David Wright, Victoria Baamonde and Gavin Whitson Talk Rick Devens | The Survivor 50 Files

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[00:02:45] [SPEAKER_02] Today we're talking Rick Davids. I should have listened to his little intro thing so I could have done it. I didn't do that. Not prepared, but we have a great guest. One of my favorite players of all time, when I got voted off, I said, sometimes when you play Survivor, you're David Wright. I was David wrong. It's a great line, didn't make my final words. It's David Wright. David, how are you?

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_06] Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun. This just into the Survivor newsroom. Christian Hupicki is still talking. Q is still canceling Christmas, and Rick Devins still in the game. There you go. That's all I got. I'm doing well. How are you?

[00:03:19] [SPEAKER_03] Did you write that for him? Because he's going to say that word for word. That's pretty on the money.

[00:03:24] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah, I heard he's actually, as we know, the game is happening right now. He's still recording cameos. The guy doesn't quit. By the way, I've got my rehab mug that Rob gave me like eight years ago.

[00:03:39] [SPEAKER_02] You, David Wright, I'm telling you, there's been few people that I've seen on Survivor that made me want to go play more than I thought I already did, and you are one of those people. So I'm so thrilled that you're here chatting.

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_06] I know. It's so cool to be here to talk to you. Yeah, we were talking a little bit beforehand, and we remembered that we actually met before you ever played Survivor, but after I had my first time in Hearts of Reality in Florida in 2017.

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_02] And now we're here.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_06] And now we're here. We're talking about Rick Devins. Rick Devins? Oh, shit. I thought, oh, crap.

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_03] This is free for all. We're cursed. Rob's not here. Rob's in Scotland.

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER_06] Oh, yeah. What's he going to do? Do you watch The Traitors? Are you a Traitors fan? I love The Traitors. I mean, here's the thing. I love The Traitors. I love watching it. It's kind of ridiculous how weighted it is for The Traitors to win. It's like you can kill them, and then they just respawn, because obviously we have to get to like 12 episodes. That said, I love it. It's so much fun to watch.

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_02] Would you rather be Traitor or Faithful if you were Traitor?

[00:04:40] [SPEAKER_06] Oh, Traitor, definitely. That's the fun. I mean, because you don't have to be— Well, I mean, I guess Traitors don't always know who the other Traitors are. But yeah, it's way more fun. You know more, and you can just kind of—it's just fun to lie.

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_02] It's fun to lie. I love lie. Nobody loves lying with me. On your two tours of Survivor, David, do you like— I feel like you had a great two times. You had a really fun, really exciting two times. And I think that a lot of folks who go back and they do a second round, like it doesn't always go, I feel like, as well. But I feel like you really—you had a good trip twice.

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah, yes and no. I, you know, certainly people have had worse. But— People have had worse. Yeah. Yeah, well, yeah. But, but yeah, I, it, you know, I wish it had gone a lot better than it did. You know, and obviously I was relieved to get the edge conceit, you know, so there was a safety net. Of course, it didn't end up—you know, I had like advantages that I got on the edge to get back into the game. Didn't matter. I don't know. I think I'm just terrible at challenges.

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_03] Wow. You're talking to the right guy.

[00:05:50] [SPEAKER_06] Okay, good. Yeah, simpatico.

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_02] Let's talk about Rick Davins. Are you guys in the Edge of Extinction pregame? Are you with the other 14 folks? Or you guys are actually on a separate resort? And then you joined in that first day.

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_06] The way it worked in my—you know, who knows how it works these days. But the way it worked with me is Kelly and I, Wentworth, were on our own little island. And then we didn't know about Joe and Aubrey. We only met them, I think, I don't know, 20 minutes before the game started. They pulled up in a boat like, oh, Joe and Aubrey. And I know Aubrey. It's like, damn, I wish I had mentioned to Aubrey beforehand that I was going to be playing a second time and wish he had mentioned to me. Obviously, it didn't matter. We were on different tribes.

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_06] But yeah, so I don't know how they would do an entire returning season of now, I guess, what? 22 players? Or 20 players? 22. 24.

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_02] We've got 24 people out there. In 26 days, we're doing 24 people.

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_06] That sounds kind of awful for them, I mean. But yeah. Sorry, do you think that they're going to do a... I feel like this would be just so cruel in this era, but do you think they're going to do the thing where they instantly eliminate one person at the beginning of the season, like they haven't passed?

[00:07:06] [SPEAKER_02] Well, with an expedited timeline, the theory that people are floating around is that only one tribe will win immunity out of three, and then it'll be two tribes going to tribal council for those first five, I guess, cycles. Okay, that's good. But that's still... That's five... I do... My theory, which I don't know if I've said on here, I think we're going to expand into the two-hour episode for at least the first couple weeks because it's going to be so much. It is. It is. 90... You know, the Australian Survivor seasons,

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_02] which... Do you watch the Australian Survivor?

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_06] I used to, but it's been a long time.

[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_02] I'm not caught up. They have folks who are on there who will go to episode eight, nine, ten, and they will have one confessional. You know, and I don't think that they want to do that with like their prized group that they've now put together. Yeah. Which? Rick Devins, your good friend. If Rick Devins is going to get one confessional, he's not going to get one confessional. He's going to get so many more.

[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah, bro. He's going to... You know what? Reddit is going to love it. Because they love when people get screen time. Yeah.

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_02] What was your... You get back to your camp. What was your first impression of Rick Devins after having talked with him a little bit?

[00:08:18] [SPEAKER_06] Oh, I instantly connected with him and felt that, oh, I'm so like relieved because, you know, you just don't know what to expect meeting new people. And I instantly like, you know, had like a rhythm with him. And he was like, he's hysterical, which this is back when it was a 39-day game. But for that, like the time is all you want out there. You know, the laughter, like it's a stress reliever. And yeah, he's just like a hoot to be around. And yeah, so I think like,

[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_06] not to get ahead of this or any of your questions, but I think if Rick can get to final try ball, and that's a big if, but if he can, I think he's got a great chance of winning because he is so likable. And he plays very hard too. So there's things to reward.

[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah, he, you know, he also is coming into this with, I think a huge advantage where he did get voted out in the pre-jury his first time playing. He is the only person of this 24 people who has had that happen to them. I don't know what the advantage is to that, but I think that's something.

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_06] I think it is. I mean, you know, once you've gone through it, you know what that feels like, you know how you're going to react to it. And hopefully he can avoid it this time. Yeah. And the thing is, you know, going back to like his, his, his challenge prowess or prowess in the challenges, I sent him an advantage from the edge. And then when I got to tribal, I saw that he was wearing the immunity access. I'm like, oh great. My advantage helped him. And then I watched it on TV. It's like, he didn't even need my advantage. He was doing great in the challenge.

[00:09:51] [SPEAKER_06] He's going to win it anyway. So I feel really great about his chances.

[00:09:55] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. You know, he's an underrated challenge beast. And I feel like when people are looking at this, like cast graphic, which, which we can show is, you know, you have your Aussies, you have your Joes, you have your Colby's, you know, from, from days of yore, but Rick was pretty good. Really pretty good at those later half of the challenges.

[00:10:11] [SPEAKER_06] Really, really good. I mean, not only a, yeah, I mean individual. And I think also team, he really, he, he was always pulling his weight. I don't think I always was, but he definitely was.

[00:10:22] [SPEAKER_02] You and me both my friend. Did you find that his, his business that he's in, like when he was newscasting and then jumps to survivor, was that an advantage to him? Do you think of knowing how like television production works in a way that the other people that are on the team, maybe don't.

[00:10:38] [SPEAKER_06] I'm not so sure about knowing how production works, but I think being comfortable instantly from the minute your boots hit the ground and being comfortable in front of the camera. I think that's very helpful. Um, a lot of people can get a little gun shy, uh, and especially a tribal, you know, because you feel like anything you say tribal probably is going to end up, uh, on the air, especially if you're not saying that much. So you better say something good. But yeah, I think like being comfortable in front of the camera, I think is a big advantage for him. Um, but also when he,

[00:11:08] [SPEAKER_06] when he was like newscasting and going out on, on, you know, field reporting and stuff and interviewing people, strangers, he just has a way of connecting with strangers. And the thing is, these aren't really strangers. He probably has met maybe almost all of the cast members that are going to, that are happening right now, playing the season. So yeah, I think he's, he's, he's propped up for it's his game to lose.

[00:11:30] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. He, he is a really interesting like survivor cast. Like I feel like in season 38, you don't see a lot of people like him. And I think that, you know, Aubrey, I think in season 32, and I think you inspire a whole new wave of casting where I feel like he is there because of a blueprints that were laid before him.

[00:11:48] [SPEAKER_06] I mean, I feel like, uh, we, we, we all kind of like have the guy or girl who, uh, you know, was, was there first. Like for me, I think like Cochran is like what inspired me to play survivor. That's when I saw myself, I feel like the first time, but I mean, really you can go back before Cochran and he got fish back and, and, and Rob, I mean, honestly, he's kind of the, the, not, not quite on the level of, of, you know, nerd that Cochran maybe is or whatever, but, and then my God, Christian Hubecki is the,

[00:12:17] [SPEAKER_06] the poster child now for that archetype. But, and I guess we didn't, I guess, did we have any newscasters? I mean, before Rick, I'm trying to think.

[00:12:26] [SPEAKER_02] I don't think so. He's just like, for like the, the dad age guy to be so like exuberant and funny. Like, I feel like it's, it was a new like spin on something that we had seen quite a few times. Have you, David, have you been watching survivor linearly or have you taken time off?

[00:12:43] [SPEAKER_06] I always watch it. Like I never, I never miss an episode. I, you know, I don't have the same relationship that I had with it before playing. Um, you know, I don't think I'll ever go back, say, and, and watch Pearl islands or whatever, which before I played survivor, you know, I watched seasons again and again, and I just really loved it. Now I don't quite get the same thing out of it that I did before playing, but yeah, I'm still, I'm caught up. I've seen every episode.

[00:13:08] [SPEAKER_02] You, I think you yourself and Aubrey both inspire this wave of casting. Whereas you guys were, you had a transformational experience in this really complicated game. And I feel like the new era really has leaned into like, they are looking for folks who want that transformational experience. Walt's the game is happening around them. Um, is there, is that any thought that you've had while watching it? You see a lot more folks who are going to like break out of their shell, if you will, or, or they're looking for something from survivor.

[00:13:36] [SPEAKER_02] That isn't just that million dollars that you and Aubrey were looking for. You had this transformational experience along the way.

[00:13:43] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we see that a lot now, you know, and I, I honestly, I always get kind of nervous when I see the bio package or whatever come up when they, when they start, you know, digging deeper into who they are off the Island. And, and maybe the struggle that they're going with, I'm like, Oh no, maybe they might be going home tonight. Sometimes it happens. Sometimes it doesn't. So they keep you guessing, but yeah, that's definitely a real, a huge aspect to the show now. And I think like, obviously for anybody trying to get cast, don't make anything up,

[00:14:10] [SPEAKER_06] but if you have any kind of personal struggle or something you're trying to overcome or have, I think that's a thing you better be putting in your audition video.

[00:14:18] [SPEAKER_02] For sure. Um, you know, I, I, you see it a lot more now. And I think that your story of this evolution that you have, I mean, you really, what do you think that survivor, like if you had to put a word on it or, you know, a couple, what did survivor give you? Like, what's the lesson that now eight years later, what's the thing that you carry with day to day that you didn't have before survivor?

[00:14:38] [SPEAKER_06] I mean, for me, the, the, what it really was, it was, um, liberating because I think before survivor, I mean, I had, I still have anxiety, obviously it doesn't, it doesn't take your anxiety away. Um, nothing really could, but, uh, but it, it gave me, um, kind of permission, I think to be myself and to be comfortable in, in my own skin and not feel like I had to hide my insecurities and flaws. Because once it's on national television, it's like, Oh, I'm kind of free now.

[00:15:05] [SPEAKER_06] Like I don't have to hide because everybody knows who I am, what I'm about. And I could just be me. And, and having like those insecurities and those anxieties, um, and having permission to in the real world, you know, not hide them. It gave me confidence that I, I don't think I quite had before that. So yeah, nothing, nothing, but really great came out of it. And, uh, and almost a million dollars.

[00:15:30] [SPEAKER_02] Almost right. You're right there. As was, as was Rick. Did you happen to see, that a similar change in Rick from when you start to day one to day 39, did he feel like a remarkable, I think in his final words that he says at tribal council, that he felt like he had changed. What was that change that you had witnessed?

[00:15:47] [SPEAKER_06] You know, it's funny. And I know I, I believe him that he says he changed. Um, but to be honest, uh, the, he seemed kind of the same to me from, from day that he was on day one, just this kind of gregarious, really fun to be around guy. And, uh, and I, and again, I'm sure he got, he got something internal that, that, um, if he were here right now, he could, you know, weigh in on, but, uh, I know he, he, I didn't notice a huge change, uh, in him. So I don't mean to, I don't mean to, I'm not calling him a liar.

[00:16:17] [SPEAKER_06] I just didn't notice.

[00:16:20] [SPEAKER_03] People are calling him a liar on the Island. Probably. You would assume that people are calling him. Yeah. You know,

[00:16:24] [SPEAKER_06] I just wonder like, you know, how, I hope we're allowed to talk about this, but like how much pre-gaming went on, um, before 50. Cause obviously that's, that's kind of how you win an all returning season. And, uh, I guess if there's too much, it almost, it just becomes irrelevant. Cause you know, you've got like all these side deals with, you know, 22, whatever other people. Um, but yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm so excited for the season premiere, which if my math is correct and it usually is not a final tribal is what? July 1st.

[00:16:54] [SPEAKER_06] Oh, is that right? I believe so. I haven't, I wrote it on my calendar when I, when I heard Jeff say the game started today. I'm like, okay, one, one, three, four, three, 26 July 1st. I think that's so funny.

