This week, Rob and Ron Clark discuss Survivor 48 episode 5![00:00:01] Hey everybody, Rob here getting ready for my interview with Ron Clark. Just a little bit of a heads up that Ron Clark and I are talking a little bit about the White Lotus Season 3, about 35 minutes or so into this podcast. So if you are not entirely caught up, maybe you want to skip ahead for about eight minutes during that point in the interview when Ron and I are talking about Ron's theories for the White Lotus Season 3 finale.
[00:00:28] And if you want to watch the video, check it out at WatchRHAP.com. Enjoy! Hey everybody, what's going on? Rob Cesternino back and we've got a great podcast for you today. I'm so excited to get the chance to talk to some Survivor with just one of the best interviews out there. Ron Clark. Ron, how are you? I'm doing great. It's kind of you to say. It's not true, but I appreciate it.
[00:00:53] Yes. Okay, Ron, I'm just in awe of that. Ron is on his porch? Backyard? Yes. Out in nature. When we bought our house, we went porch shopping. The house is 120 years old and it's fallen apart, but it's a great porch and so we have the best porch.
[00:01:14] It's a great porch and so here's Ron and with the sounds of nature in the background, beautiful lighting, couldn't have done it any better. It's a great day. So well lit? Yeah, perfect. Anyway, Ron. I am covered in pollen though. Oh. You will slowly see. I'll start to turn yellow with the pollen. Yes. Okay. It happens. We have it so much over here.
[00:01:41] My wife had the leaf blower out yesterday. It was just like a huge cloud just in the taking over. It's the worst in like 100 years or something. Yeah. Okay. Well, it seems like it. But anyway, Ron, we're not going to let that stop us. Okay. The pollening can wait because we get to talk some survivor. But first, how are you doing, Ron?
[00:02:03] I'm doing awesome. It's spring break and so I don't have to teach classes today or tomorrow. I don't have papers to grade. I'm all caught up. So I'm just relaxing and enjoying myself today. Yeah. Ron, I've been noticing over the last couple of months, you've really been taking over on TikTok. Yeah, I've just been sitting on my swing and posting these videos and just relaxing whenever I had time just to share a story or two and it really took off.
[00:02:32] Well, I'm sure you get this all the time, but it's so natural for you. You're such a gifted storyteller and whether it's telling stories about your career or spring break crazy stories, that it's always a treat when the algorithm finds you for me. That's kind of you. I appreciate that. Well, Ron, what do you make of? Do you want to mention your event up top here also?
[00:03:01] Yeah. So we have a big event on April 16th at our school here in Atlanta. There's no tickets. We don't charge for it. And we just put the link up on Instagram. You're making us look bad, Ron. Oh, well, I'm going to have to charge next year because it's so expensive. When I only have like 100 people coming, I was like, it's our duty as survivor castaways to give back to the community.
[00:03:28] So I was like, oh, you know what? I'll find a way to cover this. But now there's 800 people coming. It's too expensive. So this is the last year I can do a free event because the tickets were gone in an hour. Yeah. So I feel like we can charge and then that will help offset the cost. The event we do, it's unbelievable. We build all of the obstacle courses, the challenges, the real puzzles. It's just we go all out with food and drinks and it's an amazing event.
[00:03:56] And then we watch the show together in a state of the art theater, all 800 people gasping, cheering. And we actually have 60 past castaways coming this year. There's some people coming who you haven't seen in the event in years and years. 60. Wow. Okay. All right. Well, it's always a great time. I hear so many good things about it. So April 16th for to watch Survivor with 60 former players. That's crazy.
[00:04:25] It's like three seasons of players. I ask you every year. I know you do. I ask you every year. Yeah. And you don't take no for an answer. And I feel horrible. But it's you know, it is hard for me to travel during the Survivor season and not even to do the live show. Because my wife understands when I have to go travel and do the live show because like, hey, got to make money. You know, when I tell her like, oh, yeah, I'm going to go to Atlanta. Like, why? What is it? Oh, you get to you get to go on vacation. And Ron says, bring the whole family.
[00:04:54] And then she's always like, well, they can't they can't miss school. Like they're going to a school. Right. Right. Yeah, I can put them in classes for a day. No problem. Perfect. Perfect. We'll get a note for the teachers. But Ron, here we are. Survivor 48. If you can put a happy 10 season anniversary from Survivor 38. Appreciate that. Thank you. Yeah. Feels like it was just like two years ago. It goes so fast, though. It goes so fast. And now here we are in Survivor 48.
[00:05:24] How are you feeling about this group? I'm actually really enjoying this season. The first episode, I was like, eh. But now I'm all bought in because I've got several people I'm pulling for. Mitch. Mitch is a beast. You know, he was in Iron Man. He's done all these things. But he's so unassuming. But Mitch doesn't miss. And so I'm really enjoying pulling for Mitch. But also, I love the four. You know, you've got Joe and Shaheen. And you've got the Camilitary. She's awesome. Camilitary.
[00:05:54] I haven't heard that before. I haven't heard that before. Yeah. So my husband Lloyd said, if I were on the island, I would join her Camilitary. So he wouldn't want to be in her army because she's a beast. You know, she's only 5'1". You know, she's short. And so she said she's unassuming. But I think she could go really far. And I'm pulling for those four. I love when I watch Survivor. And I'm really pulling for somebody. So I'm pulling for all of them to do well. Yeah. Okay.
[00:06:20] Ron, I'm sure that you must have had a big response to this week's episode with Joe and Eva. What did you think about how that all unfolded? And Jeff actually cried at the immunity challenge. Yeah, I was like, what is that about? That was unusual to see. But I absolutely loved it. I cried too. I'm an emotional guy. So I cried. I thought it was beautiful. The only one moment is I wish that Jeff hadn't prompted Joe and said, you can go over. We don't really know.
[00:06:50] Maybe Joe had asked, can I go? And Jeff had said, no, we can't do that. And then Jeff said, okay, go ahead. We're not really sure. But I wish we had seen Joe just like, can I go? And then him go over there. But it's a beautiful moment, but it's not good gameplay for Joe because he put a big target on his back. All of Survivor, I think most people love this man now. What an incredible human. Everyone's pulling for him.
[00:07:17] And I can see someone like Say saying, oh, he's got to go. I can see her being the one to say, we got to target them fast. And so I'm worried about that. But if Joe ends up winning, it will be epic. It will be great for the show. Great for Survivor. I don't think he could actually make it there because the target now. Yeah. You never want to your bond with someone else to be so obvious. Ron, I'm always like trying to think, okay, galaxy brain on this stuff.
[00:07:46] And I feel like that in the new era, the players are so smart and so sharp that I feel like that the fact that Joe and Eva made a decision that was not based in strategy. Do you feel like that in some way that could lower their threat level where people aren't looking at them as, okay, they're not sharks, these two. Yeah, they have a bond. They're a duo. But I'm not necessarily worried about them pulling a fast one on me because they're very cards up people.
