Gabby Pascuzzi Talks Christian Hubicki | The Survivor 50 Files

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[00:01:27] order. Discount code is 50Files, 5-0-F-I-L-E-S. Let's get to the show. What is going on, everybody? We are back again. Another episode of The Survivor 50 Files. I am Brandon Donlan, and we're talking Christian Hubick, everybody's favorite doctor. Is that fair to say? Is he the best survivor doctor?

[00:01:52] That's a question for later. We'll get into that. But I'm joined by an ally of Christian Hubecki, but that's not, we don't lead with, that didn't pass the Bechdel test of who this person is. This is one of my girls, Gabby Fiscusi, who I've known for so long, much longer than me on the island, a little bit longer than her on the island. But I'm so thrilled. We've never done this together, and this is great. Gabby, how are you? I'm good. Wow, that was such a good introduction.

[00:02:19] Actually, speaking of the Bechdel test, I'm currently reading a graphic novel by the woman that that's named after that I literally have right next to me. This was not planned at all. This is by Alison Bechdel. So shout out to that. Does she, does it that pass the Bechdel test? I assume it is. Is it about the Bechdel test? No, it's not. Yeah, she's like an author, and this is a

[00:02:48] graphic novel about her life, and I'm like one chapter in, but that's who it's named after, the test. But now I'm actually, I feel like I shouldn't have brought this up without knowing enough, because now I'm like, I don't actually know why it's named that, like named after her. If you read the first chapter of Harry Potter. It's not in the book. It has nothing to do with the book. You have nothing, if you're reading Harry Potter, the Sorcerer's Stone isn't in the first

[00:03:14] chapter. Like you didn't get there yet. It might be all about the Bechdel test. Has anybody done anything with the Bechtold test? Like Kellyn Bechtold, like we make that into a game? Is that IP that's been left in the... Yeah. Kellyn, if you're listening, and I know you are, get in contact, we can make that into something magical. The Bechdel test. Brandon can help you copyright that. How are you? How are you doing?

[00:03:36] I'm good. I'm really good. Enjoying the summer off from, as you know, doing my PhD. This is weird talking to you on a podcast like this, as if we don't talk all the time, because now it's like, we're talking publicly. So we match, we're matching in our little green, in our green. For people who are watching this, for the auditory listeners, you might not be able to get this, but we were matching. We are matching in green, but we were flexing before we recorded, you know.

[00:04:06] One of our arms of the two of us looks very toned. I won't say who it is, but it's not me. But Gabby's arms looking pretty toned, 2025. Thank you. Listen, season 50, Gabby, would have been a different situation. You know what I mean? You and Jonathan would have been lifting stuff up. It would have been fantastic. Oh yeah, me and Jonathan. Gabby, how do we know each other? How did this happen? We know each other. Yeah. From

[00:04:36] before I was on Survivor and before you were on Survivor, but via Survivor through the wonderful world of the fan community. Do you want to tell your version of this story? Picture this. It's the spring of 2018. The cast of Davers Goliath gets leaked. Shout out to Redmond. You know, you did a lot of good for people.

[00:05:03] No, it had to have been the summer because I already played the game of Survivor. And I'm reading the leak, right? And Gabby's tweets are so funny. There's such funny tweets. And I, back in the day, I was funny. So I DMed Gabby. I'm funny. I DMed Gabby. I said, your tweets are so funny. Good luck. That was it. That was a tweet. I think you said they were hysterical, by the way. And they were. We should, you know what? We should go back and revisit that.

[00:05:33] There's a screenshot somewhere. And then, I mean, we meet each other in person. Yes. And the dots are connected. Yes. I didn't know. But actually, I think I complimented you on your t-shirt. Do you remember what shirt you were wearing? I was wearing a... I was wearing a... You're familiar with Legend of the Hidden Temple, if you're listening to this. I was wearing... What is it? The Green Parrots? I was wearing the t-shirt of the Green Parrots team. I didn't remember which team it was. But yeah, it was... I thought maybe it was Silver

[00:06:04] Monkeys. Snakes? Well, I'm sorry. I think it was the Green Monkeys. What did I just say? Green Parrot? Purple Parrot. Green Monkey. Silver Snake. Got it. They couldn't find an alliteration for the monkey. They didn't do like Maroon Monkey. Maroon Monkey. Yeah, it seems like it would make sense. I don't remember the other names. And there was Blue Barracuda is the other one. Yeah, you weren't wearing that. And then maybe Red... I think Red Jaguar is speaking to me. I don't know if that's... Wow.

[00:06:31] We could look at... We have the internet at our fingertips, so we're not going to look it up. Well, you were wearing a shirt from Legend of the Hidden Temples and Legends, plural, temple singular. And I was like, that's an awesome shirt. And then we just started talking. And then I think you were... Maybe you didn't want to say it, but you were like, I have to address that I've actually sent you a DM before. And I was like, oh, I saw that DM. Thanks for thinking I'm funny.

[00:07:00] And now it's public and canon, which is great, which is what I've always... The rest is history. But then that was... That's 2018 and we're here. Look at us. That's amazing. Yeah. We literally became friends through that, which I can't say for... I love meeting people in the community, but you and I just immediately kind of hit it off. And we talked long before you were on the island and months before my season even aired. I think it was...

[00:07:28] I think I really appreciated having a friend who understood Survivor and was a fan of that whole world because none of my friends were, but who wasn't somebody I had just played Survivor with. Because also it was my first time in the fan community. So I didn't really have any... Now I know the RHAP podcasters and people. I know them. But at the time, I didn't really have any friends that watched Survivor. So it was really... It was so wholesome. So wholesome for us to become friends. And I always

[00:07:57] knew that you would make it onto the show one day. And famously, you did. Famously, I did. And I did really well once I got there, which is the underreported story, is that it was... Yeah. It went really well. Um, you're being facetious, but like, I actually think you did do well, except for the parts where you didn't do well. Sure. And as you know, this is my... Hold on. I get to be on my soapbox because I've got a captive

[00:08:25] audience of being Team Brandon because you get a hard time for various incidents during your time on the program. But, um, I think you were one of the funniest people. I think you, the reason you and I are friends are because we just tell each other that we're funny all the time. You were so funny on the program. And that actually is underreported because you were very, very self-aware the whole

[00:08:50] time. And one of my favorite Brandon Donlin-isms was when somebody said, um, like, how are you? And where are you from? And how are you doing? And you were like, New Jersey and bad. Um, just funny, just funny stuff. It's a good line. You had so many good lines and yeah, I know that you're a social

[00:09:13] king that I feel is underappreciated. So if you're not a fan of Brandon Donlin, you're probably not listening to this podcast, but if you weren't before, you better be now by, I don't know how many interviews you've had before me, but, um, hopefully I'm so happy that everyone gets to see how fricking funny and smart you are. So yeah, I'm, yeah, this is just going to be a, who are we talking about today? I'm just talking about our, Carl who's on 50. I forget which one that you're

[00:09:41] here for. I'm kidding. Christian, if you think I'm funny, you definitely the Christians, I mean, Christian, you know, for you, the listener, Christian's great. And so funny. Um, and so social. Tell me Gabby about the pregame you're in the airport, you're in the hotel, you're, you're flying to Fiji. What's the Christian Hubicki first impression from you? Yes. Well, I immediately

[00:10:04] identified that this is, this is the male nerd of the season. Um, I believe one of his bags was a duffel bag. And I believe that this duffel bag, like one of his main bags, like, I'm not talking like the personal item. Like it was like, it was a big duffel bag. And I believe, and he can't correct me because he's in Fiji right now that it was a, it was

[00:10:34] a Disney bag. Like it was Disney. It had embroidery on it or something, but it was like from someone who had been to Disney land or world. I'm not sure. I might say land because, um, cause Emily, his partner's family's from California. So I, and at the time they didn't, they live in Florida. Now they, they didn't live there. So I'm going to guess it was Disneyland from California. They can correct me later. Um, and I remember thinking like, Oh, there's some guy with a Disney

[00:11:02] bag and it's a duffel bag. Like you didn't even bring a roller bag. Um, and also I thought he was a fair amount younger than he ended up being. I think when we played, he was 32. And I thought maybe he was, I don't know, 28 or something. That's not that much younger. How old were you? I was 25. So I thought he was more in my direct age range because he, he just looked so, so wholesome

[00:11:29] with his like Disney bag. But I was like worried that he was going to be this like Disney adult, um, which I don't even think he he's like not even. So I, I think I've asked him about that afterwards and he, and it may have been like his dad's bag or like, it was just like a bag. It's not like his dearest and nearest bag. But I remember being like duffel bag was a bad choice.

