Ep. 479: CT is BACK + Season 41 Questions!

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
What's up, Challenge Maniacs. You may have heard that we
are kicking off season forty one in style here in
the Big Apple in New York City. But what you
may not have heard yet is we have added a
monster guest. That's right, It will be CT Tamborello's only
New York Area appearance all year. He is joining an
already stacked lineup. Derek will be there in the house,

(00:25):
co hosting this premiere party with me. That's a rarity.
We do a ton of these. Derek is rarely here.
Derek will be in the house. CT will be in
the house. Anissa Olivia, Olivia's boo Theo, who as you know,
is from Across the Pond, is making a rare Challenge
Mania live appearance. Also, speaking of Across the Pond, Rogan
will be in the house. We also know a few

(00:46):
of the rookies are going to be in the house,
and tons of other surprises. Here's what we're gonna do.
We're gonna watch the whole episode live on massive screens
with the sound on at City Winery in the Big Room.
You can go and pick your seat right now. We'll
have cast mingling with you before the episode. During the episodes,
things like that. After the episodes, we will take the
stage and do a panel and with Q and A,
and then we will meet and greet with you guys

(01:07):
till about midnight. Make sure everybody is happy. Go to
challenge Mania dot Live right now. Get your tickets because
trust me, they are going fast. Season forty one coming
to July thirtieth. Wednesday, July thirtieth. Doors will be six pm,
Episode will be eight pm and we're going to party
with you guys all night long. Go to Challengemania dot
Live for tickets right now. What's up, everybody. This is

(01:44):
Sky Jeger here with another edition of Challenge Mania. This
episode brought to you by Challenge Mania Live Atlanta. That's right,
we are coming to the gorgeous, brand new Helium Comedy
Club in Atlanta Sunday, July the thirteenth, and we are
bringing a hell of a headliner guest, Johnny Bananas'll be
joining me and Derek and Mark and Keith La Hare
and Aviv Melmid That's right, she is bringing those tiny

(02:06):
toes that Johnny liked so much. And you can still
get tickets to challenge Mania dot Live. After that. We've
got a season forty one premiere party for you here
in New York. We're gonna have more on that later
in the podcast. Tickets already available at Challenge Mania dot Live,
but not for long and then we are rolling through
Los Angeles, Brea, California. To be exact, it is road
Rules thirty. Are our thirty the Road Rules thirtieth Anniversary Show.

(02:28):
It is Mark Long, myself, Rachel, Tina Veronica. If you're
keeping tracking home, that is all three mean Girls. We've
also got Susie, Keith La, Katie, Shane Durrell and more surprises.
It will be the largest collection of road rulers ever
on a live stage. We can promise you that. Tickets
also available at Challenge Weeni dot Live and meet and
greet tickets still available for that one. If you want
all right, you didn't come for me, you came for D.

(02:51):
A couple of weeks ago, it was announced that D
will be taking part in season forty one of The Challenge.
We did break down the whole cast on the day
that that was announced, but we didn't have time to
gather your questions. We have since done so over a
challengemaniacs dot com. We were going to answer them for
you here today, mister Derek Kaczinski.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
What's up, buddy, Yeah, just getting over that Pittsburgh high
that we were on that black and yellow, black and yellow,
black and yellow. Uh. Come to find out the Steelers
are making all these changes. The Pittsburgh Pirates won three
in a row against the New York Mets. I think
they outscored them like thirty to four over the past

(03:27):
three games. I mean, dare I say, we're kind of
a good luck charm I got, we got we had
some great photos out there on the Pittsburgh Pirates field.
We both kind of threw out the first pitch, kind
of threw out the first pitch, and we did throw
out the first pick.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
What is what? What are you talking about? Kind of like,
guess I technically threw out I guess I threw out
the second pitch. But yeah, I mean, what do you
mean kind of we did the damn thing.

Speaker 3 (03:50):
Yeah, we did it. We got some great pictures of it.
I got.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
I got a little Maverick flying through the air. I
got like the that was like the best picture ever.
You know, it felt like we you know, it felt
like as a Challenge Mania Challenge Mania Live Duo I
felt like we won. We didn't just win the game
that day. Me and you one have been winning is
what it felt like.

Speaker 3 (04:11):
CT was there. You know, he didn't pull a rally.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
We apologize to all the rally people that were pissed off,
but he was there in action, live and unplugged like
my t shirt said, Live and unplugged like that Nathan
podcast was and unplugged is where that podcast is gonna
live on our Patreon because it was a little nitty gritty,
I would say, to say the least it got it.

(04:35):
It touched some some angles that don't get touched very often,
and I'd prefer it to live on our Patreon. Scott
sorry for everyone that's listened to this and not pay well.

Speaker 1 (04:46):
Hey, look it's not like it's locked behind bars for
knowing to enjoy. So look, we are gonna let's touch
on Pittsburgh a little bit. We've got some time here.
We have no guest on the podcast this week. It's
you and me over here. Obviously this goes up first
to challenge Maniac dot Com early in that free but
this will also be going up on the main feat meat.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
We We almost had a massive guest today. We're not
gonna say who, sorry, continued me to cut you off.
We almost had a massive guest, but listen, we can
only do so much here in the off season.

Speaker 1 (05:13):
Well, we did have several massive guests in Saturday. Unfortunately
Trachelle didn't make it. There was some terrible weather out there.
She was also out in Vegas playing in the World
Series A Poker did fairly well out there. So sadly,
Trochelle didn't make the trip. But CT was there, as
you said, broke both Brain Candy, Hall of Famers Susie
and Sarah were there, the Godfather, Mark Long in rare
form you and myself, And yes, we recorded the entire show,

(05:34):
almost two hours of audio, and it will live exclusively
over at challengemaniacs dot dot com by request, because look,
we touched on some things that I don't think CT's
really addressed in a couple decades. We also talked about
you know, we let it fly out there and so
the people in the room had a great time and
you can metaphorically be in that room, figuratively be in
that room if you had to challenge maniacs dot com.

(05:55):
Sign up at the Maniac level or above. You can
get the full audio of that podcast. You can also
get all of our bonus podcasts for season forty one
that's coming up on July thirty. If you get pre
sale access to all future live shows and events, maybe
even some live shows and events that are on sale
right now that might have a password be getting put
up kind of soon. We'll kind of allude to that
in a little bit. But yeah, Pittsburgh was awesome. I'm

(06:18):
pretty sure the Steelers approached CT about maybe coming in
and blocking for Aaron Rodgers next year. As you said,
they're making a lot of moves, if you will. But
CT coming in hot, had a great time, brought his
son with him. Susie had her son Lincoln with us
on Friday. He didn't come to the show on Saturday.
I believe he was at a lacrosse tournament. So shouts
to Lincoln, who is loving life. During that batting practice,

(06:38):
he's sitting there calling over Joey Bart, one of the
players on the Pirates, and I'm like, oh, you need
a ball or something. He goes, no, I got four
Joey Bart cards on me, so he was ready to rock.
Shouts to Francisco Lindor star shortstop on the Mets for
signing a ball for me during the batting practice. Mark
and I also getting some first pitch tips from the
coach of the Pirates give us any tips. We did

(07:00):
to take a photo with us the manager of the Pirates,
so that was cool. And then d it needs to
be said, because, like you said, winning at Life, Loving Life,
we did get the pitches off, as everyone's probably seen
on social media by now, But towards the end of
Mets batting practice, in comes a storm that literally shut
down the entire ballpark. Everyone has to run for cover.
They cover the field. The grounds team does a great

(07:22):
job over there in Pittsburgh. They cover all the bases
and all the dirt and things like that. And it
was a torrential downpour of the like side I don't
think we've seen in quite some time. It was a
Florida like downpour. Sarah is stuck there on the armac.
They won't even let them off the plane because the
weather was so bad. She finally got there in time
to do the world famous perogi race and hold that

(07:44):
finish line with Susie Cet. Got in so late he
missed the game by a mile. Didn't get to the
hotel till three am. If you think that we were worried,
that is an understatement that we were going to somehow
unintentionally do again to you guys what sadly happened in
Raleg last October. But luck was on our side. And
I'm sitting here doing the mathie as the time keeps
clicking and that what's it called the start of the

(08:06):
game keeps getting pushed. I'm like, is there an amount
of time that if this game gets rain delayed into
that they're going to say, let's scrap all the ceremonial
bullshit before. And I'm thinking, is it possible that after
all this hoopla, we don't even get to do the
first pitches. But no, luck was on our side. About
thirty or forty minutes later, they lift off the tarp,
the rain clears the sky's part, and we had a

(08:27):
great time there. You had your whole family there, your
in laws there, your wife, both of your kids were there.
It was a great time. And during the game, I'm
facetiming with my son during a one Soto at bat
because he's got one Soto on his fantasy team. In quotes,
as we ease Brock into the world of fantasy sports.
Here he's got one Soto on his team. So I'm
recording his bat on FaceTime, not recording it, but I'm

(08:51):
showing brocket see if he hits him a home run,
he'd already hit one in the game. And he nails
a foul ball that goes so high it goes to
the suite right next to ours, this suite full of
veterans that stood up during the you know, make some
noise for veterans portion of the game, and they and
I and so I kind of track it with my phone.
I say, Brock, you just hit a ball right up here,
and they were so nice. They go, do you want it?
They give it to me. So I'm like, Brock, here

(09:11):
you have this ball now. So we have a game
used ball hit by Juan Soto, have a ball signed
by Francisco Lindor. And apologies standing Mets fans, because, as
you said, the Pirates put on a clinic against the
Mets all weekend long. I believe they outscored them by
more more runs than I don't know, some record breaking
series and could be a turning point for the Pirates.

