Survivor 46 Preview Day 1: Bhanu & Jelinsky

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[00:00:27] Everybody, what's going on? Rob Sustradino back here for another Spatchelf Pre-Season

[00:00:37] Interviews here for Survivor 46. Can you believe it? And so we are about to begin a very

[00:00:46] fun exercise that we are about to do in 9 parts with a man who has gone and returned

[00:00:54] from Fiji. Here he is, give it up for Mike Bloom.

[00:01:00] Some have said I've never left Fiji, I still think back to those pictures days back in

[00:01:05] late May 2023, so much possibility ahead of us, including talking with all of these really

[00:01:11] interesting players a day or two before they end up starting the greatest game on earth.

[00:01:17] Okay, Mike Bloom went to Fiji, recorded interviews with these contestants. In person,

[00:01:24] you can catch the videos of each of these interviews on our YouTube channel, go to roppasweb website.com/youtube

[00:01:33] for that. They will be posted one by one, but here today we are going to hear the interviews

[00:01:41] from two of the contestants. That's going to be Banu and Dave, aka Jielinsky here, and

[00:01:49] then Mike and I will weigh in with some reactions to those, but we'll play the interviews for

[00:01:54] you in their entirety and then come back to talk about them. Mike, how exciting is this?

[00:02:01] I mean, I'm very excited. I was very excited when I got the chance to talk with this cast.

[00:02:05] Maybe it was just the beach breeds as a Fiji that were blowing into my fun jungle canopy

[00:02:11] covered office that I took up in Fiji over the course of a two day period, but I really

[00:02:16] enjoy getting to talk with these people. It's a very unique group as Jeff Probst told Dalton

[00:02:20] Ross at the end of season 45 to preview season 46, and I'm excited for people to get to

[00:02:25] meet them as well and get to see exactly what could play out over the course of 26 days.

[00:02:31] There's a lot of variables, I think, at play with this particular cast and even looking

[00:02:37] at this not so gruesome to some that we're talking about, like these two guys will talk

[00:02:41] about it at the end, could be best friends or worst enemies at the end of this.

[00:02:44] Okay, well, we're going to listen to these two interviews here today. This is going to

[00:02:49] be a nine part series. We're going to be dropping these daily for you, and so be on

[00:02:57] the lookout for these next nine parts where we drop them two by two here, kind of like

[00:03:04] the Mike Blooms arc as we get you ready here for survivor 46. Make sure you subscribe.

[00:03:10] Yes, make sure you subscribe so you don't miss them all. Go to rob as a website.com/subscribe.

[00:03:16] Okay, Mike, anything you want to set up before we start talking about our first person that

[00:03:21] we're going to meet here today, Banyu?

[00:03:23] Yeah, you talk about Mike Blooms arc. Let me throw a veritable flood of disclaimers at

[00:03:29] you right now. So yes, I did indeed go to Fiji. These interviews were done in person

[00:03:37] on the islands of survivor 46. I had a nice little jungle office set up by CBS and these

[00:03:43] contestants were brought to me one at a time, one to two days before the season started

[00:03:49] to get their general thoughts. A few things I want to put out there. I had the honor and

[00:03:55] service of not only getting to interview these contestants out on the island, but also getting

[00:04:00] to witness the first three days of the season. I saw essentially what is going to happen

[00:04:07] in the premiere and that can understand from a certain perspective, you might view what

[00:04:12] I'm about to say and be like, Oh, this guy spoiled. He's totally trying to put the thumb

[00:04:17] on the scale in between each person. I recorded my own sort of commentary just as like a running

[00:04:24] tracker of how I thought each person would do based on their bios, based on the conversations

[00:04:29] that I had with them, incorporated a bit as well with once I found out what the tribes

[00:04:33] were, a little bit of feedback there. I have pulled a lot of my speculation from that.

[00:04:39] So if you are worried that I'm going to give anything away as to what happens in the premiere,

[00:04:44] do not teary. My usually incorrect opinions solely exist within that period where I'm

[00:04:50] as much in the know as you all. Mike is a journalist of the highest regard and he's

[00:04:55] not. No, the car was on five seasons ago. Yes. He's not going to throw it all away so

[00:05:02] that he can win the survivor pool. No, I know a lot of people put their stocks in their

[00:05:06] drafts. I am not one of them personally. Something else that I should mention is that, as Austin

[00:05:13] should watch out in terms of the preseason prediction. Yes, absolutely. I think I might

[00:05:19] need to more so put my category, my horse and AI there and just let them determine it so

[00:05:24] that I am not seen as sort of an unfair bias perspective there. Another thing is that there

[00:05:31] were, as Austin's story indicated, two alternates that were on site there. So if throughout

[00:05:37] these interviews, you hear mention of 20 people and especially because for the second season

[00:05:44] in a row, I asked the castaways about vibes they are picking up from specific people in

[00:05:49] preseason ponderosa. They will sometimes make mentions of people who will not be on the

[00:05:56] season. So just know that ahead of time. You, Rob and others may ask like when these people

[00:06:02] are referring to certain visual descriptions. Oh, to whom is that referring? Sometimes that

[00:06:07] may be to someone who ultimately did not end up on the final cast.

[00:06:11] Okay. All right. So I guess when we come back, maybe you can let us know if you think they're

[00:06:18] talking about somebody who maybe who wasn't there. Yeah, you'll get that and I think both

[00:06:21] of our interviews. Do you interview the alternate? I did. I interviewed both alternates out there

[00:06:26] as well. I interviewed, but interesting way for a future preseason. Honestly, yes. So

[00:06:31] when I interviewed for 45, it was really interesting because I only did 19 interviews and there

[00:06:36] was an alternate and I thought like, huh, it's a little weird that they only had one alternate

[00:06:40] out there. And it was a woman like what happened to the male alternator where they just have

[00:06:43] started with on equal genders. And it turns out, let, no, I did talk to the male alternate.

[00:06:49] He was just part of the cast when I talked to him. Yeah. Okay. All right. So Mike, what

[00:06:55] else do we need to know before we talk about mono? Yeah. So a couple of other things will

[00:07:00] pull obviously from the video. We might pull on some bio adjacent stuff. I would say some

[00:07:06] personal information that was sent to me prior to the interview, also just due to birthdays

[00:07:12] that have passed between the interview and the time we're currently talking. There may

[00:07:16] be discrepancy with some contestants between the age that they give in the interviews and

[00:07:22] the age that they are during the cast release. And on the rare occasion, survivors done this

[00:07:26] really interesting marketing strategy where they have been dropping parts of these Castaways

[00:07:32] audition videos, which is an interesting tactic. I don't know if it's like, okay, we want to

[00:07:38] encourage more people to apply. I don't know if it's like, well, our group is super quirky.

[00:07:43] And let's look at all the quirky ways they applied for the show. I mean, Rob, if you were

[00:07:47] a contestant, let's just say, let's rewind back to 2003. Like if as part of the Gorilla

[00:07:54] marketing for survivor of the Amazon, they released your audition video, would you feel

[00:07:57] a certain way about it? Yeah, because I didn't really have a survivor audition video. All

[00:08:03] right. I took the show video that was about being on Big Brother. And then I just like

[00:08:08] whipped something together that was just like wacky. Yeah. So I mean, nowadays, I feel

[00:08:14] like even if that were the strategy, they would still say like, Hey, throw something

[00:08:18] together and maybe we'll get some wacky circumstances from these videos. But we'll try to reference

[00:08:22] that as well. They've been released kind of habitually on the survivor Instagram page.

[00:08:26] So we'll try to bring in a little bit of everything we know about this person so that this could

[00:08:30] hopefully be or like end all be all of everything you need to know about this person before they

[00:08:34] end up becoming a player. Okay. Mike, before we throw it to Banyu, what

[00:08:39] would you want to set up about Banyu specifically? So Banyu Gopal, he is 41 years old. He is from

[00:08:47] acting method. Yeah, looks great for 41, even though he will lie about his age almost immediately

[00:08:53] to me that we'll talk about maybe his hesitancy to lie in other regards soon. He's he's currently

[00:08:59] situated in acting Massachusetts, but spent a lot of his life most of his life. In fact,

[00:09:05] in India, something we'll talk about a lot in our interview. And he is an IT quality analyst.

[00:09:12] But this guy is far from white collar. I am. Oh, okay. All right. So we're going to allow

[00:09:18] you to hear Banyu's interview with Mike in its entirety. And then rather than breaking

[00:09:24] in and interrupting, we're going to let you listen to the whole thing. Then Mike and I

[00:09:29] are going to come back on the other side. And we'll give our thoughts about how we think

[00:09:34] Banyu is going to do here is Banyu manifestation, right? So I guess to start, let's have you

[00:09:44] just for audio purposes, give me your name, your age and your occupation. My name is Banyu.

[00:09:49] I'm 30 plus something. I'm not disclosing my age. And I'm a data analyst, IT analyst.

[00:09:57] What am I saying? I'm fumbling. No, that's totally beautiful. Please. Now I know you're

[00:10:03] good at lying. Hey, it's how long you've been working in an IT and data analysis for?

[00:10:09] I've been working as an IT analyst since 2012. Wow, over a decade. Yeah. Is that a career

[00:10:21] you've always wanted to be a part of? Actually, I always wanted to be in human resource management

[00:10:26] because I have my postgraduate in human resource management. However, I didn't get a job in

[00:10:31] the HR. So I took the IT job. Yeah, whatever the acronyms might be, you're just find yourself

[00:10:36] there. What was it about HR? Was it that that people aspect? Yeah, I'm very people person.

[00:10:41] I love connecting with people. I love talking to people, all of that. So something, anything

[00:10:46] to do with the human resources. I just love it. And that's why I have my post graduation

[00:10:52] in human resource management. Well, listen, you're going to get into a very different

[00:10:55] form of human resource management here in the course of survivor. So what brings you out

[00:11:00] here now? What made you decide that this was going to be your next big experience? I think

[00:11:05] for the longest time, I was looking for a platform. A platform because as a queer man,

[00:11:12] a South Asian, I wanted to let folks who look like me and who came from humble beginnings

[00:11:21] like me because I grew up in poverty with nothing. And for most part of my life, the

[00:11:27] survivor has been my life. Like living under the touch roof. When it's raining, rain used

[00:11:36] to fall, you know, just fall on us inside the house. So it's been like that. When I watched

[00:11:45] survivor for the first time, I was like, Oh my God, that's hit me close to home. So it's

[00:11:51] like I instantly connected. And the first episode I've seen was survivor Kaguyan and Spencer

[00:11:58] was my hero. And he's the he's the one I fell in love with the show and started watching

[00:12:03] episode after episode and season after season. And here I am super fan of survivor and, you

[00:12:09] know, they're talking to you. Yeah, well, so let's talk about, you know, that previous

[00:12:13] environment because you came from India, right? Yes, I grew up in India for 30, 30, 30 years.