[00:17:05] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. I'm probably wrong. Yeah. I wasn't sure of the, I want to know so bad, David. I want to know what's happening so bad. And I can't know. None of us know, but I want to,

[00:17:13] [SPEAKER_06] I want to know too. Yeah.

[00:17:15] [SPEAKER_02] I want to know.

[00:17:16] [SPEAKER_06] What are they throwing at him?

[00:17:17] [SPEAKER_02] And then, what do you think in terms of your, your pregame, you'd never had the opportunity to pregame. Cause you only, did you know of Kelly pre landing in Fiji or were you guys blind when you got there?

[00:17:29] [SPEAKER_06] You know, I, so I thought I said, okay, this is cool. I'm sorry. I'm going to go into the weeds here first before I played my first time. I poured so much energy into like trying to figure out what the theme was going to be. And I actually figured it out well before the game started. I was like really proud of myself when I, I even said to Jeff beforehand, I think the theme is millennials versus Gen X. And then when he said it on the Island, I'm like, Oh, that's right. That's so cool. Um,

[00:17:56] [SPEAKER_06] and I tried to figure out the theme for 38 and I thought I had figured it out. And I, and because I thought I'd figured it out, I actually expected Kelly to be there. And when she was, I'm like, Oh, I was right. I wasn't right. I thought it was going to be, I thought, um, it was going to be any returning was going to be somebody who got voted out last, you know, sort of, uh, like the fourth place people. And, uh, so yeah, I thought it was going to be Kelly and God, now I'm blanking on the other guy's name. But, um, but anyway, obviously I was wrong. Didn't matter,

[00:18:24] [SPEAKER_06] but I did expect Kelly to be there, but for the wrong reasons.

[00:18:28] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. So that, but there was no conversation with Kelly up until leaving there. So you, you had an idea she'd be there, but there was no like actual thick of the pregame.

[00:18:37] [SPEAKER_06] Right. And, and you know, what's funny though is because, uh, I did expect her to be there. I did like a deep dive on Kelly Wentworth and, and it kind of affected my, our game a little bit because I'm like, Oh, I don't, I don't think she likes me, which this is not breaking news. I told her this on the edge. I'm like, yeah, I didn't think you liked me. And she's like, why? I said that nice thing about you on, on Rob has a podcast. I'm like, yeah, but anyway, it was, it was a whole, it was a whole thing. But, uh, and not the, not that's, that's not why I targeted her. I just felt like she wasn't going to work with me. Um, and then, and by the way, you know, now,

[00:19:08] [SPEAKER_06] now I'm really getting into the weeds. Who cares? Monday morning quarterbacking game from, uh, eight years ago. Anyhow, uh, but yeah, no pre-gaming with Kelly is the main, is the main point.

[00:19:16] [SPEAKER_02] This is David. One of my top five favorite seasons of the show. I love this. I love, I said it. That was my Dalton Ross shout out. If you're listening, um, you probably not. I, my hot take for him, I think was that it's, it's criminally underrated. Everything about it is so, so good. Um, the whole season.

[00:19:36] [SPEAKER_06] That is an incredibly hot take. That's a boiling hot take. It's a boiling hot take,

[00:19:42] [SPEAKER_02] but I love one of my favorite survivor moments ever. And now if you thought we were in the weeds before, Oh my God, buckle up is Reem gets voted out is walks down the path. And then she has this decision. She reads the plaque and it says like, you can, you can be done. We're happy to let you be done. Or you can go and continue your adventure. And there's the torch there. And she takes a second, like there's a beat. And then she just says, all right. And then takes the torch. And then the episode cuts when she, you know, that's like such good storytelling.

[00:20:12] [SPEAKER_02] You know what I mean? It's really like, it's like how you get involved, you know? And then you have Keith who's right after her, who has this, you know, very long decision of whether Keith wants to go or not. Um, I just think the, the idea of like, how bad do you want it is not in survivor as in your face as it is when you do have the edge of extinction and play. And then it pays out when you get to see Rick Evans, who was fun for four episodes and without the edge of extinction, you know, the game is obviously much different, but we're not talking about Rick right now. You know,

[00:20:42] [SPEAKER_02] Rick might be my guest on this podcast. If not, you know, if not for the edge of extinction.

[00:20:46] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah.

[00:20:47] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. Who knows?

[00:20:48] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah, that's really true. Um, yeah. Okay. You know what? I, I like that defense of, uh, of liking that season and you're right. I, how bad do you want it was definitely in your face that, that season. And it's like these days we don't, um, I feel like we don't have those challenges anymore where you have to like, keep your hand on something, uh, or, uh, you know, they're really likely remember there was that one poll and was it in, uh, Thailand or wherever, where they were like for hanging onto a pole for like, 12 hours or something.

[00:21:18] [SPEAKER_06] Like the sun went down in Palau.

[00:21:21] [SPEAKER_02] Yes. Tom and Ian were on there for 11 hours.

[00:21:24] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. And didn't he just quit? He's like, you know what? It's here. Oh man.

[00:21:28] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. Tom wore him down. I think they, you know, Ian was so unrelenting for, for 10 and a half hours. And then that last half hour is like, I think I'm all right. I'll just, I'll hop. Yeah. I mean, with the 26 days, which I, variations of the show, but you do miss that. Um, and then I think like when it's at the expense of really good storytelling, the 26 days,

[00:21:56] [SPEAKER_02] I think that's when it feels worse to me. Like the actual format of the game. I've always said another hot take is if they never told you the days to begin with, you never would notice.

[00:22:05] [SPEAKER_06] Like as a viewer. A hundred percent. I agree. Although I guess, um, we haven't ever had a day or a, uh, when, since the game has been 26 days, we've never had a loved ones visit, right?

[00:22:16] [SPEAKER_02] No. And that does suck. And that's the extent of storytelling also is that you're missing such a great moment.

[00:22:22] [SPEAKER_06] And it's, and maybe they'll bring it back, but it is a little weird. It's like, dad, I saw you two weeks ago.

[00:22:29] [SPEAKER_03] You dropped me off at the airport. You're wearing the same shirt. How is that with your dad? Does your dad still revel in that experience with you guys?

[00:22:38] [SPEAKER_06] I, you know, no, it's funny. Like when I told my, um, my dad and my step mom that I was going to play survivor, they, they could not have been less, uh, excited or interested really. Um, and, uh, and I, and honestly, I think they just didn't get it. Like, why are you doing, you're doing what, what? So I think they just thought it was kind of a weird thing to do. Um, but yeah, I mean, my dad had fun in Fiji for like three or four days, whatever it was for him, hanging out with everyone else's, uh, parent and brother. Um, but yeah, no, he,

[00:23:08] [SPEAKER_06] uh, I mean, I know he, he doesn't regret it, but no, it's not really anything that he talks about.

[00:23:14] [SPEAKER_03] It's a fun trip to be, I guess it's just a vacation. It's a private vacation.

[00:23:17] [SPEAKER_06] Probably his lack of interest is what would even drive someone like me to do a reality TV show. Cause obviously I'm like searching for love from somewhere. I got to get it from somewhere.

[00:23:27] [SPEAKER_03] I've always wanted to do like the deep dive on the loved ones visit for the, like these, these are now eight strangers who are like, kind of have something in common that they have to travel together.

[00:23:37] [SPEAKER_02] They're in the same resort and you have to, I mean, people that go on survivor sometimes are unpleasant. Like you have to imagine there are unpleasant loved ones that like, there's a whole second game that's happening, you know, throw a camera crew there.

[00:23:50] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. A hundred percent. I mean, obviously we don't do the loved ones, so there's no one to point at, but, but yeah, I mean, in fact, my, my first time specifically, my, they were all told the loved ones not to discuss or, you know, give up who your, your player was that, you know, the name and stuff. So, but the thing is everybody did except my dad. It's like, well, dad, once everybody, but you gives it up, there's, you might as well, but no, he wouldn't, he would not say,

[00:24:19] [SPEAKER_06] they thought they were convinced that, that I was in the CIA. And, you know, and because I was like, my dad was like, so secretive about who I was. He's, he's keeping it close to the best. Sometimes, you know,

[00:24:34] [SPEAKER_03] it's like the Kenny Rogers song. You got to know when to hold him. You know, he's keeping it, even a federal.

[00:24:38] [SPEAKER_06] Totally. And it's crazy. Cause he's, he's, he's really not such a rule follower, but maybe he thought that if he broke the rules, he'd be, you know, sabotaging my chances, but obviously it didn't matter.

[00:24:50] [SPEAKER_02] Can I ask you about the, now you play with Aubrey also, you know, tangentially, you guys spend time on the edge of extinction together. What is your Aubrey take going into season 50?

[00:24:59] [SPEAKER_06] Um, I am very curious actually to see how she does because, well, when I saw her get off the boat 20 minutes before our marooning, um, I was like, Oh wow. Cause I think at that time she had played again within like a year, maybe. And, uh, and, and, you know, not my, not my business, uh, or whatever, but I thought, Oh man, I wonder if it's like too soon for her. That was her, I think, I think third time, right? Cause this is her fourth time,

[00:25:29] [SPEAKER_06] correct?

[00:25:30] [SPEAKER_02] Yes. She was 32, 34 and 38. So this was like within two years, she's playing three times.

[00:25:35] [SPEAKER_06] Okay. Yeah. Yeah. And I think I just felt like, Oh, that's, that's too much, uh, you know, in a small amount of time. Um, although when you say years, it's like, I wasn't really that bad, but, uh, it does take a while to get over the experience. And, um, so, and she seemed like a little, um, she seemed like she was still like living in the survivor space in a way that was detrimental to her game. And I think now that enough time has passed since 38, um, and I think she's given birth. Um, I,

[00:26:03] [SPEAKER_06] I think she might be propped up to do much, much better than she did, uh, in, in 38.

[00:26:09] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. I'm, I'm shocked that she wanted to go. Like I've never, I've never met her or interface with her in any way, but she was never somebody that I considered to be on my radar for wanting to go again, especially after the last time, which did not look fun for her.

[00:26:24] [SPEAKER_06] She keeps it close to the vest. Like, as I said, what, I mean, I guess I did too, but like when, when I, she got off that boat, I'm like, what you're here.

[00:26:34] [SPEAKER_02] The new era folks, I don't think we'll ever have that because everybody is so connected, but you may have been the last time that you show up. And you just, you don't know. You know what I mean? Like even in the full all-star seasons, like I guess winners at war, everybody has an idea. It's only 40 people who could be there potentially. Um, but you were the first, or maybe the last person, just like Aubrey, Aubrey from the other day when we were hanging out, you know, that's very, it's an interesting experience.

[00:26:59] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. Oh man. It was so frustrating. I, you know, it's funny like talking about edge right now. Like it, it feels like yesterday, but it was, but we shot it in 2018, which is just crazy to me how much time has passed. But, but yeah, uh, Aubrey, man. Yeah. It's, it was nuts. It was bonkers. I wish we had, um, been on the same tribe. I think we would have done a lot better.

[00:27:21] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. I think you guys would have made sense. And then having Kelly and Joe and the other tribe would have also made sense. I'm just because of like, you know, I don't know what that theme is, but, um,

[00:27:30] [SPEAKER_06] do you miss themes? Do you wish we had themes again? A hundred percent. I miss themes. Um, you know, it's funny. Jeff came to, um, my friend's, uh, dinner party. This was, uh, I think right after I'd done edge, but before it had aired. And, um, and he actually put it to the table. There's like, I don't know, eight of us. He's like, do you guys like themes? Cause I'm, we're thinking about not doing themes. I'm like, no, no, no, Keep the themes. Themes are great. And, uh, and he didn't take that advice clearly. And I don't, I don't know that we've seen the last of themes. I think like,

[00:27:58] [SPEAKER_06] I actually thought 50 was going to be a second chance season. Um, and obviously it wasn't, but I do think we will see a second chance season again. So that's obviously that's a theme, but yeah, I miss themes. You miss themes, right?

[00:28:09] [SPEAKER_13] I miss themes.

[00:28:11] [SPEAKER_02] You know, it's going to be funny when they do the Jeff always does in these all-star seasons, like, Oh, we ran this challenge in, you know, here's villains and 41 and 45. Like, it just doesn't sound as like, you know, I'll take, I'll take the heroes, healers, whatever they, whatever that was, do that again.

[00:28:29] [SPEAKER_03] You know,

[00:28:29] [SPEAKER_06] I a hundred percent agree because it's even like, like, you know, quote unquote, maybe crappy theme like that is still fun. Like I love when Jeff swings even on a bad theme or whatever, because it's, it's just, I don't know. It adds to the fabric that is survivor. And it's just fun to like talk about and watch. And, and I think it was Zeke, you know, my, my favorite theme is second chance. And, and, and we were, I was talking with Zeke this back when it was airing healers, heroes, heroes, healers, hustlers. And it's like, nobody really kind of,

[00:28:59] [SPEAKER_06] as Zeke said, nobody really identifies as like, you know, Oh, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a healer. I'm a hustler. You don't really have that, but everybody can relate to a second chance. So I think like the more relatable you can make the themes, the better. And I think they were just kind of having trouble, you know, coming up with themes that, that made sense that were relatable and that fit whatever cast they had, because they had the cast first and then they figure out the thing. Except for second chance.

[00:29:25] [SPEAKER_02] I was always surprised. They didn't just stick with like brains, beauty brawn makes sense for survivor. Like it makes sense for whatever. And it doesn't necessarily change the, you know, naming conventions of the show, but just do that every time. You know what I mean? Like that works every time. They did it twice.

[00:29:40] [SPEAKER_06] And it, and it gives you a lens, a point of view to approach things that happen in the game and, and conversations at tribal. I know Reddit, you know, or whatever would get really annoyed. Like, Oh, like for millennials, Gen X is like, Oh really? You're talking about how people tax. I'm like, but no, it's kind of fun. Whatever. Let's have the debate. Let's have the discussion.