(09:33):
And we're not going to take full credit for it,
but did happen when Challenge Mania was in the house.
So shouts to Carry and shouts to Mitch and everybody
at the Pirates that we met, every person there, the
staff member, the mascot, who's hilarious. They had us throwing
T shirts or at least energetically getting people pumped for
the T shirt toss. It was a great time, so hospitable.

(09:54):
They even let me come down on Saturday. I mean
on Sunday, I was killing some time before my flight.
They were nice enough to hold my suitcase in the
off so I'd get three innings in before I had
the head of the airport. So shout out to the Pirates.
Bucket list stuff I'm sure for you certainly was for
me as well. And hey, look here's the here's the
way this appeals to and applies to other people. As

(10:14):
you know, you know, the last time we were supposed
to have CT on one of our stages, sadly didn't
work out. Had a lot of disappointed people there in Raleigh,
but we were hoping that this could be the start
of maybe having the Big Guy on more of our stages,
more of our events, more of our shows in the future.
And I think it went really well, went really well
for us, went really well for him, So we may

(10:34):
or may not be in talks for bringing him to
something very soon, something that might already be on sale now. However,
once we make that happen, because we like to do
stuff in a diplomatic and democratic way, don't be surprised
if that old password gets thrown back up there and
we go through the same process we normally go to
both giving that out to anybody who maybe owed that

(10:56):
access from a previous event in North Carolina, and then
also for our good patrons over at Challengemaniacs dot com. So,
like what happened in Pittsburgh, those people who bought tickets
to Pittsburgh a few months ago when they were far cheaper,
and when it was just the Brank Candy girls and
you and me and Mark and Sells be hon there, well,
boy did they get a pleasant surprise when we added

(11:17):
CT ten days out. I'll just say this, those who
may or may not have showed some good faith and
already purchased some tickets to party with us and ring
in the next season of the Challenge also might be
similarly lucky. So by the time you're hearing this, some
big news may have broken, a new password may have
been applied, but for anyone who has already gotten tickekets,
you guys are good to go. So anyway, very long

(11:39):
winded way of agreeing with you that Pittsburgh was amazing
and shouts to steel Town. You got a great place.
I know you live technically in Morgantown, but every time
I go to Pittsburgh, I'm like, I love it here.
I really do love that downtown area with the bridges
and the water and the stadiums. I cannot speak more
highly about that. Yeah, aces all around for that area.

Speaker 2 (11:57):
Yeah, yeah, No, it's like Pittsburgh, it's like one of
those cities that don't get enough credit. It's like it
is a beautiful looking city. I mean it's got those
three yellow bridges like no other city in the world
has like those three pop and yellow bridges. As we
were like sitting in the suite, I was explaining to

(12:19):
Sarah that, like.

Speaker 3 (12:20):
I'm like, because I know she's like such an artsy girl.

Speaker 2 (12:23):
I was like, I was like, isn't like the buildings
in the way the stadium set up like so cool?
And I was like, see the bridge like the bridge
isn't actually inside the stadium. It looks like it's inside
the stadium, but it's not. And uh it was funny, man.
When Sarah and and Little d had uh interacted, had
saw themselves for the first time, they both acted like

(12:45):
they knew each other, and I was like, I was like,
wait a minute, do you too know we like, do
you guys like like do you guys like communicate on
social media? Where I how do you like like you acted.

Speaker 1 (12:57):
Like be worried about what's going on here?

Speaker 3 (13:01):
No?

Speaker 2 (13:01):
No, it's like it's like, you know, it was like
family members that hadn't seen each other in a long time.
That's what the interaction was like. And I was like,
I was I was just surprised. I instantaneously busted out
the camera because it was such a rare thing. It
was almost like d knew Sarah and Sarah new D well.

Speaker 1 (13:21):
She treated him like an adult, right, Like that's how
you greet an adult, right Like normally when you see
someone's kid, it's oh, is this little d how's it going?
You start kind of like, you know what. She looked
at him like somebody she went to camp with, and
she's known for twenty years.

Speaker 3 (13:32):
Well, same thing with CT. When CT met met Little D.

Speaker 2 (13:36):
And this is a little D's first event that he
had gone to was my in laws first event, and
it was Maverick's first event.

Speaker 3 (13:44):
You know, at the Pirates Stadium.

Speaker 2 (13:45):
And then Little D managed to get into the challenge
being you Alive and saw us kind of do our thing.
And when CT and and Derek had met, it was
almost like CT was geeked to meet D, just like
fans are geeked to meet CT. It was just because

(14:08):
I mean I was again, I was surprised both ways.
I just think that these you know, the people that
I've done shows with for almost twenty years now, they've
just they've just watched Derek grow through pictures and he's
sixteen now.

Speaker 3 (14:22):
He's probably like fully grown.

Speaker 2 (14:24):
Maybe he'll expand a little bit more, but you know,
I don't see him getting any tar like this is
a full grown man from the baby pictures that they've
seen growing up. So you know, you know where he's
just like there to just like observe, not know what
you know was gonna happen. These people are like, yo,
I've watched you grow up and you don't even know it,

(14:45):
you know, so it was pretty cool to see both
of them, you know, just like you know, elated to
finally meet him, which is you know, everyone's there to
meet them, and they were just kind of like, you know, like.

Speaker 1 (14:59):
To give you any of you guys. You guys had
that you know, what is an hour and a half
drive on the way back. Did he give you any feedback?
What did he think of the event, seeing you do
your things, seeing these people go nuts for you, because,
as you said, he's seen it all on TV, on
the internet, et cetera, but this is the first time
he's been in the room, heard that reaction and whatnot,
met some of the challenge. Maniacts, you know, what did
he take?

Speaker 3 (15:18):
I think it's always it's always.

Speaker 2 (15:21):
Funny hearing like when my brothers were I think about
his age when I first started doing the shows.

Speaker 3 (15:31):
They're seven years younger.

Speaker 2 (15:32):
So if I started doing the shows when I was nineteen, yeah,
they were in high school, they were like they were like,
you know, just they were actually like elementary school right
going into high school. When I started kind of doing
the shows. However, I hit them up. I'd be like, hey,
what'd you think of the episode? Hey would you think
of the challenge or did you see the show? And
they just kind of always be like, yeah, I go Danny,

(15:54):
cool happened And they were just like never as excited
as I would be, right.

Speaker 1 (15:59):
Same thing with it.

Speaker 3 (16:00):
He's just kind of like it was, oh, this is
what he said.

Speaker 2 (16:03):
He said, the conversation was interesting, like the podcast conversation
was interesting, and you know, like I said, we touched
on some things that are you know, kind of.

Speaker 3 (16:12):
You knowing a little Yeah.

Speaker 2 (16:14):
It was like very tea filled you know, and uh,
you know, but it wasn't like you know, we were swearing.

Speaker 3 (16:20):
It wasn't like it wasn't it wasn't anything that like.

Speaker 2 (16:25):
You couldn't talk about. It's just it's not really talked about.
And he kind of got to hear that side. It
was very much an MTV unplugged version of a conversation
about the challenge, right. It was very much like you know,
Kurt Cobain is is you know, playing the acoustica or
playing the guitar, you know, uh, you know a cappella

(16:47):
shit like that. Like he that's very It's very that's
what it felt like, you know, And he got to
see that like live and in person, and I just
think he was. He said it was interesting. The conversation
was interesting.

Speaker 1 (16:57):
So well, I have it in front of me here.
The Pirates outscore the Mets thirty to four. If you
combine all three games. Friday, the game week through the
first pitch, I kicked it off nine to one, the
one run being that one Je Soto home run, and
then Saturday nine to two, and then Sunday, which I
caught about six of these runs, they won twelve to one.