[00:12:21] Wow. Yeah. So what prompted the move? So in 2013, I got a job offer in the US and I came

[00:12:28] here on an word permit for six years. Wow. At the very end of my word permit, like in

[00:12:34] so my word permit was up to 20, 18, end of 2018. But in 2017, I met my my partner, now

[00:12:43] my husband. And a year later, we got married. Wow. Love comes quickly, you know. And how

[00:12:51] does he feel about this whole experience? Is he a fan of survivors? Well, so let me tell

[00:12:55] you, I have no clue about survivor. My husband George is a super fan of survivors. Really

[00:13:01] super, super fan. He's the one who introduced me to survivor. And the first episode, first

[00:13:06] season we watched was survivor Cogion. Yes. What a phenomenal season. Yeah. And watching

[00:13:15] the players and everything. That's when I thought, Oh my God, this is so, it's like,

[00:13:21] this, this is like what my life used to be, like 20 years ago, right? And everything,

[00:13:28] you know, just like, you know, right in front of me. And that and yeah. So my, my husband

[00:13:35] George introduced me to survivor. And he's my, my support, my strength of pillar, all

[00:13:40] of what, whatever you have to call him. He's all that. And with his support, with his encouragement,

[00:13:46] I've applied and I'm here today. So incredible. So now looking back on all the survivor that

[00:13:52] you've, you know, become so in love with, give me one winner and one non winner that

[00:13:57] you identify with the most. Spencer, Spencer, Spencer. I identify with Spencer because

[00:14:04] if you watch survivor Cogion, the way he was beaten to his score, but every time Spencer

[00:14:13] got up and he kept going and going and going until he was, you know, until the final tribal

[00:14:21] council, he didn't win. I, you know, my heart was like with him. I was crying for Spencer

[00:14:28] and I want Spencer to win. So one, he's already a winner in my, in my eyes. And the other

[00:14:34] person who really played a game in my opinion was winners at war, Tyson, the king of survivor,

[00:14:43] King Tyson is the king. I look up to him. Amazing player. Interesting. I didn't like

[00:14:49] Tyson. The first time he played, he was, he played a badass game. However, he was a

[00:14:55] villain. Yeah. I was like, Oh my God, why, why do you have to be such a villainous person

[00:15:00] in order to win? The second time he came, he was a goofball and he got voted out very

[00:15:05] quickly. The third time he came. The reason why I fell in love with Tyson the third time

[00:15:10] is because he showed true emotion, the human emotions. He made people laugh. He cried.

[00:15:16] He told stories. He, he connected with everyone on the team. And that's why Tyson is a real

[00:15:23] winner of winners at war. They're the real. I like that. I think he'd be very happy to

[00:15:28] say he's the real winner of winners of war as well. Right. So when it comes to perceptions,

[00:15:35] how do you think people are going to look at you out here? So the first thing people,

[00:15:40] when they look at me, they think that, Oh my God, he's five 11. He, he looks on muscular.

[00:15:45] And they think that I'm, I'm a very strong guy. And maybe a lot of people would, would

[00:15:51] think that, Oh, we, we should vote him out. Yeah. So that's a perception. I just want

[00:15:57] to like, you know, navigate through because I don't know how much I need. I should be disclosing

[00:16:02] about my medical history here. Whatever you'd like to do. Yeah. You know, I've dislocated

[00:16:07] my right shoulder 10 times. And I had recently undergone a shoulder surgery to be on survivor

[00:16:16] because that's how much I love survivor. Just don't climb on some rocks and I think

[00:16:20] you'll be okay. We've learned that from experience. Yes. That's so interesting. So then

[00:16:24] when it comes to finding an alliance partner to finding a ride or die, if you want one,

[00:16:30] are you eyeballing certain things about people, certain qualities? Yes. The one major thing

[00:16:36] I'm eyeballing is this, this person is not giving me the looks. And I, you know, he's

[00:16:41] not saying like, you know, Oh, yeah, we're, if there's a potential alliance, I'm also

[00:16:46] making sure that this person is not doing the same with all the other, the rest of the

[00:16:50] 18 people. Interesting. And I know one person is actually doing it and I want him to get

[00:16:56] out. Tell me about describe this person to me. So this person, he's, he's, he's got a

[00:17:01] beard, black beard and all, you know, that's, that's his main, you know, character, like

[00:17:07] a big black beard. So the first time when, when, when we were sitting, you know, he, he

[00:17:13] looked at me and he gave me that nod. And, and I was like, okay, I just smiled. And instantly

[00:17:20] he was looking at another person who's giving them the eye and nod. Third person he was

[00:17:24] giving like a, you know, the victory symbol, the fourth person he's just like doing some

[00:17:29] kind of a gesture. I've seen him do this to all the remaining 18 players. Huh? So clearly

[00:17:38] I fail to be trained. Yeah. And I want him to be voted out as soon as possible because

[00:17:45] he's playing with everyone. And we don't want people like that. Right. You want exclusivity?

[00:17:50] My monogamous relationships on survivor. Just like me. Well, when it comes to good vibes,

[00:17:56] are you picking up on that with any particular people here? Not yet. Everyone seems to be

[00:18:00] pretty studious. They're, they're, everyone's into deep, deep thoughts, particularly the,

[00:18:06] this group, season 46, everyone's so young. Well, I, I feel like maybe high school to be

[00:18:15] just, you know, in, in, in, in, in undergrads, 18 to maybe 22.

[00:18:22] Yeah, my guess is right and everyone's deep thinker. They're all like oh this generation kids. I'm telling you super smart

[00:18:31] They're gonna out wait out play out last

[00:18:34] What do you think is one life experience that has prepared you for whatever you're about to experience?

[00:18:41] the one major life experience of mine is for 18 years I've endured a lot of physical

[00:18:51] Trauma I would say like there's a lot of trauma

[00:18:58] Emotional physical I don't want to get into the other other traumas

[00:19:03] But all of that the way I endured it it makes me strong because that's my core

[00:19:09] That's my foundation my foundation self is like solid because I've endured

[00:19:17] So many abuses and and also with nature as I said like you know

[00:19:21] I grew up in under a tattoo roof when it was raining. It poured inside the house

[00:19:26] There is no way to hide so almost like survivor isk

[00:19:30] so I

[00:19:32] Would say you know all of that to endure all of that and the strength I I

[00:19:38] Gathered the lack of food, you know, and I'm a survivor. Yeah in every sense of the word

[00:19:45] What is your biggest superpower in life that would probably bring you into this game?

[00:19:50] My biggest superpower is reading people. I'm very good at reading people as

[00:19:56] Long as I can get the eye contact

[00:20:00] once I get the eye contact right and

[00:20:03] Once I start speaking to them. I can pick on subtle subtle things

[00:20:07] I'm because I connect with human emotions. I

[00:20:12] Grow up on streets and that's what you know

[00:20:15] That's what we you know

[00:20:17] I picked up as even as as a kid when someone's you know

[00:20:20] Not nice to you and you know all of that the sneaky stuff. I can pick it up

[00:20:25] So then on the other hand, what's your kryptonite?

[00:20:28] Whoa

[00:20:31] My my kryptonite would be as I said like, you know

[00:20:40] Knowing people's emotions. Mm-hmm and know when to play with them

[00:20:45] Yeah, I mean that's got to be a tough experience right because you do seem like even just from like what I'm gleaming with you

[00:20:51] Such an impact such like a warm soul

[00:20:53] It's an amazing game to play but at the same time

[00:20:57] We have seen time and time again how difficult it is to like get to know people and then crush their hearts and crush their dreams

[00:21:02] Yes, it is it is very very tough and I particular I I didn't grow up in you know

[00:21:09] I

[00:21:11] You know we

[00:21:15] never grew up

[00:21:17] Crushing people's hearts because we're all grew up on streets. We were always helping each other because if

[00:21:22] Someone's not helping you

[00:21:25] And you're not helping someone else so it's like we're all like in it together

[00:21:30] So we're helping each other and we've survived like that. So

[00:21:35] Tax-tapping doesn't come naturally to me. Mm-hmm. Yeah, it's it's it's really hurt me

[00:21:41] But this is a game. I need to keep in mind and I have to

[00:21:44] Just play yeah

[00:21:47] Yeah, let's talk about advantages for a second. I'm gonna give you a scenario

[00:21:52] Let's say it's like day two day three a boat shows up at your tribe

[00:21:56] Of course a guy steps out, you know what's happening pick one person to go on a journey

[00:22:00] Are you trying to step up there? You're trying to get someone else to go instead? What's your strategy there?

[00:22:06] Pick rocks

[00:22:08] Now are we picking rocks or are we picking rocks, you know boring style coats. Yeah picking rocks. I

[00:22:14] Mean I don't mind people say that oh bottom. You can you know you want to go

[00:22:19] but I don't want to be the person like hey guys I want to go because

[00:22:23] We've seen so many see I'm a super fan of survivor. Why do I want to put target on myself? No, no, no

[00:22:29] I'm not doing that. I'm not not a fool. Well when it comes to outside of the journey advantages

[00:22:34] We've seen them be blessings and curses in the new era. How hungry are you for them?

[00:22:39] Are they something you want to actively search out throughout the game one thing? I always say even

[00:22:43] You even my casting interviews. I've said that Jeff probes. He's been my my guru and

[00:22:50] As my guru

[00:22:52] coded

[00:22:54] There's only one winner right most of us are going either going home or are on the jury. I want to play the game I

[00:23:03] Just I just whatever whatever falls in my lap. I just want to take it and I just want to go with it

[00:23:10] I want to ride the tide

[00:23:12] That's my strategy

[00:23:14] Well talk to me about this Jeff is a guru thing. Was this something that came with your love of survivor?

[00:23:18] Was there like a particular thing personally that you felt with him so um there's an analogy behind this in Indian literature fashion

[00:23:26] In Indian literature

[00:23:31] There's a story behind

[00:23:33] a per you know a young kid who is not from a

[00:23:38] Certain caste system because India is divided in caste systems

[00:23:43] He's not from a different, you know what a caste system

[00:23:45] So the per the the teacher who actually used to teach archery

[00:23:50] Did not teach him because he's not of the same cost

[00:23:54] He was teaching to all the other kids who's from the same cause or from the upper caste. So what this kid did

[00:24:01] He loved this guru so much because he's one of the he's the number one guru

[00:24:05] So what he did was because the guru would know he's not taking him he used to hide in a corner and

[00:24:11] Listen and see what the guru is teaching the other disciples and guess what this kid did

[00:24:17] He became the number one archer just by seeing and listening and practicing what his guru said from a distance

[00:24:24] Not being taught by the guru directly. So for me Jeff is that guru. Wow. I never met Jeff in in real life

[00:24:32] He doesn't know me

[00:24:35] But watching survivor there the way he talks to people the way he inspires people the way he says like dig deep

[00:24:42] Don't give up

[00:24:43] all of those things when I was going through tough times I was I was watching survivor and

[00:24:50] When Jeff says all of this those inspired me there were when I was in my lows and lows when I was having

[00:24:58] See you know dislocations. I was not I was giving up on my my my physical fitness and all of that

[00:25:03] Jeff probes don't give up dig deep those are the words inspired me and I started working out and

[00:25:12] Here I am today in Fiji playing survivor. That is

[00:25:18] Relievable that is so incredible. Does Jeff know all this? I don't think that Jeff knows about this

[00:25:23] I mean, he's gonna find out real soon. That is amazing

[00:25:26] I want to go to something you wrote in your bio here

[00:25:29] You said you are an expressive social media presence, but you are an introvert at heart

[00:25:35] Talk to me about that balance of what seems to be two very different social sides of you, right?

[00:25:40] So I learned Indian classical dance from my mom who is an Indian classical dance teacher

[00:25:48] My mom is my guru in real sense because she's the one who taught me how to dance

[00:25:55] So I learned from her. However, I'm I'm very shy person

[00:26:01] I love to dance. I you know because that that's in my blood

[00:26:05] My mom said that I was born the night when she was actually showing a dance movement

[00:26:11] Like a rigorous dance movement to her to her students. I was born the same night after she finished the class

[00:26:18] She went home and I was born. So my mom always jokingly says that you came dancing out of my womb

[00:26:24] Which could be true

[00:26:26] So I love dancing. I love the moment that a song plays my body can't stay in its place

[00:26:33] having said that

[00:26:35] I

[00:26:36] I just enjoy my you know, it's it's just me

[00:26:42] But if I have to perform

[00:26:44] That's when my introvert

[00:26:46] Kind of you know comes comes out

[00:26:48] Let's talk about your decision making when you typically have to make an important decision in your life

[00:26:53] Are you someone to like think through a bunch of steps in your head or are you someone that more so goes with your gut?