[00:29:58] [SPEAKER_02] There was a, there was a tribal council on millennials versus Gen X about like Jeff randomly brought up. If you guys have vinyl records, is that right? What was that conversation?

[00:30:05] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah, you did. You did. That's right. I forgot that that even made the air, but I do remember that conversation. And, and what's funny is I think that was like, Oh yeah. The, the older generation has records, but now it's very common for the new generation, younger generation to have vinyl. Like it's, it's kind of the hip thing to do. So it's funny.

[00:30:23] [SPEAKER_02] It's my, my name plate, but they're all right there. You know what I mean?

[00:30:26] [SPEAKER_06] Oh,

[00:30:26] [SPEAKER_02] you know what,

[00:30:27] [SPEAKER_06] what, what, what's your favorite vinyl over there?

[00:30:31] [SPEAKER_02] Hey, listen, 2001. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't,

[00:30:40] [SPEAKER_06] I can't name a single song, unfortunately, but I do know her. Oh my God.

[00:30:44] [SPEAKER_02] Listen, I, my music taste is if, if you found like an, an iPod 2002 dusty, it's pink. That's what, that's what I'm listening to in my rotation. You know, it's a lot of no doubt. It's a lot of Michelle branch. Um, but I wouldn't have it any other way. You know what I mean?

[00:30:59] [SPEAKER_06] I love it. I love it. And is that your primary, what you listen to is, is vinyl records your primary? Yeah. Oh no. I've,

[00:31:06] [SPEAKER_02] I've never listened to it. I just, I bought it more of the, for the collection of it all. It's, I think it's still in this elephant. It's, it's autograph. I don't want to brag. It's autograph. Oh, but I do. We're not listening to them. We all buy them. Us young kids were buying them. We never plug them in. We never put them on the actual thing. We're listening on Spotify. We just like to, there's something really fun about the holding of the vinyl record.

[00:31:30] [SPEAKER_06] Oh my God. Yes. I mean, you know, I, we're on our way out of audio cassettes and then eventually CDs, but yeah, I still would buy the vinyls and I just, yeah, you're right. I love holding it and like opening it up the, you know, the gate fold and then the lyrics or whatever the photos is the best. You're a big classic rock guy. Yeah. Yeah. Actually, I'm saying, I don't know if I'm breaking any copyright rules, but I'm sitting on a stones blanket right now.

[00:31:54] [SPEAKER_03] We'll blur that. That's fine. We'll, we'll, we'll take that out in post. Um, but that's, yeah,

[00:31:57] [SPEAKER_02] I don't know why I remember that, but I remember you being a big classic rock guy. What would have been your, if you're on the edge, you're hungry, you're exhausted. What's the album that gets you through on the edge?

[00:32:07] [SPEAKER_06] Let it bleed. By the stones. Let it bleed. Yeah. Yeah. Which is, it's appropriate. Was there a lot of bleeding on the edge? Were people bleeding? Oh God. Yeah. I bled a bunch. Um, yeah, yeah, it was, it was, it was awful. And I, I had like, um, I was eating a lot of crabs, but I was so hungry. I was eating the shells too. And, uh, it was anyway, it was, it was awful.

[00:32:33] [SPEAKER_02] Rick Evans is the person. I think you had alluded to this, who you want on the edge because he's a fun presence, but you, your whole time on the edge, Rick isn't there. Who's the funny presence for you on the edge. And it could be you. You could be the funny presence for you on the edge.

[00:32:48] [SPEAKER_06] I know. I don't think it was me. I mean, honestly, it's ream. Ream is so uniquely funny without trying to, trying to be. I mean, I feel really bad. Her, um, she was just in town like a week ago with her daughter, seeing her daughter's plan at the, uh, daughter's band play at the whiskey and at, uh, hotel, California or hotel, hotel cafe. And I didn't get a chance to go. And I feel really bad. I said I would. And then I couldn't. Um, but anyway, ream was hysterical on the edge. Uh, it just like, did, you know,

[00:33:17] [SPEAKER_06] just like her honest attitude. Yeah. Well, she, she will tell you what she, you never have to guess what ream is thinking. She'll tell you. And that's just so endearing. And what I love about her, she was easily the funniest and she would give voice to things. We were maybe only thinking, but we're afraid to say.

[00:33:34] [SPEAKER_02] Anybody from the past couple of seasons there, or, you know, the whole history of the show that is not there that you wish was there.

[00:33:40] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. I mean, you know, I would love to see, actually, I would love to see Cochran play again. Um, he's only done it twice. And I, I asked him, uh, when I met him well, before I was ever playing survivor, I ran into him at a, at a, um, forget what are that, that pizza pizza ref where you can build your own pizzas. Um, and I asked him, yeah, I'm like, Hey, would you ever play again? And he's like, well, what would be the point? You know, I could only do the same or worse and probably worse. Right. Uh, so yeah, but I would love to see Cochran play again.

[00:34:11] [SPEAKER_06] What about you? Pull up.

[00:34:12] [SPEAKER_02] You know, I, I really, you look at this group and I love the, the newer era folks. They're like everybody from the new era is like people that you went to high school with is what the analogy that I use is just like, it feels very familial, but they're all, and Rob has said this, like they're all, they can play in two years. You know, I would have rather like let the chapter close with folks where this would be the last time that you're going to get them. Most likely like is Jonathan Penner coming to play survivor in five years? Likely. No, you know,

[00:34:40] [SPEAKER_02] I don't know what space Sean Rector is in. Maybe he can play in five years, but wouldn't it be nice to have him now? You know, um, I think I would have preferred a little bit more of the old guard, um, as opposed to who we have. Um, and I just, this isn't, you know, it's fine, but it's not, it's not the, the season 50 that I would have drawn up myself. Really the season 50 that I'm drawing up myself for the guests from this podcast, everybody, everybody I'm having as a guest throw you guys back out there.

[00:35:08] [SPEAKER_06] Well, I mean, I hear what you're saying. And I, you know, I would say these people are easy to throw under the bus cause we don't know who they are, but season 49, those two slots, but whatever two icons you want to put in there. Um, okay. And of course we don't know like who said yes or no, or, or any of that stuff. But, um, but yeah, I mean, I, I, I don't want to throw anybody under the bus other than those people. I don't know, but, I, I, I do agree that it, you know, it, it doesn't quite look like what you would imagine a season 50 would look like.

[00:35:38] [SPEAKER_06] Um, but at the same time, you know, there's so many people now and, uh, yeah, I don't, it's hard to say what a 50 should look like. Exactly.

[00:35:48] [SPEAKER_02] You had mentioned, um, running into, um, have you run into any of these folks, um, out at survivor events? Anybody that you had a nice interaction with that are playing season 50 that are not Aubrey or Rick Devins?

[00:36:01] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. I, uh, I remember very vividly because it was right before the world ended. Uh, I met Christian Hubecky, uh, at, um, the survivor, uh, third 40 premiere, uh, in February, uh, of 2020. I think all, I think all my dates are right there. Um, and, uh, and yeah, he was very nice at a great conversation with him. And, um, he, he's so like perfectly suited for this game.

[00:36:28] [SPEAKER_06] I think he also has a really good chance to see who else that I meet. Um, I've, um, I've only like texted with coach like on Instagram or DMS or whatever, like years ago, nothing really, uh, nothing to write about.

[00:36:42] [SPEAKER_03] I was coach via text. Is coach a fun texter? Sure.

[00:36:45] [SPEAKER_06] He's kind of funny. Cause, uh, yeah, this is a little closer to like my, my, when my survivor fandom was at its peak and I'm like, Oh my God, coach is so cool. Like, you know, you're one, you're one of my favorites or whatever. He's like, and it just, I forget what he said exactly, but it was something like, uh, yeah, it's pretty cool. Talk to me. And it was like, it was like that kind of vibe. I'm like, Oh, that's so coach. That's perfect.

[00:37:06] [SPEAKER_03] I do wonder how that'll translate on the show. Cause I do think he does that out loud. Also.

[00:37:11] [SPEAKER_02] I wonder how the newer era folks are going to react to, you know, my dear friend, Emily Flippen. I'm, I'm, I'm seated for the Emily and coach interaction. I think that'll be magical.

[00:37:21] [SPEAKER_06] Totally. No, you're right. Like, yeah, coach feels like not only of a different era of survivor, but just like, because of just how unique he is, he's just going to feel like an alien in this game. I think, and, and he might be, uh, up for rude awakening or who knows, maybe actually makes it to the end. I mean, that would be incredible. I'm still like, not even sure what happened with, uh, that, that story where he was, you know, getting hunted or whatever, like the most dangerous game or something.

[00:37:49] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. Right before smartphones that happens, you know, I would have loved to have seen footage, you know, it's like big foot. It's like, I don't know definitively if it happened. Um, but I'm excited for it.

[00:37:59] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. I assume it didn't, but. He did pass a line.

[00:38:05] [SPEAKER_02] One of my, my, one of my favorite survivor confessionals of all time is you talking about your fear of death that ultimately, you know, turns into a fear of life. I want to check in eight years later on the fear of death. Where are we on death at this point?

[00:38:20] [SPEAKER_06] I mean, I still think about it every day, which, uh, you know, I, I don't know if there's a pill I can take for that, but, uh, but yeah, I, I, but I am living my life far more than I was before I played survivor. So the wind is still there in, in terms of like the growth, but yeah, I, uh, I, I think about death every day. Like sometimes I'll wake up in the middle of the night. I'm like, Oh my God, we're all going to die at some point. And, uh, yeah, I don't know. I just can't shake it. I've met other people like that. So I, I don't think it's like so uncommon, but what do you think about it?

[00:38:51] [SPEAKER_06] I don't think about it.

[00:38:53] [SPEAKER_02] And it's so funny when I, well, when I thought about when I did think about it and was thinking about it, it was when I was watching you and I like that, that really aligned with me. Not that I wanted to die while watching it, um,

[00:39:08] [SPEAKER_03] which I do hear how that sounds now. Oh yeah. When I saw you, it was my first time with these, you know,

[00:39:13] [SPEAKER_06] I wanted to die. Oh man, I'm, I'm very, uh, I'm very envious of you being able to like, not think about it. I, I think that's the, I would say that's the worst thing about being human is the knowledge that it's going to end. Like, you know, when I had a dog and I look at my cats, I'm like, Oh my God, it's so great. They have no idea what's coming. They're just blissfully ignorant. And, uh, but yeah, I just think about it every day. It's hard not to, I don't know. I, since I was a kid, by the way, like since I was no joke, like two or three years old, I've thought about it every day.

[00:39:44] [SPEAKER_02] And has it gotten better or has it just changed over that time?

[00:39:48] [SPEAKER_06] I mean, in a way it's gotten worse. Cause I'm getting closer to it. There, there, uh, it reminds me of, uh, there's this, my favorite children's book is, um, it's called, there's a monster at the end of this book and it's Grover. And, and every page is like, please don't turn the page. There's a monster at the end of this book. And you just turn the page, you're getting closer and closer and closer. And that's, that's the, you know, the death at the end of the book. I'm, I'm closer to it than I was when I played survivor. It's like, you know, uh, it's, it reminds me that, uh, Mitch Hedge, Hedgeberg, uh, is that his last name? That joke he's got about, uh,

[00:40:18] [SPEAKER_06] uh, yeah, this is a photo of when I was younger, dude, every photo is a photo of you when you were younger. Yeah. But yeah. So anyway, I think about death all the time and I'm sorry to, to now, no, drag your,

[00:40:30] [SPEAKER_03] that's why I asked. I'm so interested. Yeah. And survivor is a lot like a dad, like getting voted out is that. And I feel like you had really good deaths both.

[00:40:39] [SPEAKER_06] That's dude. That's why I like was drawn. And I'm positive. That's why I was drawn to the game of survivor because it is, I think I even said this maybe in a ponderosa or something, but it is a way to cheat death. Like, you know, you can not really, but, but yeah, you can cheat game death and, and it's, it's like, like, Oh, take that death. I'm going to win. You didn't think I could, but I, but yeah, obviously you go. Eventually I actually, I did die in it. So yeah, I'm going to die three times, I guess.

[00:41:05] [SPEAKER_03] Maybe another time.

[00:41:07] [SPEAKER_02] No, no, you have a really good when you leave the first time. And I think you do as well in the edge of extinction, but when you leave the first time, you have a very nice, like parting words to everybody. Like you address the group. And now the new era kids, David, Me included. Everybody's addressing the group. Everybody addresses the group. Do you like when the group is addressed? You were a pioneer in addressing the group.

[00:41:30] [SPEAKER_06] I'm not sure I was a pioneer, but yeah, I like, um, you know, I think my season the first time, uh, millennials for Jack's, I think was perhaps a reaction to, um, kind of like worlds apart and, and, and, and co-wrong where we saw some people who weren't so super like friendly, um, you know, on the Island and maybe off, who knows? Uh, but I, so I felt really lucky with the cast we got,

[00:41:57] [SPEAKER_06] because I think we were intentionally cast as more likable, uh, maybe less toxic people than, than that, uh, appeared in recent seasons at that point. And so, yeah, if, if, if people are, or have, if that's the airway in still, and maybe even better that in, in that department, um, obviously there are people we can point to like, Oh, that person should not be on, but, um, but maybe, yeah, maybe like it makes sense. Like, you know, Oh, these, these are, these really likable people and you want, you feel compelled to say thank you,

[00:42:27] [SPEAKER_06] uh, and address them. It's like, this wonderful. And that's how I felt. I felt so lucky to get the people that I got.

[00:42:33] [SPEAKER_02] You got a good group. It's a very, very fun group of folks. Um, and even the second time it's a good, it's a good situation. Um, but our good buddy, Rick Devins, how do you think, what's the final, is the final verdict winner for Rick Devins? How do we think the, the story ends for Rick Devins?

[00:42:49] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah, obviously it's, it's hard to say because we can't, we have no idea what his resume is going to look like, but I do think of the, of the people that you had up there, um, he's in my top five in terms of, uh, likely to win. You know, obviously knowing nothing about what happens in the game, but I, I think, um, if he can, hopefully he doesn't end up on a, on a tribe like Manu, uh, where we lost every challenge. We're like, I don't know. Six weeks straight or whatever it was.

