December 10, 2025 • 25 mins
The JUSTIN interview is UP NOW for Challenge Mania Patrons! Here is a sneak peek!
This won't be hitting the free feed til next week buit you can get it in
FULL VIDEO HERE: https://www.patreon.com/posts/145524691?pr=true
or AD FREE AUDIO HERE: https://www.patreon.com/posts/145524907?pr=true
...a full week early here by signing up at the Maniac Level or above! Plus you unlock the Pre-Sale for CHICAGO BOWLS II later today!
www.ChallengeManiacs.com
www.ChallengeMania.Live
www.ChallengeMania.Shop
This won't be hitting the free feed til next week buit you can get it in
FULL VIDEO HERE: https://www.patreon.com/posts/145524691?pr=true
or AD FREE AUDIO HERE: https://www.patreon.com/posts/145524907?pr=true
...a full week early here by signing up at the Maniac Level or above! Plus you unlock the Pre-Sale for CHICAGO BOWLS II later today!
www.ChallengeManiacs.com
www.ChallengeMania.Live
www.ChallengeMania.Shop
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
What's up Maniacs?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Scott Here, you're going to get a free preview of
our great interview with Justin Hinsley today. Putting this up
today so I can give you word of our Chicago
Bulls pre sale, also going on today.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Wednesday, December tenth.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Head over to challengemaniacs dot com today starting at ten
am with Savage Patrons, then Diesel patrons, then Maniac Patrons
at one, followed by all patrons at three to get
your tickets to bowl alongside Westin Bergman and berbor Zotra,
Mark Long and more.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
This is going to go about twenty minutes or so,
but the.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Full interview will go up next week here on the
free feed. If you want to listen to this whole
interview entirely at free, go to challengemaniacs dot com. Take
part in that pre sale and you'll unlock all of
our bonus podcasts and content, including full video. That's right,
you can watch this interview and all of our interviews
in full video as well. All right, here we go
Justin Hinsley on Challenge Maniam. What's up everybody? This is
(01:03):
Scott Yeger here with another edition of Challenge Mania. This
episode brought to you by Challenge Mania Chicago Bowls Too,
coming to you from Chicago, Illinois on Sunday, March the first, Myself,
West and Bergman, the Godfather, Mark Long, Amber Borzotra, and
more guests to be announced. If you don't know, this
is one of, if not the most interactive events we
do every year. Every ticket comes with four hours of free,
(01:26):
unlimited bowling, and some of you will be bowling alongside
cast members at a cast member lane. So if you've
ever thought man I could take Wes Bergman in some bowling,
I think I could beat Amber Borzotra.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Well now's your chance. Sunday, March.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
First tickets are available beginning Wednesday, December the tenth over
Challengemaniacs dot Com via Preestille. All Right, you didn't come
for me, you came for d Of course, we have
Derek on the line, but we are also joined by
one of the new threats and standouts of this season.
He will be with us live in Texas this Saturday
with his family in Toe.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Very excited for that.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
He was with watching the premiere where he won the
first elimination of the season here in New York City
and Man I'm surprised, but this is the first time
we're ever having this man on the podcast excited for
a full on deep dive. Everybody cheer, give me a jay,
give me an h for mister Justin Hinsley.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
How are your brother?
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Let's go?
Speaker 5 (02:21):
Oh yeah, dude.
Speaker 6 (02:23):
I mean, first of all, one of the reasons I
feel like we haven't had him on is I feel
like he's been all over the place. I feel like
you've answered every single question quite possibly, like you've made
your like like you've made you rounds, you know.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
As I've been everywhere. I'm not gonna lie I was.
Speaker 7 (02:41):
I've been sitting house like damn, when's Challenge Mania gonna
call me.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
God like I've been. I've been waiting for this call, y'all.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Well, Derek's right, there's two reasons, because, as he said,
you've been making the rounds right, we like to you know,
like he said, you've answered a lot of questions, but
not every question. So there's a different way to reshape
things as we go and as the season develops. Obviously
there's more to discuss. So now not only do we
have your entire season, the entire season are winners to
discuss we also have like your first go round at
(03:09):
navigating this challenge, news cycle, social media, all that good stuff,
so we could talk about all the stuff that's played
out in the peripheral as well as everything that happened
on the screen. So we're delighted to have you our
first guest really post final and finale here, so you're
the first person we're talking to about those winners.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Yeah, I'm kind of important, So I makes sense I'm
here now and.
Speaker 6 (03:32):
Yeah, no, so like, yeah, I feel like I feel
like he is one of like in a very nice
crop of new threats or fresh meat, if you will.
Speaker 5 (03:46):
What do we call them?
Speaker 6 (03:46):
This fresh meat three? What is this fresh meat three?
Fresh meat four? What are you kids looking at it?
Like justin you know about the fresh meets right, You're
familiar with Aviv being on fresh meat twenty years ago
or whatever the hell it was, Right.
Speaker 7 (04:00):
That's the only fresh meat I'm familiar with Eve winning. So,
and I know Carl Maria started her sorry on the
challenge on fresh meat es we know.
Speaker 6 (04:09):
So right and so and so we would kind of
call fresh meat three. What was the war of the
World's won?
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Right?
Speaker 6 (04:16):
Where we got like Josh right, where we got like
THEO right, we got like Turbo, right, am, I that's it,
I'm correct, right.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
So people do sometimes say that it's not technically fresh
meat because like Josh had already one big brother, Turbo
had already won survivor Turkey, whereas like, for instance, Aviv
had like never been on a plane before, where like
Carl Maria was coming right off of a of a
horseback or a high school or something.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
So, you know, it's a little different.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
You know, obviously Justin and all these new threats appeared
on a show beforehand, or at least ninety percent of them, did,
I believe maybe Gabe didn't.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
But but like so, yeah, so it's a little different.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
I would say, you know, this season sort of maybe
a little bit closer to fresh meat than the original,
than than War of the World's but still not necessarily
the same. Derek as being a bunch of like twenty
somethings who had never had a camera in their face.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Justin was on cheer, you know, so.
Speaker 7 (05:10):
Fresh meat to the challenge, but not fresh meat to
the industry per se.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, and this is something your mom talked you into doing.
Is that true that she's the challenge maniac in the house.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
She is she is. I mean, she's the reason I
did it.
Speaker 7 (05:22):
I I when they called me and I watched an episode,
I called them back and I was like, no, dude,
I can't do that. I don't know who you guys
think I am, but like, what the hell like no,
And I called my mom and my mom lost her shit.