[00:08:16] Someone on that island is going to say one of them has to go. As soon as the merge happens, even if they did not, if they're like, you know what, we just genuinely care about each other and this is a special moment aside from gameplay. Someone, when you start trying to find who is an easy target, it's just an easy target. Right. And Say has got what, like 41 confessionals or something. Like she has spoken more than anyone. And I kept wondering why, because I mean, like she's okay, but I'm like, where is this coming from? She's not winning any popularity polls.
[00:08:46] And I'm like, why is she being pushed so much on us? And I'm thinking, oh, she's going to have some arc where she's going to be involved with something pretty big. That's why I said, I think she might be the one to orchestrate, but one of them out, something might happen. But someone on that island is going to, once you smell blood in the water, someone's going to target them. No one's going to let them skate through. No one. Ron, I didn't know you kept such a close count on the confessionals. You're hardcore.
[00:09:17] I may be wrong. I think it's 41. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know the exact number. I thought it was so weird. Yeah. But good on you. She skipped so much, I was serious. How many confessionals did you have on the edge of extinction? I have no idea. Not enough. Guess. I have no idea. I'm going to have the guys look it up. Okay. Give us a number. You were on the prices, right? Not 41. Okay. If I had to guess, 28. 28. That seems low.
[00:09:48] I don't know. Because remember, we had the edge of extinction. So half of the show was the people on the edge of extinction. So we only really got half of an episode. And then comma, we won travel. We won the challenges every time. We never went to. So we weren't really on that much. The guys are saying actual retail price, 27. Oh, Ron, you went over. You were right there.
[00:10:17] I overestimated myself. Yeah. I mean, you were very close. Pretty good. Just basic math. Yeah. Ron, you played right at the end of the old era. Do you have any thoughts on the new era in terms of how you feel it's going? I think there's been some high moments and some low moments. But overall, I love Survivor. I think they're doing a really good job this season.
[00:10:47] So I'm okay. Yeah. I'm fine with it. Yeah. Okay. You know, I really trust Jeff and I trust them to do what they feel is best. You know, sometimes I make decisions at my school and people are like, why would he make that decision? And I'm like, well, there's a lot of things behind the scenes you may not know. So I feel the same for Survivor. Like, I don't know if you've seen, but a lot of people are upset that they got cut from season 50. Did you see that?
[00:11:16] I saw some of that. Yeah. And so, like, they're really upset. And so, but I had to rationalize it in my head. And Survivor's making decisions for Survivor. Survivor's bigger than any of us as players. And we just have to trust that they're making the decisions and going in the direction they want to go in. I actually didn't make it on season 37. Like, I applied, went through the whole process, and I thought I was going to be on.
[00:11:46] And then I was told last minute I wasn't. And I was like, wait a minute, what? I've got my clothes. I've done the physical. The heart test had to run on that treadmill forever. It's like, what in the world? And so then I didn't make it. And then they said, okay, but we want you for season 38. And I was like, okay. Went through the whole process again. Got all hyped up. Thought I was going to be on. And then they said, okay, okay, we'll be in touch soon and excited for you. It was like a month later.
[00:12:14] I'm like, it's about time for me to get on this plane. Let me see what's going on with my flights. So I'm texting. And then all of a sudden, they text back and said, oh, can you jump on a call? And I was like, oh, yeah, you didn't make it. And I was like, wait. Yeah, you didn't make it. I was like, was no one going to call me? Yeah, we were going to call you. And I was devastated. And I told my husband. And Boyd said, forget that. That's so rude. It was two weeks before the, you're supposed to fly out for season 38. I got a text at 2 a.m.
[00:12:43] And it was from Lynn Spillman. And she said, call me. And I was like, oh, my God. Because I know exactly what that means. Call me at 2 a.m. And so I went in another room. And I called her. She said, OK, I don't know why. But Jeff wants you. He wants you on the show. And he wants you. He said, he's got to have you. You leave in two weeks. What do you mean she doesn't know why? She said, I don't know why. I don't know why. She said, you weren't on his top list. And all of a sudden, you are. And he wants you. And you've got to leave in two weeks. But then later, I found out that Dan, who was on season 39, had broken his hand.
[00:13:13] He was supposed to go on season 38. So he broke his hand. And so they're like, we've got to replace him with some old white man. And so I think I fit the old white man category. So I told my husband, I was like, so they want me to go and to be on. He's like, tell them, no, this is rude. And I was like, no, I have to do it. So I learned through that process. Survivor, we're not the stars. We're not the big player. Survivor's the player.
[00:13:39] We're just playing a little bit part in this huge global phenomenon. And you can't let your head get too inflated that you're more important than the game based off what's best for the universe of Survivor, not for the individual. Yeah. I mean, it's a tale as old as time with Survivor. Go back to season eight. And I was one of the people that I was lucky enough to go on season eight. That was the first time that they brought people back.
[00:14:06] But and that was 2003 that we did that. And in 22 years, there's been a lot of people left at the altar or left at the bachelor party or the bachelorette party. Yeah. And Rob, for season 50 of every human on Earth, other than Jeff Probst, you have done more for Survivor than anyone. Look at all these podcasts people are doing. It's you were the OG. You started the phenomenon that has now spread.
[00:14:35] You have done more to grow the fan base, to promote the show. So if I am appalled and maybe they have called you and said, you've got to be on it, but you should have been the first call. If we're going to have an epic season 50, who deserves to be on this season? It would have been you. Ron. So I don't know if they called you or not. Let me just receive that because that is incredibly kind of you to say. I really appreciate that. I think that many other people have done quite a bit for Survivor.
[00:15:05] But Survivor has also given me so much also in terms of like, I was a guy working in an insurance office before Survivor called me the first time. And I've been able to build my whole life around this. So I'm very happy to give everything I have to Survivor. And look, who knows what the future may hold, Ron? But I've been blessed and content with everything. And thank you so much for saying that.
[00:15:32] And I appreciated you even shouting me out in one of your TikTok videos, Ron. Yeah, of course. Of course. You put together a killer list. I wish I could be on Survivor casting. I think I would do a good job. Yeah. At least for who I want to see play. Yeah. I mean, do you have to make those type of tough decisions in terms of like bringing in the educators that work at the Ron Clark Academy? Is that similar? Yeah.
[00:15:59] I mean, we run not only a school where we educate kids, but every week, hundreds of educators from around the world go to our school to watch us teach. We also have an app company, merchandise company. There's a lot going on in this one building. Our goal was to make the most innovative, creative school in the world and then to share it with other people. So there's lots of tough decisions all the time. Yeah. Ron, when you... I did want to bring up one thing. Go for it. Go ahead.
[00:16:25] I was going to ask you about when you played, how much did you tell people about Ron Clark Academy? Did you give everybody the full story or did you hide any parts of your outside the game life? I said nothing. All I said was I was a school teacher and I did not mention anything about the business, the movie, the books. I was like, I'm not going to put that target on my back. And I was just hoping that no one would know anything.
