Ep. 202 The Challenge 40 Rachel Robinson Interview

Josh sits down with the great Rachel Robinson!

-Coming back to the flagship
-The competition on this season
-Doing AS4 then 40 
-Second place on the mini final
-And much much more!


Twitter: @ChallengeFanPod

Instagram: @challenge_fanatics_podcast

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
What's going on, everybody, And welcome back to another episode
of the Challenge Fanatics podcast. My name is Josh Green
and you can find us on all social media platforms
at Challenge fan Pod and we're here for a very
special interview. If you were to look up bad Bitch
in the Challenge Dictionary, you would find a picture of

(00:23):
today's guest. I am very excited to be talking to
the icon of erawe, Rachel Robinson. Rachel, how you doing.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
I am good, Josh. I'm really happy to be here
with you. You know, I don't do that many podcasts, but
you just I don't know. I was just drawn to you,
so I said, you know what, let's do this podcast.
So I'm excited. I love to connect with people. I mean, listen,
there's a lot of Challengers now that have podcasts, but
it really is special to speak to the fans of

(00:52):
the show, the ones who are actively keeping this you
know thing alive, and you know.

Speaker 3 (01:00):
You're one of them. Josh, I'm really happy to be
here with you.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
I really appreciate that. That's very kind of you. And
it's been great seeing the Challengers do the different fan
events this season to give back to you. Know the
community and everything. So I think it's just been a
really special, celebratory season. So I'm glad you all have
been up to that.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
And I mean it was it took a celebratory season
to really get me back on the flagship.

Speaker 3 (01:26):
I'm not sure that you know.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
I had to come back for the pretty much honor
of the game, you know. And there are a lot
of us that like to talk about how special this
show is, but I really think that a few of
us really live and breathe it, and you know, as
long as you stay away really truly does not matter.

(01:49):
It's always connected to you. And I think that's how
the fans feel as well. I think, listen, you may
have been an Era one fan, fell off, maybe somewhere
along Era two or three.

Speaker 3 (02:01):
You're back on Air four.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
You know, or could be came in an Era two,
you know, got into it, fell off.

Speaker 3 (02:07):
You're back in now. My point is everyone's back in.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
It doesn't matter if you started watching this in Era one,
Era two, Era three, or in the last few years.

Speaker 3 (02:17):
You are invested so.

Speaker 1 (02:20):
And it was really special, especially that opening when you
guys are all coming out in the first daily challenge.
Was there any bit of hesitancy, especially you know, coming
off of filming in South Africa for All Starts for
was it an immediate yes? Was it something you kind
of had to think through?

Speaker 3 (02:42):
I mean, Josh, I'll give you the inside information.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
So I basically said no when they originally called me,
because you know, the amount of time that they wanted
you to kind of clear your schedule felt close to
impossible for me, and I just, you know, I was
just kind of like, eh, you know, I had a
good time on All Stars for it kind of looked
at it like it was fun, got to hang out

(03:05):
with my friends.

Speaker 3 (03:06):
I'm pretty good with it, you know.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
And then as the show started creeping up and the
actual time of filming started coming up, and I had
I started like texting Mark, texting Derek, texting Brad, texting Darrell, Anissa, Tina.
Once I heard those names, I was like, I can't
not be here.

Speaker 1 (03:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
So I literally called who I absolutely loved the casting director,
and I was like, listen, if there's a spot, I
will jump on it, no questions asked.

Speaker 3 (03:37):
I'll sign the contract tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
And I literally turned to my wife and was like, listen, honey,
I know that you don't get it.

Speaker 3 (03:44):
I know that this.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Seems crazy, but I have to do this season for
some reason. Like I it was like I was being
told from the higher, like something above that I could
not miss it, and so I jumped on the cast.
I mean we left in March, and I think I

(04:06):
reached out to the casting director right around Christmas. She's like,
i'll get back to you after the New Year. Second
week of January, I had a contract and I was like,
all right, I guess this is real.

Speaker 3 (04:16):
So I basically, you.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
Know, but they called for this show, you know, so
far in advance because they had so much casting to do.

Speaker 3 (04:24):
So I got the call from it.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
I think I got it in like I don't know,
September or October. It was something so crazy for in advance.
So the people who knew they were going from day one.
I mean, you had six months to prepare, so there's
like no excuse for you to not know your addition
and subtraction, you know what I mean.

Speaker 1 (04:48):
Thank you for saying that, because, oh my god, some
of the challenges this season with the addition of subtraction.
I'm just like, really, this is what we're doing.

Speaker 2 (04:58):
I mean, it's just like, I mean, no one's asking
us to solve like, you know, crazy things here.

Speaker 3 (05:04):
I think it's fair.

Speaker 2 (05:05):
I mean, some of it's harder than others. But listen,
you know I can tell you on my end, I
really put once I figured out that I was going
to do it, I really did put the time in.
I started doing puzzles at home. I started doing math
at home. I just wanted to make sure that I
was sharp to where like if I heard eight plus seven,

(05:26):
I knew it was fifteen without like thinking about it.

Speaker 3 (05:29):
Yeah, you know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (05:31):
So those kind of things I did, and I will
say that it absolutely paid off because the second that
I showed up as a solo competitor for Era one
and they told me it was math, I knew I
was sitting pretty in the sense that I only had
to technically get four right in order to cover my

(05:51):
two hands and my feet.

Speaker 3 (05:53):
You know.

Speaker 1 (05:55):
That was that was a really fun challenge to see
you when not, uh, you know, all by yourself against
other eras. I know there were fans out there. I'm
not sure if you watch Survivor, but there's a Survivor
challenge where they all hold on to a poll at
the same time and the longest person up wins, and

(06:16):
I know challenge fans were saying, it would have been
so cool if all of you were hanging up there
at the same time, and yeah, you outlast everybody all
at once.

Speaker 3 (06:25):
Yeah, that would be cool.

Speaker 2 (06:27):
I mean, I knew I had a good listen when
they when I showed up for that day. Yeah, Well,
the thing I liked about not hanging all at the
same time was that. And I said this on you
know Johnny's podcast. There is so much strategy that went
into that particular challenge that is overlooked. And part of
the strategy was the pegs in which you placed. We

(06:48):
based on the allotted amount of numbers that you won.
You got to go into the container as targets and pick.
Let's say you had you know I had six, right,
let's say you had fourteen to play with. You got
to go in and mark the ones that were going
to be in your container when you went in.

Speaker 3 (07:02):
So there were.

Speaker 2 (07:03):
Twenty seven right, because we technically had twenty seven correct
math equations.

Speaker 3 (07:08):
But once you went in, you had to mark.

Speaker 2 (07:11):
And as soon as I saw air three, put Jordan
on the opposite side of the wall of which I
was because I knew pegs, I knew how they work.

Speaker 3 (07:22):
I know how body distribution works.

Speaker 2 (07:25):
As soon as I saw them put Jordan over there
and put Devin in the spot that I was in,
I was like, I'm sitting pretty. As soon as I
saw Laurel in the same spot that I was in,
I said, I'm sitting pretty.

Speaker 3 (07:38):
You know, Era four only had two each, So great
news for me, you know.

Speaker 2 (07:43):
So it was like it just was the perfect storm
for me personally to live out a pretty much challenged dream.
I mean, there's not much else that people can say
would probably happen to them.

Speaker 3 (08:00):
That can top that.