(17:18):
So who knows. Maybe it's because we were in the house.
If you know, come this week they go back to
uploading out teams. Hey, maybe you invite us back. Anyway,
here's another reason ahead of Challenge Maniacs dot Com. We
usually do this in September, we're kicking it off a
little early, so in July, leading up to season forty one,
we're going to do the Challenge Mania Hall of Fame
for twenty to twenty five. Our good buddy John Headles,

(17:40):
our resident stat guy, put together some ideas for us
what would be some ideal ballots. As you guys know,
we've been doing this all the way back to twenty nineteen.
Just to run through who's already in the Challenge Mania
Hall of Fame, our inaugural class. Now, I will say
the eligibility requirements have kind of changed from year to
year and have kind of the ebbs and flows have
gone with how how many people are already in how

(18:01):
many Challenge seasons they're banging out, and what clip they're
banging them out? The Advent of All Stars and lots
of other good stuff. But twenty nineteen we inducted dim
as the first ever automatic inductee. You and I decided
to put her in to make sure she was the
first ever Challenge main to Hall of Famer, and then
every year two guys and two gals go. In the
first year it was Landon and Mark and Coral and Evelyn,

(18:21):
twenty twenty was Abram and miss and Paula and Rachel,
twenty twenty one was You and Timmy and Katie and Sarah,
twenty twenty two Alton and Brad and Carl, Maria and Veronica,
twenty twenty three CT and Emily, Leroy and Susie, and
then last year was Zach and Wes and Ashley and Jenna. Now,
if you're wondering, where's Jordan, Where's Derell, Where's Johnny Banana

(18:44):
is It is that eligibility which is always tied to
how recently people have played on the show. This year,
we decided to loosen that just a little bit, and
so we keep, you know, inducting some of these heavy
hitters and make it less obvious, you know why people
are aren't on the old child Mania Hall of Fame
list there. So as long as you do not play
on season five of All Stars, and as long as

(19:05):
you are not playing on season forty one, you are eligible.
And so that has opened up some spots here on
the ballot for some heavy hitters. Darrell Taylor hitting the
bout for the first time, Jordan Wisley hitting the bout
for the first time, and then on the female end,
we've got Tory Dial, Jenny West them hitting the vout
for the first time. So here's what we decided, guys.
So we've got some polls up at challengemaniacs dot com

(19:26):
you can take part in to help us decide who's
going to join these folks on the ballot. Durrell and
Jordan are already on the ballot, and then we have
a poll up for you guys to decide what three
cast members join them between Corey Wharton, Eric Nice, Jamie Murrayy,
Neemiah Clark, Theo Vaughn, Tyler Duckworth, and Yes, Duffy. I
can tell you that by the time you are hearing this,

(19:48):
it looks like two of those spots are going to
be filled by Jamie Murray and Tyler Duckworth. Jamie's got
thirty two percent of the vote and Tyler's got twenty
five percent, but very much within a few votes of
each other. You've got yet, Yes, Theo, Nehemiah, Eric and
Corey all within seven to ten percent. So get over
there and you can help us decide who gets that
fifth spot. And then on the female end, I believe

(20:10):
mister Heatles and I decided that the ballot would be
populated with Tory Deal, Laurel Stuckey, Jody Weatherton, and Jenny West,
leaving open one female spot. That one female spot is
being voted on right now between Holly Shand, Casey Clark,
Ronnie Martin Chance, Tina Bridges and Tory Hall Gwynn. I

(20:30):
will say with that one, though Tina Bridges might have
it locked up, she's got fifty five percent of the vote,
and Tina obviously a beloved figure in the Challenge Mania world.
Once these last spots are decided, we will have the
ballots up at Challenge maniac dot com and this year
we're making it available and free to everyone. All you
have to do is go to Challenge maniacs dot com

(20:50):
and give us your email, give us your name, sign
up for a free membership. You do not even have
to put a dollar towards the cause, although we do
really love you guys who do, whether it's a dollar,
fifteen dollars, whatever you guys put forth. Every month this year,
everyone's always saying, oh, money, I don't have money. That's fine.
You got to have an email, though, so allow us
to bug you and spam you with news and announce
announcements and alerts, and you can take part in who

(21:12):
will be the two men and two women joining everybody
in the class of twenty twenty five for the challengeman
U Hall of Fame? Any thoughts on that?

Speaker 3 (21:18):
D Yeah?

Speaker 2 (21:20):
How did we change the requirements again?

Speaker 3 (21:24):
How do we? How do we?

Speaker 1 (21:25):
So long as you're not on Season forty one or
you weren't on All Stars five, you are eligible. So yeah, yeah,
So basically the last two seasons it's getting.

Speaker 2 (21:36):
To the point where like the deserving ones that have
like really paid their dues, like are you know, it's hard,
you know, you wonder what the race is going to
look like, you know what I mean, Cause you know
it's hard to be like, all right, Jamie Murray three
Challenge Championship, he's been on the on.

Speaker 3 (21:51):
The bout for a long time.

Speaker 2 (21:52):
Yeah, you know talent, Duckwort's been in there with the
two Challenge Championships.

Speaker 3 (21:56):
But it's like it's like the.

Speaker 1 (21:58):
Jordan on there, and it's it's like, is someone going
to crack Darrell and Jordan?

Speaker 2 (22:02):
Probably not, you know, like that's that's tough because like
they would have been deserving years and years and years ago.

Speaker 1 (22:09):
I mean, Jordan and dere are plain there are two
of the most active guys out there, as is Johnny.

Speaker 3 (22:14):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (22:14):
The only reason it took Wes so long to get
in is he was out there playing. And so look,
I think that this has always been the goal of
this was to kind of course out over the course
of several years, who would make up a Challenge Mania
Hall of Fame. But eventually you do get tired of
trying to explain to somebody why Darrell's not in so
the fact that he's sitting out Season forty one, he
sat out All Stars five, this might be the time

(22:35):
to pounce. So while it does still keep like a
Johnny Bananas off of the ballot, it makes some room
to finally induct hopefully a Jordan and a Durell. But
I will say I think, you know, let's say, let's
pencil in Tina. She's got fifty five percent of that
fifth spot vote. We're talking Jenny West, Jody Wetherton, Laurel Stuckey,
Tory Deal, and Tina Bridges. I'm telling you right now,

(22:56):
I cannot tell you for certain who's going to get
those two spots. You know, I even think team that
could play her way into one of those spots. Knowing
that this is sometimes a popularity contest and a lot
of people vote with their heart, and a lot of
people say Tina is a challenge media Hall of Famer
based on how long she's played the game, based out
how beloved she is. So if she, you know, pushes out,
whether it's a Jenny or a Jodie, I wouldn't be surprised.

(23:18):
Laurel obviously has a great resume, but she's a bit
of a polarizing figure, specifically among our base, so she's
been on the ballot before it didn't get in. So
the women's ballot is completely up in the air. If
you ask me, it could be any combination of these
five and I would not be shocked. So that's going
on this July. The way we do it is we
put up all five ladies all five men in one poll.

(23:40):
We let it ride for a week. Everybody votes for
their first choice. Once we figure out who those number
one choices are on each pole. Let's say hypothetically, at
the end of poll one, Jenny and Jordan are in,
we pull them off. We put up a new poll
with the remaining four. You get to vote again, so
it does not need to be you know, top two
vote getterers, No, it's the number one vote getter of
both polls get in. And then that's how we decided.

(24:03):
So we're gonna do that. That will lead up nicely
to the season one, season forty one premiere episode or
the one that airs before that episode point five. So
a lot of fun this July. Great time to sign
up a challenge maniacs dot com and join the pod squad.
As we call it.

Speaker 2 (24:19):
Yeah, it feels like it's been a long time. Remember
those days where we had challenges.

Speaker 3 (24:25):
Back to back to back to back.

Speaker 2 (24:27):
And it was almost too good of a thing, and
we were looking at the viewership and why is this one,
you know, All Star six it seems really good? Or
All Stars five seems really good? You know what are
the you know, you know, what's the viewership looking like?
You know, you know, And people were like, oh, it's
too much, like we've got too much childs out now.

Speaker 3 (24:47):
It feels like, damn, how long has it been.

Speaker 1 (24:56):
How long has it been since?

Speaker 3 (24:57):
We do feel that way?

Speaker 2 (24:59):
It's like Live thirtieth really thank god that that point
five episodes coming out July twenty third.

Speaker 1 (25:07):
I look think, I think it's a long time. If
I had to pick between what we just got the
amount of time between All Stars five and season forty one,
and what we got from season forty going into All
Stars five, give me this, give me this version ten
times out of ten, because I think that amount of
time in the middle, what did it do? It allowed
us to have a Derek mccrayon, a Don bar On.

(25:28):
Maybe give the All Stars casting departments some ideas for
All Stars six, but it allowed us to decompress, It
allowed people to miss the Challenge a little bit. I
think they come in too hot and heavy with this
season right after the reunion of the previous season, and
that's why. Look, some of these seasons get lost in
the shuffle, whether it's All Stars five or whether it's
that Global Championship that I still call it like the

(25:50):
season that never happened, because it came in so quickly
after Ryder dies that I genuinely think people just needed
to take a breather. They decided to take an eight
to twelve ten week breather, and they missed that Theo
Campbell came back, they missed the Jordan one another Challenge Championship,
they missed all this stuff that happened over on Paramount Plus,
because hey, they just wanted to go on a little

(26:12):
breather after Ryder Eyes, which was one of the longest
seasons ever. So I really do think this is a nice,
nice break, maybe a little shorter, maybe an eight week break.
I think this might have ended up being about a
twelve week break. I don't have the numbers in front
of me, but either way, the excitement in the air
is Palpable. We've certainly had a lot of sign ups
over at challengemaniacs dot com. People who were excited to
break down the cast with us, people excited to ask

(26:33):
questions that we're gonna answer today, and people who are
excited also to join us in New York for something
bigger than we've ever done. So we've been doing premier
parties in New York for several years, but we usually
do them up at this nice intimate bar on the
Upper east Side. We've taken over the big room this
year at City Winery. If you've ever been to one
of our shows down there, like on May fourth, it's
a huge room, huge stage. What you haven't seen because

(26:55):
we don't normally use them, is they have huge screens.
So we're gonna have the episode airing full black, full
volume with these huge screens. During commercials, we'll do a
little pitter patter, we'll do a little chatter stuff like that.
We're gonna have major guests in the house, several who
have been announced, some who haven't been announced. We've even
got some rookies who I think are gonna be in
the house. We'll have some people who aren't even on
the season. You know, New York City shows are always

(27:17):
loaded with surprises, So in addition to watching the episode,
we're gonna do a little panel discussion afterwards, let you
guys ask some questions, and then there will be meet
and Greece throughout the night. People that will be mingling
with you guys before the episode, during the episode, after
the Q and A, and they have delicious food and
beverage at City Winery that will be brought to you,
and you will be waited on hand and over foot.

