Rob & Nicole Preview Survivor 48

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[00:00:30] Hey everybody, what's going on? Rob Sestranino back here for the big Rob and Nicole preview of Survivor 48. And now here's a woman who's been back here in year 15 of podcasting. The first lady of podcasting, Nicole Sestranino. Nicole, how are you? I'm good. 15 years. Wow. 15 years. I'm getting old.

[00:00:52] Nicole, we actually, we talked about you a bit, but we did not get you here on the podcast at all during the 15 year anniversary celebration of RHAP. Oh, what did you talk to me? Talk about me. Oh, we just talked about how the podcast started. There was some talk about the Rebecca Black podcast with Fram Mary. Puya brought up the story on the patron five for five about the time that you found women's underwear in my office.

[00:01:20] And then we're on the war path that I was cheating on you and had some. I mean, that feels really, really crappy when you think your spouse is cheating on you. In my office getting naked. And then you then weeks later realized that they were your underwear, which I don't even know how they got upstairs. Not that kind of a workplace.

[00:01:44] All right. But here we are back here with the first lady of podcasting, my wife, who for people who are not patrons, you've never heard her on a podcast before. Welcome. Thank you. Very nice to meet you. You new people. Yes. All right. Well, Nicole is here to do something that we started doing. So Survivor Heroes vs. Villains was the first year that we first season that we started Rob as a podcast. And I've been going back as part of the 15 year anniversary.

[00:02:13] Josh Wiggler and I are going back and rewatching Heroes vs. Villains and the patron podcast feed. I've been re-listening to some of the old podcasts that you and I started doing way back when. Were they terrible? You know what? You were pretty much fully formed. I was terrible. That is ridiculous. That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I was not good. But anyway, so in going back and listening to that, so we just jumped right in to,

[00:02:39] they call that Raw Dog, just Heroes vs. Villains. No preseason. We love Raw Dog. Yeah. And so, no, I'm sorry that I was dyslexic. War Dog, you're talking about. No, I'm talking about Raw Dog. From Survivor 38. Yeah. Yes, we scrambled his name around. Yeah. So going back to Heroes vs. Villains, we just went right into that season.

[00:03:04] And then in Survivor Nicaragua was the first season later on in 2010. So when we talk about Survivor 49, it will be officially 15 years from when we did our first cast preview. But since then, every season, we have done a preview. Nicole has made her picks. Nicole used to be very good at picking the winners. And you were never good at it. One time I got one. One time. Okay. How many did I get? How many? I don't know. Several.

[00:03:32] Four or five. Rob's fact checker keeps tabs on it. But Nicole has done very good. But I get pretty close too. Yes. Now, okay, here's my trivia question for you. Do you remember who your winner pick was from last season? Scruffy guy. Kyle. Oh, I picked him? I think so, right? I don't think I picked him. Who is the scruffy guy you picked? With the blonde hair. Scruffy guy with the blonde hair. Yeah. Maybe it wasn't even that season. Okay. No, he was. It was.

[00:04:01] I'm pretty sure it was Kyle was your winner pick. Yeah, maybe it was. Okay. And if you don't know me at all, like this is very typical of me. Like I don't remember anything. Yeah. So what are you going to do? Anyway, so we're going to go through the cast. So I did pretty good with Kyle. Yes. Nicole is going to go a little bit more off of the vibes from the people. If you're looking for strategy and really knowing the game, turn this off. Yes. Okay. But Nicole is an excellent judge of character. I have.

[00:04:31] I have a talent. Mm-hmm. And Nicole. She gets a read off people. She gets a vibe. She tells me all often. I don't like that person.

[00:04:54] I was like, what? Yeah. Yeah. And we also just hate people. Yeah. And so Nicole is very good at picking up the vibes. She may not always be able to say exactly what it is she doesn't like about a person. I just know it's there. She knows it's there. It may pop up in the, that, oh, I don't like people that have this hobby or whatever.

[00:05:21] But if the vibes are bad, Nicole's going to sense it. Yeah. And I usually don't have a filter. I'm trying to be filtered. And it's one of the things that attracted her most to me. The vibes were immaculate. She was drawn. You mean drunk. I was drunk. Very strongly. Because I was drunk. No, you weren't. I think for a majority of the beginning, I was. Okay. But not all the time. Maybe there was a reason I was. Well, what are you saying?

[00:05:52] The vibes just were off. Okay. All right. So. But now they're back. They're good. Here we are. I actually. So let me just full disclosure and that you can trust me here. The I am the bad boy of podcasting, but you can trust me here. I just want to be completely upfront and open with the audience. Okay. So I just got back from, I was in New York. Yes. He was gone.

[00:06:18] I attended a big survivor event that was had on Saturday in New York. And I got to go to, they call it a beach drop and they had all the challenges. And there was a bunch of survivor alumni there. And I actually got to watch the premiere of survivor 48. Mm hmm. And so I will not reveal any details. So you know who got voted out. I do. Uh huh. I do. And they've never really done this before where they have a screening of the first episode. Did you have to sign an NDA? Actually, no. I'm sorry.

[00:06:48] I did do this with a survivor. I did not have to sign an NDA, but they trust me. An audience. You can trust me. Okay. I'm going to be asking Nicole about her opinions of the people and getting and reacting to what she's saying. And there will not be anything coming from me in terms of how I feel about these players. Okay. I gave all of my preseason thoughts to Mike Bloom. And so you can hear that when we previewed all of the tribes.

[00:07:16] I will at the end of the podcast reveal my winner pick, which I've said previously on podcast. So that is not impacted by what happened on the, in the preview that or the first episode that I saw. Okay. Also, uh, incredible time on Saturday at the event. I flew up on Saturday just to go to the event. Tons of survivor alumni were there, uh, got to see, uh, a ton of the legends were there.

[00:07:45] Tony, Sandra, Sari, Penner, uh, the new era people. Q was there. Baby Andy, Gabe from last season was there. And then, uh, Kelly Nelbandian, Dwight, Eliza, Josh Canfield. Uh, I'm sure jam jam. I'm sure there's a lot of big names, big names.

[00:08:11] And then all of the survivor, 48 people were there. Just only a couple weren't there. Were you able to talk to them? Yes. 15 of the 18 people were there. What were they snoozers? Yeah. No, I mean, they're excited. You know, it's like the babies. Mm-hmm. You know, I, and I always feel like, you know, I'm like the teacher at the high school and I got to meet the new students. You're not like the creepy teacher. I'm not a creepy teacher at the high school. Yeah. I hope not. No. And, you know, it's always exciting.

[00:08:40] And a lot of times I feel like that my first interaction comes with, from when I do the exit interviews with everybody. And so I actually now, this is a weird place for me to start where I almost never meet all the players before the season starts. Did they know who you were? Some of them do. And some of them did not. Okay. Okay. Do you want to know if a person knew me or didn't? I do. Yeah. Okay. All right. Because then they, they lose points. Okay.

[00:09:09] Well, I think that just speaks to how much of a fan they are. Mm-hmm. Okay. All right. So that's what we're going to do. And then just to, in case people are a little bit of the Nicole persuasion in that they're not like super deep into the preseason weeds. We're going to play a video from everybody. Everybody has a one minute video that got posted on this, on the survivor Instagram account.

[00:10:00] Mm-hmm. And then it was produced by the host of On Fire, Jay, who then was on. And Jeff did a panel with John Kierhofer and, you know, another producer and the creator of Exploding Kittens. And they talked about game design. They did a lot of things. Jeff actually had some nice comments about Rob's podcast, which was pretty incredible. I was really thrilled to hear Jeff say nice things about the podcast. That must have been surprising for you sitting in the audience watching that and then having

[00:10:30] him talk about you. It wasn't, it wasn't, because I felt like that we had seats and we were in the front row. Did you pick those seats or were you assigned? Sam picked the seats. And Sam, I was with Sam and Mike Bloom and there was, cause I, we had like a media pass and we were in the front row because that's where the reserve seats were for the media. And I said to Sam before he like got the seats and then I came back and I'm like, where are we sitting? He's like, oh, right here. And I said, we're in the splash zone. We're in the splash zone.

[00:10:59] Uh, that I feel like that I'm getting called on. It's like, you know, sitting in the front row of like a comedy show, you know, the comedian is going to look out in the audience and say, and like, I know you loser, I'm a go-to guy for Jeff. Like, uh, sometimes like, uh, he sees me and he's going to throw something at me. And I knew, I knew something was coming, but I wasn't expecting Jeff to, uh, just like, I thought he was going to like, uh, ask me like, uh, sister, you know, what do you think? You know? Yeah. I get that sometimes. Yeah.

[00:11:28] But he brought up, I'm trying to remember the exact question that he got asked. He was asked a question about, um, something in like, maybe like how they use the idols in the new era. And he described it as he's like, you know, when you look at something, you know, from the outside, it's just like, sort of like, uh, you know, it looks like it's just a box and you can only do so much. And he's like, and this is kind of a weird way that, uh, just go with me here, but it's kind of like, like Sestranino, like what he's done with, with the podcast. And you think of it like, what could you do?