Speaker 1 (08:02):
Yeah, it was really awesome to see. And you know
you mentioned some of the newer eras. I know for you,
I'm sure you know coming back, you're friends with everybody
on ERA one. You've got a lot of friends on
Air two, people you just competed with on All Stars four,
on Air two, and obviously you know, we had seen
that you've become friendly with Tory and Josh from aras

(08:26):
three and four, the people you hadn't met before. Were
you worried about that at all coming into the game,
and as the game progressed.

Speaker 2 (08:33):
I mean, listen, I knew coming into the game, and
I said this to people out loud, like friends, I'm like,
I'm kind of sitting pretty here, like I got a
lot of my I got a lot of my error
originals there. Which when are you ever going to have
nine other people that you've known for twenty plus years
playing the game with you at the exact same time.

Speaker 3 (08:52):
On the flagship?

Speaker 1 (08:53):
Amazing?

Speaker 3 (08:54):
And then I happen to have.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
Been best friends outside of the show with Tory and
John and Josh, who are probably two of the most
influential people in the newer era. Now, whether Josh is
influential in terms of who he rides with. The thing
about Josh that I think is understated is the kind
of support he gives off. Like Josh for me was

(09:19):
like the comfort I needed. He anytime my back was
against the wall, anytime people were coming after me, he
didn't care if it was his best friend. He would
walk over to me and be like, I love you,
I got your back. And to me, that was like
a badass person because most people will start to distance
themselves from people who they think are on the chopping block,

(09:40):
and Josh is.

Speaker 3 (09:42):
Quite the opposite.

Speaker 2 (09:43):
Tory, on the other hand, like we just had such
a we have such a mutual respect for each other
that I just knew, regardless of what happened in the game,
we were going to walk away from from it.

Speaker 3 (09:56):
Just having a respect for each other.

Speaker 2 (09:58):
And I think that that's something you are really going
to see now. It's kind of now it's really being solidified,
but even as the season progresses, because we're the two
power women playing. If you look at it from she's
the one making moves going after people, I'm the one
making deals, like I don't know, And I'm so proud

(10:19):
of this because I don't think it's ever been really
shown the way it's going to be shown this season
and the way it's being shown thus far.

Speaker 3 (10:27):
I don't know if we've ever seen.

Speaker 2 (10:28):
A woman play her game the way I am selfishly
playing it in the sense that I am playing my
game for one hundred percent my benefit, which is something
we are very used to the men doing. In fact,
we're accustomed to allowing it and there being no repercussions for.

Speaker 3 (10:49):
Any decisions that they make because.

Speaker 2 (10:51):
Hey, it worked out right, they won, they got to
the final, they did this, they did that right. So
many times we see women playing emotionally where they're saving
a friend that you know what, it's not going to
benefit them, or you know, they're maybe not making a

(11:11):
deal because they're close to somebody and they don't want
to hurt their friend's feelings.

Speaker 3 (11:17):
You know. I said to everyone I was playing.

Speaker 2 (11:20):
The game with, including Johnny, who he absolutely respected me
for it. I said, listen, I got your back one
hundred percent. You are my number, you are my you
are my guy. Okay, but I'm crossing this house and
I'm going over to the other side. And I know
for a fact Jordan wants to work together. So I'm

(11:41):
going to work with Jordan, and I'm gonna work with Tory,
and I'm gonna work with whoever is offering me something
on the table that I think is beneficial. I'm going
to work with them. Don't worry. And I said it
to every person that I came up with a deal with.
I said, listen, I know Tory comes before me for Jordan.
I know, you know, if I ever were to do

(12:02):
anything with Kylon, I knew Michelle would come before me
or Olivia. Right, But make no mistake, I'm somewhere on
the list above other people, you.

Speaker 1 (12:12):
Know, and I think you did a really great job
with that, and it is you even if we go back,
you know, all the way to episode one with your toast,
it's talked about how you know, a guy makes a
move in any of these reality games and it's celebrated,
it's applauded. A girl makes that move, they're villainized, and
it's like, you know, how could you do that? But

(12:35):
I do think it's like you're gonna go and fly
out and be there all this time, like go do it?

Speaker 2 (12:41):
Go exactly yeah, exactly, Like and the thing is about,
you know, taking so much time that I did off. Yeah,
you compartmentalize the show where it belongs. You're like, this
is an opportunity. Yeah, Alison, I'm in the fitness business.
There's no better thing for me to do than go
on a reality show. And you know, show my show

(13:01):
where I am physically at forty one years old. I
mean I'm forty one and I am hanging with every
single person on that show.

Speaker 3 (13:08):
In fact, they've got to keep up with me.

Speaker 2 (13:10):
So it's like that I thought was something I was
very proud of, especially after seeing what had happened to
our men in the era, because I was just not
expecting it as much.

Speaker 3 (13:23):
But I also think.

Speaker 2 (13:24):
Listen, we got shuffled a terrible hand, like pretty much.
You know, nobody wanted to work with us because they
all had these like side deals three and four working together.

Speaker 3 (13:35):
You know, Laurel Jordan, this and that.

Speaker 2 (13:37):
It was just every single person that won when they
won that could have helped us just couldn't help us,
you know. But one thing I do want to say
is you're absolutely right when it comes to like villainizing
these characters. It does seem that the men that are
villainized are get a reward from it. There's some sort
of reward, right, like whether they're you know, more famous.

Speaker 3 (14:00):
Or more well known or on villains now.

Speaker 2 (14:03):
So I'm pushing regardless of how you feel about a
Laurel or you know, anyone else, I want those women
to be brought opportunities now if you are going to
go on this show and put yourself out there to
be villainized, because it is a pretty it is a
pretty tough pill to swallow in terms of the online

(14:28):
things that's coming. Some people deal with it better obviously,
like Johnny Bananas loses zero sleepover it. I actually am
like I want to be. I strive to be more
give fuck less like that, you know. But for the
most for the ninety percent of us, it is extremely

(14:50):
hard to have the Internet coming after you. And what
I feel is that, on the flip side, if that
is going to be your and you are going to
step into it rightfully, So then I'm hoping now that
we have you know, Johnny and West doing the Villains show,
and you know, ct and Troschelle doing the Trader shows,

(15:12):
I'm hoping that there are more opportunities for more people to,
you know, just just capitalize on it more. So That's
really all I want to say about that, And I mean,
I think everyone pretty much knows. Listen, I'm not a
feminist in the sense that I don't love men.

Speaker 3 (15:31):
I love men. I love working.

Speaker 2 (15:33):
One of the best best situations for me in a
show is where men and women work together. I work
very well with men, but not at the expense of women.
And I think that is the biggest difference in maybe
where I stand as a strong woman on the show
as opposed to other strong women on the show. I
think other strong women in the show have turned their

(15:55):
backs on other women because they are working with the
stronger men who want to eliminate let's a I, E,
X Y and Z right, I very much, And this
is something that's just naturally the way I am. I
gravitate towards the stronger women, whether that be physically or socially.

(16:15):
To be honest, I find Tina to be one of
the most socially strong women because she don't give fuck either.
She will fight with you, like I mean, have a
full screaming match and then lay down at night and
go straight to bed.

Speaker 1 (16:30):
She's the best off.

Speaker 2 (16:32):
She is absolutely amazing, and I gravitate towards her. Ever,
and I'm talking back to two thousand and three when
we met, I gravitated towards her, and that's when Tina
was not popular. Liking Tina was like it was like,
you know, almost a death wish in the game because
people were just going for her, you know. So I've

(16:54):
always been like that and I do pride myself in that.
And you know, I think for as far as forty,
you know, Challenge forty is concerned, I really feel that
there was such a bond with the women, regardless if
we work together or not, we really all had such
respect for each other because you know it's.

