Ep. 482: YEREMI!

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
What's up, everybody.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
This is Scott Jeger here with another edition of Challenge Mania.

Speaker 3 (00:18):
Our first cast.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Interview of season forty one is brought to you by
Challengemania dot Live, where you can get tickets to all
of our future live shows and events, and boy do
we have a lot of them. August thirty first, Chicago,
Illinois City Winery. September seventh, we're rolling through Phoenix with
our two brand new female Challenge Mania Hall of Famers,
Tory Deal and Jody Weatherton. And we've got Detroit, We've

(00:42):
got Buffalo, We've got Boston, which has sold out all
at Challengemania dot Live, and Nashville.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
We just announced November twenty second.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
Tickets you're gonna go on sale at challengemaniacs dot com
via pre sale on Tuesday, August the fifth. Johnny Bananas,
Noni Gonzalez, Derek Kazinski will be there. Make sure you
don't miss out on those pre sales challengemaniacs dot com.
But you didn't come for me, You came for d
So joining me to talk to our first rookie of

(01:10):
the season. He's rocking a tune squad jersey out of Space.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
Jam mister Derek Kazinsky.

Speaker 4 (01:17):
Derek, it's up, budd Yeah, listen, it's it's it's my
pleasure to introduce you guys to the new cartoon that
has entered the Challenge universe.

Speaker 3 (01:31):
His name is Jeremy.

Speaker 4 (01:32):
Hipel, and he hiked up that mountain like he's done it, you.

Speaker 3 (01:37):
Know, every other day.

Speaker 4 (01:39):
And we're gonna find out what that mountain really meant
in the first test of the Challenge. Uh uh, you
know what, I would call it the first competition.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
He's clearly he knows it.

Speaker 4 (01:51):
They're already telling him he's the biggest threat in the game.
I think when we were going to the airport, this
guy picture had somehow surfaced from underneath.

Speaker 3 (02:07):
The earth and was all up in our faces. For
some reason. He has cut his hair.

Speaker 4 (02:12):
We're gonna find out where he stands between the UK
Alliance and the Johnny Bananas Alliance. We're gonna find out
how hard this mountain really was for someone who's an
obstacle horse racer and ultra marathon runner and someone that's
been on the Amazing Race. We're gonna get his thoughts
on the interrogation and his thoughts.

Speaker 3 (02:35):
On first impressions of the new threats that are on
his side, and the vets.

Speaker 4 (02:41):
Who are seemingly pointing a laser gun at his chest
during every one of his moves except for me.

Speaker 3 (02:51):
Actually, we'll find out here during this interview. Hear me.
Welcome to the Talent, Welcome to talle and.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
Excited to be here.

Speaker 5 (03:01):
Thank you guys for having me on. I love y'all show.
And I'm just I'm real excited to be here and
just chopping up with you guys and just get into
this episode of this whole game. It's a blast. I
love it well.

Speaker 2 (03:11):
Just in case people aren't watching over a challengemaniacs dot com, which,
by the way, you can watch full video of all
of our interviews over a challenge maniacs dot com. Just
in case you're enjoying the free audio on the Challenge
Mania podcast feed.

Speaker 1 (03:22):
Which of course is fine.

Speaker 2 (03:23):
As Derek alluded to, it does look like your hair
is a bit different than the luscious Samson like locks
we've seen on the show. Have you cut it? Is
it tied up in the back? Walk us through it?
Because man, do you have a great set of hair
on you. They're describing you like thor you know, saying
you look like this, and then you still have great hair.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
But have you cut it? Is that what we're looking
at here?

Speaker 5 (03:44):
Yes, yes, I cut it. I cut it a couple
of weeks ago. This is what it looks like now,
much shorter. I've decided to cut it, dude, because I
had those locks for about four years now, and when
I got back from the challenge, I really decided that
I wanted to start kind of leaning a little more
into modeling, and in that industry, I already have like

(04:07):
a ton of tattoos, which does not benefit a ton
of models anyway. And then I had all the tattoos
and that I had super long hair. So it pretty
much gave my my character just like a really niche
market that I could work with pretty.

Speaker 1 (04:23):
Much Maquaman and that's it. You can be one role.

Speaker 5 (04:26):
I get one role, and that is it, you know
what I mean. There's no working for men's warehouse there,
There's none, There's none of that type of work. So
I decided to cut it. Plus also I really couldn't
do it the justice that it deserved. I live in Texas,
and if anybody knows how fucking hot it is here, uh,
and the lifestyle that I live. I really just had
my hair up like eighty percent of the time, So

(04:47):
I was like, you know, it's sign for a change,
and I just decided to cut it.

Speaker 4 (04:51):
Scott mentioned people you know, referring to as thor Tarzan, Jesus,
you know, the wolf eyes.

Speaker 3 (05:04):
What what?

Speaker 1 (05:05):
What?

Speaker 3 (05:05):
How did you feel?

Speaker 4 (05:07):
What was your favorite part about getting this like love
from episode zero and uh just from the people from
the Vets, from the threats? Was was your initial thoughts
getting getting that kind of love?

Speaker 5 (05:19):
You know what it felt? It felt really nice? You
know what I mean. I feel like it made me.
Uh it made me blush almost, you know what I'm saying.
Like I get I get compliments here and there in
daily life, but to see like all of the different competitors,
both VET and rookie alike, to see their impression of
me and just what I look like and not even

(05:40):
how I perform, Uh, it was really sweet. It was nice,
It was kind. There was definitely some in there that
I haven't heard before. I definitely never gotten fucking wolf
eyes or anything like that, so, uh, it was cute.
It was funny.

Speaker 4 (05:54):
What what is it usually? What is it usually that
that you get? Like as far as like character on
TV or Disney characters. What is it usually at you get?
I figured Tarzan is probably the number one.

Speaker 5 (06:07):
It's easily Tarzan. It's it's always Tarzan. Then it's Aquaman,
it's Jason Momoa. You know what I mean? Everybody always
compares me to someone who looks Polynesian. Everybody thinks that
I would I'm Hawaiian or anything like that, just because
of my sinning complexion plus my super long hair. So
that's like, that is the most common ones. I think

(06:29):
Aquaman has got to take, like, has got to take
the cake. I've definitely gotten Jesus before too.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
So yeah, well, well you know Jesus right below Jason
Momoa when it comes to Q rating.

Speaker 1 (06:40):
Wait, so let me ask you, what are you? What
is your background?

Speaker 5 (06:44):
Okay, so I am half Mexican and I am half Czech.
My mother's side is Mexican from Texas and my father's
side is from the Czech Republic in Europe.

Speaker 1 (06:55):
Wow, No, that's cool. It's a nice ethnic blend. There
I was talking.

Speaker 2 (06:59):
We had Tina Bridges who's half Vietnamese half I believe
what what's what's her dad?

Speaker 1 (07:04):
Now?

Speaker 2 (07:05):
Now it's escaping me what her what her dad is.
But it's something like that. It's some like, you know,
European white or something like that. But so I's somebody
you can ever put your finger on and whatever. Everyone
always guesses wrong. You said so, so I guess that
concoction everyone puts you and thinks you're a Polynesian or
Hawaiian exactly.

Speaker 5 (07:19):
You know what, dude, I bought fucking I get thanks
to my mom my dad every day for forgiving me
what they gave me. Because it's funny how life works.
Back in the day, when I was younger, Uh, it
never looked like this. I was really insecure. I kind
of grew up almost like the ugliest of my brothers,
like the smallest. I was like the runt to the
litter of my of my little group. But you know,

(07:42):
life works in mysterious ways, and as you grow up,
you just change, and you know it, it ended up
working out for me. I think.

Speaker 2 (07:49):
So this season of the Challenge, a lot of people
are shorthanding it and calling it fresh meat three or four.
They used to do these seasons called fresh Meat, where
they would bring in people who had never been on
any reality show. They don't do that anymore. A lot
of you guys have appeared on other reality shows. You
appeared on The Amazing Race. But I think something we
got a glimpse of in the first episode and a

(08:10):
half here or whatever you want to call it, but
particularly that launch episode was kind of the backstory of
all you guys, and you know, just seeing how well
some of you guys did going up that mountain, hearing
about a lot of military background and service that was there,
and a lot of people wonder, hey, did they just
try to unload a super team of rookie super athletes
on the vets like Derek and Johnny. But no, you

(08:31):
guys are also people who appeared on other reality shows.
You have your own, you know, additional casting story, if
you will. So I'd love to know tell us where
you were in life when you got found for the
Amazing Race. Who did you compete on The Amazing Race with?
Because you feel like someone who was born to do
the challenge. But obviously you had to have that stop
over there on CBS and The Amazing Race.

Speaker 1 (08:51):
So how'd you wind up on that show?

Speaker 5 (08:53):
Yeah? So that's that's a great story, man. So it
all started in like twenty twenty one, just after COVID
finished up, I decided I was living here in San Marcus, Texas,
and I was going to Texas State University, and I
decided to join an exchange program to go move and
live in Hawaii because one of my friends from Hawaii

(09:15):
was living there and he was struggling with mental health.
And I was like, you know what, if I can
go over there and I can spend six seven months
with you, maybe they'll say it'll help you see the
world a little different and it'll be a great adventure
for me. Right, get on a plane. I headed over
to Hawaii. I'm enjoying all my time out there. And
while I was out there, I went I went ahead
and I went on a hike with a couple of
the girls I knew, and they brought some of their friends.

(09:36):
And while I was hiking, I met this guy. His
name is Travis Travis Long, and he competed on a
season of Big Brother. And I didn't know anything about
reality TV then. I was just hiking and joining, you know,
plants and shit. So he tells me about this. I
was like, that's what's up, bro. I didn't really ask
him too much about it, and then the casting producer

(09:56):
that found him for it found me on Instagram and
was like, Yo, you want to apply for Big Brother?
And I was like, I don't know what the fuck
big Brother is, but I'll check it out and I'll apply.
And I applied and it didn't go anywhere, and I
was like, all right, whatever. So I continue to go
to school, and about a year later, the same casting

(10:17):
producer comes back to me and asked me like, Hey,
would you want to be on the Amazing Race? It
feels like it could be a little more in your alley,
you know what I mean. You're like a huge traveler
and stuff like that. And I was like sweet. So
I looked it up and I watched a couple episodes
of it, and I was like, oh, this is this
is so much better in my book for me than

(10:38):
Big Brother is. So I called up my brother at
the time, my younger brother, and we weren't really talking.
Me and him had gone through like waves of talking
than not talking and like getting angry with each other

(11:00):
and like it was just really fractured our relationship. And
at that time we weren't really talking, but he would
like snapchat me every now and then, you know what
I mean. Just to keep that super distant link. And
I phoned him up and I was like, hey, dude,
this cool opportunity came across my desk and I need
somebody who I have a really good dynamic with and

(11:24):
I think that might be you. Is this something you
would be willing to do with me? And he was like, shit, yeah, dude,
let's do it. So we went through the casting process
for that. We actually healed a lot of the kind
of trauma that was there between us and our lives
growing up through that process because I kind of told him.

(11:46):
I was like, Hey, we're going to need to talk
about our family. You know, if we're going to fully
go through this process, we're gonna have to talk about
our family. We're gonna have to talk about our relationship.
And the first place to do that is not on
national television. I was like, we need to talk about
this before and he was like, yeah, I think you're right.
So we did and it was amazing. We buried the hatchet,

(12:09):
it we got better. We for the first time in
our lives probably came together as like the closest set
of brothers that we've ever been. And then we went
and competed on the Amazing Race.

Speaker 1 (12:20):
How'd you guys do on the show?

