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[00:02:09] Survivor Blood vs Water One of the most audacious concepts on paper of taking 10 former Survivor players and pitting them against and sometimes alongside 10 of their loved ones and seeing what happens and talk about a season that defied expectations in so many ways.
[00:02:27] Now, of course, I am not alone here to close out yet another week of the wishlist. It only makes sense in a season that is all about blood that we bring on Uncle Kiwi himself, of course, a podcaster of Robin and Kiba Nudia podcast,
[00:02:39] 32 fans, NGOG, the patron feed of 32 fans as well as that half, much like the day point five that they did as well in Blood vs Water. It is Akiva Winokur. Did you I just thought about this now.
[00:02:51] Did you invite me on because I probably have the largest family of any podcaster? Yeah, I mean, I guess I really had to scour who amongst the podcasters of RHAP had the most children. And I suppose you do stick out in that regard.
[00:03:04] You stand the most likely chance of getting voted out by one of your children just from a pure, you know, metrics perspective. I think yeah, I think all five of my kids would probably vote me out happily, not even for strategy, just for like the memes and stuff.
[00:03:17] So I that that I believe certainly my wife who wouldn't even go out there with me, I think. See, that's the problem is people talk about, OK, we need a Millennials versus Gen X sequel of like Millennials versus Gen Alpha or Gen Z.
[00:03:28] But the Gen Z kids would do what Sierra did, but without an ounce of remorse, because they would be doing it for the lulls and for the memes. It's true. I think it's I think like the next generation will be like, what's the big deal?
[00:03:39] Like, of course, you vote at your parent who can trust their mom. Do you think it's time now like that? We're up to season 47. This is season 27. It's been 10 years. Do you think it's time for another blood versus water?
[00:03:49] I mean, the interesting thing that happened with the casting of this was that we'll talk about these players. Obviously, some of them were brought on because they're really interesting players in and of themselves. And they also happen to have an interesting loved one.
[00:04:02] For some of them, they were very much loved one forward casting of, oh, we really like the appeal of your loved one. And you'll come as well because you happen to be a survivor player. Of course, they do try this again in San Juan del Sur.
[00:04:13] And I think, well, we maybe look more favorably upon the cast back then than back then. I think in 2014 production regarded as kind of a dud because they were specifically like casting duos rather than, oh, OK, let's bring on, you know,
[00:04:29] one person and then maybe try to find someone almost amazing race style. So I do think it's a fun idea to capture, but I feel like in an era where we are just incredibly bereft of themes, blood versus watering coming back anytime soon.
[00:04:43] Yeah, it's also funny because I think you could bring it back now with returning players easier because, A, you've almost doubled the cast size, but you've more than doubled it in the sense that someone who was maybe on season 14
[00:04:56] might have a grown child now or something, you know? So there's a lot more options for family as well. So I do think choosing from, you know, 600 survivors or whatever and all their family, you'd probably be able to find, you know, 10 more Sierras and red bell peppers.
[00:05:09] Well, that's the thing is that back when this happened, it's been reported throughout these podcasts. And when I talk about people, I usually say, oh, they got a call for blood versus water. And that was pretty much the case, which was at the time.
[00:05:21] Speaking of these titular liquids, it was a bit of a cold call to a lot of these players being like, hey, by the way, do you have a loved one and or a backup loved one that you would want to play the game with prospectively for a season?
[00:05:33] And so it's always tough to figure out, like, who was truly on the bubble of getting on with the exception of like an RC and her dad who were on until the last second versus who was just getting that cold call and availability thing.
[00:05:45] But they really cast the net wide for an incredibly, as I'll say, audacious concept. I remember at the time I was like loosely following the spoilers around the end of Caramo and I had heard word of, OK, next season, it's going to be a tribe of 10 returning players
[00:06:02] versus a tribe of 10 loved ones. Redemption Island is back. But if your loved one goes to Redemption Island, you can switch with them at any point in time. Oh, and here are the list of returnees. Here's Rupert for the fourth time.
[00:06:15] Here's Tyson and Tina after getting voted out early in their all-star season. Here's three people from Survivor One World, a highly regarded season. I say sarcastically, here's Jervis from the very first season. It still is.
[00:06:29] And I say this even after we just talked about Caramo and like one of the most WTF assemblings of returnees in Survivor history. But if you talk about a season that outkicks its coverage in terms of actual execution, blood versus water absolutely does.
[00:06:45] Now, Mike, since you started following football, you also know you understand that the expression outkicks. It's exactly exactly. Yeah, I agree. So one of the reasons I chose this season was this was my first season listening to every episode on RHAP.
[00:07:01] And I'd sort of come back after a few years away from Survivor in 26. So I was like between 26 and 27. Rob was doing the shtick for people don't remember. And I didn't know at the time, like it's hard to tell.
[00:07:13] And maybe it's a good lesson for us podcasters, like what's real and what's fake unless you're like a diehard person, a listener. So they were like joking about like, will they or won't they? Him and Nicole going on.
[00:07:23] I believed that I was stupid and I felt like, oh, they are going on. And that so there was a lot of excitement in sort of the I think that was like the beginning of like a really big peak and like RHAP.
[00:07:35] But I agree the I was excited about the idea of the concept. It was like one of these. There were so many like fan concept type things back then. And like that this was like what some like fan would get bored and say, like, unread
[00:07:46] it, like, all right, this guy's grandma. And yeah, you know, but but you're right. The big the headlines were the cast were three people from one world, which was low then. And I believe still now.
[00:07:58] And yeah, a couple a couple like really, you know, Laura Moret, who is ultimately pretty forgettable on a season that really just focused on one or two people in Samoa. Like there really weren't a lot of people who the and like you said, everyone, even Tyson,
[00:08:14] who is beloved, was coming off his worst season. So everyone was really like there wasn't one or two people like it wasn't the queen era yet on, you know, on social media where people were just standing who they like.
[00:08:25] But if they were, it would have they would have had to like squint a little bit to find their queen there. It wasn't so obvious who like the fan favorites were. But it's really interesting to see what happens in this season, because what takes off originally,
[00:08:37] despite all its misgivings, is the concept that there is this fun psychological push and pull of OK, and, you know, blood versus water, I will just say as a title is one of the oddest not oddest in survivor history.
[00:08:52] Game Changers takes the cake, but blood versus water is a high second placer because it doesn't mean anything. It does imply that at one point I think they were trying to do like five pairs of family members versus like five pairs of romantically integrated partners.
[00:09:09] But once they actually got down to, OK, we'll just put the returnees up against the loved ones that made it so much more captivating, in my opinion, because you see the emotional turmoil of like watching your partner get eliminated across the aisle.
[00:09:22] And how does that influence your game and how does that influence what you do in your own strategy, seeing what's happening like someone like John Cody ends up getting doomed because his wife is voted out early and keeps giving him idle clues.