(27:38):
Is that how you say it. You'll be waited on
throughout the night by the great staff over there, so
it's a great way. Handover fist. Sorry, you'll be waiting
on handover fist. I don't know if that's the term anyway.
Either way, you'll be waited on and it's gonna be
a great time. Wednesday, July the thirtieth. Tickets available at
Challenge Mania Dot Live. But as we alluded to, we
are working on adding and are really just in the

(28:00):
closing stages of adding a gigantic guest, one that will
put a seismic shift on the interest level of this event.
I am alluding to it now just in case anybody
wants to head over there and get tickets now, because
once we confirm it, once we put it out there
and fully announced it, what we're going to do is
we've tossed that password back up and we're going to
go in order like we normally do, savage level, disel level,

(28:21):
maniac level, all patrons, and we're also going to, as promise,
let those people from a previous event know and get
their crack at coming. So anyway, that's all I'll say here,
you're ready to start asking. I answered some questions about
season forty one D.

Speaker 2 (28:35):
Yeah, by the way, first time THEO THEO Campbell, first
time and challenge me you live.

Speaker 1 (28:42):
First time THEO. Rogan's been there before, ironically in Pittsburgh,
the first time we did Pittsburgh. But he, I think
is one of our most well received live event guests
we've ever had. If you've never partied with Rogan, he
knows how to get after it, he knows how to
have a good time, and I don't think he turns
down any requests. During that meet and greet, I saw
him doing some things to some women that I just
you know, I couldn't believe I was looking at, you know,

(29:03):
going back to those Girls Gone Wild days, although it
was more like Guy's Gone Wild. Rogan goes Wild anyway,
Rogan there. Olivia always a favorite. I believe we've had
her at parties up here, but I don't think we've
ever had her on a stage chatting with us over
in New York. And then Anissa by the way, sending
love to Anissa. If you see a Nissan on social
media sense and love for a way, I believe she
did just put it out there on social media. Sally,

(29:23):
she lost her father in the last few days, so
we're always thinking about her. And yeah, d you ready
to rock, We've got some great questions for you. You
were there. Obviously, there's gonna be a spoiler free conversation,
as all of our conversations are, as all of our
coverage is. But I mean it is an angle in
an outlook that a few podcasts can provide. Obviously, from

(29:44):
time to time, people from the Official Challenge podcast world
around a season. We know Johnny Bananas is on this
season with you. I'm sure there's gonna be added insight
from other cast members, but for now, d you are
giving us the most inside look at this show in
this cast that you're able to get on the internet.
Here's a good one. D. I like this question. Brian
Blake says, Derek, did you notice anyone in considerably better

(30:06):
or worse shape than they were on season forty? Oh shit,
I love this question. D. You got to take a
breather and think about how you can answer this one.

Speaker 2 (30:15):
Let's just first and foremost say like the the the
age of the ogs, Like, let's look at the age
of the ogs, right, and uh and in comparison to
the age of the newcomers. Uh, let's just look at
that first and talk about, like how inch and remind

(30:36):
yourself how in shape you were coming.

Speaker 3 (30:40):
Out of college. I don't know coming out.

Speaker 2 (30:43):
Of marine school, if you were in the military, I
don't know if there's a marine school, but coming out
of the you know, military, uh, in the military whatever,
doing your time, do you remember those days when you
were in like the peak shape of your life. Even
if you weren't in the peak shape of your life,
when you're twenty two, twenty three, twenty four, twenty five,

(31:04):
you were probably in better shape than you were when
you were forty five, right, or you know, forty two
or forties, thirties, whatever, let's just start there. Okay, So
when we talk about like the youngest, I think og
on like say, the female side is is Olivia, and

(31:26):
I think the oldest female is on the og side
is Anissa, who are ironically going to be there at
the premiere party in July thirtiest.

Speaker 3 (31:37):
Shout out to.

Speaker 2 (31:38):
Them and just just let's just start there.

Speaker 3 (31:40):
And I think that Olivia is how old is she now?
I want to say, is she thirty? Is she thirty two?
That thirty thirty, thirty one, thirty two?

Speaker 1 (31:53):
Somebody looking at someone posted a pretty uh pretty comprehensive
age grid. Did you see you guys?

Speaker 2 (31:58):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think it's I think it's challenge Stats.
I mean I can look it up right now, just
to give people a reminder of of of what they're
heading into. Oh great, it's the very last post that
Challenge Stats on Instagram has ct Whopping forty five years old,
Anissa forty three years old, Olivia thirty three years old.

Speaker 3 (32:24):
So we're all like, you know.

Speaker 2 (32:27):
You know thirty, you know, mid thirties to mid mid forties, right,
and all the other rookies starting with Cedric twenty two
years old, the oldest rookie is thirty years old at Sydney.

Speaker 3 (32:42):
Sydney is is thirty years old survivor Sydney.

Speaker 1 (32:47):
You know.

Speaker 2 (32:47):
So for example, Cedric, like I was saying, former marine,
you know again, this guy for example, like I don't
think he's in like the best shape of his life,
but he's also twenty two years old and you know,
just out of the military, you know, recent military. Right,
So that's that's my point is like take yourself in

(33:10):
your the best shape of your life, you know, in
your twenties, and now you're gonna say, I'm going up
against you know, people.

Speaker 3 (33:17):
In their forties. Like what are you thinking is gonna happen?

Speaker 2 (33:20):
Right? Like when I was twenty two years old and
I had to go up against a thirty year old
Cyrus when I was on my third season of the Challenge,
I was like, yeah, these guys are fucking way older.
I for sure have a you know, a better chance
at this game than Timmy. Although I lost to Timmy

(33:41):
that season, you know, I beat I beat Cyrus.

Speaker 3 (33:45):
You know, Ace was a little bit older.

Speaker 2 (33:47):
I felt better going into that season, younger. You know,
even though I was like smoking and drinking all the time,
I still felt like I had.

Speaker 3 (33:56):
An edge over these guys.

Speaker 2 (34:00):
So like when you talk about like being in shape
and like who versus who, I'll tell you who who
still looks like in peak shape is like Aviv, she's
forty one, she's forty, Aviva's forty, Aviva's.

Speaker 3 (34:15):
Forty one, and I'm forty one. For example, right Johnny's
forty three.

Speaker 2 (34:21):
I would still say that Johnny, like in comparison to
last season, is like maybe in better shape than he
was last season, and like he does the rumbo boxing thing,
like if you're doing the boxing exercises, like I feel
like you're gonna be able to have this metabottical bottle
bollicle conditioning that I just think he's still in peak

(34:45):
shape in comparison to and I think the guy gets
better in better shape.

Speaker 3 (34:50):
Like Cet for example. I don't know how much.

Speaker 2 (34:53):
Has really changed between forty and forty one with him.
You know, Anissa seems to be in better shape, Johnny
seems to be in better shape. Of Viv seems to
be in like, you know, probably similar shape. She did
come off that planner fasciitis terror and but she still
seems in like peak shape.

Speaker 3 (35:11):
Leroy, you know, it's hard to really tell.

Speaker 2 (35:14):
He was only there for for one elimination and then
you got him in here. I wouldn't say he's in
like the best shape of his life. To be completely honest, me,
coming off the A C Alter, I'm not.

Speaker 3 (35:25):
In the best shape of my life for sure. I'm
not in the best shape in my life. So I
feel like I've degraded. Carl.

Speaker 2 (35:42):
Maria was you know, was going through the thing with
her with her mom, uh, you know previously, Like I
don't think her, you know, her shape was you know,
her peak shape. I feel like Ashley was. I can't
compare in previous seasons. Uh, but like, you know, she
seemed like she was, you know, pretty ready to go.

(36:03):
Derek Chavez seemed like he was, uh, you know, in
comparison to what he was on season forty, which was
pretty good. Nanni, this is my first time playing with Nanni.
She seems to be in like pretty good shape. Like
I can't really tell her body doesn't have these like
like you know, when like a Karl, Maria has like
these muscles, you know, bulging like.

Speaker 3 (36:22):
When she's popping. She's popping, like.

Speaker 2 (36:24):
You know, I can't really tell with nanny because she's
just not a muscle popper, you know what I mean. Rogan,
first time back in a long time, seems to be
in pretty damn good shape. Uh, Mikayla is is you know,
has the body of like a professional athlete. You know,
So even though it's like it's very like disguised, she's

(36:50):
I think she's in pretty good shape, but it's like
it's like this, it's like deceiving, like you can't she
doesn't give you like I'm in great shape vibes, but
she just is. And then when she like performs, she's
just like You're like, oh damn, you actually do look
like a professional athlete. And and you know she'll tell

(37:10):
you like she works in an office, like she's not
like out there doing all this crazy.