Speaker 5 (12:22):
To be honest with you, we didn't like okay, in
my opinion, the way that we worked together. Absolutely loved
it all right, fucking I gave everything to my brother.
Our performance I felt like was was really really good,
But in the overarching scheme of the actual competition, we
did not really do that good. I think we got
like eighth or ninth on the race, and we didn't

(12:43):
make it as far as we wanted to go.

Speaker 1 (12:45):
Well, you made it far.

Speaker 2 (12:47):
Look, only one team can obviously win the race, but
you obviously won the overall scheme of things that you know.

Speaker 1 (12:54):
You did well enough on that show, enough people saw you.

Speaker 2 (12:56):
You made enough episodes where somebody got the idea to
then bring you on to this show, the Challenge that's
on season forty one. Now you're playing alongside a few rookies,
but also people who have made this sort of their
life's journey. Derek's been on almost fifteen seasons something like that,
Johnny and CT and Anissa over twenty did you you
mentioned you didn't really know Big Brother, You didn't really

(13:16):
know the Amazing Race. You got acquainted with these I'd
imagine during the casting process, But was the challenge on
your radar at all, either growing up or once you
started going down the reality TV path.

Speaker 5 (13:27):
Yeah, So once I started going down the reality TV
path is when the challenges like came to my foresight.
Right after I was done with the Amazing Race, I
started seeing things for the challenge and I started watching it.
The first season I actually ever watched was Wright or Dies,
and I start with it and I just like, I

(13:49):
got to tell you, like immediately, I just fell in love.
I was like, God, damn, is this show the just
the fucking coolest goddamn show I have ever seen in
the history of anything. This thing is fucking badass. It
is so real. It's like you see it and it's
like an action movie. I was trying to describe Spot

(14:09):
Buddy the other day, and I was like, it's like
an action movie, but you're not acting as an action hero.
You are being an action hero. So every single time
you do something that's dope, you're really doing something that's dope,
like you are an action star. And it's so sick.
And the just the plethora of different challenges and puzzles

(14:31):
and things that they put you through like, psychologically has
really stapled this competition in my head as not only
one of the best shows like out there, but one
of the best competitions in the world. And one thing
that I do is I seek out some of the
best competitions in the world to compete in because I

(14:51):
love competing.

Speaker 1 (14:53):
All Right.

Speaker 4 (14:53):
That that was an awesome explanation of his first views
of the Challenge.

Speaker 3 (15:00):
Now I feel the same way.

Speaker 4 (15:02):
Right, I've been fortunate enough to do this for twenty
plus years off and on.

Speaker 3 (15:07):
Right now, I don't get the same like love and lust.

Speaker 4 (15:15):
For the Challenge as I do for like when I
see Big Brother or even when I see Survivor. So
my question to you is, when you've watched your first
episodes of Big Brother or Survivor, have you been able
to actually watch a whole season of Big Brother and
Survivor and do you feel the same way as you

(15:38):
do towards the Challenge, Because I don't, because.

Speaker 2 (15:42):
I understand, Yeah, I think you phrased that backwards, because
I'm like, wait a minute, you made it sound like
you you crave and you star for being on those
shows more than.

Speaker 3 (15:51):
Listen, Like I watch Big Brother and I'm like, uh,
you know it.

Speaker 4 (15:57):
It's like I have to like try, I have to
like try right, and and same thing with Survivor. I
have to like push myself to get there every week
and then eventually I fall off and I don't complete
episodes and I don't complete season. But like when I
was younger and I and I gotta started watching the Challenge,
I was like, oh.

Speaker 3 (16:18):
This is really fucking cool. Same thing with like American Gladiators.
Like when I was a kid.

Speaker 4 (16:22):
You you probably don't know much about American Gladiators being
being the age that you are, But when I was
a kid, I was like, American Gladiators on on Sunday,
Like I gotta fucking watch that ship. You know, anyway
you'll see American Gladiators here soon one of our former ore,
one of our colleagues from the Challenge universe, Fesci, is

(16:43):
going to be on there.

Speaker 1 (16:45):
So okay, let me ask you that you watch Right Well,
first you watch Right or Dies.

Speaker 2 (16:51):
Did you then go and give yourself more of a
crash course?

Speaker 1 (16:55):
Did you go back?

Speaker 2 (16:56):
Because look, Derek, like you said, he made his debut
in two thousand and four, but you very well could
have come on for Ride or Dies and maybe never
even seen Derek Kaczinski play on The Challenger seeing a
vv play on The Challenge Day recently returned for season forty.
But walk us through? Then you fall in love with
this show action movie? Hey, I want to be the
Rambo in that action movie. When did it start to

(17:17):
become a reality for you? And when it did? How
much of a crash course did you give yourself on
the people that you might be playing with and now
are playing with.

Speaker 5 (17:26):
Okay, nice, Okay, So I'm gonna I'm gonna answer both
of you all questions in that kind of way. I
will say, especially when I started watching because the first show,
the completely first show that I had started watching with
a big brother, and I started watching it, and it
just it didn't appeal to me, right, It just didn't
appeal to me. Nothing about it appealed to me. Right.

(17:47):
I'm just I'm a competitive person, and I'm the type
of person that like, if it's something that I don't
want to do, I'm not gonna fucking do it, right.
I'm too I'm getting too fucking old that I don't
give a shit. Right, I'm gonna do this shit to
please you. If you gave me the opportunity, I would
have done it, but Big Brother just like being cooped
up in a house doing these doing these small like

(18:09):
they kind of do these different kind of puzzles, Like
there's there's nothing that feels like it's truly pushing me.
So it just did not incentivize to me at all.
Survivor was different. When I watch Survivor, I have I
have been able to finish it and get hooked to
it because I think that there is a really good
element of I want to say, like suffering in Survivor.

(18:32):
That's real, that's real, you know what I mean? And
Big Brother, you're in a fucking house whatever, you know
what I mean. You're you're shut inside for like a
couple months, and that has its own difficulty, right, But Survivor,
you are out in the elements. You're sleeping in the sand,
when you're doing your challenges, you're getting roughed up. And
I like that. I like seeing people who either have
never done shit like that before and are doing it

(18:52):
for the first time and getting to see the reaction
of like, wow, doing hard stuff sucks, or seeing people
who just have this nasty grit, And I love that
and I love to see that nasty grit, like when
you're in that mud and you're getting fucked up and
you are just you're getting blood all over your knees
because you're crawling and stuff like that. That's the type

(19:13):
of shit I like so naturally when I saw the challenge,
and I'm like, all these motherfuckers don't care about hitting
each other, they don't care about falling from twenty feet
in the air. Like they put them not through carnival games.
They put them through difficult situations that don't just push

(19:33):
you but have an element of danger in them. And
that right there was super special to me. And I
saw it and I was like, growing up, I really
like Ninja Warrior. But then I saw the challenge. I
was like, this is like a hybrid of The Survivor
then Ninja Warrior all into one, And I thought that
was super cool in terms of your next question that

(19:56):
you were talking about. Once I got hooked to the challenge,
I started watching how I started preparing for this and
how this all even started. It didn't start too too
long ago, but I will say the very first connection
that I ever had to the challenge was in probably
late twenty twenty two or it was right after the

(20:20):
Amazing Race I finished, and like we were doing promos
for the show as that was coming out, and I
was doing an interview for the Marine Corps birthday. It
was the Marine Corps birthday, so I think Paramount had
a couple different Marine Corps veterans that had all been
on different reality TV. I had some guy from Survivor,

(20:42):
this other guy from Big Brother, and then Date and
the host was TJ. And the host was TJ. Dude
asks a bunch of questions. Whatever we you know, we
give our answer, and then at the end he asks us.
He was like, you know, if you guys could compete

(21:04):
on any other reality TV shows if you wanted to,
which ones would you choose? And that was the time
when I got to like talk to TJ and be like, oh, dude,
I would love to fucking compete on the Challenge, Like
your show is the pinnacle of shows, Like it's my
dream show. And that was my first ever link to it.
And then this year in twenty twenty five, in September,

(21:27):
I was doing a I was on a traveling trip
with my with my younger brother Liam. We were we
were traveling to Iceland to Germany, and to the Netherlands.
And while we were in the Netherlands, at the end
of the trip, I got I got a DM from
one of the casting producers for the challenge and they

(21:49):
asked me if if they could get in on a
call with me, and I was like, I was like, no,
fuck away. I was like, this is crazy the way.
So I got on a call and she was like,
have you seen the Have you seen the challenge before it?
And I was like, yeah, sure the fuck have And
she's like, you know, would you would you be interested
in coifedi on it? And I was like, yes, yes,

(22:10):
I fucking would. And I was like, you tell me
what you told me? What you mean, I'm gonna I'm
gonna cut my whole fucking calendar in half. I got.
I got two big ass calendars in my room so
I can see the entire year of everything I'm gonna do.
And I told her. I was like, I'll wipe it clean.
You tell me when, and I'm gonna fucking be there.
And that's when that is when the challenge September of
this year, that's when it consumed completely consumed my life.

(22:32):
I got just the idea from the casting producer that
it could be possible, and then I leaned all the
way into challenge.

Speaker 3 (22:42):
How do you how do you lean into it?

Speaker 4 (22:43):
Like you're you're still you're still like you're basically just
like in a casting pool, right like.

Speaker 3 (22:48):
That you don't really know.

Speaker 4 (22:50):
So when you say you leaned into it, does that
mean you like started like like manifesting it or like
calling them like every week like hey y'all, am I
still on this thing? Can I get back? I get
I still on the list. I was just thinking happening,
Like what do you mean by leaning into it?

Speaker 5 (23:06):
So what I mean by that is like that was
the very first time where I just got the opportunity
to continue on this casting and I was like, oh sick.
And I was like, you know what, and I gonna
lie to you. I felt like I was a damn
good cast member. I was like, I am fucking I am.
I am what you need. I don't like, I don't.

(23:26):
I'm not one of these people, right, I'm not one
of these people who lives in normal life out here
and then goes in there to do cool shit. That's
not me. I do this shit out here and then
I'll take some time off to go on that shit
and do that shit with y'all because it's cool, right,
But I really do this shit. I pay my own
money to go do these stupid fucking ultra marathons and

(23:49):
these obstacle races that fucking take ten hours and deplete
my body of all energy and muscular fatigue. I do
this shit. I put myself in these situations that fucking suck,
and I'm like, dude, you want me. So I already
knew that. I felt like I was a really good
competitor and contestant that can go on here. So I

(24:11):
started doing everything I drafted, like a Google docs that
I put I was like the challenge training, and I
was like physical challenges, running, climbing, swimming, breath holding. Then
I fucking dissected it into another one, like mental challenges, puzzles,
ten agram sliding puzzles like I started writing every single
bit down. I started researching the Internet for ways to

(24:34):
practice every single different type of puzzle, how to solve
rizzle like riddles, different ways to look at puzzles like
one are the ten hardest puzzles in the world. I
started running, like I mean, I was already running goddamn consistently.

Speaker 2 (24:47):
You guys are fucked, Derek. I'm just hearing this, so
you guys are absolutely fucked.

Speaker 4 (24:52):
I'm like, the next time, you know, we may possibly
go and do something like this.

Speaker 3 (24:57):
Can I take a look at your cheat sheet and
you have that.