[00:27:00] That's my problem. See the problem with living on the streets and

[00:27:07] We we go with our hearts. Yeah, I don't think yeah, I just say it and

[00:27:11] That's a problem with me that you know, I can't lie and sometimes I just say so many things

[00:27:18] Which which hurt my family and and that and that's one thing which scares me

[00:27:23] I don't want to hurt my mom and I don't want to say something which which would get telecast and you know, you know shows

[00:27:30] I don't know, you know, are

[00:27:34] Us in in a in a bad light, but especially a lot of folks would be watching it and I know

[00:27:41] Truth matters, but how it will be shown also matters. So that's what i'm scared about

[00:27:47] What would be your hottest survivor take?

[00:27:51] What do you think is one of these controversial opinions of yours on a player or a season the show in general?

[00:28:03] I I just need the I want the the question to be said in a different way. I think i'm not falling sure

[00:28:09] Yeah, have you heard about a hot take before like a controversial opinion?

[00:28:13] Oh controversial opinion. Yeah about a show about it could be about the season could be about a player like

[00:28:19] So-and-so was robbed. I don't like this season and final four firemaking can go those types of things

[00:28:25] So i'm listening to on firehood jeff probes

[00:28:30] And I just love it. I can't tell you how much I love jeff jeff if you're listening

[00:28:35] Um, but jeff kind of answers all the questions so well

[00:28:41] And there is a segment in the in the show called this is why you suck, right?

[00:28:45] And jeff answers all of that. I I had a lot of questions like, you know, why why certain things are happening

[00:28:52] But I think at this moment

[00:28:54] I'm I would rest my

[00:28:57] My my my questions because jeff answered most of them to finish things off

[00:29:02] Give me a celebrity or a fictional character that you would want to bring out for a loved one's visit

[00:29:10] Who's coming out to see you?

[00:29:12] Oh, who's coming out to see me if there is a loved one's visit then i've definitely my it's my it's going to be my husband George

[00:29:20] Right, but let's say instead you can pick a celebrity or you can pick a completely fictional character

[00:29:27] So

[00:29:28] Growing this is this is a kind of like a sad thing

[00:29:32] Growing up

[00:29:34] The one thing which gave me strength was watching my favorite actors movies. Who's no longer there?

[00:29:41] She died at the age of 52

[00:29:44] Uh, and this woman she act she acted in 300 movies

[00:29:50] 300 movies and she was a number one

[00:29:55] actress in every regional language she she did 300 movies and this one she started as

[00:30:03] um a child, you know a child star. Mm-hmm then graduated into

[00:30:09] You know, uh

[00:30:12] And a full full grown actress when she was a child star. She was the you know, the the people

[00:30:19] She was acting as like, you know, maybe she was she was acting as a granddaughter to that guy

[00:30:24] Later she she became the hero of the same guy

[00:30:26] That's how this woman is and she inspires me and and guess what?

[00:30:32] She didn't even go to school, but she can speak fluent fluently seven languages. Wow, and she's number one in bollywood

[00:30:39] That's my inspiration and she made me laugh cry dance all of that her name is shree devie

[00:30:46] I love you shree. Wherever you are. May your soul rest in peace

[00:30:51] I'm gonna start diving into the 300 plus we movie backlog. Wow. That is incredible. She's she's she's incredible

[00:30:58] gorgeous woman

[00:31:00] and uh, yeah

[00:31:02] Gorgeous gorgeous woman. Well, how are you feeling right now?

[00:31:06] You know, you're you're sitting at a time where there is so much potential ahead of you

[00:31:10] What's sort of the the mixture of emotions that you're feeling before things finally open up in a matter of time as a said

[00:31:16] I am bent

[00:31:18] meaning

[00:31:19] beyond excited

[00:31:21] nervous

[00:31:23] And thrilled and I can't wait to play the game

[00:31:26] You are such an incredible soul. I'm getting such such a vibe from you already

[00:31:31] From where you've been able to come from to like the warmth that you bring to everything

[00:31:36] It's it's so palpable to me that I hope it will be out there as well. Thank you for taking the time

[00:31:41] Thank you

[00:31:42] Thanks to you and thanks to everyone who's listening

[00:31:47] and I I only wish your good wishes and your prayers so that I can pray like I can do well in this game

[00:31:54] and maybe

[00:31:56] Be the soul survivor of season 46. Thank you. Not a maybe a will we're putting it out. Well

[00:32:01] All right, Mike great job

[00:32:05] Thank you. That was great

[00:32:06] I I really appreciate that I had such a fun time out there and this was something, you know, a little experimental

[00:32:12] I really have to give so much kudos to you rob to josh as well who obviously

[00:32:16] Had uh tread those footprints in the sand many times as to do interviews out there on the island

[00:32:22] We tried something new for the first time we did video interviews out there. I did interviews

[00:32:27] I got interviewed on the island. Yeah, I was gonna say uh see you got to sit in both chairs there on the

[00:32:33] And we did some crash courses on zoom of how to work the camera

[00:32:38] Yes, exactly. Uh, but it went it went well. It went well

[00:32:42] Uh, I I really enjoyed my time getting to sit there and hopefully everyone enjoys the videos as well

[00:32:47] I really like getting to do the back and forth with people too

[00:32:50] Uh, you get a really nice sense of energy. I think and really there's a lot of joviality to this cast a lot of kind of silliness

[00:32:57] And goofiness and I think bond who's a great representation of that. Okay. All right. Mike um

[00:33:02] I am a

[00:33:05] Pretty bent on bond

[00:33:07] You're gonna get bent. I'm going to get bent. I am beyond excited by a uh very nervous

[00:33:12] And i'm also thrilled for him that really is I think a fantastic representation of bonnous entire dynamic

[00:33:19] I mean this guy again you've talked about energy

[00:33:22] He had some of the most energy i've gotten out of this very energetic cast

[00:33:26] I mean, maybe it's the fact that he was consistently leaning forward projecting into that microphone at his fantastic volume

[00:33:33] But I mean even just the excitement from the name spencer bled

[00:33:37] So if he brings even a third of that to the game of survivor as some news for bonnous

[00:33:42] Well, I hopefully he doesn't you know blow his load in a manner of speaking when it comes to talking about spencer

[00:33:47] And that he can actually save that for the island as well

[00:33:49] But it's clear that

[00:33:51] What's really interesting is yes bonnous has again a lot of this energy to it

[00:33:56] But he has self admittedly not only a new survivor fan

[00:34:00] But he's one of a couple of players that are like no actually my partner is the really big survivor fan

[00:34:04] I came into it via them, but i'm still excited to be here

[00:34:07] Yeah, and

[00:34:08] I don't know if that's necessarily like the recipe for success

[00:34:13] Like I don't think that mu necessarily like look at d like you know not necessarily like the biggest

[00:34:19] survivor super fan ever

[00:34:22] But like when it's like oh, this is my partner's thing

[00:34:26] I know that bonnous is into it now

[00:34:28] But like i'm reminded of like ryan in season 43 that it was another person where it was like, oh, well

[00:34:35] This is like my I forget if it was girlfriend or fiance's favorite show

[00:34:39] Yeah, I mean it could go both ways where it's like, okay, this is this person is more so uh, you know

[00:34:46] Died in the wool super duper fan and I like the show and whether that translates to knowledge

[00:34:51] But there's also something where certainly in my life rob. I

[00:34:55] I am a died in the wool super fan, but I've encountered people that are like you are much better at this game than I am

[00:35:01] You know, I may have the brains

[00:35:03] But you more so have the actual soul of what it takes to be the sole survivor

[00:35:08] And so maybe that's the perfect package for bonnous that his husband george can fill him in on like everything

[00:35:14] He needs to know about the show which again, he's not like completely inept

[00:35:17] He came in during kagayad and like has been watching since

[00:35:21] But at the same time he has maybe some of those those more personal skills certainly a background and a history

[00:35:27] Uh to bring to the island and feel like okay. I think out of the two in this household

[00:35:32] I'll be the one to bring it home. Uh, it's almost like doing a roadblock in an amazing race

[00:35:36] So I feel like that for bonnous in terms of his background

[00:35:39] I feel like he definitely will have the

[00:35:42] survivalist

[00:35:44] mentality

[00:35:45] Down in that way he kind of reminds me of a nessir who is coming into this

[00:35:50] And he's like what like oh like this is hard like that like I I grew up

[00:35:54] in an environment that would be you know, uh equally as challenging as this

[00:36:00] So the environment is not going to throw him for a loop and then hopefully, you know

[00:36:06] He is also like invaluable to his tribe uh because of that

[00:36:09] Yeah, I definitely think we might get a this is bonnous

[00:36:12] Moment that obviously like he doesn't come from a tropical climate necessarily perhaps in the way uh nessir did

[00:36:20] But at the same time as bonnous expressed multiple times he came from very arduous circumstances

[00:36:25] He referenced numerous times the idea of sleeping under a thatch through and hopefully if you get a shelter done

[00:36:31] Right, that's what you're doing in the first couple of days of survivor

[00:36:35] And I think even just that mentality of growing up through poverty where not poverty where you you don't know

[00:36:42] Exactly when's the next time you'll eat or just trying to make?

[00:36:45] ends meet strategy and social element aside. I feel like that is so critical to just the

[00:36:50] day to day of survivor. And so I think especially early on where these people are going to have

[00:36:56] reality hit them like a ton of bricks. Bonu might be the more accustomed to it. Ironically

[00:37:02] enough, it might be where other people thrive that he might not survive.

[00:37:07] Now, for me, my concern with Bonu comes when he talks about and maybe this could be a strength

[00:37:14] or a weakness for him is that and you talked about it with him just like his big heart

[00:37:21] and his empathy. And I do feel like that while you can use that successfully in survivor,

[00:37:30] I'm wondering if he's going to be able to, you know, turn that corner when it's time

[00:37:36] and do some of the, you know, cutthroat maneuvering that he might ultimately need to do to win

[00:37:42] this thing.

[00:37:43] I completely agree. So just to again, read his answer verbatim to when he talks about

[00:37:49] how his biggest Kryptonite is how is knowing people's emotions and knowing when to play

[00:37:52] with them. He says, it's very, very tough. And we never grew up crushing people's hearts

[00:37:57] because we all grew up on streets. We were always helping each other because if someone's

[00:38:02] not helping you, you're not helping someone else. We're all in it together. So we're

[00:38:06] helping each other and we survived like that. So backstabbing doesn't come naturally to

[00:38:11] me. It really hurts me. But this is a game I need to keep my mind and just have to play.

[00:38:18] Easier said than done. I think coming naturally is going to be difficult for Banu. I think

[00:38:24] the survival aspect will become very naturally to him. But I think the other edge of that

[00:38:29] sword is like growing up on the streets. Yeah, there is this communal aspect to it. It's

[00:38:33] like we've all got to look out for each other. If we don't live together, we're going to

[00:38:36] die alone, perhaps, and where he might get lost is okay. What if he does make a really

[00:38:42] nice bond with these people in his original tribe, and he gets to the end of the game,

[00:38:47] Allah the Reba's does he want to cut people immediately? Or is he more so going to be

[00:38:52] like, I have just made such concrete bonds with these people for 20 plus days. I would

[00:38:58] not be able to be a good person if I did that. He said it in another answer of mine, right?

[00:39:03] That he like wanted to make sure that he wasn't defaming his family or his community at all.