Speaker 1 (17:15):
The cast comes out, the rumors are going out of
who's on the cast, and you look at it and
the fact that like now, at where we're at in
this game, there are only two girls who have never
won a season, and then Michelle and Olivia, Like it's
clear even before the season started, this is the strongest
girl cast in the history of the show. It's really

(17:37):
awesome to see.

Speaker 2 (17:39):
Yeah, I mean, listen, that's why I say when they
release the cast list of the girls, the fact that
you even showed up the shows that we're a badass.
I mean, I remember thinking, even in my head, which
I am obviously immediately going to put in be put
into probably let's say top five, even having taken such
a break, right, people are still going to give me

(18:00):
some sort of credit.

Speaker 3 (18:01):
But even for myself, I was like, are you prepared
for this?

Speaker 2 (18:07):
Because this is going to be a bloodbath from beginning
to end with women. And it was such a beautiful
I mean just kind of looking back, and it was
such a beautiful experience because we really all kind of came.

Speaker 3 (18:24):
I just remember being.

Speaker 2 (18:24):
The only girl left in Erawan, the only woman, and
I remember all of the women it didn't matter what
era they were in, it didn't matter where they came.

Speaker 3 (18:36):
Into the game.

Speaker 2 (18:37):
Every single one of them came up to me and said,
I want you to win, like I want you to
make it through this.

Speaker 3 (18:43):
I want you to make it through this team section.

Speaker 2 (18:45):
They were actively supporting me, and that is really cool.
I didn't have one woman or you know, did I
have men? Absolutely? I had men that wanted me out
of the game one, you know, because they knew that
I'm a curveball and I don't give a fuck and
I will I will throw you in if I see fit.

Speaker 3 (19:09):
And that's very.

Speaker 2 (19:10):
Dangerous to people who like to control every single move
in the game.

Speaker 1 (19:15):
You know every move and have been used to doing it,
especially in these last couple of seasons. We have mentioned
you know, Laurel and all the strong girls on this season,
and it really comes to fruition here in this past
episode on the mini final, I was a bit surprised,

(19:35):
and I don't know if they just wanted people playing
it up in confessional. Were you guys really shocked that
there was a double elimination or a purge rather or
did you guys like.

Speaker 2 (19:47):
No, we didn't know that we had We had no idea,
and like I will say, and I kind of said
this on a post, like I've done a lot of
challenges a lot, and I have no ever physically done
anything harder than what they had to do that day,
Like this running up the sand dunes was on a

(20:09):
level like you would get you would get.

Speaker 3 (20:11):
To the top.

Speaker 2 (20:11):
They didn't really show this as much because they probably
didn't want to make us look like so incredibly like
they probably have like a liability to be honest with
some of our faces because we were ready to actually die.
But I remember getting up past the first dune, and
this is obviously even before memory, so this is just
the first dune and starting to run because I'm like, okay,

(20:33):
I gotta move, and my legs physically feeling like noodles,
like like I went to go step into the sand
to run, and it was like just wobbly, you know,
like you couldn't even actually run after coming up the
dune because it was like quicksand you would put one
foot in step up on the dune and you'd sink,
you know what I mean five inches, So you were

(20:54):
only ever getting up as much as you could because
every time you stepped in, you but you know, I'll
give you some backstory on that.

Speaker 3 (21:04):
So I did.

Speaker 2 (21:06):
I was trying to win the minifial, and I won't
say I wasn't, but what ended up happening was on
the memory. I'm very good with memory, so as soon
as TJ said the puzzle portion was memory based, I
was like, okay, great.

Speaker 3 (21:21):
You know, but well, one thing I did.

Speaker 2 (21:24):
I gambled on my last you know, my last memory
portion where I had to play some right, I only
had three left to do, and instead of doing it
the way I had been doing it, which was two
at a time, I was doing, I was finding two
at a time.

Speaker 3 (21:40):
Right. I said, well, what are the odds I know
one is one and one.

Speaker 2 (21:43):
I knew one of them right, so all I had
to do on the other one was pretty much chance
it for those two and called check and then I
probably get it right. So I called check, and it's wrong.
And in that moment a rush of like heat comes
up on me because I realized that I have to
now realize not only where I went wrong, but which
three it was.

Speaker 3 (22:05):
Make sure I don't mess up anything else. See that's
the problem with that game.

Speaker 2 (22:08):
If you messed up even one, but you couldn't find
where it was. You had to start from the beginning
because there's no way to figure it out. And that's
exactly what happened to Laurel. So Laurel messed hers up
somewhere along the line, and in true Laurel fashion, would
not admit she was wrong. So she stayed there. And

(22:30):
I remember it because I was there with her. I
was there calling check and she was calling check and
she was wrong. I went back figured out my mistake,
called check. But my point is is that had I
gotten that on the first try, had I chanced and
it come around to me, I would have taken off
at the same time as Toy, So it would have

(22:52):
been a foot race at that point. Because I didn't
get that right, I had to go back out figure
out my mistake.

Speaker 3 (23:01):
Fix it. It put me back a few minutes, and
at that.

Speaker 2 (23:05):
Point I realized, I'm definitely not getting first place because
Toy's pretty much she took off a few minutes ahead
of me, definitely not getting last place because I got
about I mean not only last place, I got every.

Speaker 3 (23:18):
Guy almost also behind me.

Speaker 2 (23:20):
So I'm like, all right, I'm gonna get up this dune,
and I'm going to basically prance to the finish line,
like I wasn't racing, if you know what I mean.
Now that the times have come out, Now that the
times are out and they're like, okay, like Tory one
twenty Rachel like one thirty something, I'm like, man, I
should have run just to like get that one twenty five,

(23:40):
you know.

Speaker 3 (23:41):
But basically I truly.

Speaker 2 (23:44):
Did believe that entire game. Was I upset that I
didn't get first in the minifinal. I was a leeele
bit disappointed, but again I had a feeling that something
was there was something greater working with me, because then
we see the Amia get last place, which we didn't
know was going to happen. Right, So now it became
a choice between only Johnny and Jordan, which would have

(24:07):
put me in a very very very difficult spot, would
have basically would have basically ruined my alliance with Jordan.

Speaker 3 (24:17):
So when that.

Speaker 2 (24:19):
Kind of when we pulled the lens back and I
was able to view it from you know, an eagle's eye,
I literally said to myself, well, thank god you didn't
win this, because that would have been awkward, you know,
like it was too early at that point in my
game as an individual for me to have to send
Jordan in.

Speaker 1 (24:39):
And you know, we obviously don't see it, but to
take it one step further, we obviously know when Tory wins.
Johnny says it later in the episode, but we know
what's going to happen. There's there's no even point to
hear Johnny out. We know Jordan's safe, Johnny's going in.
But to take it one step further for you, now,
if Johnny Windsley on one me, you're safe too.

Speaker 3 (25:02):
Soact exactly.

Speaker 2 (25:03):
I mean, it was interesting, like Johnny really had such
a soft heart on this season and I have to
say his his his feminist.

Speaker 3 (25:11):
Like real, real underlying you know.

Speaker 2 (25:14):
One of the things I'd say about Johnny is he
really puts on this and he is listen.

Speaker 3 (25:17):
He absolutely is a boy's boy.

Speaker 2 (25:19):
He absolutely has all these other you know, aspects to him,
but there is a real core of him that loves
women and loves women's company, and it really came out
this season. And when the game kind of broke itself
down and we were individual, I remember him. He would
apologize to Jenny, myself and Aviv constantly, I'm so sorry,

(25:41):
I can't do more for you guys. I'm so sorry
I can't do more for you guys. And at one
point I literally turned to avivn Jenny, I'm like.