[00:16:51] And then I realized that Rick Devins was a broadcaster in Georgia. I was like, crap. He's probably seen it on TV, something here in Georgia. And I was terrified. That's why I was like, I've got to vote him out as quick as possible just in case he's seen something. But I told no one until I got to the edge of extinction when I realized I'm not winning this game. It doesn't really matter anymore. And I told Reem and that's when we first started to bond and we're still extremely close to this day. No, I didn't tell anyone. Oh, let me tell you something that happened.
[00:17:21] So we're at a challenge. It's the one where you have the balance and I'm horrible at that. So I'm really having to focus. So we're all standing there balancing and Jeff, you know how he's talking, trying to kill the time. And he said, so Ron, you're Oprah, one of her favorite people in the world. Tell me about it. And I'm like, and I'm like looking because no one could see my face. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no. And I just kind of jumped down. I was like, oh, I got out. And that's like, I didn't hear his question. We go back to camp and I'm like, everyone's going to ask about this.
[00:17:50] No one even asked. No one even paid any mind. Was everybody just so zoned in on the challenge, like trying to block out what Jeff is saying? Zoned in. No one even brought it up ever. Yeah. Yeah. So I was grateful for that. That's pretty amazing. But you know, I heard you a few days ago on the show, you were talking about Cedric and Chrissy. Yes. Wow. Yes. I love you. So you're talking about Cedric and Chrissy and how all of a sudden the vote goes for Bianca.
[00:18:19] Isn't that interesting? And it was like, how did this happen? Because it's rare in Survivor that you don't have some kind of idea of which way it could go. And then it goes a complete different way. And you were saying, perhaps there was a conversation between Cedric and Chrissy on the island. They didn't show it. They're trying to do a little something different. And y'all mentioned, maybe we should, I think it was Sam or someone said, maybe we should, they should do it once in a while, but not all the time just to keep us guessing. So I was curious about it. So I found out.
[00:18:47] So I did some research and I can confirm there was no conversation at all prior to that tribal. It was just eye contact. Yeah. It was slight eye contact and that's how they made the decision. Wow. So Cedric, he wants so bad to be a passenger, but he's in the driver's seat. Pilots and passengers. Yeah. You remember. You're such a passenger, Rick. Famous line.
[00:19:17] Yep. But, oh, and that was the downfall right there. But yeah. So it was just a slight glance at Chrissy and Cedric. Then they glanced at Bianca and then they did it. Yeah. So I thought it was wild. Cedric is playing a chaotic game. I call him the chaos king because it's just like, what is he doing? But I'm enjoying it. I'm here for the chaos. Yeah. We love it. So did you think that Cedric made the right decision? Bianca comes to him and says, hey, I have no vote.
[00:19:44] And then he somehow takes that information and flips it around on her. Did you like that for his game? I don't know, man. Because like Cedric, if you tell him something, he's going to vote you out. If you don't tell him, he's going to vote you out. So at this point, no one's safe. He's just like firing everywhere. He feels like firing. So I don't know. Time will tell. Yeah. It's so interesting because he was so loyal to Justin and then Cedric got him flipped around.
[00:20:13] And now he seems to have like this loyalty for Cedric. I'm wondering that you think that is there some kind of like sunk cost in his mind about, hey, I've come this far with say, I can't cut ties with her now. We've been we've been through so much. You know, I can't speak for Cedric, but I think perhaps I would be thinking, OK, she is a good shield. She's going to cause drama.
[00:20:39] And if she's not targeting the drama at me, then I think I want to ride this ship, perhaps. Yeah. We'll see. I'm not sure. Yeah. I'll next time I talk to him, I'll find out. What? Have you spoken with Cedric before? I have. Yes. OK. Yeah. I mean, he seems like a the nicest guy ever, but he's been like a little cutthroat here. Yeah. Have you seen his watch parties?
[00:21:08] I saw one of them earlier on in the season. I saw on social media about his watch party. Yeah. He's having some big time watch parties. He has a huge group of fans, fans, family that show out for his events. So it's just interesting to watch. Yeah. OK. Does that tell you anything about him as a player that he has the big watch parties? Can you read anything? I was going to say that, but didn't want to say it. I was going to say it, but didn't want to say it. OK.
[00:21:37] Like whenever you see someone who puts so much effort into watch parties, oh, they're going to go far. There's something to be seen here. They're celebrating. You know, you're not good. You're celebrating. It's a you want people to be joyous with you. You're not going to pull everyone in a room. And then it's won't won't. Well, you know, there are people that I do feel like from these last couple of seasons, like they know they've only got like one episode and they do have like a pretty big watch party for it or two episodes. They do invite everybody out.
[00:22:08] Really? It could go either way. Yeah. So, you know, I think it's maybe like a once in a lifetime experience. I think people do want to celebrate it. But yeah, I'm happy that Cedric has so much going on. It's funny because when my season I was in my living room, like by myself with Lloyd, like with a quilt over my head watching. Like I didn't want to be around anybody. I couldn't do that. Now you have the biggest watch parties. Yes, because it's no stress, no stress at all.
[00:22:36] And I love my parties because during the commercial, I asked the survivors what was going on right in that moment. What were you thinking? Tell me the backstory. And there's 800 people and we all watch like there's no talking during the show. People are cheering at all the right moments. And it's just a real beautiful experience. I love the survivor community. Ron, are there any players in Survivor 48 that you feel like that you especially relate to?
[00:23:06] In Survivor 48? Yeah. That I relate to? Sure. Um, I don't know. I think in some ways, you know, Kyle, he's been a teacher before. He's taught, I think with GED programs. And so he's a teacher. So he has that kind of compassion part, but he's also a gamer and a player. So I think because as a teacher, I love my kids.
[00:23:34] It's all about compassion and uplifting people. But then also I've got this side to me where I'm extremely competitive. And I think he's got kind of that balance. So maybe he's the most similar, maybe. Yeah. I feel like that he's set up in such an interesting spot here with him and Camilla and now with Joe and Shaheen, that alliance that came together this week.
[00:23:57] I really feel like that they're going to be like sort of like the center of gravity coming into now going into the merge where they're going to be just pulling other people into sort of like this big central alliance where pulling in Eva and pulling in David also. Maybe pulling Chrissy back in who was working with them. Is that how you see things going after the merge? Yeah, I do. And I got fingers crossed it happens because, you know, they are fan favorites.
[00:24:26] The foursome people love seeing that moment. And if you then pull in Eva and you pull in a couple of others and if they make a long run, like, for example, if they plus their few that they pull in are the final seven, like if they could pull in Mitch and Eva and that's the final seven, it would be an epic season. Like we haven't had in years where it would just be so exciting and we can only hope and wish for something like that. Yeah, it would be exciting.