[00:09:34] You know, we see the crusade mounted against Brad Culpepper because all the returnees are getting mad that he keeps voting out their loved ones. And then once we integrate things a bit more and then get into the merge, we do see maybe
[00:09:48] on paper a bit of a steamroll from Tyson and company. But there are still some big moments, including, of course, the first rock draw in 23 seasons. And I would say, unlike Caramo and where again on paper half and half, a lot of people
[00:10:03] were really shrugging their shoulders being like, why are we doing another returning season like this just after the last one, which is pretty darn bad? I think it goes to show that when you fill out the non returning part of your cast with
[00:10:15] some pretty fun survivor players that some of which have made multiple appearances on subsequent seasons, it does make for a much more compelling time. I agree. Yes. Another thing they did here, which I think hurts hurt the show and the premerge of this
[00:10:32] season was much weaker than the post merge, which has one of the more iconic moments of the first 27 seasons with voting at our mom, at least from I think the fans cared a little bit less than CBS did the diehard fans.
[00:10:43] But definitely it was it was still something. And just the idea of the rock draw and the idea that maybe Tyson, who was steamrolling the whole season, could potentially get voted out. There was a lot there were a lot.
[00:10:55] It was like what we'd call in fantasy football, my stars and scrubs. There was a lot of like really terrible episodes like the like the Laura Bonham boot. And like there were some horrible episodes. And then there was a few like really iconic episodes.
[00:11:11] It was the same thing with the cast. Like there was some stars, people like, wow, I can't believe they found this person and some people who, you know, if we were casting 500 people on the 50th season, probably still wouldn't make it, you know? All right.
[00:11:22] Well, let's start getting into these so-called stars and scrubs and hopefully find more of the former than the latter. Just like the last season, I am going to divide this up into returnees and loved ones. But in true Renap style, Uncle Keevy, you always have that innovative brain.
[00:11:39] You want to come on and play a bit of a game here where these are our 10 returnees on Blood versus Water and Order of Finish. We have, of course, Rupert Colton, Candice, now Cody, Kat, who unfortunately does make the merge much of the chagrin of her relationship.
[00:11:54] We have the winner of Exile Island, Otis, who's our merch boot, Laura Morette. We have Tina Wesson, who returns from Redemption Island to become our fallen angel of the season and our all returning final three of Jervis, that neat lady Monica Culpepper, and then our winner in Tyson.
[00:12:10] You wanted to pick because you don't know at this moment who of this cast is on the list, but everyone else who has been listening along does. They don't like you're even prognosticating. You're just trying to get a finger on the pulse of a vein.
[00:12:23] That's what I'm always trying to do. Get a finger on the pulse. All right, so give me your thoughts here. Who do you think out of these 10 is on the shortlist right now? OK, so and you have to tell me who the person was.
[00:12:34] So I'm giving you a little bit of homework because it for me to guess I have to get inside their head who the guest was. And I will say I am a little bit spoiled on. So as we're recording this little behind the scenes, this is episode 27.
[00:12:48] You've dropped, I think, 13 of the 27. Right. We're halfway to the post of when this episode would be released. Only three of the 10 players have have been discussed on the podcast. Mike didn't give me the, you know, the exclusive scenes to be a $750 patron to get that.
[00:13:07] So starting off, I'd say Rupert obviously was was put on Pearl Island. No question. And then the next person to play was Candace. Right. Yes. I mean, Jervis, you know, we know. Oh, sorry. I skipped Jervis. I skipped Jervis. Yeah, Jervis season one is a yes. Right. Yep.
[00:13:27] And then Candace season 13, I am spoiled on. But I would have said yes. But but I think like depending on how many people who that was Maryanne, I believe. Yeah, we ended up we ended up going perhaps a bit controversially with filling out the
[00:13:38] ballot with all the returnees, Candace, mainly because she had said that she was called for season 40 back when it was like a rival's theme. So it was one of these things of, oh, production's interested in her very recently. And she could come back. Yeah.
[00:13:50] So I'd say she's like three B and that, you know, I mean, obviously, you're going to put poverty and housing ahead of her. But if you're going to put enough people on. OK, and so then after that.
[00:14:01] We can get to oh, oh, I missed I missed our couple. We miss our Tina. Are we right? We had five people. All right. So I'm sorry. I just didn't listen to those yet. OK, Tina, I'm going to say is a yes. Tina is a yes.
[00:14:16] OK, now the interesting thing, if we're going to if me and you are the producer. And let's say it's a good luck survivor. If that's the case, we could we would kill it. Mike, let's say it's let's say it's legends. OK, part of the.
[00:14:33] Problem with casting some of these people is like what is their age now versus then in terms of like where are they in their life and not that you can't cast someone who's old, but this show seems to not do that for the most part these days.
[00:14:47] So if you have someone with like Tina who was snubbed in season 40, this is her like and I don't think she has got a good chance here, but this is certainly her last chance. You know, 100%. So OK, but so Tina's a yes. And I forgot ours realistically.
[00:15:06] He's not going to get called. I think they're probably out on the whole family at this point. He didn't get called for 40. And, you know, if we had been talking in season 27, which I think we were and somebody
[00:15:19] was going to say in season 40, they're going to do all winners. 20 people and ours is not going to get a call. We would have thought that was insane, right? He was like such a big part of the community, and he was a very popular winner.
[00:15:30] People were he was maybe the one person that like was universally people were excited to see him back because he hadn't gotten a call back yet. I'm going to say no for ours on Panama. You are correct, though I will correct some facts on your part.
[00:15:46] He actually did get a call for season 40, and he said no. Oh, he said no. He is done with Survivor. OK, a lot of people listen. A lot of people say that I do think even if all 40 people are willing to go or even let's
[00:15:59] say Cochran whatever wasn't willing to go and hatch wasn't they weren't willing to have him. I don't think it would have been cast. I'm sure they you know, they called 15 to get 10, you know, each side.
[00:16:08] But I don't think he would have been cast over, you know, Nick or Adam or some of the more recent players. So honestly, you know, even JT, I think probably gets the call ahead of him. What about Tyson? OK, yeah, Tyson's an obvious yes, I'm sure.
[00:16:22] Who do you speak about token genes with? I'm frail, Mary. OK, yeah, for sure. Yes, the Tyson. And then I guess we could do a triple here for one world. Yeah, do you want to talk about Laura before or after that? OK, fine.
[00:16:35] So just to go in order, Laura Moret, I'm going to say no. I'm going to say no to Laura Moret. We said no to Laura initially, but she did get on the ballot as a wild card.
[00:16:45] Our thinking in the moment was that we felt and we'll talk about this actually with another person and we ended up saying no with is that like this season was actually a bit of a passing of the torch where they came back for their second time.
[00:16:57] They certainly prove themselves more than they did their first season, but it's almost like their story feels complete. And now we sort of move things on to their loved ones and not for the horse too much. So, yeah, I'm going to get one person from their family.