Speaker 3 (25:47):
Does he realized that he's doing all the work? Like
I was like, I kind of like kept it.

Speaker 2 (25:52):
I didn't want to like really point it out to
him as much as probably I could have that actually.

Speaker 3 (25:57):
You're doing more than enough.

Speaker 2 (26:00):
But my point is is that it was so sweet
that that's where his head was at. His head was
literally not like, well, I guess I'm sitting pretty. I
got three of the strongest women in the game that
I'm number one for, you know, but but his head
was more at oh, man, like how can I how
can I be there for all three of you back?

(26:21):
You know, I thought that was really sweet. I thought
that it was a very genuine, genuine feeling from him.
You could really feel it. And you know, being on
this season for me with Johnny and I's past, it
was very therapeutic for me because you never like leaving
a season and having bad feelings towards somebody and continuing too.

(26:44):
I'm talking like after reunion in life, like you just
are like, ugh, you know, there was a moment in
time when I definitely harbored, you know, some sort of
just like I was so close every time to like
really pulling one over on it, you know, because he
just had so much power in the era two days

(27:04):
we'll say, you know so. But my point is is
that having a come full circle and seeing the two
of us align in this challenge and work together as
a unit, it was like a powerhouse effect. And it
didn't matter that we didn't have a million numbers because
the support that we had for each other was real

(27:27):
and it was strong, and we didn't need a million people,
you know.

Speaker 3 (27:33):
So anyway, that's a side note.

Speaker 2 (27:36):
But yes, I was very happy that in hindsight, I
did not win the minifinal, even though I would obviously,
of course love to hold the title of.

Speaker 3 (27:45):
Winning the mini final.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
But I thought, you know what, I'm taking twelve years off,
I'm coming back. I'm running Dunes a good ten years
older than Toy, which doesn't really mean anything, because I
find myself to be way stronger today than I was
ten years ago. Well, but there is something to be
said for beating the majority of the entire cast, you know.

Speaker 3 (28:08):
Well, I'm only saying that.

Speaker 2 (28:09):
Because online everything is like, well, Tory is really so strong.
She beat Jenny and Rachel and Aviv and Kara and
you know, and I'm like, absolutely she is. I will
never take that away from her. But motherfucker, where's my
credit too? Like I was second place for a woman,
fourth place overall, Like it was a pretty pretty uh

(28:29):
you know clinic that Tory and I put on as women.

Speaker 1 (28:32):
Yeah. I think all season people are just used to
seeing you. I mean even in that you know, the
opening and the different dailies and eliminations you've been in.
They're just used to you winning and doing well. So
it's like, oh, Rachel does well again. Okay, moving on.

Speaker 3 (28:47):
So I do think the biggest shockers is Kara.

Speaker 2 (28:50):
Yeah, I mean I think it's kind of like, I
don't I'm not going to beat a dead horse or
say anything. But like, even even at this at this
point in the game, at the sand Dune point, right,
we were all kind of like, well, what's going on?

Speaker 1 (29:05):
You know, I have found that interesting. And I thought
the same thing with THEO where they both throughout their
challenge career, when the Ton of Daies performed really well
and it just throughout the whole season, it's been not
living up to the potential that they have throughout it.

Speaker 2 (29:26):
I mean, I think car is absolutely right when she
says she works best when her back is against the walls.
You know, she's also to her defense, she also knew
she wasn't last, wasn't first. Does it matter that she
comes in before a viv or not, or before Olivia
or not? Maybe for Cloud's sake, but really for game sake,

(29:48):
which is what we're there for.

Speaker 3 (29:50):
In the moment thinking about it doesn't really matter, you know.

Speaker 2 (29:53):
So I think that there's a few factors that are
coming into play in terms of you know, but I
think for me, the biggest shocker was the wall when
we did the Nintendo Wall thing, because I mean, I
remember they didn't do it in the order of which
we really went in when they edited it. But basically, Nya, Olivia,
and Kara were the first three girls to go when

(30:16):
we're climbing up the Nintendo Wall with the coins, right,
and I remember, obviously we see what happens with Nya,
we see what happens with Olivia, we see what happens
with Car, right. So the Olivia comes back to the
group and she's like they need to add pegs, like
nobody's going to be able to do this, like they
have to add pegs, and I remember getting like super
defensive and being like, no, they don't let the rest

(30:38):
of us go, you know, And then it was just
like and surprisingly the first woman.

Speaker 3 (30:44):
To do it all the way through was Laurel.

Speaker 2 (30:47):
So you know, it was just like we were all
kind of like sitting there in awe, like, Okay, well
she did it, and then I knew I wasn't gonna
have trouble with the climbing, so like that was just
kind of interesting. But again, you know, some people have
strengths in certain departments and it's absolutely all luck of

(31:08):
the draw on these things. If you get on the
right day at the right time, your strength that makes
you shine, that pulls you out on top.

Speaker 1 (31:16):
You know, you mentioned Aviv and I really do. We
did our recap earlier, and I do have to give
a shout out to her because not being able to
run on her heel and going through that sand I
don't even know how she did it, but she finds
a way to not get purged out here and not
even come close to second to last, and the time

(31:39):
machine of being sprung back into the challenge World after
not doing a season for eighteen years, and she's been
killing it. So what was it like playing with her?

Speaker 2 (31:51):
You know, she was I mean she was obviously also
a last minute replacement.

Speaker 3 (31:56):
I think that's kind of been talked about.

Speaker 2 (31:57):
She was not on the cast originally and then someone
couldn't do it and she kind of stepped in. And
I think I think the higher ups every single day
for that, because for me, a Viv was everything I
needed as well. She was real, We had a real friendship.
I mean, I'll be honest. When I was looking at

(32:18):
the women, if I were to tell you, like who
I want to go against, she would be one of
the last. She is absolutely a powerhouse. She's so strong.

Speaker 3 (32:29):
She's also very smart.

Speaker 2 (32:31):
So you know, the only thing a EV lacked, which
she knows it, is experience. She was a little naive
to the ins and outs of the game, and I
kind of you know, listen, I wanted to coachure, but
I couldn't coach here too much, do you know what

(32:53):
I mean, You're still playing a game. So I would
tell her listen and Viev like, make your you know,
make whatever move you need to make, do whatever you
gotta do. But Aviv is always going to play a
pretty straight up games, as do I. But like I mean, listen,
Aviv and Johnny and even even Jenny to some degree,
because those were really the three that I start really

(33:14):
spending the most time with towards the end. You know,
they were definitely knew all my conversations. My point is
nobody didn't know in fact, when I made that deal
with with Corey where I said, give me Neamayah, I
need you to talk to Niamaia and just get me
under his good graces, because I knew he was this

(33:35):
kind of swing swinger in the house where I could
either be good with him or I could be targeted.
But it was all just the difference of a conversation.

Speaker 3 (33:44):
So when I.

Speaker 2 (33:45):
Had Cory do that, I actually say to Cory, which
they did not air, I'll give you Aviv. Yeah, so
I actually give Cory Aviv. I go and talk to Aviv,
and I'm like, listen to Viv. Corey wants to work
with you. He wants you to like not say his name.
He'll do his best not to say yours. And I
mean that's all you could really promise somebody, because you

(34:06):
just don't know who's going to be in the pickings with.

Speaker 1 (34:09):
You, and that's a great move. You know. We did
see a little bit of that in the episode. Of course,
we don't see the part about a VV you mentioned,
but yeah, I remember still again when the cast came out,
the Newer School fans were like, oh, you know who's this,
And I was like, don't do that. Like you're gonna
be surprised. I promise you that.