[00:43:19] [SPEAKER_06] Uh, hopefully he's on a, on a better, stronger tribe than that. But yeah, I think Rick Devins, solid, solid chance at winning. If you can get to the end, which I think he can.

[00:43:29] [SPEAKER_02] He, you know, he didn't previously, pretty close. You know, it's almost the end, um, that fire challenge, you know, hopefully he's been practicing.

[00:43:38] [SPEAKER_06] Oh my God. I, I, I, first of all, I, um, I mean, this isn't me bragging, uh, but I can start a fire in like under 15 seconds. And I, with a flint, obviously not with a bamboo. We can brag about that. That's impressive. But I just think like, I hope everybody out there can do that because it's, it's very easy to do once, once you know it, it's easy to do, but yeah, come on, man. Rick, you better, you better have learned. You better have improved your fire making skills.

[00:44:04] [SPEAKER_02] Well, we'll see. David Wright. Thank you so much for joining us. Any, anywhere to follow you anywhere you want to direct people?

[00:44:11] [SPEAKER_06] Sure. Yeah. Instagram is my main, uh, source of, uh, social media. And that's, uh, I always, I always say this when I'm on here. I feel like, but my handle is real Dave, And I, I hate that handle. I, I, I did it before I was ever on TV and now it just feels like, Oh, I was on TV. I'm like, I'm the real Dave, right. But, but I'm not there many Dave rights, including a former, uh, Mets third baseman. Uh, but yeah, real Dave, right on Instagram is where you can find me. Uh, wait, you're not letting me go. We haven't talked about love Island season seven yet.

[00:44:41] [SPEAKER_02] Do you know, David, that the prior survivor Ponderosa is that property. Like I was on, I slept on that property when I got voted out as did many seasons.

[00:44:49] [SPEAKER_06] Okay. I'm so glad actually we're talking about this because I saw somewhere on Reddit or online. It said that that Island was mana. I'm like, that's not, I can tell that's not mana. So was it? Not mana. Is it, you know,

[00:45:03] [SPEAKER_02] no, no, it's on the main Island. Like it's on the main.

[00:45:06] [SPEAKER_06] Okay.

[00:45:06] [SPEAKER_02] And I hate to, you know, unveil it. It's so close to the airport. It's like 30 minutes to the airport. Um, yeah, really close. And that's where for folks listening, you start the game in the pregame. And then that resort becomes the Ponderosa. It no longer is the Ponderosa because love Island bought it, I guess, and renovated it. But the doc that you see all of them, you know, I don't know. I don't know their names, Charlie. There's a Charlie. I saw people tweeting about a Charlie. I'm not watching.

[00:45:36] [SPEAKER_02] I watched the first episode. Um, and I really, it was fun. Cause I paused it, um, on a wide shot of the house. And I, I like got up, I looked like that Charlie day meme from always sunny where I'm like pointing at stuff, you know, and I'm like, this was the doc that Hannah Rose and I would stand on, you know? Um, so the property is the same. I think you and I, it was the pool.

[00:45:56] [SPEAKER_06] I think you and I had different, um, Ponderosa islands or, or properties. Call it.

[00:46:02] [SPEAKER_02] Yes. I think that this one was a new era change. I think if I, if I'm correct, I believe 43 through 46 were at the one that I was in. Okay. And then they moved for 47 and 48. Cause love Island took over.

[00:46:15] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. It was Bacana when I was there. So that was probably right before the 43.

[00:46:20] [SPEAKER_13] Are you watching love Island? Yeah. Yeah. You asked season seven. I am.

[00:46:24] [SPEAKER_06] I tell me your takes. Uh, well, I mean, uh, Jeremiah, uh, you know, the whole, I'm a, by the way, I'm a couple episodes behind because my fiance is actually out of town, um, for her bachelorette party. Uh, so I watched with her. Yeah. Although actually I think she was watching, so I should catch up anyhow. Uh, but yeah, I, I love Jeremiah. Huda, if she's still in again, I'm a couple episodes behind. If she's still there, uh, Oh God, it is so cringy to watch. Uh, but you don't know who that is, I guess. But, um, yeah, it is painful.

[00:46:55] [SPEAKER_06] I hope she's not there because she, it's, it's torturous. Cause like she got split up and, and she has nobody now or as of two episodes ago, she didn't. Anyhow. Yeah. It's, I, I,

[00:47:05] [SPEAKER_02] I see her name on Twitter a lot. Twitter, she, Twitter is really big on, on Huda.

[00:47:11] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. No, I mean like, you know, you're talking about Rick Devin's getting a lot of screen time. in love Island season seven, I'm not sure anybody's got more screen time than Huda. I'm sure the other cast, of course they don't realize it, but I'm sure when they get back, they'll be like, come on, man.

[00:47:24] [SPEAKER_03] I had so many good confessionals. They didn't put on cause it's so much Huda. Yeah. Yeah. It's so funny. You know, it's so funny.

[00:47:31] [SPEAKER_02] I, people love it. People are listening to the reality. We're back. Reality TV was, you know, passe for a little bit, but competition reality shows. We're full force.

[00:47:40] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. And traders is great. Cause it like, it has so much fun with the campiness of it. And then like pulling people from very, very different reality TV shows, some games, some not. And I love it. Now I'm coming is amazing. Yeah. I mean, it's obviously, you know, I've said it's a weighted heavily for the traders, but it's still fun.

[00:47:59] [SPEAKER_02] Have you thought about people do this on Tik TOK? they'll start a group chat with all of the people with their same name. There's only one other Brandon Donovan in the world. And I, we interface occasionally, but you've got a lot of David rights. You could make a very large David Wright group chat if you wanted to.

[00:48:14] [SPEAKER_06] I can only think of two, to be honest, me and, and, and, and the Mets third baseman. Who else?

[00:48:20] [SPEAKER_13] Have you interacted with that guy?

[00:48:22] [SPEAKER_06] No, no. But I sometimes get people following me thinking, or I used to thinking that I was him. I'm like, I played one season of little league and I don't even know what the positions call it, whatever that position behind first base to bases. That's where I was, where the ball usually doesn't go. And I would panic when it did, because it was someone who was left-handed, but, uh, yeah, no, no, but like if you're left-handed, you're more likely to hit a ball where I was. And obviously, so it's kind of rare or less, less,

[00:48:52] [SPEAKER_06] less common, but, um, but yeah, and I actually, I think there's a, uh, a photographer or an artist that did a yes album cover named David Wright, but I can't think of any other David Wright's other than me and the, those two.

[00:49:03] [SPEAKER_02] I mean, there's probably like guys in Nebraska, like you got some accountants, like I, I'm sure you have a good network of jobs. You know what I mean? Like you just across the country, you throw in a bunch of David Wright's into something.

[00:49:14] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. That we could do. Yeah. I thought you meant like David Wright's that, uh, that were in entertainment or been in, in on TV or whatever. No. Okay. Yes. Yeah. It's a pretty common name. That's kind of why I hate my name. Everything about me is so like ordinary and common and not interesting, you know, like David Wright. Wow.

[00:49:30] [SPEAKER_03] You know, you weren't the real Dave, Which is pretty good.

[00:49:34] [SPEAKER_06] Exactly. That's the most important thing about me. We could pitch that.

[00:49:38] [SPEAKER_03] And you, obviously you have a fiance, so it won't be you,

[00:49:40] [SPEAKER_02] but we could pitch a dating show where you have to date. You have to lock in on a David, And we're only casting people named David, We call it, we call it the right stuff with the W. The right stuff.

[00:49:52] [SPEAKER_06] Are we doing this? No, we can't do this. I'm getting married in, uh,

[00:49:55] [SPEAKER_03] You host it.

[00:49:56] [SPEAKER_06] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

[00:49:58] [SPEAKER_03] You and your fiance hosted. I think that's pretty good. I think we have a case here.

[00:50:01] [SPEAKER_06] I like this. This is good. Yes. Okay. Grab your cameras. Cancel Christmas.

[00:50:06] [SPEAKER_03] I got a pen. David Wright.

[00:50:09] [SPEAKER_02] Thank you so much for joining me. We're talking Rick Devins. We've got more Rick Devins coming up. Um, but thank you everybody for listening and stick around because there'll be more. We're not ending with David, right? You know, we, we, we love David, But we've got more guests for Rick Devins. And we're here with somebody that I love somebody that I see somebody. I'm not going to reveal where we live. Although I think I've done it many times in this podcast. Somebody lives very close to me. Yeah. It's Victoria. But I'm on a Victoria. How are you?

[00:50:38] [SPEAKER_08] I'm good. I'm hot. It's a hundred degrees, but we're chilling anyway.

[00:50:43] [SPEAKER_02] We're filming this on Tuesday. This will come out on Friday. We may all be gone by Friday. Cause it's that hot. We may all melt away.

[00:50:51] [SPEAKER_08] This is my final will and testament.

[00:50:53] [SPEAKER_02] What would you like to say to everybody listening? If this is it?

[00:50:56] [SPEAKER_08] Um, somebody take care of Gibby for me. Um, somebody tell my mom, I love her. And, um, somebody take my places. Nevermind.

[00:51:07] [SPEAKER_02] What was that?

[00:51:08] [SPEAKER_08] It was a secret. No, it was a secret. I almost blew it. I almost blew it. Nope.

[00:51:13] [SPEAKER_02] You know, it's not a secret is the survivor 50 cast is in Fiji right now. Um, and people for months were like, where's Victoria. Victoria is not on us. You know what, what happened?

[00:51:25] [SPEAKER_08] Nothing. I didn't even get a phone call. I'm ready. I was like, but were you close? I was like, not even a little.

[00:51:34] [SPEAKER_02] You really, and I just talked to Kellen the other day. Um, you really got the short end of the stick with the 40 being the winners. And then you missed that. And again, I'm telling you something that you know. All right. Um, but it really does suck for those couple of seasons. You're 35 to 39.

[00:51:51] [SPEAKER_11] Yes.

[00:51:51] [SPEAKER_02] But the 35 to 38 who missed out on getting to go one more time. Cause you would have been there for one more time.

[00:51:56] [SPEAKER_08] I would like to think that my only chance still is a second chance of season with audience vote. I think that is my only chance of going back because it's been dead silent from, uh, Jeffy Poo.

[00:52:10] [SPEAKER_02] Were you dead silent after 38? Were you in it for 40 when 40 was supposed to be something else?

[00:52:15] [SPEAKER_08] No, never heard anything from anyone.

[00:52:18] [SPEAKER_02] Sure. But not too late. People go so many years without getting anything and then they pop up and then they win.

[00:52:25] [SPEAKER_08] It's true. You know what? I don't even care. I care. I care so much.

[00:52:29] [SPEAKER_02] We all do. We all say we don't care. We all, I care. We all care.

[00:52:32] [SPEAKER_08] I mean, honestly, I really would like to be on the traders. Is that a bad place to say that? Um, traders, producers, I would love to be on it.

[00:52:42] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. So what would, do you want to be trader or faithful in the traders?

[00:52:45] [SPEAKER_08] Come on. You tell me.

[00:52:47] [SPEAKER_02] Everybody wants to be a trade. I think I'd be a better faithful. I wouldn't be a good trader.

[00:52:51] [SPEAKER_08] It would be a better faithful. I would be a very good trader. Nobody ever knows what I'm lying. Nobody ever knows.

[00:52:57] [SPEAKER_02] They have these like live games that put the people put together in New York where they like play the traders. We should just like pay somebody to, and we all play the traders. Let's all like get the, let's like bite the traders bug, you know, or let the traders bug bite us.

[00:53:11] [SPEAKER_07] I would like to do that.

[00:53:12] [SPEAKER_02] Wouldn't that be fun?

[00:53:13] [SPEAKER_07] Yeah. Let's make that happen.

[00:53:15] [SPEAKER_02] We have a nice New York contingent. Everybody in New York is fun. And we all get along. Great. I think that'd be great.

[00:53:23] [SPEAKER_08] I have ideas.

[00:53:25] [SPEAKER_02] Tell me about Rick Deppins.

[00:53:28] [SPEAKER_08] Rick Deppins. He's a funny guy. You know, I did not have the pleasure of meeting him until about not quite halfway through the game. What day did he come back on? Day 15? Something like that. But no, he's a riot. You don't see it at all in the editing or what was aired of the season, but me and I were actually, you know, pretty close on the island. We had a very similar sense of humor. Even though we didn't get the chance really to strategically work together,

[00:53:56] [SPEAKER_08] we would talk shit all the time. We hated the same people. We liked the same people. We had a very good moment of when he just skedaddles into the forest one day after a challenge and nobody wanted to run after him. And I was like, what the fuck guys? It's Rick Deppins. He clearly has something. So I skedaddled after him. I was, I was running so fast. The cameraman literally said to me, he's like, can you slow down? I was like, no, I'm busy.

[00:54:24] [SPEAKER_08] And then we made it to everyone who's been in Fiji. What to what I call secret beach where you walk up the like steps on that mountain and you're going on the other side and there's like a little beach. Anyway, that's where he was practicing fire making. And I was like, this is a decoy. This man is doing something else. But he wasn't. So we sat down and we swapped fire making tips and we chatted for probably what was at least an hour. I don't know. Nobody gave me a watch.

[00:54:54] [SPEAKER_08] And eventually it was getting late and I was like, I'm going to go back to camp to get some rice because I'm hungry. And so I said bye. And then I went back over the hill and head behind a tree for at least 30 more minutes, thinking this man is now going to do his actual plan of finding something, which is what he was definitely doing. And now he's just I just kept hearing the flint and the machete whacking. Yeah.

[00:55:19] [SPEAKER_02] You find something during that cycle? Like, did he already have something or he just wasn't looking at that day?