Speaker 1 (37:14):
So is the answer? D? Sadly? Is the answer? D?
That considerably worse shape than they were on forty Sadly,
you being that you went into forty not coming off
an acl theare and you're coming into forty one. Although
able to compete on paper, you know, it's a bit
of uncertainty there, right.

Speaker 3 (37:30):
Yeah, absolutely absolutely, And that.

Speaker 1 (37:33):
Way, nobody can you know, get offended other than you, Okay,
let's uh, all right, give us any Uh. I don't
know how much you can say about this is an
interesting question from Brian Goes. Who do you see and
interact with at the airport and flight out? Did you

(37:53):
pick up on any early alliances or grudges? How about
this not even focusing on this season, But you can
say what you can about this season if you want,
walk us through the airport experience of a challenge, if
you don't want to get too specific about this one,
if that can kind of bleed into spoiler territory, walk
us through the airport experience, and in vague generalities, let
us know how much you or people are able to

(38:15):
read into that airport rapport between others.

Speaker 2 (38:18):
Uh. Yeah, it's you know, so I think I said
this previously on maybe I don't know if it was
on Patreon or not.

Speaker 3 (38:25):
I was very intrigued.

Speaker 2 (38:28):
So when we left for the airport, we had just
got done watching the Redneck episode of All Stars, So
I had just literally watched, you know, Anissa and Ashley
have this conversation or this altercation or whatever you want

(38:49):
to call it. So I'm initially thinking these two are
not going to be anywhere near each other. And when
I get there and you know, one of the first
people I see having a drink together and uh, you know,
just kind of enjoying each other's company. And I was
just like, wow, I wasn't expecting to see that. So
that's kind of just like one little thing that I

(39:11):
picked up on. You know, I did see some you know,
some some separation. I feel like Carmerail was a little
bit more separated from the group. Uh, it seemed like
Nanni was a little bit more separated from the group.
But then as time went on, everyone kind of just starts,
you know, intermingling and uh and and for me, I
kind of get caught with like, well, if I hang

(39:33):
out with this group too much, does it look like
I'm with this group? Or if I hang out with
these people, are people thinking that I'm with that group?
And it just you know, it's the game starts happening
at the airport, and the game starts happening like in
your own head. So at times I would find myself
just like walking away and like eating by myself, or

(39:55):
like getting a coffee by myself.

Speaker 1 (39:57):
Well you know what I mean, let me let me
ask you the Okay, So here's an interesting question about
just and you can tell me if this has evolved
over time or if this has always been the same.
Like it sounds like when I hear people talking about
the airport you now or you know, past interviews and
things like that, that they don't seem to really care
how much you guys mingle or interact at the airport.

(40:19):
I do believe you can tell me if I'm wrong.
That is the stage at which they take your cell
phone from you, So there is kind of a cut
off point of when they want you to stop interacting
with the outside world. But to me, it is a
bit surprising how sort of lase fair they are with
how much sort of pregaming and socializing you guys get
to do during that length of the trip. Because, to
make a comparison on Survivor, they I think do a

(40:42):
good job of keeping people separate up until they get
to Ponderosa. Ponderosa is sort of the pregame living situation.
They get people acclimated to their there. That's where obviously
they've already turned their cell phones. That's where they're there
to do kind of pregame press and things like that
that they all need to do. But they really do
have them tight lipped and on ice, as they call it,
that entire time they're not able to interact, and all

(41:04):
they're able to do is read subtle, silent social cues
and body language and things like that. So what you
get from the survivor side of things during postseason interviews
is you get to hear people saying like, oh, during
the you know, right before we started, I thought so
and so is going to be a dick, just based
on how he bulldozed through the breakfast line or that
dirty look he gave me, and then we ended up

(41:25):
being friends. There's certainly no talking or fraternizing or sitting
together or drinking together, et cetera. So it correct me
if I'm wrong. Does it seem like they take your
phone but they don't care at all? How much socializing
you guys are doing during that airport stuff, during the
flight stuff, and during sort of lead up time till
go time.

Speaker 2 (41:43):
Yeah, and don't let me forget to tell you about
my initial thought process on turbo at the airport.

Speaker 1 (41:51):
Give me that, Give me that now, what is that?
What was that?

Speaker 2 (41:54):
Well before I forget? So your question is, oh, how
much you know like freedom? So the two answers or so,
so first to answer your question and then I'll get
to Turbo. Like I think, it doesn't once they take
your phones away, the interactions really don't matter because once
you get to the game, it's all flipped like you're

(42:18):
you're it's it's mass confusion. All of this you know,
interaction beforehand, it doesn't really matter because once you get
in the game, it's all going to be completely chaotic.

Speaker 3 (42:31):
It's all the opposite.

Speaker 2 (42:33):
Of what you would expect to happen, especially what is
about to happen. So, you know, that's why I feel like,
you know, some games, you know, you know, maybe you go, well,
why are the alliances allowed to kind of like start happening,
and you know, maybe.

Speaker 3 (42:52):
There's some type or something like that.

Speaker 1 (42:55):
The one difference is now you do know for a
fact who's there, whereas beforehand, maybe some of you guys
know that each other are going, but you don't flat
out know everyone who's going to be there. You don't
flat out know the entire cast, and you can't start
doing the math of what the theme might be, et
cetera until you're at the airport. So it is a
bit surprising to me that they don't care to the
level that they don't care. You know, I get they
can't polete They're not gonna put I think the real

(43:17):
logistical issue is this. The reason they're able to put
you guys on ice on a bus is because they
probably have enough pas and producers, et cetera there cast
wranglers that they can actually keep you guys in check,
whereas they don't want to pay to fly the amount
of people they'd have to fly with you guys in
order to actually police you guys throughout an airport and
throughout a flight, Right, that's probably the real reason. I

(43:40):
bet if they could, in a perfect world, they would
shut you guys the fuck up. In my opinion, maybe
I'm wrong.

Speaker 2 (43:45):
Yeah, but I mean, at this point, this has been
happening for forty seasons now, and it's it's you know
unless look, I can't I can't say to you no,
you know what I do.

Speaker 1 (43:54):
You know what I think I think they're missing out
of I think they should be even and I know
there's been a couple of seasons where they've let you
go or encourage you guys to take your phones out
and film some of this, right, Like, I forget what season.
It was. We definitely saw a couple of seasons where
in that early episode, whether it was the point five episode,
you remember what I'm talking about there, it was like
it was you guys kind of greeting each other at

(44:14):
the airport. Oh look it's Nelson, Hey, what's up? Like
I kind of remember that. A couple of times they
sort of played with that. They did. I believe it
was on a Battle for a New Champion. I think
they played with some like TJ calling people and telling
them they were on the show, which is kind of
like a Big Brother type thing. You know, they've toyed
around with that stuff. But I think that if this
stuff is gonna happen at the airport and trickle out

(44:35):
after the fact in interviews, I think, man, like that's
some great content watching people roll up. You guys are
sitting at an all bon pond or whatever, and then
all of a sudden Ashley. I mean, I would pay
good money to see Ashley greeting Anissa outside of a
predamage at an airport or whatever the fuck it is
out of TGI Friday is by Gate seventy one B.
You know, like I would love to see the look

(44:56):
on people's faces when Turbo walks through the terminal, you know. So, yeah,
I think they're missing out on that. I think they're
missing out on that. We've talked about how they're missing
out with the cast departure day, how you know, Traders,
House of Villains, even Survivor fifty have really claimed from
the Internet the ability to break the news of a cast. Obviously,

(45:17):
they just officially announced the cast of forty one a
couple of weeks ago, but a large percentage of the
Internet was talking about it a few months ago, back
when you guys left. I really think they should try
to own that too, you know, I really do. I
think they should try to own that and own Airport
Day with some fun. That's how you should do it, right,
That's how you should announce it. I mean, Eric Derek

(45:37):
walking through baggage claim, you know what, how the hell's
he to hear?

Speaker 2 (45:39):
It?

Speaker 1 (45:40):
Just broke his leg?

Speaker 2 (45:41):
You know, yeah, I think it is easier said than done,
you know, to be completely honest with you, I think
to like, you know, travel with like camera crews through
like you know, you know, through airports and and on
the airplane with other people there, and you know, and
and then you know, when you land and don't go

(46:02):
the through baggage and stuff like that. I think there
is some some tedious things that like you probably mean
you like you don't even think about that can be
problematic leading up too. So I think the goal is
to just like get them there, you know, get get, get, get,

(46:26):
get a group of them from point A to point B,
and just get them to the damn place first and foremost,
because there's still a lot of other things that are
going on, you know, but before.