[00:11:54] Yeah. In a game of first impressions, it's a tough one to lead off with. I think I'm, I'm thinking about a survivor Disney adult. I think there's only, I only know of one canonical survivor Disney adult. Do you know of any survivor? Gav. It's Gavin. Is that what you were going to say? And we'll cut this out if he doesn't end up coming, but I believe he's on the podcast tomorrow to talk about Rick Devin. So we're talking about you. We're here already. All right. Last time I was on with Rob, I also shaded Disney adults. So I'm just getting all in all kinds of trouble. I'm sorry.

[00:12:24] Get it. Listen, I don't have the money to be a Disney. If I did not to say that Gavin has, I don't want to assign a wealth to Gavin, but like, it's so expensive. It is super fun to be at Disney. I've never denied it. It's fun to go to a theme park. Oh my God. Yeah. The thing is, I, I feel like I shade Disney adults, but then actually low key. I love, um, universal. I'm like a universal girly. So I'm just like, I'm on the other side, but it's, I just, I, I really like,

[00:12:51] you know, I, I don't go every year, but when I used to, my family lives in Florida, my uncle actually used to work at universal. So I would get comped tickets and I would go to universal and I would love it. I loved it a lot. So I can't even better to go for free. You know what I mean? Going for free must feel good for sure. Because you go and then you already spend like $50 on food, but yeah.

[00:13:15] Anyway, who are we talking about again? He's not a Disney adult, but it's a great first impression. Christian is a type of nerd and a type of like casting for survivor that I don't think had ever presented itself. At least in recent times you have like your Aubrey and your David, but Christian is a new, a new thing. What, what made Christian like a new thing to you?

[00:13:40] I think he is just a true, extremely intelligent, like a true, a nerd's nerd. Um, like you've, we've gotten super fan nerds kind of, I mean, we've had people like, you know, Cochran or something. I'd not just say Cochran's not smart. He'd like went to Harvard. Did he go to Harvard? I think, I think so. Yeah. Does he have a law degree from Harvard law? Maybe I don't think

[00:14:07] so. Underreported story, but I believe that's what he did. And I think he went on survivors, Harvard law student. I think I could be wrong. I think so. So anyway, we have had true nerds, but like, okay, I can tell you now as someone in academia myself, um, pursuing my PhD, uh, when I met Christian, when he was on the show, he had finished his PhD. He had finished his, um, post

[00:14:31] doctorate degree, uh, not degree, but, um, position. And, um, academics are a different kind of nerd because you have to be so obsessed with what you do to make that your life's work. And, um, he's just highly, highly intelligent, but he's also, as we know, very social, funny. He gets it. He's not,

[00:14:57] um, you know, like, I think that's what makes him different is he's, he's not just like a nerd about survivor or just like, he's nerdy. Cause he has dorky interests. It's like, he's a true, you know, he's a really intelligent guy and it comes through in what he talks about, what he enjoys talking about, the way that he talks, the phrases that he uses, the way that he hyper fixates on a slide puzzle. It's just like you, we, they've,

[00:15:24] they've never had someone like that before. Do you think, you know, you are just recently finished PhD, still in PhD? No, I still, I still have a year or so left. So here you are the same age Christian was when he was on for the first time. Tell me like going through all the schooling that you've now done, what skills like come with that experience that translate to survivor that maybe

[00:15:47] he presented in the real time when you were there? That's such a good question. Um, I think so PhD is, you know, yes, it helps to be, to be intelligent, to, to do it, but it's really not about raw intelligence. It is about perseverance and tenacity and sticking with something when it gets hard,

[00:16:13] when it is confusing, it's like a giant puzzle. A PhD is like a giant puzzle. And, um, like I said, you have to have a passion for that. You have to have an interest in it. You have to have curiosity, willingness to learn all of these things that I feel like, you know, he, he had, and he, I mean, he would talk about robots and stuff like that. And, um, I think one of the reasons that he and

[00:16:40] I got along so quickly was because I have that same curiosity, the same thing, you know, interest in learning that made me do a PhD, albeit in a different field that I remember asking him questions about his work and robots and things like that. But like, I really wanted to understand, like, for example, he had said that he, his specialty was bipedal robots, you know, robots

[00:17:07] that can walk. And I was like, well, why would we need robots like that? Like, why do you need robots that can walk? Why can't you just have robots? You know, why does, why, why is it important that it's the same shape or whatever as a human? Why can't you just have one on wheels or like one that's like a snake that wiggles through things? And he would answer my questions in great detail. Like he would talk about certain situations in which you would want something that could maybe

[00:17:34] fit into a space like a human could, or like, um, I don't know. I want to say he had some example that was like, about fire or fighting or something. I don't remember now. But anyway, he had an answer for my kind of like very specific questions. And I feel like maybe that's why we got along is because we both have this interest in learning and understanding and wanting to understand

[00:17:57] the why and how. So that's, uh, yeah, that's what I've gained for my PhD. And that's definitely where he, you know, excels in his like intelligence and everything. Thank you.

[00:18:43] They have, does your grocery store have robots? Do you have robots at your grocery store? No. They have in, in, well, not in New York anymore, but when I lived in Philly, like the giant, shout out to giant, if you're going to giant, but the giants have like a, it's a big robot, but it's on wheels and it will go from aisle to aisle. I guess doing, I don't know, quality assurance. I don't know what it does, but if that robot had two feet, I would hate that. If it was walking around. And you would push it over. Yeah.

[00:19:13] It's one of the fights I can win, Gabby. I can push that thing over. It's not going to get up. It's going to lay there. Yeah. That's actually what Christian has said. A lot of his lab spends time doing is just pushing robots over and making them fall. He was on the Stephen Colbert show. Um, like a clip of their research was shown and, and all the, all because it was shown in

[00:19:38] like a funny way where it's like, these nerds are pushing this robot around. So I'll try to, I'll try to find the clip. It's it's, I think it's on his website, but I remember he showed it to me once, um, on the Island, on the secret, on the tablets that we have secretly. They have wifi there because Kyle Frazier putting stuff on Instagram now. So I guess he found the wifi hotspot.

[00:20:01] Yeah. The old school didn't have it, but it's yeah. Season 37 and on, they installed wifi. Uh, they took away our swimsuits, but they installed wifi. Yeah. Yeah. I w I spent a lot of time on Pinterest, um, when I was there, um, cause it would calm me down. Um, is Christian good at, you guys have like built in rapport. Cause you're both like, I don't want to assign nerdy to you, but you both have similar niche interests. You know,

[00:20:29] can Christian do that with like your Jessica Pete or a B when like somebody who's not built in, like has a similar like subset of interests. Yeah. Yeah. That's what makes him such a good, um, you know, survivor player and just like a fun and amazing human being is he really can get along with anybody. He can find something. So I think that same curiosity that I was talking about,

[00:20:55] he will ask people questions, but like meaningful questions, you know, like, um, questions that get them talking about their interest. Um, and he also has a really special skill, I think of being sarcastic in a way that amuses himself that other people don't notice. Like, like if someone said something kind of wacky and pseudo sciency or something, you know, something like some kind of wacky conspiracy

[00:21:24] or something, I think he has the magic gift of like responding them, responding to them in a way that like, doesn't make them feel bad or stupid, but he's being a little bit facetious. Like I could imagine that with like a coach or something out there where he's like, he, so even if you don't have

[00:21:49] the same interests, he will either be genuinely very interested or even if he thinks you're spewing, uh, crap, he is very skilled at, um, I don't know, being clever and biting without being mean. You know, the only, the person that I thought of while you're describing that is, is Rob who would otherwise be hosting this podcast. If not a trip to Scotland, um, he can do that exceedingly

[00:22:19] I think they both have that gear, which is a hard, I don't think I have that. I don't think most people have that. Um, yeah, I don't have that. I think, uh, yeah, he's good at that. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. I'm imagining Rob is doing that right now with like some of the housewives, right? They're just saying, and he's like, yeah, no. And definitely he's so good at that. Um, Christian is good at that sort of thing too, but yeah, he's also just, I mean, you know, so part of the, you know, his and my story,

[00:22:48] I mean, his story really, it was with the, with the bro Chachos on our season was because he could do that. He was like, I think like, I have a bit of a harder time. Um, kind of like, I don't know. I think he's fine. He's, he, at least at the time, I don't, maybe he's, you know, he's a little older now. Like he's kind of fine. Um, be like going jester mode. Like, I think that's how I was a little bit