She's been watching since she was in college and Stay
On and since Real World, so she like lost her mind.
She's like, are you kidding me right now? And I
was like, no, what's going on? What do you mean?
So she she prompted a lot of me going on
(05:43):
the challenge and gave me a lot of the confidence
I needed.
Speaker 6 (05:48):
Yeah, And as I was saying, like like you are
like you fit in very well. I almost feel like,
you know, when people start saying like, oh who should come.
Speaker 5 (05:59):
Back, like who stood out this season?
Speaker 6 (06:02):
I feel like You're one of those that like fits
in perfectly.
Speaker 5 (06:06):
But at the same time.
Speaker 6 (06:08):
Isn't like top one, two or three because you got
like your like Sydney and your will. But then I
would say, like Justin is very much like a close
like you know, like number three right there, Leo, Justin,
Like I mean, obviously you represent for the LGBTQ plus community,
(06:30):
So like I mean, if there is you know, you
know someone from that community that I think deserves a
callback multiple seasons where we'll see him, you know, ten
years from now.
Speaker 5 (06:43):
I think you have what it takes.
Speaker 6 (06:44):
And we can't talk about the reunion yet, but let
me just tell you the man spits fire at the reunion.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
He's coming at people.
Speaker 6 (06:52):
He come coming at that's he's coming at new threats like.
He does not hold back like and I cannot wait
to actually start this interview and ask him questions about all.
Speaker 5 (07:01):
The people, because he's one.
Speaker 6 (07:02):
He's somebody that doesn't hold back, and he's going to
tell you how it is.
Speaker 5 (07:07):
He's going to read these motherfuckers. I'll interview La well.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
First question we always ask people is their casting story,
and not necessarily their Challenge casting story.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
So you started on a show.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
I believe you are the first cast member from Cheer
to appear on The Challenge, right.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
The Challenge obviously cast a wide.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Net these days, so i'd love to know obviously your
background that helped you get on that show. That show's
very kind of specific, so i'd imagine I have a
feeling how you wind up on that show. But then
I also do kind of want to know when you
say that the challenge called you, like, did they you know,
were they watching Cheer?
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Do they find you on social media?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
What is it about you that you think caused them
for you to be on their radar? Because, as Derek said,
like great casting call by them, you know, just because
they don't line up a thousand people anymore, and they
do kind of do it from afar. Stalking people on
social media doesn't mean they don't find a diamond in
the rough occasionally.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
So so walk us through your sort.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Of life path to cheer and then how they found
you on Cheer to become a new threat.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
Gotcha?
Speaker 7 (08:08):
So I was a cheerleader. My entire life started at
the age of seven years old. Did it till I
was twenty one? Twenty two? The Netflix show Cheer came
out of nowhere. I actually had no plans in going
to college. I did not want to go to college.
I hated school. I hated everything about it. And then
I found this cheer this college with this amazing cheer program,
and I was cheering at a program that was very
(08:30):
like an hour away from the college. So I started
meeting people from the college, starting to learn about Navarro,
started to fall in love with it, and I was like, well, damn,
if I'm gonna go to college, I'm gonna go for cheerleading.
So I ended up going to that school. I tried out,
had the worst tryout of my entire life. Busted on
my neck, was landing on my face on everything. Still
somehow made the team. We were on the team for
a couple of months. After a couple of months, they
(08:50):
came up to us and they're like, hey, just so
you guys know, like we're gonna have a Netflix show
came out of nowhere. We had no idea that the
show was going to happen while we made the team
or coming on the team. It was months into the
season started. While they were like it's gonna happen, they
started like filming the pilot kind of last the season
prior to us try and like sell it to Netflix,
and Netflix bought it into it a couple of months
(09:13):
into the season, and then we ended up on the
show and it was it was it was very random.
It was like if you wanted to be on the team,
you had to be on the like if you wanted,
you had to be on the show. Essentially, it wasn't
one of those where like you couldn't not be filmed
per se.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Now, how does like, so, for instance, Navarro College, I'll
be I'm gonna just be fully transfer. I've never necessarily
heard of it, nor have I heard of it as
being like a cheerleading powerhouse. But I'm not necessarily a
cheer guy who goes and seeks out cheerleading news. But
I went to a larger school. I know there are
some huge schools that have huge cheerleading programs. My best
friend in high school got a full ride to yukon
(09:50):
things like that. So, like, talk to me about the
role that Navarro College plays in the cheerleading world. That
made it the perfect setting for a Netflix show, because
I'm looking it up here and like here, I think
it was like a show that brought people from different
schools And is that No, they decided to make it
solely about the school were you were already cheering at.
So walk me through that, Like, is it like one
(10:10):
of the best schools for cheerleading?
Speaker 4 (10:22):
Basically?
Speaker 7 (10:22):
Yeah, So it's Navarro College is a junior college. It's
a two year college and they started from the ground up.
Monica al Damas is one of the best cheerleading coaches in industry.
She started the program ground up and she started winning
from like early two thousands.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
She stayed with the program.
Speaker 7 (10:37):
She grew the program all on her own and from
the two thousands, from like now, I think we're at
like twenty something titles of winning in the NCAA collegian
national championships. And she built that from the ground up herself.
So Netflix kind of it was like Last Chance to You.
The production of Last Chance You with the basketball teams
where they follow like junior colleges, they found the junior
(10:58):
college cheerleading team and they were like, how the hell
do you guys have fifteen national championships right now? Like
how did y'all get here? And then the show started.
They filmed us and it was basically, it's it's our season.
You know, we compete once at Daytona once out of
the year, So can we practice all year long for
one single competition? So they wanted to figure out what
do we do all year long to get to Daytona
(11:20):
to be so successful to the way that we are
to win every year? Because they're not just like Navarro
wasn't just like winning their division against their team. They
were winning grand they were winning the entire competition. They
were beating every single teams in all of the D
one divisions. So Netflix saw that and they're like, damn,
we need to we need to capitalize on that, and
we need to see how the hell they got their start,
(11:42):
because this is I mean, it's an empire.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
She monocol Dama built a literal empire.
Speaker 6 (11:48):
Yeah, shout out to shout out to all the people
that went to junior college, community college representing.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
Seriously JUCO kids. For sure, you.