Speaker 1 (46:37):
The sh Ultimately, I think the reason, I think the
reason they don't do it is that they want the
right to make any and all swaps and subs as
late into the game as they want, let alone before
it starts, and to claim as it like, and to
not have to be held accountable for what happened to
Eddie or whatever, you know what I mean. So like,
I think that that's ultimately the reason they don't do it,

(46:59):
as far as it's like logistically and financially, Like I'm
telling you, like, if you just if you just literally
had like one of these great social media people who
come to our shows here in New York, right, if
you literally just paid to you know again, it's gonna
cost you the price of maybe a round trip ticket
or even just the price of any ticket to get
them out of that are airport terminal, and you have
them there, and when they're checking people in, and as

(47:21):
they're taking your phone, they're shooting on their phone a
quick little hello video. Hey what'd you pack with you? Hey?
What's your go to airport snack? Who are you surprised
to see here? Boom? They get twenty minutes of content overall.
Then you guys go fly off to wherever you go.
That person goes home, edits it together into a fun reel,
and then the challenge Instagram gets to own who's on
the cast the day they confirm all you guys are

(47:42):
on the flight.

Speaker 2 (47:43):
Yeah, you know, I think that again, Yeah, I think
that'd be all right even if you were like, you know, hey,
you know, hey, this is Derek. I'm at the airport
right now getting ready for season forty one. I just
spotted this one in that one. I can't wait to
you know, compete against them. And then you have you know,
you know, whatever it is. Twelve snippets of yes, that's

(48:04):
doing it, twelve snippets of the other ones doing it.

Speaker 3 (48:07):
And then them you got yourself, Yeah, you got that,
And then hey said you want to wait? Yeah, I
think that if you're right, well, well I think I
get hype up. I think people will get hyped.

Speaker 1 (48:17):
And if you want to wait, if you want to
wait till you guys touch down in the country and
are physically in the hotel, so you can say, hey,
actually cut out so and so's he didn't make it
or he failed a COVID test or whatever. That's fine.
But I'm just saying in general, owning the departure time
period because because look like like Survivor, they went on
CBS Morning Show and announced the cast of Survivor fifty
before they ended up starting to film, but after they

(48:39):
had already obviously confirmed, everybody got on their phones and
they were already locked away, right, So like to me,
that's you got CBS, you know whatever it was. I
forget Today's show, whatever it's called. You know that you
got them breaking that news for you. I'm not saying
the challenge is going to get that per se, but
even running and owning it on your own socials like, yeah,
I think would be a great idea, and I think
they do. Yeah, they trade that they I think they

(49:01):
want the right to if something happens to not to
be able to choose leading up to the when they
formally announced the cast, they want to know like, hey,
do we have to even do we have to even
reveal that so and so was supposed to be, Like
wasn't it okay? Going back to let's say All Stars now, Granted,
I know COVID isn't the biggest thing like it was then,
but remember All Stars one wasn't Abram like literally on

(49:24):
the show until like that day he had COVID or
there was an airport thing or something. Right, Yeah, I
think they want the right to if that happens, they
call in replacement or whoever. And no one ever knows
about that unless you listen to podcasts, right. I think
what would happen if you did it this way is
occasionally you would get someone who was announced on departure
day and then come season time, maybe they're not on

(49:46):
the show, and so that's you know, to me, I
think that the pros outwagh that cons with that one.
If you ask me, I think they should do it.
I think they're hey, I will come do it for
you guys for free. How about that.

Speaker 3 (49:55):
Listen it. You know, it would be a nice little
like hype video.

Speaker 2 (49:59):
Even now in between, like like, I'm sure that they
have some kind of content coming our way as far
as like on social media to kind of like remind
people that, like the twenty third July twenty third is uh,
you know, episode zero of the of of season forty
one uh, And on July thirtieth, is is is episode

(50:21):
one is the premiere. I'm sure they've got something coming
down the pike because we are three weeks away from
what I still consider the first episode, uh, even though
they don't, and then a month away from the actual premiere.

Speaker 3 (50:35):
But you know, I'm like the cool hype video. I
think it would be a cool like hype video.

Speaker 2 (50:39):
I think you're right, you know, even if it is
like us just doing quick little intros on the phone,
you know.

Speaker 1 (50:45):
Setting them to them. Yeah, let me just clarify.

Speaker 2 (50:47):
If I'm gonna do one right now, when we're done,
I'm gonna be like, hey, yo, just me, you know,
I'm getting ready for you know, and I don't know, well.

Speaker 1 (50:54):
Trust me, you know, don't get me started. I wish
we didn't have to tell cast members to do that,
Like on their way to challenge me, and they would
do that. I might sell an extra couple tickets every time,
you know. I kind of wish it was just naturally intuitive.
It's what I do when I'm at the airport. Hey here,
But everybody knows. If you're following me, you already know
about a show. But I wish people just thought about that.
But I think that whether or not during that point

(51:14):
five episode on July twenty third, we see some of
this content, that's fine. I just think that's a little
too little too late. I do think it would be
really be beneficial when you guys are actually out there,
you know, when you guys are leaving, really get the
chatter going, yeah, really get the excitement going. Yeah. All right,
here's a okay, Well, this is an interesting question. Evil
Paul wants to know, Derek, what were the phone call

(51:36):
restrictions this season? So explain what phone call restrictions are.
I don't even know what he means by that, but
I guess what were the phone call restrictions rules? How
often do you get to make calls? It's an interesting question.

Speaker 3 (51:48):
I guess we typically get one or two phone calls.
I think it's two phone calls a week for ten minutes.

Speaker 2 (51:56):
So when I call, when I have my phone call time,
I've split it five minutes with Little d and five
minutes with with Nicole and MAV. So it's it's it's
it's not easy. It's not easy like just leaving, you know,
just kind of you know, lead.

Speaker 1 (52:20):
Here's here's a follow up question about the phone from
from Brian. Okay, so this probably is kind of asking
this as a joke, but I'm gonna reframe it.

Speaker 3 (52:27):
It's not good. It's not good.

Speaker 1 (52:28):
It's not Ryan Brian. Brian says Derek after the Neamia
call out SNAFU and All Stars three. Why haven't you
put Scott on your call list for consultation? I think
it kind of means that as a dig. But what
I'll say is this, so you obviously the reason you
don't put me on your call list is, as you said,
you only get so many calls. You're splitting in between
your older son and then you're obviously newborn baby and

(52:50):
your wife and everything like that. You've got enough people
to call. Okay, Now, i'd imagine when you're talking to them,
you're probably updating them a little bit, but you're also
probably seeing what's going on with them and this and that.
In the past, we've seen other cast members, mainly the
single ones maybe the one mainly the ones without wives
and kids and things like that. You've seen, like, for instance,
a Johnny call a West or I forget whether it's

(53:10):
West call of Johnny and yeah, West didn't have a
kid at the time, but he certainly had a wife.
You know, you've seen, I believe, like a Corey call
at Nelson and whatnot. We've seen some cast members call
other cast members in the past. I do know for
a fact that like Ryan Keehogans calls all the time
for people in the game. My question to you is,
how much do you know about like Brian's Brian's asking

(53:31):
as a dig here, like why don't you call me
to ask me, Hey, Shua, who should I go into
an elimination with? So I could tell you, hey, dude,
everyone much rather you choose Wes right? Would that be
something you or a cast member is allowed to talk
to the person on the other end of the phone with,
whether it's a friend, a family member, or a past
cast member, like because I know they signed NBA's too,

(53:53):
Does that make a fair game to talk about specifics
to that degree.

Speaker 2 (54:00):
I mean, look, if if you're gonna phone a front,
I think it's fair game. I think it's fair game.
I think it's fine. I mean your phone, whether I'm
I'm asking my wife, like you know, like you're really
not supposed to be telling uh, who you're talking to
what's going.

Speaker 3 (54:16):
On in the game.

Speaker 1 (54:20):
Ypothetically I'm going in against Wes and the Amaya. Who
should I choose? You know, I don't think you should
be you would be able to say that, right.

Speaker 2 (54:25):
Yeah, no, but like you know, Johnny and Wes have
had that conversation I think, right, like on on All Stars.

Speaker 3 (54:36):
And uh and Mark as well, I think, or something
along those lines.

Speaker 2 (54:41):
So is it okay to have counsel? I mean, is
it like like I guess if you're yes and no, no,
it's not fair, but yes, like it's it's I think
it's fair game. And like again, some of the information
does get slipped through the cracks. Yes, the NBA's are signed.
So basically whoever you and the person you're talking to

(55:02):
is still not allowed to be supposedly not allowed to
be talking about what's going on. So you know, if
I had called you, which again, it would be very
difficult to call you because, like I just said, I
have five minutes and five I have ten minutes a
week with you know, my two loved ones, and I
need to find out what's going on at home because

(55:23):
there's still a lot of stuff.

Speaker 3 (55:24):
Going on at home that I need to know about.

Speaker 2 (55:26):
Like it's not always this, Like you know, you're getting
happy information from home, like it's it's a happy time
because you're getting.

Speaker 3 (55:33):
Talked to him, but sometimes the information coming back is
not very happy. So you're dealing with a lot.

Speaker 2 (55:39):
So for me to be like, hey, sorry, babe, I
gotta get off the phone and talk to Scott about something,
you know what I mean, challenge mania, Like it's also
not the you know, most ideal situation unless you have
all your ducks in a row and can have that happen.
I wonder if, like contractually, maybe you know beforehand it's discussed, Hey,

(55:59):
I need to call this. You know I need to
call three people this season, and you know I need
to extend my my phone calls or something.