Speaker 5 (25:02):
I created a bible, dude. I'm telling you like I did,
Like this was all just physical and that was just training, right,
besides that training, I started doing like I would do
workouts that started at like eleven PM and that end
at one or two am, so I could train in
a sleep deprivation mode. I would sit down and I

(25:25):
would binge watch Rider Dies. I would binge watch all
the shows bowt for a New Champ, and every single
time a challenge would come on, I would pause it
and right when I had paus it. My roommate was
like the biggest help. His name is Justin. He's been
my best friend. Me and him went to the Marines together,
and he was like my coach. He would give me
his time and we would sit for I mean, for

(25:47):
for an entire week straight. We binge watched all of
season forty and we would pause it on a challenge
and I'd look at him and I'd be like, right
off the bat. I don't know what any of these
people are gonna do. This is what I do, This
is the route that I take. This is how I
would do it, This is why I would do it.
What do you think? And he'd be like, okay, I
like that you would do this. What if you didn't
do this and you did this? Have you thought about

(26:08):
doing this? And I was like, damn, I haven't. We
would stop on alliances. We'd stop on alliances. I'd be like,
what do you think about these guys or about these guys.
I think they might be doing this in this situation.
Unless this changes, this is not going to be able
to happen. We fucking dissected everything. If a puzzle came
on the screen, we paused the TV and I would
do the puzzle in my head real quick. No calculator,

(26:30):
no phone, no no pencil, no nothing. We'd be doing
it and I'd be like, did you get this? And
he'd be like, yeah, I got that. If it was
a triangle, you got to count all the fucking triangles
or whatever the fuck and then multiply times fuck me whatever.
We would be sitting there doing all that shit. I mean,
we we just live breathed and shit the fucking challenge
for months leading up to it. I mean, I really

(26:52):
really wanted to do this. Shit.

Speaker 4 (26:55):
If you, if you're a vet listening to this right now,
can you just can you tell me if you actually
if you feel like he's like dunking you in water
and just like drowning you as he says all this,
because to have the fucking time to do that would
be like awesome, you know what I mean? Like like
now most of us like we you know, kids, job whatever, like,

(27:17):
but to take it to that level and to have
that time.

Speaker 3 (27:21):
And like passion for it is like just sounds like
so much fun.

Speaker 4 (27:26):
Like I like, I just want to warp zone back
to to to my twenties and I want to be
that dude, your buddy, and I would love to just
like go through that. Like I I'm speechless. That was
such an amazing response.

Speaker 1 (27:42):
Did you do so?

Speaker 2 (27:44):
You mentioned like the amount of homework that you did,
as far as you know, giving yourself a crash course
on the challenges, like you said, the physicality of it,
obviously your own training. Obviously, like you said, alliances are
playing a part in it. But I gotta ask you,
because what makes the challenge separate from these other shows.
And don't get me wrong, these other shows will occasionally
bring people back, Survivors bringing people back for season fifty,

(28:07):
Your girl.

Speaker 1 (28:08):
D's gonna be on it. Amazing Race will bring people back.

Speaker 2 (28:11):
They've got a season coming up that's all CBS people
and their families. But I don't know what season of
Amazing Race you were on, and whether there were people
who had played before. But for the most part, that
show is structured where you're mainly spending time with your
brother on a season of Big Brother. For the most part,
it's sixteen to eighteen people who have never played before,
and they might drop like a Rachel Riley or a
Sirian there or something to spice it up. But for

(28:32):
the most part, you're playing with new people, new social game.

Speaker 1 (28:35):
What separates the.

Speaker 2 (28:36):
Challenge is that, as I mentioned, these guys and gals
who have been on the show for twenty years and such,
they're sort of the main characters of the story of
their own stories but also collectively the story of the show.
And you get lumped in with this crew of rookies.
You don't necessarily know what the format is going to be. Obviously,
it looks like you guys are going to be tethered

(28:57):
to a veteran for the majority of the season, if
not all of it. But i'd love to know and
you can tell me what your post Amazing Race experience was.
But that doesn't really feel like a show where when
you're done playing on the show, that it follows you
around too much from like a social dynamic scheme of
things like, you know, the other teams through Amazing Race
are wondering what you're going to say to the other

(29:18):
teams and stuff. The challenge, though, and I don't know
if you've realized this yet, is sort of a three
hundred and sixty five day year gig when it comes
to the dynamic between you guys and the fans, and
the dynamic between you guys and the other cast members
who either played on your season or maybe we'll play
on the next season with you. Have you felt that
difference of sort of oh no, this is now a

(29:38):
community that I'm a part of. These people are the
main characters who have been starring in this movie for
two decades and now I'm inching my way into it.

Speaker 1 (29:47):
Has that been overwhelming it all?

Speaker 2 (29:49):
And how have you processed that the fact that you're
now sort of a new jock in this high school,
if you will, that has the seniors like Derek and Johnny,
the sophomores like Olivia and Theo, and now you're an
incoming freshman.

Speaker 5 (30:02):
Yeah. No, absolutely that that's a that is a huge
part of this, especially when I started on the Amazing Race.
Just like you said, the competition was, it was very
little of interacting with other people. Right, if we passed
roadbox or whatever our challenge was, we might have seen
them there and got to chat a couple words with them,
but then they'd immediately leave, right, They're back on the road,

(30:24):
racing to where the fuck they're going next. And most
of the time was just communication between me and my brother,
So there was there was no big kind of community,
especially after it was done kind of with the Amazing Race, right,
and I knew, I know, I know what the challenge is,
and I knew what it was especially coming into it,

(30:45):
and it has it has felt like God, I gotta
tell you, man, When I when I one got the
call that I was going to go there, I was
fucking dumbfounded. I was like, oh my god, I can't
believe this is happening. I am so grateful that I
was chosen to compete, because that's how I see it.

(31:05):
I'm chosen to compete against some of the best competitors
that this world has to offer, and they're inviting me
to disagreements. So that was amazing. And once I got
in there, and you continue playing, and even when you leave,

(31:27):
you feel like you've entered into this new kind of family,
this new type of community that just really has a
love for this shit, right, And that's that is super
important to me because I've done this shit before, these
reality these reality shows just like this one. And I've
talked to people before, right, and this is this is
one conversation that really stuck to me because one guy

(31:47):
was like, so, why why do you do this stuff?

Speaker 4 (31:49):
Like?

Speaker 5 (31:49):
What interests you about this? I have no interest in
watching reality TV? And I'm like, I understand that that
makes sense. And it's probably because you have a you
have a common misconception of what reality TV is, Right.
You probably see shit like Selling Sunset or the fucking
the Housewives of fucking Charleston or whatever, and you see
it's just stupid bitching and fucking gossip or whatever, and

(32:11):
that taints your image. But if you can decide to
push that aside and see some of these shows for
what they are, it's not just stupid shit, right. Is
there some in there like fighting and gossip or whatever. Absolutely,
But these competitors, especially on the Challenge, are some of
the most advanced type of human beings that I have

(32:33):
ever competed against. Whether that is strategic thinking, if that
is critical thinking, if that is muscle and power, endurance,
social strategy. Everybody comes to the table in this show
with a huge dynamic of strengths that they use, and
it is unreal to watch it happen. And if I

(32:57):
just I love this community because they they have a
passion for it, right, They don't just see it for
what it is. We enjoy the juice. I love the juice, right.
I love a good fight. I love a good bitch
and bitching out and stuff like that. But truly I
love it because this computer, this community, they love this
because they understand the game and they understand what these

(33:19):
competitors are put through. And that's so important for me.

Speaker 4 (33:25):
You mentioned something that Turbo had mentioned on the show
on episode one here of that's the New Threats, and
that was I would pay to do this.

Speaker 3 (33:39):
I am able to be well.

Speaker 4 (33:41):
He said that one day I want to be a
movie star, like an action hero, and on the challenge,
I get to be that, and I get and I
would pay for this stuff. And you just said, like
this is what you literally paid to do, Like you
go and do ultra marathon and obstacle course racing for fun.

(34:05):
I want to know, how does this first test or
the mountain compared to some of the stuff that you've done,
Like what does a five thousand, four hundred and seventy
nine foot mountain that you get done going to the
top and bottom with in an hour and twenty four

(34:26):
minutes or whatever it was, how does that compare to
like what you do for fun or and what you
pay for to do.

Speaker 5 (34:35):
Yeah. No, absolutely, And that's a funny question, man, because
they they really are not that comparable. The mountain and
the test was it was hard, but it was hard
because I fucked up in the beginning of it. And

(34:56):
what I did in the beginning is I freaking sprinted
right out the gates to get at the lead of
the pack, to just lead the whole thing. But then
I went down the wrong way. I followed the wrong
route and I got lost, and I was running and
I got and I was like, oh man, Like I honestly,
to be honest with you, I completely underestimated that we
were gonna run this mountain.

Speaker 4 (35:16):
Oh yeah, I mean I thought that it was going
to be like right around the corner, maybe a mile away.

Speaker 5 (35:22):
Two was like, we're gonna go up halfway and then
we gonna come down the other side. I was like,
this is a sprint right here, right. So I did
what I thought we were gonna do. I went up
and then started going down the finishing route. But quickly
I realized that nobody else was behind me except for Justin.
And I looked behind and nobody was there, and I
was like, oh, there's something wrong. There's something route was like, Justin,

(35:44):
we gotta go back. So we started running back and
I just see, like, oh, bro, it was like watching
ants march up a fucking tree. And I just see
all of y'all, all of these competitors just just trickled
running up the mountain. I was like, shit, like, we
really are going up that, and I just plugged up.

(36:04):
It went the whole wrong way and now I'm in
the back. So at that moment, I was like, okay,
I need to just I need to fucking hustle. I
need to get as far as I can in front
of it and pass as many people as I can
with the tank that I've got. So I put it
in overdrive and I just started running and passing people,

(36:25):
and it started. The elevation started to slowly climb, you know,
until it was.

Speaker 4 (36:30):
Like that, yeah, and handed feet, bro handed feet were
like halfway halfway up.

Speaker 3 (36:36):
I'm hands and feet all the way.

Speaker 5 (36:38):
Up, yes, exactly. But I ran and I passed a
ton of people while I was running. And then the
person who was in the front I remember was Rogan,
and I saw him and he stopped running and he
started like hiking. And right when he did that, I
was like, this is my chance right here. I was like,
if I can run a little bit longer than he can,

(37:01):
I'm gonna pass them. I'm gonna get in first. Once
I got in front of him, I was like, perfect,
I accomplished what I need to. I need to go
into hiking mode. So I just stopped running and went
right into hiking and I just never stopped. I was like,
I'm just not gonna stop and It was difficult because

(37:21):
I had to push my tank, like my lungs that
were burning. I was like wheezing at the end. But
bro like that freaking that the Spartan Ultra that I
did last year, which is like a thirty two miles, y'all.
That took me nine hours and twenty minutes of running
in the hill country of Texas. And do it. And

(37:43):
it's not just running, And it's not just running up
and downhills, changing the elevation for your feet, your ankles
in your knees, and crawling on some of these things.
But you are crawling under barbed wire, You're getting soaking
wet and mud, You're climbing over these barriers, you're monkey
barring around, you're picking up at lis stones. I mean

(38:04):
that what. It's fucking awful. It fucking murders you. But
I do it because if I can do it, I
have this idea in my head that there's nothing, at
least in this point of my threshold. There's nothing anybody
can do to me that's gonna be worse than this
nine hours straights. Unless I go somewhere you're gonna suck

(38:27):
me up for nine hours. You're not gonna put me
through something harder than what the fuck that was. So
anytime I'm doing any of these difficult challenges, I compare
it right back to that bullshit and I'm like, Nope,
still didn't do it.

Speaker 1 (38:40):
How much? How much should you know about?

Speaker 2 (38:42):
How much this the places you finish we're going to
affect the next stage of the game. Obviously, you do
very well on the race, you get to select your
partner first. In turn, you get to select someone who
also did well.