[00:55:25] [SPEAKER_08] He probably already had something. Honestly, he wasn't looking in that moment. That's for sure.

[00:55:31] [SPEAKER_02] And do you think your fire making tips hurt? Rick Devin.

[00:55:35] [SPEAKER_08] No, they helped. He was not good at it. Rick love you. You were not good at fire making.

[00:55:40] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah, that's interesting. I wonder how much you practice that pre going to this.

[00:55:45] [SPEAKER_08] I hope a lot considering.

[00:55:49] [SPEAKER_02] Oh, you'd have to hope. What was your, what was your pregame vibe of Rick? Like I talked to both Kelly and David on this podcast and they were only with each other. But they were, you know, on a different thing. So I haven't talked to anybody who got to experience the pregame Rick Devin. How was that for you?

[00:56:07] [SPEAKER_08] I mean, pregame, you know, obviously we don't get to talk to each other. So I didn't have a big opinion of him until the morning of, what do you even call it? Launch Castaway. Whenever there's sending us out in our little game outfits. So it's like whatever, four o'clock in the morning, it's dark out. We're all in our actual outfits that we're going to wear. And he is wearing a full suit and I am wearing a cotton hoodie and joggers. And, you know, you're not supposed to speak,

[00:56:35] [SPEAKER_08] but I look at him and I catch his eye and I just mouth like that sucks. And so he just starts laughing. I was laughing. And so my impression of that was a funny guy. I mean, he's, he gets my sense of humor. Like I was, I was able to say that sucks and make him laugh. But yeah, the suit wasn't sure what it was going to be about. Wasn't sure what his occupation was going to be. News anchor wasn't where I was going with that.

[00:57:05] [SPEAKER_02] What would you have guessed? If somebody made you guess, would you have guessed something else?

[00:57:09] [SPEAKER_08] I mean, I guess just a suit in general, I would just guess his businessman doing business things. Although that does not suit him at all.

[00:57:21] [SPEAKER_02] Not a lot of suits in the new era of Survivor. Nobody's in a suit. I think he may have been the last suit.

[00:57:27] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah. I mean, the new era of Survivor has a lot of things. The old era of Survivor doesn't have.

[00:57:32] [SPEAKER_02] Sure. Sure. And I've, I've heard all about it on, on these, on these things. What is the thing that you miss the most watching?

[00:57:39] [SPEAKER_08] Not even villains.

[00:57:41] [SPEAKER_02] Villains. Villains. No, I raise Rome. Was Rome not villainy enough? What, what, what did Rome have to do better to be considered? Like, cause I think of Rome as like the new era of Survivor villain.

[00:57:54] [SPEAKER_08] I couldn't tell you anything about that, man.

[00:57:57] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah.

[00:57:58] [SPEAKER_08] Maybe that's the problem. Maybe that's the problem.

[00:58:01] Sure.

[00:58:01] [SPEAKER_08] Here's my problem in a nutshell. I think that they are casting the same person in different fonts now. And that could be any type of person. This isn't about like the type of person they are, although they are, we are skewing more towards nerd, I'd say. Sure. Which is fine. Nerd. But one type of person on Survivor is going to be boring. In my opinion,

[00:58:31] [SPEAKER_08] especially if they're all intelligent in some way, because they're not going to want to hurt each other's feelings. They're not going to want to like talk shit. They're not going to want to backstab as much. And they're all going to get along. You know, my favorite thing to say is that like, I don't remember who brought it up, but somebody was brought up like playing Pokemon go. And I've played Pokemon go before this. Again, this is no hate towards this person. I would get a beer.

[00:58:56] [SPEAKER_02] Brando. Shout out to Brando. Brando.

[00:58:59] [SPEAKER_08] I would get a beer with pretty much everyone on the team. these casts. But if you bring up on Survivor that you love Pokemon go, I'm sorry, you should be bullied. And not half of the cast should agree with you that they love Pokemon go. That's just boring TV. And I just want to make it so, so clear that I think these are all good people. Not all of them. Not everyone's great. Right. But like in general, they're casting very good people. They're so nice. They're so friendly. friendly. Terrible reality television.

[00:59:29] [SPEAKER_02] You want people who are angry. Did you find on your, I want to make an addendum. I don't want Brando to be bullied. Nobody bully Brando or I'll take care of it.

[00:59:40] [SPEAKER_08] I guess, I don't know how to make these two. I guess to me, like it's such a game, right? Like, and I'm able to see it as such a game.

[00:59:46] [SPEAKER_10] Sure.

[00:59:47] [SPEAKER_08] That like, this is probably wrong, but it's like, you're not bullying Brando. You're bullying the idea of him.

[00:59:53] [SPEAKER_02] It's very perks of being a wallflower. It's very like abstract,

[00:59:57] [SPEAKER_08] which I'm so sorry, Brando. No, you shouldn't be bullied. It's true. But like on the game of survivor, you should have like the preacher's daughter and like the farmer and like, you know, the middle-aged mother all being like, the fuck is Pokemon go.

[01:00:12] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. Tell me about your pre-swap comma tribe. I watched, I, we talked about Aubrey the other day and I watched a confessional. All of Aubrey. While you guys, Ron Clark is like leading a dance. You guys are all dancing.

[01:00:25] [SPEAKER_08] We were all,

[01:00:26] [SPEAKER_02] was that the vibe the whole time or was there inner arguing amongst the nine of you?

[01:00:32] [SPEAKER_08] There was really no arguing. I'd say that happened. I mean, there was definitely groups forming and strategies trying to be put in place, but as a whole, we were all, you know, kumbaya because we hadn't lost really is what it was. There was no reason to start. Any problems because there, there was nothing, there was going to be no way to alleviate those problems. We hadn't lost. So when you haven't, haven't lost and you're being fed well, and you know,

[01:01:01] [SPEAKER_08] there's just, yeah, you're going to learn a silly dance, but then, you know, you're going to talk off to the side about who you want voted out secretly, but no, no real drama. Nobody liked Aurora, which is funny to say now because she eventually became one of my greatest allies, but nobody liked Aurora.

[01:01:20] [SPEAKER_02] I don't, I love that season, which I think I mentioned to you. I love that season so much. Um, I am interested in, you know, the people, the new era, there's always a tribe who's losing. I was on one, my buffs on the, my doorway. Um,

[01:01:33] [SPEAKER_08] that was losing too. Just,

[01:01:35] [SPEAKER_02] but that's what I mean. You guys, you guys had a disaster tribe also. Um, and in a two tribe situation, the disaster tribe still happens. They, they lost three immunities in a row.

[01:01:44] [SPEAKER_07] Yeah. Sucks to be them.

[01:01:46] [SPEAKER_02] Sucks to be them. And then on the swap, you end up voting out Aubrey, who was also on season 50. What do you think Aubrey should do and avoid that happening again?

[01:02:03] [SPEAKER_08] I mean, what I like a genuine answer would be to separate the game from reality. I think her biggest downfall with me was that we bonded over real things. I wasn't, I, there's no reason for me to bullshit about my personal life. And I, I didn't, you know, we bonded about things like, like social anxiety. Like I am, I'm an antidepressant girly. It's no secret. Um, and you know, we both bonded over like things like that,

[01:02:33] [SPEAKER_08] like tough things. And it was very prevalent in my life at that time. And she understood it. And so we talked about that as people. Um, and that was all true. And then when it comes to a million dollars, that means nothing to me. So I think she needs to learn that people can very much like you as a person and talk to you about their personal life. And that does not mean you're in an alliance.

[01:02:56] [SPEAKER_02] Do you think that her playing, like she plays three times. And I think like three and a half years, like that third time, I think remarkably harder. Cause she's so in it. Do you think with now, I think it was what, six, seven years of distance since you guys played seven years, maybe. How does, how do you think that has evolved Aubrey into like, is that a mistake she makes again?

[01:03:17] [SPEAKER_08] I would hope not. I think that the distance should definitely be able to like re-energize her and like have her like learn from her past mistakes. I think she was probably burnt, like definitely burnt out by the time she played my season. Um, and also if you've played three seasons and you do worse and worse every time, like that is a big, like that's a big mind fuck. I'm sure. Like you come very close to winning and then you're like the fifth one out. Like that's, that sucks.

[01:03:45] [SPEAKER_08] So I think at this point with as much distance as she's had enough, this much time, I hope she comes into it with like a fire in her belly and, you know, wanting to redeem herself and get back to her, you know, her status as a strategic mastermind, as Jeff said, because, um, we did not see that last time she played. And I, she definitely has that capability clearly. Um, but it wasn't there in season 38.

[01:04:13] [SPEAKER_02] And Rick too, what does Rick need to work on in terms of his game to now? I believe if he gets to the end of your game, he does win. I think.

[01:04:23] [SPEAKER_08] Yes, he definitely wins.

[01:04:23] [SPEAKER_02] Wins by quite a bit. Um, but I do know that he rubbed people in the jury, the wrong way that people were on the jury that would have voted for him regardless. Um, what does he need to do to kind of tighten up to make sure that doesn't happen?

[01:04:36] [SPEAKER_08] That's hard to say, because I don't know that he necessarily rubs a lot of people the wrong way on the jury, unless you've heard that specifically, maybe I'm just wrong, but I just think he had the cards stacked against him by being someone who came back into the game and was immediately a target because of that. And then once he started winning all of these challenges back to back and he always had an idol, he just became even more of a target. So that he was never able to shed that target status. He came back in with it.

[01:05:05] [SPEAKER_08] And then by becoming a challenge threat, it stayed. Um, so the best thing he could do, honestly, in my opinion, is play like a little bit more under the radar. If he can, um, make more silent connections, like have a strong social game, which he did. He definitely had, you know, alliances, but he had to be a threat to be fair. Like he had to keep winning those challenges or he was gone. So if he can start this game, not in that position,

[01:05:34] [SPEAKER_08] which he obviously everyone's starting pretty much equal playing fields. If he can find himself to be a little bit more low key at the beginning, use other people as shields, keep that initial target off of him and keep using his skills to find idols and hustle in the way that he hustles and uses personality to make friends. I think he has a much better chance of, you know, making it to the end, which, you know, he, he did for fire. And then winning because he really is a likable guy. Um,

[01:06:04] [SPEAKER_08] so I don't think he should have any problems with, you know, the jury liking him or wanting to vote for him. He's got a great family at home. There's nothing about him. That's going to make you not want to give him the money. Um, he just has to be less of an obvious threat.

[01:06:19] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. I mean, he's on a season like with you, you know, where he is a loud person in a sea of quieter people. And I think this is like the best thing for him where he's, I mean, you've seen the cast of survivor 50. It's a lot of, most of them are loud. It's like, it's a, it's a loudest group that they've ever put together. Um, do you have any perception of like who he, what kind of person he wants to align with, like who you can see him getting along with? Well,

[01:06:46] [SPEAKER_08] I would love to think that him and Christian Ubiqui would get along. I can see it. I could see that happening. I would have to like really look at the cast.

[01:06:56] [SPEAKER_02] Well, you're not going to believe this. I, I have.

[01:07:00] [SPEAKER_08] Oh, get out of here. Let's see. Who could I see? I'm aligning with. I mean, I really, I would see him. Not. This is hard to say because I know I'm more cynical. Then certain people are at least more publicly cynical about the newer seasons. I've spoken to some of my former castmates who feel similarly. Um, about things as I do,

[01:07:29] [SPEAKER_08] but they won't post about it. So I don't know where his public persona is going to lie on this split, you know, season 40 free and post.

[01:07:39] [SPEAKER_10] Yeah.

[01:07:40] [SPEAKER_08] But I would just see him probably mostly aligning with people of similar personalities to him. So I could see him liking Mike. I guess I'm liking Christian. The new people. I mean,

[01:07:54] [SPEAKER_02] I do think that if there's anybody who's, I wouldn't even say like are laying for the white Lotus spot, but I know Rick Devins would make a meal out of the white Lotus. Bring the white Lotus.

[01:08:08] [SPEAKER_08] Biggest regret in life, which isn't even mine to have, because this isn't anything I can control. It's like not being on fucking Mike White season.

[01:08:15] [SPEAKER_10] Yeah.

[01:08:16] [SPEAKER_08] I'm on a spot. Um, but no, I think, I think he's going to find people like himself. Although, you know, when I think about, I think about David, I mean, like, is he like Rick?

[01:08:31] [SPEAKER_02] That's a great question. I don't know if Christian is, I think Christian and Rick are more similar to Jonathan, like than Jonathan, certainly, but I don't think that they're super, you know, like I said to, I think I said to David, That Christian, I mean, sorry, Rick represents a casting choice that I don't think has happened before Rick on survivor. Like he's not a David. He's not an Aubrey. He's not a Cochran. Rick. He's like silly in a way that isn't in survivor.

[01:08:58] [SPEAKER_08] That's what I'm trying to like, think. I'm like, who else is like silly? And that's probably why I see Christian because he's just so like adorable that he would be like down with the silly. And like, I feel like, you know, obviously Mike White is like a comedy writer and other than he does more than comedy, but like, I could see them like, who could, who could Rick gossip with? He's a gossip.

[01:09:21] [SPEAKER_02] He likes to gossip.

[01:09:22] [SPEAKER_08] Well, I mean, I like to gossip and he gossiped with me. So in my head, he too is a gossip.

[01:09:28] [SPEAKER_01] Sure.

[01:09:30] [SPEAKER_08] But he's also friendlier than I am. So I think that he could go Kumbaya route if he had to, but I don't think he'd like it.

[01:09:39] [SPEAKER_02] What would your strategy have been? If you are on this season, you're season 38, you have half new era, half older era. You're jumping to older era. I think.

[01:09:50] [SPEAKER_08] I honestly think I would, I think I would, I would play the line.

[01:09:54] [SPEAKER_10] Yeah.

[01:09:56] [SPEAKER_08] I think I would. Cause I'm in a unique position to have met a lot of these people. So I could probably go both ways. Very quietly. I could see myself a lot with the women in the new era. I think that a lot of them have been the strategists and the more recent seasons. And I respect that. And I could see myself working with them.