Speaker 1 (56:07):
Well, I don't. I'll be honest, transparently, I'll be honest,
Like there's really never been that big of a situation
that I felt like, oh, we got it, we really
have to talk about this. And because of that, I'll
be honest, like I don't need to be having we
don't need to be having business talks while some MTV
or you know, Murray employee is listening in, you know,
like you know what I mean, there's nothing that important
that we would also want them to hear, you know.

(56:29):
So there's that, But let me say this, I do
think in a roundabout way. Also, let's say famous cast
member A who's on the show is calling famous cast
member B getting their consultation. They know they're signed to
the NDA, they know where to find them, they know
their social media, so they know that if that person
were to go and divulge any of that, they'd be
able to see it obviously and get them in trouble.

(56:50):
But that could potentially make for a great moment on
the show where they're getting a free appearance from fill
in the blank Johnny Wes, Corey Nelson whomever. Then they
can use for a future moment. Let's say, you know,
they can then hang their hat on. Oh you know,
de Reise, you said this about ANISO or vice versa.
I forget what it was was someone's brother saying this
and that, and now Olivia is mad. I forget, Like

(57:11):
anytime they can get free content building things, whether it
be from a phone call or otherwise, like, I think
they're we're willing to let the well flow a little
bit more for stuff like that. So here's a very
interesting question, Ryan says. Shout to Ryan Clements challenge. Many
Live favorite says, Derek, You've now been cast on consecutive

(57:32):
flagship seasons for the first time since the Duel and
Inferno three, which was eighteen years ago. That's not counting
your mercenary appearance on Vendettas. Do you think you're back
in the regular rotation now?

Speaker 2 (57:46):
So not only that, but when I did All Stars one, two,
and three, that was all in one year. I hadn't
done that, So I have twenty twenty one. I hadn't
done that since like was in in in four or
something like that when I did back to back.

Speaker 3 (58:03):
To back seasons. So I think I'm back in the rotation.
I guess. I guess, only like time will tell, you know,
I I think that I feel like that they they see.

Speaker 2 (58:17):
That, you know, the fire still burns, that I'm still
capable of like providing you know, good content. So I
think that's really what it is. It's like you don't
have to be uh Like, you don't have to be

(58:41):
the best athlete on on on the season. You don't
have to always be winning sometimes that's even boring, like
just winning all the time. You know, they want a
character that provides them content, you know, and and and
typically I don't go into these things like trying to
do too much, like you just I am you know,
like the.

Speaker 3 (59:01):
What do they say, I am?

Speaker 1 (59:02):
You are who they thought you were?

Speaker 2 (59:05):
Maybe maybe and and if they forgot who they they
they if they forgot who I was from years ago,
Like that person never goes away, right, Like I've.

Speaker 3 (59:14):
Now competed on what is this my fifteenth season of
the Challenge?

Speaker 2 (59:18):
Like he's gonna be the same guy who gets into
some random situations, make mistakes, you know, may get into
it with this one and that one.

Speaker 3 (59:28):
Maybe not every season.

Speaker 2 (59:30):
It's as volatiles as different seasons or in yesteryear. I'm
obviously married. You probably not gonna get the scandal you've
always you know, you hope from some of these people
that do provide scandalous I'm probably not gonna go you know,
you know rated X or rated you know, you know
rated are like you know what I mean. So like,

(59:52):
I just think it depends on what type of you know,
the range that they're looking for all their cast members,
because I think that when they're putting a cast together,
they want it to be different, they want different flavors.
And you know, I think sometimes like, yeah, but you
and Corny.

Speaker 1 (01:00:10):
Getting into it, you and Corey getting into it on
that daily floor, right, Yeah, I thought that that is enough.
I think, you know, you're obviously you're you're a different
man on commentary than you were eighteen years ago. I
think you're you know, you're either rare not rare, because
there's a few of you guys, but you are an
instance of an OG cast member who appeals to that

(01:00:31):
fan base, who still has a lot of working relationships
with the newer cast members, whether it be from a
Season forty or from doing Challenge Mania and Challenge Mania Lives.
And you have proven time and time again, as you
did on Season forty, being the last man standing that
you represent Era one, but you still play like you
could be in Eras two, three, or four. So I
think that that's look, here's where. Here's in addition to

(01:00:54):
the idea of this being the first consecutive callback since
you know, eighteen years ago, which I think is crazy,
is that what also should you should hang your hat
on is that I believe that there were only eight
veteran male spots on the season. Right yeah, because it's
sixteen and sixteen. We always talk about how as offended
as people get and as offended as even you could

(01:01:16):
have gotten not getting a call for Vendettas or getting
a call at all between seasons thirty and forty. When
you break it down, there's really not that many spots
for you or someone who kind of fits in the
box that you fit. And when you look at a
season like you look at a Vendettas or a let's
say a War of the World's or even a Final Reckoning,

(01:01:37):
you don't look at the entire season and say, Okay,
there's twenty eight people on the season. That sucks that
you weren't one of the twenty eight right off the bat,
fourteen of them are women. You're not taking one of
their spots. Okay. So now you break it down and
now it's fourteen or at sixteen, Now you got to
go to format on a War of the Worlds. Half
of those people were first time players from around the world.
You're not taking one of their spots. Then, when you

(01:01:59):
break down, a lot of the people were Hunter, You're
not taking Hunter spot. Hunter is given the spot of
a young up and coming Are you the one cast member?
Chances are they're probably not deciding between you and Hunter.
There's also other things that play. Whether you're a fan
of these things or not, and I certainly am. I
know now dei has become this bad word, but we
used to call it a diversity initiative, and we used

(01:02:21):
to actually be very appreciative of that that As time
has gone by with these shows, especially Paramount Global shows,
they have made a conscious effort to make sure that
they're putting out a diverse cast across the board, whether
that is diverse to a t to a number to
a fifty percent bipoc rule, whatever it is, or not,
and they're just deciding that You probably know that you

(01:02:43):
are not probably up for the same spot as someone
who's not representing this same exact demographic as you as well.
So when I look at it, yeah, and I go wow,
there are only eight spots for literally returning players, and
that includes not just OG's, but it encourages it includes
people like Rogan, who's you know, a relatively younger player.

(01:03:06):
It includes people like Derek Chavez things like that. I mean,
so it is very flattering and you should be very
flattered that you were selected not just for a second
season in a row, but for this season specifically, where
when you look at those eight spots, I mean like
there's really only what four to five of them tops
that would even be yours anyway, and they said, hey,
we want this guy as one of those four or five.

(01:03:28):
So says a lot about what you did on season
forty in my opinion. So it pays not just to win,
but also to sometimes be the last man standing on
your on your team, and it pays sometimes to you know,
get out there and do what you did with Corey
without getting kicked off the show. Like that is a
very i don't want to say friendly, but a very
borderline socially acceptable form of aggression and you know, almost

(01:03:52):
fighting on the show. I think that stood out.

Speaker 3 (01:03:54):
To them well.

Speaker 2 (01:03:55):
And the thing is is that's not the first time,
you know, like there there are there are quite a
few people down the line that you know, something similar
like that has has happened with So it's not like,
you know, it's it's very possible that you know, Derek
strikes again with some of this you know, uh type
of altercation right where it's like you know, almost getting

(01:04:18):
kicked off, not getting kicked off. It happens right like
it's happened over the course of of twenty years. And yes,
I mean when you look down the list of vets here,
there's there's eight guys right, uh c T, Johnny, me
Lee Roy and that's look, and.

Speaker 1 (01:04:36):
You're not You're not taking le Roy. You're not taking Leroy.

Speaker 3 (01:04:39):
Spot is my point, you know what I mean, So
and and and then the other ones.

Speaker 2 (01:04:44):
The other ones are Derek Chavez, uh Turbo, Rogan and THEO.

Speaker 1 (01:04:51):
So it's just Rogan, you're probably not taking any of
those on the point is.

Speaker 2 (01:04:57):
Right, is like like a like I mean, those are
like the super crossover from other shows from a different time,
Like they they they appeal to a completely different type
of of uh, you know, audience, I feel like and
then you know, Derek Chavs kind of still also kind
of been you know, really making his working his way

(01:05:18):
back in the system too, I feel like, so, you know,
it's it's it's an honor to kind of, you know,
have one of these spots, to be completely honest with you.

Speaker 1 (01:05:26):
By the way, speaking of doing things that either do
get you kicked off the show, almost get you kicked
off the show, or as I explained between the you
and Corey kind of jib jab and you know, don't
in any way get kicked off the show, but kind
of serve the same purpose. Right, what I find interesting
and funny just going back to Dirty thirty and vendettas,
So we all remember on Dirty thirty, Nelson goes a

(01:05:48):
little too far and does get removed from the show, right,
And I'll give you guys two guesses who gets called
for vendettas And it wasn't you, it was him. So
it's you know, it's it's interesting that that used to
be the way that the cookie crumbled with the challenge,
right that it was, Hey, you went so far that
we had to remove you. But man, did that kind
of move you up the list for the next one,
you know, and you went on Dirty Dirty Admittedly you

(01:06:10):
said this on the show, trying to be a good
example for your son and not only not only in
that moment did what you did to not get kicked
off and coming second, but also to not look like
you know, a hot head on TV and to be
able to watch it with your son and have something
to be proud of. And that didn't get you the
call for vendettas. That got you an alternate call and

(01:06:31):
a mercenary call. So all right, let's bank through a
few more of these before we have to get out
of here. Hmm, all right, I'm not gonna ask you
that one. Bum hmmm. No, I'm not gonna answer that one.
See people like I'll just give you an example, like Kyle.