[00:39:12] And so he, I think also having in that mind can be incredibly impactful. We certainly

[00:39:17] have seen that with a lot of people that have brought their own representation to the show,

[00:39:20] that additional element of like, I have to make sure I play this right. Cause the last

[00:39:24] thing I want is for the egg people in the comments to be like, Oh, does this mean all

[00:39:29] Indians are deceitful or for like something to come back onto his mother, who obviously

[00:39:34] has gone through a lot in order to raise him. I wouldn't completely write it off though.

[00:39:41] I mean, let's look at our most recent soul survivor. When I talked with Dee in the preseason

[00:39:46] of 45, she was someone who also said like, yeah, I think I'm going to have a really tough

[00:39:50] time cutting people and I flag that is like, okay, and that's the thing. Yeah, I think

[00:39:55] when push comes to shove, like if you eventually get to a point in the game where you're like,

[00:39:59] Oh, I have a genuine chance at $1 million if I make this move, then you're going to be

[00:40:03] able to do it. So I wonder if Bonu does get to that point at the end. If it's another

[00:40:08] Jesse Cody situation perhaps, which we did ask a lot about in this preseason, then it

[00:40:13] could be somebody that's like my instincts of having to do anything to last another day

[00:40:18] in this game, over way my large heart of Oh, but I want to keep them around because they're

[00:40:24] a good person. Yeah, I got from Bonu that he is very much like this experience is super

[00:40:31] important to him. He talks about how like the impact that even Jeff probes had on him.

[00:40:37] He says guru Rob guru. So I feel like that, you know, he's here for this experience. But

[00:40:46] like I just don't know if he's necessarily going to be the person who's going to get

[00:40:52] the win here. So I'm not super high on Bonu as a winner as a person. Incredible guy.

[00:41:00] Do we need a sequel to the love guru called the survivor guru with Jeff Probst? Yes. Yeah,

[00:41:05] I think so. I think it's I think it'd be more of a reboot. Reba. Yeah. Yeah, I think

[00:41:11] and listen, if there's any franchise that needs a bit of a start over, it might be the

[00:41:16] love guru that surprised me. But I loved also the story he told to like actually pull

[00:41:22] upon historical significance about Jeff Probst being his guru. But that is also I think

[00:41:27] Bonu distilled in a nutshell that like what he really takes away from survivor. He talks

[00:41:32] about, you know, Tyson being one of his favorite non winners, but he only likes Tyson when

[00:41:37] like Tyson came back and cried when Rachel got eliminated from redemption island.

[00:41:42] Bonu is somebody who I think genuinely gets hooked in by the emotional aspects of survivor.

[00:41:48] Which you asked him or he said in his bio, what survivor would you play the game most

[00:41:52] like? And he said Cochrane, which I did not see at all. I maybe it was just this like

[00:41:57] like the Spencer kind of like the underdog story of like Cochrane is this guy who felt

[00:42:02] like a fish out of water, but then eventually was able to not only learn to swim, but swim

[00:42:06] upstream and then eventually become the big fish in the small pond. It's an odd comparison

[00:42:12] considering that like how much to the back he went for for Spencer. I am not surprised

[00:42:17] this man. I am surprised this man's name was not mentioned in his bio whatsoever. Yeah.

[00:42:22] Okay. Anything else on Bonu? Well, Rob, we got to address the physical elephant in the

[00:42:28] room, Indian pun notwithstanding. Bonu has had some shoulder problems. Yes. dislocated.

[00:42:36] What do you say 10 times? And he recently got surgery on his shoulder specifically for

[00:42:43] survivor. Now, at the time he played, you will certainly get this sense from my interviews.

[00:42:48] This was days after the finale of season 44. So there's going to be a lot of reference

[00:42:53] to survivor 44. Obviously top of mind was the adventure of Matthew there. Now, I don't

[00:42:59] think that Bonu is going to climb any rocks anytime soon, but I do wonder, especially when

[00:43:05] malnutrition comes into play, is there a chance that Bonu aggravates something that has been

[00:43:11] aggravated many times before? I do think that there certainly is a chance and he does seem

[00:43:17] like, you know, the type of like survivalist player that may be like, hey, like that bread

[00:43:23] fruits up there if I could just reach it. And so I think that there is certainly a possibility.

[00:43:30] But, you know, I don't think that that one, if he does have any sort of like an issue,

[00:43:35] it doesn't necessarily mean that he's going to get pulled. Like, I mean, that accident

[00:43:39] that Matthew had was pretty gnarly and kind of unique. You know, we saw, I'm sure you

[00:43:46] vividly remember, you know, Stephanie Legrosa getting her shoulder popped back into a socket.

[00:43:52] So I think you could play through that type of injury, like should it come up, but something

[00:44:00] to monitor for sure. Yeah, I mean, again, I don't know if he'd aggravated it to that

[00:44:04] certain extent, like you said, but luckily drunk. Yeah, well, that's the thing is like,

[00:44:10] you could say on paper, okay, we're not doing the physical wrestling challenges that allowed

[00:44:13] Stephanie Legrosa's shoulder pop out. But you mentioned Daniel's drunk, one tumble

[00:44:18] on the sand could be something to have, you know, his arm in a sling. And maybe that's

[00:44:22] another reason why he liked Tyson so much in blood versus water. It's true. But yet

[00:44:26] to go back to your point, prognosticating banu. I think banu would place fifth at the highest.

[00:44:36] I'm getting a lot of vibe from banu that I don't see a real reason to get rid of him

[00:44:40] early on unless he does aggravate his shoulder, in which case you're like, okay, he's not

[00:44:45] exactly that much of a physical asset. But I think between his physicality, he talks

[00:44:49] about his stature. And the fact that again, I think he is more adept to the elements

[00:44:54] than others. He'll become invaluable early on and not really seen as threatening. Like

[00:44:58] he's someone who can go along to get along. It seems like someone you would just want

[00:45:01] to like naturally have a good time with. I think when you get to that mid merge, it

[00:45:06] could become something where he's looked at as way too likable. And even if you take

[00:45:12] him into that finale into those final few days, nobody's letting that guy get to fire.

[00:45:16] Right. It seems like a really like pure soul, like you don't want him anywhere near that

[00:45:21] final three. Yeah, exactly. Because in that case, like everyone just enjoys him so much.

[00:45:26] And also considering we have to remember, they just watched jam jam when jam jam, who

[00:45:32] and a Carolyn as well, who just exude this idea of authenticity and people voting for

[00:45:37] jam jam just because they really enjoyed him and how likable he was. I think a lot of people

[00:45:42] are going to have that on their mind in particular playing in season 46. And so I would say

[00:45:47] in general, look out for a lot of those popular targets in the mid-mer.

[00:45:51] Well, we're just getting started because we've got another survivor to talk about. We're

[00:45:56] going to talk about Mr. Dave Jelinski, who is definitely an interesting character. And

[00:46:03] we're going to talk a little bit more about him when we come back right after this. Alright,

[00:46:11] second survivor here that we're going to meet here for survivor 46. It's Dave AKA Jelinski,

[00:46:19] Mike.

[00:46:20] Mr. Jelinski, if you're nasty and we're getting nasty right now. So we go from the oldest man

[00:46:26] this season in Banyu to not only the youngest man, but the youngest person this season 20,

[00:46:32] 20 years younger than Banyu Jelinski representing the youngsters this time, the 21 year olds.

[00:46:38] Okay. And he is a pretty electric character looking forward to you hearing from him in

[00:46:46] this interview. Mike, what do you want to set up about Jelinski?

[00:46:50] So Jelinski, once again, 21 years old from Las Vegas, Nevada. And if you said, what's

[00:46:56] the most stereotypical occupation to have while residing in Las Vegas, I think slot

[00:47:03] machine sales would probably be like in the top five, which is what Jelinski is.

[00:47:07] Yeah, I don't know if I would get as, you know, down in the tail is slot machine sales

[00:47:14] man. I guess I never thought about how these slot machines get into it.

[00:47:17] Someone's got to buy him. Yeah. So yeah, but interesting slot machine sales man, this

[00:47:22] is like he repairs them. Yeah, it seems like he is responsible for the maintenance, but

[00:47:28] also simultaneous sales of them. He was less so about the sales aspect. And I think more

[00:47:34] so with the interpersonal skills from very other parts of his life, despite living so

[00:47:39] young, it feels like he's lived like three different lives considering the upbringing

[00:47:43] he's had. Yeah, we'll get into it. I will also say, whether you're watching the video

[00:47:47] of the interview, or you're just listening, I want you to picture what you think a 21

[00:47:52] year old person sounds like. That is not Dave Jelinski. Yeah. Yeah. He's got the will

[00:47:58] wall, the young person old voice thing. Yeah. If will's the wall, then Jelinski is the roof

[00:48:04] concerning. He's both tall and has this buso profundo voice. Yeah. Okay. So Mike, anything

[00:48:12] else, or should we throw it to you and Jelinski? Jelinski's got a lot to say. I'm excited for

[00:48:17] people to hear this one. Okay. And then we'll come back on the other side and talk about

[00:48:20] what we think.

[00:48:21] So for audio sake, let me just get quick slate name age occupation. My name is David Jelinski.

[00:48:32] I'm 21 years old, and I'm a slot machine part sales specialist. So listen, I looked at the

[00:48:39] place, I looked at the career, I looked at the age, and I'm like, all right, Sammy, gonna

[00:48:44] come walk in and back through here. Was he an inspiration to apply? You know, what was

[00:48:48] your reaction when you saw him play? He was definitely not an inspiration because I was

[00:48:53] applying as soon as I was 18. Really? Before I even saw Sammy, yeah, I am a huge survivor

[00:48:58] fan in terms of, sorry, what was the question? No, just in terms of that's totally fine.

[00:49:06] I mean, let's talk about your history with the show. How long have you been watching for?

[00:49:10] So I started watching quarantine, but every single season I have seen at least three times.

[00:49:16] Damn. Wow. That's a hell of a catch up. Was it just like a lot of time on your hands,

[00:49:20] or was there a particular moment that just hooked you from the beginning? So much time

[00:49:25] on my hands, first of all, I was like, well, I'm a huge big brother fan. And I have watched

[00:49:30] every single season of Big Brother as I was growing up. Yeah. And for some reason, I never

[00:49:33] watched survivor. So as soon as I found survivor, I was watching Big Brother, they were like,

[00:49:38] hey, you should watch survivor. You know how Paramount Plus recommends all that stuff.

[00:49:42] Of course. And I just got hooked. I was like, the gameplay in this show is 10,000 times

[00:49:49] more in depth. So much more complicated, so much more complex. And I live for that. I

[00:49:55] didn't. I couldn't believe that I was stuck on Big Brother for so many years. You're just

[00:49:59] like, wait, you don't have to wear wacky costumes by Zingba to be on CBS reality TV.

[00:50:04] Right. Right. Right. So then why are you here? How did that translate from recent love

[00:50:10] sick viewer of survivor to like actually wanting to play yourself? Yeah. So my entire life,

[00:50:16] I have been the guy to talk to everybody. I have been the person to compensate for other

[00:50:23] people's not being there. So my parents were both addicts. And I had to basically parent

[00:50:29] my parents. It was, it was rough. Yeah. There are a lot of questions I had that were unanswered.

[00:50:35] And I had to figure everything out for myself. So when I saw survivor, it kind of just felt

[00:50:40] natural to me, you know, being out there on your own, especially socially, like in school,

[00:50:45] I was on my own. And my family, I was, I wouldn't say I was on my own entirely, but I did feel

[00:50:51] alone at some points. What was that like? I cannot even imagine. I mean, at what age

[00:50:57] did you feel like you really started to have to kind of parent yourself? Yeah. Well, it's

[00:51:01] funny you say that because there was an age where I realized like, okay, I'm going to

[00:51:06] have to be the person to look out for myself. And I'd say that was probably when I was about

[00:51:11] four years old. I mean, I have a son who's four and like, I cannot. Yeah. I cannot imagine.