[00:24:53] That's a really big group that they've like built up a lot of those personalities, a lot of confessionals for all those people in the group. So it feels like they're important. Then you look at. Yeah. Then you look at Charity and Star, who I find interesting, but they're not getting any airtime at all. And so I feel like since they're not investing in them at all, it would seem to believe that they're going to be out pretty soon. And then the ones that they're really invested in, we're going to be on a journey with them. I think it could be exciting.
[00:25:23] Ron, what do you think about Charity? I love to. Charity? Yeah. You know, I don't have a whole lot to say. Yeah. It's like, you know. They don't love her. She's applied to it. Huh? They don't love her. I don't love her? No, I'm sure you were indifferent about Charity, but the other players don't seem to love her. Yeah. I don't know. I like how she said that she's applied to tenants.
[00:25:51] So she plays Survivor in a tin can every day. I like that she said that, but she's, I feel like, I don't want to, how do I say this in a positive way? I think she's making some social miscues. And how she's reading, she's not reading the island well. Yeah. I'll put it that way. I do feel like that Charity is one of these people who, it seems like that she's expendable here at the merge.
[00:26:18] I feel like that there's always like one tribe that's willing to throw somebody away. And I'd be surprised if it's not going to be her this week. Right. Yeah. Because they haven't really invested us in her. And we're not invested in Star either. I did like Star's move to actually give the idol to Eva. Because at that point, everyone knows you have it. It's nothing but a target on your back. So give it to Eva. Put the target on her. Perhaps make a stronger alliance with Eva.
[00:26:48] Then you get your vote back. So maybe that was a smart move for her. I think Star's intriguing. I would love to hear more and see more from her. But they're just not giving us a lot. I think because there's so many other powerful storylines going on at the same time. Yeah. I do think that Star ended up getting into a good situation. And I know it's kind of counterintuitive because she gave the idol away.
[00:27:10] But I think that by giving it to Eva, I think that then Eva's going to tell Joe that big alliance we're talking about in the middle is going to pull her back in. They lost Thomas. They lost Bianca. Like I think that the old purple tribe, I think they're going to feel like, hey, Star's one of our numbers. We can't get rid of Star. Star. Yeah. I hope they pull her in. I'd love to see it. Yeah. We need her. She gave the idol to Eva. She's with us. Yeah. Yeah. It's a good move.
[00:27:37] I think it will end up being a good move for her so far. Ron, I'd love to hear a little bit more about your backstory with Survivor and why it was so important to you to one day come and play this game. When you accomplished so much in all these other areas in your life, why Survivor was important. I love it. I remember watching the very first season of Survivor on a small TV, like the little 19-inch black and white TV.
[00:28:05] That's all I had when I lived in New York City when I was teaching there. And I looked forward to it. I saw the very first episode every day. Looked forward to it. Could be a way to see it again. It was more like a documentary back then and not like we think of a reality show now. But I was fascinated by it. Wanted to be on the island. Wanted to play. Wanted to eat the rat. Wanted to do all of it. And then I was teaching and busy. And I was like, oh, I'll never get picked. And so I never did it.
[00:28:31] And then as I progressed, I was afraid that if I got on the show, people would ask me, oh, who are you dating? Are you in a relationship? And at the time, I was very in the closet. This was 25 years ago, which at the time, you don't say anything to anybody. Everyone was in the closet. Most people were in the closet. And so I was like, I'm afraid that might come out on the show. In the interview process, they're going to pry.
[00:28:59] I can't be outed on national TV. And so that scared me, quite honestly, from applying for years. And then once I got married and all of my students and staff and family and everyone knew my husband. And it was just comfortable. I said, OK, now I feel like I could do it. And then we had one summer where I had a window where we didn't have any conferences and I could go on the show. And I said, let me just apply. The year before, I had gotten a phone call and they had asked me if I was interested in being on the Amazing Race.
[00:29:28] And it was actually Jesse. And so I was like, oh, my gosh. Yeah, I'm happy to love to do it. But it was the season. I don't know if you remember, but when they had you went by yourself and they would pair you with somebody. The blind date season, basically. Yeah. Yes. I was like, I don't know if I want to do that. I'm not sure if that's meh. And so then we had conferences that summer. And so I called back and said, Jesse, I've changed my mind. He was like, what? He said, oh, you can't change your mind.
[00:29:58] I was like, I've changed my mind. So I felt really bad. It's the next year I went on and did the application online for Survivor. And I'm in an airport. He calls me and says, so you don't want to be on the Amazing Race, but you'll go live on the island for 39 days. I'm sorry if school buss to pass. Yeah, it's okay. And I was like, yes, Survivor's my dream. I'd really love to do it. And he said, okay. Went through the whole process. You do the seven days. Funny story. You go to LA and you're there for seven days.
[00:30:26] And every day, you see the numbers start dwindling down. And so I was actually in the casting week with Natalie. And so Natalie can have your coat. Can have your coat that Natalie. Okay. And so she was in my group. And she did not follow any of the rules. She just did whatever she wanted to. You're not supposed to stand beside another cast member. You're not supposed to do any of this stuff. She didn't care. She broke my man in line in front of me one time.
[00:30:55] And then you go to take the IQ test. And we're sitting there taking the IQ test. And it's all very serious. And let's like, and begin in five. Five, four. Natalie stands up and walks over to get coffee. And the lady's like, I'm sorry. What are you doing? And she's like, I'm getting some coffee. And she's like, the IQ test is timed. She said, okay, well, give me just a minute. She takes forever to make her a cup of coffee. She goes and sits down. The lady's like, okay, now we can begin in five. Natalie stands up and goes over to the snack cart.
[00:31:24] And the lady's like, well, excuse me. She said, oh, I want some Skittles. I'm going to need some Skittles. I'm going to take this test. And she goes and gets the Skittles. So when Jeff Probst is first interviewing me, he said, so Ron, tell me about the people that you've interacted with and seen this week are also applying. I said, oh, you want to hear about Skittles? And he said, Skittles. And then I started telling this story all about Natalie. And he said, this is hilarious. Because what I was trying to do is I was trying to show them how I would be able to read someone on the island.
[00:31:53] And I did that to Natalie. So anyway, eventually she's got on the show. And then she was on the White Lotus. Did you see? Of course. Of course I saw. But first off, you probably helped get her on David vs. Goliath when you were talking about how she's such a personality and such a character. Probably sealed the deal for her. And yes, of course, I saw her on the White Lotus. Yeah. Love the show. It's so great. Mike White is a genius. Yes. Okay.
[00:32:20] We'll see if he sticks to landing on Sunday night. But that's for another podcast. Yeah. Definitely. If you ever want to have me back on that one, I'd be happy to talk to you. Okay. Yeah, that'd be fun. I have all my own theories. Okay. All right. Yeah. I know people will get mad. Do you want to give us a theory, Ron? Skip ahead 90 seconds if you don't want to hear Ron Clark's White Lotus theory.