Speaker 6 (11:58):
Can definitely find some good re TV talent in there,
you know, not not like these you know, Duke universities
and stuff. Scott there ain't gonna like Duke isn't gonna
sign up for this. Well, it's gotta be a rest
in piece of the coach that just passed away at
Last Chance University. That's where they're gonna find some talent
right there, bro at a at a JUCO. That's why
(12:19):
that's why Syracuse isn't in this thing. You know, it's
because they don't want that. They don't want that trauma.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Well yeah, you no, no, exactly, and you probably would
have to have you know, all these other rights and
licensing things and whatnot, and of course, like you know,
i'd imagine that. First of all, I think it's the
story of, oh what is this smaller school doing to
beat all the bigger schools?
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Is a great story to begin with.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
But you're totally right as far as logistically making a
reality show. The added hurdles that come with doing anything
with the NCAA division, one, huge campuses, all that stuff.
There's a reason that they seek out these kind of
no But I mean, like, first of all, I not
even being a cheer, you know, fanatic or anything like that,
other than you know, bring it on and it's already
been brought in and all that stuff is like, you know,
(13:04):
I've heard of this show, and I don't know if
I mean, we don't have to get into the weeds,
but I don't know if it like like I was
kind of just looking it up because my mind kind
of went to, like, was there a scandal with this
show or something? Because I heard about this show more
than I would think that I would hear about this show.
Like Netflix is probably not going to me, Hey, Scott,
you just watched Heat, or you just watched WWE Raw,
or you just watched you know, Inception, want to watch Cheer.
(13:26):
But for whatever reason, I do remember this being in
the zeitgeist, had very talked about, so I believe it
was a very popular show that did very well on Netflix,
which is Derek knows, like, Yeah, Netflix is just another
stratosphere of fame and relevance for especially people like from
your generation, justin like you guys don't probably grew up,
grew up never having a classical TV and watching things
(13:48):
at a specific time and whatnot. So you know, a
lot of these real worlders and road rulers, they got
like a second wave of fame when they started putting
like Old Challenger, Old Uh, you know, Real World seasons
on Netflix.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
People were like, oh, you finally made it.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
You're on Netflix, So you know, to have debuted on Netflix,
I think it is a pretty big deal as well.
Speaker 7 (14:06):
Yeah, twenty twenty, right when COVID happened, so everybody was
just sitting there watching it over and over and over again.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
So it went very very popular into twenty twenty.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
And do you think they found you by like, I
don't know if Lisa or whoever called you or whatever
told you specifically? Was this something you did on that show?
Were they fans of that show? Did someone recommend you
to them? How did they find you for a show that,
as you described, is not necessarily in your wheelhouse when
it comes to the challenge.
Speaker 5 (14:31):
In twenty twenty at that, like you got picked up
for the challenge? I managed in twenty five.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
Yeah, yeah, I was twenty show.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Sorry.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
I was not a big part of the show like
I on the Chruch Show. I was just there, like
I was.
Speaker 7 (14:45):
I was braiding people's hair a couple of times, Like
I had maybe one talking point two talking points, Like
I was barely on the show, Like I was a
part of the team and that was it. Like so
for them, like I like I got I'm a great cheerleader,
I have a great.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
Background in it, but I wasn't a main person on
the show.
Speaker 7 (14:59):
Like you don't watch here and think like, oh my god,
Justin Hensley, Like you think you look at Justin Hensley
and you watched here and you're like, wait, what who
like I I When you look at my name cards
on the show, it literally says Justin Hensley social media manager.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
They didn't even have me as part of the team.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Social media, social media, social media.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Then let me ask you, did you have a social
media presence? Is this the way that that you think
that they found you?
Speaker 7 (15:23):
I think so I did have a social media presidence.
When I was a cheerleader, I started a blog series
called Keeping Up with the Cheetahs my senior year and
I've logged my entire team. It was a very well known,
famous team and cheerleading, and that gave me a cheerleading following,
and then the show came.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
Out gave me a little bit more of a following.
Speaker 7 (15:39):
Before I went on the challenge, I was almost a
half a million on TikTok, so I had some following
before going to start filming.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
So I thinking they found me through social media, and
then they reached out to my.
Speaker 7 (15:50):
Agents and they were like, hey, we want him, cause
I got my agents were the one that called me
and they're like, hey, MTV just called us and they're
like which was like leasy, and they want you on
the challenge And I was like what because.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Now I'm remembering it wasn't just because Gabe.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
So Gabe technically never on a show trained with NXT,
has never been on a show. And then Ben Bayne
Davis also I guess has been in like I think
he was on some sort of like you know, Thailand
reality show or some other than that. Like he's an
MMA commentator, very outside the box casting decisions your self included,
because I'd be shocked if that wasn't. What sparked their
(16:23):
interest was the TikTok, the following, being able to talk
to camera and things like that. That's like showing them
how great you would be on a show called the
Challenge and unlike the Challenge, even though I mean, look,
is it possible that they watched Cheer back in the
day and you made a little bit of a dent
back then, But I would guess it was probably the
reality TV I mean the the social media stockage if
(16:43):
you will. So that's that's another cool story. I mean,
that's the thing. It's like in today's day and age.
I mean it's like, yes, technically they're going to say
you were on Cheer, they say Gabe was a WW recruit.
They want to have some sort of like where did
this person come from? But to go back to what
Derek was saying, like the fresh meat of it all,
like there's a reason that like you and Gabe and Ben,
(17:04):
you stand out on this show. You know, it's that
like there is an element to being a fish out
of water and not somebody who, like, you know, won
a strategy show two years ago, like say a d
did or a Josh Martinez did.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
Or whomever did.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
So I think I think it's great that they're choosing
people who don't necessarily have that direct path background that
like Big Brother or even Amazing Race or you know,
shows like that or like Survival of the Fittest or
whatever it is that Laka came from, you know what
I mean. So that's really cool that they found you
that way.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Are you still doing the TikTok? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (17:37):
I still I still post on social media every single day.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
And so you have half a million on TikTok pretty much.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
Wow, I guess that like four sixty something.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
See, we should have had him on him earlier. D geez.
Speaker 6 (17:49):
Well, and are you plugging the show on your TikTok?
Speaker 7 (17:52):
Yeah? It sounds like yeah, I mean yeah, I'll post everything,
send me all the clips, I'll post them all.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Oh, we need to.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Challenge, like like we've been doing like weekly recaps things
like that like that.