[00:23:15] like, uh, when we were in the game, I, I maybe have a harder time with that of like, when it's like Dan, Dan rendering and John Hennigan, it's like, and they're like growing out. I, at the time was like, I'm not playing your stupid game. And Christian's like, I'm going to do pull-ups on the, on the tree, you know? And I was like, Oh, this guy, even though he's totally doing like the correct

[00:23:39] thing that you should be doing. So will he be able to, you know, be silly and goofy out there? I think a hundred percent and, um, you know, tell his robot stories and stuff like that, but no, he's very, very funny and personable and easy to get along with. And, you know, he has interests in stuff that, that, that are not just his, his research, which is good as any researcher should, but, um, I don't think it's true for everybody, but you know, he, he, he watches movies,

[00:24:07] TV, you can talk about that kind of stuff. He is somebody who I think like, when I think of popular survivor characters, contestants, whatever you want to call them in the last, you know, you know, pre post season 20, I think he is the number one person in that regard. I think that he is on every list that you saw on people, you know, people would make or on Reddit. He was, I think the Rob is a podcast. I forget what the number was, but they did a poll of who do you want

[00:24:34] to see on season 50. He had like some insane percentage with such a gap with the second person. Is that something that you could feel in person? Could you tell like, this is, this is a guy who's like going to, you know, leave a lasting impression. Yes. A hundred percent. Like he just has that something like he's so likable just as a person that all of us feel. And then you could also just feel in his rapport with Jeff and the things he would say at tribal council. I was like, he is going to be

[00:25:03] a star. And I remember like knowing that too, like after, after the game, I remember thinking to myself, like Christian is going to be totally a breakout star. And ironically, I actually thought I would be kind of invisible or something because of that. Like I was like, Oh, Christian's going to be the star. And I'm going to be like some kind of sidekick, like nobody person that he's aligned with.

[00:25:28] And then, um, then they showed me crying about every seven minutes on the show. So that was not true, but like, I think we all knew, I think that I remember there was, I think probably the first tribal council we went to, he says something that makes it on the show. He says, he makes an analogy about, you know, like a rollercoaster. And he's like, well, with a rollercoaster, like, are you actually, I can't even replicate what he said, but something like, you know, you're scared

[00:25:57] because you, you're, you're, it's not because you, you know, you're going to be okay after the rollercoaster. It's because you actually, for a second, believe you could die. And there's like a silence in the show and in real life, it was completely silent. And we're all like, Oh, that's like, especially the first time you ever go to tribal councils. Like the first time you're kind of hearing people speak really publicly in that kind of way, I guess, besides, you know,

[00:26:24] like match hats or something like that. But I think even from that early on, I was like, this guy is good at talking and he's good at like this thing. Um, yeah. What a star. I, I, yeah. Love him. When people meet like a Tom Cruise, like a, like a larger than life, like actor of sorts. And you, you read like the Reddit threads of like, what's a celebrity encounter you've had? Like, that's how I feel like people describe it is it's like so big.

[00:26:52] It's such a big presence that they can feel, you know, from a distance. Um, and I don't know how that works. Oh, go ahead. No, you say. I, I, I put a pin, but like on season 50, I don't know if that's a good thing to have. Well, we can put a pin on that because I do think compared to some of those huge personalities, uh, I actually think he'll be pretty normal. I actually think when I say all of

[00:27:20] that, I mean it really in the context of like, I don't know. Survivor was just kind of his jam. Like he was just like good at it. He just stood out. He was likable, but he didn't have that kind of, I wouldn't say it was like a Tom Cruise thing. Like, I don't think no offense to him, adore him, but like, he didn't have that thing of there's an aura around him. He walks into a room and everybody kind of looks like, I don't think so, which I think was his superpower in like,

[00:27:50] you didn't expect this guy to be so charming and lovely. That was actually something I really ascribed that aura. I really ascribed to the Goliaths. And I remember when people would ask me how I felt about, um, like after the show would ask, how did you feel about your season with the theme and everything? And like, did you think people were on the right tribe? And I remember there was discourse on Reddit and stuff after my season, people were like,

[00:28:15] well, why is Alec on the Goliaths? He's just a bartender as if it was something about your job. Um, but really it was about the aura. And I will say the Goliaths had the aura. Like they, there was just like a certain confidence, like type of thing. And at the time, like, I don't think Christian really had that. Um, in fact, one of, one of you want to hear another

[00:28:43] first impression story. I think this has now been said, so I don't think I'm saying an embarrassing story that's never been said, but I don't think it's as well known of a story, which is that at Ponderosa, we get told like, you can't, don't go in the water, really. You don't go in the ocean. Cause like, they don't want you to get injured and stuff before the game starts. So like, right. We're all just kind of like sitting on the beach, reading your, and you're sitting in the

[00:29:08] restaurant area or whatever it is. Um, but there, when we were at Ponderosa, I think it's somewhere else now there was like a dock that goes over the ocean and you could walk up and down that people did. You could sit there, you could do whatever. You just weren't supposed to go in the ocean. Um, but this man was, I think probably sitting with his feet dangling over the edge and his flip-flop

[00:29:34] falls into the ocean from the dock. I don't remember if it was one flip-flop or two. It doesn't really matter. Cause at that point you got to go retrieve it. And so I don't think we really noticed that the flip-flop dropped. Cause that's, that's kind of subtle, but what we all noticed was him walking back from the dock, talking to a handler or something. And like, you know, you can't hear

[00:30:01] them. You just see them kind of like, eh, I don't know, like pointing and then just slowly start wading into the water to go retrieve the flip-flop. And it's just like, I think a lot further out than he thought, like, it just felt like it took a really long time and he's hiking up his pants and

[00:30:29] he's wading out there. And, you know, at first you're kind of like, what's he doing? And everyone else is like making eye contact at each other, like kind of laughing at the situation. And he's like not making eye contact with anyone. He's like looking, you know, just like, he's just trying to get the thing done. And then, yeah, you know, he eventually, he comes back with flip-flops in hand. But like, we were laughing, people were laughing, but still it's not like when I saw that I wasn't

[00:30:59] like first boot. Oh my God, loser energy. Bye. I was just like this guy, like, oh my God, you lost your flip-flops already. That in itself does feel like an aura to have something like that embarrassing happen to you. And like, that wasn't anybody's first thought or maybe it was in the, it's underreported story. But if you can have something like that happen in front of 19 people, and then it just is not canon, it doesn't ever come up. Like that's pretty, that's something, you know, you have to have like a fun

[00:31:28] way about you to be able to do it. Exactly. Like maybe if he had really looked so like self-pitying, if he'd been walking back like Charlie Brown, like, like that would have maybe been really bad. But I think, I mean, I think I haven't talked to him about that story in ages, but yeah, I guess that is an aura, but like he has a very non-threatening aura. So to return the

[00:31:53] Goliath? Yeah. The Goliath folk in the pregame, which you didn't know beforehand that they weren't in a tribe, did they exude aura before the buffs were decided? Like you could feel that then? Yes. Oh yeah. A hundred percent. Because when they put us on, on the mats on the side that we were supposed to be on, I, I didn't know the theme, but it was calculating, calculating. And I remember at one

[00:32:17] point I thought to myself, uh, I think the theme is going to be top dogs versus underdogs. So I was kind of right, but it took until we were, it was a good theme, but it's basically my theme in a like secular way. But, um, Oh, I have one more story about the, uh, about Christian and the, and the tribe split, which is, um, yes. So you could feel people's aura, but since they'd never really had

[00:32:44] a season like that, when they were, when we were going out to start the game, we were first on boats because we had the shots with the, where you're on the separate boats of each one is your tribe. Um, but you're not wearing buffs yet. So like, we don't know the theme. Um, and you know, sometimes they do it where it's the people, you know, on your boat is your tribe. And sometimes they don't. So like they're sorting people into the boats and I'm thinking like, Oh my God, this is it. We're,

[00:33:12] we're seeing our tribes. And as many fans know now, you know, your wardrobe is kind of strategically chosen to match your tribe's colors more or less. So on my season, it was orange and purple, orange, David's purple Goliaths. And it made sense when you saw people come out in their game clothes for the first time, cause people were sort of in shades of yellow, red, orange, that would be my

[00:33:36] tribe. And then people were in shades of purple, blue, green, you know, cool tones. So cool. And, and so when they start putting people onto the tribes, um, it's matching up, you know, with like the color shirt that they're wearing and everything. And, you know, the gender split is looking even. So I'm thinking like, Oh my God, these are our tribes. These are our tribes. And so I'm looking at

[00:34:00] my tribe start to be built and I'm literally feeling like, what is going on? Because all of these weak and small looking people are coming onto my boat and wearing the same color as me. And I'm starting to freak out. And there were two men left, Alec and Christian. And I'm looking at my,

[00:34:30] my tribe and I'm thinking, Oh my God, we're so screwed. The other tribe has like Dan and John and all these tall people on my tribe. I'm like, okay, Pat, he's a bigger guy. So I'm like thinking, I'm looking, Alec is wearing salmon colored shorts, AKA in my color family. And I'm thinking, oh, they're going to put him on my tribe. That guy looks, you know, to balance it out.