[00:17:11] It's not going to be right. I felt in that moment that Laura, I really liked her on blood versus water. She really impressed in the fact that she was nearly a two time Redemption Island
[00:17:20] returnee, making to the end both times and proving herself as like a low key challenge piece. I think she's also up there with like getting the most votes in a season in survivor history. But I know the listeners really wanted to have her on the ballot initially.
[00:17:32] So she's on right now. Let's do our one, two, three punch here of our one world trio. OK, who's the guest? So that was a man. OK, all right, a man. Hmm. I'm going to say for sure. No to Colton. Yeah, no to Colton.
[00:17:50] I think that's most of the biggest. No, it's probably coming from production when it comes to cultic. It's very for sure. Jeff really tore into him when he left the game. Yeah, he was really upset. I'm going to say no to Monica. Same idea with with Laura Sierra.
[00:18:04] I think if you're getting cold paperback, it's not Monica. Yeah, I think that's the thing is Monica, at least in the moment, felt like her time was done. She kind of expresses the attitude that Don did as well after Caramello and of like,
[00:18:16] listen, I made it all 39 days. Yeah, I didn't win. But like, I don't think I necessarily need that much unfinished business. And again, I felt like I saw all I really needed to see of Monica,
[00:18:28] as opposed to we'll talk about her husband, who I think has a bit more unfinished business to him. Yeah, yeah. And I'm going to say no to Kat. We said yes to Kat. OK, now there aren't a ton of people.
[00:18:38] I mean, beyond Kim Spradlin, would you say Sabrina? Sabrina said no to coming back. So we also you're OK, so you're following my my logic is if someone Sabrina on the on the 31 list, though.
[00:18:52] Yes, but as has been revealed a bit against her will in the moment, and she was actually happy she did not get on. So we I usually go by the logic of if they explicitly say no, then it's a no. Otherwise, it's a yes. So we did pull.
[00:19:04] I don't believe 95 percent of them, but I understand you're going with what they say. I'm a journalist. I try to take them at their word. Fair, fair, fair. We brought on Kat. Kat is somebody who has expressed wanting to come back.
[00:19:15] And since she played, I mean, she was super young when she played. I think she was like 23 in one world. And so she has obviously grown up a bunch. She was 24 in season 24, ironically enough. She's gotten married since she said in her Ross quarantine questionnaire that like
[00:19:31] she wishes she played in her 30s because she has a much better perspective about the role. Now, look, I still want that cat that we know and love who does and says absolutely ridiculous. Yeah, I don't want to. I don't want a growth arc for Kat.
[00:19:42] You know, we could get other people's growth arcs. I agree. I mean, we have to like there's also a question and, you know, it's different with different guests that you have on. Is it who we want to see or is it who they will call?
[00:19:54] Because if it's who we want to see, it's just up to us. And it's our personal preference. I would call it the Sean Rector test where when you put out the ballot with Rob after
[00:20:03] season after the 46th season and you know, you put 200 names on the ballot or whatever, Sean Rector will get voted in by the fans. But obviously, he's also not going to get called for season 50 and all that.
[00:20:15] So it's like who you want to see or is it who, you know, who like who realistically are we are we making predictions or sort of fan casting? It's a little bit of both.
[00:20:25] And you'll see throughout the past podcast we've done that we try to do that mix of like, OK, here are some out and out legends that would be called if it was a quote unquote Legends Titans of the game season.
[00:20:36] Here are some people that have come back multiple times. But like, do you have a story? Someone like Candace, for example, who is now a mother? I think the Internet now considers her mother as well, considering how she treated Brad
[00:20:47] in her last season, had some unfinished business in the form of her going out first pretty unfairly and then also, again, has expressed been expressed interest in from production. So she is more so on the side of like I could see her coming back.
[00:21:01] But there have definitely been players, especially in seasons like one world, for instance, where the pickings are a bit slim or we throw on some of the should entries. That being said, as we get into our 10 loved ones,
[00:21:12] I think there is a case for at least a few to fall into maybe both categories. Now, I do wonder you usually are, you know, you and your guests usually picking three to
[00:21:22] four people, but because we already have a handful of people who are on who are from this cast, I don't think they're bringing back half of the cast of a guest that honestly, Mike has had
[00:21:34] a pretty decent rate of being brought back already, you know, so yeah, you know, I'm going to be stingy. You know, you're welcome to put it wherever you want, but I think I'm going to be stingy here, even though I do like the season.
[00:21:44] Frugal Uncle Keebee, this is why your kids vote you out. No, no welfare when it comes to your picks, but just to read them in order here. We have, of course, Tyson's then girlfriend, now wife, Rachel Folger.
[00:21:55] We have a Jervis's niece, Marissa, who people may misremember was the one to say, if you grab the pepper, it was Candace who flipped them off. Instead, we have the aforementioned Brad Culpepper, who was, you know, the former NFL player
[00:22:08] who comes to the game immediately takes over the loved ones tribe, gets betrayed because of it, comes back, doesn't get voted on to Cambodia, does return for game changers, though, where he ties an immunity challenge record, makes it to the end, makes one wrong decision that arguably
[00:22:24] costs him the game. We have someone that Brad masterminds the boot of in John Cody, who is Candace's husband, who was snugly safe in the man the man alliance on the loved ones tribe before Brad gets paranoid and takes it out.
[00:22:39] We have one of the rare loved ones to have previously appeared on Survivor and Laura Bonham, Rupert's wife, who visited him during Survivor All-Stars. She gets voted out immediately on the loved ones, but then Rupert swaps with her so she
[00:22:51] gets a second life in the game and is voted out right before the merge. We have Vetus, of course, the brother of Otis, who has this competitive streak to him. Also, the story of some coming from the other side of the tracks, you know, being a former
[00:23:05] addict, being a bad boy, quote unquote, and being on his road to recovery, who ends up becoming a bit of an underdog. We have the late great Caleb, who was Colton's boyfriend. We have Tina's daughter, Katie, who is the second victim of a rock draw in Survivor history.
[00:23:22] We have our first ever Big Brother Survivor crossover in the winner of Big Brother 12, Hayden Moss. And of course, and probably the place we should start, Uncle Keevy is the person out of these
[00:23:31] 10 who has had the most longevity both in number of seasons played, but I would also say perhaps in memorability, because yeah, when Sierra Easton walks out in that teaser announcement for Game Changers in the Millennials vs. Gen X finale, Jeff starts a million memes
[00:23:47] when he bellows, she voted out her mom. And indeed, between that and forcing the rock draw, Sierra is like the main character of the loved ones this season. No question. There's not even really a second place.