Speaker 1 (38:53):
On the race. But this wasn't a high stakes race
in the.

Speaker 2 (38:56):
Scheme of Ironically, another one that Rogan was on where
on Vendetta's Rogan comes in last in a race up
a mountain and they send him right home.

Speaker 1 (39:04):
He's the first guy out on the show.

Speaker 2 (39:06):
Derek obviously his fellow veterans, they kind of had a
feeling this might be some sort of leading to a
draft of sorts, which in a way it did.

Speaker 1 (39:14):
This is obviously your first time playing on the show.

Speaker 2 (39:16):
We heard a bit of your when you got to
the house, the idea of, hey, should I take the
biggest closet, should I take a room with the biggest bed,
what should I do? And obviously we're hearing from the
vets already how they're looking at you based on your
appearance and your thor like qualities, which which by the way, now,
just looking at you with the short hair, I thought
of another one, and you kind of look like Austin Butler.

(39:37):
I don't know if you've ever gotten that, but I'm seeing.

Speaker 1 (39:39):
Austin Butler in the face.

Speaker 2 (39:40):
But my question to you is was there a risk
reward of it of like, hey, this season might end
with a race like this that I need to win
to win a million dollars, but this one, if it's
not for a million dollars, and if it's not for
getting voted off the show, is it maybe better to
come in third, fourth, fifty six and not have this
huge target on your back, which clearly you do just

(40:01):
when you walk into a room.

Speaker 1 (40:02):
But when you.

Speaker 2 (40:03):
Jogged down a mountain before you know, five hours before
CT and I get done, you know that's definitely gonna
put that target on your back. How did you process
that coming into this and did you consider maybe scaling
it back a little bit and letting a couple of
people finish ahead of you.

Speaker 5 (40:17):
Yeah, dude, so that kind of like strategic thinking I
gonna lie to you. I didn't do a fucking single
bit of that. I didn't do a single bit of that.
I I don't even know what it was. Honestly, I
almost say this, and I probably sounded like a fucking dick,
But I expected to be I expected more competitors to
push for more I was. I thought, I went, I

(40:38):
was giving my awe and that's what I do, right,
I'm gonna come to this competition and I'm gonna give
what I have, and I'm gonna give all of what
I have. I'm not gonna scale it back, right, And
that's exactly what I did. I thought that I was
going to have to try that hard. I thought I
thought this was the fucking challenge. I thought I was
gonna go there and I was gonna have to and

(41:01):
you fuckers were gonna fight me to get first place,
because this is a fucking challenge, right, And I go
up this fucking mountain and I'm coming down and I'm
passing motherfuckers who are sitting on a rock, and I'm like,
you're sitting on a fucking rock. You're sitting on a rock.
Do you know where we are? Do you We're on
the fucking top of a mountain. This is a fucking

(41:21):
challenge and you're sitting on a rock. I showed up
here with my fucking running shoes on, with my freaking
sweatpants on, in a tank top. I'm ready to do
whatever it is. I'm in fucking I'm in my warrior attire,
like I'm ready to get it done. And when I
saw people resting, I was like, you're resting. Rest when

(41:42):
you're dead, Rest when you're finished. What are you? Are
you not gonna Are you not gonna die out here?
Are you not willing to give your life for the challenge? Motherfucker?
That's why you're not gonna win. You're not gonna win
this fucking test.

Speaker 4 (41:52):
So going off that, let me let me let me
give you the flip side of of seeing people resting
on rocks.

Speaker 3 (42:01):
So me personally like, I don't know if you remember.

Speaker 4 (42:04):
This, but uh, the reason why we had to wait
to go on the mountain is because they were looking
for my knee brace and and I was like, I'm
not going to do this without that fucking knee brace, right,
and uh, and so that's what we were waiting on.

(42:27):
And when we started that thing, I meet Turbo.

Speaker 3 (42:31):
And and Cet.

Speaker 4 (42:33):
Well CT and Turbo were really like I'm just gonna
walk this thing, and I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna I'm
definitely not sprinting out to the front of the pack
like like you did, right, Yeah. And as I gradually
do my walk right and I'm kind of like, you know,
pitter pattering through this thing, I'm also starting to see

(42:55):
people slow down. And pretty soon there I see like
a rogan on the side laying down. I see theo
kind of fucking you know, and I'm like, this is
fucking awesome. All right, I'm not gonna do as bad
as I thought I was gonna do, so just you know,
to give people the flip side of this thing. It

(43:18):
was very nice to see people dying on the side
of the mountain. My question to you is who was closer?
And sorry if you had a thought before that too,
please please throw that in throw that in this in
this next answer, But like, who was the closest to you? Like,
I know that Cedric was there nearby. Also, uh you
know former marine these uh easy was was the first

(43:44):
girl to finish I think in second place. How close
were were they to you? I mean, because it sounds
like you smoked everybody, and you know, the the closest
vets to you were I think Aviv and Olivia and
then soon thereafter, Like Johnny, So, I'm curious as you're

(44:05):
kind of like registering when people are finishing and scouting
out your competition, whether it be threats females or or
or male vets where what what is your thought process
as these guys, female, men, men and women are are
coming down? How close are they to you? And how
much do you are you processing from that information you're gathering?

Speaker 5 (44:26):
Okay? Nice? Nice. So I'm just gonna say one last
thing on the last one, which was like, did I
even think about the kind of strategy of what I
was doing?

Speaker 1 (44:35):
Right?

Speaker 5 (44:36):
Did I? Did I under Did I truly understand the
impact of my decision? Right? And the answer to that
was no, I did not. Right. I kind of came
into that test thinking that I was gonna have to fight,
you know what I mean, that I was gonna have
to fight for this, and then once like that was
me fighting. Motherfucker. I was fighting, and then I was
fighting myself. And then I get to the bottom and

(44:57):
I fucking smoke checked everybody, and I was like, oh shit,
this is probably not gonna be very good. Right, It's
not gonna look too good for me. I mean it
feels great, but you know, once that adrenaline slowed down,
I really thought about it.

Speaker 3 (45:09):
I was like, people are like this, well, what you had?
What'd you have?

Speaker 1 (45:15):
There?

Speaker 3 (45:15):
Like ten minutes to process that? Were you?

Speaker 4 (45:17):
Like?

Speaker 3 (45:18):
I was down there.

Speaker 5 (45:19):
I was probably down there for like fifteen twenty minutes
where somebody else started to come down there, and I
was like, this ain't gonna be good. This ain't gonna
be good. I will get some flack for this one.
I would get some flack for sure. So I did
know that I did not pre strategize on that, and
I will say that that could have definitely been a
mistake on my part, especially getting into the game. But

(45:42):
when it comes to being on the test and looking
to who was as closest to me as I was going,
it was Izzy. For the longest time. When we were
going up the mountain and we were hiking, Izzy was
like right behind me for like a long time, and
I and honest I wanted her to be there because

(46:03):
and I was trying everything. I want you guys to
know this from my deep deepest heart. I was really
trying to keep her with me because I had just
fucked up the fucking trail down there because I hadn't
seen the markers, and I was like, I just need
somebody's reinforcement for me to be like, this is where
we need to go. So I needed two eyes on
this shit, right, So I was trying to keep her

(46:24):
with me. I was like, come on, Izzy, come on,
you know, but she's tired as hell, and she's like
this Girl's like, are we almost done? And I'm kind
of just on like auto answer, you know what I mean,
where I'm just like, yeah, yeah, yeah, we're almost done.
Keep going, and she's like really, and I was like, well, no, no,
we're not almost done, you know what I mean, We

(46:45):
still probably have half of the the incline of the
mountain to finish up, but just keep going like you
got it, You're right here. But eventually that did not
hold up, and I ended up leaving Izzy once I
got to really the climbing portion of that mountain towards
the top, and the next time I saw her, I

(47:06):
got to the top of the mountain and I summoned it.
I went all the way to the back end where
we had to touch our rock. And then I ran
back and at the point where we were about to
start going down, that's when Izzy came up. So I
saw her when she peeked, I was starting to go down,
and uh, and I helped her out. She was like
where do I go? And I was like, you run.
I was like, cut this mountain in half, cut it

(47:27):
in half. Run all the way down. You're gonna see
where you need to go and touch that right And
and as I was coming down, dude, you know, I
was just trying to give people positive reinforcement and help
them in any way that I could, I was like,
I'm not really too sure if that is a good
thing to do right now, because I really am competing
against everybody. But I'm just like at that point, I

(47:50):
was like, I know this is no matter.

Speaker 4 (47:52):
That's that's the best that's the best strategy. I mean,
that's that's the best thing you can do.

Speaker 3 (47:55):
Listen.

Speaker 4 (47:56):
I smoked you guys, but just I'm still a nice guy.
I'm still a nice guy. Don't vote for me. That
This doesn't mean I'm the biggest threat. That doesn't mean
you have to vote for me. I'm not your enemy.
I promise, I've only been down here for twenty minutes. Okay,
so all right, so all right, So then Izzy comes down,
and then Cedric comes down.

Speaker 3 (48:16):
Yes, and then and then he.

Speaker 5 (48:18):
Said, Cedric and Izzy ended up finishing I think together.
So Cedric ended up coming down. And I will say
when Cedric came down, I was not surprised from the
moment that I met Cedric. The first time I saw Cedric,
I was like, Ah, this is just some pretty boy,
you know what I mean. I'm like, I don't know

(48:38):
if this dude's got that dog. And then I talked
to him a little bit and he let me know
that he was a marine. And right when he let
me know that, my perception of him completely changed. And
once I saw him come down with Izzy, I was like,
this dude right here. If there was anybody in the
house at that time that I compared to myself and

(48:59):
my stra it was Cedric. And he was somebody that
I looked at pretty consistently through this competition as somebody
that that is going to rival my power.

Speaker 3 (49:10):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (49:10):
Let me let me ask you a quick question, because
we're at some point we're gonna have to talk about
the the Olivia slash UK Alliance, Johnny Bananas slash Upstairs Alliance,
and and and and where you stood and where I
stood in all this us rooming and complete opposite sides
of the house. I'm literally living with most of that

(49:31):
UK alliance downstairs, and you're literally living with Johnny Bananas.
I think, and Cedric, I think, And I don't know,
I don't know who who is.

Speaker 5 (49:39):
Your room there, Will, Will, Cedric and Banas.

Speaker 4 (49:42):
Okay, So, so as far as the alliances go, I
was always I was curious if and I didn't know
obviously because you guys were on that exact diagonal side
of the house, if there was a I'm like, I'm
I'm I'm sure that there had to have been some
special over covert ops military alliance, like I thought for sure. Okay,

(50:06):
those three are in that room, those former three military guys, Cedric,
uh Will and Year and me are in the room
with Johnny Bananas. What the fuck does that mean for
Johnny Bananas? And what does what what does Johnny Bananas
in there mean for them? Because obviously you guys know
and you and and being former military, you know how

(50:28):
to communicate in a secretive way, and you have the
goat like living in your room. Are you guys thinking like, yo,
we need to like slay the goat or do we
need to team up with the goat?

Speaker 5 (50:42):
Nice? That was good, so my because I was the
first one to get in that room. Right when when
I got into the house and I was mad confused,
I was like, I don't know what like, and I'll
be with you guys.

Speaker 4 (50:55):
Wait wait wait, wait, wait before you before you be
honest with I want I want to rephrase, rephrase that
that question. Were you guys like I want to put
we want to put the goat like on a pit
like they do with a pig and like a grilla
them up and then like eat him.

Speaker 3 (51:10):
Or were you like, man, we need to team up
with the goat.

Speaker 4 (51:12):
Let him like lead the way and like follow this
guy into like greenier pastures like he's seen he's seen
the greenest.