[00:34:56] And I was also thinking, I'm not on the same tribe as the male nerd. We're like the male for, you know, different gender version of each other. Alec wearing salmon shorts. Christian is wearing a dark blue shirt, his robot shirt. And I'm like, okay, here's where the balancing thing comes. And the production assistant or whatever points at Alec and puts them on the other boat,

[00:35:23] puts it Christian, puts them in my boat. Now, do I think to myself, Oh, I guess I was wrong. No, the entire first 20 to 30 minutes of the boat ride. I legitimately thought to myself that PA made a mistake and it's so embarrassing for them. And they're probably going to get fired. And I even

[00:35:49] had like a, you know, 0.5% desire to be like, are you sure that was right? I almost said like, but he's wearing orange shorts. Like, are you like you? And as they're, they're filming the boats, they're filming the closeups. I'm still thinking, Oh my God, we're going to have to redo this whole thing. Cause that PA made a mistake. I can't believe no one's catching this. They switched the

[00:36:18] guys. They put the guys on the wrong boat. They're wearing the wrong color. We have the weak guy. We need that strong guy wearing orange. And it probably took me 30 minutes of like them filming the shots of us on the boat before I realized like, Oh my God, this is survived. They would have noticed if there was a mistake by then. Like, I really thought we were going to turn around and they were going to switch them off the boat. So then, yeah, by that time, that's when I started thinking like this season

[00:36:47] theme is something effed up like this. What's going on. So yeah. Then when it was real, it was what it was, but I legitimately was looking at Christian thinking they're putting that blue guy on that other tribe. Cause he's too weak. We need that strong guy, Alec. Yeah. Top dogs versus underdogs. A really good name. It is essentially what you did. Like it's that season, but it is surprised they've never done that. That's a great name. That's like an Australian survivor situation.

[00:37:15] They might take that. Top dogs versus underdogs. That's what they'll say in that accent. We can go play that. Um, however, I will cut this out. You don't want to talk about it. We'll cut it out. Making it up. We'll cut it out. Season 40 in its original iteration was not a winner situation. It was an all-star situation that I believe. And tell me if I'm wrong that you've publicly said

[00:37:40] before that that was something that you were involved with. I was contacted, but a lot of people are contacted. I did. Yeah, I was, I was contacted. And I, you know, assuming Christian was also, what is, what was that like for your then relationship after having played almost the entire game together, you come home, you go closer once like another opportunity is back on the table.

[00:38:05] How does that change a relationship with Christian? I don't think it changed anything between us. I think, um, we would have totally been cool and, and, you know, been happy to work together and things like that. But, um, I always, and so it was the same way around for, for this time around season 50. I always had the thought like, you're coming back, buddy. You're coming back. You're an all-star.

[00:38:35] You are, and always will be an all-star. Um, RuPaul quote. Um, I would always, always, always have been thrilled if he got on any kind of returning player season and it would have been cool to play again. But I, I remember also we could be really targeted as a duo if we, if we both went back. So, um, yeah, I don't think it

[00:39:02] would have changed much about our relationship, but like, I, I just always knew he would, he would go back and even like this iteration, I think it was never a doubt in my mind that, that he would get chosen. I felt actually for me, it was, it was more like, well, would they put two people from the same season? I mean, then dot, dot, dot, we got three people from the same season. They put three. However, I will say also, I know we're not focusing on, on Mike and Angelina in this interview, but

[00:39:32] you could not have chosen a better three from my season. I mean, I, and I'm saying that as somebody who like, I would totally be willing to go back. And I would say, you know, someone like Davey would be awesome to come back. But like, if you had to pick three, I am not at all shocked. Like for me, it was always going to be Christian. Like, please bring Christian back. I wanted him to come back. Angelina, I iconic, like, like she is unlike anyone we've seen. There are not enough,

[00:39:59] like women, like female player characters, like, like her. And then like, how are you going to say no to the creator of the white Lotus? Like you're not going, you're, you're bringing on Mike. So people, you know, friends of mine and stuff have been like, oh my God, but they brought back three from your season. Like, aren't you mad that you're not one of them? And I'm like, honestly, if I put on my producer ad, I would have chosen those three as well. And you are in a minority where you're on a season where it's not only just you and Davey,

[00:40:27] which would obviously be next, you know, whatever. But there's like other people from your group too, that would make a run again. Like you guys have so many people who a second round makes so much sense where that's not the case with other seasons at all. Yeah, I know. Yeah. I think our cast was stacked in personality. I don't know. It was really a lightning struck or something, but yeah, I think, I think a lot of people from my cast would be great on a return, even people that people don't

[00:40:55] wouldn't think of or wouldn't expect. Like I would love to see like Elizabeth Olsen back. Like, I think she's hilarious and iconic. She's one of my very good friends from the season still. Actually, she's probably like the person I talked to the second most after Christian. Tell me about, and we're not, we're not focusing on Mike White, but tell me about like from the, from the brief time that you spent with Mike White on Survivor or the times you chatted afterward, like what about this experience do you think made him want to be back in for this?

[00:41:23] I know he's given interviews as of recent, like, this is what I have to do to get a vacation, which is like a cheeky, funny thing. But like, tell me about what you know of the Mike White, like why another round on Survivor is something that he would subject himself to now. I, I think he just has a curiosity about people. Like, I think what he does as a, as a writer and as,

[00:41:50] you know, creative person is explore stories, explore narratives and explore stories of people and characters. It's just like, I think he just likes, first of all, seeing how others are. And then I think also when you go through something with such highs and lows as Survivor, you learn things about yourself. You learn things about the human experience.

[00:42:13] Um, it's like a way of getting an extreme, like something so extreme, right? There's very few times in life you get to experience something so extreme. I say get to, but, or, or are forced to, you know, like even like, like pain or joy or anything like those are relatively muted in your everyday experience. And, you know, people talk about the best day of their life might be like when their child is born or something like that. And so that's like an extreme high,

[00:42:42] but that's not happening all the time. That's happening once or twice, or, you know, however many times you have kids. Um, and then the same with like, I mean, I imagine, you know, like give it like childbirth. It's like, that's probably the most painful thing you've ever, again, it's not something you experienced. So it's like, there's very few experiences in life. I feel that are so intense that are so concentrated. And I think it's a certain type of person that wants

[00:43:08] to experience those things, AKA those, you know, 607 of us who have signed up to play. And I think it's rare for someone that exists in Hollywood, which is a place of, you know, relative comfort and luxury and all these things. And I've been to Mike's house, you know, he is an, he has a nice house. He has, you know, he lives in comfort. So I think it's really rare and like a

[00:43:32] special kind of person that would want to take himself out of that place of luxury and comfort and, and push himself. And, you know, I don't know him as well as other people do. I can't speak to like what exactly that is, but I think he, he, like many of us just has a curiosity and, um, you know, like a desire to learn more and to experience more. Like it's, it's cheesy,

[00:43:57] but it's like, it's an adventure, right? Like just, I don't know, have an adventure that not everyone can have. You have always, you've always said to me, even pre me being on survivor post you is, is you think you would have benefited on survivor from being a couple of years older? Yeah. Like you, like you played survivors maybe, which is 25. I was also 25 different situation, but like being a couple of years older for the three people from your show who are now,

[00:44:24] I guess eight years older. Is there a, is there a change that you could see in their personality from like your Angelina's or your Mike's, you know, having that, I mean, granted Mike has lived as I'm sure Angelina has also a Mike has lived a whole lifetime since then with just the success that he's found. Um, and Angelina has now had, I think children, plural children, children. Yeah. So like they're like life experiences obviously come in eight years, but is there any benefit that you see for them now having been older?