[00:51:18] I mean, good on you, man. Is that and how are your, how are your parents doing? They

[00:51:23] are both still addicts. I'm not. I'm so sorry. It's okay. Well, it's crazy because like that's

[00:51:29] something I appreciate about Carolyn because she normalized addiction and that my entire

[00:51:34] life, I've been like, my parents are great people. Yeah. They just have their struggles,

[00:51:38] you know, like they, they use pretty much daily and they're still incredible people. There

[00:51:44] are sometimes where it's hard. There's definitely sometimes where it's hard and you've got to

[00:51:49] really like get over that. Yeah. But most of the time, they're incredible people. My

[00:51:54] mom is full of energy. She's been taking me to concerts since I was five years old. We'd

[00:51:59] be on the floor to like Motley Crue and Halen. Have you always been in Vegas? Yeah. Born

[00:52:06] and raised in Vegas, so I've been around the casino industry my entire life. So now how

[00:52:10] does that segue into of course your current occupation? Because I also know you ended up,

[00:52:14] you know, what did you, did you go to college and then you dropped out because I know it

[00:52:17] said you that you dropped out and then to pursue that your current vocation. Yeah. So

[00:52:20] I, after high school, I was lost. Like I threw myself into school and life to be away from

[00:52:27] home. So I was the varsity basketball captain for four years. I was, you got the hype for

[00:52:33] you. Yeah. I was varsity quiz captain for two years while being on the team for all four

[00:52:37] years and just my pursuit of everything. I love doing everything this life has to offer.

[00:52:43] So gaming, I was kind of into my entire life just for being around it. But after high school,

[00:52:50] I went to Berkeley City College in hopes to transfer UC Berkeley because I didn't even

[00:52:55] apply to a school. I was so lost and I did that for a little bit and I ended up, I did

[00:53:00] that for a little bit and I ended up dropping out because I felt so detached, you know,

[00:53:05] I wasn't on campus. I wasn't making any friends and a person like me, it's hard to not make

[00:53:10] friends. So I ended up dropping out and I found what I do now is sell slot machine

[00:53:16] parts through my mom actually. Her and my boss were mutual friends. So she got me the gig

[00:53:23] and I'm also still pursuing two degrees actually now. I'm at UNLV University of Nevada, Las

[00:53:29] Vegas pursuing gaming management and international business. So games are your thing, whether it

[00:53:36] is providing parts for them, playing them. I know you said you're interested in like

[00:53:39] card games as well. So is that just sense of like competition, reading others, trying

[00:53:44] to game the luck? Is that just part of your lifeblood at this point? 10,000%. It's funny

[00:53:48] you say that because growing up, I kind of resented gambling. I was like, I don't want

[00:53:54] to be like my dad, you know, my dad was a bookie. So yeah, he was arrested in 2006. The FBI

[00:54:00] busted our door down, arrested my dad, punched my mom in the face. Why did they do that?

[00:54:08] Asserting power. It was crazy. Like that was the moment where I realized like, okay,

[00:54:13] if I want something, I got to go get it for myself. You know, I don't ever want to feel

[00:54:16] like the kid being coddled by my mom hiding from an FBI agent. Yeah. So my dad was a book,

[00:54:23] a bookie he book kept and he did his time. He's out and about still did bookmaking after

[00:54:29] he got out for a little while and now he's in Florida. So well, let's talk about taking

[00:54:33] the ultimate gamble with survivor. So I know you're a recent convert, but give me one winner,

[00:54:38] one non winner you relate to to the most. Okay. One non winner I relate to the most would

[00:54:44] probably be Carolyn just in the sense of my mom. I love that she kind of brought an awareness

[00:54:51] about addiction. Totally agree. It's an incredible story. That was incredible. As far

[00:54:56] as the game goes, I'd say I'm similar to Rick Devins. Okay, just very personable, funny,

[00:55:02] charismatic. He never gave up. Everything survivor had to throw at him. He used it to his

[00:55:08] He was always out finding idols, planting fakes. That dude is awesome. And a winner I'd relate to is

[00:55:15] Probably Tyson. Mm-hmm. Just our humor. We have very similar personalities and you have like you have his like length of hair

[00:55:22] Heroes versus villains like you don't have the full right down. Do you going on? No one day? We'll get there

[00:55:29] We'll get there at the end of 26 days. It may happen right well after I win 46

[00:55:32] I'm gonna come back for 48 and when that went to and we'll have the hair exactly

[00:55:37] what's your favorite his moment in survivor history and

[00:55:40] Season 27

[00:55:42] Being a big brother fan. I loved watching Hayden. Of course

[00:55:45] You know it was and I knew like coming into the game. He was gonna be a threat

[00:55:49] He's just a likable dude who doesn't like Hayden and with a game like big brother. It can be argued that it's a lot easier

[00:55:56] Personally, I think it is you think so 10,000% I mean you're out here in the elements and there's so much

[00:56:03] Psychology you behind this game. There's so many layers of complexity. Just don't tell that to Taren

[00:56:08] Does he think big brother is harder than survivor

[00:56:13] I think you know the inter the complexity of the idea that at any point in time someone can take power and big brother

[00:56:19] Mm-hmm can arguably make it more difficult to your point

[00:56:21] I think the natural elements of deprivation are

[00:56:24] underrated from a viewer perspective as I'm sure you're about to experience of like I can't imagine making life or death decisions while

[00:56:31] nourished and exhausted right

[00:56:33] Yeah, well, yeah, and totally 100% I do and the length of time big brother being away from your loved ones totally

[00:56:40] But to answer the question um Hayden Hayden's rock draw. Yeah. Yes. Oh my god

[00:56:46] That was insane and I loved it and Hayden totally

[00:56:49] Would have won the game if someone like Jervis went home or someone. Yeah, you know what I mean

[00:56:55] So Hayden was spectacular and he was kind of robbed

[00:56:58] I think Cam and Tyson played the best games that season and

[00:57:01] Hey, no Tyson was the winner of 27 and Tyson did good

[00:57:05] What is it your greatest superpower in the game? Is it to ruffle feathers or rustle them?

[00:57:10] Well, yeah, you know, I think my greatest superpower within this game is going to be my how adaptive I am

[00:57:18] Mm-hmm. I don't say no to anything

[00:57:20] Everything survivor has to throw me I'm going to use it and another unlike a wolf in sheep's clothing

[00:57:25] You know people aren't going to expect that from me. They're going to be looking at me like this dude looks like Fabio

[00:57:29] Fabio, you know, he kind of wants to go surf and yeah, I'm very personable

[00:57:33] I'm someone who uses everything to my advantage and not to mention that I can make fire with my mind. So okay, wait, what?

[00:57:40] Yeah

[00:57:42] All right, well, let's not hope this table

[00:57:44] That was just an example out on the beach that's going to happen. Wow, okay

[00:57:48] Well now we have the true pyro kinetic first contestant on survivor

[00:57:52] Probably double member of survivor and the X-man at this point. Yeah, totally

[00:57:56] So then on the other hand, let's keep going with that superhero analogy. What is your biggest Kryptonite?

[00:57:59] You would say coming into this game?

[00:58:01] My biggest Kryptonite coming into this game is

[00:58:04] Probably my arrogance mm-hmm. I'll say I'm a survivor super fan right?

[00:58:11] I've seen every season at least three times without a doubt

[00:58:13] I have a survivor slot machine in my room now

[00:58:16] Did you like hand build this cuz I know that there was one that had like root bird and Jerry from that's the one I have

[00:58:21] That's the one you have. Yeah, we need to make a new one put my face on it. Maybe somebody else

[00:58:25] It's cool jam jam, you know, maybe some of the winners jam jam Tommy

[00:58:29] I don't know yeah, but

[00:58:30] Yeah, when we receive the game every game as long as it has its chip it can be revived

[00:58:35] So I did build that game. I had to fix the monitor. Mm-hmm. I fix the button panel fix the CPU

[00:58:41] Yeah, it's like my baby and the fact that it was survivor made it made it 10,000 times better

[00:58:46] But my arrogance being a super fan

[00:58:48] I think the fact that I'm so aware of how arrogant I could be like there's no doubt in my mind

[00:58:54] I'm gonna win this game and that's where my mind is that right so the fact that I realize that kind of tones it down

[00:58:59] Well to that point how do you think people are gonna perceive you either from like a first impressions perspective or even getting to know you more?

[00:59:06] I think they're gonna look at me as a really great guy. You know, I'm very personable. I love getting to know people

[00:59:13] My entire life. I've been someone to accept everybody and I thrive on differences

[00:59:19] So especially in a game like survivor everybody is so different comes from a unique background

[00:59:24] I'm just going to use that to my strengths and find who I want to work with as an ally

[00:59:29] Find their greatness is and exploit them. Well to that point. Let's talk about the other people out here

[00:59:35] What qualities are you looking for in that alliance partner in that ride or die?

[00:59:39] I want someone who is unbelievably nice to a fault. Okay, me. I recognize

[00:59:45] I'm looking for mr. Rogers out here. I'm looking for mr. Rogers

[00:59:48] And you know, I've seen a few people like that. There's people open in the doors for other people uponderosa on our way from LA to Fiji

[00:59:55] Someone was letting random strangers cut through. I'm like dude. I'm trying to get to Fiji like I don't know what you're doing

[01:00:01] But I want to play survivor. Wow, this might be the first person who gets voted out due to letting someone off the plane before

[01:00:07] No, but seriously though like and that kind of speaks to who people are, you know

[01:00:12] Yeah, if you're doing that for strangers 100% that's how you're going to treat people in the game

[01:00:16] And yeah, I want someone that I could lie to about three votes and they'll still work with me

[01:00:21] Mm-hmm. I want them to be my number one. So now to that point. We have seen especially recently like you're Jesse and Cody's even Carolyn

[01:00:28] To a certain extent like

[01:00:30] Or do you have that capacity when it comes down to that any game to be like I can't sit next to you

[01:00:35] Or do you think that's going to be easier said than done? 100% you know one of my greatest attributes is probably how perceptive

[01:00:40] Perceptive I am so I'll be able to read the jury very easily and especially within the game because I'm going to be inside of the big moves

[01:00:48] I'm going to be I'm going to know who's next to me and who I'm not next to when they're making the big moves

[01:00:53] So with that being said

[01:00:55] Sorry, I'm losing my train. Oh, please

[01:00:58] Remember the question one more time I mean, would you cut your ally at the end of the game?

[01:01:02] How difficult would that be a decision for you talk talking to dr. Liza and Jeff probes

[01:01:07] They said it's going to be hard for you to win this game

[01:01:09] Jeff said it's going to be hard because I am such a nice empathetic person and I see the best in people

[01:01:15] Okay, so you're like one degree above the Spencer blood so you have a zero percent chance of winning this game

[01:01:19] But it's not it's not right from it. It's not and I was happy he said that because I want to prove my

[01:01:25] - I want to prove myself like to everybody. I want to prove myself to Jeff

[01:01:29] I want to prove myself to myself and all the viewers watching everybody watching our GG. Yeah, but you know, it's

[01:01:36] The fact that okay, so Liza during my psych interview said I attached to people very quickly in my real life

[01:01:43] That's very true like my I consider us best friends right now. I listen. Let's get them the matching bracelets after Fiji

[01:01:49] Let's do it. Yeah, so we're best friends. Yes the fact that I

[01:01:54] Recognize how quickly I attach to people. It's all about recognition and knowing your faults

[01:01:59] And that is a fault of mine and the fact that I recognize that I will gladly cut my number one ally off

[01:02:06] I will totally Jesse my Cody. I know I'm going to do that in fact speaking of Jeff

[01:02:11] I gotta talk about the last name. Yeah, is this something you're typically called in your real life?