[00:11:58] But then when you look inside the box, there's like all of these, these worlds and all these different things that he goes into. And it's really incredible. Like what he's done. I was like, Oh my God, Jeff, thank you. Thank you so much. Like I just like, uh, he just brought up like out of, out of nowhere. It was very kind. And, uh, I bet those 48ers that didn't know who you were felt real stupid. They don't know. Now, you know, okay, kids. Yeah. But Jeff had that.

[00:12:22] That was not the big news of the day that Jeff announced survivor 50, which I, I'm not sure if this is the theme of survivor 50 or not survivor 50 in the hands of the fans, not in the hands of the fans. Oh, definitely not. Definitely not. But they're letting fans vote on key aspects of different parts of survivor 50 and the players won't know what the fans voted on. That's pretty cool. Yeah. So there, they mentioned things like final four fire making.

[00:12:52] Is that in or is that out? What do you think? I think it's going to be out. A lot of people do not care for. I just feel like with the final four fire making and I was talking about maybe we should do like some like first take style podcast of like, okay, let's, let's debate both sides. Oh, fun. Yeah. Let's, let's get the case. Why should we keep final four fire making? And then the case why we shouldn't. And then just let the audience, like people like that. We need a Rob as a podcast episode to say how we should vote. I say, no.

[00:13:20] What if we did a podcast episode and we let people debate it? Oh, you know, there's a debate professor on the cast. This is great. Well, I don't know if we can have Shaheen on the debate, but maybe he couldn't like grade you. He can grade us. And I met Shaheen's mom also. Maybe they could just let us know on Twitter who won the debate. But I think that that might be fun to sort of see. I mean, my personal, not to put my thumb on the scale is that half the time it's going to be a two, two tie and you're going to have fire making. So I feel like that just go back to how it was.

[00:13:50] It's the best of both worlds. Sometimes you get a fire making and sometimes you don't. Mm hmm. So that's my thought on it. Let's leave it for the debate. We'll leave it for the debate, but that's not what we're here to do today. So that's just one of my thoughts about the podcast. All right. Let's get into our 18 players. Nicole, overall, what do you think about this 48 cast? They seem fun. Fun? Mm hmm. They seem fun. OK. I'm excited. Compare them to any other cast in the past. I'm not. I can't do that. OK. All right. All right.

[00:14:16] So let's start things off and we're going to talk about Cedric McFadden. And Cedric, of course, he is the colorectal surgeon. Let's see if I can just play this here. I'm just prayerful that if I am dreaming that no one wakes me up, at least for 26 days. Let me sleep, please. OK. Here's Cedric. Let him sleep. That's what we say every day. As a colorectal surgeon, people see me for reasons they don't want to talk about.

[00:14:45] Exams on body parts they haven't shown anybody else. Have to have that trust within a very short amount of time and they have to know that it's a safe space. I want to help my patients, but in this game of Survivor, I want to be helpful until they can, in turn, help me advance in this game. Med school is tough and Survivor was a way for me to de-stress and to know that at least for one hour a week, I had a break.

[00:15:11] And there's a point in your life at which you say, OK, you have your family, you have the profession that you want. This is it. And in reality, until the day you're called home, live life. And so I want to come in with that same passion to play this game. OK, Nicole, Cedric. Cedric, it's so nice that he had like an hour a week to not have to deal with crap. Literally. OK. All right. All right. All right.

[00:15:39] I think Survivor is that for a lot of people. Yes. That it's an escape from so much of the crap, the not literal. The poop of life. Yes. That it is a escape. And I think that's one of the things that has made Survivor an enduring treat for people. It's like magical for people. It's escapism. It is.

[00:16:03] I am going to spend time on this beach, this tropical locale that's so different from where I am, where these people that have been through, you know, the dregs of winter for months and months and snow and ice and cold. And now I'm watching, you know, these people on an island. Mm hmm. And you laugh, you cry. Yeah. I can do this better. It's all of the things. OK. But Nicole, to the task at hand. Yeah. Cedric. Cedric.

[00:16:32] I think Cedric is a cool dude. Yes. I think Cedric has a good attitude. I'm sure he's really great to be around. Yes. Um, I bet he, I know as a nurse, when people find out I'm a nurse, they're like, oh, can you check this out? Like, I'm sure like people are like, oh, I got this, this thing on my butt. Can you look at it? Like, that's what happens to me. I can't imagine like what happens to him when he first meets people. Sure. Yeah. OK. Um, I've been, I've been looking for somebody to talk to about this. Yeah.

[00:17:01] My butthole hurts. Anyway. So I think that he's, he's got a good attitude, fun to be around. Um, he's accomplished a lot. Yes. Um, and this is just here to kind of fill some space for him. I'm, I'm not feeling like it's like the, I gotta win this. Yes. Yeah. I love Cedric. Yeah. I love him. Yeah. Yeah. I think just think that he is, uh, you know, as a survivor player, I don't know yet. Yeah. We'll see.

[00:17:29] But just as a human, I love this man. He seems really cool. And you know what I noticed about with these videos and with all the interviews for the most part, everybody is wearing like the same thing. Everybody, the men, they're wearing button down short sleeve shirts and pants. Okay. But there are a few that are not. Okay. And with the girls, they're mostly wearing like a nice shirt and shorts. Okay. What does that tell you? There's some people that are going to stick out. Okay.

[00:18:00] And they do it like consciously, subconsciously, but I like it, it makes sense as I was going through all of them. Okay. What they're wearing told you a lot about them as people. Yeah. Well, the ones that were different. Okay. All right. Well, let's then go to our next person. This is an order that I'm looking at the CBS press express website that has all these videos, these one minute videos. Let's talk about Mary Zhang. Okay. Here's Mary.

[00:18:30] I really want to play like Ben. He was able to be a spy and I cannot wait to do espionage on the show. Mary Zhang, 31 year old substance abuse counselor. Almost a year hitchhiking, backpacking everywhere I went. People were saying like, wow, you know what, Mary? I've never told that to anyone before. That felt really good for me. And I was like, you know what? I actually appreciated that too. So when I came back from my travels, I thought to myself, well, who gets to hear people's secrets every day?

[00:18:59] And I thought, oh, a therapist. So after I graduated, I started working at a methadone clinic. So doing substance abuse counseling. My parents have always said like, Mary, if you could have a little bit more fear, we would feel a lot better as parents. I'm fearless. I'm bold. I'm someone who really just doesn't care what people think about me. I do my own thing. And so I think when I'm out here on the island, I'm going to do what I want when I want to.

[00:19:27] I mean, that wins seasons by being yourself. Okay. Mary. Mary took me on a roller coaster ride. She does her own thing. Yes. Okay. What was the roller coaster like? So first her dress. Yes. So she's not wearing the uniform of just like a shirt and shorts. She's wearing this dress, very different with really, really bright colors. Like she really stands out as a person. Did she? Yes.

[00:19:56] That is, that's pretty cool. She crocheted it. Oh, we're learning crochet in this house too. And I suck. Yes. The boys have been doing it. They were. Anthony has been doing it. It keeps his little fingers busy. Yes. But, um, her dress really caught my eye bright and just like, Hey, Hey, I'm here. It's a nice dress though. Um, I thought it was really cool that she is a substance abuse counselor and that she, um, worked the, you know, the crisis hotline. Yes.

[00:20:24] So, you know, she's described it as like convincing people to not harm themselves. Right. Like in a very, very short amount of time. Like that is, that is intense. And that is, that is skill. And that is not something everybody can do. So that was like, that told me like, she's really good, you know, on a whim.

[00:20:48] She's really good at adjusting her personality to, to help others or to persuade others. I don't know why I just like spit into the microphone. Okay. And, um, so that stuck out at me, but then I, you know, the rollercoaster started and I was doing the loop de loop when she was talking about how she was fearless and she doesn't care what other people think. And her parents are like, Hey, slow down daughter. You're kind of, you're kind of, uh, being crazy. And, um, that's like what your parents said to you.

[00:21:19] And look at me now. Um, slow down daughter, slow down little, little daughter. Yeah. You're being crazy. And I said, F you, I'm not, I'm going to do what I want. And I feel like that's what we got here. And, um, like myself, I would not do well on survivor. And I don't, you don't know that I do, but I don't think the attitude of I'm going to do what I want when I want way of life is going to get you far on survivor. Okay. So what do you say?

[00:21:48] Not feeling great about Mary. I wasn't, then I, yeah, I dipped down, but then, you know, she's been through a lot and she's hitched hike through the Mediterranean. Like I'm sure she's got a great story. That's some great stories. I bet. So I think that I don't think she's going to win. She might make it to the merge. Okay. All right. Next up. Nicole's going to talk about star to me. Do you think you have one? It takes a beer. I looked up.