Speaker 7 (18:03):
I've just been posting. I should have been doing the
recaps and all the things. I just be posting shit,
and sometimes I'll be posting random things to talk shit,
but like a lot of it's just daily blogs and
like daily lifestyle things. So I literally just like post
everything that I do all day long. I haven't really
I was dumb. I should have done weekly recaps because
I've had a lot to say every single week, So
(18:25):
I was dumb and not doing that and capitalizing.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
Off of it. But yeah, but it's funny because editing videos.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
You your generation, because look, you're twenty six years old.
I just turned forty. Derek's forty two. Your generation grew
up on TikTok, on YouTube, with vloggers and streamers and
people who just kind of exist in post and content.
We come from the generation of the TV is the
legitimacy thing, right, So it's like, oh, we're here doing
(18:53):
a podcast where we talk about a TV show because
TV is more worthy or valid than podcasts. Your generation
things podcasts are cooler than TV. So it's like, when
it comes down to what should you talk about on
your TikTok, I'd imagine that your algorithm probably goes down
when you're talking about a stone age TV show that
only forty year olds watch, no offense, you know, and
(19:14):
when you're doing your regular tiktoking content that got you
half a million followers.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
That's what it keeps feeding the people, right am I right?
Like you probably see.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
That my fitness, my blog.
Speaker 7 (19:25):
Yeah, my fitness and my blog stuff definitely do way
better when I post like challenge stuff. When I'm getting
challenge stuff, it's like challenge people that are commenting on it,
that have been watching the show for the last twenty years,
that have found my TikTok through searching me up from
being on the show. Like, it's not it doesn't hit
the algorithm very well. When I post specific challenge things,
it'll hit it a little bit. I'll get a little
(19:45):
bit of traction, but I get way more traction if
I go tell somebody I'm gonna run a five k
real quick.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
See weird, Well, everything's backwards now a lot.
Speaker 7 (19:54):
Uh.
Speaker 6 (19:54):
He mentioned something very important. He said I should have
went on there and just I had a talk shit.
He was like, I'm just you know, I just I
just wanted to talk shit, and I just know He's.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
Like, I had a lot of shit to say. Yeah,
I this is how the Justin that I know is like, yo.
Speaker 6 (20:10):
Bring him a topic and he's gonna he's gonna talk
some shit, right, and I think that he has something
valuable to say about almost all of these people. I mean,
you were there the entire season interestingly enough, like like
you mentioned like you were like you know, the social
media strategist slash hairstylist on Cheer. I looked up this
(20:33):
show on Netflix. It was a six part series in
twenty twenty. There was forty people on the team and
their focus was around five people. And when I went
to look at I could see, like who the starring
people were it there was seven names.
Speaker 5 (20:50):
Not one of them was yours, So I so.
Speaker 6 (20:53):
But look but similarly, listen, I've been you Okay, I've
been the guy who been on the season the entire
way and MTV hasn't given a shit about and they
haven't you know, I haven't been you know, their main.
Speaker 5 (21:08):
Character for whatever reason.
Speaker 6 (21:10):
And that's how this podcast began, Okay, because I was like,
I know a lot of shit.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
I don't want to be the main character.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Damnit.
Speaker 5 (21:17):
Listen, I listen.
Speaker 6 (21:19):
Here's the thing I've never strived to be the main character.
I don't need to be the main character. I'm actually
I'm actually pretty good. I'm actually pretty good at being
at being the side chick or whatever you want to
call it. I'm pretty good at being you know what's
what's it called the the the character, the guy, the
(21:40):
guy right behind the main character, pushing the main character.
Be friend, the guy, the guy pushing the main character
do some dumb shit, you know what I mean? So, like,
here we are, and you know, eight years ago we
started this and it was based on Yo. I was
on the season called Dirty thirty for twenty plus episode.
Speaker 5 (22:00):
It's just like you were here, and you know, I'm
I'm not saying you. You weren't a main character.
Speaker 6 (22:05):
I mean, you know you had d Oh, you had Turbo,
you had Sydney, right, yeah, but you were the final ten, right,
and you saw it all and you were a part
of major moments. You were in the first elimination beating Rogan.
I mean you you you set the place on fire
(22:26):
and we were like, who the fuck is this guy?
And that's exactly how you make a name for yourself
in the Challenge universe, exactly how you came in man
guns blazing, telling us to you know, go back into
the retirement home or or go to the retirement homes.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
We don't need you anymore.
Speaker 4 (22:41):
That was my favorite line. I said that so much.
Speaker 5 (22:46):
Yeah, and I was just like.
Speaker 6 (22:49):
And I was like this motherfucker, and like, as much
as I wanted to like find ways to dislike you,
I continued to like you more and more as the
season went on, because you you were a like you
were well balanced, right, like you weren't like like like
you went after guys like Derek, you know who you
know lied to you. You know, you went after you know,
(23:09):
people that kind of like slighted you a little bit.
And at the end, like you were forced to like
you had yearing Me on one side, who you had
been you know, rubbing up on every now and then
cuddling with him in the bed and and and then
you had Will on the other side, who had been
crying on your shoulder about d Well, he says it
(23:32):
wasn't about d But I mean we can dig into that.
You were you were part of the two major stake
the claims, you know, uh, one Gabe coming after you
you beating him, and then the other one coming at
the end where yearing me your buddy maybe found out
from you that him and Aviv were going in. So
and on top of that, like you've had gripes about
(23:52):
multiple people, vets and new threats. I want to dig
in to like this entire journey, how it all began
for you? And uh, you know you tell you you
start me off here because I've been doing enough talking.
Speaker 5 (24:06):
What did you think of all of us when when
you walked in here? Who wasn't who didn't you like?
Who did you who did you like? Who'd you think
was an asshole?
Speaker 3 (24:14):
You know?
Speaker 6 (24:14):
Feel free? I voted you in there at the first
one too, So I mean, go right.
Speaker 7 (24:18):
Ahead, you did. I mean I everybody, I walked into
this the game with zero expectations. I had no idea
what the hell I was getting myself into. I had
no idea what people were going to be like, how
it was going to go. So when I walked in, I.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Just and that sadly is going to be it maniacs.
If you want to hear Justin finish that thought. If
you want to hear the hour plus more of this interview,
if you want to watch it had to challenge maniacs
dot com sign up at the maniac level or above.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Don't worry, it will be worth your while.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
You can catch up on all of our bonus podcasts
and content dating back to two thousand and eighteen, and hey,
look at the time, we got a pre sale start
in two You can get in on as well for
Chicago Bulls.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
All right, TJ take away.