[00:32:49] Well, I think everybody already knows my theories. But the father of Rick is, that is his father. Yeah. What's the name of the man that he pushed over in the chair? Nobody knows. Sritala's husband. Yeah, him. Yeah. That's Rick's dad. Yeah. Obviously, that's Rick's dad. And then, you know, the whole thing is building up from the first episode. The poison fruit's going to go in the blender. I think the dad's going to try and kill the whole family all at once.
[00:33:18] Let's just be done with this. So, I don't know. And the daughter. Yeah. All right. You finish, and then I have a response. Do your response first. Okay. I wonder, you know, Mike White, great survivor player. Personally, mea culpa. I underrated him in the real time in his season. And I just wonder, is Mike White setting us up for a big blindside coming into Sunday night?
[00:33:47] Like, are we being fed the fake plan where we're the person that's about to go sit at tribal council? We all think we know what's going to happen. We're putting the pieces together. We're watching the trailer. Like, do you think that Mike White is setting us up and that something might happen on Sunday night that we completely don't see coming? I don't think so because it's all so beautiful. The way he's done the whole thing. How many times has Chelsea said bad things come in threes? Yes.
[00:34:16] And then you have the three siblings with the seen or evil, you're not able to speak no evil. You've got the three girlfriends, which is horrible. She almost died twice. I mean, it's like, I think he's going to give us, he's going to bring it all together. I think Chelsea dies. It's the third time. I think, you know, yeah, I don't think there's going to be any real shockers or, oh, no one saw this coming. I think it's going to play out as we can, because we've all overanalyzed this so much.
[00:34:45] I think we can see the story he's building. Because last season, spoiler alert for season two, when Tanya died in the way she did, that was a pretty big blindside. I don't think that we saw that coming. And I just wonder if he's ready to. He's strung us along, strung us along, strung us. Again, you know me, galaxy brain. Did he string us along to this point that we all think, okay, we know where this is going and he's ready? Something totally unexpected, maybe. Could be, could be. Can I ask you a question? Of course.
[00:35:14] So Piper's sitting on the bed in the Buddhist temple with her brother. Lachlan, yeah. And he says, Lachlan. And Lachlan goes, yeah, I think I'm going to stay here with you. I'll do this year with you. And she instantly is like, hmm. And you can see on her face that she's not feeling that at all. In that moment, was she thinking, well, I was kind of thinking I wasn't going to do it. I've kind of changed my mind. Or was she thinking, well, this was going to kind of be my own thing.
[00:35:44] And this is, don't steal my thing that I'm doing. What do you think she was thinking when her face dropped? I think it's the second thing. I think it's sort of like, hey, this is me. I'm rebelling against this family and this life. And I'm doing this. This is my thing. Like, don't try to then hop on my thing. Like, this is what I'm doing to, you know, maybe part of it is to get a rise out of mom and dad. And you're not a Buddhist, you know, to get everybody, you know. Piper. Piper.
[00:36:12] Like, don't do it. But I think it was more the second thing. Do you think that the mom, Miss Radcliffe, who is so, so wonderful, do you wonderfully portrayed? Do you think that she actually knows more than she's letting on? Because do you remember when, I can't remember her name, but one of the three girlfriends goes up to the table. She said, oh, remember? We were at the weekend in Texas and we were there. And she's like, no, I don't know you. I don't remember you at all.
[00:36:43] There's something. Why would Mike White have had that happen unless it's going to pull back around for something? So I'm thinking, does she know something? And she's already got the money in an offshore account or something. Does she? I don't know. I think that to me, you're right. That was an awkward interaction between the two of them. I just think that maybe she's on so many of these pills that she is, like, spaced out from some of these things. But I don't know. That's a good point.
[00:37:11] I forgot about that from, like, the second episode. Because I think that one of that girlfriend I'm mentioning, she's going to call back home. She's always talking to me back home. And they're going to say to her, oh, you know that lady that we were at the party with, where her husband just was all over the news. And then she's going to go and tell her. And that's how it's going to unravel. And I do think when the police show up, because I think Citra, how do you say her name? Sritala. Sritala. Sritala.
[00:37:41] I think they're going to call the police because they know where Rick is staying and that he's assaulted her husband. I think the police show up. I think when the police show up, I think that's when everything's going to fall apart because Rick's going to think they're there for them. And then the Radcliffe father, he's going to think, oh, they're there for me. And then the man who killed Tanya is going to think, oh, she's called the police on me. I think it's all going to come to a head. Yeah. Okay.
[00:38:10] Ron, some great White Lotus theories. I love it. And I would love to meet Mike White one day. You never met him. What a brilliant mind. No, I've never met. I've never talked to him. I have no interaction with him. He's not on social media. So I don't know how to send him a message. But that's a genius. Yeah. That is a genius right there. Yeah. Yeah, it's too bad. I mean, I feel like that you played consecutive seasons. You were almost on his season.
[00:38:40] They can't have two old white men together. But we almost made it. You almost made it. And yeah, that would have been interesting because you would have been on the same tribe. You're not a David, right? Depends on how you look at it. Yeah, I would have loved it. I would have laughed hilariously all the time. Yeah. You don't think he maybe took your spot, right? I don't know. Maybe? Maybe.
[00:39:11] Yeah, because he would have played on the same tribe. He could have it. Yeah. I'd much rather him have it than me. He's incredible. Let him have it. Yeah. Okay. That's why when somebody said, you want to be on season 50? I was like, no, I want to see the other people. They deserve it more. Let's watch them. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So. Ron, did you stay watching the whole way through even when everything in your career was taking off? Was there ever a point when you missed some seasons and then had to go back?
[00:39:42] No. I've watched it all. Yeah. I've watched the whole. I've never stopped. And my friends and I, through the season 21 through 26, it was kind of a rough go there. We played games where we would all get together and you pick someone in the first episode. You have to pick before the first challenge who your person is. And then you want to see who can make it the longest. And if your person gets voted out first, we had to go out to dinner somewhere and everyone else got to make you a t-shirt.
[00:40:11] And so this was, it was that time period. They made a t-shirt for me because my person got voted out first and it said, I'm president of the Clay Aiken fan club. So that was the shirt I had to wear. Yeah. But anyway, but yeah, my friends and I, we've watched it all these years. Yep. Never stopped. Now, was it ironic that do you not love Clay Aiken? No, I did not love Clay Aiken. You were a Ruben guy? I did not. Yeah. Ruben stuttered over Clay Aiken.
[00:40:40] But it wasn't that I had anything against Clay Aiken. Yeah. When he's saying bridge over troubled water, that was incredible. But people kept saying, you sound just like him. You looking at just like Clay Aiken. I was like, no, I don't. And so it was just, I got too much of that. Nothing personally against him. It's just the comparisons. Yeah. Should Clay Aiken do the traitors? Oh, God. I think it'd be awesome. Yeah.