Speaker 3 (51:20):
Pastures that the challenges had to offer. So yeah, sorry,
go ahead.

Speaker 5 (51:23):
No, no, that's dope. That's funny. But when I got
into the house, I had no idea. I was like,
I don't know, I've never been in the situation before.
Right in the fucking amazing race, you sleep on the
fucking floor of the airport, you know what I'm saying.
So I was like, I know anything about this. I
was like, what power is there in choosing your fucking room.
I was like, I don't know. I was like, all
these rooms were really nice. I've never been in the

(51:43):
house this big. The kitchen looks sick. I just went
to lay on the couch right fucking looking at all
these rooms, and I still hadn't made my decision. Right
I'm up to I'm in that top corner, and then
I'm just like, I'm just looking at this room. And
Johnny runs in and he was like, oh, this is
a eat spot. There's a c in this room. There's
a closet and a bathroom. And he just launches his

(52:05):
bag on like one of the beds. And I was
in that room and one of my biggest concerns at
that time was just finding a bed that was close
to the ac because I because I sleep hot, so
I just wanted some AC. And he threw his bag
on the bottom bunk and I was like, nice, I'm
gonna take the top bunk. So I took the top bunk,

(52:25):
and uh and then Will and I think it was
Cedric first, and then Will came in and I told him.
I was like, hey, y'all, I was like, I'm right here,
Bananas is down here. I was like, you guys need
to take these two beds right here. I was like,
y'all come in, like, let's room in this room right here,
and we all we all knew room marines, and so
there was definitely that the subconscious bond of warrior trust

(52:49):
that we were like, let's let's all come in here, right.
And it wasn't because I don't think there was any
in cleaning up like that, Let's let's come in here
because we you know, we want to be led by
Jaudy or something. In my head, I was like, let's
trap this fucking pig in this goddamn room, right, and
let's let's just watch him squeal in here, right, because
there's nothing nothing he's gonna do in here. I know
there's nothing he's gonna do here. This motherfucker he's he

(53:11):
can't be gaming in here. You're gonna have to leave
here to go game, you know what I mean. But
I can at least watch you, right, and I can
at least force a relationship to start developing in here.
But I am protected by my unit.

Speaker 1 (53:27):
Wow, well, you guys are legitimate.

Speaker 2 (53:29):
You guys are legitimate vets, and you're having to compete
on the show where these guys, these reality TV vets
are being called vets and you're the new threats.

Speaker 1 (53:37):
They probably should have just had to be vets versus vets.

Speaker 4 (53:39):
But well to play listen to play Devil's Advocate, like,
like the is it the Marines? No man left behind?
Isn't that like one of your mottos?

Speaker 3 (53:50):
Like that's almost not fair? It's the three on one.
What are you talking about here?

Speaker 5 (53:57):
This motherfucker's won seven fucking brock put his head on
a stick.

Speaker 2 (54:04):
No man left behind is your kid? You can leave
enemies behind. That's okay, let me tell you.

Speaker 4 (54:10):
We left behind. I'm sure that isn't that? Is that
not like one of the models for money?

Speaker 1 (54:14):
But but Johnny, Johnny is not value. Omi is not
a marine in this in this will and marine.

Speaker 4 (54:20):
I know It's what I'm saying. Oh see, that's what
I'm saying, is like he like I think that in
his head. He's like, all right, I'm gonna be in
here with with these guys, and you know I can
watch them and then you guys were like, I, actually,
we're gonna watch.

Speaker 5 (54:37):
You and you know what, I.

Speaker 3 (54:42):
It's not fair.

Speaker 5 (54:44):
It's not fair to y'all. That that's all I don't
I don't know what to tell you guys. But at
the same time, in that stage of the game, there
was no conversation between me, Will and Cedric in like, hey,
let's room together and work together to get Johnny out.
That's not the case, and that's not what I'm I'm
trying to say. From my perspective of choosing this room

(55:05):
and filling it with the people that I wanted to
fill it with at that time and place, I felt
comfortable enough to put two marines in there because we
were all marines surrounded Johnny. Wow, and that felt comfortable
to me. I was like, we can watch this motherfucker.
We can, we can curb his scheming, and we can
we can knock down at least a level of his

(55:27):
advantage in this game, especially by just consuming his environment
and forcing him to have to do things outside of
his environment.

Speaker 3 (55:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (55:41):
So look, it sounds like you had Johnny Pegg, which
which makes sense because if you did any homework on
the show, you get a crash course in him and
the way that, like you said, he's won seven championships.
A lot of that's been done physically, but a hell
of a lot of it socially mentally. I want to
get some of your first impressions on some of the veterans,
so you know or vets if you will, when you're

(56:04):
you you come into this game, who did you have
the most preconceived notions of other than Johnny as far
as whether it's stuff your friends had told you, stuff
you gathered from watching the show, or even just stuff
you were gathering from the first couple of days, whether
it was up the mountain, in the house, et cetera.

Speaker 5 (56:21):
Perfect yeah. So obviously there was Johnny, right. And one
of the things that I was doing before I came
in here that was part of my study and was deep, deep,
like a deep dive into relationships, right, so really figuring
out who who has worked together recently, who has worked
together in the past, what bridges have been burned, who

(56:44):
is friends? And I wanted to make sure that I
was leaning into knowing that as I came in, and
I put a lot of effort into it, and it
still wasn't that accurate to be honest with you. But
I right after Johnny was probably like Nanny. I had
seen Nanni on a shit ton of the seasons that

(57:06):
I watched tons of Nanny, tons of Anissa and Nanny like.
She was the first VET to come and introduce herself
to all the rookies, to every to me as well,
and she was just really really kind, And that was
my first impression her. I was like, this is dope,
Like I it was kind of a breath of fresh
are you know what I mean? And then there was

(57:28):
a Nissa right, Anissa, sweetest pie, super super nice, super nice.
I have you know, if you watch the Challenge, you're
gonna watch you know, fucking her on everything. She was
super great at the beginning, and it's really easy to
talk to. I will say. In terms of guys, I

(57:49):
had no idea who Rogan was at all. So when
he got there, I was like, I don't have no
idea who he was. I saw Lee Roy and from
the beginning I was like, oh, like Lee Roy. He
was big as hell, way bigger than I thought he
was gonna be. I was like, I'll tell you what,
I don't want to see this motherbucker at all. CT

(58:09):
was also big as fuck. Uh not in the best
way though, And I was like, Okay, that's crazy to see,
but I did just see him on forty, so I
kind of expected that to look like that, And Uh, Derek, Dude,
it was you. I fucking saw you here and I
had just watched you on forty. But before I had left, Dude,

(58:31):
I had fucking watched your legend and I remember telling
you about this while were in the house. But I
watched a legendary fucking fight with uh with Joss and
it had to be the most impressive thing I have
seen in any Challenge clip across any fucking season fucking

(58:52):
ever was seen that. To this day, when anybody wants
to know what the challenge is about, I show him
that fucking clip because I saw you and I was like, Oh,
this guy is such a fucking dog, bro, He's such
a fucking dog in the pit. Josh is like Josh
is like six', five and the fact that you fucking
went up against that fucking bull like. That, oh but

(59:15):
now my fucking fucking first impression that you've seen, YOU
i was, Like, oh this is he is a fucking.
Scrapper we're GONNA i hope game goes against, him not.

Speaker 4 (59:22):
Me, yeah, NO i appreciate. That and and you know
it's you, know the challenge has many, FACES i, think
but LIKE i Think i'm siding with. YOU i think
that if you just if you showed that elimination to
anybody and after them asking like what's the, challenge and you're, like,

(59:43):
here watch this, clip this is the. CHALLENGE i think
that that that is synonymous with what we.

Speaker 3 (59:49):
Embody you, know.

Speaker 4 (59:50):
At least at least are at least are the dogs
that we, have that that the dog that we bring
to a fight like. This, okay great great analysis on
on these on these, vets, man thank you for.

Speaker 3 (01:00:04):
That what about it real?

Speaker 2 (01:00:06):
Quick what about the fellow rookies BECAUSE i feel it
or the new threats if you, WILL i gotta, say
BECAUSE i mean, again this is a season, where at
least at, first it feels like you guys are going
to be paired alongside A vet and obviously the social
currency The vets.

Speaker 1 (01:00:21):
Have we've seen.

Speaker 2 (01:00:22):
It one, voted and it does seem like a lot
of The vets are steering their New threat partner to
kind of side with. Them but you, do look that's
there's still only fifty percent of the. Coin how did
you feel when you saw obviously you had some Fellow
marines in. There did you know anyone, else whether it
be from The internet or social? Circles how how you.

Speaker 1 (01:00:40):
Know in the?

Speaker 2 (01:00:40):
Loop were you with the The sydneys of the world
or you, know the just the other some of them
more The d's of the. WORLD i know you mentioned
you've seen some survivor had you scouted any of your
fellow new? Threats and if you had or hadn't once
you got, there who stood out to you the?

Speaker 5 (01:00:55):
Most, okay SO i will say from the, ROOKIES i
didn't know. ANYBODY i didn't know a fucking single other,
person you know WHAT i. Mean the only person THAT
i did have any sort of link to through a
social group because of my amazing race friends Was deep
and she was the only other person THAT i even,

(01:01:16):
knew but didn't even know that. WELL i just knew
of her AND i knew about her relationship to my,
friends but all the rest of the people had no.
Idea there was no other amazing racers on, there SO
i had no fucking. CLUE i also don't watch A
Big brother for fun anything like. That, right so or
really survivor for that. Fact but right off the bat

(01:01:40):
my first impressions for a lot of them were very.
Particular D i was, like she is gonna be like
a social. STRATEGIST i know that from the fucking get.
Go just the way that she, IS i know she's
gonna be a social. Strategist AND i Met sydney and
just from the way that she, TALKED i was, Like, oh,

(01:02:01):
dude this fucking this girl's smart as. FUCK i was,
LIKE i know she's, smart and she's not just, smart
she's like fucking, conniving you know WHAT i. Mean, Like
AND i was, like, oh this is LIKE i W
i like this, Too like this girl's LIKE i was,
Like i'm not trying to get on her bad, side.
RIGHT i saw. THAT i Saw, will And will is,

(01:02:23):
like you, KNOW i don't even think THE tv Does
inustice because when you see him in, person this dude
is he looks like like a fucking bodybuilder like J.
Cutler this dude is massive as hell and and can
move that. Mass SO i was, Like Jesus, christ this
guy is gonna be a. Tank and THEN i Remember.

(01:02:47):
LEO i remember the first TIME i Met leo AND
i Love leo to. Death that dude's super. Cool but he,
like he just doesn't shut his fucking. Mouth he just
doesn't shut his fucking. Mouth and he just has this
way with with with his fucking. Words, bro he's got
a silver. Tongue LIKE i was, like this dude is

(01:03:08):
gonna be such a social, Thread like everybody's gonna love
him and he's gonna be everywhere all at. Once LIKE
i knew that about him. Too and then let me
see somebody, Else. JAKE i Saw jake AND i was, Like,
oh he's like a for real. BOXER i was, like

(01:03:28):
a dude's a for real. Boxer he's got, endurance he's got,
cardio he's got, strength he's got. GRIT i was, Like,
okay this is another big, one you know WHAT i.
Mean and all the girls Like. Leka WHEN i first Saw,
LEKA i was, like, oh, bro she's d one something fucking.
SOMETHING i don't know what it, is but it's d one.

(01:03:50):
Something and that girl like she just she just embodied
the the athletic, woman you know WHAT i. Mean when
you see, her that is what he. Is but those
were just a few of the rookies that right WHEN
i saw, THEM i was, like, oh, fuck, like we
got a class. Here.