Speaker 5 (25:00):
All right, guys, this sends your time here on Challenge Mania.
Take care of yourselves and hopefully you'll see in the future.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
The Challenge Mania Shop is open. Head over to challenge
Mania dot Shop today for the best way to support
the podcast while looking good doing it.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
New designs and items added every few weeks.
Speaker 6 (25:39):
Maniacs time to mobilize.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
Check out challenge Mania dot Shop today.
What's up Maniacs?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Scott Here, you're going to get a free preview of
our great interview with Justin Hinsley today. Putting this up
today so I can give you word of our Chicago
Bulls pre sale, also going on today.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Wednesday, December tenth.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Head over to challengemaniacs dot com today starting at ten
am with Savage Patrons, then Diesel patrons, then Maniac Patrons
at one, followed by all patrons at three to get
your tickets to bowl alongside Westin Bergman and berbor Zotra,
Mark Long and more.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
This is going to go about twenty minutes or so,
but the.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Full interview will go up next week here on the
free feed. If you want to listen to this whole
interview entirely at free, go to challengemaniacs dot com. Take
part in that pre sale and you'll unlock all of
our bonus podcasts and content, including full video. That's right,
you can watch this interview and all of our interviews
in full video as well. All right, here we go
Justin Hinsley on Challenge Maniam. What's up everybody? This is
(01:03):
Scott Yeger here with another edition of Challenge Mania. This
episode brought to you by Challenge Mania Chicago Bowls Too,
coming to you from Chicago, Illinois on Sunday, March the first, Myself,
West and Bergman, the Godfather, Mark Long, Amber Borzotra, and
more guests to be announced. If you don't know, this
is one of, if not the most interactive events we
do every year. Every ticket comes with four hours of free,
(01:26):
unlimited bowling, and some of you will be bowling alongside
cast members at a cast member lane. So if you've
ever thought man I could take Wes Bergman in some bowling,
I think I could beat Amber Borzotra.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Well now's your chance. Sunday, March.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
First tickets are available beginning Wednesday, December the tenth over
Challengemaniacs dot Com via Preestille. All Right, you didn't come
for me, you came for d Of course, we have
Derek on the line, but we are also joined by
one of the new threats and standouts of this season.
He will be with us live in Texas this Saturday
with his family in Toe.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Very excited for that.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
He was with watching the premiere where he won the
first elimination of the season here in New York City
and Man I'm surprised, but this is the first time
we're ever having this man on the podcast excited for
a full on deep dive. Everybody cheer, give me a jay,
give me an h for mister Justin Hinsley.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
How are your brother?
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Let's go?
Speaker 5 (02:21):
Oh yeah, dude.
Speaker 6 (02:23):
I mean, first of all, one of the reasons I
feel like we haven't had him on is I feel
like he's been all over the place. I feel like
you've answered every single question quite possibly, like you've made
your like like you've made you rounds, you know.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
As I've been everywhere. I'm not gonna lie I was.
Speaker 7 (02:41):
I've been sitting house like damn, when's Challenge Mania gonna
call me.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
God like I've been. I've been waiting for this call, y'all.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Well, Derek's right, there's two reasons, because, as he said,
you've been making the rounds right, we like to you know,
like he said, you've answered a lot of questions, but
not every question. So there's a different way to reshape
things as we go and as the season develops. Obviously
there's more to discuss. So now not only do we
have your entire season, the entire season are winners to
discuss we also have like your first go round at
(03:09):
navigating this challenge, news cycle, social media, all that good stuff,
so we could talk about all the stuff that's played
out in the peripheral as well as everything that happened
on the screen. So we're delighted to have you our
first guest really post final and finale here, so you're
the first person we're talking to about those winners.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Yeah, I'm kind of important, So I makes sense I'm
here now and.
Speaker 6 (03:32):
Yeah, no, so like, yeah, I feel like I feel
like he is one of like in a very nice
crop of new threats or fresh meat, if you will.
Speaker 5 (03:46):
What do we call them?
Speaker 6 (03:46):
This fresh meat three? What is this fresh meat three?
Fresh meat four? What are you kids looking at it?
Like justin you know about the fresh meets right, You're
familiar with Aviv being on fresh meat twenty years ago
or whatever the hell it was, Right.
Speaker 7 (04:00):
That's the only fresh meat I'm familiar with Eve winning. So,
and I know Carl Maria started her sorry on the
challenge on fresh meat es we know.
Speaker 6 (04:09):
So right and so and so we would kind of
call fresh meat three. What was the war of the
World's won?
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Right?
Speaker 6 (04:16):
Where we got like Josh right, where we got like
THEO right, we got like Turbo, right, am, I that's it,
I'm correct, right.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
So people do sometimes say that it's not technically fresh
meat because like Josh had already one big brother, Turbo
had already won survivor Turkey, whereas like, for instance, Aviv
had like never been on a plane before, where like
Carl Maria was coming right off of a of a
horseback or a high school or something.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
So, you know, it's a little different.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
You know, obviously Justin and all these new threats appeared
on a show beforehand, or at least ninety percent of them, did,
I believe maybe Gabe didn't.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
But but like so, yeah, so it's a little different.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
I would say, you know, this season sort of maybe
a little bit closer to fresh meat than the original,
than than War of the World's but still not necessarily
the same. Derek as being a bunch of like twenty
somethings who had never had a camera in their face.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Justin was on cheer, you know, so.
Speaker 7 (05:10):
Fresh meat to the challenge, but not fresh meat to
the industry per se.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, and this is something your mom talked you into doing.
Is that true that she's the challenge maniac in the house.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
She is she is. I mean, she's the reason I
did it.
Speaker 7 (05:22):
I I when they called me and I watched an episode,
I called them back and I was like, no, dude,
I can't do that. I don't know who you guys
think I am, but like, what the hell like no,
And I called my mom and my mom lost her shit.
She's been watching since she was in college and Stay
On and since Real World, so she like lost her mind.
She's like, are you kidding me right now? And I
was like, no, what's going on? What do you mean?
So she she prompted a lot of me going on
(05:43):
the challenge and gave me a lot of the confidence
I needed.
Speaker 6 (05:48):
Yeah, And as I was saying, like like you are
like you fit in very well. I almost feel like,
you know, when people start saying like, oh who should come.