[01:10:25] [SPEAKER_08] And I could also see using my status as technically an older, old school player or old era player. To pull in some of the people that I know from that side, you know, I've spent some time with Ozzy and, you know, Ozzy is the King of the jungle. And if you have him, you maybe have more people. And I could see myself probably being in a position to work both sides quietly, sticking with the quiet.

[01:10:53] [SPEAKER_02] You were your survivor fan. Like you loved old survivor. Like big. Are you excited for your, your Jenna Lewis is your Colby's that guard. Is that something that you're, you're pumped to see?

[01:11:05] [SPEAKER_08] Um, here's the thing. I have seen every single season of survivor. I have never missed one. Actually not true anymore. I did not finish the most recent season. Um, I, I was so not interested. Um, so that's saying a lot, but anyway,

[01:11:22] [SPEAKER_03] they're all on season 50. So you'll see them when you get there.

[01:11:25] [SPEAKER_08] Right. Literally.

[01:11:28] Um,

[01:11:29] [SPEAKER_08] and completely unrelated to survivor and just something about me. I have a terrible memory. Terrible. Um, as a fun little anecdote, I was watching, I watched the movie war dogs and that's funny because of my war dog. Um, but, and then I watched it again, like maybe a year later, maybe. And I was like, Oh, cause I've never seen this movie. And about three quarters into the movie, I was like, wait, I feel like this is about to happen. And then I realized I've seen that entire movie before. Um, so I have a very, very bad memory.

[01:11:58] [SPEAKER_08] So I can't say that I'm like super excited about the old, old, old school players because I can't, I can't remember their game. I do remember Stephanie LaGrosa. Um, so I would be excited to see how she does now. I know she was just on the traders, but I didn't actually.

[01:12:13] [SPEAKER_02] Yes. She did. I mean, the interesting thing there is that she was on the traders with Sari and kind of gets bested by Sari. And then they had this show snake in the grass. It was called where they flew four people out. It's Rachel from her brother, Janelle from her brother, Sari and Stephanie to play like a mole like game. One of them had to sabotage.

[01:12:31] [SPEAKER_08] They now have been together in a lot of.

[01:12:34] [SPEAKER_02] And Stephanie was the Sabbath saboteur and very bad at it. And Sari caught on immediately. So Stephanie has been bested by Sari. Like, and in heroes versus villains. So this is now Stephanie is going to be shot out of a cannon. You would assume.

[01:12:50] [SPEAKER_08] I, so like, I am excited to see those dynamics. I'm excited to see like how the older school players handle the newer school players. I think more than anything, you're going to see a big difference in personality with a lot of them. And I wonder how that's going to translate to strategy. And I wonder how much of maybe an advantage that the newer players might have, because if they don't change the format, if this is just a new era formatted season,

[01:13:20] [SPEAKER_08] they may very well have an advantage. Knowing the 26 day style, knowing the types of, you know, advantages that can come up and how to play them. And I'm just having experience with that. So. I would say I'm like rooting for the old school players. I'm definitely interested to see how the dynamics play out, but I can't say I'm like, I'm like, hell yeah. Season two. I just don't really remember it. I was eight years old.

[01:13:45] [SPEAKER_02] That's what I do. I do. Hell yeah. Season two.

[01:13:47] [SPEAKER_08] You would have,

[01:13:47] [SPEAKER_02] you would have had a lot of fun on the journey. You, do you regret not being able to go on a journey?

[01:13:53] [SPEAKER_08] No, I'm not really sentimental like that.

[01:13:55] [SPEAKER_13] No, not like you want to go play like the dice game. That's not your scene. No, no. No. Yeah.

[01:14:01] [SPEAKER_08] Oh wait, a journey you're talking about. I thought you meant like the old school, like carrying a torch going on a journey. Like, I'm so glad that that doesn't happen anymore. Would I have had fun on a journey? That's interesting. I don't know. I mean, I'm sure I would have had fun playing the challenge and trying to win the advantage or whatever might come out of it. But I also think it's a bad idea to put yourself in that position.

[01:14:28] [SPEAKER_08] I also always avoided hero positions and challenges. I avoided anything that would like launch me into the spotlight because I think that that's a risk that isn't always necessary. Like it's the same thing as like looking for an idol and everyone knows you're looking for one. And if you weren't in danger before now, you sure are. So depending on where I was in the status of the game, I don't know that I'd ever choose to go on a journey or like advocate for

[01:14:56] [SPEAKER_08] myself to go on one because I just don't know if it's a good enough choice because no matter what the outcome is, you're going to tell your story back at camp and people are going to choose not to believe you. Right. Even if you're telling the truth, which I probably wouldn't be.

[01:15:10] [SPEAKER_02] Cause you're a trader. You'd be a great trade, but yeah, the idea of giving somebody the ability to have an opinion of you in any way is, is net negative. A lot of the time.

[01:15:22] [SPEAKER_08] Net negative. And it's, you know, if you can control people's opinions of you by presenting something that you want them to see, that's the best case scenario. And when you, yeah, when you're on a journey, you cannot control the perception because something certainly happened and you are going to be an unreliable narrator in everyone's minds.

[01:15:48] [SPEAKER_02] People who I've talked to on here. Now you're one of the last people to do 39 days. You were there what? 36 days, 37,

[01:15:54] [SPEAKER_08] 36,

[01:15:55] [SPEAKER_02] 36. Tell me about how bored you were on the days where nothing was happening because now there's no days where nothing's happening. There's very few out of 26. What was the length of, of boredom that you reached?

[01:16:07] [SPEAKER_08] I don't know that boredom is the right word. I think that anxiety is a better word. Um, and I almost got angry. I was, I was angry on those days because you are, you're sitting there in these horrible conditions. You are fucking starving. And on the days that nothing's happening, I would be like mad. I'm like, I'm here. And today means nothing. It's progressing nothing. And I just have to be here. And it's not even like you can sleep the day away. Like just try to relax, like try to ignore your hunger.

[01:16:37] [SPEAKER_08] Just like get your head out. Like, cause you have to watch everyone constantly when there's nothing going on. Something's going on production, just not hosting it. So you have to, where is everybody? What are they doing? What are the conversations happening? Like who wants to go look for firewood? Who's at the water? Well, so it's, you have to be even more on, you have to be even more perceptive. And at the end of the day, nobody went home. So you just went through all that mental stress.

[01:17:05] [SPEAKER_08] And you didn't forward yourself at all. So I wouldn't say I was bored. I would say I was pissed.

[01:17:12] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. And there's many of those days you're pissed for many days.

[01:17:15] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah. There was a good amount. Not as many as you'd think, but at least like four or five, maybe. Yeah.

[01:17:26] [SPEAKER_02] Yikes. Really bad. You know, this new era where, you know, everybody's it's, it's every day you're doing something, you know, and it'll be, it'll be an adjustment for the folks who have had to do that day. Then maybe they're less angry. If people are like you, spot to do those things.

[01:17:40] [SPEAKER_08] Because at least like every day that you're starving and dying, as long as like a challenge is happening, somebody's getting voted out. There's, you know, something to move yourself along.

[01:17:51] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah.

[01:17:51] [SPEAKER_08] It's not quite as painful.

[01:17:53] [SPEAKER_02] And it feels like the game is progressing. Like you're getting closer to the end.

[01:17:57] [SPEAKER_08] Closer to something.

[01:17:58] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah.

[01:17:58] [SPEAKER_08] And that's why I am forever grateful that I did not deal with edge of extinction because when they revealed that twist to us, however many days into the game, we had already experienced some of those off days. And I said to myself, I was like, if I like just fucking kill me, if I ended up there because every day would be an off day. And that would be the ultimate form of torture. In my opinion, like, I don't, I honestly don't know how they did it out there.

[01:18:25] [SPEAKER_08] Like just to sit there and wait for something to happen. And you are just in the same survivor conditions with nothing stimulating. And you're not necessarily moving towards anything that is actually torture. So I was,

[01:18:38] [SPEAKER_02] I asked David, like how much does it benefit having somebody like funny there with you on the edge of extinction? But you had Rick who is funny just while the whole time of the merge, who's just like, is that an entertaining thing for you to have? Like, is that, does that make the situation better to have like the morale guy?

[01:18:56] [SPEAKER_08] I don't know if Rick was the morale guy because, um, when he was in the game with me, nobody wanted him there. Um,

[01:19:03] [SPEAKER_10] sure.

[01:19:03] [SPEAKER_08] So I don't know that he was the funny guy when everyone was after him. Um, but I think it definitely helps at least me on a personal level. It was really helpful to have him as somebody to gossip with. And there was one person in particular that we both always talk shit about. Um, so that was helpful to me. I liked that. I liked having somebody who shared my sense of humor. I think the funny guy on the Island, and I'm not saying this is Rick. This isn't Rick. You know,

[01:19:31] [SPEAKER_08] somebody who's always trying to make jokes and like tell stories. I think they're probably annoying because they think they're the funny guy, but they're not. But somebody with a genuinely good sense of humor or somebody more than just a good sense of humor, somebody who matches your sense of humor and your personality. I think that's invaluable.

[01:19:48] [SPEAKER_02] Is there anybody on season 50 other than Rick that you're in the you're hoping does really well? Anybody that you have like a personal connection with?

[01:19:56] [SPEAKER_08] I have some personal connections, but am I hoping they do? Well, not necessarily. Thank you. Thank you for this again. Um, I'm looking at, uh, the names. I mean, I I've never met Christian. I think I spoke with him once online, but I just like him. I want to see him do well. I just think, I just think he's adorable and I like him.

[01:20:23] [SPEAKER_02] it's interesting is he is like universally beloved. And I think he's the only person here that's universally beloved. Yeah. I wonder how that factors are.

[01:20:31] [SPEAKER_08] I would like to see Genevieve do well. I think I respect her. Um, I don't know if I want to say most, I'm going to say most out of the new era players here.

[01:20:43] [SPEAKER_02] Oh, interesting. Okay. And why is that?

[01:20:46] [SPEAKER_08] I just remember feeling she was very strategic.

[01:20:49] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah.

[01:20:50] [SPEAKER_08] And not annoying and a little bit villainous. Maybe.

[01:20:53] [SPEAKER_02] Sure. Sure. Sure.

[01:20:54] [SPEAKER_08] Um, who I like is very personal to me, really not, not, I mean, it usually is about their gameplay. If they're a bad player, I'm not going to like them, but I remember also finding her pleasant. I heard Kyle was a great winner and I've heard he was really good. Like him and Camilla. I saw only some of the season.

[01:21:12] [SPEAKER_02] They are great. And he's the best. And I, I don't know if this is a situation where he is being set up to succeed, which is a bummer. Cause I think that I would like to have seen him in like five years. The same way that like you see, you know, people that won season, like Michelle on winners of war is like a nice couple of year distance. Um, the return flight there with 22 people and D who really, really want to win the game. Right. Seems like he's being set up for failure,

[01:21:37] [SPEAKER_08] but I think for sure him and Camilla, like I know enough that him and Camilla were like a tight thing and like having them both there is hurt. It hurts the other.

[01:21:46] [SPEAKER_02] And it's a bummer for Camilla too,

[01:21:47] [SPEAKER_08] who didn't get to win for her. Yeah. Because she didn't get to win. I like heard that she helped him in a lot of ways get there. Not that, you know, he didn't deserve it. Um, again, I'm speaking just on hearsay mostly. Um, but yeah, big bummer for her because he already won and people know that they were tight and that's now they're a two for package and that, that sucks that she's probably not going to get to play how she wants to because of that. Um, and I don't think we really have anyone else quite like that. I mean, Stephanie and Sari,

[01:22:18] [SPEAKER_08] you're telling me that they like were against each other and all these shows that they played, but they still played a bunch of shows together.

[01:22:24] [SPEAKER_02] And you know, the devil, you know,

[01:22:26] [SPEAKER_08] right.

[01:22:27] [SPEAKER_02] And the devil, you know,

[01:22:27] [SPEAKER_08] right. So, you know, I guess Christian, Angelina and Mike are all the same season. I just find the spread. So interesting. Tell me about the spread. I mean, why, why did we skip? How many times have you spoken about this already? Probably. Why did we skip all of the twenties?

[01:22:43] [SPEAKER_10] Yeah.

[01:22:44] [SPEAKER_08] But we have five people from the last two seasons.

[01:22:47] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah.

[01:22:48] [SPEAKER_08] Six. No, five. It's five.

[01:22:49] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. We have the two 49 folks as well as these people from the last two

[01:22:54] [SPEAKER_08] seasons, but we skipped an entire 10 seasons in the middle. Like that.

[01:23:00] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah.

[01:23:01] [SPEAKER_08] I'm just so confused by that. Like who,

[01:23:05] [SPEAKER_02] who's not there. Would you have liked to have seen there? Who's not obviously you. And a lot of people share that same sentiment. Who else from that group should have been there.

[01:23:17] [SPEAKER_08] I mean, I think about like the brains versus beauty versus bronze season. I just felt like that season had a bunch of people that like were memorable. Yeah. Where's Bryce? Where's my boy, Bryce?

[01:23:33] [SPEAKER_02] Where's Bryce? I thought for a while, this was the perfect, when this was being like touted as like the celebration of what survivor is. I think Bryce is a huge part of like this back half of the survivor community being what it is.

[01:23:48] [SPEAKER_08] He would be an old school player with love for the new people. And so that was interesting to me. I really thought he was going to get on it. I heard that Spencer was really close.

[01:23:56] [SPEAKER_02] Yes.

[01:23:58] [SPEAKER_08] You know, like these kinds of people,

[01:24:00] [SPEAKER_02] like Raymond, I believe he's now Raymond.

[01:24:02] [SPEAKER_08] He goes by both. Doesn't he?

[01:24:03] [SPEAKER_02] Oh, does he go over?