[00:44:53] Yeah, I think so. I think I, so probably the person I could speak on least about that would be Mike. Um, I haven't seen him in, in several years. Um, but you know, he's probably in a very different place now with like, he, you know, he was always successful, but now he's certainly reached like a new level of success. And I, I, I wonder, I'd be curious to know like how that's affected him in some ways. Like, you know, I don't think he's like struggled with confidence, but like certainly

[00:45:20] like reaching some level of success has to kind of boost, you know, your, your belief in, in yourself and your craft and your ideas, like even more. Um, but then I also wonder like what it's like, you know, interacting with all these like famous, super duper famous people, but you know, he's been in that world. So he's probably who I could speak the least on. And he's also,

[00:45:40] he was 85 years old when we played. So he is 93 now. So that might, um, be hard for him. Um, Representation wise though, I really stand by that. We should be doing that more is having 93 year olds on. Yeah. Just cause I needed somebody there to be better than, you know what I mean? And if we, if we're doing that every season, we have a 93, even 95,

[00:46:07] 9, push it a little bit. If they can, if they can run our country in the government, they can play survivor. And we've always said it and we've always said it. I voted today. I just got back from voting. It's for mayor of New York city. Yeah. They say ranking is arbitrary and reductive, but not in New York city. It's important. New York city. You gotta do it. Um, you gotta do it. That's awesome. Good for you. I, my voting day is next week for our

[00:46:37] mayor of Buffalo, New York. Sure. And you feel good about that. I do. I know who I'm voting for. Um, and I have a lawn sign on my, uh, lawn for that person. And the name of the candidate that I'm voting for is the first name, two first names of my landlords. Okay, cool. And that's why you decided,

[00:47:08] I saw the sign and I was like, I guess like, those are the names of my landlords. So I'll vote for that. No, my, but my landlords are named, am I allowed to endorse a political of a mayoral ballot in Buffalo on your, my, my landlords are named Sean and Ryan and Lauren, my partner. And I actually refer to them as one entity, Sean Ryan, because we think it's funny. Um, and because that's how their name was

[00:47:34] listed on Zillow. When we applied for the apartments, we thought their name was Sean Ryan. Then it turned out to be one guy named Sean, one guy named Ryan. Anyway, now the mayoral candidate is he's named Sean Ryan. So I'm like, well, that's first and last name. His first name is not Sean Ryan. Sean Ryan, Sean Ryan. Yeah. It would be tough. You go to Myrtle beach. You're never finding a Sean Ryan key chain. No, you're not. Yeah. No. Do you want to give out your address to people for them to,

[00:47:59] if they want to see the lawn sign? No, I'm okay. Okay. Um, when we do plugs, we'll, we'll get there. I was actually still talking about something. The age thing. Um, Mike is not 93 for, I think people know, but when we were on the Island, it was a running joke that he was, um, 85 years old, which I think was also a strategic thing on his part. Cause we all, it was a self-deprecating

[00:48:27] thing to be like, I'm not a threat. I'm 85 years old. Um, so, but now he's 93. So, uh, so Angelina, I think she's, she's had a lot of changes in her life in terms, like you said, she has two daughters now. Um, I think what time would do the most for her. And honestly, just like being able to see our season is, is like the self-awareness that like, no, I'm not saying that just for her, but for all of us, as we get older, we gain more self-awareness.

[00:48:53] And I think, you know, she made it really far on our season and then had to hear from the jury about here's some of the reasons that you maybe rubbed some of us the wrong way. And so for her, having the opportunity to hear that and learn from that, um, as well as getting older, I think will be really good for her. And I think, you know, she, she's seems like an amazing mother. I mean, she is, I've seen her, so I've seen her with her one daughter, but I have not seen her with her second daughter. I'm assuming she's as good of a mother to her second daughter.

[00:49:23] I follow her too. I would say that, that she seems like a good mom. She, she, I mean, she adores her girls. They're so sweet. Um, uh, yeah, I met her older daughter, but not her younger daughter's name is Gabriella. Um, named after me. Yeah. Middle name Sean Ryan. She said, she, she texted me. She said, can I need my daughter after you? I really miss hanging out with you and Fiji. And I said, sure.

[00:49:49] Sure. Sure. Sure. And you said sure with a period. Cause you wanted her to know you didn't love it. You said, sure. Yeah. Um, no, but that's fun. So, uh, yeah, I think, you know, she has a beautiful life in San Diego and also she looks like she's been working out. So I'm sure she's like, she, she looks, she looks fit. So, I mean, that can happen in shorter time than eight

[00:50:15] years, but, but good for her. And then lastly, Dr. Hubecki, I think for him confidence, um, I think confidence is going to be probably like the biggest growth, uh, thing that's happened for him. Because like I said, when he, when we played, he had finished his postdoc and he had, um, just gotten, he had gotten job offers for, for being a professor, which is, which is really hard to do

[00:50:43] for people, not in academia. It's, it's, it's hard to get an offer as a professor, um, especially at what's called an R1 or a research one university, which means there's a lot of research, um, activity that happens at that university. And so he actually was getting offers for these, these positions in the days leading up to like, this was overlapping with when he was going to go to pre pregame Ponderosa.

[00:51:13] So he was frantically, none of us knew this obviously until the end, um, that he was frantically trying to sign his paperwork and stuff to accept his job for, so he hadn't been a professor yet. Um, when you're a PhD student, you, I think confidence can be hard to come by you at. There's a lot of self doubt because you're trying to get your research out. You might have an advisor that

[00:51:41] you get along with better or, or not so great. Um, you know, so he was doing a postdoc. So you, you're still working under somebody when you do that. So there's a lot of like, you're not in charge of your own lab. Like he is now actually fun fact, um, the, the lab where Christian worked for his postdoc in, uh, Atlanta, Georgia at Georgia tech is the same lab that Eva was an undergrad

[00:52:10] research assistant. And I think he told me her web connects us all. Eva is what they say. I have a web connection. And all of us, her boyfriend lives in New Jersey. I love him. You know, I, I lived there for a while. Um, pretty lit. Yeah. But anyway, Christian runs his own lab now, you know, um, and he certainly, you know,

[00:52:34] he is married now to his amazing wife, Emily. And, you know, I think there's, there's more that he, in a way that he's fighting for now, you know, like he has, he has his family. He has, um, you know, he has his life that he's truly trying to build now that he is a professor, he has tenure, he's settled. He, um, I think like that will motivate him in a big way.

[00:53:04] I think that also having to deal with the students for as many years as he has maybe helps with a younger contingent. If he by chance meets people that are, I don't want to say much younger, but you get a couple of people who are fresh on the scene, you know, who knows? That's true. I actually forgot that there were people younger. Cause in my head, we're sometimes still frozen at the age that we were, but you're right. That like these new,

[00:53:30] I'm like, he's like similar in Asia. A lot of the, the old school contestant, not a lot of them, but some of them, you know, um, for sure. Yeah. So I think he'll get along with them based on their age, but you're right. He can, he can hang with the, with the youngins, but I thought you were going to say like, just getting used to students and how they can sometimes be annoying and like not understand that, like frustrating. And by the way, I love, I love my students. I don't

[00:53:58] mean to be, to be so negative, but sometimes students can also be, it's like, you're dealing with your handling. I thought you were going to say some of the survivor contestants can almost act like they're, they can be immature at times. Oh, sure. And we'll get to that. When we look at the graphic, we'll, we'll point out who those people are a part of this group, you know, who those people, who the problems are. Oh, I didn't know there was a graphic. I can't wait for the graphic. It's, you know, I wonder about like the coachification of returning to survivor where coach is on season

[00:54:26] 18 and he's like a lot. And then he watches it and people are receptive to it and maybe less so, but then coach returns to here's our civilians. And he's like a lot more than he was pretty like he comes in almost intentionally being a lot. Um, I wonder that with, with the David versus Goliath three that we're about to see, do you think anybody comes in and really leans hard into their thing

[00:54:49] that they've created from survivor? I think, um, if it's anyone, then it's Angelina. If it's anyone, she's going to be making self-deprecating jokes about the jacket. She's going to be, you know, so, so we'll see, I think like that level of self-awareness where she's a way, but like, I, I wonder how much, like, are we going to get self-awareness at like a grander level

[00:55:17] about like, you know, you can't, you can't, um, just get by on like making a passing reference to like the, the jacket or whatever. So is the jacket, her first confessional, is it brought up in the first confessional? Do you think? A hundred percent. I think she even, she's going to have a jacket, a thick jacket. Did you see her Instagram post? It was a lot of jackets, but even like, I mean,

[00:55:43] it was a lot of behind the curtain. I sent in and I, I sent them pictures. I remember vividly sending them to you. I said, I bought a lot of yellow jackets and then they all got rejected. Like I bought like a heavy, like the pictures that Angelina posted, they were heavy snow jackets, which I think is very funny. I think it's a really funny bit to have. What do you think the opening line is in the confessional about the jacket? You want to like copyright with me and try to figure