[01:02:15] Are you trying to manifest like Jeff? I want you to all the good. That's what Cochrane did all the best life

[01:02:20] Did you call by the last name? We're already manifesting this right?

[01:02:22] I mean through my audition process. He called me David. I said dude

[01:02:25] I'm julinski in my real life

[01:02:28] I mean there aren't many julinski's I mean I have a brother Lucas julinski. I have a dad

[01:02:33] Jeff julinski my dad's name is Jeff

[01:02:35] So oddly enough and I have some cousins, but we're the julinski circle. There is no other julinski

[01:02:41] So in my real life people do tend to call me julinski. It's either DJ which are great initials. Yeah, David or

[01:02:49] julinski and I choose julinski because I mean there was a season named after me. Yeah, David versus Goliath

[01:02:54] I don't need that. I don't need uh, David Voche. I don't need

[01:02:58] No, it means to Voche, but there's this show has had a hundred David's David, right?

[01:03:04] There's never been a David julinski. Yeah, 100% so let's talk about you talk about your your own

[01:03:09] Perceptions you were talking about you know the people that might be a bit too nice out there

[01:03:13] You've been obviously making eyes with people. I'm assuming for the past few days

[01:03:16] Give me you know some descriptions of people that you are already looking at as like if we hit the beach on day one

[01:03:22] best case scenario

[01:03:24] best case scenario

[01:03:26] Okay

[01:03:27] There is an indian guy who has a short ponytail up top

[01:03:31] This guy has been reading books about gondi

[01:03:34] Interesting. So I know he's very peaceful. Mm-hmm. I don't think he's out here too

[01:03:39] I'm not gonna say people aren't out here to win the title of soul survivor, but he's out here for himself

[01:03:45] He's gondi. He's out here for the journey. If he's out on my beach on my tribe

[01:03:49] He is malleable. He is someone that I could easily work with and uh somebody else

[01:03:55] There's this jacked football player

[01:03:57] I know he plays football because I was watching him at the airport on his on his backpack. He's uh old miss football

[01:04:02] So he's strong first of all and like i'm super tall but

[01:04:06] Look at me like we're the same like we're scrawny

[01:04:10] We're not lifting vlogs, man. So if I have someone who's like james from rikernesia

[01:04:15] Yeah, someone who's keeping the tribe strong if I find a number one ally. I'm gonna stick with them

[01:04:20] I would love for him to be on my tribe. Yeah, let's talk about the other side of things

[01:04:25] Who are you getting some not so good vibes from right now?

[01:04:29] Not so good try uh not so good vibes is the people that remind me of myself the most

[01:04:34] Interesting because I think I know i'm the biggest threat out here

[01:04:38] I promise you every everybody watching the podcast rhap comment down below right now your winner pick because if it's not julinsky

[01:04:45] We're going to block it

[01:04:46] julinsky the chat we're we got our bots in the chat. I am the person winning this game

[01:04:51] I promise you that so the people who remind me of myself. Yeah that person being the uh arab guy with the thick beard

[01:04:58] Um, I know his initials are can I say initials on his initials sd sd is a threat

[01:05:03] He's someone that we will not be able to get out right away. He's gonna be too powerful

[01:05:08] he's too smart too

[01:05:10] personable

[01:05:11] He's gonna be someone who who goes out later on in the merge

[01:05:14] Interesting. Yeah, because I was gonna say you know

[01:05:17] Meat shield strategies have become incredibly important in the new era

[01:05:20] How much are you trying to balance because you know of your own stature like let me try to surround myself with that versus

[01:05:26] How can I get to a point where i'm not outnumbered by them and then it's impossible to stand at the end alone?

[01:05:31] Right. Yeah, this game is all about balance and you gotta you gotta know who the threats are so

[01:05:37] Honestly, maybe one meat shield ahead of me when it's down to seven

[01:05:40] That's when I really need to start taking people out because

[01:05:43] You're like it's gonna be a final three. We're sure it's gonna be a final three

[01:05:47] It's safe to assume that given survivor for the past 30 seasons or 20 seasons. Excuse me, but with that being said

[01:05:54] Uh, you gotta know when to take these people out. So i'm gonna have probably one

[01:05:59] I want to be the biggest threat. I'll figure out how to manage it. It's easier said than done

[01:06:04] Right. Obviously, I know this is a very hard and complex game, but maybe one maybe two

[01:06:09] Speaking of balance you dance professional ballroom. Yes. You gotta give me this story. Yeah, so growing up

[01:06:17] Um, I was really into the arts

[01:06:19] Um musical theater theater singing and dancing those that was my jam

[01:06:24] And then when I was 13, I grew to six feet and my voice dropped about 50 octaves

[01:06:30] I mean, I used to be able to do the splits. I mean Logan Paul can do the splits and he's about as big as me

[01:06:35] But so you're not gonna do like if you're win an individual immunity the Reed kelly go into the splits afterwards

[01:06:39] No, I will not but I will I'll probably moonwalk. I'll be the first person to moonwalk on the beach

[01:06:44] Okay, that might be tough to do in the sand. That's why i'm gonna do it

[01:06:47] That's a perfect representation of like it doesn't matter if it's a challenge. I'm good to succeed at it

[01:06:52] 100 even if I fail that is a success

[01:06:55] The other thing I saw you run when you borrow about literature achievements talk to me about this because I mean treat it your point

[01:07:01] I would not have expected that from you. Yeah, so literature is kind of a lost art

[01:07:05] I mean nobody reads anymore. I I've been watching everybody of what they've been reading. Um, there's one girl ST

[01:07:11] She's reading a bernay brown book. So if she is on my tribe, I'll be able to talk to her about that

[01:07:16] but

[01:07:17] Quizball, I didn't necessarily read a lot

[01:07:19] Uh until I was in quizball varsity quiz and my specialty was literature

[01:07:24] We all had our specialty subjects geography history and I was literature. So classic novels

[01:07:30] I'm able to spew at you like who wrote what what it's about blah blah blah specifically. I love poems

[01:07:35] So yeah, and I was named at my graduation literature specialist or specialist literature student of the year

[01:07:42] And interesting. Hey really great description about me

[01:07:45] I mean listen feel free to shy away at the prospect. Can I put you on the spot?

[01:07:48] Can I ask you to write a poem about how you're feeling right now?

[01:07:51] It could be a high cool. It could be short. I'm not asking for an epic a poem. Hmm. Okay. Yeah, let's do it

[01:07:56] Contestants estranged

[01:08:00] One in particular

[01:08:03] David jilinsky survivor 46 winner there we go snaps

[01:08:08] The mic picks it up. I'm gonna throw a few scenarios

[01:08:12] Let's do it see how you do with it first

[01:08:14] What would you say is your hottest survivor take because you are a newcomer to the show by comparison

[01:08:19] I'm sure that like watching in a bit of a bubble like you certainly walk out with some opinions that you look around

[01:08:23] You're like oh, I didn't realize that this was controversial at all right um

[01:08:27] Well off the top of my head it might not be as hot, but Dominic should have on ghost island interesting Dominic was

[01:08:33] You got to love the flashy game

[01:08:35] But that kind of speaks to why window one, you know

[01:08:38] He was a part of Dominic's moves more or less

[01:08:40] But he was more of a people person and people gravitate towards that the most if if the jury did not win themselves

[01:08:46] They want to vote for someone that they if I couldn't win, I'd want them to win. Mm-hmm. So I would say that

[01:08:51] um another survivor hot take would be

[01:08:54] I don't know. That's all I got right now. No, of course. So let's say first few days on the beach

[01:09:00] A boat pulls up. You probably know what's happening guys pulls out of scroll

[01:09:04] One person from your tribe must volunteer to go on a journey

[01:09:07] Do you already have a strategy prepared? Are you going? Are you trying to like throw someone under the bus by sending them there?

[01:09:13] What's your tactic behind that? It'll have to uh depend on who's on my tribe

[01:09:18] I'm gonna have to check it out, but I'm a survivor super fan

[01:09:21] I want to be the person going, you know, I might I forget who did it

[01:09:24] But someone uh they were drawing sticks and one of them had the longer and shorter stick

[01:09:30] And she drew the longer one. Yeah, do you remember the last season with a rock draw?

[01:09:34] Okay, yes

[01:09:36] To make sure that she was going Lauren rigged the rock draw and uh, that's something I would do

[01:09:40] I want to be I want to be the person experiencing all advantages

[01:09:44] I don't want to take anything for granted because you know, I might give voted out before the boat comes again

[01:09:48] Yeah, so I'd rather have gone than not go at all

[01:09:50] So then do you already have a strategy of how you would handle the aftermath for that?

[01:09:53] You already talked about coming in as the biggest threat both from a stature perspective in like a resume perspective

[01:09:58] That's got to make things even bigger on you if they're like, okay. Well now zolinsky probably juddling ski probably has an idol

[01:10:03] Let's get rid of him here. Yeah, I'm gonna be honest. You know, I nowadays in the new era of survivor

[01:10:10] More or less everybody is a super fan. Yeah, I promise you that I am the biggest fan out here

[01:10:15] But people are still super fans and they know you're gonna come back and try to lie

[01:10:20] If I just give everything as true as possible and still have my number one allies, I feel like I'm gonna be set

[01:10:26] All right last question

[01:10:28] You know how I end these things if you could pick a celebrity or a fictional character to come out

[01:10:33] As your loved one who would it be and why?

[01:10:35] I've thought about this a lot. In fact, I uh, I know you guys go through instagrams to see when this was virtual to see who we're following

[01:10:42] I would probably choose

[01:10:45] Lebron lebron. Okay. Do you call do you think he's the goat in your opinion? 100 percent. Hey mover jordan

[01:10:52] Yes him over jordan any for any reason why I have a lot of reasons why

[01:10:56] Jordan left the game

[01:10:58] Yeah, Gordon stopped playing basketball. If you love basketball, you're not gonna stop like that's like me

[01:11:03] If I pull a band from winners at war, you just vote me out sara

[01:11:07] You can vote me out put it apart of your move. I'm not going out like that. I'm not going out like Ben

[01:11:11] I'm not going out like jordan. I'm staying with it lebron even almost at 40 years old

[01:11:15] He's doing great things better than everybody else in the league lebron is awesome

[01:11:19] Well, I know jordan's listening to this right now and saying it I took that personally no seriously no

[01:11:23] I was saying if some i'm not gonna take anything in this game personally

[01:11:26] Okay, big call big call unless my name is written down. I took that personally interesting all right

[01:11:32] So let's say like even if it's for like of just in case vote split your name gets written down a couple times

[01:11:37] Are you like go in full ruper who voted for me? Like what's what's the fall back when you get back to camp?