[00:24:00] I do wonder, I always wonder, you know, it would be fun if Jeff ever did like a real like season by season retrospective. It'd be interesting to see like who they were really like, oh, we thought this person, we
[00:24:10] knew this person beforehand was going to be like the star of the season or one of the stars because you just listed those 10 people. And I'll be honest, I don't want to be mean here. There's a few people who end up being duds in this cast, right?
[00:24:22] There are a few people who are clearly here because they have a very entertaining loved one. Right. And Sierra is, you know, Laura, like we said, is one of the lesser known returnees. And Sierra is clearly a star.
[00:24:38] And I do wonder, you know, like how aware they were that this is like, you know, going to be someone who's going to be on at least three times and she's only 35 now. So, you know, could be plenty more survivor in her if she wants.
[00:24:53] And if they're calling it legends, she did something, you know, that Jeff would be on his very short list of things that were legendary, right? So that's the thing is that the opinion on Sierra, it's been so interesting to watch
[00:25:06] it, you know, change over the course of the three times she's on in only seven seasons where she is on blood versus water and is a universal fan favorite where she gets to personify this theme the best with voting out her mom, even though it didn't make a
[00:25:22] difference. It's more so that she kind of had to fire the symbolic bullet here that she went along to get along and voted her out. But obviously, the big thing that's her calling card is her finally flipping on the
[00:25:33] returnees at the final six, joining Hayden and Katie and forcing that rock drop. It does doom her game, but it really pops in the eyes of the producers. So she's an easy person to put on for second chances where she does finish a place over
[00:25:48] actually ironically enough, keep I realize that her three seasons, she's doubled her placement every time where she was fifth in blood versus water, 10th in Cambodia, 20th in Game Changers. So it implies that we have to have a 40 person cast. She'll be 40th first food in in season 50.
[00:26:05] Yeah, but Sierra does, you know, she makes it mid game. She was someone that was able to help put together like the the Savage Wentworth Idol play and the Kelly Wigglesworth Blindside.
[00:26:16] I will say maybe I was a little bit more out on Sierra because she ended up getting into one of my survivor pet peeves, which is during that one tribal council. She's like, you aren't playing the game.
[00:26:27] Everyone needs to start playing the game and make big moves when like she was very much implying, oh, making big moves equals working with me and helping me through the game. And for sure, everyone else was playing the game.
[00:26:39] Sierra, just because you weren't involved with their plans doesn't necessarily mean that they weren't, but it was still enough to bring her back for Game Changers a few seasons later where diminishing returns is putting it mildly.
[00:26:51] She immediately gets on her tribe, starts kind of doing your usual wheeling and dealing. It turns her off to the rest of the returnees and they vote her out first from the tribe. Sierra has expressed that she would want to come back in her quarantine questionnaire.
[00:27:06] She says, I would always play again. I love challenging myself. I love and miss all the crew that work for the show. I have a serious need to win this game and I feel like the stage of life I'm in right now, I can make it happen.
[00:27:16] So hopefully you all see me again. How true do you think that is, Akiva? By the way, I just had a thought because we're talking about a blood vs water season. What about this story? We said if they do another blood vs water, her daughter is probably worse.
[00:27:31] Yeah, I think it was a daughter. Her first. Yeah, yeah, probably old enough to play. That's true. And Jeff, she was a mom on Survivor. Yeah, and she also did. If you talk about what's happened behind the scenes since then, I think she did have another
[00:27:43] child five years ago. I believe she got divorced and was with another partner at the time of her quarantine questionnaire. So there is also some appeal of like what has happened in your life as well in the year since. But imagine she plays with her daughter.
[00:27:55] That's like that's a three generation survivor. That's a pretty cool story. I mean, that's a pretty incredible thing. And then bring out Laura Moret for the loved ones visit. It'll be very funny. So what do you think, Akiva?
[00:28:05] Because I have certainly seen because of the amount of Sierra we got in such a short period of time that people are saying, oh, she's overrated. We don't need to see her again. But in some cases, absence makes the heart grow fonder.
[00:28:19] Now that we are more than 10 years removed from Sierra's first season, would you want to see her for a fourth time? Would I personally? I mean, not especially, but I wouldn't be like, oh, I can't believe they cast her.
[00:28:31] But I do think there are, you know, if she's grown a lot, I haven't I don't follow her on social media or anything like that. I don't know what she's what she's up to. There are definitely angles for.
[00:28:40] She was still pretty young when she was 24 when she played right the first time, but even the third time, right? She wasn't that much older. And I do think there is a potential growth possibility.
[00:28:52] And, you know, if we are talking the legendary season, I don't think it would be unreasonable to say she did something legendary. And if maybe that'll be Jeff's thing like this person did this like in the opening montage,
[00:29:02] they did, you know, basically talking about why each of the 20 returnees is a legend. Then it would be a very easy sell. You know, if you're taking a woman from the midair to say like, all right, Sierra's, you
[00:29:14] know, a legend, especially maybe you're shying away from some winners because they just played, you know, in the last returning season. So I don't know. All right, well, let's move on to, I would say, the other blood versus water return need
[00:29:25] to make an impact in Survivor on the same season as Sierra's 20 place finish in the game. Let's talk about Brad Culpepper here, because, you know, Monica was initially cast on One World, and I believe her lower third was like NFL players wife. Right.
[00:29:40] So when this job, when that concept got brought up, we end up bringing Brad on here. And certainly in the moment, he was not well liked. I think he represented this, you know, hyper macho alpha male type.
[00:29:54] Suffice it to say, understandably, the Survivor fan base, not a huge fan of these all guy alliances that starts immediately on the loved ones tribe and starts picking off Rachel, then Marissa. Brad is also personified by the people in the game as like the leader of this alliance,
[00:30:11] again, leading to all these skirmishes on Redemption Island where, you know, he's telling Monica to throw clues into the fire. And so people were surprised yet maybe a bit thrilled at the same time to see him get voted
[00:30:23] out so early when Caleb ends up flipping and forcing a tie. Then he ends up getting on the second chance ballot does not get voted through. I think, again, for maybe understandable reasons, given his perception at the time. And so he gets back for game changers.
[00:30:37] People are like, how is Brad Culpepper a game changer? Stop trying to make Brad Culpepper happen for what it's worth. I think Brad Culpepper did improve his standing quite literally in Survivor game changers where the majority of the post merge, he is on the back foot.
[00:30:54] His alliance keeps getting taken out by mostly the actions of Sarah, but he ends up stringing together a five immunity challenge when which ties a record. I think he may be one of the oldest to do it as well.
[00:31:06] I'm pretty sure he was in his like, late 40s, mid 40s when he was playing. And what's interesting is when I was doing my research right after the finale of game changers, he said, I'm not going to play this again. I had my time. Monica had my time.
[00:31:21] We have these twin destinies where we both got voted out on the same day in our first seasons and we both made it to second place and in the same seasons. I'm good, but he did do an interview a few years ago on the Jack Vita podcast where
[00:31:34] he was gung ho to come back. Akiva. Yeah, well, that's why, Mike, I really almost unless somebody says like I'm not coming back because a medical reason or, you know, like they won't let me like I don't really take them. You know what I mean?