Speaker 2 (34:30):
Like when they're cast members hating on her, I'm like,
don't even start with me, because I will go to
bat for her, Like I'm like a protective mother at
this stage in my life.

Speaker 3 (34:40):
You know, it's just in me now. It probably always
has been.

Speaker 2 (34:44):
But like when people started coming for Derek over the
Harassio thing, when people start coming for Tina, when people,
I mean basically erawe had the entire internet coming at them,
that basically any win that we had was not legitimate.
I was like, okay, listen, I was there, and there's

(35:06):
about no way in hell that I'm going to let
people tarnish the the franchise because they can't admit that
they lost, you know, So I get real defensive when
it comes to Yeah, I get real defensive when it

(35:28):
comes to the people I ride with, And there have
definitely been some past members that went on there you know,
X accounts or whatever you want to call them now
and you know been like and what it means doing there,
and it's like, shut up.

Speaker 1 (35:44):
It was that And then like some of the fans
were saying it, I was like, do you guys not
remember how she Granted Durell had a great season when
they won too, but it was heard that carried that
final and put them hours ahead, Like you're making a
mistake if you're underestimating her like that.

Speaker 3 (36:03):
And she's a great narrator.

Speaker 2 (36:04):
She's honestly, she's underrated when it comes to like interview,
but she's a really good, very good to analyze the
game and.

Speaker 3 (36:13):
Saying it back. So she's got a lot of great things.

Speaker 2 (36:16):
I mean, I look at it from obviously also like
a producer standpoint in the sense that I can tell
you know who, like I said, I mean, I've said
to everyone who will listen, Olivia is the keeper. I
don't care how many people want to hate on whoever
they want to hate on, I'll tell you who the
standout is, who's going to be on the season time
and time again.

Speaker 3 (36:36):
If she wants to be Yeah, Olivia, she is.

Speaker 2 (36:40):
She's she hustles, she's grimy, she'll she'll do whatever she has.

Speaker 3 (36:45):
To to win, and you know what, I fucking love her.
And you know that's interesting.

Speaker 1 (36:54):
That's the uh what we were referring to earlier, right,
she makes the move last season on ma Reeve and
she gets taken to task on social media. And if
you know, when Tony made that move on Bananas before,
it was like celebrated and like, you know, go Tony,
what a move. Olivia does basically the same thing, and

(37:15):
it's like, oh, she's the worst, how could she do
that to a friend?

Speaker 3 (37:20):
But I agree with I mean, she definitely she definitely
played into it.

Speaker 2 (37:23):
And I will say that Nurise is also like a
strong voice in the sense that when you know, she
definitely likes to get online and say whatever she wants
to say, you know what I mean. Yeah, So I
think that Olivia had to deal with even extra because
they don't think that anyone was even giving her any like,

(37:43):
you know, they weren't giving her any forgiveness, so it
was also coming at all angles.

Speaker 3 (37:50):
But listen, I think she learned from that.

Speaker 2 (37:53):
I definitely think there is you know, you got it
at some point, just and she should have been grimy.
She should have just said she was going to do
one thing and then saved whoever she wanted to anyway
and said, listen, sorry, I'm safe. Come at me. I
don't care, you know. But she's learning and she's she's
just so she's so real. She connects with people in

(38:15):
such a real way, and I just think she's great. So,
I mean, obviously, I just love I love Michelle. I
think Michelle is amazing.

Speaker 1 (38:24):
I was about to ask about her, so I'm glad
you say that.

Speaker 2 (38:27):
Michelle's amazing, Like I hope she knows and she does know.
I think she's learning it more and more. But like,
whoever has anything to say about her as well, shut
the fuck up, because Michelle's also a boss. Like towards
the end of you know, towards at this point in
the season. Yeah, at this point in the season, I
really felt like there were two female heads in the game,

(38:47):
and on one side it was me and on the
other side it was Michelle. There was you know, I mean,
Tory was making moves, but she was to me. Tory
plays a lot with the men. She's definitely like a
she played with the men, like she's gonna you know,
she's gonna play with Jordan, She's gonna play with Devin.
She's probably gonna like you know, do things that obviously
like side with them as well. I mean Michelle too

(39:10):
to some degree. I mean maybe there were three hits
I have to say, because Tory is definitely part of it.
But on one end it was Tory and Michelle, and
on the other end it was me, you know, and
we were kind of all, you know, trying to make
the moves to figure it out. The difference with Michelle
and probably Tory is that she plays the game and

(39:31):
she's constantly strategizing, like in terms of how she can
get to the next stage or what she has to do,
or how this is going to affect this, which is
going to affect her, right.

Speaker 3 (39:43):
She has a very mind like that. I have the
same I'm looking.

Speaker 2 (39:47):
At the game and I'm thinking, Okay, this is gonna
work out like this, which will then affect me in
this way, which is then the what move I need
to make now, you know? And those are the best players,
those are the ones that are going to to stand
the test of time.

Speaker 1 (40:02):
And they've proven it, and uh, you know, I I
think it's really cool to see all of you from
these like different time periods of the show, you know,
facing off here at the end of this game. And
it's been it's been really fun. And I do want
to talk about someone we haven't talked about yet. You
were just on all starts four with him. Derek Shabez

(40:25):
is having a great run here on forty. He's been
in Confessionals quite a bit. Just like Aviv. He doesn't
get purged here or come in last place, so he's
safe again. What has it been like doing these, you know,
two seasons in quick succession with him. I know you
guys were close with Ryan as well, So what was

(40:45):
it like playing with those guys?

Speaker 2 (40:47):
We let this play go bu So I'm clearly outside
in Miami living my best life.

Speaker 3 (40:57):
But I called Derek Shaw It's like he's like a sleeper.

Speaker 2 (41:01):
So what in the sense that he's not going to
come and be the most He's not the biggest energy
in the room when it comes to who you think
you have to take out of the game. But if
you were playing a smart game, he's the person you
should be taking out because he's his cardio is great.
He can run like hell, he's very smart. He's constantly

(41:25):
you know, there's certain people in the house that genuinely
like to play brain games. Like those are the ones
you have to watch out for, the ones that on
their spare time, they're like actually doing that. Like I
don't want to do it unless I got something I'm
getting ready for. Like I got something I'm getting ready for. Okay, fine,
I'll play with a slider puzzle.

Speaker 3 (41:45):
I got something I'm getting ready for.

Speaker 2 (41:46):
Okay, fine, I'll figure out these shapes and how they
go together to make a box. But like, I'm not
sitting at home now, yeah, figuring that out. These guys,
the Derek's, the Michelle's too, in particular, they enjoy the
bringing games. So someone like Derek, if I were, you know,

(42:09):
doing a season, and I was somebody who was looking
towards the future, I wouldn't have let him just slide by.

Speaker 3 (42:19):
But he really did.

Speaker 2 (42:20):
I Mean, he had so many times where he was
a fifty to fifty shot of going into the arena
and he kept he can thank eerone for that, but
he kept getting by, you know, But I give him
all the credit in the world and listen on a
side note, just as like an LGBTQ plus whatever we're

(42:44):
gonna say now plus plus plus. I think he's an
amazing representation because it's so nice to see somebody who's
putting on a wig and dressing in drag but also
crushing it in the challenge, you know, So that is
great for me.

Speaker 3 (43:00):
I'm a big fan.

Speaker 2 (43:02):
We at this point in the game, after the Sun
Sun Sand Dune Challenge, it's pretty clear we're not working
with each other, but we're not working against each other,
if that makes sense, Like we weren't working with each other,
but it wasn't like he was trying to at all
effect my game in a negative way, and I would
ever affect him in a negative way. So, you know,

(43:26):
I think that's pretty much what I'll say about him.

