Hey friends, It's Devin Simone and I'm Davin Rogers and this is MTV's official challenge podcast, We Bang, We are Back, We are here.
Who a lot have these episodes? Man, they just they're getting good. They take you on in like.
Emotional rollercoaster because you have all the fields, literally all the fields.
And then we're so invested with everybody because like we grew up with everybody. You know, though, Mike, We're invested in everyone. This particular episode was it was something else. Tell me how you feel about it, Devon, Uh, yeah, it was. I'm still processing. I feel like I'm still taking it all in.
First, we had the challenge right Cloud Catcher, which was interesting that these giant balloons, some of them looked like they popped with just a sneeze while the team was trying to navigate getting them through these pergolas with these sharp spikes. The producers really like spikes in this episode. Did you catch that day?
Like, I feel like that was the theme consistently they were like, yeah, we're gonna put this all across the board. Okay, that was very You had to be creative going through that because the spikes were everywhere. The balloons were so huge. We did see poor Neamaya. All it took was the wind to pop his little balloon. Like I just thought that was And did you catch when Jordan was yelling at Johnny at one point and then his bo then
his pots. I'm glad they kept I was like, oh, shout out to the editors because it was perfect time because he was losing all of his marbles at that point. It was Era four ended up bringing it home. My people are holding it down. I am so proud of them and shout out to them for listening because a eve actually solved the riddle. And then we see I think it was Johnny was like oh firefire, firefire, like she screamed it out.
I mean, look, that's using your resources.
Yeah yeah, And I thought that was like really, I wanted to give kudos to them for a listening because sometimes you gotta listen when you going through these challenges. If you can't figure it out, and somebody get it and you at the point where you can get it before them, even if it was their idea, look make it happen. Okay. Yeah, so I thought that they were gonna bring it home. So yeah, finding out Ara four brought it out. That was that was a shot everybody.
And what was interesting to being an air for one because last week there was so much drama around Josh and Jenny, i know, going and nominating themselves as the targets, right, So it was yeah, it was just really interesting that. I mean, I'm happy for them, it was interesting that they won. Now we go into the chamber. Ultimately Josh and Jenny choose Cory and John nay Day.
What are your thoughts on that? Okay, so look, we know Josh is my man's pots and pants. I'm gonna hold him down. We're gonna stick beside him.
Okay.
My thought process in that is I think he had to look at it in a sense of it's Johnny. We know Johnny and then Laura. They're gonna work together. They're gonna win a lot of possibly win a lot of stuff throughout the season. I think Josh was looking in future tense, like you know, if I scratch your back right now, you are more likely to win, so you can scratch my back later. And I think that's how he was looking at it as opposed to Johnny versus Corey and I have to be loyal to Johnny
over Corey. I don't think it was that type of situation. I really think he was thinking of who's going to have the best potential of scratching my back immediately next.
I'm gonna throw a theory out that we just came to my mind, all right, I actually think because everything you just described, as you said it out loud, made me think that doesn't make sense. Not that your perspective doesn't make sense for great gameplay, for the gameplay on Josh. It doesn't make sense. This is why, because Josh already effed up with bananas. Bananas is like an elephant. He doesn't forget. So it's not gonna suddenly put Josh in
great graces with bananas. If anything, it's just gonna neutralize it a little bit. It's not gonna endear Bananas to you because Banas is still gonna be side on you, going I can't fully trust you.
So then maybe he was trying to rebuild the trust.
No, I think he was afraid of Laurel. Okay, don't come for me, but think about it, think about it, think about it, rewind it back, because right you're putting in two people, not just one who's the most probably one of the most baneful people for.
Sure, she sees it. No, Laurel is the most Yes, she will not.
Forget, like you know what I mean, Like I mean, she says it right, She's like if you do blah, so like who are you more afraid of Laurel or John?
Ay? But look at this though, but look at this. When I say that, I'm saying it from also from a team aspect, which team is more likely to pull out the w when it You know what I'm saying, And I get I'm not trying to discredit Jordan and
none of them that's on that team. But when you really sit back and think about it, you got car, you got Laurel, you got like that team is stacked over there, right, And so I think that's what Josh was thinking, like, Hey, this team more likely to win the next challenge POSSI and they can look out for me sooner than Corey and his team. That's just my thought. I can't speak for Tash. Josh. Come to the mic please, because I speaking for you. Oh, come and tell us
what your thought process was. But I do think that at the end of the day, we got this excellent matchup between Brad and Corey and that was very interesting to watch.
Yeah, it was, and Rachel and John as well, which is I mean to Howard Holland's Champs. Yeah, and then we move into the new target selection. So Rachel selected Darrell Nehemayah Jordan and Kyland and Corey selected Tina aviv Naya and Michelle selected.
Is a very word, it was very volunteer astribute.
I don't like vote like the volunteer. I think there's something noble about it.
It's it's me.
It's me.
Like, you can't say that because let's talk about Michelle and how Michelle's like, oh, I'll do it only after finding out who would potentially who she would potentially have to go up against. Now, hey, if it was a Laurel, she wouldn't have.
Put her hand up. And I don't blame her. Yes, we're smarter, not harder.
She wouldn't have done that. So I don't, I don't. I don't call it noble. I call it it's luck. It's luck for Era four and then for the rest of them, it was just like, oh, okay, it's my turn.
It's no, it's stepping up to the plate and holding on to accountability. It's like the one area where I feel like they're a little less messy, because they seem to be messy everywhere else. Like, let's get into this whole Michelle, Devin Bananas.
Oh that's happening.