[00:56:09] out what the exact line is that she says? Oh my gosh. I'm not good at these improv games. Sure. Me really, I, me saying that makes me think I had something to begin with, but like, I, I don't have that, but I wonder, you know, is she wearing the jacket or she's wearing it? She's wearing it. And she's like this time I imagining like a real housewives thing where they turned, because it's not, that's not how survivor is, but she's like this time I'm not going to have to ask

[00:56:38] for a jacket because I brought my own. Yeah. I kind of fizzled out there. No, I think she, you know, she's, I don't know. I, she can see, this is why she's on and I'm not because she's going to think of gold that I could never think of. No. Tell me, tell me, Gabby, who have you had a personal experience with on this list? That is not the three people that you've played survivor

[00:57:03] with. Who have you interacted with in person that you, you enjoy the interaction or, or not. Or not enjoyed. Uh, I've interacted with Rick. Uh, I think we were at like a, uh, like a survivor event together. I've interacted with, I've interacted with, with a few of these people, but, um, Emily, uh, you know, we play the online games together. Sometimes the blood on the clock tower and that, which by the way, Christian also plays in. So I think, you know, your good pal, Emily,

[00:57:30] my good pal Christian here's hoping they link up and that they don't let, let like some social strategy games they've played in which you're literally assigned a role of a bad guy, right? In these games of blood on the clock tower, you're assigned an evil role. That's not how survivor is. So I'm hoping they, you know, they can actually work together and not let themselves have, have paranoia of like, are they lying to me? It's like in that game, you have to lie. Cause it's part

[00:57:55] of the game, but I mean, I guess in survivor. Um, but Emily, what a gem, what a, what a sweetheart. I know she's your good friend, but she, she, she's, she's great. She's so funny. She's so smart. In the beginning of the people get told they're going on survivor 50. Like people have been told they are leaving. People have told they've been cut and forever. Everybody's asking each other, like who's on survivor 50. And the only two names anybody had until like a week before

[00:58:23] this season they got, they, they left was like, Oh, I heard Emily and Christian. Yeah. Like we all heard Emily and Christian. Like did they, you know, it makes sense, you know, and everybody else wanted that together. And then somebody was like, I think I heard you like, yeah, I think, I think Q makes sense for what this is. It's like people just saying like who they think is like a sure shot. Yeah. Those two were always, and I think they're going to link up. I feel pretty good about

[00:58:50] that. I think so too. Um, and, and actually I think Christian and Rick might link up. Uh, I think they've, they've communicated in the past, like they, you know, cause when your seasons are next to each other, like ours, where you, you, you, you chat afterwards. Um, and then who else I've interacted with? I've interacted with Genevieve, Genevieve, Genevieve. You put some spice on that. I really like it.

[00:59:15] Um, because she and a bunch of her, uh, 47 castmates, um, were in Buffalo one weekend, um, with, and, and so I had met Andy previously because he's from Buffalo and he was here for, for a few weeks on and off. And so, um, when they visited, I met up with them. They were lovely cast. They were so nice. They bought me so many margaritas, which was so nice of them. They were

[00:59:40] fun. Like it was fun. It's, it's rare. I, I liked that, that season a lot, uh, like the actual people in it because, you know, it's not every time I meet people and I, and I actually like them, but I remember specifically loving Genevieve because let me tell you like an anecdote that I feel like really captures the type of person that she is. Why did I say, I don't really know her. I hung out with her for, for a few hours once, but to me, it told, it told me about who she was,

[01:00:07] which was when you are in these, in these groups, you know, everyone's excited. Everyone's talking. Everyone's also a huge extrovert. And like, you know, we're all these people that were cast on survivors. So we're like, we're used to being the life of the party. Everyone's trying to tell a story and people talk over each other and all those things. And Genevieve is the type of person where, you know, that thing where you start saying something that someone else kind of says something over it. And then your thing kind of gets forgotten. Genevieve was the type of person

[01:00:36] to say, Oh, but Gabby, you were saying, um, about blah, blah, blah. And she'll bring it back to you. And I literally remember feeling like that was so kind of her. And that was also, she's just that so socially like aware and, and just like, it was not coming from like a pretentious or anything. It was genuinely like a very kind, good thing to do. Um, so I just, I always like remembered that

[01:01:02] about her from our, from our very little interaction and always appreciated that about her, but you can just tell she is sharp as a tack. Um, and so sweet. Her husband also hilarious. Also, I do follow him on Twitter and he's, I love him on Twitter. Um, but I love Canadians. He's the funniest person I think I've ever been around in my life. Wow. I, I texted Genevieve to get to Mark. I said, can you give me Mark's number? Like I, I just needed, you know, he was really

[01:01:31] funny. He really is so great. So funny. Uh, I want to hang out with them more. Like I, I like, I kind of, I miss that, that time that we all got to hang out. I'm like, I am kind of missing hanging out with this cast of season 47. Can I, can I tell you a Mark joke that he made that I really like? He, he, I forget what the hat was and Mark, Mark listens to, you know, Hey Mark.

[01:01:58] Um, he was wearing a hat. I don't know if it was the, the, the general NFL logo or the NBA logo, but it was one of the two. It was just the logo for the franchise logo. And somebody asked him about it. And he said, I just love that those guys are out there doing it was the quote. And I was incapacitated with the idea of just like, he just loves the French. He loves the gate. You know what I mean? It's just the game. I love the game. I do. I love the idea of just loving the,

[01:02:27] the franchise. I'm not going to pick size. I just like the, the NFL. It's not nice to pick size. You know, it's nice to just appreciate the game as it's happening. I went to kindergarten with season 49 female. Really? Wait, I've removed the graphic. I can't say that. Also, she's not on the graphic.

[01:02:51] No, see, 49 female with best friend in kindergarten. I remember her. She looked just like that. No, she looks the same. She had just white, white body, no face, no features, just white, sort of that outline of hair. And we were friends in kindergarten. I can't believe she made it on season 49 female. Back then we just called her 49. So, you know, she, but so. And you've told me this story before that

[01:03:19] you, she was sitting alone at lunch, kind of putting food into this void of nothing. She has no mouth and you went and sat there. Yeah. It was very nice of you to do that. I think female actually might be her married, her married name. Cause I don't think that was her name when we were in kindergarten. So what was her name? Yeah. Did she have one? It was Smith. Yeah, it was Smith. It was 49 Smith.

[01:03:44] And now she's 49 female. I guess she married, she married a woman. I think is how that happens. She made it a female. Would she, with the 49 female, would she get along with Christian from what you remember from, from kindergarten? No, because, um, on account of her having no face. So yeah, he's always, and he's told me in texts that he connects with people best when they do have a face with the face. Yeah, I know. And the facial, if he has to be able to read the facial

[01:04:13] expressions. So given that she's sort of just like a white blob, um, silhouette, it's not, uh, I don't think, I mean, it kind of made sense that she was sitting alone. Cause it was, she, it was freaky. It was hard to look at for sure. It was hard to look at. Oh, you know, you know what? That, that, I don't even know if that's her. It might've, she had a few sisters in school, so it might've, yeah, I might be getting them mixed up. Anyway, those are the people that I

[01:04:40] know. And I think, and I met Ozzy once when we were in LA for the season of our finale of ours show, mine show. And he has a restaurant or had a restaurant that was near Mike's house. And Mike was like, yeah, it's Ozzy's restaurant. And Nick Wilson really wanted to stop in. And we went in and he wasn't there. And then we asked somebody, is Ozzy here? And they were kind of like, uh,

[01:05:06] and then like Nick was like, uh, we were on survivor. And they were like, uh, okay. And then they like grabbed him. And then we were all like, Hey, um, we were on survivor. And he was like, oh, all right. Awesome. And he like, I don't even think had like seen our season. And so that was my interaction with Ozzy, but he seems cool as hell. He seems cool as hell.