[00:31:48] Like I think they could get pretty much anybody. The only person like Cochran, it was a couple of people who I believe like actually say no when they call. But I really, I really don't take the word for it.
[00:32:00] By the way, to give people a little bit of a history lesson, Mike and I did a series of podcasts, if you'll remember with police for season 31. And it was really podcast about about a podcast where there was a lot of excitement in the
[00:32:13] community about who was going to be voted back in. Honestly, my favorite time in Survivor history. Personally, I thought it was a very cool concept. I thought the it really, first of all, punches up the finale.
[00:32:23] But like it was, you know, the tension in the room when they're they're saying who's going to be on the cast and who's not going to be on the cast. Hard to beat that.
[00:32:30] Not, you know, I do think I think Brad Culpepper himself had the misfortune of OK, there's two spots left and he was seated between Spencer and Joe, which look, maybe in retrospect, Brad comes out the cleanest. No, for sure.
[00:32:42] And now, ironically, one of them, you know, you'd think of the three of them, you know, if you just saw them on the street and he was a football player. But yeah, Brad, probably the person you'd agree with most there, for sure. Yeah.
[00:32:51] So it's interesting, though, because again, in the moment, it's clear that production really liked him and brought him back for a second chance. But the audience did it. And I do remember there's a weird thing there where, you know, we were talking about Rob
[00:33:04] interviewed almost everybody on the cast. Brad did not campaign, did not post it. Tweet didn't even have his wife campaign. And then it was like a rumor that they told him he was on, which was very strange.
[00:33:20] Every other person on the season was campaigning, going on, you know, podcasts and tweeting nonstop about, hey, cast me because he had to vote. It was a fan vote. And he did not at all and didn't make it on because he did not campaign.
[00:33:37] And I thought that was very weird. But then they bring him back pretty soon afterwards. Yeah. So I don't know. Maybe he had a feeling, an inkling, something in the water, perhaps blood that maybe there would be another chance.
[00:33:47] But no matter what, he took the opportunity with gusto and ends up again, like I'll give him a lot of commendations for what he was able to do in Game Changers.
[00:33:55] I mean, I think the big to do from that post merge was what Sarah was able to accomplish. But the fact of the matter is, and they talk about this in the reunion, right?
[00:34:04] That if Brad, who wins that final immunity challenge, we're not in the fire making era yet. That's going to happen next season. But if he decides to vote out Sarah there, they do the run of the jury vote at the reunion
[00:34:17] that it's possible he at least ties tie, if not takes it over and gets at least much closer than he does winning. He does get three jury votes out of nine in the end, which is still pretty darn good. But that's some appeal for it as well.
[00:34:32] Is that Brad? Yes, he finished in the same place as his wife. But this wasn't as much of an open and shut as it was with Monica, where it was Vetus only voting for Monica despite Tyson for a promise that he made.
[00:34:44] This was like Brad's narrative is that he kind of screwed himself out of a million dollars in a different world. And I think there is a bit of that competitive spirit that could be a story to have him come back and find an opportunity to get that million.
[00:34:58] Yeah, it's possible. You know, we talk a lot. People talk a lot about villains on the show. And should they cast villains? Should they cast people like, let's say a Russell Hance, like an actually bad person and Russell's excuse me.
[00:35:12] And Brad is an interesting example because he is always a villain when he's on the show. And I don't think he's like Mother Teresa in real life. But I don't think he's a terrible, like, you know, just like cancelable person.
[00:35:25] I don't think maybe as don't come for me. I don't I don't know. But you know what I'm saying? He's more of a show villain. So he's an interesting person where do I want to see him like, no, we're trained to root against him.
[00:35:36] But the show right now doesn't always have, you know, sort of like the classic villain. Some seasons there are. But I think he's like an old school. OK, like the show is clearly like he's a central character.
[00:35:49] But if they're you know, if it's like wrestling and there's babyface and heels, he's a heel. Yeah, well, she also mentioned he is 55 years old right now. But that being said, we have put plenty of people on this ballot, especially from earlier seasons
[00:36:02] that are at least 10 years older. For sure. And he's you know, he's probably in better shape than a lot of other 55 year old. Exactly. He was beating all these people in survivor challenges when he was in his late 40s.
[00:36:14] Let's talk about the other returnee from this group, Vetus. Now, at a certain time, I think you could call Vetus a lock. Again, this was a guy who has an incredible backstory of what he has had to endure in order to survive.
[00:36:27] And then when he comes on to the show, like he does get to be a little schemey. He's the one that at that Brad Culpepper vote, he flips in the tiebreaker to avoid a rock draw and ends up taking out Brad in the process.
[00:36:40] He's someone who is nearly swaps crew when it's just a bunch of like the female returnees, Tina's daughter, Katie and him. And he's a dead man walking, but is able to get Kat and Laura Boneham to go above him.
[00:36:53] He has this big moment when, as I mentioned before, he is taken out and he tries to like loosely threaten Tyson. Hey, if you vote me out, then I won't vote for you in the jury. And so again, he was another shoe in for me in Cambodia.
[00:37:08] It does not work out. It goes the way of Sierra's third season and that he becomes the first boot. And I think one big reason why he would not return, I think the smaller one would be that
[00:37:19] it seems like Vetus is pretty much like Otis moved on with his life. He really has immersed himself into the yoga business. And so good for him. I'm glad he's making it work. But for those that don't know, Survivor Cambodia, Vetus actually caused more drama after his
[00:37:34] vote out than before, where infamously he allegedly left the prejury Ponderosa almost immediately because he missed his family. I believe he had a new child at the time, went home to visit them. As a result, he became the second player in Survivor history right after Brandon Hands
[00:37:52] to get banned from the reunion for violation of his contract. So granted, there have been much larger infractions contestants have made since, but it's a sign that him in production did not end things on good terms.
[00:38:05] Yeah, listen, you know, first and there was I think it was alleged that he basically posted on social media the day he got home spoiling people allegedly. But yeah, people I think that's a little bit of like fan thing.
[00:38:17] We're like, oh, well, they they're never going to have him back because X or Y other than people who are like dangerous, you know, like actually horrible people in real life. There's no list, right? Like they can change their mind.
[00:38:28] Maybe different people running the show besides Jeff now and didn't have to deal with them. That being said, I think Vetus, the idea that he did this. Listen, what's his name? Varner, like, you know, did insane things before the actually bad thing, like insane
[00:38:46] survivor things, and they still invited, you know, invited him back for maybe worse infractions than Vetus ever had ever done. I'm talking about before the thing I'm saying postseason in season eight. And so in theory, yeah, but it's not going to happen.