Speaker 5 (05:59):
Back, like who stood out this season?
Speaker 6 (06:02):
I feel like You're one of those that like fits
in perfectly.
Speaker 5 (06:06):
But at the same time.
Speaker 6 (06:08):
Isn't like top one, two or three because you got
like your like Sydney and your will. But then I
would say, like Justin is very much like a close
like you know, like number three right there, Leo, Justin,
Like I mean, obviously you represent for the LGBTQ plus community,
(06:30):
So like I mean, if there is you know, you
know someone from that community that I think deserves a
callback multiple seasons where we'll see him, you know, ten
years from now.
Speaker 5 (06:43):
I think you have what it takes.
Speaker 6 (06:44):
And we can't talk about the reunion yet, but let
me just tell you the man spits fire at the reunion.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
He's coming at people.
Speaker 6 (06:52):
He come coming at that's he's coming at new threats like.
He does not hold back like and I cannot wait
to actually start this interview and ask him questions about all.
Speaker 5 (07:01):
The people, because he's one.
Speaker 6 (07:02):
He's somebody that doesn't hold back, and he's going to
tell you how it is.
Speaker 5 (07:07):
He's going to read these motherfuckers. I'll interview La well.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
First question we always ask people is their casting story,
and not necessarily their Challenge casting story.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
So you started on a show.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
I believe you are the first cast member from Cheer
to appear on The Challenge, right.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
The Challenge obviously cast a wide.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Net these days, so i'd love to know obviously your
background that helped you get on that show. That show's
very kind of specific, so i'd imagine I have a
feeling how you wind up on that show. But then
I also do kind of want to know when you
say that the challenge called you, like, did they you know,
were they watching Cheer?
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Do they find you on social media?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
What is it about you that you think caused them
for you to be on their radar? Because, as Derek said,
like great casting call by them, you know, just because
they don't line up a thousand people anymore, and they
do kind of do it from afar. Stalking people on
social media doesn't mean they don't find a diamond in
the rough occasionally.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
So so walk us through your sort.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Of life path to cheer and then how they found
you on Cheer to become a new threat.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
Gotcha?
Speaker 7 (08:08):
So I was a cheerleader. My entire life started at
the age of seven years old. Did it till I
was twenty one? Twenty two? The Netflix show Cheer came
out of nowhere. I actually had no plans in going
to college. I did not want to go to college.
I hated school. I hated everything about it. And then
I found this cheer this college with this amazing cheer program,
and I was cheering at a program that was very
(08:30):
like an hour away from the college. So I started
meeting people from the college, starting to learn about Navarro,
started to fall in love with it, and I was like, well, damn,
if I'm gonna go to college, I'm gonna go for cheerleading.
So I ended up going to that school. I tried out,
had the worst tryout of my entire life. Busted on
my neck, was landing on my face on everything. Still
somehow made the team. We were on the team for
a couple of months. After a couple of months, they
(08:50):
came up to us and they're like, hey, just so
you guys know, like we're gonna have a Netflix show
came out of nowhere. We had no idea that the
show was going to happen while we made the team
or coming on the team. It was months into the
season started. While they were like it's gonna happen, they
started like filming the pilot kind of last the season
prior to us try and like sell it to Netflix,
and Netflix bought it into it a couple of months
(09:13):
into the season, and then we ended up on the
show and it was it was it was very random.
It was like if you wanted to be on the team,
you had to be on the like if you wanted,
you had to be on the show. Essentially, it wasn't
one of those where like you couldn't not be filmed
per se.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Now, how does like, so, for instance, Navarro College, I'll
be I'm gonna just be fully transfer. I've never necessarily
heard of it, nor have I heard of it as
being like a cheerleading powerhouse. But I'm not necessarily a
cheer guy who goes and seeks out cheerleading news. But
I went to a larger school. I know there are
some huge schools that have huge cheerleading programs. My best
friend in high school got a full ride to yukon
(09:50):
things like that. So, like, talk to me about the
role that Navarro College plays in the cheerleading world. That
made it the perfect setting for a Netflix show, because
I'm looking it up here and like here, I think
it was like a show that brought people from different
schools And is that No, they decided to make it
solely about the school were you were already cheering at.
So walk me through that, Like, is it like one
(10:10):
of the best schools for cheerleading?
Speaker 4 (10:22):
Basically?
Speaker 7 (10:22):
Yeah, So it's Navarro College is a junior college. It's
a two year college and they started from the ground up.
Monica al Damas is one of the best cheerleading coaches in industry.
She started the program ground up and she started winning
from like early two thousands.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
She stayed with the program.
Speaker 7 (10:37):
She grew the program all on her own and from
the two thousands, from like now, I think we're at
like twenty something titles of winning in the NCAA collegian
national championships. And she built that from the ground up herself.
So Netflix kind of it was like Last Chance to You.
The production of Last Chance You with the basketball teams
where they follow like junior colleges, they found the junior
(10:58):
college cheerleading team and they were like, how the hell
do you guys have fifteen national championships right now? Like
how did y'all get here? And then the show started.
They filmed us and it was basically, it's it's our season.
You know, we compete once at Daytona once out of
the year, So can we practice all year long for
one single competition? So they wanted to figure out what
do we do all year long to get to Daytona
(11:20):
to be so successful to the way that we are
to win every year? Because they're not just like Navarro
wasn't just like winning their division against their team. They
were winning grand they were winning the entire competition. They
were beating every single teams in all of the D
one divisions. So Netflix saw that and they're like, damn,
we need to we need to capitalize on that, and
we need to see how the hell they got their start,
(11:42):
because this is I mean, it's an empire.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
She monocol Dama built a literal empire.
Speaker 6 (11:48):
Yeah, shout out to shout out to all the people
that went to junior college, community college representing.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
Seriously JUCO kids. For sure, you.
Speaker 6 (11:58):
Can definitely find some good re TV talent in there,
you know, not not like these you know, Duke universities
and stuff. Scott there ain't gonna like Duke isn't gonna
sign up for this. Well, it's gotta be a rest
in piece of the coach that just passed away at
Last Chance University. That's where they're gonna find some talent
right there, bro at a at a JUCO. That's why
(12:19):
that's why Syracuse isn't in this thing. You know, it's
because they don't want that. They don't want that trauma.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Well yeah, you no, no, exactly, and you probably would
have to have you know, all these other rights and
licensing things and whatnot, and of course, like you know,
i'd imagine that. First of all, I think it's the
story of, oh what is this smaller school doing to
beat all the bigger schools?
