why he likes
the Challenge versus Big Brother, which is in the challenge
you have to say it with your chest. In the challenge,

(55:47):
you have to be like, no, I made this choice
for this is who I am, and this is what
I'm riding with, like go for it, where as I
feel like the other ones, it'll be interesting to see
those who adapt to that, like kind of how Pollie
has because you've done so many challenges and so you know,
that's kind of how you operate now, poly And I
feel like sometimes we see glimpses of that with other

(56:07):
Big Brother challengers who've been in the game for a
long time. But it'll be interesting to see if this
new group who starts to move that way and who stays,
you know what I mean, Like in kind of the
sneaky I say one thing, I actually feel like DESI
will probably move will be like a say it with
your chest. I feel like a Tiffany will be with
your chest.

Speaker 5 (56:27):
I love DESI likes She's one of my favorite people
that I connected with there. Like I actually I can't
say I didn't like anybody there. I mean, I wasn't
there long enough for to go that direction, you know
what I mean. But it's like I kind of I
like the fact that I was able to be connected

(56:47):
with so many people, you know, and like I would
love to see people who are good at the game.
And I've said I had this hard to heart with
Johnny in there, where I was like listen, bro, like
I was own like back completely on the first season
I ever did with you, and like I just heard
you talk to me about like how hard it is
to be you coming into everything, and I and I

(57:10):
and I said it to him in a nice way.
I'm like, listen, bro, Tom Brady knew people were coming
to sack him every damn time he came back from
the NFL. There was not a cornerback being like, I
ain't gonna intercept this guy's past, like they weren't just like, hey,
Tom Brady, throw this touchdown passing when he's Super Bowls.
And I said to him, I said, listen, like your
legacy is always going to be like what it is.

(57:31):
And same with like all the people who have created
a legacy, like the Sea Chiefs, the West is you know,
the up and coming, like you know, Jordan is there
on the yeah, on the females on the female side. Right,
you've got the cars exactly, You've got all of them,
Laurel and all this stuff. And I'm like, it's never
gonna be easy coming in the dame heavy the head.

(57:53):
But you know what a king and a queen stays
king and queen by slaying people, you know what I mean,
Like they don't go to their enemy and being like like,
oh so hard to be King.

Speaker 1 (58:02):
Yeah, Rihanna doesn't complain. She just lives her life daily,
right right, so true?

Speaker 5 (58:10):
So like that, I love I love that stuff. But
I also really love the old school feel of the show,
where it was like, in your face, cutthroat, I'm here,
I'm gonna rip your head off.

Speaker 2 (58:21):
You know, but it's not. But the Challenge started as
a balance of that.

Speaker 5 (58:26):
That's what I was gonna say. The balance needs to
kind of be like, hey, their cutthroat and they like
to compete, but also, hey, they like they like this.

Speaker 1 (58:35):
I mean, the challenge was founded off of personalities, and
not personalities of scheming and whatever, but personalities of literally
just honestly kind of a bunch of goofballs that like that,
you know.

Speaker 5 (58:46):
And so the Dark Knight in the Dark Knight rises
for and.

Speaker 4 (58:52):
Killed it. I think multiple times I paid tickets to
see that movie.

Speaker 5 (58:55):
Multiple times.

Speaker 2 (58:57):
I was like, Paula, do it again, all right, Paully,
before you go, we have to know.

Speaker 1 (59:04):
So you're out of the house now, like TJ said,
we'll definitely see you back, I'm sure at some point.
But who should viewers keep an eye on. Don't give
me spoilers, but just like, who do you think they
should watch from what you know? And who are you
rooting for?

Speaker 2 (59:18):
When you walked away? What guy and what girl? Well?
I sounded like TJ in that moment. What guy and
what girl are you rooting to? Go all the way
to the end?

Speaker 5 (59:28):
You know, I genuinely when I left, I like I
wanted to see everybody.

Speaker 2 (59:32):
Like, do well, I don't give me a political answer.