Speaker 3 (01:04:09):
Units, so, uh just a few things on those.

Speaker 4 (01:04:14):
Athletes leo is A d one baseball. Player, Uh cedric
is a four sport high school athlete And marine of The.
YEAR i don't know how you how do you Get
marine of the? Year, like do you know that? Story
are you?

Speaker 3 (01:04:27):
Familiar?

Speaker 5 (01:04:28):
Yeah, YEAH i know how you Get marine of The.
Year marine of The year is a very prestigious. Award
and how that goes is there are there are, levels,
right and you start at like a like a platoon,
level and then you move to like a battalion, level
then a division, level and then a Fucking i'm The
i'm better than all the rest of you fucking, level,
right and you have to be the best of your.

(01:04:51):
Platoon that means you have to you have to have
all your classes. Done you have to have really good
like they're called pros and, cons but they're essentially reviews
for your superiors on how you work in a, team
how you work with with your your superiors and your,
colleagues how good are you? Physically and we have this

(01:05:13):
THIS cft and A pft and one of them's like
a hit performance evaluation and another one is more so
of like an endurance. Evaluation you have to go through
both of. Them you have to score one hundred percent
on both of. Them you have to be a fucking
unit of a. Marine you have to be a fucking,
marine you know What i'm. Saying and then after that

(01:05:34):
you have to show that you have exceptional knowledge on the,
marines you have exceptional knowledge on your, position your Mos
like there's a lot that goes into. It and as
these levels go, up marines like maybe ten or brought
to this, level and then everybody interviews with like these
battalion sergeant majors and these commanders where they put you

(01:05:54):
and they look at your uniform and they ask you
all these questions and you continue to go. Up and
he must have beat this group out and then been
moved to this, pool beat, them been moved to this,
pool beat, them and then made it all the way
up here where he eventually was awarded The marine of The,
year which is fucking.

Speaker 3 (01:06:12):
Crazy, yeah pretty big threat, there ladies and.

Speaker 4 (01:06:15):
Gentlemen leka is also A d one basketball FORMER d
one basketball player made it to the at The university Of.
Buffalo she made it to the sweet sixteen one year
and into THE ncaa tournament three.

Speaker 3 (01:06:29):
Times as stated on the, Show.

Speaker 4 (01:06:37):
Yo let's go get to this mudball madness really, quick
because this WAS i was really happy to hear that you,
also you And aviv also didn't get a gold, ball
not because you're really, good but BECAUSE i.

Speaker 3 (01:06:52):
Didn't we didn't get gold balls, either they.

Speaker 4 (01:06:56):
So me And leca and you're me in A viv
were right next to each other during this competition and
the like if you got a gold ball which was
worth ten, points like you were, golden like you you
like you just, jumped you, know you just, jumped you,
know multiple, positions, Right and somewhere in the, GAME i

(01:07:19):
guess at the midway, Point jeremy And aviv were in first.

Speaker 3 (01:07:22):
Place johnny and D i think we're in.

Speaker 4 (01:07:25):
Third and because you guys didn't get those gold, balls
you still finished in second. Place but had you gotten
one gold, ball that would have been ten points and
you would have you guys have got gotten first, place
and had we gotten ten, points we would have probably
jumped like four spots and finished like fourth or something like. That,

(01:07:48):
now can you explain to the people why a two
powerhouse teams.

Speaker 3 (01:07:54):
Like we had.

Speaker 4 (01:07:55):
Now Granted i'm more of like a sixty five percent
powerhouse on my. Side why how the fuck did we
not get any gold balls and everyone else? Did was
it because we got out? Worked was it because we
weren't there in, time we weren't fast enough.

Speaker 5 (01:08:11):
Bro all those gold balls into the pit and they
all were like on the, side there was nowhere near.
Us so we're fucking going down this fucking this mud.
Hill the first the first round had no gold balls at,
all so all of us were fucking fiending for for
gray and for. Blue and then the second round comes

(01:08:33):
and you, know they dropped its only gold, balls and
it's only red. Balls so it's either if you get
everything that's worth, everything or you don't get.

Speaker 3 (01:08:40):
SHIT t.

Speaker 4 (01:08:41):
One just so people remind, people the grain and the
blue in the first round were all five point balls
and the.

Speaker 5 (01:08:47):
Blue were five, Points red was, one and gold was. Ten,
yeah and that second round hit and they dropped those,
balls and me and AND thee started rushing down that, hill
AND i, think like before in round, ONE i was
on the right side and she was on the left,
side and that's how our dynamic was moving really. Well

(01:09:10):
but on the second. ROUND i THINK i was on
the left side and she was on the right, side
which pulled us in a different. Way and as we
were running down there and we got into the, mud
we ended up fucking tripping and. Falling and that was
literally just enough Is it's just one fucking, trip one,
mistake and all of these fucking vultures will take everything from.

(01:09:33):
You and that's exactly what. Happened we fucking made one.
Trip all these gold balls were freaking snagged. Up the
only one THAT i could see over there in the
middle of the, water next To leroy And. Sydney, Yeah
i'm running over, there dragging fucking A beeve's little ass

(01:09:53):
behind me to try and get, it and me and
Lee roy jump into the water together and start wrestling
for this, ball and this you just rips it for
me LIKE i was his fucking son who was playing
with a, toy you know What i'm. Saying AND i was,
like damn, Bro and in that moment it was. Gone
yells were.

Speaker 4 (01:10:12):
Scattered so this WAS i really felt like the luck
of the, drop you. Know so it just it seemed
like the gold balls like. It none of them came our,
way none of them like really fell in that that middle,
direction and it was just so weird because it was
just like like the one gold ball that we could
get to was literally like in the middle of the

(01:10:34):
water on the other. Side so that That's i'm glad
that we weren't the only ones that that suffered from,
that BECAUSE i was just like, that no one's gonna believe.

Speaker 3 (01:10:45):
That like we didn't get, there we could do. Try,
yeah it was it was the luck of the. Drop
literally all, right let's get into some of this uhh uk.

Speaker 4 (01:10:55):
Alliance uh, Okay so so d and uh And johnny
win this thing and and and they get the power
of of of being safe from going into elimination and
also saving another team and just so people, know like
the and then the voting chaos that ensues after this

(01:11:18):
is like is the weirdest thing because you have to
you and your partner have to have different, alliances have
different like friend, groups and you have to decide together
on who to vote into this.

Speaker 3 (01:11:31):
Thing so, like whereas this thing seems to be you
should be.

Speaker 4 (01:11:35):
Easy the first vote should be, easy whether It's justin
Or ben here and.

Speaker 3 (01:11:42):
Going in Against. Rogan and as you.

Speaker 4 (01:11:44):
Can, see like a lot of people are not on
the same, page and it's actually more difficult than what
what you guys had.

Speaker 2 (01:11:51):
Seen so real, QUICK i want to ask you, Something,
rek so we get a glimpse into their their. Psychology
is that they, think, hey if we SAVE, theo he's
not gonna get a vote.

Speaker 1 (01:12:05):
Here now they end up being. Wrong they do get a.

Speaker 2 (01:12:08):
Vote i'm gonna Ask derek this as AN og, veteran
do you think that this was the plan the whole
time or did The challenge gods, go wait a, minute
if we don't let the team that gets saved, vote
or is every team gonna use it strategically in that,
Way let's just give him a vote that way going,
forward people legitimately save the people they want to, save

(01:12:30):
because the whole point of saving a team is meant
to be to save. Them now they do try to
spin it and say it's for that social currency WITH,
theo but really we know from seeing there behind the
scenes conversations as do The challenge, gods that they're really
doing it so that it's one Less British alliance team
getting to vote that. WAY i honestly think that they

(01:12:51):
told them basically by strategizing that, way people might use
it that, way and that's why that team gets a.
Vote what say, You, derek do you think they pivoted
or was that the plan the whole.

Speaker 4 (01:13:01):
Time i'm always going to say that was the plan
the whole. Time so so because and and and and
and you, know looking back at it, now obviously you
Know johnny. Overplays johnny the overplay overthought the thought, process which,
was you, know it's pretty, simple save your save who

(01:13:24):
you want to. Save you don't know the, rules, right
so like like you're you're going based off of like
guessing or like experience or. Whatever so they're just guessing
that they're not going to get a vote that they
were never, told from my, understanding that that the team

(01:13:46):
that they picked doesn't get a.

Speaker 3 (01:13:47):
VOTE i think that they JUST.

Speaker 1 (01:13:48):
I think they overplayed the.

Speaker 2 (01:13:49):
HAND i think they overplayed their hand by articulating it
so much because they're basically, saying, hey we've figured out
your rules before you've even told us to, them and
we're going to try to use them to our. Advantage
AND i think they gave them the idea of oh
wait a, minute will they basically let them know how
you guys would potentially use that perk before they actually did,

(01:14:13):
it AND i think they, go you know, what let's
just let that team also get a.

Speaker 1 (01:14:16):
Vote that's WHAT i.

Speaker 3 (01:14:18):
Think all, right mister conspiracy, theorist but that's what. Happened that's.

Speaker 2 (01:14:23):
Smart but that's smart producing, honestly because you guys always
figure out the weird kinks in the, rules and the
saving of the team is meant to save your.

Speaker 1 (01:14:32):
Ally it's not meant to screw someone out of a. Vote.

Speaker 2 (01:14:34):
Correct so let's say hypothetically that team wasn't going to
get a. Vote johnny almost told, them here's the flaw
in that being the, case we will start to use
it as removing a, vote not saving a. Team AND
i think he was too outward about. That and whether
or not that was.

Speaker 1 (01:14:52):
Supposed to be the.

Speaker 2 (01:14:53):
Case If i'm a challenge, GOD i, go, oh we
need to give that team a, vote because The johnnys
of the world are going to do this whole, season and.

Speaker 1 (01:15:01):
So kudos to.

Speaker 2 (01:15:02):
Them, actually if that is the case that they switched,
it because that's not what the.

Speaker 1 (01:15:07):
Rules, FOR.

Speaker 4 (01:15:09):
I, mean you're not making the, rules so they may
you know they're making the, rules and you know you're
just you're just, theorizing but they don't.

Speaker 2 (01:15:17):
Vote but if they wanted it to be that you
get to take someone's, vote the perk for the winning
team would be you get to pick one team that
doesn't get to. Vote it wouldn't be you get to
pick a team to. Save, Right so What johnny and
d figured, out or what they thought they figured, out
was that the team that gets saved wouldn't get to,
vote and thus they were choosing to let that decide

(01:15:38):
who they.

Speaker 1 (01:15:38):
Picked.

Speaker 2 (01:15:39):
Right so What i'm just saying is they let them, know,
hey if this is part of the, package it's also
going to be part of our psychology of who we,
pick and they probably, go, oh then we'll just take
it out of the.

Speaker 1 (01:15:48):
Package in my, opinion.

Speaker 4 (01:15:50):
So originally from my, thought my understanding was they were
going to Save ben And nanni to Give nanni the you,
know uh to so he can give love To, nannie
because you really didn't know what was going to happen
with the. Partner so that that's what we were thinking
Beforehands we didn't.

Speaker 3 (01:16:11):
Know we knew it as a.

Speaker 4 (01:16:13):
Guy's, elimination we didn't know what was going to happen
with the, partner and it was possible that the partner
was going to go, home so you know, Whatever. Johnny,
However johnny does his shit LIKE I i you, KNOW i,
mean he's.