[01:05:31] Honestly, go Ozzy. I said this on the patron podcast that we did the first boot draft, which you can still watch. It's not outdated until February, 2026. Um, but I was with Ozzy at the Ron Clark Academy. One Ozzy was so nice to me, which I really appreciate it. I did not, Ozzy and I do not have a, I did not, I did not know how that interaction would go. If he still watch the program, he was so nice. However, as the night elapses and I'm saying this public,

[01:05:56] this is now Canon, a fan gave him one of the Taylor Swift beaded bracelets that everybody has that they personalized with like the letters and Ozzy ate it. Ozzy just put it in his mouth and chewed it and swallowed, swallowed many of the beats. He didn't swallow every beat. He, he spit out one or two beads, but most of the beads he swallowed the string. I believe he swallowed

[01:06:19] also. Um, and there's no way of knowing if he thought it was edible. I was in shock. I just, I watched it the same way you would watch, you know, uh, like, you know, there is the movie, you know, this is a weird film reference. They did the movie way back in the day where they showed the train coming and the whole audience wasn't used to that perspective. And they all started screaming. Like that's how I felt is, is just, I was so real. It's like, if I take a Benadryl,

[01:06:48] that's normally what happens when I see in my dreams, but this was real in front of me. And I'd love to know if you're listening to this and you're the fan who witnessed that with me, tell me, I think if my memory is right, Kelly was next to me or Hannah Rose was next to me. I was next to somebody who I shared the moment with, but a fan gave the bracelet. Um, so if you're listening to this, I'd love to know you. I'm putting together a Netflix documentary about the moment I need to interview you. What happened? I think probably he, he must've passed it as well. Do you think like it was in the toilet?

[01:07:18] It was spelling out like number one survivor, but it was, it was, it was spelling out got fun betrayal. Oh my God. Yeah. Is Mike, Mike White's going to like Joe. You see that? Is that an interaction that what, what goes on there? Do you think? I don't know. I have no idea. I, I can, I'm buckled in the same as all of you to see

[01:07:45] who these people get along with. Like, I'm scared. I'm scared for, for, for Christian. I'm like, Christian, you better choose right. Because I, if Christian's my number one rooting interest, like it's actually kind of nice that I don't have that many, but I don't really have friends on the cast. Cause there's a world in which like, I could have been friends with like a lot of people on the cast. Right. And then it's sort of like, you, you know, I don't know who to root for. I mean,

[01:08:13] you have like, you have two friends from your season and Emily and D so it's like, well, you know, D already won. So you don't have to root for her. I think she didn't win again. She, she, you think so? You don't think she'll be like, I, you know, it's so funny. So before we did this exercise and now we're halfway through it, if you're listening to every episode, I thank you so much. Um, I thought D was going to win when the cast, when I see the cast, I feel good about D. Nobody in the world is better at locking in than D can lock in. If D wants to win, D is going to win.

[01:08:41] However, the amount of admiration that the older era folks have for Joe from season 48, I'm feeling a type of way about Joe. If Joe links up with them, the older folks, if even if I, which he could, and Joe is the old, the new era representative in a final three of older folks. I, you know, I think the new era people want a new era person to win.

[01:09:06] I feel really weirdly good about Joe. Whereas like Joe will not get less than fifth place. Like Joe's going to make it to the end of the game. I think almost assuredly. Um, wow. No, no, no, no. I think everybody loves Joe. These older folks, Ciri seems like a lovely person. Izzy said that Ciri would not like Joe, which I wonder, I agree with because as he said it, but I'm curious to see that in action, but the older folks, like Joe is one of the older folks. Joe is what they, they played survivor with Joe's like,

[01:09:34] they want it to be. Yeah. Um, and I feel like there is an admiration amongst the new era people for a Joe type just because Joe is the only like type of his character that made it on this in the new era contingent. It's a lot of like younger, whatever, whatever folks, Joe has kids, dad, whatever. Yeah. Um, see, I think I, for, for many of the same reasons that you said,

[01:10:00] I'm biased. Like I actually think Christian new Vicky has a real shot, a real good shot. And I think that's because he's in the kind of in between he's not old school. He's not new era, but I think the new era people kind of admire him there. They like him, the old era people, I think are going to be turned by him. He's similar in age to them. He, I think is going to

[01:10:25] be able to, to connect with them on a more mature level. That is not just like, you know, um, yeah, I think, I think you're right to, to, to clock that. I think some of the old schoolers, it's like, they don't want to give money to like a 23 year old so much. They want to give money to somebody like, you know, with a family, with, with, with real, like, like that they can connect

[01:10:51] to in terms of, yeah, it's not that you have to be the same age, but just kind of same life stage. Feel like you're, you know, like there's just like a shared respect. I think that that can come out of that. But I genuinely like, I mean, and I told Christian before he left, I was like, I am going to tell you good luck and that you're going to do amazing no matter what,

[01:11:16] because we're friends. But like, I was like, you could win. You could really win. You could really, really win. And do you, we're going to be so proud of you no matter what happens, which I hope he knows. I mean, he knows, but I really think he could win. I think there's so, oh, we said, put a pin on it earlier. Cause he is a, you know, he can be a personality. These, there are people on here with way bigger personalities than him, way bigger,

[01:11:44] way bigger egos. He doesn't have an ego like that. Very notable difference between him and the other folks here is that there's no, there's no ego. Does he think he can win? Did you get that sense? I think so. I think so. What was his prep for this? Was there a lot of physical prep or was he kind of as normal? And

[01:12:11] just like, I feel like even the first time I feel like, not that I got the indication that he did not prep, of course, but I feel like he had a good thing last time. So I wonder what, what, what he sharpened this time. He prepped, but not like a crazy amount. And I think a big part of that was like, he was very busy in his personal life and, you know, like being also being a professor. It's like, he was busy up until the minute that he left. Um, he told me, you know, we talked on the day that he

[01:12:39] left and he was like, yeah, I submitted like five papers yesterday. I signed off on this thesis and this and that I signed up. My grad students almost couldn't get paid unless I signed this form. He was doing things until the second that he left getting stuff squared away with Emily, getting stuff squared away at home. Like, so, so this man's been busy. So yes, I know that he, he was going to physically train. I know he was working on balance because actually on our season,

[01:13:06] there was a lot of balance. And I think, um, that kind of made him realize like balances so often in, in these things. Um, and you know, I think throughout the years he's, he's done puzzles. I think he created, uh, himself a couple of years ago. I don't think this was so recent. He created himself an, uh, an app or like a thing on his, on his phone or on his computer. He coded a program is

[01:13:31] what I'm trying to say. He coded a program to randomize jigsaw puzzles so that he would, so he would just practice jigsaw puzzle. You know, that way you don't actually have to buy a physically a new jigsaw puzzle. So he randomized a jigsaw, you know, change the, the shapes and that numbers of pieces and stuff like that. So like, I think he's practiced stuff like that. Obviously he's an expert at slide puzzles. Um, but yeah, did he go join CrossFit and he can, he can bench a hundred

[01:13:59] pounds. That is a hundred pounds, a lot to bench. I genuinely don't know. Wrong guy. We are not the right to, to, to, to talk about that. But anyway, he's not doing that kind of stuff. He is a busy man, but I think like mentally, you know, I think he's, he's ready. I think he, he knows what he's fighting for. He knows what he's playing for. He's like, he's, he's, he's locked in, he's locked in.

[01:14:27] Well, I'm excited to see it. Me too. I'm so excited. This is so fun. It's so unreal. It's so unreal to be on this side as almost like, like a loved one as like a friend of, of someone going on the show. Like, I'm like, you know, I've never, I mean, I guess throughout the years, like when you went on and when, but like, there's something different about this being like a returning player season. It's just like, it's all very surreal. And, um, I don't know if you saw,

[01:14:56] but like after the cast was announced, there was some article on, I don't even know what, what website. Um, but it was like the best, uh, the, the person that I'm most excited to see on season 50. And it's not who you would expect. Have you seen this article? No. And it was, it's, it's Christian. It's like a clickbait article. Let me find it. It's all like, it's all like

[01:15:18] vulture or something 50. Um, anyway, let me, let me find it. And this was a complimentary article. It was complimentary. I can't find, I can't find it, but, um, it was a complimentary article, but the, the image, the top image graphic is like Mike White. And I think maybe Angelina and Christian. And it's like, you're like the best cast member. It's an article about Christian.

[01:15:46] I was texting with his partner, Emily about it. And I was like, LOL, did you see this? And she was like, yeah, my mom found that we were like sending it around to like the, like the family was sending it around. And I was like, this has got to be weird for you. Right. Because like, it's weird. The first time I'm assuming as, as the loved one of someone who goes. And then the second time it's like, now it's this meta thing where people already know him and they, they just left and they're writing

[01:16:16] articles about him. And like, you know, that's just like, so weird and funny. And there has to be some added pressure to I, and again, I'm making this claim and I'm not the expert, but I think there's no male on this survivor 50 cast that people are more excited for than him. I think that, I think Angelina is probably the flip side of that for the women.