Speaker 5 (59:35):
Pot you know people who I had my eye on
as a threat to me personally on the men's side,
and I love this guy was Chris. I had my
eyes on him because him and I had a lot
of moments. And these were subtle moments, but I picked
up on it right where you know, Johnny had his guitar,

(59:56):
he was playing it, Chris was having you know, just
sitting along whatever. And I walked out one day and
he's Chris is playing the guitar, and I'm like, the
small fucker knows how to play the guitar. And then
he's sitting there doing the cold plunges with me, and
I'm like, this guy understands like the mental aspect of this.
And then I was holding the pads one day for
Cory and FESSI and I think Josh, and he suddenly

(01:00:18):
came over to me and was like, hey, man, you
mind holding the pads for me. And but we went
downstairs and the kid can box like had the had
the fundamental fundamentals of a box. And I was like like,
so this motherfucking box. I'm like, I'm like, this guy's uh,
really good. I had a lot of things and then
like I started putting the pieces together, being like, he's

(01:00:38):
a sales manager of a really big company. I said,
he one survivor. I said, he's intelligent. He knows how to,
you know, get people together. He knows how to do stuff.
So like Chris was somebody I had my eye on,
being like if I work with this guy, great, but
eventually I gotta cut him because he's smart. On the
female side, you know, I really loved uh Cassidy and Deisi.

(01:01:04):
You know, they were new people that that I thought
were really awesome. Obviously, you know, I've really loved Chanel,
you know, but I also wanted to see the.

Speaker 2 (01:01:13):
Vets kind of not just get Paul you're giving me.

Speaker 1 (01:01:15):
I appreciate your in depth, but you were giving me
a very political long answer. I want to know who
do you want to win if you if you got
to get a raffle ticket.

Speaker 2 (01:01:23):
Who right now? What guy one girl are you rooting
for to win the game?

Speaker 3 (01:01:28):
Man?

Speaker 5 (01:01:28):
Oddly enough, I want to see Josh win.

Speaker 2 (01:01:32):
Oh okay, yeah, okay, and then he and I made
some strides there, and what girl would you want to
see win?

Speaker 1 (01:01:44):
If we were taking bets right now, like when you
walked out of the house and they're like, okay, Paula,
you get to anoint one person like who.

Speaker 5 (01:01:51):
I would like? I would like to see michaeleb b
just because I feel like her first season like yeah
out and yeah, like that girl is strong, Like yeah,
one day she accidentally would like you know, did that
whole jump into your shoulder bump thing and like she
almost sent me flying And I was like, hold one.

Speaker 2 (01:02:14):
Torri was talking about that last Yes, she's solid.

Speaker 4 (01:02:19):
Yeah, she's something different, man, She's something No, she is
something different.

Speaker 5 (01:02:23):
She is like like she's built different. Like I'll just
I'll just say that she's built different, like just on
another level of strong.

Speaker 2 (01:02:32):
Yeah yeah, yeah awesome.

Speaker 1 (01:02:35):
Well, thank you so much Polly for coming and sharing
your story and being so open with us. It's been
really great catching up with you. For people who want
to continue to catch up with you and follow what
you're doing, and just this journey, this wonderful journey that
you're on.

Speaker 2 (01:02:49):
Where can they find you on social They could.

Speaker 5 (01:02:51):
Just find me at Paul Califiuri underscore on everything.

Speaker 3 (01:02:55):
I'm just telling you all right, nice, Well, Paul, thank
you so much for coming on this. I was great
to catch up with you. And dude, You're gonna have
so many people rooting for you in the future, so
I'm excited your next return.

Speaker 2 (01:03:07):
Growth looks good on you.

Speaker 5 (01:03:08):
Well listen, hopefully the next return I could get that
win that I've been manifesting for all those years off
I would talk to the mountain people in Montana. I'd
go for my runs and I'd see the mountains around
me and go on those runs and I'd just be
like visualizing TJ just being like congratulations Paul, and I'm like, yeah,
I came back this season like I was God. I
was like, well, what the hell? How does how does

(01:03:30):
that work? Is this delayed gratification that I need to
wait for?