[01:11:41] I am you know and russell is hilarious. I russell is a great game player from my perspective

[01:11:48] He's an asshole, which is why he did not win

[01:11:51] But you know I didn't love russell's game. I mean he found four immunity idols without clues

[01:11:56] That was unheard of before him and that was actually the first season I watched she was so polarizing

[01:12:01] I was like how did he not win interesting Natalie won like that is absurd

[01:12:06] No offense to Natalie, but um to answer your question

[01:12:09] Watching this alongside michael jordan, you know

[01:12:11] They're just having their local watch parties to listen to all the pre six pieces of interviews for survivor 46

[01:12:15] You never know you never know you never know and as russell said you're such a dumbass rupert

[01:12:20] And I mean, I don't think i'm a dumbass, but I will be going rupert balls to the wall

[01:12:24] I don't want to be malleable to people. Yeah, if you write my name down, that's i'm here to play perfect game

[01:12:30] I mean, it's it's an interesting balance right because I think what we've seen from a lot of people and this is very big brother

[01:12:34] The pawn star the person who gets nominated early on it's a lot of hOH's are like well

[01:12:39] I can just keep nominating them because

[01:12:41] They've already drawn first blood. Do you think that carries over to survivor where it's like well

[01:12:45] My name's written down it makes it just as easy for them to write my name down the second time if I don't take it the wrong way

[01:12:50] I do yeah, I mean we saw it with jam jam jam had his name written down a lot early on

[01:12:55] Winners like adam we saw his name written down or at least thrown out a lot right so in this game

[01:13:00] You have to be careful and with that being said i'm going to take it personally

[01:13:05] But that could be by working with them, you know

[01:13:08] I could use him as an ally because they would have more to prove to me that hey like I know I wrote your name down

[01:13:14] But let's uh, let's work a little bit. Let me prove it to you. Yeah, let's do that

[01:13:18] All right, man. How you feeling right now? Give me like some some final temperature checks at the moment now that you know

[01:13:24] Assuming we are days away from you starting this and for you only 26 days away from claiming that million

[01:13:30] - I mean, tell her check.

[01:13:31] - Right, I mean, Mike, I'm out here to win a survivor jackpot.

[01:13:35] - There we go. - You know what?

[01:13:36] Jackpot, jackpot, jackpot, ch, ch, ch, ch, ch, ch, ch.

[01:13:39] - Line up all the pictures, hopefully all of you.

[01:13:41] - Yeah, hopefully all of me, I'm just ready to go.

[01:13:45] I'm having so many thoughts.

[01:13:47] I'm moving at a thousand miles an hour in my head,

[01:13:50] and honestly, physically, I'm gonna be running

[01:13:53] through the jungle like Tony, I'm ready to go.

[01:13:55] Let's do this thing.

[01:13:56] - All right, well, I'm gonna send you around

[01:13:57] through the jungle again, this was an absolute delight.

[01:13:59] - Mike, this is awesome. - So good to meet you.

[01:14:01] - Great to meet you too, and I'm excited to be

[01:14:03] on the podcast at later dates.

[01:14:05] - Of course, yeah. - Survivor trivia,

[01:14:06] I wanna be a part of it.

[01:14:06] - Okay, shout out to, I know Jordan Kalish

[01:14:08] is definitely listening.

[01:14:09] They're in Jordan, maybe listening.

[01:14:11] Future Twitch contestant, well, thank you so much, man.

[01:14:13] We are, I am all set.

[01:14:15] Thank you so much again.

[01:14:16] I'll let you get back to everything else you have going on

[01:14:18] in the way as the weight continues.

[01:14:20] - The weight continues.

[01:14:21] - All right, awesome meeting you.

[01:14:22] Have a great one. - Thank you, Mike, you too.

[01:14:24] All right, Mike, there's Jellinski.

[01:14:27] Jellinski, there's a lot to get into, because I'm there.

[01:14:30] - I'm super intrigued to hear your thoughts on this guy.

[01:14:33] - Yeah, I think he's just a very interesting person,

[01:14:38] especially for somebody so young.

[01:14:41] There seems like there's a lot of depth there,

[01:14:43] and to me, I feel like that,

[01:14:46] I always try to like look at like, okay,

[01:14:48] this person's like, this person meets this person.

[01:14:51] And he mentioned Sammy. - Oh, Shipper.

[01:14:53] - Yeah, so I feel like that he's sort of like

[01:14:55] Sammy crossed with Drew from last season.

[01:14:59] - Yeah, I think he certainly shares some characteristics

[01:15:02] with Drew, the height, I think the deepness of the voice.

[01:15:06] We talked a bit at the end there

[01:15:07] about like his literary achievements.

[01:15:09] I think he has like certainly a scholarly pursuit,

[01:15:11] which you wouldn't expect from someone

[01:15:12] who had to drop out of college initially,

[01:15:14] but is now pursuing a couple of degrees.

[01:15:17] And I think that kind of has helped Jellinski's

[01:15:19] worldliness as well.

[01:15:20] I have always had some misgivings about casting people

[01:15:24] in like the 16 to 21 range on Survivor

[01:15:27] because pretty much all they know is college at that point.

[01:15:32] They know either high school or college.

[01:15:34] There's not a lot of life experience.

[01:15:36] It's a little bit like throwing them into the pool

[01:15:39] and probably having them struggle

[01:15:40] just because they're playing up against people

[01:15:42] that have experienced so much more than them.

[01:15:44] They're closed off from the world in that perspective.

[01:15:47] Jellinski had his eyes open to the world

[01:15:49] in a very stark way early on.

[01:15:51] And he is someone again who dropped out of college

[01:15:55] due to, I just think trying to figure out

[01:15:57] where he was in life.

[01:15:59] And I think as a result has kind of had to figure things out

[01:16:02] for a few years now that he has gotten back on his feet

[01:16:05] and is now pursuing some degrees here.

[01:16:07] And what was it, gaming management

[01:16:09] and international relations?

[01:16:12] Which is basically a survivor, right?

[01:16:14] - He certainly is.

[01:16:15] He's somebody who has had a lot of chaos in his life.

[01:16:19] And I think he's somebody who I don't think

[01:16:21] is gonna be thrown by the new era of the game.

[01:16:24] And maybe somebody who kind of thrives in chaos

[01:16:26] and maybe might be an agent of chaos to some degree.

[01:16:31] And tell me if you think that you agree with this,

[01:16:34] but I kind of get from it as a game player only,

[01:16:38] kind of like a Luke Toki a little bit

[01:16:40] from Australian survivor.

[01:16:42] - He's got a lot of that king of the jungle look to him

[01:16:44] as well.

[01:16:45] I believe his hair was pulled back in my interview with him.

[01:16:48] But like, once he lets that main fly,

[01:16:50] I know he said it's not completely Tyson full length,

[01:16:52] but like it's still pretty, pretty fun there.

[01:16:56] Yeah, I could definitely see there's a churlish aspect

[01:16:59] to Gyllenski despite the fact that he sounds,

[01:17:01] I think just with the tone of his voice,

[01:17:03] like sometimes a little dry,

[01:17:05] there really is that sense from him,

[01:17:08] perhaps to his chagrin as I wanna talk about it

[01:17:10] a little bit of like, I'm a fan, I'm here to play survivor,

[01:17:14] I'm willing to do a lot of fun things along the way.

[01:17:17] And so I do think that Gyllenski is someone

[01:17:20] who is going to grab at every single opportunity.

[01:17:23] And that might involve leading someone

[01:17:25] to a Belware advantage.

[01:17:27] It might involve putting an idle clue in someone's bag.

[01:17:30] I'll Pete Gyorkowski.

[01:17:31] It might involve setting up a spy shack,

[01:17:33] though I think that would work least so for him,

[01:17:36] just considering his heights.

[01:17:38] I mean, he'd probably be better

[01:17:40] like disguising himself as a tree.

[01:17:43] - Yeah, well, Jake was a tree

[01:17:45] and then he gave that up,

[01:17:46] he wasn't gonna be a tree anymore.

[01:17:48] - It's interesting also that I feel that there's like

[01:17:52] two sides of his personality where that he talked about

[01:17:55] - Yeah, there's Dave and there's Gyllenski.

[01:17:57] - Dave and there's Gyllenski.

[01:17:59] But he thought that his arrogance,

[01:18:00] which I think that definitely you do get that side of him

[01:18:04] that I'm not necessarily saying in a bad way,

[01:18:06] but you definitely can like get the sense like that it's there.

[01:18:09] But also the fact that he cited both Jeff Probst

[01:18:13] and the great Dr. Eliza.

[01:18:15] And they both talked about his empathy

[01:18:18] and how quickly he connects with other people.

[01:18:23] And like I do feel like that there is,

[01:18:26] those are almost kind of like opposite traits.

[01:18:29] - Yeah, I was surprised by that.

[01:18:32] Not only happily surprised by the fact

[01:18:34] that apparently I found my new best friend out in Fiji,

[01:18:36] according to Mr. Gyllenski.

[01:18:38] But this idea that again, he talks,

[01:18:41] so I wouldn't say game bottingly if that's even a word,

[01:18:45] but I think like the way he talked about things

[01:18:47] so methodically during the previous questions

[01:18:50] in our interview, even to your point,

[01:18:53] he mentions how his Kryptonite is that he has arrogance,

[01:18:56] that he's someone who is a bit of a late comer to the show.

[01:18:59] Perhaps again, speaking to that energy level

[01:19:01] came in from Big Brother, which usually it's the opposite,

[01:19:05] but someone who has watched every season of Survivor

[01:19:07] three times up to this point.

[01:19:09] He knows, again, it has a bit of that

[01:19:10] culture, young energy, but knows, okay,

[01:19:13] but I have to management, I have to keep that in mind.

[01:19:15] But then he says, as I mentioned in the interview,

[01:19:18] like a degree removed from Banyu's favorite player Spencer,

[01:19:22] oh, Dr. Liza and Jeff Bull told me

[01:19:24] you're gonna have a very hard time winning this game,

[01:19:27] which is not, I think, meant to say,

[01:19:30] oh, you're gonna be bad at it.

[01:19:31] They were more so appealing to the fact that,

[01:19:34] sort of like actually what we were just talking about

[01:19:35] with Banyu, you make really tight connections with people,

[01:19:40] and that's gonna be very tough to sever.

[01:19:42] And I agree with you, it's a little,

[01:19:44] it's a little disparate to kind of like,

[01:19:46] settled in our own brains, let alone his.

[01:19:49] This is someone who is such an avowed fan of the game,

[01:19:52] albeit recently and loves social strategy,

[01:19:55] as is clear with his obsession with Big Brother.

[01:19:58] At the same time, you look to his background.

[01:20:01] Again, I'll keep saying like Banyu,

[01:20:03] someone who grew up pretty alone

[01:20:05] and had to kind of rely on like found family

[01:20:08] in a manner of speaking and making these close bonds

[01:20:10] organically with people.

[01:20:13] I think it's easier said than done for him

[01:20:15] to be able to say like, all right,

[01:20:17] you're my best friend right now,

[01:20:19] we promised we'd be in each other's weddings in the future,

[01:20:21] but for right now, you gotta go.

[01:20:23] - All the story about his upbringing

[01:20:25] was just captivating, gripping,

[01:20:29] really just an incredible ordeal that he went through,

[01:20:34] and the stuff that he said about talking about,

[01:20:38] Carolyn and addiction, I thought that that was all

[01:20:41] really, really great stuff.

[01:20:43] So just, I think it's gonna be a very fascinating person

[01:20:46] to have in this season.

[01:20:48] - I completely agree.

[01:20:49] I mean, his story was just unbelievable.

[01:20:53] Again, him saying that he felt like four years old

[01:20:56] was the first time he realized like,

[01:20:58] yeah, I kind of have to fend for myself

[01:21:00] and parent my parents, unimaginable to me.

[01:21:03] And I think again, that gives you a sense of maturity

[01:21:08] that people like twice his age might not have.

[01:21:11] And also the story about like the SWAT team

[01:21:14] charging into his house and like punching his mom

[01:21:18] in the face is just absolutely wild.