Speaker 2 (01:16:26):
Well you out you actually in a way You there's
this great scene in the episode where you And johnny
are talking. Strategy johnny is almost talking to, You, derek
as if you should do his bidding for the rest
of the, house, Right and, HONESTLY i, thought, Oh derek's
gonna vote the Way johnny.

Speaker 1 (01:16:42):
Votes, no we get to your, vote you go the
other way with.

Speaker 2 (01:16:45):
It we, actually as, viewers hadn't seen that the house
was going to go with the justin route because at
that point it was like.

Speaker 1 (01:16:52):
Five votes to two the other. Way, yeah you're the
first vote that.

Speaker 2 (01:16:56):
GOES i kind of feel like the house is going
this other, way AND i don't want to look like our.

Speaker 5 (01:17:00):
Team.

Speaker 1 (01:17:00):
Johnny i'm gonna Gi mgan what he, wants you.

Speaker 3 (01:17:03):
Know, yeah, yeah no That look, again this is just day.

Speaker 4 (01:17:08):
Vote one of the chaotic behind the scenes of every
vote you're about to.

Speaker 3 (01:17:15):
See it is so. Hard it is so hard.

Speaker 4 (01:17:28):
To to manage the, vote especially when you have like
someone Like leka on my side and NOW i have
to Convince leka to vote in someone that she's befriended
for the past or maybe it's only been a few,
days but still like she feels like a, closeness closeness to.

(01:17:49):
Her BUT i also feel a closeness To. Rogan me And,
rogan like we we bullshit all. Time we CALL i
call him at ANYTIME I I i message him ON
i call him a rhino and AND i seen him
stupid fucking rhino emojis and poops and all that.

Speaker 3 (01:18:05):
Shit LIKE i feel Like I'm i'm.

Speaker 4 (01:18:07):
Pretty friendly With rhino With, rogan AND i think the
only right thing to do here Is.

Speaker 3 (01:18:16):
I'm not picking a.

Speaker 4 (01:18:17):
Side i'm picking WHAT i think this man, wants, Right
LIKE i want to give him what he. Wants so
then at some point IF i get into the position
of me standing where he's, standing and maybe people will
give me the same the same respect.

Speaker 3 (01:18:34):
Back and that was HOW i played.

Speaker 4 (01:18:36):
It but also because it's so difficult to please, everybody you,
know Like I'm i'm cool with you, Know olivia and
and AND, theo AND i played a little bit WITH
theo on the last, season AND i feel like we've gotten.
Closer And olivia has been such a you, know has
has gotten so close With Challenge mania over over the
years that, LIKE i feel like an attachment to her.

(01:18:59):
Too AND i see this alliance building against kind of
against you, know to stand up Against, johnny but Also
johnny has this fucking large alliance on the other side,
too And i'm kind of like right in the, middle
AND i don't necessarily it's not their, game you know

(01:19:19):
What i'm saying right, Now it's not their, game And
i'm not directly having to put them, in you, know
So i'm gonna do WHAT i think is right in this.
Moment and of Course aviv And jarmy did what they
thought was was was right in the, moment AND i
think that they were kind of doing what you, Know johnny,
was you, know the plan That Johnny leroy put in the.

Speaker 5 (01:19:42):
Place it was interesting because WHEN i CAME i came,
THERE i have had such a lack of information THAT
i thought That johnny was throwing that was literally throwing
a bone TO theo because of their fucking split at the.
Club that's what it, was, Right that's WHAT i.

Speaker 3 (01:19:59):
Thought why are you saving?

Speaker 1 (01:20:01):
Him?

Speaker 5 (01:20:01):
Yeah AND i was, like, WELL i guess you're trying
to mend that relationship after you guys just got into.
IT i was, LIKE i don't fucking know what any
of this, is, right, yes And i'm in nomination and
you know it's between now it's Between jake And justin
AND a. VIV i think how many of these teams
kind of structured it. Is, whoever since it is a

(01:20:23):
rookies name on the, line, male then it was a
little more, sway at least for me in my. Perspective
it was a little more sway for The vets who
didn't have really an issue with doing this and giving
the option to their. Rookies so when me AND A
vive came, together she was, like, well It's jake Or?
Justin she Was she was, LIKE i don't know either of,
Them AND i was, like, WELL i don't really know

(01:20:45):
either of them, either BUT i have talked and communicated
With Justin. Moore THEREFORE i have more relationship With, justin
So i'm willing to Say.

Speaker 1 (01:20:53):
Jake.

Speaker 5 (01:20:53):
Yeah and at the same, time we were hearing in
the house that there was like THIS uk VERSUS u,
alliance and at that time he was super rocky and
everyone was kind of bitching about how it's too early
to draw, lines AND i was, LIKE i don't really
know if this is super solid or. Not but in
the case that it is, Solid i'm not part of
THE Uk, alliance so might as well vote For jake

(01:21:17):
to go.

Speaker 2 (01:21:17):
In do you think you consider yourself at this point
of the game you're With? Aviv obviously if you watch season,
forty you Know aviv And.

Speaker 1 (01:21:24):
Johnny Or Thickest.

Speaker 2 (01:21:25):
Thieves do you consider yourself sort of entangled With johnny
and whoever else he's working, with whether it's, not, et.
Etcetera based on the fact that your partner is so
close with. Him is that something that maybe figure out
down the line how far you have to take? That
but is that sort of just the path that you
were given based on who your partner is or are

(01:21:46):
you willing to put your foot down depending on who
you guys were deciding, between if it was someone you
were closer.

Speaker 5 (01:21:51):
To, Yes so at this POINT i was unfortunately falling
On johnny's, side, Right and that was because because of
my connection With, Aviv but also at this, point like
the person THAT i was closest to in the house
was deep and she was attached To, johnny AND i was, like.

(01:22:12):
Motherfucker so we and her are kind of in the
same like just by, proxy we are falling On johnny's,
side right which is at this point you're just, Like, god,
damn AM i really On johnny's side right? Now like
this fucking, one this fucking guy, two this like this
motherfucker takes so much smoke that this is all this

(01:22:35):
is an odd place to find. Ourselves but we also
don't have A british, accent so we weren't making it
on the other. Side so, YEAH i was HOW i
was explaining it is LIKE i wasn't working With. JOHNNY
i was forced to have to work around. Him.

Speaker 2 (01:22:52):
Well at the end of this, episode we find out two, things,
Right we find Out rogan's partner is not going home Alongside.
Rogan she becomes a hanging if you, will WHICH i
think is one of the funnier names that they've had
to call people in This BUT i get it, Fine
and so so she's still in the game in what.
Capacity we don't. Know how does the deck get. Reshuffled
we don't, know per, se but we do know we

(01:23:13):
do find out via a teas at the end of
this episode that you guys are going to be switching up.
Partners this is not you are not going to be
tethered To aviv for the whole totality of the. Game
whether you become partners again down the, line who. Knows
we don't. Know but what we do know that this
game sounds like it's going to be a bit more
fluid than those previous seasons Of Fresh meat one and

(01:23:33):
two or even A ward of The worlds where they
were partners for three quarters of.

Speaker 1 (01:23:36):
The game than those past.

Speaker 2 (01:23:38):
SEASONS i want to ask you when you at least
find this, out and we don't know how it's going
to play, Out we don't know who your next partner
is going to. Be but being someone where this is
your first season of The, challenge you come in and
at First i'd, imagine And, Derek i'll get your thoughts
on this, too But i'd imagine there is probably a
part of you that, Thinks, okay me And aviv are
going to be in this for the long. Haul and,

(01:23:59):
thus LIKE i just mentioned her dynamic With, johnny my
dynamic with d this is going to permeate through the
entirety of my. Game when you do, hear, oh it's
time for some new. Partners you don't know if it's coming,
next after the challenge. Whatever when you hear, that is
that a feeling of? Relief is it more? Complex do you? Think, oh,
MAN i was just getting to know this Broad what

(01:24:20):
goes through your mind when you hear, uh, oh this
is not gonna be me and A viv the whole,
way at least.

Speaker 5 (01:24:26):
Partially so, YEAH i in that moment WHEN i figured
out that we were going to be switching partners in
whatever capacity that was going to be that we did
not know, YET i kind of just had a feeling of.
Angst to be honest with, YOU i was, like, Fuck
like A viv was such a good partner to, have
especially for my needs in the, game because one of

(01:24:49):
the biggest pulling factors of meat choosing A viv of
just completely separate of her being a fucking, beast was
her connection To, Johnny because at that point in the,
GAME i had heard that he had told several people
that ONE i was a huge threat and that we
are going to need to get me. Out so he
was the only person objectively THAT i had heard my
name come out of their, mouth AND i was, Like,

(01:25:10):
okay SO i know that this lovefucker is going to
talget me, eventually SO i need to defend myself from.
Him AND i had done that With, aviv but to
find out THAT i was now losing A viv AND
i was, like, DAMN i can be super susceptible to you,
know the fucking powerhouse and silver tongue Of Johnny bananas
to try and swaye people to get me. Out SO

(01:25:33):
i was, scared AND i was kind of just in my,
HEAD i was just starting to sift through, options like
who else CAN i choose who might have a decent
relationship With johnny at all to hopefully help me get
in the same position THAT i even kind of was
With aviv.

Speaker 2 (01:25:50):
And, derek same, token same, question because you are making
a move. Here Obviously rogan ends up going, home so you,
know the idea that you were trying to give him
what he wanted that's probably probably not gonna return its
way back to. You it might be this partner who,
knows but also by the same, token LIKE i think
by way of the, fact AND i assume this will
continue the idea that the partners are voting, together that

(01:26:14):
you know you might not be siding with this, person
but you're working with their partner.

Speaker 1 (01:26:17):
And this and.

Speaker 2 (01:26:18):
That when you hear that the deck's getting, reshuffled obviously
you're gonna at least for. Partially so say goodbye To,
leka Who i'm sure you were just getting to. Know
what does that make you? Think and how does that
make you feel about the choices you just made going
into the last?

Speaker 4 (01:26:33):
Vote, well, well we, well like the thing, is LIKE
i wanted to get closer with my.

Speaker 3 (01:26:38):
PARTNER i was happy with my.

Speaker 4 (01:26:39):
PARTNER i, thought just Like jeremy, thought all, right this
is gonna be my partner till the end of this.
Game how CAN i, like how can we make each other?
Better i'm good with. THIS i think we. Can we
can do something with this. Partnership and but then also
like during the, vote like there's a little bit of.
Turbulence she doesn't want to Vote. Justin she wants to
vote a different, way AND i got to kind of

(01:27:00):
stand my, ground and you, know there's a little bit
you know she she basically Burns justin because of, me
and that's by. Accident and THEN i also Burned justin
basically BECAUSE i wanted to Give rogan what he. Wanted
so it's like you, know kind of took it, out you,
know on that. One so Now i'm stuck being, like

(01:27:21):
how do CAN i amend this? Relationship it's okay if
he throws a vote my, way BECAUSE i did, it
you know WHAT i. Mean you just kind of, like you,
know just the playing field just, starts you, know making,
itself sifting itself out as it continues with this alliance
and that alliance and this one losing you know, this you,
know Losing rogan and you know.

Speaker 3 (01:27:40):
It so now it you, know there's there's going to be.

Speaker 4 (01:27:44):
You, know positives and negatives to who we pick, next
because you're, like the chaos is going to continue with every,
vote because if you don't see eye to eye with
your partner or they have a like for for, me
like anybody upstairs is has is building alliances That i'm

(01:28:06):
not so, mean same thing with me.

Speaker 3 (01:28:09):
Downstairs i'm building, alliances getting.

Speaker 4 (01:28:11):
Closer with people downstairs just by, accident you. Know so you,
know the game is just kind of slowly, developing and
you don't, know like you don't know what you're gonna get.