Speaker 1 (01:03:33):
It's yeah, it's HiPE last and we make plans.

Speaker 5 (01:03:36):
Yes, that's true, Yeah, it's true.

Speaker 1 (01:03:38):
Awesome, We'll tell car we said hi, and it was
great to watch the time that you did have on
this season. And I'm sure we'll have you back both
on seasons and the podcast.

Speaker 5 (01:03:47):
Well, I appreciate I'll look forward to that, y'all.

Speaker 2 (01:03:49):
Awesome, thank you, thank you.

Speaker 4 (01:04:01):
God. That was a really good interview with Polly.

Speaker 3 (01:04:03):
It was it was I mean, like, I really do
think he gets you know, he's dealt with his de mins,
he's come back on, he's owned his stuff, and now.

Speaker 4 (01:04:12):
He's just enjoyable to talk to.

Speaker 2 (01:04:13):
So that was nice. Yeah, I'm so glad that he
came on.

Speaker 3 (01:04:17):
Yeah, and I think it's gonna be cool to follow
him after this and you know, see where his journey
takes him.

Speaker 2 (01:04:21):
But Devin, where can I follow you and see.

Speaker 4 (01:04:24):
Where this journey takes you?

Speaker 1 (01:04:27):
If you want to see my journeys, then you can
go where can you go? Oh to devinsimone dot com.
It has all my socials at the bottom, or you
can go to Instagram at Devin Simone or Twitter at
Devin Simone.

Speaker 2 (01:04:40):
I'm most active there, or TikTok. I'm trying because story
told me to.

Speaker 1 (01:04:43):
So I'm on my honeymoon in Africa, yes, and I'm
going to try and take photos of the animals and
good content and actually post it and notoriously take a
ton content and then never post it. So I'm going
to So if you guys want to see that, then
go follow me on Instagram and if I haven't posted,
you can mess to me and be like, Devin, what
are you doing Tory, who's a much better content creator?

Speaker 2 (01:05:04):
Where can they follow you on social?

Speaker 6 (01:05:06):
Wow?

Speaker 4 (01:05:07):
Thank you so much, Devin. Actually, everybody look under your seats.
I put a QR code under there and you can
scan it to get all of my social detail.

Speaker 3 (01:05:13):
Could you imagine if I snuck into everybody's seat right now?

Speaker 1 (01:05:17):
The thoughts that Tory randomly has, like I one day
would love to just be a fly on the wall
in her brain.

Speaker 2 (01:05:23):
No, were fly on the wall? I have no filter.

Speaker 3 (01:05:27):
No, you guys can follow me at tory Underscore deal
And honestly, I think we all have to get on
the same page. We get Devin to post more content.
We want to see what's going on in her life,
especially on her honeymoon. So don't worry about dming me.
Let's dm her as a collective. We'll get in a
group chat and we'll fire it up. Not you guys
in the group chat.

Speaker 4 (01:05:44):
Well I'm after you, guys.

Speaker 2 (01:05:46):
Put together the group chat. Put together a separate group chat.

Speaker 1 (01:05:49):
Because if you like this episode, please rate and review
us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and tell a friend
and a friend of a friend and a friend of
a friend of a friend, and leave more reviews and
all those things.

Speaker 2 (01:05:58):
We appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (01:05:59):
Literally tell a friend until eventually one day a friend
tells you it's like a chain, you know, like that
should be the new content. Yeah, and make sure you
catch new episodes of The Challenge USA airing on CBS.
And guess what, guys, there's another episode coming out this week.
And I promise you this episode is my favorite.

Speaker 4 (01:06:18):
So get ready.

Speaker 2 (01:06:20):
It's about says it gets spicy.

Speaker 1 (01:06:22):
I'm excited, she says, it gets spiked sy it's about
to wait down.

Speaker 2 (01:06:27):
To see the spice.

Speaker 1 (01:06:29):
And of course, after we see the spice, we'll see
you back here for a brand new episode of MTB's
official challenge podcast, Leave the Bets Alone.