[00:22:18] I looked down. I looked to the left. I said, Jeff, I do think I got one. I said, do you know how many people wish they could be here right now? I'm not taking nothing for granted. Star, 28-year-old sales expert. Once I picked up a basketball, I realized I'm actually pretty all right. I'm like, I'm pretty strong. I'm pretty strong. I did semi-pro for a little bit and then I found my calling with sales. When you're doing sales, you have to talk to people. That's easy. I talk for fun.

[00:22:46] I actually want to do this to leave something for Silver Mars and to show him, hey, you see me, sir? That's me, huh? Now I'm throwing you the ball. Let's see what else you can do. You might be president one day. I don't even know. But just by watching me do this, it can only open up so many doors for him to imagine. He got to be an astronaut. Step up my ass. Chase your dreams. That's the name of the game. What do you want to leave this island having gained? For sure for Jeff to have my number on his speed dial. Okay, keep it.

[00:23:15] I will never change it. I will keep it just for you. Okay. I think Jeff might have her number. I haven't seen these interviews before. Yeah. So I watched, you know, Mike's interviews with her. She didn't scream as much with Mike and she wants Jeff to have the number on speed dial. These people still have speed dial. I mean, you have your favorites list. You have your favorite. I don't have a favorites list. Yeah. I think that he has her number and it's blocked. Hey, Star, it's Jeff. Yeah. Jeff! It's like she took a Red Bull.

[00:23:45] Mm-hmm. Perhaps with some vodka in it before doing this interview. Okay. All right, Nicole, how are you feeling about Star? Is she a star to you? I mean, yeah, she's a star. But she's got, she's definitely down to Red Bull. That was a lot. Yeah. That was a lot. She's got a good energy. Mm-hmm. But I don't know if I want that energy all the time. Yeah. Like that's, she's got a crash at some point, right? I would think at some point. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

[00:24:15] What's a sales expert? I don't know what a sales expert is. Like not a sales person, not in sales. I've never heard of it. Does she teach sales? I don't believe anybody has ever been a sales expert. Mm-hmm. I thought with Mike, I thought she said, I can sell anything. So maybe she has had a lot of different sales jobs. Mm-hmm. So that classified her as an expert. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I'm just got good energy. Yeah. So that's star. Yeah. She seems like she's athletic. Mm-hmm. That's good. Yeah. She's going to be good at challenges. So.

[00:24:45] But stop yelling at me. She has a lot of energy, which we've seen like people like Marianne be able to win the show with that kind of energy. But the thing about Marianne. But it's not very common though. The thing about Marianne is that Marianne is small. Marianne is tiny with a lot of energy that I do wonder if somebody is big, like and tall, like star is and has a lot of energy. Like, is that like a too big of a threat? I think it could be. Like, is that too much attention?

[00:25:15] She better, she better win the challenges. You know, to be big and also high energy. Mm-hmm. Okay. Let's talk about Chrissy. Okay. Nicole, here's Chrissy. Chrissy. I'm really good at putting out fires. I'm not sure if I could start one. Chrissy, 55 year old fire lieutenant. I've been on the fire department for 26 years. Been a paramedic for 33 years. I'm also a nurse. I know. I like helping people. I don't know.

[00:25:44] When I became a firefighter, I walked in, the guys literally growled at me. They didn't want a female. I had my purse on my shoulder and I said, is there a hook on the engine for my purse? And I was the lead guy 15 years later. So, so they didn't run me out. I can't walk into a firehouse if I'm voted out early. I mean, I'll get, I'll get teased to no end. There is no coming home not doing well. I don't want to be the leader. In my job, I'm the leader now.

[00:26:12] I want to be the workhorse because that's what I've been my whole life. I grew up very poor. I'm welfare, a single mom. So I know what it takes to work hard to get what you want. I think that's going to help me a lot here. All right. Chrissy. So Chrissy, when I, I read their profiles before I saw the video and I was not expecting what I saw. Like I saw that she was, you know, she's from the South side of Chicago. She's never really left there.

[00:26:41] She's lived there her entire, her entire life. She's a fire lieutenant. Like that just told me that she's, you know, strong and she's a leader. A lot of times when people live in the area that they are like their hometown and never really left that, you know, sometimes you can have like this non evolved sort of way of life. And that usually tells me like, I don't know. It's not usually a good thing.

[00:27:10] But then when I saw her video, I was like, oh, she's, she's chill. She's not like this high energy boss and she's like normal. And she was eight. She's the boss of all of these men started at the bottom and now she's here. So, um, very impressed. Yeah. And then she's a single mom. She was on welfare.

[00:27:38] Like she's been on survivor basically forever. Mm hmm. Is she a single mom? I think she had a single mom. Whatever. Yeah. Whatever. Yeah. Yeah. Perhaps that's it. Either way. She has, she's been fighting. Yes. Okay. What do you say? Thumbs up or thumbs down for Chrissy? I'm thumbs up. Okay. I'm thumbs up. All right. Let's go to. I think she's, she's pretty badass. All right. Let's go to the next person. Okay.

[00:28:08] Let's talk about Bianca. Bianca Roses. I grew up in a very, very large Italian Catholic family. Lots of us. I feel like Jeff was my like survivor godfather growing up. Hey, I'm the only godfather. It's a different godfather. I'm from New Jersey. I'm super proud of it. There's so much amazing New Jersey presence. Hello, Tony, Michelle, Natalie, Steph, obviously, Saree. Like an absolute angel legend.

[00:28:37] It's just like, duh, keep casting the New Jersey people. A year ago, I quit my agency job after eight years. I started my own business. I moved to Virginia with my boyfriend, which to my family in New Jersey is like, do we need a passport to get there? And I was like, I'm taking all these risks. I got to finally apply for survivor. I feel like anyone in PR should get the out here. Like I make a living persuading people to do things.

[00:29:02] And you need to be able to like genuinely connect with people on a human level. And so many of those skills, you know, translate to being out here. And I know I'm going to crush it. Okay. There's Bianca. Now, Nicole, before you say anything, I want to talk to the audience. And I want to say that either Nicole's about to have a strong feeling and Nicole is either going to love Bianca or Nicole's going to hate Bianca.

[00:29:30] And I think flip a coin and let's find out. Nicole. You don't know me at all. Yes. Yes. You don't know me. I don't? Nope. What? Well, because when I first saw her, I read her profile. It was a very different impression that I got when I watched her video. She is a lot louder than she looks. Okay. A lot. So I like when she opened her mouth, I was like, whoa, not what I was expecting. Was that relatable for you? I don't talk like that anymore. Okay.

[00:30:01] Okay. So many things. I was just like, what? Yes. I thought she was quiet and smart and just like kind of nerdy. No. No. That's not Bianca. That's not her at all. No. She's the Italian. Smart. Sure. But not quiet. Definitely not quiet. Well, we don't know. But it doesn't seem that nerdy. I don't really have strong feelings for her. Oh.

[00:30:30] I don't really like, I'm not the kind of person that's like, I'm from Long Island. Hey, I'm from Long Island. I love Long Island. Long Island. Strong Island. Like, no. Yes. I'm actually like, I'm from Long Island. Yeah. Don't tell anybody. Well, I guess, let me just say that, you know, don't sleep on Long Island in terms of the survivor greats. Okay. Right. But I'm never going to be like, hey, yo, Long Island. We're all here.

[00:31:01] 516 and a half. We're in for the 516 represent. Yeah. Dama Bate. We got Tommy Sheehan. We got Sean Kniff. We got that firefighter guy. Rob Sesternino. Yeah. We got Tom Westman. Yeah. He's old now, but that's okay. Kimmy Kappenberg over here. Kimmy, Kimmy, Kimmy. No, I'm not going to do that.

[00:31:30] Even though we just did. We're soda at. Yeah. Yeah. I don't get the whole hometown pride thing. Yeah. Okay. Well, Nicole, speaking of New Jersey. I was, when I was in New York yesterday, so I took a flight out of Raleigh, went up to, you know, flew into JFK and then I took the air train. Did you get there and go like, 919?

[00:31:59] No, I didn't. But I stopped at Penn Station and I ate and then I was walking over to where the survivor beach drop was and I'm on the street and I, and I heard a familiar voice. I'm like, is that Steve Sharippa? Sharippa? It was just an awful voice. Well, I mean, his voice is very distinct. I heard he was talking on the phone so loud. Yes. He's a very loud guy. And then I looked back and I saw like two, there were two like young women that were like

[00:32:26] talking to each other, like, and they were also looking back and I said to them, was that Steve Sharippa? And they're like, yeah, no, it was definitely him. We were just like, okay, thank you for like, I thought I was crazy for a second. Thank you for, but yeah. This is it. So hold on. Second time in my life. Let me get this straight. So Steve Sharippa reminds you of Bianca Roses. Well, because she talked about New Jersey. Enough said. Next one. What do you mean? Next contestant.

[00:32:56] It was the New Jersey was the similar thing. Yeah. Oh, I obviously. Second time in my life that I've spotted a celebrity by. By yourself? No. By the sound of their voice. Oh, who was the first one? That I was in Rite Aid in our, in our old stomping grounds when we used to live in Woodland Hills. 310. And I was in Rite Aid. That was 818. And it was another celebrity was on the phone. I was like, that sounds like, is Andy Dick on the phone in the next aisle? Oh yeah.