[01:24:04] [SPEAKER_08] Well, let's say his name says Raymond Spencer. So I think he'll, I think he'll respond to either. Well, he's putting on his own show now.

[01:24:12] [SPEAKER_02] Oh, he is putting on his own show. I don't know if that's a secret, but he is putting on his own show.

[01:24:16] [SPEAKER_08] He tweeted it.

[01:24:17] [SPEAKER_02] Oh, he tweeted it.

[01:24:18] [SPEAKER_08] He exited it. What do you call it now? Anyway, I know like somebody, I know Cass would never go back on, but like somebody like Cass or like Malcolm.

[01:24:26] [SPEAKER_02] Like Malcolm is a glaring omission for me.

[01:24:30] [SPEAKER_08] I mean, unless they called him and he said no sort of thing. Right. Or did all these people get called and say, no, I guess I can't know that. But, um,

[01:24:39] [SPEAKER_02] Malcolm went out in a pretty shit way last time too. You know, it sucks to go out forth, like in this crazy thing, you know, I would have loved for more.

[01:24:47] [SPEAKER_08] I think everyone probably would. Yeah. I just feel like there's some, there's some big names and faces that like people would have liked to see back and like to see back before they saw the people they just saw on their screens again.

[01:25:02] [SPEAKER_02] Would you entertain a big brother run for yourself?

[01:25:06] [SPEAKER_08] I will be honest. I've never seen it.

[01:25:08] [SPEAKER_13] Yeah. I feel like you would be good at that.

[01:25:11] [SPEAKER_08] I can't know. Don't really know exactly what it entails. Um, but as a PSA to all who watch, I'm open to anything. Really? I was almost on squid game. Um, Oh,

[01:25:24] [SPEAKER_13] I remember you told me that you were almost in the first squid game.

[01:25:27] [SPEAKER_08] Yeah, I was cast. I was actually fully cast. And then, uh, I think six days before I was supposed to fly out, they called me and like, bummer, bad news. Casting went in a different direction. I'm like, what do you mean?

[01:25:38] [SPEAKER_13] You were already cast.

[01:25:39] [SPEAKER_08] I was already cast. I'd filled out all, I'd sent back the contracts. I'd taken off time from work. I'd cancel lots of stuff. And then, yeah, like six days before, um, I was uncast.

[01:25:50] [SPEAKER_10] Yeah.

[01:25:51] [SPEAKER_08] I'm open to another show. Challenge based, you know, lying based. Those are my favorite things. Strategy based. I'm not open to a love Island based show.

[01:26:04] [SPEAKER_02] Because you have a lovely boyfriend who I've met.

[01:26:06] [SPEAKER_08] And it's our anniversary. Well, it's going to air on Friday. So Friday is not.

[01:26:12] [SPEAKER_02] So when you're in a DM, Victoria and say, congratulations on your anniversary, you will be three days late. Just know that when you send the DM. Tell people, Victoria, where to follow you.

[01:26:23] [SPEAKER_08] Uh, you want that? No, I share stuff mostly on Instagram. Um, at people's the rapper. No, I don't rap. This was an inside joke from high school. When I first made this Instagram account in high school. Um, and I never changed it. And now it's funny because I have a following. And people think that I have a following perhaps because I am a rapper. And now I can never change it. So at Veebles, the rapper, uh,

[01:26:49] [SPEAKER_02] you are a very good singer.

[01:26:52] [SPEAKER_08] I can sing. Yes. That is. Thank you.

[01:26:55] [SPEAKER_02] I don't know where I've heard you saying, but I've heard you saying it's very good.

[01:26:59] [SPEAKER_08] I don't know where you've heard me sing either. I do a lot of karaoke, mostly with Brooke, um, from the amazing race. Shout out to Brooke.

[01:27:06] [SPEAKER_02] Brooke's on the floor.

[01:27:08] [SPEAKER_08] Brooke is on the floor. Everybody watch Brooke on the floor.

[01:27:12] [SPEAKER_02] The floor is a TV show for those. It is. Yeah.

[01:27:14] [SPEAKER_08] We should make that clear. She has been on the floor of a karaoke room. I have a good picture of that. It's very funny. Yeah.

[01:27:19] [SPEAKER_03] I feel like I have seen that a couple of times.

[01:27:21] [SPEAKER_08] I might've, I might've shown you. Yeah.

[01:27:23] [SPEAKER_03] Sure.

[01:27:23] [SPEAKER_08] You should come to karaoke with us. Yeah. Mostly Instagram is where I post the most. I lurk a bit on X. Um, I will tweet about survivor. Usually when I'm watching it, um, I do enjoy a little smoky smoke and live tweet session. So you feel free to follow me there. And that's it. Those are my only platforms. I technically have a. TikTok. Wow. I couldn't even think of the name. I'm old. I don't use it though. So if somebody's posting is me there, it's not me. Okay.

[01:27:54] [SPEAKER_08] Instagram's where I'm at. Usually. Yeah. Send me funny reels. I'll, I'll laugh.

[01:27:59] [SPEAKER_02] I'm thrilled that you came. This is so much fun. Shout out to Rick Evans. Um, we'll be back next time with another episode of the survivor. 50 files. My name is Brandon Dillon and we'll talk soon. We're back again in this supersized episode of the survivor. 50 files. You didn't think we were going to talk about Rick Evans without having his best friend here to talk about him. Right? Exactly. We've got Evan Wits in here. We caught him on a day where he wasn't in a Disney park.

[01:28:29] [SPEAKER_02] One of the five a year. Yeah.

[01:28:32] [SPEAKER_12] Leave tomorrow. So got to keep this short and sweet. How are you doing? My man. I'm doing good. How are you? I'm excited to be here. I think this is my first time ever on. Rob has a podcast. I was too salty to talk whenever season 38. So, so I'm here for a very good reason. That's for, you know, my BFF Rick. How do you reflect on your experience now? Like years out. Still very salty. You know, I don't think that's ever going to go away.

[01:29:00] [SPEAKER_12] Whenever you're that close to having that much amount of money. I know you don't know what it feels like, but it does.

[01:29:07] [SPEAKER_03] It's the ads though, that I'm making Gavin from this. Much more than you were going to make that day. That's true.

[01:29:15] [SPEAKER_12] I'm rolling. It is. Yeah, it does. It, it's still, it still hurts. And, you know, honestly, I haven't watched survivor in a hot minute and I'll blame that on, you know, being a dad. Now we watch Elmo until 10 PM. Ellie, she's still awake right now watching baby shark, but, but yeah, super thankful for everything survivor gave me, but yeah, that, that wound is still fresh and it's probably always going to be fresh. And that's, that's just part of it. How do you think Elmo would do on survivor?

[01:29:45] [SPEAKER_12] I would be a lot more positive about losing than I would, you know? So he, yeah, I feel like what a good teammate. Yeah. He would, he might do the social game kind of like me. He would be a social King, you know, but otherwise I don't know.

[01:30:02] [SPEAKER_02] You played survivor with a couple of dads, including Rick Evans. Yeah. Do you find yourself doing like dad tendencies that you witness from the men that you played with?

[01:30:12] [SPEAKER_12] You know, they, they paved the path. And I think every morning, whenever I wake up, I say, what would Eric Haifman do? What would Rick do in this situation? So that that's really what I try to live by, but no, being a dad now, like I do, I feel for these people who are out there on survivor 50 and they have kids because I really, I don't know how they do it. You know, I was crying on survivor and that's, you know, it is, it's embarrassing to say, but I was crying because I missed Carly and you know, that was,

[01:30:41] [SPEAKER_12] that's not even your blood at that point. So whenever you have a kid and you're missing them, it puts a whole nother spin on it. So as I'm watching season 50, you know, I've got to pull for the parents. Cause I know they've got that little extra motivation that you don't realize you have until, you know, you have that kid. So yeah, being a parent, it does change things. Have you been crying at home because Rick Devins is gone? Yes. Every Thursday, not around 10 PM. That's whenever we play, we've played fortnight together every Thursday,

[01:31:11] [SPEAKER_12] basically since survivor ended. And you know, we haven't stopped outside of vacations whenever I'm at Disney. So about every other week we don't get to play, but you know, usually we're, we're every Thursday and yeah, it's been tough. We still have a group text going and we text him, just letting him know. I mean, nothing important has really happened right now, you know, going on in the world.

[01:31:33] [SPEAKER_02] Nothing that I missed. There's a guy, you didn't watch season 46, but Ben Katzman, who was on season 46, he ran into big justice at the airport. That's the biggest update that I think I have in terms of global stuff. Well, I was going to say,

[01:31:47] [SPEAKER_12] we'll have to fill him in on that because I haven't, haven't told him about that. Put that in the group. Yeah.

[01:31:53] [SPEAKER_02] Were you guys close on the Island?

[01:31:56] [SPEAKER_12] Were you? We were.

[01:31:57] [SPEAKER_09] And that,

[01:31:57] [SPEAKER_12] that, that's what's funny is, you know, it never showed that and you would have never known that. But really, I think we hit the merge on day 17 and me and Rick, we honestly, we just connected talking about the office. It's, you know, sometimes that's all you need is that little connection. And I think everyone else probably hated us because of that, because we would just be quoting Andy Bernard and Michael Scott, just back and forth at each other. And they're like, what are these idiots talking about? So, yeah, we, we were super close.

[01:32:24] [SPEAKER_12] And I think maybe part of the reason that it wasn't shown one, I probably needed to act a little bit more excited, you know, to get an edit. But outside of that, you know, we didn't really, we never worked together. It's like, we, we could hit it off, but whenever the sun went down, I was still going to try to vote him out. And we, and he kind of knew that. So it was just one of those, you know, maybe off the game separated from heart. I don't know what you want to call it, but, but yeah,

[01:32:51] [SPEAKER_12] we were able to connect out there and we've been BFFs ever since. I think something that really stood out, you know, Rick's gone and hopefully he's in like the final six right now. But, you know, Becca, she texted me the other day. She had a question about something with the Nintendo switch. She was getting Jack one and she's like, Hey, you know what time do I need to go to GameStop to get this? And I'm like, you know, that's, that, that's pretty dang cool that I was the person that she texted. If Rick's not there,

[01:33:20] [SPEAKER_12] then who's the biggest man child that she knows. And that's me. So. Did you get your Nintendo switch too? I did not. I'm strictly PS5. Like I said, I only get to play like once a week, so I'm not going to push my luck, but. Sure. Yeah,

[01:33:36] [SPEAKER_02] for sure.

[01:33:36] [SPEAKER_12] What was it like for you when Rick told you he was going to season 50? Obviously Rick's not someone who's going to break his NDA. So I didn't find out until whenever they announced it, but you know, we, we had hypothetically talked about like, how cool would it be if one of us got to play again? And I knew that day was going to come, you know, I was hoping it was going to be before season 50 for Rick's sake, but. I think maybe in the long run, it's going to help him, you know, waiting 12 seasons for him to get that second chance.

[01:34:06] [SPEAKER_12] So I am, I'm super excited for him to finally have that opportunity. Um, and just the way, um, you know, kind of like I said, I'm not going to be the best to give in-depth analysis. I still, I'm on Twitter. I know who these people are, but I still think with the amount of time that's passed, I think he's in a heck of a lot better spot than if he would have been on season 40 or season 41, something like that.

[01:34:28] [SPEAKER_02] Do you have any insight into the prep that he would have done if he hypothetically played survivor?

[01:34:34] [SPEAKER_12] I know, you know, back in the day he quit his job. You know, I don't know if that was because of survivor, if that was because Sia, uh, you know, shout out Sia for giving him that extra money, but he, I feel like he was ready back then. Like after season 38, he was ready and he even got LASIK, you know? So like he wasn't going to have to worry about the glasses anymore. And that's the only thing that concerns me now is Jonathan doesn't have glasses either. So there's going to be like some comparisons. They're like, is that Rick? Is that Jonathan? Who's pulling that boat in the ocean? Um,

[01:35:03] [SPEAKER_12] but yeah, I think, um, and honestly, like whenever you looked at Rick on season 38, he didn't necessarily stand out like physically, whenever you're looking at him compared to some of these people, you had dang Joe, um, or I guess he, who should not be named. You had Chris Underwood had, um, myself. Who's just a beast. You had Eric, you know, we had some physically fit guys, Keith, uh, you know, going into that,

[01:35:33] [SPEAKER_12] like Rick didn't stand out, but he was the one who was performing every single challenge. And I'm hoping that it's going to be that same thing. Um, you know, you've got all these guys, you've got Ozzy, you've got Colby, you know, who are a little bit more seasoned, but they're still in super good shape. And, you know, I feel like Rick is in a lot better shape than probably he was that first season, but I still think that he can manage his threat level. And kind of slide under the radar.

[01:35:58] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. People forget that, that he was really,

[01:36:00] [SPEAKER_12] really good at those. He was at everything. You know, it wasn't just the puzzles. It was the physical as well.

[01:36:06] [SPEAKER_02] And the, and the finding of the idols.

[01:36:09] Yeah.

[01:36:09] [SPEAKER_12] See, that's something I have no experience with. I, you know, I got ripped on that because I felt like it wasn't a necessity whenever you were put yourself in such a good spot, you know, but hopefully Rick doesn't have to do that this time, but he is, he's, he's a magnet, but he also, he's a hard worker. So, um, you know, he, he had that work ethic out there. I was pretty dang lazy. Uh, I blame it on me being a little bit more on the scrawny side. I had no energy out there, but, but yeah, he's going to do whatever it takes and going into that.

[01:36:39] [SPEAKER_12] I hope that, um, he, in his second opportunity, he plays more like Tony Vlachos on season 40 than he does season 34. I think for Rick to be successful, he has to manage his threat level and he has to know when he can act crazy and be Rick Devins. And when he needs to pull back and kind of fall into the shadows, um, you know, so he can let some of these other newer people or some of these bigger egos

[01:37:05] [SPEAKER_12] from these earlier seasons kind of go at it and he can be stout whenever the time comes.