(01:06:51):
You know, I guess I could get my thoughts on this,
but Kyle saying, who do you predict will be the
first eliminated? This is an awkward question to go with,
given that Derek was there, you know, but I can
get you know, And also we right now don't know
the format. So like, you know, if you're asking me
who's the first to be eliminated, and I could name
some random rookie, but I don't know if that rookie's
gonna be tethered to a CT or a Johnny or whomever.

(01:07:12):
And probably not be the first eliminated. How about this,
give me general thoughts, Leonard wants to know for the
VET members here at this amazing event, Uh, what were
your initial thoughts of these newbies? So maybe just at
the airport you're seeing people, where were you?

Speaker 2 (01:07:26):
Yes, So, like I hadn't seen Turbo. We had met Turbo.
And he's dressed in all black. He's got this black
Fannie pack with like, uh with uh like little patches
and one of them says, uh means witch in Polish,
and you know, and I'm just like, you know, he's
just you know, black glasses, black hat, long hair, you know,

(01:07:50):
all black everything, and you just wonder like who he's
sort of who's he's he being nice to and who's
being nice to him? And you're kind of just like watching,
you know, these small interactions with him. And you're also
not trying to get too close to him because you're
not trying to like kiss his ass and not you're
trying to be too distant from him because you don't
want him thinking that you're a dick, right, so you know,

(01:08:11):
like with him, you know, I want Sugar's hand.

Speaker 3 (01:08:13):
Are you doing good? Good good?

Speaker 2 (01:08:15):
And that you know, I kind of step away a
little bit, little pow wow whatever, kind of like I
do with everyone. But I think I did see him
in THEO kind of interacting, so I thought that that
may you know, maybe is you know, his buddy? Uh
So those are my like initial you know, my initial
thought of like TURBOI, it.

Speaker 3 (01:08:34):
Was kind of like who is he? Like is he
a villain?

Speaker 1 (01:08:39):
Is he not?

Speaker 3 (01:08:40):
And then it kind of turned into like I just
got to get my own, uh, you know, rapport with him?

Speaker 1 (01:08:44):
Really, but what about some of these complete I think
I think the question was actually about, uh, some of
these people you maybe didn't even have any rapport with.
You're just seeing him walk into an airport. You're sizing
them up size wisese. You're probably trying to figure out
if you recognize anybody. First impression on the new people
and first impressions. Let me ask you this, and obviously
you don't want to get too specifical. Have you got

(01:09:05):
to conform a confirm a theme here? But when you're
at an airport and you start to see a bunch
of completely fresh faces walking in, are you guys counting
person to person? Are you guys trying to think up
all right, is this partners? Is this fresh meat? Four?
Is this fresh meat? Three? What could this possibly be?
When do you when does it start to kick in
with you that half of the cast are fresh faces?

Speaker 3 (01:09:26):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:09:33):
Yeah, let's just say you don't really know at the airport.
They kept you well without saying much. You don't really
know at the airport.

Speaker 3 (01:09:44):
So that's all.

Speaker 1 (01:09:44):
Also, there's like a veteran's flight and a newbies No, I.

Speaker 3 (01:09:48):
Didn't I didn't say I didn't say that. I just
said what I said.

Speaker 1 (01:09:53):
All right, here's the last question. I think it's a
good one to end on. Chad wants to know Derek.
Was there anybody you thought would be on the season
and was not?

Speaker 2 (01:10:03):
Oh Man, Me and Olivia have a little story about
Harasio that may have Harasho.

Speaker 3 (01:10:12):
Been coming, maybe he had not him been coming.

Speaker 2 (01:10:16):
It's a little story and maybe we'll we'll kind of
touch on that somewhere down the line. But he's definitely
not on this cast, and we do have a little
story and we were wondering whether or not he was
going to be there or not.

Speaker 1 (01:10:29):
Interesting, Okay, different comment we have below. This is semi
related chant and says Kara is returning any idea why
Paulie isn't I'm just gonna step in here and say,
I think, flat out exactly what we just said. There's
eight spots. Whose spot are you giving to Paulie. I
guess maybe Rogan's right, but like for me, Rogan is
a much more interesting return here. This is the last
the last guy. Time we saw this guy. He was

(01:10:50):
eliminated during the final time before that, he won, and
it's always fun to see a fresh face we haven't
seen in a while. We just saw Paulie on forty
and no offense we saw losing that first elimination any
convincing fashion. I also think the Challenge Gods or Dynasty
car be able to play off on her own without
being tethered to Paulie. Not that they might not play
against some time in the future, but the easy answer

(01:11:11):
is why not Paulie is like just look at it.
There's not the room for Paulie here, you know.

Speaker 2 (01:11:16):
Yeah, I mean, am I surprised that Paulie's not here.
I think they're gonna work Paulie in somewhere somehow, especially
now since like their their their relationship is like, you know,
like we.

Speaker 3 (01:11:28):
Don't know, so I think that. I think the gods
are gonna want.

Speaker 2 (01:11:32):
Want to put that on display for them to put
on display, because I think it's interesting and I think
it's going to be interesting, you know, seeing them together
at some point. I think that that's something that they want.
I think that's very real. I think that's very real stuff.

Speaker 1 (01:11:49):
Were you surprised not to see Casey when you found out?
Whenever you did that, Nannie was here?

Speaker 3 (01:11:56):
Uh just sing Nanny for me?

Speaker 2 (01:12:01):
Basically hanging out with Nannie for the first time since
we did like challengeing Your Live Chicago, like years and
years and years ago.

Speaker 1 (01:12:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:12:09):
She was one of the people that like I hadn't
you know, played with ever. So I was like, oh,
you know, you know, how is this gonna go? You know,
I don't know who her friends are. I don't you
know who know she who she's really connected with. So
it was gonna be a you know a little bit

(01:12:30):
of a of a work there in progress.

Speaker 1 (01:12:35):
All right. Well, as we said July thirty, if you
can watch it with us, be a part of the
fun in New York. Tickets available at Challenge many Dot Live.
Week before that, they're gonna be kicking her off with
an intro special cast special episode point five, whatever you
want to call it. On the twenty third, we're gonna
be breaking down every episode of season forty one. We
started with some preseason coverage as I mentioned, for the
next couple of weeks we'll be talking Hall of Fame.

(01:12:55):
But if you want a full podcast breaking down every
episode of season forty one every single week, where you
can go is challenge at maniacs dot com. Sign it
at the maniac level or above. That's the way to
get them. We do them in full, gorgeous video. We
put up the whole thing over there ad free, and
we do put previews up on the main feed. You
will be continuing to hear in an effort to tempt
you into joining us for the season. But why wait,

(01:13:16):
do it here today, d I will give you the
last word as always.

Speaker 2 (01:13:20):
Now to everyone that continues to support us, you know,
we appreciate you. Had a great time meeting everyone in
Pittsburgh this weekend. The conversation was awesome. If you haven't
heard the you know, the the podcast on Patreon yet,
it might be a good one to, you know, check
out Patreon for for a month, just just to kind

(01:13:41):
of take a listen to that and see what else
we have, you know, coming down the you know, coming
wrote rolling down the Hill towards July thirtieth, so oh.

Speaker 3 (01:13:51):
Yeah, no, thanks to everyone, and thank you Scott, and
you know.

Speaker 2 (01:13:54):
That Pittsburgh Pirates stuff was you know, definitely one that
I'll remember for a long time.

Speaker 1 (01:13:58):
All Right, everybody there, it is everybody, and obviously Murphy's law.
We got done recording this. We posted it to challengemaniacs
dot com and then like an hour later they dropped
the trailer for season forty one. Go and check out
the trailer. They posted it on all their socials. If
you blake, you might miss Derek, but he has assured
me he is in there. At some point we will

(01:14:20):
hopefully talk about the trailer at some point. Have a
couple of weeks here and Challenge Mania Hall of Fame
going strong over at challengemaniacs dot com. Free to vote
this year, to sign up at the free member level,
let us bother you with news and alerts and emails
and things like that, and you can decide what Two
men and two women join our illustrious roster of Challenge
Mania Hall of Famers. All Right, everybody, hope to see

(01:14:41):
you at our premier party here in New York on
July thirtieth with CT and Olivia and Moore and of
course wrote Rules thirty Los Angeles. Guys, if you missed
this one, trust me you will have major fomo. Go
to challenge Mania dot Live. We're coming to a city
near you, I promise. All right, take it away, DJ.
All right, guys, this sends your time here on Challenge Mania.
Take care of yourselves and hopefully we'll in the future.

Speaker 3 (01:15:01):
The Challenge Mania Shop is open.

Speaker 1 (01:15:03):
Head over to Challengemania dot Shop today for the best
way to support the podcast while looking good doing it.

Speaker 3 (01:15:09):
New designs and items added every few weeks. Maniacs time
to mobilize. Check out Challenge Mania dot Shop today.

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