[00:33:25] He was all over the place. I went to a restaurant and he was there. Yes. And that was the other person that I spotted. He has a distinct voice also. Only by, uh, by hearing their voice. So do you think that if you were in a, in a room with all the survivors and Bianca started talking, you'd say it was her? Not yet. Not yet. I could get there with a lot of the other survivor contestants from having to hear their voices for, for so long. And did you hear like the, the Stephanie pride also in her voice?

[00:33:56] Yes. So she likes Stephanie. Apparently sounds like a big Stephanie fan. That could be a fun game maybe for the off season. If somebody puts that together of like, just play, just play a clip of a survivor and I'll see if I can identify them only by voice. Fun. Yeah. Let's go to our next survivor after Bianca. I really thought Nicole was going to have a very strong feeling about Bianca. I'm evolved. Okay. All right.

[00:34:23] Well, maybe Nicole will have strong feelings about Justin. Pupi. I'm hoping they see me as like the goofy, happy-go-lucky, fun-loving kid who has a lot of hair. He does have a nice hair. We have a nice restaurant at home that I now am the manager of. It's, it's our family restaurant through and through. My parents started together over 40 years ago. I got my ass up front. I got my buddies from high school doing deliveries. I don't want to brag, but I made the best pizza. We've made the best pizza all our lives. I've never really had a gym membership.

[00:34:52] Luigi's kind of in my gym carrying 50 pound bags of flour on my shoulders. And you know, I'm doing those deliveries, 40 or 50 pizzas at a time. And that's kind of been my strength training. So I want to see how that translates out here. Because I feel like I've had a weird path. I used to work in the state house at like the highest levels of state politics. And I went to Yale and I studied political science. I was planning to go to law school, but my mother got really sick about four years ago with leukemia. She couldn't work anymore. So I step in and I go from Yale to making meatball subs with my father in the kitchen.

[00:35:21] And I'm going to play this game for her. Just give her a big check and just say like, Ma, for the first time in your life, you don't have to go to work tomorrow. You're all set. Okay. What a nice boy. Here's Justin. And here's my problem with Justin. I keep calling Justin Luigi. I mean, that's fine. We can call him Luigi. I mean, hopefully he doesn't mind the product placement that I keep saying his name is Luigi, but he's Justin from Luigi. We can just call him Luigi. I like that. Okay. All right. Here's Justin. Okay.

[00:35:49] Nicole has strong feelings about pizza. Certainly. Where is he from? Massachusetts? Boston. Boston. Yeah. I mean, I love pizza. Pizza. I worked at a pizzeria for a long time. Did you carry 40 and 50 pizzas at a time for your strength training? I did not. I feel like I really, I really missed out on that. Yeah. If I only knew. So Luigi, let me see. So I have this thing, like I said before about people who never leave their hometown.

[00:36:18] So when I first like read his profile, I was like, oh, he left his hometown. He went to Yale. Can I talk? Okay. All right. Shut your mouth, sir. Respectively. Respectfully. Yeah. So he, when I was reading it, I had that feeling of, oh, this guy never left his hometown. Not a good thing. Not a good thing. And he's working at his family restaurant. All he knows is his family.

[00:36:43] Like it's, I've, I've been around a lot of Italian families. Mm-hmm. And I was like, oh, been there. I know that. It's usually not a good thing. Yeah. But then he, then I watched the video and he is a very educated, smart person. Went to Yale. Mm-hmm. Like the two, like the two personalities didn't line up a little bit for me. Like it seemed like two totally different people. Yeah. But you know, his mom got sick and he put his mom first.

[00:37:13] And as a mom of boys, that, that touches my heart. Yeah. What I've said about Justin is that I think that it's been a tried and true survivor fact that people tend to sleep on the long hair guy who they think he's just like the surfer bro. And then he's actually a very smart guy. He's gone to Yale. And I think that also like that he has the cover story of working in the pizzeria.

[00:37:39] So I think that people are not going to be thinking that Justin might be as smart as he is. He, yeah, he, I mean, he doesn't with the long hair and the pizza shirt. He doesn't look like a, and he's strong without looking like a, you know, the, the muscles popping. I mean, he's got flower biceps. It's different. Yeah. So that's Justin. Anything else about Justin? No, he tricked me. I don't like to be tricked, but it was pleasantly surprised. Yes. Well, that's good for survivor.

[00:38:07] I actually, I like him. Mm-hmm. Yes. He's not what I expected him to be. It was all judgy, judgy at first. Oh, little boy never left his neighborhood, but he's, he seems cool. All right. There you go. All right. So let's talk about Charity Nelms. Okay. And let's see what Nicole has to say about Charity. I can't have my flight attendant face out there. You know, when someone goes into the bathroom without their shoes on and I will just openly be like, I can't do that.

[00:38:37] She made a disgusted face. Oh, he voted out first. Charity. Charity. 34-year-old flight attendant. We grew up very religious, but very strict. There was a lot of pressure on my shoulders to be a certain way, to believe a certain way, to live up to certain expectations. So I ended up going to ministry school in Alabama. I got a job at a mega church in the South. It was like a fork in the road. And I knew that if I accepted that job, I was going to live my entire life for what everybody around me wanted me to do.

[00:39:06] So I packed up my Ford Fiesta. And within nine days, I had gotten a job as a flight attendant. And the world opened in a whole new way to me. I started watching Survivor when I started skipping ministry school to watch Survivor at home. And watching this show, like, I wish I could do that, but I could never. This is making up for lost time of all the experiences I've held myself back from. I am going all out on this. All right. Here is Charity. All right.

[00:39:35] Charity. I like Charity. Her outfit's different, too. She's wearing a romper, which is kind of similar. Like, it's shorts and, like, a shirt, but, like, all in one. And then has, like, this bright shirt underneath it that she has open in some of the video. Okay. So I feel like she stands out and is different, but not a, hey, look at me sort of thing. Okay. And I think that's really good. Yes. All right. I like her story.

[00:40:05] That, you know, she grew up super religious and, you know, made a big decision for herself on who she wanted to be and took charge. I love that. Yeah. She made a big change. And she also had a weight loss journey that she talks about with Mike Bloom where she- She lost 100 pounds. Yeah, she lost 100 pounds. And prior to that, she was, like, she would watch Survivor. I'm like, oh, I could never do that. I don't want to go on TV. I don't want to be in a bathing suit. And then she ended up losing the weight and then was feeling like, okay, well, now I can go do Survivor. Yeah.

[00:40:35] And she, in her video, she is, like, she has really good posture. She has, like, this confident attitude. She has a little bit of, like, RBF, which she's got to get under control. I understand how that feels. Um, and she's got, like, a sleeve of tattoos. I want a sleeve of tattoos. What? Since when? I've always wanted a sleeve. I've never done it. I don't think I can pull that off.

[00:41:03] But then I also think I can pull it off. What? Have you, do you listen to me? When? Have you ever talked about that you want a sleeve of tattoos? I think I have said it on the podcast. So if I... Listeners back me. Has anybody ever heard Nicole talk about how she wants a sleeve of tattoos? Mm-hmm. Please. I did talk about a tattoo. I did get removed. But I wanted also a sleeve of tattoos. Okay. This is news to me. Mm-hmm.

[00:41:32] Because I kind of feel I would have the same reaction at any point in the past when you talk about getting a sleeve of tattoos. And you probably did. Like many of the things I say that are so outrageous, you block them out. I think I would remember that. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That would be tattooed on my brain. Like a sleeve? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Okay. I think she's pretty cool. I would want to be friends with her. All right. Mm-hmm. Anything else about charity? I think she's tough. Like, you know, those flight attendants can't take any crap. Mm-hmm.

[00:42:02] But can they get like jaded? Well, I think the thing about the flight attendants is they have to take a lot of crap and they have to not lose their, you know what. So say, you know what? You're out. Get off this plane. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That would probably be the fun part. Okay. You'd like to be a bouncer on the plane. Yes. Okay. All right. Let's talk about Kevin. Smiley Kevin. So I'm a little bit like nervous now. Like, I'm here. Now what? Just have a nervous laugh.

[00:42:30] Kevin, the 34-year-old finance manager. I didn't know Kevin was 34. I have to look somewhat hot. I'm not going to look ugly. So I'm going to make some coconut shavings and then some seawatties. Make a little paste and then do my hair every morning. He takes care of the skin. I'm sure they're going to think I'm stupid, but it's okay. I want to look as dootsy and clueless as possible because that's what's going to help me go through far in this game. I worked in engineering and then I was like, this is not my vibe. Like, I love to talk. I love to socialize. So I went from engineering to business and now I'm in finance for a tech company.