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Is a great story to begin with.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
But you're totally right as far as logistically making a
reality show. The added hurdles that come with doing anything
with the NCAA division, one, huge campuses, all that stuff.
There's a reason that they seek out these kind of
no But I mean, like, first of all, I not
even being a cheer, you know, fanatic or anything like that,
other than you know, bring it on and it's already
been brought in and all that stuff is like, you know,
(13:04):
I've heard of this show, and I don't know if
I mean, we don't have to get into the weeds,
but I don't know if it like like I was
kind of just looking it up because my mind kind
of went to, like, was there a scandal with this
show or something? Because I heard about this show more
than I would think that I would hear about this show.
Like Netflix is probably not going to me, Hey, Scott,
you just watched Heat, or you just watched WWE Raw,
or you just watched you know, Inception, want to watch Cheer.
(13:26):
But for whatever reason, I do remember this being in
the zeitgeist, had very talked about, so I believe it
was a very popular show that did very well on Netflix,
which is Derek knows, like, Yeah, Netflix is just another
stratosphere of fame and relevance for especially people like from
your generation, justin like you guys don't probably grew up,
grew up never having a classical TV and watching things
(13:48):
at a specific time and whatnot. So you know, a
lot of these real worlders and road rulers, they got
like a second wave of fame when they started putting
like Old Challenger, Old Uh, you know, Real World seasons
on Netflix.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
People were like, oh, you finally made it.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
You're on Netflix, So you know, to have debuted on Netflix,
I think it is a pretty big deal as well.
Speaker 7 (14:06):
Yeah, twenty twenty, right when COVID happened, so everybody was
just sitting there watching it over and over and over again.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
So it went very very popular into twenty twenty.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
And do you think they found you by like, I
don't know if Lisa or whoever called you or whatever
told you specifically? Was this something you did on that show?
Were they fans of that show? Did someone recommend you
to them? How did they find you for a show that,
as you described, is not necessarily in your wheelhouse when
it comes to the challenge.
Speaker 5 (14:31):
In twenty twenty at that, like you got picked up
for the challenge? I managed in twenty five.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
Yeah, yeah, I was twenty show.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Sorry.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
I was not a big part of the show like
I on the Chruch Show. I was just there, like
I was.
Speaker 7 (14:45):
I was braiding people's hair a couple of times, Like
I had maybe one talking point two talking points, Like
I was barely on the show, Like I was a
part of the team and that was it. Like so
for them, like I like I got I'm a great cheerleader,
I have a great.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
Background in it, but I wasn't a main person on
the show.
Speaker 7 (14:59):
Like you don't watch here and think like, oh my god,
Justin Hensley, Like you think you look at Justin Hensley
and you watched here and you're like, wait, what who
like I I When you look at my name cards
on the show, it literally says Justin Hensley social media manager.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
They didn't even have me as part of the team.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Social media, social media, social media.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Then let me ask you, did you have a social
media presence? Is this the way that that you think
that they found you?
Speaker 7 (15:23):
I think so I did have a social media presidence.
When I was a cheerleader, I started a blog series
called Keeping Up with the Cheetahs my senior year and
I've logged my entire team. It was a very well known,
famous team and cheerleading, and that gave me a cheerleading following,
and then the show came.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
Out gave me a little bit more of a following.
Speaker 7 (15:39):
Before I went on the challenge, I was almost a
half a million on TikTok, so I had some following
before going to start filming.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
So I thinking they found me through social media, and
then they reached out to my.
Speaker 7 (15:50):
Agents and they were like, hey, we want him, cause
I got my agents were the one that called me
and they're like, hey, MTV just called us and they're
like which was like leasy, and they want you on
the challenge And I was like what because.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Now I'm remembering it wasn't just because Gabe.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
So Gabe technically never on a show trained with NXT,
has never been on a show. And then Ben Bayne
Davis also I guess has been in like I think
he was on some sort of like you know, Thailand
reality show or some other than that. Like he's an
MMA commentator, very outside the box casting decisions your self included,
because I'd be shocked if that wasn't. What sparked their
(16:23):
interest was the TikTok, the following, being able to talk
to camera and things like that. That's like showing them
how great you would be on a show called the
Challenge and unlike the Challenge, even though I mean, look,
is it possible that they watched Cheer back in the
day and you made a little bit of a dent
back then, But I would guess it was probably the
reality TV I mean the the social media stockage if
(16:43):
you will. So that's that's another cool story. I mean,
that's the thing. It's like in today's day and age.
I mean it's like, yes, technically they're going to say
you were on Cheer, they say Gabe was a WW recruit.
They want to have some sort of like where did
this person come from? But to go back to what
Derek was saying, like the fresh meat of it all,
like there's a reason that like you and Gabe and Ben,
(17:04):
you stand out on this show. You know, it's that
like there is an element to being a fish out
of water and not somebody who, like, you know, won
a strategy show two years ago, like say a d
did or a Josh Martinez did.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
Or whomever did.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
So I think I think it's great that they're choosing
people who don't necessarily have that direct path background that
like Big Brother or even Amazing Race or you know,
shows like that or like Survival of the Fittest or
whatever it is that Laka came from, you know what
I mean. So that's really cool that they found you
that way.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Are you still doing the TikTok? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (17:37):
I still I still post on social media every single day.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
And so you have half a million on TikTok pretty much.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
Wow, I guess that like four sixty something.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
See, we should have had him on him earlier. D geez.
Speaker 6 (17:49):
Well, and are you plugging the show on your TikTok?
Speaker 7 (17:52):
Yeah? It sounds like yeah, I mean yeah, I'll post everything,
send me all the clips, I'll post them all.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Oh, we need to.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Challenge, like like we've been doing like weekly recaps things
like that like that.
Speaker 7 (18:03):
I've just been posting. I should have been doing the
recaps and all the things. I just be posting shit,
and sometimes I'll be posting random things to talk shit,
but like a lot of it's just daily blogs and
like daily lifestyle things. So I literally just like post
everything that I do all day long. I haven't really
I was dumb. I should have done weekly recaps because
I've had a lot to say every single week, So
(18:25):
I was dumb and not doing that and capitalizing.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
Off of it. But yeah, but it's funny because editing videos.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
You your generation, because look, you're twenty six years old.