[00:39:00] I think they're done with him and he's done with that. Yeah. All right. Well, last person I want to talk about is I would not say a returning for survivor, but a returning for CBS reality. Let's talk about Hayden freaking Moss on Survivor. This was so random.
[00:39:16] And look, especially back in those days, the breeding pools between CBS reality TV. There's a lot of cross section in that Venn diagram. Despite the fact that there were new cast members every season, there was a lot of mixing
[00:39:29] and mingling, especially as they continue to cast like young, hot singles in your area. And so Hayden and Kat were together and got onto the show, though I believe Hayden's casting story is I believe he actually was going to be on Survivor initially.
[00:39:42] I think he was originally going to be on like Survivor Nicaragua and then was left off the cast and then eventually got brought in for Big Brother 12, where he ends up winning. He becomes part of one of the most dominant alliances in Survivor history in the brigade,
[00:39:54] which was this secret all guy alliance that controlled the season from beginning to end. Hayden wins four to three, and then he comes onto the season. And to your point, Akiva, about like fan fiction, what ifs? This was one big box checked.
[00:40:09] Never before had we had someone from another competitive reality show on the level of Big Brother come on to survive and a winner and a winner. What would Hayden do? How would it compare what he do? The exact same thing.
[00:40:22] And what was really fun about Hayden is that he had a relatively smooth ride over the course of Big Brother 12, even though he does lose his showman's partner fairly early on. The brigade pretty much cleans house throughout the house.
[00:40:34] Nearly the exact opposite thing over in blood versus water, where again, this all guys alliance kind of falls apart. He's the only one that's left out of the Brad Culpepper vote. He ends up joining in with attorneys for a good portion of time, but then it gets to
[00:40:48] a certain point where he's like, all right, Tyson, Jervis and Monica are clearly running things. I've got to turn things on his head. And so at final six, he seems to be the one to really lead this vote flip to try to go to Sierra.
[00:41:04] You know, him and Caleb were the ones that were trying to do it with her the vote before at the final seven. Sierra does not choose to do so. She goes along with the loved ones and Caleb is voted out.
[00:41:13] But Hayden keeps trying his back is further and further against the wall. He gets three votes, but he gets Sierra to throw a vote on to a returnee, tying the votes and prompting this rock draw. And Hayden unfortunately ends up being on the losing end of that.
[00:41:30] Katie goes and Hayden is booted right thereafter. His game is, hey, done, as Jervis will say angrily in his voting confessional. But he is somebody that I think a lot of people say even to this day, if there is like a loved
[00:41:44] one who has that potential to come back, it would be Hayden. We were a little puzzled when we were talking about the aforementioned season 31 vote. He was on the short list of people who we thought would be on the ballot.
[00:41:55] He was probably, you know, if the ballot, let's say it was 20 people, not 16, almost certainly would have been on there. Though I think there was maybe some scuttlebutt. And maybe this is here to say it's your earlier point about how producers may have thought
[00:42:06] that because he has already played another season of reality TV and one like, does that count as a second chance? Really interesting. Yeah, no, that may have been part of the that may have been part of the decision.
[00:42:17] But it's funny because at the time he did feel like the next hot thing, like you said, you know, the hot young single in your area casting. And for some reason now it would feel, I think, stale. First of all, you could not be on a legend season.
[00:42:31] That's absurd. It would be weird to have a big brother winner who had a relatively mid, not many, you know, he made it deep into the game, but he wasn't, you know, he didn't make that much of enough
[00:42:44] of an impact to be considered a legend just from his survivor standing. So he would be a very weird casting. It's not inconceivable. Maybe he had like a new story, like maybe he became, you know, started a business.
[00:42:56] And I think he was an entrepreneur, if I remember correctly. Maybe he started an app and made hundreds of millions of dollars. And, you know, there is like some sort of arc there that's possible, but not for a legend season, in my opinion. Yeah.
[00:43:07] So Hayden had even after Cambodia, I think he was asked to do Game Changers and didn't make the cut. He also was asked at one point to do the Big Brother All Stars that aired in 2020 and didn't make the cut.
[00:43:18] He seemed that would have been a better spot for him. Yeah. Yeah. He seemed I think he did an interview with Sharon Tharp recently where he said that like he would do Survivor again over Big Brother.
[00:43:28] He feels realistically in sort of being cut on all these recent seasons that CBS probably doesn't necessarily want to bring him back. But this is to your point about what's the criteria for this?
[00:43:40] Hayden would probably be my pick of like emphasizing the wish part of the wish list, because there was so much there. There I mean, obviously, this guy is skilled in social strategy with just being able to look at the board.
[00:43:52] And again, yes, the the rock draw was a move on Sierra's part as well. But Hayden was able to make himself safe when he was dead in the water by being able to convince Sierra in that incredibly entertaining tribal council of Russell Feathers versus Ruffle Feathers.
[00:44:07] And arguably, you could say that like Hayden was more entertaining in Survivor Blood versus Water than he was in his winning season of Big Brother 12. So I feel like it was that combination of like, again, strategic gameplay and entertainment
[00:44:21] factor as well that I think especially in his Hayden day, if you will, would have been a lock return where it just didn't work out. But I could see for again, the less realistic implications of this list if he does make
[00:44:36] it for more so like the fan vote part of this actually have him face a fan vote for once. Yeah. Yeah, I agree with what you say. I think it's not inconceivable that you see him again on a CBS reality show.
[00:44:47] But I do think it would be a little bit of a stretch, I think, to call him for season 50. Yeah, I think we did like a draft last year of who would be the first to complete the CBS trifecta.
[00:44:59] And I believe Hayden was nearly on The Amazing Race during their reality star season. So he would have been the first to do so. But I wonder if the train has left the station in that way. Has somebody done it? I don't I don't know yet. Not yet.
[00:45:11] OK, so I mean, sure, you know, you get an interesting girlfriend or brother or whatever, like put him on. I want to talk about John Cody. Let's talk about another guy with potential. John Cody was this this doctor. I think he was a military doctor at the time.
[00:45:25] I talked about this in the Cook Islands podcast that him and Candace really got hosed for those that don't remember RC and her dad were supposed to be the 10th pair of loved ones. They dropped out the last second when RC's dad failed to pass a health test.
[00:45:39] And then John and Candace were brought in. And then, hey, there is a twist where on the beach minutes into beginning of the game, you have to vote somebody out. And so John's wife is immediately voted out because it's basically last one in first one out.
[00:45:52] And so John again found himself in a fairly comfortable position. But because Candace was on Redemption Island and the conceit was on Redemption Island, you the whoever wins the duels are given clues to idols that you then give to people in the game.