[00:41:06] Now, do you feel like that Survivor, they brought people back for season 38 and then they did Winners at War. Do you feel like that they made a mistake by not bringing more people back in the 40s in the way that they did in The Edge of Extinction? I think it was a mistake. But, you know, they know what they're doing. They're trying to build a new fan base. Excuse me? You said. They know what they're doing. Yeah. Get some new blood, some new fresh faces.
[00:41:34] I would have loved if they brought people back. And back then, if they were like season 41, 42, I would have loved to have gone then. That would have been a dream. It's like maybe they'll have people come back. And maybe, oh, maybe they'll ask. But that ship sailed. They made the new era. They made the new era. Yeah. They created something new. Give them props. Survivor, if they had had new people, the same people come back, it could have fizzled. But here we are at season 50 and it's approaching.
[00:42:03] And this season is so strong. Survivor's on the way up. These watch parties are growing. Podcasts are growing. So listen, good on them. What they're doing is working. Yeah. You know, when they first brought back people to be just a couple of people and it worked out great for Boston Rob back when he won and then it worked out, you know, pretty good for coach and OK for Ozzy that these people that they brought back really were able to,
[00:42:30] you know, have their sort of like a run of things for a while. And, you know, a bunch of them also did well in Survivor Philippines. But when you and all the first time players were out there on the edge of extinction, it seemed like that the players had gotten too smart for like, OK, listen, we're not going to let these returning players tell us what to do. We outnumber them. As soon as you saw Boston Rob win, it's kind of like, how could that happen?
[00:43:00] How could they have let that happen? So the second we're on the island and we see all of these returnees, I'm talking to Eric and we're like, oh, they've had their chance. They've had multiple chances. They're target number one. We have to get them out. I would have loved to work with Aubrey, but I just couldn't because if they get down to the final, if they win, the whole show was about them and their journey. And we're just bit players. And I think it's natural.
[00:43:26] There's so many of you, you have a common enemy in the old returnee. Let's just vote them out. I think the only way to do it well is if you've got a full season of returnees or a whole tribe of returnees and a whole tribe of new players. Yeah. You know, they've done the fans versus favorites a couple of times. I think that one idea that would be interesting to do is that it's three tribes, but one tribe is just returning players. And maybe it's not even like the players that are the dominant players.
[00:43:56] Maybe it's sort of maybe a tribe of returning players who are sort of like early boots, but that people like would like to see play again. So it's not the biggest advantage in the world for these people. It's not like that they've come and they've won and now they're going to play against new players. Players that maybe didn't get that far. And you have a whole tribe of them. They still are outnumbered. There's still 12 people who aren't the returning players, but you don't, you seem like a skeptical, Ron. You don't like it? Yeah.
[00:44:25] I don't think that, I don't think that works. His name is escaping me, but he recently, he got his head hit. He got out the first episode. Help me out. Bruce. So Bruce comes back. Someone in their confessional and the first episode says, you know, it's not like he's really played before, but the fact that you've stepped your foot on this island before, you have an advantage that we don't. You've got to go. So I don't think, I think they're still going to say, I don't care if you got your first boot, second boot, third boot. You've had your chance.
[00:44:54] And there's 12 of us. Let's target them. I don't think it's fair to the returning. Ron, do you have a person that you think is potentially the winner of Survivor 48? That's hard because my mind is cladded with who I want to win. Who do I think is going to win? I think it's Shaheen. I think he wins. I would love to see Camilla with her. Camilitary, I would love to see.
[00:45:23] Joe would be unbelievable if Joe won. So those would be like epic moments. Kyle, I'd have a Kyle t-shirt on. Mitch, I would have a Mitch t-shirt and a Mitch hat. I mean, I would be so cheering for them. And I like Shaheen as well. I think just from the winner edit, it looks like it's going in his direction. But say, I don't understand what they're doing. I don't understand something. Say something get voted out next.
[00:45:53] And then something's going to, she's got a story. Something's going to happen. She will come to play in big ways after the merge. I think. Yeah. I think. Ron, I want to ask you about something that you're working on in real life. Can you talk about The Amazing Shake and not the show that you were almost on? Sure. So The Amazing Shake is a competition I thought up 17 years ago. Basically, I wanted to teach my students soft skills.
[00:46:19] So I have an obstacle course around our school and it's business leaders, the mayor, the vice president of Delta. And each kid has to go up each station. And for 60 seconds, you have to have an interaction. You introduce yourself, farm handshake. Like maybe the vice president of Delta says, what qualities do you have that will make you a great employee here at Delta? So one corner you turn, you have to eat with proper etiquette. One corner you turn, you have to give a toast at a wedding party. It's just life skills.
[00:46:47] And it's kind of like a sport. You train to be able to do well at soft skills, how to present yourself. And so we started at our school 17 years ago. Now it's all over the world. And if kids win their competition globally, they come here to Atlanta. And last weekend, we had 702 people from all over the world who are coming to compete. Last year's winner was Germany. Runner up was Canada. This year, actually, a student from our school in Atlanta won. So it's an amazing competition. That's a free program.
[00:47:17] We're a nonprofit school that we give to schools to use to train their kids on how to have their soft skills. Yeah, Ron, I love this so much. And I have two young boys, 9 and 11. And I really do feel like that, you know, the kids, they spend so much time in the screens that a lot of these things are lost. And they don't always do great with like engaging with people, especially strangers, that they can be a little shy and maybe not like as outgoing.
[00:47:44] And so I do try to like make sure that this is something that they work on. And I have some mixed results with that. What inspired you to do this in particular? Yeah, you're right. We're dealing with the tick-a-tock generation. These kids live in their phones and their kids are coming to my school and they don't know how to have a conversation with each other. They don't know how to communicate. And so we had some kids that we had taught and they were really, really smart.
[00:48:14] And these kids went to interviews to get scholarships and they didn't get the scholarship. And then I sent them to get internships. They didn't get the internship. And I'm like, what is going on? We've got the test scores. What's happening here? And then when I talked to the people that did the interviews, they said, well, your kids aren't presenting well. I said, what do you mean presenting well? And then I said, we've got to do a better job of teaching our kids not only the academics, but also how to share a thought, how to speak with confidence, how to be comfortable in your own skin.
[00:48:43] So some people will know the right answer in a meeting and won't say it because they're afraid. But I wanted these kids to have the confidence to share that idea. So the program kind of teaches kids who are very shy how to do that. Yeah. I've thought about this in terms of Survivor. And I don't really feel like that I've seen it really manifest on the show. But I think that as people get younger who are coming to Survivor and who are 21 and who
[00:49:09] have spent basically their whole lives more and more as Survivor moves on and that 21 magic age gets further and further out into time, there's going to be more people that they've had to screen their entire life. And I'm looking to see if we ever get to a point where people short circuit a little bit more of being away from devices. And if any of those... Now, they probably don't get on the show if they don't have the skills that you're working on with people.
[00:49:38] But I do think it's interesting to see where there are people who are older who have had both experiences of, OK, I had a life before screens and a life after screens. And I can kind of remember what it was like to not have the screens. But I do think it's going to be something to watch as the show gets older and the contestants keep staying the same age. You know, these 21 year olds come into it. How that that's going to be an issue. Exactly.