[01:16:40] Um, I think there is nobody who people just, you have the super fans and you have people like my mom who watch and then forget, you know, everybody is the most excited to see him. Um, and that has to, you know, it's just, it's an exercise in how you deal with pressure. You know, it's just, you know, that can get to you, you know, that can get to a normal person. Um, but I think there's a lot on his shoulders in a way that there was not the first time. And in a way that people are going on this

[01:17:08] cast who just don't have that same experience. People who were like, not to say that there's anybody in this group that you'd, I mean, there is people that you'd maybe trade out. Like they're not going in with the same pressure that a Christian is. Yeah. I think he's such a fan favorite. Like, like you said, among super fans and casual viewers alike. Um, and actually that was

[01:17:30] like the, like one of the few pieces of advice I gave him before he left was, um, don't think about yourself as a character or what things are going to be like on TV. Just focus on the game because like you are going to be amazing. You have the skills you need to succeed. And if you start thinking about how this or that is going to come across on TV, it's going to get too meta. You're going to get in your head. Cause I think also beyond what you said with like, yeah, the level of, of, you know,

[01:18:00] coming back again, he also is like, he's a professor now. I mean, given he has 10 years, so I can't get rid of him, but like, um, you know, I think you think about your public image, you think about what your family's going to think. Like it, you know, now that you know what it's like when you come back and, um, I know he's the type that, you know, he wants to have, uh, you know, I think one of the things he was most proud of from the first season or from our season was there's

[01:18:27] like a random scene that is so adorable that he goes spearfishing. And in it, he talks about potential energy and kinetic energy, just like a mini science lesson. And I know he's really proud of that scene because he feels, you know, this really captured who I am. I'm a science communicator. I'm a teacher and it's very wholesome and cool scene. And, um, my advice to him was like, don't

[01:18:54] produce yourself too much. Don't feel like you have to be some character of, of Christian, of what you say, because you, the way you speak naturally is, is so interesting and so funny. And your people are going to like you. So don't worry about trying to live up to something or get something super specific like that out of it. Just like have fun and do your best. And so I really hope that's what he's doing right now. I'm checking the weather all the time. I'm checking the time all

[01:19:21] the time. I might as well just add the Fiji clock to my, to my phone screen and the Fiji weather, because every, every time I look, it's always almost like it's nighttime and I'm like, oh my God, they're at tribal council right now. And then I start sending out my positive vibes into the, into the universe or, um, uh, often I'll look and it's like 10 AM or 11 AM Fiji time. And I'm like, oh my God, they're running a challenge right now. Like, I just keep thinking about what they,

[01:19:46] what they're doing and hoping that they're good. Um, and yeah, it's so bad. I can't believe, like, I want to know so bad and I can't, we can't know. That's the thing about this is we can't know. And even if we can't know, nobody knows, but I want to know so bad. Nobody knows. We're going to know. We're going to know in, uh, February, 20, 26, we're going to know. And like, how fun is that going to be? We're going to be able to watch our

[01:20:13] friends on TV. I mean, it's like, I, like I said, I've done it before, but this just feels different. Like that is my best friend from survivor. That is somebody I spent 32 days with more than any new era season, by the way, 32 days with straight bond. You know, then we spent three days apart and then he got voted out. Then we spent the rest of the time together, spent all 12 hours on the Fiji

[01:20:37] airplane next to each other, talking, syncing up our movie space jam. Um, like that's my buddy, man. That's my friend that is like, I know him from survivor, like two people that met and he's my buddy from survivor. And now he's going on survivor season 50 and playing with like Saree Fields. Like that's so cool. It's so exciting. I'm, I'm like absolutely thrilled over the moon. Um,

[01:21:06] and yeah, thinking about him all the time and just hoping he's doing well. Oh my God. That's so nice. I remember again, personal anecdote. I watched an episode. I watched the Lear Saboot, um, with you during the season. And I remember that the morning afterward, you and Christian were debriefing for a while. And I just, you know, as a somebody who wasn't on it, I like, I really go, this is so cute. Like this is such a wholesome thing. Um, but that's what everybody does. That's your debrief partner.

[01:21:35] Oh yeah. When the show is airing, that is your, you know, you know, that's your closest, like, yeah, it's your debrief partner. That's your, uh, sanity check. And, and yeah, it's wild to think now he and I have been friends for, and when you said eight years, I was like, that can't be right. So is that right? No, it's right. It's right. I just can't believe it. We've been friends for eight years and like,

[01:22:02] we've seen each other go through so much stuff. He's been an amazing friend to me throughout it all. Like, even if we don't see each other in person as often as, as we would like, you know, like I, when we do catch up, it's great. Um, I often, uh, ask him to put me on speaker so I can talk to Emily and I, you know, check in on her, make sure she's doing okay. Um, having your

[01:22:29] partner be gone and like having no concept of what the process is like is probably also like extremely strange. Like, um, so yeah, you know, I just like, uh, I I'm so excited. And he knows that, that we'll all be so proud of him no matter what, uh, genuinely. And I think, uh, he brought some textbooks on an e-reader. So he, you know, if he is first out, he said, he's going to, he's going to

[01:22:58] make it a paid sabbatical is what he's, you know, he's just going to take the opportunity to do, uh, reading and stuff like that. But I don't think he's going to be the first boot. I don't. And I really hope having three David versus Goliath people there doesn't, uh, you know, paint a horrible target on him. I think actually Angelina and Mike might look like more of a duo than, than he does. So I'm hoping he can kind of like work that angle anyway, if it's not clear how excited I am,

[01:23:26] how much I adore him and like, I, how much I really think he could do well, you know, hopefully people have gotten a sense from this podcast, uh, more about him. I don't know. Did we learn anything about Christian? I think we did. I, this was great. He's such a mainstay on RHAP. You know, you, if you, if you are listening to this, um, because of season 50 and you, and you're not a regular listener of RHAP, first of all, become a regular listener, but, um, he has a whole series

[01:23:56] on RHAP called ask Dr. Hubecki. So if you want to get to know him more, you can really get a sense of his personality and how just intelligent and, and thoughtful he is through, through that. And just like, he's just an amazing person and he deserves truly to have an amazing time and a good time.

[01:24:20] And I think really could win. And maybe if he wins, then, um, he can pay for me to visit Florida so that I can hang out with them and Emily. Yeah. That's the, you know what? If D wins, she will do the same for me in a different town in Florida, but the same situation, you know, we should all just meet up in Florida. And we've always said that we love Florida and nothing, nothing bad happens. We love Florida. There ever. Um, Gabby, this is so much fun. Oh my God.

[01:24:49] So fun. I know you're so good at this. Also. I'm so proud of you. Young, a young Sesternino. I'm just kidding. You're your own person, but, um, how fun for you that you get to do this. Odd. The thing that I've been saying to people is you ever watch whiplash with JK Simmons, the drumming. Yeah. You know what that is? That's what Rob does to you. He, that's the addendum that I make afterward is he's never done

[01:25:15] that, but I, I like, I feel like I'm waking up every morning, like wondering how I can make him more proud. Like, I feel like it's, it's a weird thing to have for a man who's not your father, but I do have like this like inherent need to like impress him at every minute. Um, yeah, I have that for a lot of men who, where can people like more men, where can they follow you? Where can those men who, who have that? I don't want the men to follow me. Don't follow me. That was a riff and it was a bad one. Where can everybody follow you?

[01:25:45] I mean, I'm on Instagram at Gab Scusi, but like, I've really not been posting. I'm on X formerly known as Twitter. Uh, my Gabby Pascuzi. Um, but like, really I, um, I'm on here sometimes TBH and I feel like the RHAP people know that. And I think, um,

[01:26:08] um, I am trying to be on social media. Yeah. That's a good plug. I'm not going to be there. Yeah. I've thought to myself, like if, if I had been on a season, like, should, should everyone go Genevieve mode and like not have public social media? You know what I mean? Like good for her. She's a queen for that. I've thought to myself, like, if I ever went back on

[01:26:35] this or if I was again, public, like, would I kind of lean into it and be like, okay, let me make some money. Let me get some influencer, uh, dough out of this. Or would I be like, I'm deleting everything. I'm going dark. Cause I feel like I flip flop between that every day now, not being an influencer. Cause I don't have any cloud, but like every day I I'm like, I gotta just get rid of all of this. I think. Yeah. Hannah Rose, my good friend, she'll be on it for a day. She'll make a new account.

[01:27:00] She'll say, Hey, everybody, I'm here three days later gone. She does it three times a year, you know, you get the fix and then you get out of there. Well, and she knows all about getting, getting your fix and getting out of there. Famously. She did it to me, um, but we're here now. So it's great. Um, this was the survivor 50 files talking about Christian. We're going to talk about Angelina and Mike probably together. We're going to talk about them both. Stay tuned for next time.

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