Speaker 3 (43:29):
But he's very good.

Speaker 1 (43:31):
It's been it's been really fun to see, especially like
we see him have that great Daily and All Stars
four where he says, like nobody is really like thinking
of me as like someone who can win. He goes
out and wins, and like he's doing well in the
season here, and it's been awesome to see. It really
has a special I mean.

Speaker 2 (43:50):
Listen if he if he would have not lost that
first checkpoint in the final of All Stars four, I
don't know if you remember it was between.

Speaker 3 (43:58):
Him and Laurel. Yeah, if that would have went a
different way.

Speaker 2 (44:03):
Let's say that went the other way and she was
last place and he was not, I think we could
be sitting here talking about a Challenge Champion because Patty
had gotten through that first checkpoint.

Speaker 3 (44:14):
I think he would have done very well.

Speaker 2 (44:17):
Even though, like any challenge, any challenge, accept challenge forty
to some degree because they just beat us down to
the fucking wires in terms of how strong you are,
you weren't getting through. My point is, you weren't going
to get through the individual portion of this challenge unless
you wanted it more than anything in your life. Because
they would take us and I know you can't feel

(44:39):
the heat through a TV screen, but they would take
us to a field at twelve o'clock in the afternoon
and say, run thirty laps across this field and then
or the dunes run up. If you didn't really want it,
and you weren't in good shape, you weren't gonna make
it through. Whereas that's not necessarily the same as some
of the past seasons.

Speaker 3 (45:00):
Sometimes you could have a partner.

Speaker 2 (45:01):
Maybe you and your partner work really well together, other
partners don't.

Speaker 3 (45:05):
Maybe, you know, All Starts four.

Speaker 2 (45:08):
I don't know that that one where they got to
go into whatever room they got to go into. That's
felt kind of chancey, right, you know, the one where
it was like, Okay, I think someone picked the order.
You know, I think it was car or something got
to pick who got in, who got to go into
what room in what order? I mean, I'm sorry, that's
luck of the draw at that point. I mean, you

(45:28):
could either go into a room that suits you, or
you could get the shit end of the stick and
go into a room that absolutely sucks and guess what
you're done.

Speaker 3 (45:36):
So, you know, there are certain.

Speaker 2 (45:38):
Things that I always say in order to win a challenge,
you know, you have to want it, you have to
have the heart, and then you have to have a
little bit of luck.

Speaker 3 (45:49):
Oh yeah, you know, there's got to.

Speaker 2 (45:51):
Be a little bit of luck on your side because
it you know, sometimes like for me, it All starts four,
What are the that I would have such a stacked team?
It was me, Nicole Adam. I can't remember the last person.
But I remember we looked Leleroy, we looked at our
team and we're like, we're gonna win this truck Challenge,
Like we're gonna untie our braid super quick. We've got

(46:14):
nothing but muscles on this team. Not only did we
get last place, but then TJ decides to throw a
curveball and flip it back to girls twice in a row.
So I had just went in and then I had
to go in again. So it was like, what was
the luck there? That could have been a guy's day
and guess what I would have made it through that one,
and then who knows.

Speaker 3 (46:33):
What we'd be talking about right now.

Speaker 2 (46:35):
So you know, there's all kinds of different things that happen.
But I will say that this season forty, there was
a clear goal that I saw from production from a
person who's done this for twenty plus years, and that
was the strongest survive. They wanted this to be a

(46:57):
clash of the Titans in the end. They didn't want
this to be something where it was like, I don't know,
you saw Joe Schmo get through and then you know,
a flip of the coin and Joe Shmo's your second
place or first place. You know, they wanted this to
be a clash of the Titans, and.

Speaker 3 (47:15):
Thus far, I think that it's proving to be just that.

Speaker 1 (47:21):
Yeah, it's stacked up and down, and we get that
in the elimination here this week. I know I had
mentioned it a little bit before we started. I personally,
I've enjoyed the dailies a lot more this season than
the eliminations. I thought that a few of these eliminations,

(47:42):
especially in the last couple episodes, could have been a
bit better. This uh cramping out where they're adding the
polls in and then they're playing high Low for whatever reason,
I don't know. I just didn't love it, but was
it was it?

Speaker 2 (47:59):
I'll tell you this, I mean, And you guys, the
thing is is that the fans are so quick to
jump to this hole like, oh, this is Carnival and
this was not carnivally when you see how bad Johnny
wanted this, when you saw the rounds, and there were
points where I couldn't even believe that they were putting
another poll in and going to do this again. And

(48:21):
I remember thinking to myself, if I was one of
these guys, like I don't know, man, like this is
a long time. You gotta really want this. That's what
they're testing in these eliminations, this last elimination. It may
look CARNIVALI, it may look high and low, it may
look lucky, which, granted, what is the challenge luck?

Speaker 3 (48:40):
There is luck that plays into this.

Speaker 2 (48:42):
They want to showcase everything that has made the challenge
exactly what it is. And this elimination, to me, has
two factors in it.

Speaker 3 (48:50):
One fucking go for it and be lucky. Two never
give up.

Speaker 2 (48:57):
And both of those men, both of them feel and
Johnny both proved that they will never give up. And yes,
Johnny came out with the wind, but you know what,
it could have went. Honestly, it could have went another
way if Johnny was not Johnny and did not have
that drive in him, which when he was done with

(49:18):
that elimination, I turned him and I said, this is
why you are who you are because a million other
people would have said, you know what, have won seven times?
I got my camera time on the season.

Speaker 3 (49:34):
Uh, you know, I'm good. This fine?

Speaker 2 (49:36):
We all really after the sand Dune challenge, we all
were basically like, this final is going to be fucking torture,
like not even in normal like that is probably, and
that does factor in. And I want to also be clear,
Laurel did not quit. Everyone everyone talking about Laurel quit.
Laurel did not quit. She strategically decided to not finish

(49:57):
because she was already last place.

Speaker 3 (49:58):
But she didn't quit.

Speaker 2 (50:00):
She didn't get the memory part, like, I'm sorry, at
one point, she's not gonna finish it. She's still gonna
get last place. There was no doubt as soon as
Michelle takes.

Speaker 3 (50:11):
Off before her.

Speaker 2 (50:13):
And is and I'm sorry. And at some point also
she was never getting her puzzle.

Speaker 3 (50:18):
She was not.

Speaker 2 (50:19):
She was not mentally, you know, there enough to realize
she had to start from the beginning. We couldn't go
back and.

Speaker 3 (50:29):
Just do whatever.

Speaker 2 (50:30):
And she wasn't willing to start from the beginning. She
already knew she was last place. And side note, the
challenge was so fucking hard that we were all like,
who is who? It is a sane person that is
going to sign up for this final So at that
point people did start dropping out, Like I do think

(50:52):
at some point in Theo's mind after being after realizing
that his stamina and it must be something with the UK.
I'm going to say this too, because both him and
Jenny both had very, very very difficult times breathing and
getting used to the climate. So I think that I'm
going to throw them a bone and say that because

(51:12):
the UK climate is probably obviously much cooler and maybe
their air is even a bit different.

Speaker 3 (51:19):
But I'm sorry. I'm from Miami.

Speaker 2 (51:21):
Me and Joshua from Miami were like, throw us in
the fucking Vietnam heat all day long.

Speaker 3 (51:26):
Yeah, like we had zero problem.