[00:46:07] He kept getting clues from Candace. And so Brad and company feeling paranoid that like John's going to find the idol. He probably already has it. And then he's going to flip on us at the merge gets blindsided here, obviously not as vocally
[00:46:21] anti-Brad as people around him, including his own missus. But at the same time was pretty burned. He was someone that was also in contention for second chances. And I feel like a Kiva. Well, obviously you have Hayden Sierra Vetus Brad talked about as big characters or big
[00:46:39] people with potential who were snuffed out too early from this tribe. Justice for John Cody in a way. Agreed. Yeah, I think if they're if they end up calling this the season 52nd chances, I think you could make a case to kick ass John Cody.
[00:46:53] And there is a chance it could happen. Something that I personally want is an old era versus new era second chance of season. Well, the only problem is he is he is between eras if you do that. You know what I mean?
[00:47:03] I mean, they all there is basically anything before 40 at this point. It's just a sliding scale. OK, well, well, then I guess then then he easily slides it. Yes, I agree if that's the case.
[00:47:13] But yeah, I think John Cody is, you know, I the twist at the beginning of the season, I think in a way kind of ruins the season. Right. I think the producers and this happens a few times in Survivor history where they come
[00:47:28] up with some big twist for day one or day zero of the game and voting two people literally out of the game on the beach. It's just absurd. The players should have honestly unionized there and said, sorry, no.
[00:47:40] But I guess why would why would the ones who had a car? Yeah, basically because it's just it's insane. It's unbelievably unfair to the Codys, like you said, who were not able to make the level
[00:47:50] of pregame alliances that, you know, let's say Tyson and Jervis did or whatever. And and then they get double screwed over where Rupert does the heroic thing, which I think they liked for the episode.
[00:48:00] But long term, it leaves their most popular player at the time basically out of the game and one of their least compelling players ever in the game for the next six episodes. So they really end up screwing themselves there.
[00:48:13] And it ends up screwing John Cody because Candace is also so it's also he gets a bad break because the season really boils down to if your loved one gets voted out early,
[00:48:25] you are in a good spot because you are no longer a threat for the next like 10 weeks. Except the Codys, right? The only two people who both go out early. Right, because that was the thing was at the merge.
[00:48:35] There were these two pairs of loved ones in the Bush Gauss brothers and the Wesson Colin mother daughter duo that were together. And then basically all the singles that had their loved ones eliminated came together and brought over Sierra and Laura to take them all out.
[00:48:50] So John Cody, I believe, sort of like Hayden was on the shortlist but didn't ultimately make the ballot or survivor Cambodia. I know that he has wanted to come back. His quarantine questionnaires that he come back in a heartbeat.
[00:49:03] We talked about this with Candace as well, but he has also now become a parent since the first time he played. So yeah, I think he could be a stealthy fun person to put on a second chance of season. Yeah, I agree.
[00:49:16] I think I think there's something there. I think people like him. I think he's an impressive person. I don't think he's a huge character, but he could like for some reason, maybe his perfectness will upset people. You know what I mean?
[00:49:27] And also like the military record, he's probably not worth the use the people like screwing up or whatever. I think there's something interesting there. All right. Let's talk about some of these other people we didn't touch upon here in Rachel Marissa
[00:49:40] Laura Bonham Katie, of course, Caleb is tragically unable to be on this ballot, but I did really like Caleb. He's the one who makes maybe the first big move of the season in flipping the votes on
[00:49:51] Brad and then has actually a very heartwarming monologue when he ends up leaving Redemption Island. But when it comes to the other four ladies on beside Sierra on the loved ones tribe, any spare thoughts about them? People are gonna be like, Mike just rushed through all the way.
[00:50:07] He's got a hard out, guys. He's got to go somewhere. Yeah, I think of them realistically, I mean, Laura Bonham is was just there, I think, because they decided to bring Rupert back. She you know, it wasn't for her. I'm sure she's a neat lady. She does.
[00:50:23] She does go on to the amazing race. If she goes on to Big Brother, she could complete the crazy if she's a big brother. That would be something so she's not going to get brought back.
[00:50:30] Katie gives Jeff Probst the ick in a big way when she she calls the voting aspect of Survivor the political thing. And like she seemed like a very nice woman, Katie, but was unaware that there was a game going around. She seems very sweet.
[00:50:46] I always, always love the random moments when it cut to her. And also, I feel bad because I feel like she had like pretty bad feet issues happening, if I remember correctly, during the elements in the Philippines. I remember that.
[00:50:57] Yeah, but and I also Marissa, I really enjoy it sucks that she got taken out because Jervis gloated too much in the first immunity challenge. And as revenge, she ended up getting voted out.
[00:51:07] I could see like an argument, especially in the immediate seasons after to like give her a random second shot at the game. Have a fair first chance. I agree you can't put on a legend season.
[00:51:17] But I do think whereas most people, it was the like in the Brad Culpepper sense, like the loudmouth, you know, like returning or new person going. She got she got a little messed up because people were upset at Jervis at the time.
[00:51:34] I do think especially because she's just Jervis's niece, which is maybe the least maybe unless you're going to cash aid on the now non-existing cat and hate relationship, like to cast the niece. It's either like they want the Jervis so bad, which I mean, Jervis is great.
[00:51:48] No, but he must have seen something great in her to cast her. I honestly thought that the time like they wouldn't, you know, it's a strange casting choice like this guy from season one's niece. If you're not if you don't see something great.
[00:52:00] So I do think she gets messed over in another season. Maybe she really can shine, but she's not going to cast. And Rachel also really goes early and doesn't get a chance. And honestly, I know I know Robin Amber played together.
[00:52:12] But if you're only casting one spouse of people with little kids, they're going to cast Tyson over Rachel. All right, Akiva. The time has come. You said you'd be stingy. So let's see how how much that is being put to the test right now.
[00:52:28] Why don't you give me a name of somebody that you want to put on the ballot? Now, remember, I believe we said we have six people who are already on the ballot, right? Tyson. We have Rupert. We have Sierra. No, sorry. Sierra hasn't been mentioned yet.
[00:52:41] Sorry, Tyson, Rupert, Jervis, Jervis, Candace, Tina and Cat. Right. That's right. And we said no, no to Lauren. Are OK and honest. So that's already six for a season that I like, but was 23 seasons ago. So I'm not sure we're going to get to 10.
[00:53:00] Let I think there's one lot and then we could talk about people after that. I think we start with Sierra. I think Sierra is the clear number one. If I would if I was going to if we were going to rank like put all your money double or
[00:53:12] nothing every dollar you have in the bank, Mike on. Three people, let's say like any three people from the season to come back, not who you want, but who you think would. I think I'd go Tyson, Rupert Sierra. I assume you're with me there.
[00:53:26] I would definitely agree with that. Maybe maybe Tina, but I think she's up there for sure. She's up there, but maybe might be number four like she was in the season. Yeah, and I think it's not unrealistic if they decide if they do new school versus old school.