[00:42:58] I always thought of myself as the brainy guy, like the nerdy guy. Seeing Yul Kwon on TV just made me realize I'm not pigeonholed into this archetype. Someone who looks like me is on TV and he's not just smart. He's strategic and he's athletic and he's a great game player. So he really started inspiring me to hopefully apply for the show and I'm ready. I thought Kevin was like 22. Well, he takes care of his skin with like seaweed and sand and really exfoliates. Must be using the Natalie Napalm.

[00:43:28] He looks really very good. That was what Natalie Cole said about Jeremy, how Jeremy kept his skin so beautiful. Glowing. Glowing. Yes. No, I thought Kevin was like a, so 34 looking great. But I thought he, I thought he was like a, cause he's so smiley, so happy. I thought that that's. Well, maybe the joy radiates out of him and keeps him young. Yeah. You should try it. Okay. What do you, come on. Yeah.

[00:43:59] Okay. Kevin, what else is there to say? He's happy. Yeah. Good attitude. Yes. He was a Abercrombie employee. Yes. Once upon a time. Probably smells permanently like cologne. Mm-hmm. That's good, I guess. Mm-hmm. No? I don't know. It's kind of, going into Abercrombie can give you a headache. Okay. Yeah. All right. So you don't have much on Kevin. Not really. Okay. All right. I think he's, he's, you know, he's good.

[00:44:28] Like he's, he's fun. He's strong. He's smart. Sounds like the whole package, but I don't know. Okay. I just don't have that feeling. All right. Let's talk about Thomas. I hope I'm a hoot and a half. A hoot and a half? A hoot and a half. I'm from Texas, y'all. All right. Here's Tom, also 34. I'm not like a surface level fan of anything. For example, sports. I got to know everything. Survivor. I've seen every single episode a million times. And then like the real housewives. I don't just watch the Beverly Hills.

[00:44:57] I watch every city. Do you know what I mean? Like I commit. So my job is to like find songwriters, find people that make amazing music, put them together, help them get their stuff out there. So all of the espionage, like the craziness of the music business, it's just like Survivor, but with like food and cocktails. My job is all about like service. And I'm going to present as someone that feels like they can just help all these other contestants. And what they don't realize is that I'm the biggest threat of the entire cast.

[00:45:25] The scariest thing of the whole thing. It's not the starving. It's not the sleeping on the beach. It's like I have to sit here and be myself. And as scary as that is, I have to remember that I've built my whole life from the ground up being myself. And I can play the game the same way. Okay. All right. So here is Thomas. Nicole, what do you think? Thomas the hoot crotender. Hoot and a half. A hoot and a half. That is, that half really puts you over the edge.

[00:45:54] He seems pretty cool. Music exec. Yeah. He says that navigating through the music industry has prepared him for Survivor. I hope he's not talking about Diddy parties. I don't think so. He's on the West Coast. So is Diddy. He's fun. Diddy's on the West Coast? Well, not anymore. Yeah? He has, some of his parties were in LA. I didn't know that. Well, good. Well, thank goodness. Because then that means you weren't there. Yeah.

[00:46:23] As our children say, our 11 year old and nine year old ain't no party like Diddy party. They don't know what they mean. They just say things. They don't know. Shh, don't say that. Don't say that. They don't know what it means. He seems pretty cool. He's fun. Smiling. He has a good attitude. But seems like really even keeled. Not excitable. Yeah. The kids that go to school, just to go back for one second. And they watch on YouTube and they think that like, they just say things. They're just like, mom, why does he have baby oil?

[00:46:53] Yeah. Well, they said like, they're talking about Diddy. And like, do you know what happened with Diddy? Do you know why? And then they're like, yeah. He stole baby oil. He stole baby oil. That's, that's what, what the, what the story. I'm like, okay, that's good enough. You're right. That's fine. Carry on. That's correct. Carry on. Yeah. Um, I mean, where do you go from that? Okay. Thomas, you're feeling good or no? I'm feeling okay. Okay. Okay.

[00:47:19] I mean, I feel like this cast has not really created very many strong feelings in you. Not yet. Not yet. Okay. Yeah. All right. He can babysit the kids. I'm an amateur. An amateur musician. Yes. But maybe you think that maybe Thomas will discover you. You know, I am working on this one piece that I think you'll really enjoy. Mm-hmm. Yes. Nicole has taught herself to play piano over the last year and change. Yeah.

[00:47:49] I'm pretty good. I'm pretty good at piano. I don't know what the notes are. I just know where my hands go. So I call myself like the Stevie Wonder of piano. Okay. I don't think you should do that. My hands just move where they're supposed to. I think Stevie Wonder is already the Stevie Wonder of piano. No, I am. Okay. All right. Let's talk about maybe somebody, Nicole, will have a stronger feeling about. David. David Kinney. Easiest part of the game? The challenges. I'm not going to lie.

[00:48:19] My survivor bucket list is just winning more challenges than any other person before. Yeah. Tell me more. 39. Stunt performer. Kind of always been like an adrenaline junkie, I guess. Yeah. Work as a whitewater rafting instructor for like six summers in Colorado. Currently a stunt performer. Got my commercial pilot slices. What else? I love doing things that challenge me. And I have a lot of hobbies, I guess, to kind of indicate that. So living under pressure has just been part and parcel of my life. So no matter what challenges come my way, like I'm always going to be able to remain calm and composed. And I think it's going to bode very well for a survivor. Definitely.

[00:48:48] I mean, I know a lot of people say this, but I truly think I have it all. We know you do. I mean, I got the social skills. We know you think you do. I have the charm. I see you smiling. You're already into it. I get it. Yeah. And I obviously have the physical prowess and the mental pass. Love that one-handed push-up. I don't really have an Achilles heel. I have a personal motto. It's not ego. It's history. Everything I've done, I've come out ahead. I can step a little bit into arrogance. I don't know. But hey, it won't be arrogance though if I win Survivor. So we'll see. Oh, you got us there. Where is the heckle the video? Yes. Yes. It was essential there.

[00:49:17] It was very, very essential. Okay. All right. So Nicole has strong feelings. I think we found somebody that Nicole- He is my Achilles heel. I hate your guts. Why? Because he's the arrogant guy. Jeez. I do not want to hang out with you. Yes. Yeah. He's like, he's a stunt performer, but like, like a stunt performer for The Rock or the guy in Indiana Jones stunt show? I think he works in movies. I think I've seen him in the stunt show.

[00:49:46] He's the guy that gets The Rock falling on him. That guy. That rock? Mm-hmm. Okay. I don't think that he's performing in the Indiana Jones stage show. I saw him at Universal Studios. At Disney Hollywood Studios. Or whatever. What are they calling? Yeah. Who cares? Okay. All right. So that, can I say one aside from, and this is not my story, but Brandon Donlan was telling

[00:50:14] me that he was playing the challenges with, you know, they, they, it's a beach drop and they have all the challenges set up. And Brandon Donlan said that he was going to play one of the challenges and we're going to play with David. Oh yeah. And Brandon Donlan was telling me last night, he's like, so they're in the line for the challenges. Uh-huh. And David is, is with Brandon, is with Brandon Donlan and they're going to go at the same time and do like one of the challenges, like throw the sandbag.

[00:50:40] And Brandon Donlan said the whole time they were in the line, David just talked smack to Brandon Donlan about how you're going to lose. How does it feel to know? What a jerk. You're going to be horrible at this. You're going to be horrible at this. I'm going to beat you so badly. I'm going to. Like, was he serious or was he like playing? I think he was both. I think he was being playful, but also being serious. And then Brandon Donlan said, and then he did exactly what he said that he would do.

[00:51:09] That he got in Brandon Donlan's head and destroyed him. Well, come on. Why are you going to mess with Brandon Donlan? Like that is like really picking on the little guy in the schoolyard. David, you're a loser. Yes. Yeah. What a jerk. He's like, what a bully. Brandon Donlan said that he's going to be a great character. I'm sure he will be. Yeah. And he's also one of the guys wearing, not wearing the uniform. He's got his, his tank top.

[00:51:38] He was wearing a tank top yesterday. Yeah. It said. Oh, he was wearing a tank top yesterday too? Yes. What a loser. Body by chocolate milk. It said, I said, is that your merch? He said, no, he just bought that on Amazon. That's what he says that he. And you know, he's going home now and buying merch. He's going to be buying merch or making merch. Whatever. I don't know if they're allowed to make merch anymore. Um, he can do whatever he wants. Like, look at him. He can do whatever. It's totally fine. Okay. So that's your winner pick. No. Oh. It's my loser pick. Okay.

[00:52:08] All right. Like who is voting for this guy? Come on. To win or vote him out? Yeah. To vote to win. Okay. All right. How about let's bring in Camilla. Are you ready for Camilla? Yes. Okay. Here's Camilla. I have never had like an ab my entire life. Not even a single ab. Maybe you can borrow one from David. He has so many. Camilla, 31 year old software engineer. I'm in software engineering, which is like a pretty male dominated field.