I just turned forty. Derek's forty two. Your generation grew
up on TikTok, on YouTube, with vloggers and streamers and
people who just kind of exist in post and content.
We come from the generation of the TV is the
legitimacy thing, right, So it's like, oh, we're here doing
(18:53):
a podcast where we talk about a TV show because
TV is more worthy or valid than podcasts. Your generation
things podcasts are cooler than TV. So it's like, when
it comes down to what should you talk about on
your TikTok, I'd imagine that your algorithm probably goes down
when you're talking about a stone age TV show that
only forty year olds watch, no offense, you know, and
(19:14):
when you're doing your regular tiktoking content that got you
half a million followers.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
That's what it keeps feeding the people, right am I right?
Like you probably see.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
That my fitness, my blog.
Speaker 7 (19:25):
Yeah, my fitness and my blog stuff definitely do way
better when I post like challenge stuff. When I'm getting
challenge stuff, it's like challenge people that are commenting on it,
that have been watching the show for the last twenty years,
that have found my TikTok through searching me up from
being on the show. Like, it's not it doesn't hit
the algorithm very well. When I post specific challenge things,
it'll hit it a little bit. I'll get a little
(19:45):
bit of traction, but I get way more traction if
I go tell somebody I'm gonna run a five k
real quick.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
See weird, Well, everything's backwards now a lot.
Speaker 7 (19:54):
Uh.
Speaker 6 (19:54):
He mentioned something very important. He said I should have
went on there and just I had a talk shit.
He was like, I'm just you know, I just I
just wanted to talk shit, and I just know He's.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
Like, I had a lot of shit to say. Yeah,
I this is how the Justin that I know is like, yo.
Speaker 6 (20:10):
Bring him a topic and he's gonna he's gonna talk
some shit, right, and I think that he has something
valuable to say about almost all of these people. I mean,
you were there the entire season interestingly enough, like like
you mentioned like you were like you know, the social
media strategist slash hairstylist on Cheer. I looked up this
(20:33):
show on Netflix. It was a six part series in
twenty twenty. There was forty people on the team and
their focus was around five people. And when I went
to look at I could see, like who the starring
people were it there was seven names.
Speaker 5 (20:50):
Not one of them was yours, So I so.
Speaker 6 (20:53):
But look but similarly, listen, I've been you Okay, I've
been the guy who been on the season the entire
way and MTV hasn't given a shit about and they
haven't you know, I haven't been you know, their main.
Speaker 5 (21:08):
Character for whatever reason.
Speaker 6 (21:10):
And that's how this podcast began, Okay, because I was like,
I know a lot of shit.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
I don't want to be the main character.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Damnit.
Speaker 5 (21:17):
Listen, I listen.
Speaker 6 (21:19):
Here's the thing I've never strived to be the main character.
I don't need to be the main character. I'm actually
I'm actually pretty good. I'm actually pretty good at being
at being the side chick or whatever you want to
call it. I'm pretty good at being you know what's
what's it called the the the character, the guy, the
(21:40):
guy right behind the main character, pushing the main character.
Be friend, the guy, the guy pushing the main character
do some dumb shit, you know what I mean? So, like,
here we are, and you know, eight years ago we
started this and it was based on Yo. I was
on the season called Dirty thirty for twenty plus episode.
Speaker 5 (22:00):
It's just like you were here, and you know, I'm
I'm not saying you. You weren't a main character.
Speaker 6 (22:05):
I mean, you know you had d Oh, you had Turbo,
you had Sydney, right, yeah, but you were the final ten, right,
and you saw it all and you were a part
of major moments. You were in the first elimination beating Rogan.
I mean you you you set the place on fire
(22:26):
and we were like, who the fuck is this guy?
And that's exactly how you make a name for yourself
in the Challenge universe, exactly how you came in man
guns blazing, telling us to you know, go back into
the retirement home or or go to the retirement homes.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
We don't need you anymore.
Speaker 4 (22:41):
That was my favorite line. I said that so much.
Speaker 5 (22:46):
Yeah, and I was just like.
Speaker 6 (22:49):
And I was like this motherfucker, and like, as much
as I wanted to like find ways to dislike you,
I continued to like you more and more as the
season went on, because you you were a like you
were well balanced, right, like you weren't like like like
you went after guys like Derek, you know who you
know lied to you. You know, you went after you know,
(23:09):
people that kind of like slighted you a little bit.
And at the end, like you were forced to like
you had yearing Me on one side, who you had
been you know, rubbing up on every now and then
cuddling with him in the bed and and and then
you had Will on the other side, who had been
crying on your shoulder about d Well, he says it
(23:32):
wasn't about d But I mean we can dig into that.
You were you were part of the two major stake
the claims, you know, uh, one Gabe coming after you
you beating him, and then the other one coming at
the end where yearing me your buddy maybe found out
from you that him and Aviv were going in. So
and on top of that, like you've had gripes about
(23:52):
multiple people, vets and new threats. I want to dig
in to like this entire journey, how it all began
for you? And uh, you know you tell you you
start me off here because I've been doing enough talking.
Speaker 5 (24:06):
What did you think of all of us when when
you walked in here? Who wasn't who didn't you like?
Who did you who did you like? Who'd you think
was an asshole?
Speaker 3 (24:14):
You know?
Speaker 6 (24:14):
Feel free? I voted you in there at the first
one too, So I mean, go right.
Speaker 7 (24:18):
Ahead, you did. I mean I everybody, I walked into
this the game with zero expectations. I had no idea
what the hell I was getting myself into. I had
no idea what people were going to be like, how
it was going to go. So when I walked in, I.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Just and that sadly is going to be it maniacs.
If you want to hear Justin finish that thought. If
you want to hear the hour plus more of this interview,
if you want to watch it had to challenge maniacs
dot com sign up at the maniac level or above.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Don't worry, it will be worth your while.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
You can catch up on all of our bonus podcasts
and content dating back to two thousand and eighteen, and hey,
look at the time, we got a pre sale start
in two You can get in on as well for
Chicago Bulls.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
All right, TJ take away.
Speaker 5 (25:00):
All right, guys, this sends your time here on Challenge Mania.
Take care of yourselves and hopefully you'll see in the future.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
The Challenge Mania Shop is open. Head over to challenge
Mania dot Shop today for the best way to support
the podcast while looking good doing it.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
New designs and items added every few weeks.
Speaker 6 (25:39):
Maniacs time to mobilize.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
Check out challenge Mania dot Shop today.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.