[00:50:06] People send me in my Instagram videos all the time. Can you watch my audition tape and critique it for me? And they I want to tell you, I think what Jeff and the team's looking for. They're looking for people who could do confessionals. Can you describe what's going on? Well, that's why when I was in my interview, I said, I need to show them I can give a read on all of the people here that I've experienced. It's kind of like if I were on the island, what would I be saying? How can I tell the story?
[00:50:35] And so they don't look in the little hole. Like right now, as I'm looking at Joe, I'm not looking at the screen. I'm looking in the hole up there. Like they don't even do that. They look down at the screen when they talk the whole time. It shows a lack of social awareness and they talk so long to say something really short. And so I think that's the biggest weakness is that social skill of explaining yourself. Ron, I also saw that you and your staff recently played the traders. What was that like?
[00:51:05] So I had this idea. I was like, why don't we reenact the entire traders event in one night instead of playing over a month's time? We played in one night. Yeah. And then we will. Can I share it on the screen? You posted on Instagram. And here's a little bit of you and your Alan coming. Right. Yeah. That's me. Yeah. Okay.
[00:51:34] Go ahead. Anyway. So it's the idea was that we would just do it with our staff and parents. And it was really epic. It's a 30 minute episode you can watch on Instagram. But the idea is that we're reaching out to Coca-Cola, Comcast, Truist, Delta, all these companies in Atlanta. And we're saying, would you like to sponsor for one member of your company to come to a night of traders? And it's kind of like all the companies of Atlanta are competing against each other that night.
[00:52:03] We make a 30 minute episode. It's kind of like the best of Atlanta. It's a good idea. We can win the traders event. But all the money goes to scholarships for kids. And so that's kind of what we're doing. But we did it with our staff and students, staff and parents first, just to make sure I could pull it off and it would be good and not hokey. Okay. And so the real event is, yeah, the big one is still to come. Yeah. Well, this, we did it with our staff and parents. You can watch the episode. Yeah. It's pretty epic.
[00:52:31] But now we're reaching out to companies to see, would you like to pay a sponsorship for one member of your company to come? So that's the whole goal of why we're doing it. How did it go? Was there any hard feelings with your staff after the game was over? People cried. Yeah. So, yeah, because, yeah, some people got emotional about it, but they loved it too. And because as soon as you voted out or you go down the stairs, get in a limo, you're
[00:53:01] pulled off. And but every single one of them, they're like, can we do this again? I will come back right now. I want to play again. They loved it. It's kind of like with Survivor. I cried. Like I laid in the in the in the in the sand beside Julia and cried my eyes out when I got voted out. But I loved it. I had to go play it again. It's kind of all part of it. Yeah. And did you do wardrobe changes like Alan Cumming? Oh, my God. Of course.
[00:53:27] I had capes and drapes and scarves and all kinds of suits and hats and glasses. You should watch the episode. Yeah. I'm intrigued. Yeah. I want to check it out. It looks very fun. Ron, do you have any favorite players from these last couple of seasons? People that really spoke to you from the new era? Yeah. Yeah. I really like Jesse. Did you see where his son won Mr. Beast? Of course. Yes. How about that?
[00:53:57] Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. So, yeah. So I like Jesse. Shan. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Big fan of hers. Caleb. I love Caleb. Like, Caleb should be back for season 50. I thought, just an epic, great, wonderful guy. And I would love to see him play on a season where there's lots of threats so he's not targeted so quickly and so easily. Yeah. But, yeah. Love them. Yeah. Those are my favorites. Yeah.
[00:54:25] Do you see anything that's happening in this season that reminds you of what was going on in the Edge of Extinction? Nothing. Edge of Extinction was miserable. Like, I'm so grateful I played, but my gosh. Yeah. It was hard because being sent to that island that you get a chance to come back. I went in with a mindset of, oh, once I voted you out, once Rick Devins was gone, I was like, solid. He's gone. Don't have to worry about that.
[00:54:53] But then as soon as the element comes back, oh, no, these people could come back. It messed up everything, messed up the gameplay. And it happens, like, in the middle of the game. So it messed with your mind. It messed up with what I was trying to do. But, yeah, I don't see any similarities, really, between seasons other than the basics. Now, I know that things would certainly be different in terms of the winner, but what about if there was no Edge of Extinction in season 38?
[00:55:22] How do you think that the whole season plays out? In my dreams, I win. I don't know when you came back from Survivor if you did this, but I would lie in bed and go through the whole scenario of how it could have been different, what could have happened if I voted this person out. Now, I have relived it probably 1,000 or 2,000 times in my head where I actually play out moment by moment what would happen on the island. It's kind of neurotic.
[00:55:51] But I don't know. See, when I was on the island, Rob, I thought I was Boston Rob. I'm like, oh, I'm killing it. Oh, my God. I'm the mastermind. And you were. No, but then you go watch it on TV, and I'm like, oh, my God, what was I thinking? So you think you're killing it, and then you realize, oh, I wasn't killing it as much as I thought it was. But I don't know.
[00:56:15] I feel like I have built relationships enough that I could have won if I got to the end and sat with the right people. I just – it didn't happen. Yeah. So when I was on season 38, I was consumed with getting out Rick Devins. And the reason for this was that whenever we went to tribal council, anytime Rick Devins would say anything, the jury would laugh. They were smiling. And I was like, oh, my gosh. He's just like a favorite here. They love him. I can't let him get to the end.
[00:56:45] He would beat me. And so I became obsessed with getting him out. Ron, well, what you did – that was a very new era move that you pulled where you gave Rick Devins the half of the clue of the advantage menu. Like I could totally see something like that. That maybe you inspired the show to make these players do more daring moves with the advantages. I don't know.
[00:57:12] But my thought process was this. Rick is like an energizer bunny. Like we're all so tired. He's like – he's like climbing trees. He's looking for idols constantly. I'm like maybe I'll give him this and he'll calm down and stop looking. Maybe he'll feel like I don't need to look anymore because I'm like he's eventually going to find something. And so I gave that to him. It ended up right before we left for tribal, right before, a few minutes before he finds the idol that he played that night.
[00:57:42] If he hadn't played it that night, he would have gone home and I wouldn't. And so it's just moments. Yeah. Ron, who do you still keep in touch with from your season? You mentioned Reem, who I love also. Yeah, I love Reem. One of my all-time faves. Have you ever played any of those online survivor games? You know, I never have. Okay. Listen. So I get asked to do it. It's COVID.
[00:58:11] I'm like, you know what? Okay. They said 30 minutes a day. Rob, I became so obsessed with it. So I played with Missy. I played with Elaine, Bust a Can of Biscuits, Reem, Karishma. We were all playing on this with lots of other fans. It was the most fun. They do challenges online and events and tribal councils. And it was just, it was extremely well done. And so I loved it.