[00:52:35] It's just like constantly not really feeling like I was listened to. Like I would say something. I would have like a great idea. No one would think twice about it. Another dude would say the exact same thing. Oh yeah. That's great. I'm like, bro. I just said it, but like, I don't need praise. I don't need my ego stroked by people. I think that's very good in the game of survivor. My mom's Guyanese. My dad's Sri Lankan. They definitely had an expectation of me. Like the typical quiet, obedient South Asian girl. And unfortunately they had me instead.

[00:53:05] I was intentionally annoying. And that still hasn't really changed for me. I want to show them you raised a very strong woman. I want them to see that and be like proud of like the daughter that they made. Okay. There's Camilla. Very good. She's very fun. You know, I liked her profile where she's like, she wants to make an alliance with someone that's funny and good to be around. It's like, I like that. That's a good answer. Yeah. I like that.

[00:53:33] And she just, she, uh, she's also like a gamer or something. Yeah. Yeah. She wants to be, she plays video games, wants to be a game designer, a game designer. What is, I had to look this up like a Valorant. It's like, I think it's a video game. Yeah. That is a game. Yes. Well, she's semi pro. Yes. It's not my area of expertise. Yes. Well now it is. Yes. And ask Dominic, get him up here.

[00:54:03] I feel like she's, I like her sense of humor. Yes. And she's going to be really fun to be around. She's not going to be the like, Hey, listen to me. Listen to me sort of person. I can see her going pretty far. I like her cause she could babysit. Okay. All right. Anything else on Camilla? Uh, don't, don't, um, don't text her. Um, can I ask you a question? Okay. Just ask it.

[00:54:30] Cause she'll, she'll lose a year off her life. I think that's what she said. If you text her that, like, let's not kill her. Yeah. Okay. All right. Nicole, let's bring in Joe. Joey. I don't want to be a challenge beast. Cause that'll be a target. But what about a monster? Like I'm in the closet. I'm under the bed. I'm nasty. You don't want to mess with me, but like, you can't see me all the time. That's what I'll go for. Joe, the 45 year old fire captain.

[00:54:59] I was fortunate enough to go to UCLA on a full scholarship for football and track and field. And now I have two kids and I'm a captain in the fire service in Northern California in Sacramento. It's amazing. My sister, she started watching the show and she said, we should do this. There's no way you can do this. There's no way. Not too long after that, you lost her to domestic violence to get past some of that pain. I had to get off the couch and say, you know what? To honor her, to be Joanna's voice. I'm going to give it a shot. Just like you would.

[00:55:27] I want people to see someone who is a great dad. I think I am. And someone who was in a dark place, took that struggle and turned it into triumph. And in that be a better version of me than I ever could be when I come out of this. Okay. Nicole, what do you think about Joe? I like Joe. Yeah, I thought you would. Yeah. I like him because he is very, he's strong. He's, you know, he looks, he is an athlete.

[00:55:55] He's going to be really good to really fun to watch, but he's not like a, hey, hey, look at me guy. Like, he's not like the, the alpha males that you love to hate. Yeah. He seems like a good listener. He has children. He really cares about, he talks all through his profile about his kids and his family. And I think that he has that, that spark from his family. That's going to keep him really, really motivated. Yes.

[00:56:23] So how do you feel about him as a player? I think he's going to be good. He seems really not excitable, but also, you're not like, do you have a pulse sort of thing? So I think, I think he's going to be really good. Okay. Although he, one of his pet peeves was, um, he hates bad hugs, which for me, my pet peeves is just hugs. Oh, I didn't know that. I hate, I don't like hugs. News to me.

[00:56:53] I don't like, I didn't know this. Like, you know, when people, is this new? Is this? No, it's, I'm finally saying it. Okay. Thank you. Don't hug me. Me included. No, I'd like your hug. Okay. Yes. But like hugs are awkward. Like when you, um, are meeting somebody like, Oh, Hey, and you get the hug. I'm not giving you a full hug, but, but if I give you a hug, you were going to feel it in your bones. Okay. Wow.

[00:57:22] But if you're not feeling it in your bones, I'm not hugging you. Okay. Yeah. All right. Well, this is now, this changes everything that you want a tattoo sleeve. You don't like hugs. Like, how am I learning all of this today? I also do not like kissing people. Hello or goodbye. Okay. I think it is so awkward. And so many times I've gotten caught in the, Oh, do I go right? Do I go left?

[00:57:51] Oh, we just got the mouth. Mouth. You can't, I'm kissing on the mouth. It happened with your uncle Sal once. It was so awkward. All right. Let's talk about say. Okay. Here we go. Here's say. I hold grudges. That might be something I'm going to have to work on. Say 30 from Philly. I was raised by my mom and my grandmom. So I've only been surrounded by strong, resilient, independent women.

[00:58:20] That's all I know. Because I didn't grow up around a lot of soft people. So it's really hard for me to kind of understand people who are super emotional. Anything that's here is going to come out of here. The reactiveness is something I need to learn how to pull back. That's going to be tricky. It's going to be really tricky for me. You're not going to tell me I can't or will not do something. It's going to make me want to do it more. I had so many teachers in high school try to tell me I was the worst writer ever. I was like, I got to prove you wrong then. I went on to get an Associated Press Award. That teacher can eat.

[00:58:51] People told me I would never leave Philadelphia. Not only did I end up in California, but I worked for one of the biggest media companies out here. My mom told me I shouldn't do Survivor. And look at me. Look at me now. Don't say don't do it. Hi, mom. Mom said don't do it. The teacher said you're the worst writer ever. Oh, my God. People are so mean to her. Nicole, what do you have to say about this person? I love say.

[00:59:20] I don't think we would get along on the island, though. I feel like we have a lot of similarities. Yes. We would not get along most likely. But I am a changed woman. This is you as a person. I think I'm calmer and more accepting now. But not everybody is as evolved as I am. So I think she's going to have a hard time. Okay. And everybody better pronounce salmon correctly. That's one of her pet peeves? Yes. Yes.

[00:59:48] How do you pronounce it? Salmon? Are people saying salmon? I would like some moist salmon. Did she say also moist? She hates moist. People who say moist. A moist salmon, please. If it's too moist, I think that maybe it might be undercooked. You should send it back. I love it moist. Okay. Come on. Well, this podcast is being recorded at 515 in the afternoon. With no alcohol.

[01:00:17] This is not even like, okay, wow. How many Proseccos in is Nicole? Zero. I don't need Prosecco to love moist salmon. All right. Are you ready to talk about Mitch? Yes. All right. Mitch. Here's Mitch. I don't have Mitch. Okay. Well, all right. Let's get ready. So Raw Dog Mitch. Here we go.

[01:00:46] I love Raw Dog. If Mitch, who stutter can go as a survivor, then you can too. Okay. Mitch. Another 34-year-old. Growing up stuff. During was incorrect. The bleach hat. When drinking up. Kids were pretty mean. Small everyday moments really stressed me out because I knew I would probably stutter and not knowing how someone would react to that.

[01:01:16] So it really forced me to be resilient. So now I get to work as PE coach. I get to do a job that I love and also have a positive impact. That is incredible. I was always afraid that my speech impediment would hold me back.

[01:01:40] The goal is to come out here and prove to myself that I'm more than capable of doing anything. All right. There's Mitch. Mitch. Yes? I feel like I need some Mitch in my life. What do you mean by that? Okay. I am a very hyper person. I'm always like on the go, moving around, always thinking the next thing.

[01:02:10] My mind is racing in a million directions at a time. My brain has a million tabs open just like my computer. So many tabs. So many tabs. 70 tabs in one window. And that is what my brain looks like all the time. And I'm just zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom. Like physically, emotionally, like every aspect of my life. But as soon as he starts talking, like my body slows down. Like my mind slows down. He has a calming effect on you. No.

[01:02:38] And he's like reminding me to slow the F down. Be calm. Yes. And I feel like one with the earth when he's talking. Wow. That's like, I like put him in a pill and I will take it. Okay. All right. How are you feeling about Mitch, the survivor player? I think that's going to be like really good for the game where he's just going to remind people to slow down, slow down.

[01:03:08] Yeah. But it's the new era. It's very fast. Yeah. And sometimes they need to slow down because they're not thinking. Gotta go, go, go. Or people can be jerks. And not feel like I do and vote him out. Okay. And then you know what? Shame, shame, shame. Okay. Any other thoughts about Mitch? I think Mitch is awesome because he just started running like two years ago.

[01:03:33] He did like an Ironman, triathlon, full marathon, half marathon, all the marathons, all the thons. And he's strong, he's smart and soothing. Okay. He can babysit the children. Okay. Well, he's a gym coach. Mm-hmm. And he's a gym coach. He's probably like the one that everybody loves. Probably. Okay. I bet there's no, there's no dodgeball. No dodgeball. In his class. Okay. You ready to talk about Kyle? Kyle.