Speaker 2 (51:30):
I was like, I will run circles around every single
person here in the heat because I do this for
fun at home. Humidity like this is something I mean,
granted it was more than I had ever really been
used to, but I still at least had the Miami
and me to be like I can handle this, whereas

(51:51):
I think the UK, like THEO and Jenny, I think
they were just like what is this? It was actually
a physical shit, you know, more so than just so.
I think that that did also play into you know,
people's mind frames, and you know how hard you right

(52:12):
around sand dune time, you really do start hearing in
the house a bit more than you did prior to
I'm okay going home, do you know what I mean?
Like people were starting to crack. People were starting to
be like, you know what, been here long, it's great.
But like I think in the you know, people were
starting to say things like, well, if it's my time,

(52:34):
it's my time. Whereas when you start earn shit like that,
I'm in the back like, yeah, maybe it is your time, boom,
is your time? Like I made a very conscious decision
in this challenge to never talk down about it, whether
it was a bunch of people bitching about whatever they
want to bitch about. I was like, I'll give a fuck.
I love it here. It's great. I got three great.

Speaker 3 (52:56):
Meals a day.

Speaker 2 (52:57):
I got a fucking I don't know what the hell
you want to call this place a mansion castle to
live in. I had my own fucking wing because everyone
on my team had left and they separated us in eras,
so like week three, I had no roommates.

Speaker 3 (53:12):
I had basically, I mean.

Speaker 2 (53:15):
The largest room you've ever seen and the largest closet
you've ever seen.

Speaker 3 (53:19):
To myself, when does that happen on a challenge? Never?

Speaker 2 (53:23):
And I got used to it, and I said, you
know what, I'm here, I don't care. I did avoid
the outside at all costs when we weren't competing because
when we first got there, everyone was like so quick
to be at the pool, and so was I for
a second, and then I was like, nah, I'm good
like staying indoors. But anyway, that's side notes. So yeah,
I don't know where we're going with that, but basically

(53:46):
basically people are cracking. Oh and basically the eliminations if
you look at them, besides probably Johnny and Ryan's, which
was very, very flimsy, I would not want that one, yeah,
for just the reason that it, Yeah, I required I mean, listen,
it did require, you know, strategy because as you were
going around the circles, what people don't realize is that

(54:07):
the sand starts to accommodate, and if you hit it
in the wrong spot and you go too deep into
the sand, your thing will slow down. So you had
to kind of create a path for.

Speaker 3 (54:18):
Yourself, right.

Speaker 2 (54:20):
But that was probably a great challenge for Ryan because
it gave him some sort of shot, to be honest,
like it really did. It ended up not working out
for him, but that one could have potentially went anyway.

Speaker 3 (54:34):
You know.

Speaker 2 (54:35):
Derek's I thought was genius. The basketball picking up the pegs.
I absolutely love that with all the controversy, I don't
give a shit.

Speaker 3 (54:42):
It was absolute.

Speaker 2 (54:43):
It was absolutely genius mine versus John a absolutely genius.
Like putting the things on the spikes. I'll do that
all day long. And I loved it. And there was strategy.
As soon as I got ahead in it, I started
playing defense. So it was like, you know what I mean,
and not a that, but I started and if they
show me do it, I started throwing all the balls

(55:04):
I could when I got my hands on it, into
the out of bounds area so that she didn't have
any balls left either.

Speaker 3 (55:09):
That was strategy.

Speaker 2 (55:11):
Like I think after the cast saw me do that
challenge or that elimination, they realized that they weren't playing
with a dummy, you know what I mean, Like they
realized that like okay, like this is a woman who
really knows what she's doing, you know.

Speaker 1 (55:27):
And the ones the first half of the season, they
were they were great. Like you were saying, they're all good.

Speaker 2 (55:34):
They're never going to be ninety percent physical and they're
never going to be you know, ninety percent mental like puzzly,
They're gonna be all over the place. That's what makes
it the challenge. You never fucking know, you know, And
when people complain about it, I'm.

Speaker 3 (55:53):
Like, you know, I get it.

Speaker 2 (55:56):
I get where they're coming from, because there's a ton
of people who just want to see like headbangers all
day long.

Speaker 3 (56:03):
But I don't.

Speaker 2 (56:04):
I want to see Tina beat Like I want to
see a Tina beat in Emily.

Speaker 3 (56:07):
I want to see an Amiah be to Cet.

Speaker 2 (56:10):
You know, Like I think those kind of things in
the challenge are what make it so special.

Speaker 1 (56:15):
Yeah, so it makes it so that we're not seeing
the same four or five people when every single season.

Speaker 2 (56:22):
Even though it's crazy if you think about it, you're like,
how the fuck does Johnny like end up making this
or like Toy end up making this many finals. There
are some people who seem to have a consisting amount
of obviously drive and they're obviously good at the game,
but also luck on their side, Like it's consistent, you
know what I mean, because like I remember, at some

(56:44):
points I was just in shock of how like things
kind of work out for people. But you know, absolutely,
I think I think that is the absolute point that
they are trying to make. But I will say once
the game went individual, there was it felt like there
was a lot less luck and a lot more skill

(57:04):
and physicality because it didn't like the Team one teams
that was very lucky, like you know what I mean,
Like you just didn't know it was very lucky.

Speaker 1 (57:17):
And Johnny here with his win. I saw somewhere on
social media. He now has six wins in a row
on MTV versions, so he's been finding his stride.

Speaker 2 (57:32):
Now.

Speaker 1 (57:33):
I'm sure you were even happier when he wins knowing
you're safe, Olivia Michelle or what about what about.

Speaker 3 (57:39):
He's like, who's cheering for me?

Speaker 2 (57:40):
And like even Jenny were like so like timid, I'm
like me, like I had no problem putting my hand
up in the air, but that's I just think that
is who I am. Like if I am riding with somebody,
I don't give a shit who knows. So at that
point I was just like me, but no, abolutely listen,

(58:00):
Johnny is where he is at in this career of
his for a reason.

Speaker 3 (58:06):
And I said it to him.

Speaker 2 (58:07):
I'm like, I've never seen anybody who has could fall
down and potentially up walked away plenty of times.

Speaker 3 (58:15):
Like he could say, listen, I'm good, you know whatever.

Speaker 2 (58:20):
He's never gonna leave she's gonna keep coming back. Like there,
that's to the point where you're just like, you know,
it's like, if you can't beat them, join them. It's
like that, here's the definition of that, because it's just
like after a while, you're just like, I'm gonna stop
ramming my head into this pole and I'm just going
to play nice.

Speaker 3 (58:39):
You know.

Speaker 2 (58:40):
And I mean, he did show me things about himself
on this season that you know, I don't know if
they'll highlight as much, but he's, like I said, he's
probably maybe keeps it under wraps a little bit, but
he is absolutely a guy who really loves women and

(59:02):
the company of women, and that to me, I mean,
I know a lot of straight guys who will claim
to be straight up and down and you know, love women,
but not enjoy hanging out with them and talking to
them and getting to know them and chatting. He's that guy,
so you know that I really appreciate and anyways, so like,

(59:25):
but yeah, side note, of course, he's won six times
in a row. Guess what, because he's never fucking going away,
Like even if he had lost the last four out
of six, we'd still be here talking about his win
because he would have been back.

Speaker 1 (59:39):
You know, you were very right about this elimination. It
was definitely one that was who wants it more. THEO
obviously did give a good effort, being his height and
all of that, the fact that he kept going through
that cylinder. I gave him a lot of credit for that.

Speaker 2 (59:58):
He's amazing, a so amazing. I love I love THEO
and like I.

Speaker 3 (01:00:03):
Just love him.