[01:37:11] [SPEAKER_02] You don't, you don't watch it anymore, but they have these people go on these journeys and they get on the boat, they go to the Island and they win like a little advantage or something. They play a game, you know, Rick's going to be all over that. Rick's going on all the journeys. Yeah.

[01:37:27] [SPEAKER_12] Is it my choice? Do you get to volunteer for it? You get to volunteer for it, but Rick's volunteering for the journey. I don't know. That's, that's what I'm hoping is if Rick's smart and you know, he he's had that second opportunity, he knows what it's like to play with house money, but Rick's back playing with his money. There's not going to be that second chance. And I think that he'll think about that. I think he's going to be a little bit more careful if I would think so. Um, but yeah, he's also, he's going to be Rick Devins,

[01:37:56] [SPEAKER_12] but I hope he can be Rick Devins in confessionals and not as much in tribals where he's this high performer where everyone's like, we've got to get this guy out ASAP, you know?

[01:38:06] [SPEAKER_02] Is that, is that house money mentality? Like the best part about coming back from the edge? Like, is that the biggest benefit that he has from that experience?

[01:38:16] [SPEAKER_12] Um, I would think so. I mean, he, he had that extra life and, um, you know, not many people know what that feels like, but Rick does. And he, he did it to the fullest extent. Uh, but I think he can take what he learned from that second opportunity and hopefully do that for 26 days. I would assume the game's going to be 26 days again. Um, but yeah, that, that's my hope for him as he's still Rick Devins that, you know, gets to that end and everyone's rooting for him,

[01:38:43] [SPEAKER_12] but he has to be more tactful in the way he gets to the end. And I, I think he's aware of that. And I think I'm excited to see him do that.

[01:38:51] [SPEAKER_02] My, I wouldn't even call it a concern, but my thought with Rick Devins is, I don't think there's another player who would make a meal out of a white Lotus performance more than Rick.

[01:39:01] [SPEAKER_12] And that's hypothetically, if you know, Rick and I talked before the season, that, that was our main takeaway is do not screw this up for me. You know, I have one opportunity to get on the white Lotus and it's right now. So, you know, don't be calling me to ask about Rick. Rick after, you know, if he pisses Mike off, if he votes Mike out and me and Rick are done. So we'll delete this. You can, yes, the whole thing's gone.

[01:39:26] [SPEAKER_03] Do you want to get a soundbite in really quick about Mike white? You want to just get something to have?

[01:39:30] [SPEAKER_12] Yeah. I was going to say, well, what do you want to do? Because there's, there's so many things that we talked about with my quiet, you know, so just going through that, some of the things, you know, off the top of my head, we were talking about, you know, in order to get on Mike's good side, some of the things we can talk about is our favorite movies. You know, I think with season 48, who was it? Kyle and someone else on this season, they talked about how holes was their favorite movie. Mike white has no idea. The emoji movie is Rick's favorite movie. Emoji movie school of rock. And white Lotus,

[01:40:00] [SPEAKER_12] like that's literally all we talk about. We're like, do you remember that one scene in the emoji movie? It was so funny. And so like, I'm hoping that whenever we're there sitting around the campfire, like it can just organically come up. Like, Hey, you know, this reminds me of that one scene and, you know, just making that common ground. So like he can solidify, you know, getting us out to Thailand or Fiji, Fiji would be cool, but whatever it is. Yeah. Pretty cool. How was your flight to Fiji? Did you enjoy the flight? That, that was honestly,

[01:40:30] [SPEAKER_12] that was my biggest fly, you know, outside of that. And whenever I went through casting, it was that same thing. I'd flown to Florida once and that's like an hour and a half flight. And, you know, I think that was part of the reason that I got cast on survivor in the first place is it was, I was so inexperienced with life, the way I talk, you know, I got on the Uber and I was telling Jeff and Matt and those guys, I was like, Hey, you know, the Uber, that was the first time I'd ever been in an Uber. They were taking us through somewhere in LA and there was this big building with a G on it. And I was asking him, I was like,

[01:40:59] [SPEAKER_12] Hey, is that Google? And he said, no, that's our movie theater. And I was like, Oh, okay, cool. You know, like I was just blown away and just trying to have casual convent. He's like, what an idiot. But yeah, the flat there, it was fine. You know, I think we, I was able to watch a movie, but it was more just me. You know, my balls are in my throat. Just think like, what in the heck have I gotten into? And just kind of sizing everyone up. It's an experience. I mean, you know how it is. It's, it's very,

[01:41:29] [SPEAKER_12] very different. It always reminds me now of like the hunger games. Uh, it's just like you're, you're sizing up your competition and you're just looking at everyone. And it is, it's a surreal thing that only a few people get to experience.

[01:41:42] [SPEAKER_02] Yeah. It's so funny. Cause people have compared this particular season to the hunger games. Like there's a couple, like you have Kyle and Camilla who were just in this last season. And we're talking about holes like duos. Like you have the, you have the districts, the districts. Yes.

[01:41:55] [SPEAKER_12] Absolutely. If they were district one, Rick's district one, you know, he's a district theme.

[01:42:02] [SPEAKER_02] You would have been there. You would have been there together. I guess they do man and woman on the, on the districts. Is that right? Well, you never know.

[01:42:10] [SPEAKER_12] You know, it can be, it can be, yeah, I was going to say, I would take spot.

[01:42:14] [SPEAKER_02] Is there any strategy that Rick can take from Fortnite into survivor 50?

[01:42:20] [SPEAKER_12] Um, yeah, there's a lot of different strategies that we play. We can, we can do the Rick Devins approach or we can do the Gavin Whitson approach. And hopefully he's going to do the Gavin Whitson, which is where you hide in a bush until that final circle. And then you just hope to shoot someone in the head as they run by. But if not that, then it's, you get a strong team and you work together until that certain point. And then you've just got a ball out. And that that's what Rick is capable of. And kind of, like you said, tying it back into the hunger games in these districts and all these people,

[01:42:50] [SPEAKER_12] you've got these legacy characters like, Hey Mitch and Sari and Ozzie who've played for the 48th time, who I can't wait to see play again, because I know they've got a lot of different things that they haven't done the first 12 times. Uh, you know, and outside of that, you've got other people who have played together. And those are the people that we need to be worried about picking off, not someone who's kind of a standalone. Um, so yeah, I think Rick, you know, our Thursday nights, if he wins, it's obviously it's going to be because of the training that we've done for

[01:43:19] [SPEAKER_12] the past seven years on fortnight, you know, and going into that, I'm super excited to take full credit for it. It's depending on how, how he does. Sure. Um, but yeah, so if he camps in a bush, I'm going to be proud of him because that means he's making it to the final three. And I know that he has the capabilities that I didn't to persuade that jury to vote for him. So if he does that, then I'm going to be super proud of him. And if he goes out, you know,

[01:43:51] [SPEAKER_11] in that first storm, that's because he went down five and then I'm still going to be proud of him that way as well. And hopefully my internet may be. Hold on. Can you hear me?

[01:44:07] [SPEAKER_02] I can hear you. I think the internet may have, Oh, we're back.

[01:44:10] [SPEAKER_11] Okay.

[01:44:11] [SPEAKER_02] We did it.

[01:44:12] [SPEAKER_11] There we go. We're good. We're good.

[01:44:13] [SPEAKER_02] Do you know about how Rick was going to be the shopkeeper if they went that route where he was going to like own the general store of survivor?

[01:44:22] [SPEAKER_12] So. And going back to Mike White, Mike White owes Rick now because he ruined that opportunity for Rick. And we didn't even talk about that, but honestly, like he should be a shoe in for something. Like that, that's the equivalent of a speaking role, you know, hotel manager or something, but he didn't, I don't think he had any clue about that. Like it was like all news to us at the same time. And we discussed it over fortnight. Rick's like, what the fuck? You know,

[01:44:48] come on.

[01:44:49] [SPEAKER_12] Like, so yeah, that, that would have been awesome. Also.

[01:44:53] [SPEAKER_02] You, you love Disney. What is, what is the Disney ride that it closes resembles survivor?

[01:45:01] [SPEAKER_11] Hmm.

[01:45:03] [SPEAKER_12] Are you asking? I still love survivor either way, either way, but are you asking Gavin who was out there as a super fan, who was super excited for the opportunity or Gavin, who's now watching again, you know, for the first time in a hot minute, just due to time constraints. And he, he is excited to watch again. You know, there there's two different, two different people riding the ride. I would take both of those answers. Let's see. Um,

[01:45:32] [SPEAKER_12] I think first Gavin, super fan Gavin, who's getting out there for the first time. It's like tower tear, you know, you know that you're getting ready to be on some hell of a ride and you're not sure exactly what sequence it's going to take, but you have that idea of how it's going to finish. And I think that was me. I knew what I was getting into, but I really didn't, uh, you know, you can be an armchair quarterback and think you can do everything. And I remember saying in those interviews, I know more about survivor than anyone on that season.

[01:46:02] [SPEAKER_12] I remember people talk crap on me because we had all those returning players. I still think I probably knew just as much as anyone, but, uh, but yeah, it's one of those things where you, you think, you know, it's going to happen, but you're getting ready to have some drops and those sequences that you don't expect. And, uh, but still it's a great ride nonetheless. And let's see, Gavin. Now there's, there's a new ride. It's called guardians of the galaxy. And, um, I personally don't care for the movies. Uh, you know, it's one of those things,

[01:46:33] [SPEAKER_12] but I experienced the ride and it was one of those life changing experiences. And that's what I'm hoping this is going to be for me. I haven't gotten to watch too much of the new era now. So this can be that opportunity for me to get hooked back into something that maybe I wasn't watching or wasn't necessarily interested at this time, just due to personal reasons. Uh, but yes, guardians of the galaxy. It's one of my favorite rides now. So still haven't seen all the movies, but it's one of those things like you can appreciate something for what it is,

[01:47:00] [SPEAKER_12] even if you don't necessarily feel that you're attached to that anymore.

[01:47:05] [SPEAKER_03] What a beautifully articulate answer for a throwaway funny question. That's great. I got violently ill on guardians of the galaxy with two of the people pictured. Yeah, no, it's awesome. It's awesome. Me and D and Emily were in a horrible shape after, uh, the guardians of the galaxy, as was Julie, who was also on my season. And I, I couldn't look up for 30 minutes.

[01:47:30] [SPEAKER_12] I love guardians. It's God is so good.

[01:47:32] [SPEAKER_02] Is there anybody here that you have a strong feeling towards? Maybe there's somebody that you watch that you enjoyed or somebody who you saw in passing on Twitter or something that you enjoyed their presence.

[01:47:42] [SPEAKER_12] So, um, obviously, you know, Rick, he's a no brainer. I'm super excited to see Christian again. Uh, and that's someone that I hope Rick can link up with, but not only that, uh, I hope Rick can use Christian as a shield. I think Christian is one of those people who can maybe, and it depends on how close he is with Angelina and Mike, that trio that can be dangerous. Um, but overall, I think Mike white, if Rick doesn't win, honest to God, I think Mike white is your winner. I think people are going to vote for him because for one,

[01:48:12] [SPEAKER_12] you're not going to vote him out because you want to get a spot on season four, season five, season six, whatever it is. You know, if I, if I vote out Mike, then he's definitely not putting me on the show. So some people aren't going to vote for Mike in that pre merge stage because of that same going into merge. And then hell, if you're on the jury, why are you going to vote for Jonathan Aubrey, whoever it is, any of these 18 people over 26, 38, how many of your people there are, you know, why would I not vote for Mike?

[01:48:41] [SPEAKER_12] Because that's going to benefit me again. So I really think, you know, if Rick's not in that final three, uh, I think Mike's a shoe and to get in there. And I'm honestly, I'm, I'm okay with that. It's not that he needs the money, but, uh, I think all of these people are going to be looking out for themselves again. And, um, yeah, so I am, I'm excited to see how that, how that plays into this season and, um, excited to see Chrissy again. I'm obviously, I'm leaning more towards that era that I'm most familiar with.

[01:49:10] [SPEAKER_12] And also I got to show some love to Colby, not even the love. I'm just curious to see how this season is going to play out because I think the last time we saw Colby, he wasn't on steroids, you know, so I'm excited to see kind of what he does now, uh, because I looked him up on Instagram. He's a big dude. So, you know, him, Rick, Jonathan, like that type archetype. I'm excited to see what happens.

[01:49:33] [SPEAKER_02] They're going to be out for blood. Those, those folks, you know, and they all want each other. They all want to be the biggest. Exactly.

[01:49:39] [SPEAKER_11] So,

[01:49:40] [SPEAKER_02] yeah, you're the Mike white point is interesting because, you know, if you're on the jury, you've already lost. Right. And the Mike white in the final three is like the only return on investment jury vote that's ever existed.

[01:49:52] [SPEAKER_12] If Rick's not there, if I'm on that jury and Rick's not in that final three, it doesn't matter what they say at final travel council. Mike, why has my vote? And I think if Mike white gets there, I think there'll be other people with that same mindset.

[01:50:04] [SPEAKER_02] Why not? My voting confession would be like, I would like a speaking role.

[01:50:08] [SPEAKER_12] And he just put it in. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm putting whatever, whatever role I want on the white voters below his name, you know, bartender or whatever bartender, you know? Sure.

[01:50:20] [SPEAKER_03] Kevin, this was so much fun.

[01:50:21] [SPEAKER_12] No, it was great. Yeah. I was happy to come out of retirement for, for this and only for you, Brandon.

[01:50:27] [SPEAKER_02] You heard that. This is, this is great. Thank you for joining this supersize episode. Of the survivor 50 files. We will be back next time with another episode. Take care, everybody. Have a good one. Goodbye. Thank you to our friends at mad to sleep for sponsoring this episode of the survivor 50 files. You've made it to the end of the podcast. You've been here long enough. Let me show you my sleep. The one that I use. And I use every night. Here it is. I've worn this every night for the past couple of years. Minus the four nights that I spent on survivor,

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