[01:04:03] Okay. Let me see if I want to talk about Kyle. All right. Let me play Kyle's video. Oh, Kyle, who doesn't like styrofoam. Okay. Are you a big styrofoam fan? Not really. Oh. I'm kind of good at sports. I'm kind of smart. Like, I'm kind of funny. Like, I'm the best average guy you'll ever meet. Love that. Kyle from 31-year-old attorney. I'm the best. Indigent criminal defense. Representing people who could not otherwise afford a defense. Advocate on behalf of somebody that's going through something that might be the worst experience of their life. Just, like, being able to help people.

[01:04:32] There is a lot about being a lawyer that is creative. You're constantly thinking about arguments and figuring out how it can best fit your client's situation. I've never been the person who looks at a problem and solves it one way. Like, I come at it from different angles all the time. I hope I can bring that to Survivor, too. The school that I went to was an affluent white community. The community that I grew up in was a black urban community. I work with some of the richest individuals in the world, but I've also lived with certain individuals who don't have a dollar to their name. I feel like it's made me better every time I've been around a new group of people and I learned something new.

[01:05:00] That's why I think I'm going to be good at Survivor. If I can bring that story to the game and, like, explain to people why it's important to seek out other people who are different than you, then I think I'd be pretty pumped up about that. Okay. Nicole, how do you feel about Kyle? I like Kyle. Yes. Except that he, like, has this deep detestion for styrofoam. I don't understand. That's bad for the environment. Sure, but of all the things to have a pet peeve about, like, styrofoam, that's what sticks out to you? Maybe it's a texture thing.

[01:05:30] Yeah, and you know what? Like, hats off to him. He can deal with the, and survive the rich white men. Like, I can't do that. Like, they irritate me. All right. Like, they're running the world. Mm-hmm. So, I think that he is going to do really good. He also wants to be a successful author. Did you know that? I didn't know that. What is he writing about? Fiction or nonfiction? Hopefully, lady smut. Lady smut?

[01:06:01] Do you know what that is? I do. Okay. Wouldn't that be nice? Well, what do you mean, wouldn't that be nice? You don't, you don't like that. No, I don't. Why are you saying it like you do? You don't know me. What? You know, one day I'm going to come home with a sleeve of tattoos and a library of lady smut. Yeah. And you're going to say, who are you?

[01:06:28] Well, I've never once seen you read a book of lady smut. Ever. It's better when you get the audio book. You would not look at Fifty Shades of Grey. Well, well, to my defense, the only reason I would not read that was because my mother told me to read it. And I took a stand. I said, no. Yes? That is weird. Yeah.

[01:06:57] What, you're saying you listen to a lot of audio book lady smut? I mean, I have, I have. We share an audible account. I've never, I've never seen this. I've never seen this. The lady smut. Where? None of your business. It's private. Do you want me to check your computer? It's on your computer? No, I'm just like, want me to check your computer for things you don't want me to see? Go for it. I will. Check away. For your man smut. I don't have any. Feel free. Yeah. My browser history is clean.

[01:07:27] You can check away, but that you listen to, I see all your audio books. Well, maybe you don't. I guess maybe I don't. This is a bit. Is it? Yes. Fine. Sure. Whatever you want. Anyway, I think he is the best average guy you'll ever meet. Love it. Good enough to win? Um, I think so. Okay.

[01:07:56] All right. I mean, and if you want to submit your first draft of lady smut, I will be happy to look it over and send my notes. Kyle. So stupid. I'm close to like just walking off the podcast. I haven't ever done that. What lady smut is what does it to you?

[01:08:25] This isn't even real. Okay. Here's Eva. Is it Eva or Eva? I started watching in college because my teammates at Georgia Tech created a survivor drinking game. And the first time we played, I won. And hope that there's some drinking game challenge out here that I can win. Don't get your hopes up, Eva. 24 year old PhD candidate. I was diagnosed with autism when I was just about a year old.

[01:08:53] The first doctors were telling my parents that I would never live independently. I'd never hold a job. My parents, they didn't give up on me. And now I'm getting my PhD in engineering. And I was the first and only girl to play on the men's hockey team at Georgia Tech. And I'm the captain of the men's club team at Brown. I've been a huge success story, but I still struggle with lots of different things related to my autism. Because I do not pick up on the small little minute social cues that everyone else does.

[01:09:22] Obviously, it's going to be tough out here. Everybody's lying all the time and I'm not going to know it. But I always am looking for new challenges. I know I have the brains. I know I have the brawns. I want people to be like, she was the whole package. Okay. There's Eva. Eva. PhD candidate. I think she's pretty awesome. She is on a men's hockey team. Yes. And she's the captain. Yes. She's the captain now. Mm-hmm.

[01:09:51] I got what you did there. Yes. I think she's great. I think that she's going to be a beast in the challenges. Yeah. I think she's adorable. Mm-hmm. But I just feel bad that she might not pick up on the cues. That's got to be hard in a game like this. I think it's hard in a game like that. Yeah. I think that's going to be very hard for her. Mm-hmm. So please don't lie to her. Okay. I won't like that. Yeah. All right.

[01:10:21] Nicole, two more people to go. Okay. All right. We have Shaheen and then Stephanie. These are the last two. Mm-hmm. Here's Shaheen. Congratulations on making it on Survivor 48. Woo! It feels so good. Say it again. Oh, it feels warm in here. It's so nice. Shaheen's 38-year-old debate professor. One of the cool things culturally about being Persian and something that we don't see is we go out of our way for our community.

[01:10:48] Bringing that into the game is two sides of the same coin. I want people to feel like this guy has my back. But I'm also going to have to stab him in their back. You know what I mean? For 15 years, my mom and I weren't really close. Over the last three years, I've gotten to know her in a way that I never thought possible. And a lot of that has been with Survivor. I made her watch every single episode because I knew she would be obsessed with it. And we got to talk about it. And we had something in common that we hadn't had in a very long time.

[01:11:15] I told my mom that I got Survivor with tree mail. Dear sweet mama, here's a quick tale. Three years of trying and I'll finally set sail. On an adventure bold and new. A test of spirit and character I'm sure to sign through. And where is this adventure you might inquire? I'm off to outwit, outlast, and outplay. On our favorite show, Survivor. Oh, sweet mama. Okay. All right. I did meet Shaheen's mom. Oh, you did? She was at the show. Did you say call her sweet mama?

[01:11:45] I didn't call her sweet mama. That's what we all should call her now. Shout out to Shaheen's mom. Sweet mama. She is a RGP listener. Oh. And she says that she loves the show. She listens to it. She hears my voice all the time. But she says a lot of times I'm wrong. It's true. Yeah. That's part of the thing. Yeah. That's part of it. Imagine living with him. But imagine if I was right all the time. He'd be like, well, I don't need to ever listen to the podcast. Or I don't ever have to watch Survivor.

[01:12:14] Because Rob is just going to say what's going to happen. And then. Because he's all knowing. Yeah. Yeah. What fun would that be? No fun. Okay. Yeah. So he seems like a pretty cool guy. Yeah. As long as I get it right. Like close to half the time. That's pretty good. Okay. But this isn't about you anymore. This is about Shaheen. Okay. Okay. Yes. He seems cool. Shaheen was an alternate for Survivor 46. Oh. And then he made it? Oh. Yes. We're on 48. Yes.

[01:12:44] He was an alternate for Survivor 46. He did not make it. And then he went home. Heartbreak. Mm-hmm. I'm sure sweet mama took care of him though. Yes. Yes. I'm sure. And Rachel was also an alternate for Survivor 46. Oh. Are we doing some foreshadowing here? Like maybe he's the winner like Rachel? Maybe. Maybe there was three winners there at Ponderosa for Survivor 46. Mm-hmm. Maybe more. Maybe they all like talked to each other and like really like broke down the game. Yeah. And figured it out.

[01:13:12] He made a big impression in the Survivor 46 Ponderosa. So many people were talking about, oh, beard guy. Beard guy is doing this. Beard guy is giving me a dirty look. Oh. So he gives people a bad first impression. Well, he said he knew he was an alternate and he was trying to make an impression while he was there. Okay. Well played. So that was not his approach to Ponderosa for Survivor 48. That was my next question. Mm-hmm. But he did do the mustache curl. Mm-hmm. That might be one of my pet peeves. Yes. Okay. But overall, how do you feel about Shaheen?

[01:13:43] Seems fine. Fine. Not a big strong reaction from Shaheen? I'm super fan. Love Survivor. Can he? But what can you do? You didn't tell me what you were going to do. Yeah. He did 30 plus minutes with Mike Bloom. He gets into like what he can and will do. Yeah. My attention span isn't that long. Right. It's only if it's like pornographic audio books. Kyle, work on it. Okay. All right. And then the last person we'll talk about today, Stephanie Berger.

[01:14:14] And I looked at him in our first meeting and I said, hey, so just letting you know, when I get cast on Survivor, I'm going to need to take some time off. He was like, okay, girl. Sure, whatever. The last snort. Okay. Stephanie Berger is the 38-year-old tech product lead. I grew up right in the middle of Midtown Manhattan. Elevator, apartment building, took the subway to school. And I grew up really independent. I was a bit of a latchkey kid.