Speaker 1 (01:00:05):
Yeah, he goes out here, thirteen people left. I mean,
obviously we got to be getting close. I'm sure you
guys at this point are thinking the final every day
is coming closer and closer. What was that like after
this elimination, Are you guys thinking, you know, maybe one

(01:00:25):
more elimination and we're going to the final or where's
the mind?

Speaker 2 (01:00:29):
No? I mean I think we all knew we had
a little bit more than one, okay, but you know
there was talk people were kind of like, you know,
everyone tries to figure out how this is going to
break down. Sure, and I think there were a lot
of people that were hoping and praying and kind of
building the rumor that maybe they'd bring five and five
to the final because we started with forty and you know,

(01:00:51):
it's such a monumental season and maybe we'll go with
ten to the final. Who knows, you guys will have
to watch and see. I have no idea, but like
those kind of rumors were starting, So, yes, did we
know we were we were very close.

Speaker 3 (01:01:06):
We knew we were close, but we're not. We didn't never,
no one ever thought they were going to take twelve
people to the final.

Speaker 2 (01:01:12):
So we knew we had at least like two or
three more challenges. Granted, do they could do another purge,
they could, you know, we just didn't know. But based
on the amount of time that we had to clear
our schedule, and based of the amount of time that
we were there, which is what basically goes into you know,

(01:01:32):
all the conspiracy theories that go around the house, we
knew we had a little bit left in the game.
And it's you know, at this point, there is not
one person who was playing not to win. So in
terms of the challenges, like even if it was a
guy's day or a girl's day, didn't matter. You just

(01:01:54):
you were trying to make a name for yourself, you
were trying to put a stamp on it, you were
trying to build you know, relationship. Still, so everyone is
playing to get that first place, and you know, everyone
is playing to avoid obviously that last place.

Speaker 1 (01:02:12):
And it's been so fun. I know, we as a
fan base have really been enjoying it. The fact that
there are so many strong everybody loves is a strong competitor,
and it's just it's going to be so cool to
see how this season plays out, and I am very
excited for it. I'm so happy that we had the

(01:02:33):
time to speak to you today, Rachel.

Speaker 2 (01:02:35):
Gosh, thank you so much. Challenge fanatics, You're going to
be in for a treatment. I'll do podcasts for everybody.

Speaker 3 (01:02:42):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:02:42):
I don't, and I honestly do believe that I come
with obviously a strong opinion, but also a different point
of view. I think there are a lot of the
same povs that on the show kind of get narrated
by the same group of you know, we'll call them
the male speakers for the Challenge, you know, and they
just constantly speak for the entire franchise, and unfortunately, the

(01:03:06):
Challenge fans just like eat it up like it's fact.
And the truth is is that there are so many
different point of views on this and there are so
many different ways to play this game, and you know,
we are all kind of like creating our own legacies
and our own ways of playing it. And so I

(01:03:28):
will just say that I genuinely love talking about it
because I do think that I come with a unique
point of view or maybe just a different voice on it,
you know.

Speaker 1 (01:03:39):
You do. And I really appreciate hearing everything about how
things have went thus far in Vietnam. We're looking forward
to seeing how the rest of the season plays out.

Speaker 3 (01:03:49):
We made It's crazy.

Speaker 2 (01:03:50):
I just have to say this, this season delivers in
every single way you wanted it to. Like, yeah, I
was just I remember sitting back and watching it and
being like, this couldn't be any better.

Speaker 3 (01:04:02):
Like you've got people genuinely falling in love.

Speaker 2 (01:04:05):
You have Michelle and Devin who are still together. You
feel in Olivia who are still together. You have and
they were really together, you know, and then and that's nice.
I love seeing like people kind of find each other
in under the umbrella of a Challenge House. And then
you've got these real rivalries, I mean, the Michelle Tory

(01:04:25):
versus Johnny rivalry that's happening right now.

Speaker 3 (01:04:29):
It is some deep shit.

Speaker 2 (01:04:30):
It's not you know, it's sure everyone can play up
their rivalries for like the show in the sense of giving,
you know, giving the moments that people want.

Speaker 3 (01:04:42):
But there's nothing fake to this. It is very real,
It is very.

Speaker 2 (01:04:46):
Deep, and you know, that's the kind of that's what
makes the challenge the challenge. It's not just a bunch
of fucking random people plucked out of their lives and
put together.

Speaker 3 (01:04:57):
We give history, we.

Speaker 2 (01:04:59):
Have friendships, we have relationships, we have you know, bad blood,
good blood. Like, there's so many things that are come
to the table and this show highlights it all because
you just see the way people ride for each other,
you know.

Speaker 1 (01:05:14):
And it's been great to see and the fact that
it's you know, not been manufactured to this point has
been really fun. Yeah, like you mentioned, we know, you know,
you have your Rachel Fitness and everything going on, so
let our listeners know where they can check you out
on all your platforms.

Speaker 2 (01:05:33):
So basically I use the Rachel Fitness Basically my name
is not Rachel Robinson anymore.

Speaker 3 (01:05:38):
It's basically Rachel Fitness.

Speaker 2 (01:05:39):
You can ask any of my kids friends like they're like,
it's Rachel Fitness. So on Instagram you can find me
Rachel Underscore fitness, and I do have plenty of workouts
I leave up on Instagram as kind of a teaser.
They're thirty minute workouts. Every single workout I do is
thirty minutes. It's all strength training, so it's all lifting.

(01:06:00):
I really believe if people do these thirty minutes of
lifting and then you walk or jog, or if you
want to do a twenty minute walk, thirty minute walk,
whatever you want to.

Speaker 3 (01:06:07):
Do, or if you want to do nothing else in
your day and just go about your day.

Speaker 2 (01:06:10):
But I believe in these I know these workouts will
get you into amazing shape. So there's where you can
find me on Instagram, also on TikTok and everything else.
It's all Rachel Underscore Fitness. And my website is rachelfitness
dot com and there you can subscribe, and if you subscribe,
you can use the challenge forty as a coupon code

(01:06:32):
when you check out, it'll give you ten percent off.
It comes to like less than like seventy dollars a month,
and you basically get thousands and thousands of workouts, meal plans,
treadmill runs, like shorter workouts of let's say you want
to do like ten minutes of abs or five minutes
of butt.

Speaker 3 (01:06:48):
You know. So I've been doing this for a long.

Speaker 2 (01:06:53):
Time, and I take a lot of pride in how
I strategically do my workouts.

Speaker 3 (01:06:59):
So I am a very strategic person.

Speaker 2 (01:07:02):
So yeah, you know, listen, I want to give people
the most fun workout but also the most challenging and
effective workout in thirty minutes. And somehow that actually happens.
Somehow you actually have fun and you're actually doing one
of the hardest, you know, designed workouts that you can do.

Speaker 1 (01:07:23):
And you should take a ton of pride because I
see all the work on your social media of it
and the website. It's great. So yes, take on.

Speaker 3 (01:07:33):
Thank you, Josh, thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:07:35):
Of course. I'm so glad that we got the time
to talk me too next week to recap episode thirteen
and whatever craziness is coming our way from Hoa Treman
that's coming up.

Speaker 2 (01:07:47):
I'm trying to think, what's the next one again? Oh, well,
you're going to get some good stuff with Michelle and Josh.
So Chell and Josh are about to hit peak level
of drama.

Speaker 1 (01:07:57):
Well there we go. Yeah, buckle up, everybody.

Speaker 3 (01:08:01):
Feele, buckle up baby to break it.

Speaker 1 (01:08:04):
All down and hope you all have a week.

Speaker 3 (01:08:07):
Thank you, Josh, I'll talk to you soon.