Speaker 2 (01:28:25):
With well one thing that again we don't, know and
a lot of this is, speculation BUT i do think
this is an interesting topic and it's interesting to get
back into your, psyches back in that moment where you're finding, out, oh.

Speaker 1 (01:28:36):
This is gonna be one of those.

Speaker 2 (01:28:37):
Seasons because one thing that does happen when you have
a partner, season if the partnerships do, consistently you, know
stay together, throughout is you begin to look at people
and when you hear like After ryder dies the first
season you, WATCHED i think everybody kind of you didn't
think Of erasio without thinking Of olivia because you introduced

(01:28:57):
to them at the same Time derek on a season
Of Fresh, meat him AND dm were. Partners you, know
people look at them together still twenty years, later they
think of them in the same breadroom Lesson, casey like
you kind of become this dynamic duo and it looks.

Speaker 1 (01:29:18):
Like that's not going to be the case.

Speaker 2 (01:29:20):
HERE a recent season that kind of switched it up
a bit Was Double, agents where for the first part
of the season we Had amber playing With, durell but
then flash forward to the end of the, season partnerships
have been you, know shaking.

Speaker 1 (01:29:32):
Up a little. Bit you GOT ct playing With cam
playing With BIG.

Speaker 2 (01:29:34):
T by the end of, it you GOT ct winning Alongside,
amber but nobody really looks At amber AND ct as
having been a duo. Throughout so it's different obviously for
you guys politically in the, game but for us as,
VIEWERS i think sometimes it's a lot easier to maybe
get to Know leka and for the first through few
episodes you're, like, oh That's derek's Partner. Leka the more

(01:29:55):
you switch it up and switch it, UP i do
think people kind of fall through the. Cracks it's harder
to tell consistent, stories and obviously for you, guys it's
harder to, say, hey remember week one WHEN i did
you guys a, solid because, now well that person you
did a solid with is playing along so and so
who was the person you threw in to do the
other person the?

Speaker 1 (01:30:13):
Solid?

Speaker 4 (01:30:13):
Right really gonna be really fucking hard to manage from
our point of, view especially like for this, guy he's
like he knows he's the big, threat AND i, GUESS
i guess before we, go how do you feel about
like getting the how do you how does the heat?

Speaker 3 (01:30:28):
Feel how did you do you feel the?

Speaker 4 (01:30:31):
Heat like being the big, threat knowing that you're the
Big michaela coming to you and, saying, hey you probably
need to pick someone like A vive to offset what
What johnny might might do to. You, know you, know,
like do you feel like you're like the heat is
on you or do you.

Speaker 3 (01:30:52):
Feel, like, No i'm fucking playing a game And i'm on.
Top come get, me.

Speaker 5 (01:30:56):
Motherfuckers, Dude, no, no YOU'RE i was definitely feeling the,
heat LIKE i was telling, you. Dude after, that after
the test finished, up it felt like for the next
few days there was nothing but my name going around
and it just did not feel. Good it felt it
felt like anxiety ridden hearing everybody talk about, it Because i'm, like, damn,

(01:31:20):
Now i'm at the forefront of everybody's. Mind when everybody
thinks of an opportunity to strike at a good, player
they're gonna fucking want to strike at. Me. RIGHT i
was hearing from some of my girls that some of
THE vet girls don't want to be partnered up with
me because they don't want the same target THAT i
have on their. Back none of THE vet guys are

(01:31:40):
giving me the time of. Day i'm not being able
to build relationships with any of. Them i'm starting to feel,
isolated like there's nobody there's willing to want to work
with me because of this huge fucking target THAT i just.
Painted so it wasn't a good feeling at. All and
pretty much WHAT i kind of just wanted to start
doing is is trying to just work on staying out

(01:32:03):
of the, way just building my, relationships getting to talk
to all the different types of people THAT i, could
finding the people THAT i felt LIKE i could somewhat
trust and add it to my roster of, trust but
really not try and stir things up more Than i've
already stirred them up for.

Speaker 3 (01:32:22):
Myself, uh just one more.

Speaker 4 (01:32:25):
Thing we had some big drama before we get to
the to the to the final big. DRAMA i want
to give a big shout out to To justin for
absolutely smoking that elimination Against. Rogan he was very MUCH i,
mean look when you saw the, GAME i mean you definitely.

Speaker 3 (01:32:42):
Thought maybe A jim gymnastics body could could win this,
thing but you also thought a rhino Like rogan can
really push find a way to push this thing a lot.

Speaker 4 (01:32:55):
Faster then you know this the Smaller jim, Nasty Jim
Nasty dick's cheerleading type of body From justin and he
And justin absolutely crushed it and Crushed.

Speaker 5 (01:33:06):
Rogan, yeah he absolutely. DID i mean his performance, was,
uh it was. Beautiful it really. Was that motherfucker he
really he shut everybody. Up he proved everybody. Wrong he
proved me. Wrong you know WHAT i?

Speaker 1 (01:33:19):
Mean that.

Speaker 5 (01:33:19):
Was that was SOMETHING i came to that. CHALLENGE i was,
LIKE i don't, KNOW i don't Think justin's got this.
Right and, UH i could see him being on the
chopping block as one of the first. ONES i absolutely
judged his book by the cover and when he went
in there and he fucking did what he, DID i
WAS i was so fucking. HAPPY i was so, impressed.
DUDE i like just wanted to give him the biggest.

(01:33:41):
SLUG i was, like you're such a fucking. Beast. Bro
fucking everybody thinks about, you including my. Ass right, now
you chase. Everything you changed the whole fucking. Game, Dog let's,
go he.

Speaker 1 (01:33:51):
Said.

Speaker 3 (01:33:51):
Uh out with the, old in with the.

Speaker 4 (01:33:53):
NEW i gotta give one more shout out To adrian
uh for for.

Speaker 3 (01:33:57):
For attempting to take off.

Speaker 4 (01:33:59):
For shoes in that bloody mud pit and bringing us
the blood and the. Ambulance early on this, season we
didn't have anyone like needing an ambulance on that fucking
mountain that you. Smoked but to, me trust, me the
mountain was extremely. Hard but here we. Go in episode,
one she takes off her, shoe gets. BLOODY i thought

(01:34:21):
for sure this was LIKE i look, again not knowing
anything about anybody at this, Point i'm thinking, that, like
she's probably done, right like like we may not even
have a first, elimination like it may just be her
leaving and the, woman the other woman.

Speaker 3 (01:34:39):
Just getting to. STAY i thought she was.

Speaker 4 (01:34:41):
Done she's but my, friends let me fare warn you,
this this this LITTLE uk girl from the middle of
nowhere is a lot tougher than you.

Speaker 5 (01:34:50):
Think, Absolutely and that was so impressive By. Adrian and
that was that was such a display of like, commitment
AND i fucking appreciated. THAT i was like you much
like You derek did in forty when you snapped your
shit and you were, LIKE i will not fucking. LEAVE
i will fucking fight through every torn ligment in my

(01:35:10):
leg until somebody eliminates. Me that was the same way
that she was. Acting she's, LIKE i am not leaving
because of this fucking. Foot you're gonna have to drag
me out of, here AND i was, like that is
exactly what we need in this fucking, house. Right we
don't need no fucking sitting down on. Mountains we need
you being willing to tear your fucking body up for
the chance of. Glory.

Speaker 4 (01:35:33):
Yep and, uh last, thing we have our big, backstab
our first big backstab this season.

Speaker 3 (01:35:39):
Between derek And.

Speaker 4 (01:35:41):
Justin we get a straight up quote From derek that,
SAYS i will not be voting you out, tomorrow and,
uh it. Happened and then we See derek very much
trying to you know it be the guy that just
fucking hides.

Speaker 3 (01:35:58):
In the back and have to escape on a day.

Speaker 4 (01:36:01):
One, tough, tough, tough you, know a little day there
for for For Derek.

Speaker 5 (01:36:05):
Chavis, yeah it. WAS i. WAS i was super surprised
to see that even, happen you. Know AND i was
watching AND i Saw derek And justin talking to each.
OTHER i felt, LIKE i was just it was shitty
to see BECAUSE i was watching it. HAPPEN i was,
like you, know that is that's such a loving kind of,
scene and that is that is a common scene in

(01:36:28):
this season where we are we as as new threats
are we are being comforted by the, knowledge the wisdom
and the experience of the vets in in the emotional
turmoil that we're going, through whether that has to do with,
elimination whether that has to do with getting, backstapped whatever
that has to do with the different types of emotions
that we go. Through you guys console, us, right and

(01:36:49):
you guys help. Us and that was what he was
doing To, justin AND i thought it was so, sweet
AND i was, like look at you. Guys you guys
have commonalities in which this older guy is able to
give his wisdom and his experience of having gone through
this before and to eating in and stuff like, that
and he tries to really let just to, know, like

(01:37:09):
you have me here no matter. What and then twelve hour,
letters motherfucker's over here saying his name and throw it
into the. Wolves AND i was, like, oh on, GONE
i know if you saw our face, though but it
was just this right. HERE i was, Like, OH i
can't believe you did. That you're such a hope for.

Speaker 3 (01:37:26):
THAT i, listen he said everything.

Speaker 4 (01:37:29):
Right if he would have just left this one sentence,
out it wouldn't be as bad if he would have
just not Said i'm not saying your name this everything
else would have been, Okay like he could have just
SAID i.

Speaker 3 (01:37:44):
Fucking, had you, know LIKE i.

Speaker 4 (01:37:46):
Had but that's that's that's the worst part when people
do that and the challenge it, happens And derek got
caught in, it and hopefully they're doing much, better but
only time will tell because there's a lot of challenge
left and they are still left in the.

Speaker 3 (01:37:59):
Game that's about ALL i. Got, Man we kept him
here way longer than what a Great thank you ver, Much. Jeremy, yeah, man.

Speaker 1 (01:38:06):
What a great first. Guest. Dude you were you were
born to do the.

Speaker 2 (01:38:09):
Challenge hopefully it's along and lengthy road for, you we
can have you on, again and, hopefully even if it's,
not there's a season forty, two forty, three forty, four
because you, know the path The marines To Amazing race
led you to The, challenge which clearly you're excited to talk,
about you were excited to train for and prepare, for
and we were excited to.

Speaker 1 (01:38:26):
Have you here On Challenge.

Speaker 2 (01:38:27):
Mania so hopefully we'll see you again in the future
on the, show maybe in person as, well if you
ever get down To, texas or we'll bring out to
A Challenge Mania. Live i'm sure people would love to
meet you and see those gorgeous Blue Austin butler like
eyes in.

Speaker 1 (01:38:39):
Person SO i appreciate, you, guys, WELL i appreciate.

Speaker 5 (01:38:42):
IT i love what you guys do. HERE i love the.
Show Challenge mania is one of them off everythings to
watch and support of this. Show thank you guys for having.
Me it's always honored to be here and talk about this,
amazing pretty season with.

Speaker 1 (01:38:54):
Y'all thanks. Brother All, right, guys this sends your time
here On Challenge. Mania take care of yourselves and hope
you will see in the.

Speaker 6 (01:39:00):
Future The Challenge Mania shop is.

Speaker 7 (01:39:17):
Open head over To Challenge mania Dot shop today for
the best way to support the podcast while looking good doing.
It new designs and items added every few. Weeks maniacs
time to. Mobilize check Out Challenge mania Dot shop. Today

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.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Law & Order: Criminal Justice System - Season 1 & Season 2

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Ep. 482: YEREMI!

Law & Order: Criminal Justice System - Season 1 & Season 2