[00:53:40] You need someone probably from season one. Not me, but you're probably going to have someone. And unless they like find Colleen or something like I do think they can. I do think the logical person there might be Jervis, you know, so it's not impossible
[00:53:54] that he plays again and he would be a good choice. But yeah, I think those are three and Sierra is our first person on the ballot. I will. I'll add. I'll add Hayden onto it. OK, all right.
[00:54:07] This is this is I know to your point, the realism aspect definitely not as high on it. This for me is more so the fan vote part of it is like people have been dying for a chance to see Hayden in a season of Survivor, albeit fictional.
[00:54:20] I do think of the people that we're going to put on the list today. He might be the least just because of the fact that he's been passed over a couple of times. But I personally don't want to leave this without at least like acknowledging Hayden
[00:54:31] Moss by putting him there for a vote here. Totally fair. And now I think we have only two people that are even worth considering, in my opinion. I think the only other people are Brad and John.
[00:54:41] I don't think anybody below the, you know, let's say the Merritt line of I have rankings. I rank them one to 19, Mike and Laura was my 10. So I think anybody beyond that is not realistically coming back in. All right. And yeah, we could pick one.
[00:54:56] We could pick both of again. Really? Should we do both? Should we do you know, it's a lot of people from one season. I'm kind of. Let's see. Let's both at the same time say who we think if we only get between John and Brad, let's
[00:55:09] say the same name on three. OK, and then if we both say that name, then they're automatic. That person's automatically. OK, I like this. All right. All right. Fine. Let me think what I'm going to say. All right. All right. One, two, three. Brad. OK.
[00:55:28] Still, it's rock drop. Rock drops. I do think, yeah, we have to draw rocks. It is very close, to be honest. Yeah, because I think John. We do both. I'm fine with putting both on there.
[00:55:38] Listen, Micronesia, we only have half the people to choose from, and we put four on there as well. And I think it's I said I would be stingy. Listen, I got you over the line. I got you right where I wanted you, Uncle Keevy. It's true.
[00:55:50] So there we go. We have Sierra Easton, 35 years old. We have Hayden, 38 years old. We have Brad Culpepper, 55 years old. And we have John Cody, 41 years old from this season on the ballot. Last thing I'll ask, Akiva, looking to the wide world of reality TV outside
[00:56:07] of Survivor, is there any fun from this cast? And I guess we'll focus on the loved ones primarily. But you could talk about the returnees that you would want to see on another show. Yes, Laura Bonham, Wheel of Fortune. Would she wear the tie dye? Is that mandatory?
[00:56:22] I think she would. I think maybe it's couples night and she's there with with Rupert. Ryan Seacrest. I think Marissa could be like there's no way they would put her on Traders because they're pretty much casting like bona fide, bona hamified reality TV celebs.
[00:56:37] But like the attitude with which she regarded Brad Culpepper after her vote out would be very fun. You could show that in like the preseason clip, you know, exactly. Or whatever. I think I think that works. Anybody else really?
[00:56:50] You could do like Teen Mom, you know, like grown like 10 years later or something with Sierra. I would put like Laura, Laura Moret on like I think the challenge USA is unfortunately DOA. But if they did that, like I would put her on there because again,
[00:57:06] I think she was like low key, really great at the challenges. And she's asked. Also, I think she's only in her 50s. At this point. Is she married? I think she's married, right? She's married. Yeah, she's 54 right now.
[00:57:17] Oh, I was going to say she could be like a golden bachelorette or something like she'd be a great grandma soon. Yeah, that's true. So yeah, it could be interesting to see her alongside maybe like a challenge all stars age bracket type of things.
[00:57:31] All right, so that's going to do it for this episode and this week on the survivor 50 wish list. And we're going to need the weekend because when we come back, holy cow, it's survivor Kagaian. And look, people enjoyed blood versus water, especially in the moment. It defied expectations.
[00:57:50] It brought about this very fun arc in Tyson, who went from kind of like the survivor jester to the king of that season. But it was dwarfed by comparison to what Kagaian brought in the moment in the legacy
[00:58:05] of survivor and of course, what it brought to survivor kingdom come considering it is going to garner multiple returnees, a couple of finalists and of course, our second two time winner in the form of Tony.
[00:58:18] I'll be talking about that on Monday with from survivor 43 Dwight, the new survivor. And we'll have more to talk about then. Akiva on your own personal wish list. I don't think you ranked all 80.
[00:58:32] I didn't prepare you for that, but right off the top of your head, who from your own short list would you want to put on the fan ballot from Kagaian from Kagaian?
[00:58:43] Bryce, I think just Bryce, I think Bryce, we as a fan group, we need to really like I don't know if Jeff really is aware of how big of a star Bryce like, you know, is on the Internet and how awesome he is now.
[00:58:54] I mean, we'll talk about it. I think if there was ever a time for them to see it's how public Bryce has been both in front and behind the scenes of survivor. For sure. I think so.
[00:59:05] For sure, Bryce, there's not even a second place, but I do at the time was one of my favorite seasons. I haven't seen it recently. I don't know how much it holds up, but yeah, definitely Bryce would love to see Bryce back.
[00:59:14] Yeah, so we'll have a lot to talk about because again, we've seen a lot of returnees from that season. Is that someone that we're bringing back for the third, maybe even fourth time? Are we looking more so to other people that got taken out beforehand?
[00:59:28] There's a lot to get into from Kagan, so I'm super excited to do so. Akiva, such a great time getting to do this. I'm glad we were able to grab you before you for lack of a better term dive into all the
[00:59:38] stuff you have going on this summer. But of course, you are a busy man. What do you have to plug right now for the listeners? Robin Akiva need a podcast rolling along. You know this, we're not doing this live, but I'm sure we've got some great episodes
[00:59:51] coming up. NGOG, we've been we're in season six of the final full season with Ali Lasher talking about the television show New Girl and 32 fans were almost ready to do the reason for the season.
[01:00:02] 32 fans, 32 days where we talk to a fan of every NFL team in the month before the NFL season. You think you get Brad Culpepper to talk about the Bucks? I don't think he's like a huge football.
[01:00:11] I know his son played for Syracuse, Rex, but I don't know if he's like, I don't I got high standards. I feel like he's probably casual. He's why if he wants to come on, he can come on.
[01:00:20] Yeah, I think he was on the Jack Vita podcast talking about like Urban Meyer a few years ago. So maybe he's maybe he's more of a college football guy. He lives in Danforth. Maybe as a reaction to the whole Trevor Lawrence deal and everything like that.
[01:00:31] He is a Florida guy, so. And also, I think he's rich, so maybe he respects Trevor Lawrence. Get that money, as you like to say. All right, so we are wealthy right now in the podcast that we get and the great time we're having.
[01:00:44] It's been so much fun. I hope everyone has enjoyed this week of podcast because we're going to keep on. Keep it on with Survivor Kageyan on Monday with Dwight Moore. Hope everyone has a great weekend until next time, everybody. Take care. Bye bye.