[01:21:21] But I agree, I like what you said about Carolyn,

[01:21:24] where I think this idea that he exuded in the interview

[01:21:28] of like people can think about addiction

[01:21:32] and not automatically go to like huddled over an alley

[01:21:36] with a pipe or a joint that there are plenty of addicts

[01:21:40] out there who struggle through what they struggle through

[01:21:42] but like are able to live quote unquote normal day to day

[01:21:46] lives and I thought it was really interesting

[01:21:48] that he expressed like, yeah, my parents and I

[01:21:50] have gone through it and they're both still addicts.

[01:21:53] They're great people.

[01:21:54] They've had their struggles, they use pretty much daily

[01:21:57] but they're still doing what they need

[01:22:00] to get through in the world.

[01:22:01] It's a very, I think unique perspective on addiction

[01:22:04] that I'm hopeful that they espouse in the show

[01:22:06] because we talked about this with Carolyn

[01:22:07] like how important of a message that it is.

[01:22:11] So as, you know, why would imagine,

[01:22:15] I have a couple of minds about Jielinsky.

[01:22:17] I think Jielinsky in one direction

[01:22:20] could very easily overplay his hand early on.

[01:22:23] I think there's a good chance he could be like,

[01:22:26] 'cause he was the one right when I asked that boat question

[01:22:28] who says, yep, I'm getting on.

[01:22:29] I'll rig the rock draw, I'm a super fan,

[01:22:32] almost like that Brandon Donlon aspect of like,

[01:22:35] all right, well, I have to take every opportunity

[01:22:37] that's given to me, so I'm gonna go on this.

[01:22:40] And I could see a world where maybe people

[01:22:43] start eyeballing him of saying, this guy's doing way too much.

[01:22:47] He's not really trustworthy right now.

[01:22:48] Yes, he could be the kid of the tribe

[01:22:50] but that only goes so far.

[01:22:53] But if he's able to keep his composure,

[01:22:56] be able to ingratiate himself well.

[01:22:58] You know, I think that he did call himself a bit scrawny

[01:23:00] but I think he does have at least that height

[01:23:03] and that like physical presence

[01:23:04] that could assist them in challenges

[01:23:06] as well, certainly has some intelligence

[01:23:08] on him that might help in puzzles.

[01:23:10] If he's able to do what he claims he can do

[01:23:13] and like socially ingratiate himself

[01:23:16] and then maybe pursue some of those bigger strategic maneuvers,

[01:23:20] I could see him doing well in this game.

[01:23:22] Now, look, I am remiss to trust the opinions of Dr. Liza

[01:23:26] and Jeff Probst that perhaps he would have a lot of difficulty

[01:23:31] cutting people towards the end of the game,

[01:23:32] despite how much he wants to play.

[01:23:35] So I don't know if this is another person

[01:23:37] that I see necessarily doing this stuff

[01:23:39] that's necessary to win,

[01:23:41] but I think it really is sort of like the alpha

[01:23:43] and omega for Jaleonski.

[01:23:45] Yeah, I think he's going to be fine for a while

[01:23:48] but I do think like similarly to Sammy from Survivor 43

[01:23:52] and when you and I did the cast preview back then,

[01:23:55] I was actually pretty down on Sammy.

[01:23:56] I thought that he's 21.

[01:23:58] Okay, the kids, they think it's easier

[01:24:00] than it actually is gonna be,

[01:24:02] I don't know if he's gonna necessarily be deferential

[01:24:05] and he was like beloved by his cast.

[01:24:08] So I do think that Jaleonski, I think he's gonna fit in.

[01:24:11] I think he's gonna have no problem getting along with people

[01:24:14] but I almost feel like a similar like end trajectory

[01:24:17] is now for Jaleonski where Sammy came in seventh

[01:24:22] and I feel like that much like Caleb last season,

[01:24:25] he says that he's going to try to make people feel like,

[01:24:29] oh, he's just a surfer guy, he's too deep.

[01:24:33] You know what, you can't--

[01:24:34] Yeah, I did not get any fob you energy from him.

[01:24:38] I'm sorry, Jaleonski.

[01:24:39] You're not getting that from him.

[01:24:40] So he does seem like a very intelligent guy.

[01:24:44] I'm sure he's gonna be no slouch in the challenges.

[01:24:47] He's tall, I suspect he's gonna be playing a big game

[01:24:51] and so unless he just has everybody snowed,

[01:24:55] I just feel like final nine, final eight.

[01:25:00] I feel like that people say,

[01:25:01] okay, we can't let this guy get any further.

[01:25:04] I completely, and just one less like,

[01:25:07] I really do believe in the new era

[01:25:11] you need like some way to hide.

[01:25:15] Like something that is going to be like to hide you

[01:25:19] in some way.

[01:25:20] You can't just be like the lesson from Caleb is like,

[01:25:24] you gotta have some imperfection.

[01:25:28] Yeah, and I think the interesting thing is

[01:25:30] that imperfection for Jaleonski on paper could be his age.

[01:25:34] Again, I think a 21 year old could present themselves

[01:25:37] and this happened with Carson a bit is like,

[01:25:40] well, I'm just the young kid.

[01:25:42] You all are teaching me.

[01:25:43] I'm not dangerous in this game.

[01:25:45] I'm still in college at this point.

[01:25:47] I'm still learning about the world

[01:25:49] in so many ways teach me.

[01:25:51] But I think just the way Jaleonski

[01:25:52] composes himself kind of sabotages that to me.

[01:25:56] Like the vibe again, I get from him

[01:25:57] is that he very much is not his age.

[01:26:00] I think that works beautifully for him

[01:26:01] in terms of being more wise to the world

[01:26:04] than perhaps another 21 year old you might run into.

[01:26:07] It won't necessarily help here.

[01:26:08] What I also find interesting is that he does tell me

[01:26:10] like if he goes on the journey that he wants to,

[01:26:13] he's going to come back and he's going to be honest.

[01:26:16] I can absolutely see a situation where like,

[01:26:18] he comes back, he opens up about what happened

[01:26:21] in the tribes like, I don't trust that.

[01:26:23] Like I think Caleb's a really good comparison

[01:26:26] and just like, I don't think he has that necessarily,

[01:26:29] I don't want to use the term smart means to him

[01:26:31] 'cause I think Caleb didn't necessarily have that.

[01:26:33] But certainly that's sort of the near of like,

[01:26:35] okay, you're selling me something.

[01:26:37] I don't think Jaleonski has that.

[01:26:39] But I just think the way he kind of comes across

[01:26:43] has this sort of facade to it of like,

[01:26:47] okay, but I'm probably hiding something as well.

[01:26:50] And that's going to be tough,

[01:26:51] even when he's trying to be the most honest he can to somebody.

[01:26:54] - Okay, Mike, both Jaleonski and Bonu

[01:26:57] referenced the bearded guy.

[01:27:00] You said something about maybe there's some,

[01:27:03] not everybody that they talk about is going to be there.

[01:27:04] Is bearded guy in this cast?

[01:27:06] - Bearded guy is not in this cast.

[01:27:08] - Oh, well, well, how do we lose bearded guy?

[01:27:11] - Oh, well, Rob, if you think bearded guy

[01:27:13] has been referenced off the amount of times,

[01:27:15] just to you, wait, this guy was the talker the town

[01:27:19] amongst this cast, Todd Narosa.

[01:27:21] This guy made a big, big impression.

[01:27:24] - Start at change.org, beard guy for Survivor 47,

[01:27:28] coach beard, get him back.

[01:27:30] - Oh boy, well, yeah, maybe a better ending

[01:27:31] for coach beard from a popularity perspective

[01:27:33] than the way things ended for that.

[01:27:34] The show he was a part of in general.

[01:27:36] I will so though mention from those questions,

[01:27:39] I mean, we're talking about these two guys.

[01:27:42] And yes, Jaleonski does mention he was not getting

[01:27:44] good vibes from Mr. Thick Beard,

[01:27:46] but he was getting good vibes from another guy

[01:27:49] in particular, the one with the ponytail,

[01:27:52] who seemed like he was just out there

[01:27:54] for the spiritual adventure of it all.

[01:27:57] I think these two are gonna be thickest thieves, Rob.

[01:28:01] I think these two have essentially the same weakness.

[01:28:05] I don't know if Dr. Liza and Jeff Props told Banyu

[01:28:08] like, yeah, you're gonna have a tough time

[01:28:09] winning this game because of your empathy.

[01:28:11] But it seems like both these guys have expressed

[01:28:13] either internally or externally

[01:28:16] that they are really sympathetic and empathetic in nature.

[01:28:21] I think these two guys have a similar build to them.

[01:28:24] I think they have a similar sort of like energetic grab life

[01:28:27] by the horns take on this game.

[01:28:30] So I would not be surprised, Rob,

[01:28:32] if we see like a Banyu and Jaleonski will link up ASAP.

[01:28:35] - The new Luke and Jericho?

[01:28:37] - I mean, I think one of them would have to walk

[01:28:39] on their knees to be Jericho, but sure, get the cookie.

[01:28:42] - That's not one for one, Mike.

[01:28:44] - I mean, it's interesting because I think Jaleonski,

[01:28:48] I don't know, he sort of has this laid back energy to him.

[01:28:50] I don't know if he's gonna be like running

[01:28:52] through the jungle, Allah, Luke causing chaos to happen.

[01:28:55] I think maybe he'd more so he'd be the one to do it

[01:28:57] behind the scenes, but I could definitely see these guys

[01:29:01] getting along really well.

[01:29:02] And I don't know, maybe unfortunately,

[01:29:04] they might feed into each other's worst habits.

[01:29:05] Like they'll be the ones mulling over the beach

[01:29:07] of like, do we cut this person?

[01:29:09] I don't think I can.

[01:29:10] I know it's best for our games,

[01:29:11] but I can't do it if you can't do it.

[01:29:13] - Yeah.

[01:29:14] All right, can't wait to see how it's all going to play out.

[01:29:17] There's Bon New, there's Jaleonski.

[01:29:19] Mike, can you tell us who we're gonna hear from next?

[01:29:22] - Yeah, so we're going from two men to two women,

[01:29:26] the next two people in this group.

[01:29:28] We are going to be hearing my interviews tomorrow

[01:29:32] of Jess Chong and Kenzie Petty

[01:29:36] and the interesting personalities on this tribe will continue.

[01:29:39] - Okay.

[01:29:40] Mike, this is great.

[01:29:43] Can't wait to see what comes up next.

[01:29:45] Of course, you can watch the video

[01:29:47] on our YouTube channel at ropperswebs.com/youtube,

[01:29:50] but Mike, I know that you have a ton of stuff

[01:29:52] cooking over at parade.com.

[01:29:55] So what's up next?

[01:29:56] - Hey, talk about the batches from the very beginning.

[01:29:58] I've been baking up lots of articles.

[01:30:01] So I am putting out, we're talking two castaways

[01:30:04] at a time in these podcasts.

[01:30:06] I'm doing the same over at parade.com,

[01:30:08] putting out two written interviews a day.

[01:30:11] Just to like vary it up, we started with one group here,

[01:30:15] but I started with another group on parade in written form.

[01:30:19] If you want written versions of these articles

[01:30:21] or if you wanna get to know

[01:30:22] probably the last group of castaways

[01:30:24] that Rob and I will talk about.

[01:30:25] First, you could check that out at parade.com.

[01:30:28] I'll be posting to a day for the next nine days

[01:30:31] and you can keep up with everything I'm doing

[01:30:32] over at a Mike Bloom type on social media,

[01:30:35] as well as on my cameo page.

[01:30:37] - Okay, all right, and of course the place

[01:30:39] for all your survivor podcast coverage

[01:30:43] right here, go to roppitswebs.com/subscribe.

[01:30:46] Thank you so much for joining us.

[01:30:47] Take care everybody, have a good one, bye.

[01:30:50] (upbeat music)

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