[01:14:41] Those experiences really stick out to me now in giving me the confidence and the self-assurance to just navigate the world. No one wants to say that they're a big boss, right? But like the night before we flew out to Fiji, I was pitching multiple $100 million projects. I get to do pretty cool, impactful, big stuff. In so many parts of my life, I control how things go.

[01:15:08] So I have to really get comfortable with not being in charge, even though I love being in charge. Okay. There's Stephanie. Stephanie. Do you notice her outfit? What about it? She's not in the uniform. Blue and white. She's wearing a dress. Yes. It's very, very different from what everybody else is wearing. By the way, the next related video here on this website, a lot of George and Mandy clips, by the way.

[01:15:34] Before we get back to Stephanie, Nicole, you want to talk about your young Sheldon and George and Mandy binging? Well, Rob allowed the kids to watch The Simpsons. And I got, I'm not a fan of them watching that. So they started saying like really inappropriate things after watching The Simpsons. So I was like, we need a new show. We need a new show. So I put on young Sheldon for them. Now, young Sheldon, 24 hours a day at my house. But that's how we do anything here.

[01:16:03] We're all or nothing. Like someone said it on their interview, all or nothing. That's us. So it's 24 hours a day of young Sheldon. And then we have now gone into Georgie and Mandy's first marriage. But no big bang theory. That's inappropriate. That's too inappropriate. Only. It is. It's like smart people smudge. Only the prequels. Smart people smudge. Yes. Okay. So, all right. Back to Stephanie. And Stephanie's dress caught your attention. It did. She's very different than everybody else. Yes.

[01:16:34] And then when she starts talking, she is very different than everybody else. Yes. Okay. Is that positive or negative? It's a negative. I think that she's very successful in life. And I think that's amazing for her. But in this game, I think she's going to have a hard time. Yes. I think she's going to have a hard time blending in, a hard time listening to what other people tell her, not being the leader, all that stuff. Yeah. But then she did say something about that her mother had passed away recently.

[01:17:03] And it made me think, okay, so, you know, when my mother passed away, I felt like this change. And a lot of my best decisions were made shortly after where I decided, like, there is just so much that is not bringing joy to my life. And I got rid of it. And I feel like a part of me really, really changed. But it was like a journey to go on that.

[01:17:33] And I think that this experience is going to be really something for her. Yeah. I think Stephanie's a very fun personality. Oh, definitely. Yeah. I really like her and is... I mean, she snorts when she laughs. Yeah. She's very fun. Okay. All right. Nicole, that's everybody. And she lives in Brooklyn. Yes. That's 18 survivor castaways. Okay. Yes. All right.

[01:18:04] So... That went so fast. It went by fast. We went through it. You know, kept a pretty good pace. Yeah. I just got an alert that our kids are running around the backyard unattended. All right. Well, we're almost done here. Okay. Nicole, can you give us your winner pick? Do you have it narrowed down to a couple of people? I have it narrowed down to two people. Two people. Okay. Do you want me to tell you my person that I've said as my winner pick? I thought I was your person. That my winner pick for season 48 of Survivor. Yes. Please tell me.

[01:18:34] All right. And you tell me if they're one of your two people. Okay. Okay. But I have said that the person that I have made my winner pick for Survivor 48 is Justin slash Luigi. Oh, that's a good one. He's not at my top. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. And that was, again, once again, I had said that prior to, I've been asked on the, I think I've been asked on the patron, ask Rob anythings if I have a winner pick. And so that's what I've said.

[01:19:03] And I am sticking with that. Yes. Good. You stick with it. Okay. So I have two. I think one of them, you know, I forget names. Okay. Do you want me to bring up the photos again? Is it Christy or Chrissy? Chrissy. Chrissy. Yes. I like her. Okay. She was not what I expected her to be like. Mm-hmm. And I feel like she might embody the whole package. Okay. Christy.

[01:19:33] And who is the other person? You said you did two. Mm-hmm. And the second one is the best average person, Kyle. Okay. You're going to maybe pick a Kyle for the second season in a row. All right. So Nicole, Kyle or Chrissy? Who is your ultimate winner pick? I'm going to go, I'm going to go with, is that coming out of your mouth? Yeah. Is it? Yes.

[01:20:02] Is that bad? I don't know that that was weird that that came out of you. The drum roll? That sound. Yeah. Can you do it again? Okay. Stop. Stop. Okay. Okay. Okay. So my winner pick is Kyle in the hopes of Lady Smut. Is he an author? Is he a writer? He said that in his profile, he wanted to write a book.

[01:20:31] I don't think he's doing that. Not yet. Mm-hmm. He said he wanted to. You think I didn't read this part? Mm-hmm. Wanted to. Okay. Okay. But before he writes his book, he's going to win Survivor. Mm-hmm. A lot of men are writing the Lady Smut. Not really. I don't think so. No. You really hung up on this. Because it's not real. You're lying.

[01:21:01] Sometimes you just have to accept other people's differences. Mm-hmm. Okay. Just because it's not for you. It's not. Who's difference? Lady Smut. Not for you. It's fine for me. I'm just saying, I know it's not for you. You don't know anything. If the listeners get anything from this podcast, it's that you don't know me. I'll tell you this, okay? The listeners know you. They've listened to you for 15 years on this podcast.

[01:21:30] You've never once in all of the podcasts mentioned anything about this or a tattoo sleeve. I believe I did. Or any of these other things that you talk about. But the listeners have also known me for 15 years and they come to accept that I just dropped random bombs. All right. Are you done here? Are you done? Can you do me a favor, Gary?

[01:22:00] Here's what I need you to do, okay? Can you- Me? Yes, Nicole. I mean, the only other person here. You're talking to the audience. Okay. Can you, Nicole, maybe hearing it in a different voice could maybe get a different result, okay? Number one, can you tell people to, like Shaheen did with his mom, get their friends and family to subscribe to Rob as a Podcast by giving out the link getrhap.com.

[01:22:29] So you want me to tell the listeners to tell all their friends and family? Yeah, because they're already subscribed. They're listening to this. Oh, okay. Getrhap.com. Can you say it in a way that will move the needle? All right. Listen, guys and girls, everybody, go and call your friends.

[01:22:51] Tell them that if you subscribe to Rob has a Podcast, that his wife will get a whole sleeve of tattoos if everyone subscribes. Yeah. If we get 10,000 subscribers this season, I'll be okay with Nicole's tattoo. And the middle, my middle tattoo will say sweet mama.

[01:23:20] Mm-hmm. I was going to say smut. Sweet mama smut. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Okay? Okay. Getrhap.com. Go talk to your friends. Call your parents. And if you're entertained by the first lady of podcasting and you'd like to hear her on a more regular basis, I was going to say every week, but let's be honest. Nicole doesn't have perfect attendance on the- I never had perfect attendance. I cut a lot of classes. She cuts the patron five for five some weeks. I'm like, hey, Nicole, could there any chance we could do a podcast? No, sometimes I get suspended. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

[01:23:50] Well, sometimes I'm protecting you. I said, Nicole, I got to be honest, you're in no mood. They're like, we could do the podcast. It's not going to be good. I mean, it might be good, but just not for you. Maybe not. But if you'd like to hear Nicole on a more regular basis, then I would love if you checked out RobIsAWebsite.com slash patron.

[01:24:12] You can become a patron at our $5 tier and try it free for a week and get access to all of the content that we make, including international reality TV shows. And you can listen to the patron five for five plus ask Rob anything. I'm sorry. We call it the survivor Q&A during the survivor season plus much more.

[01:24:34] And then at the $10 level, you can get access to our community on Facebook and Discord and check out everything else we have going on or RobIsAWebsite.com slash patron. Survivor is better when you're part of a tribe. Get it. And we would love for you to be a part of this incredible community of survivor fans around the world. The most amazing people that I've met through this whole thing.

[01:25:05] Incredible friends from all over. Wherever I go, I meet people from the RHAP community. Mostly airports. A lot of times, yeah, airports. So many people in New York and it's just an incredible... Like people like, okay, yeah, all right. It's a podcast, but I'm telling you. It's more than a podcast. It's a lifestyle. It's insane just how many people have really just found their people here in this community. And it's just so amazing.

[01:25:34] And it's just inspiring to meet all these different people. And the relationships are just incredible. Nicole, anything else from you? I guess nothing else. You guess nothing else? I mean, what else do I have? I don't know. Yeah. Anything you want to plug? I got nothing. I mean, I'm on Instagram. You can follow me on Instagram. That's not it. I'm Nicole's sister, Nino. All right. Hopefully we have this out soon. The Podcaster Draft is going to be back on Monday night at 7. So we'll have that.

[01:26:02] We will also have some Survivor podcasts for you as we kick off the premiere two-hour episode of Survivor 48. Nicole, anywhere where people should follow you? I mean, if you were paying attention, I just plugged my Instagram. Okay. Check it out. And then thank you so much for joining us. Take care, everybody. Good one. Bye. Bye.