[00:58:37] So through that, I kept up with all those people quite a bit for months and months. We did play that game. But for my season, love Julia. Of course, love Reem. I just talked to Aurora the other day. Oh, wow. I was texting with Aubrey last week. Like, I don't know, just like Chris Underwood is great. Like he'll be at the party on the 16th. He came last time. He's a wonderful guy. He stayed at the apartment before with Lloyd and me. He brought his wife.
[00:59:06] So I'm close with quite a few of them. Kelly Wentworth. I comment on her TikToks all the time. I love following her. It's a short message back. Yeah. You know, Ron, that in recent years, the edge of extinction, the season, I feel like has aged like fine wine. People have really been touting the virtues of the edge of extinction. It's becoming, as time goes by. I hate this. Yeah, as time goes by, a more beloved season.
[00:59:36] Gosh, let more time go by. Maybe it'll get better. We've got to get out of like being one of the worst survivor seasons, which I didn't think it was one of the worst. No. I think just because you have somebody who got voted out at the beginning comes back to win. People didn't like that. And it was hard to have any character development because of the split with the island. But I'm glad to hear some people are enjoying it. The theme is not on trial. How much? Yeah. Right? That's what War Dog said. Right.
[01:00:05] And really, I think that maybe like when season 38 happened and it was the first like, oh, the edge of extinction. But like there's been so many like ways in which the game has changed since then. Like the idea of like the pure 39 day game. Like forget all that now. I think that people can get past that there was an edge of extinction. Okay. I mean, I think that's what I'm saying. Glad to hear that.
[01:00:31] I mean, any season with Aubrey and you got Rick Devens and then, I mean, Kelly Wentworth, I mean, David and just so many, so many big personalities and players. I think it was the entertaining season. Yeah. I think so too. And I had gone back and I watched, I watched all the seasons and I went back and watched it and I thought it held up. Yeah. I'm glad to hear that.
[01:00:55] I go by how many boring episodes were there and not many, very few. Not many. And I mean, and even watching Reem on that Island, I feel like Reem is somebody that should be asked back because bless her heart. She played on that Island. She was the first one to go and she stayed that whole time. And Robbie was rough. It's rough on that Island because if you're suffering on an Island, but there's camera crews around, it's like, you can pull through.
[01:01:23] Well, this is, I don't want to disappoint my family. But when you're on that little edge of extinction, there's one little person sitting there with a little camcorder and you're thinking none of this is ever going to be shown. And that goes on for weeks and weeks and weeks. So she pushed through. I mean, she's a road dog. I love her. That's such a good point. Cause I do feel like that, you know, people say they forget about the cameras, but I feel like that, you know, the camera brings out the best in it can bring out the worst in people sometimes too, but it does bring out the best in you. It's like, okay, well, like I don't want to let everybody down.
[01:01:52] Like, I don't want people to see me at my worst. Like I'm going to really, you know, I'm trying to be inspiring to whoever is looking at me, whether it's people who I know or people who are looking at me as a role model. So I'm going to put my best face forward in this, but such a good point about how, like, nobody's going to see this. They're not showing this today. Right. And I'll be honest with you. There were moments when I was like, I know people are going to quit. My fingers are waterlogged.
[01:02:22] It's raining. It's a cyclone. Like I'm freezing. And the cameras are there. So I would push through and be like, I'm okay. I'm okay. If there's no camera or one cameraman sitting there with a, on a tripod and not even paying attention. I'd be like, Oh my God, I probably would have been much more dramatic and complained about it. So it does play, play with how you react to situations. How many days were you at the edge, Ron? Okay. I got voted out day 31.
[01:02:51] I went to the edge for four nights. So four nights. Okay. So that was, I mean, you got to see it. You got a sense of it. You know, you didn't have to spend too much time there. Listen to me. Don't you downplay those four days. It felt like four months. It was horrific. I can't even tell you how bad it was. Yeah. It was so horrible. Yes. Like it's like, it's miserable. Are you glad to have had the experience or do you wish that you would have just day 31? That's it. Go to Ponderosa.
[01:03:24] Day 31, go to Ponderosa. Yeah. If that had been the game, if there had been no, I would have chosen no edge of extinction. I go to Ponderosa because when you get voted out, I don't know about you, Rob, but it's like, you've let your family down, your friends down, you're disappointed. You're, you're, you're thinking, Oh, I'm so stupid. Why would I make the decision? All those thoughts going through your mind. And the one thing that can make it better is a cheeseburger. And you're thinking, I'm going to have a beer and a cheeseburger. And I'm going to just at least put my face in this cheeseburger.
[01:03:53] And I'm going to eat my, eat away my sorrow. Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no. Oh, you just got voted out. Now you're going to sleep in the sand with no fire and no protection and no cover and no shelter and ants and crabs and rats crawling on you. And that was the worst. Yeah. All right. Well, Ron, luckily they haven't put, should there be edge of extinction into the hands of the fans yet?
[01:04:21] No, if that's a vote, listen, I'm going to start campaigning with fine. Yeah. Lead the way, Ron, no edge for season 50 because they did it for 40. I don't know. Maybe it's better to watch it. No, I didn't like watching on season 40 either. The only part I liked was when they did, I thought that was really nice of Jeff to let the loved ones go visit them on the edge. I really, I liked that part. Yeah. All right. Ron, is there anything else you want to let people know about?
[01:04:52] No, just I'm grateful. I'm a, um, if anybody is considering applying for survivor, I wish you the best of luck. Go for it. And I just feel like I'm, I feel indebted to the survivor community. It's why I did the party. It's why, cause I like, I feel like we, as people were on the show, we owe it to the other community because we were the few lucky ones who were blessed with the opportunity. And it's just, it's a rare experience. I loved it. So grateful. And, um, yeah, I'm just a huge fan and will be for life.
[01:05:22] Well, Ron, I'm a big admirer of yours. I don't know how you get everything done that you do. And so I am just, uh, in awe that you even have time to have the party, that you have time to talk to me about survivor. And so just, you know, keep up the good work and it's amazing to watch everything you've built. That's very kind of you to say, I feel the same about you. Thank you, Rob. Yeah. And you make time for things that you love. Yeah. Okay. Uh, anything else to, for people to look at Ron?
[01:05:54] No. Okay. Um, all right. Well, just watch out for what we'll, we'll do a recap of the party on April 16th. It's going to be a big one. Surprises is going to happen. It's going to be fun stuff. I mean, 60 survivors is incredible. Yeah. It's going to be, it's going to be a wild time. Okay. All right. Well, we love to hear from everybody here in the comments and let us know, uh, what you thought about this chat here with Ron. We'd love to get your feedback. I'll be back Wednesday night.
[01:06:24] Steven Fishback will be back to break down the mergatory episode of Survivor. So we'll see what happens there. And then all the podcasts to come this week. Thank you so much for joining us. Take care. Everybody have a good one. Bye.