So here's my take, and I'm so curious yours. First of all, I actually really like the Devin Michelle thing. I think I feel like it makes sense.
I like it.
I'm you know, you know how people about challenge romances anyway, I feel like there's a lot of toxic ingredients in that, but I'm hopeful for them. And this is just going off of the first clip we saw and be in it's probably did low key do it for selfish reasons. I mean, but initially what I wrote down that he said to Michelle is, hey, just make sure he's not using you for game, which I think from a friendly standpoint is fair, Like, yeah, fine, I.
Would say that to my friend.
Yeah, like that I would say that to you. I would like, that's totally valid. And then Michelle, we didn't really see how she fully communicated it to Devin. We just know that Devin took it that Banana said, Oh, Devin doesn't really like Michelle and then and then it gets into all the messiness, and I'm, by the way, Devon's valid, and I thought it was cute when he said to Michelle, it should be a red flag to you if I wasn't sort of annoyed that someone's trying
to discredit my feelings for you. Like I thought that was like respective, I liked absolutely, but now it's just it's just a mess.
What are your thoughts on a day. I want to go on record and say I think that the Michelle and Devin situation is very real. I think that relationship is very rare. I think that she is him and he is her. They are what in the same literally, and so I definitely support that. I think it's really cute. I'm enjoying watching it grow. When it comes to Johnny, I do believe that his intent was to say, hey, because that is his friend outside of the game, right.
I think that his intent was, hey, just watch your back. I don't trust this man, and I just want to make sure he not playing in your face, specifically about me, you know what I'm saying, and so like, I just
want to be careful with that. But then at the same time, that's what I'm saying that's the hard part about giving that type of advice in the game, because you cannot take away from the fact that we are playing a game, right, And so yes, I am going to give you this advice as my friend, but on a game level, let me also say this to you too. So I do think that he had a little Sprinkler game in there for sure, for sure.
Yeah, absolutely, I completely agree, and I think he could have. I'm actually surprised he didn't de escalate the situation. And I wonder if it was sort of an ego thing because it was done in front of a group of people.
Well, what if he felt slighted, Like I was talking to you as my friend, why you run it back? What if he feels lighted?
I mean, I do think he probably felt that we saw how mad he got in the gym.
Yeah, like I'm talking to you as my friend.
What you're doing.
Yeah.
No, Michelle's not always the least messy in her delivery of things, and I don't think she realizes it either. Like I think I think Michelle has certain elements of Josh where like I don't think her intention is like bad or messy, but I think sometimes she communicates things that don't like in a way that don't help her, Like I don't think she was trying to start a fight between Devin and Johnny now at all. Okay, now,
you know we got to get into these rankings. We will see if Davon's gonna treat this like this nineteen twenty two inter ration off gold stars again, break them off into pieces.
Yes day, let's hear your air.
Rankings and then your gold Star place.
So here are my air rankings, and I think we might have different ones this particular episode. Okay, so I'm gonna give my goal to Air four. I'm gonna give it to the Air four because they pulled out the wind. You know, we might not agree with Josh did. That might take the Era down in a couple couple levels, but I think they deserve the goal Silver's medal. I gave it to Era two. I gave it to Era two because they pushed. They weren't getting a long car.
Could have easily done what she says she was gonna do and sit this one out right. She was like, you know what, I'm gonna do what I'm supposed to do. I'm you know, I don't agree with you. I'm not really feeling you right now, but this is bigger than the two of us, you know what I'm saying. And so now I kind of want to give them the gold simply for that, because I don't know, that was
kind of nice. No, I'm gonna stick with silver brown, as I gave to Era three, and in participation I had to give it to my my good old friends in Era one, what about you, we were actually on the same page.
My goal is to Era four because they did pull up a win, although again I was a little surprised by their wind, but fine, we'll give it to them. My silver was to Era two because I did like to see that moment where Kara and Laura were working together, like to get it done, and Carl Laura was cheering, slash bossing Kara, but Kara was like gracious in it, like I love. I love the teamwork ladies, like they can be so powerful together. So really love seeing that.
And then my bronze is to Era three. I understand Jordan has good intentions with his coaching. Oh my god, do we need to work on the delivery. We need to work if we can find another deliveries service to help Jordan and how he communicates his motivation because my like, it's look, I know he's one of the greats, but I don't know. For me, it's just getting old at this point. It's getting old. Refine it. It's good tips with him getting immediately frustrated instead of talking through it
is annoying. Now. Was he wrong when he told John Ay that when Rachel should bend over, Johnny should throw the ball. He was not wrong, he was Johnny. I'm gonna need you to clue in cis clock in, ma'am. She's not paying attention. Now is the time to throw. But Jordan in general, with his barking of orders, I'm gonna need him to chill out before somebody lets a
pit bull loose or chiuaa. We know chihahas are far more aggressive than pit bulls, to be honest, and by Tim because he won't just or be mindful and how he's communicating. So yeah, I'm getting worked up just talking about he's annoying me. And then obviously Erawan gets participation because they did participate and they were there, they were there, they were in fact there. Uh. And with that, let's get into the time out and gold Stars of the Week Day, Who gets your time out this brother?
Honestly, I don't have a time out this week. I don't have a time out this week. No one made me feel like I'm gonna go ahead and put you in a corner. Now, we could give it to Jordan for you know, screaming till his veins came through his neck. But that's just Jordan's Like at this point, we've seen it for so many seasons, so many it's just Jordan, you know. So it's like, but I don't have any timeouts for this episode. Now I have a whole lot
of nominees and said, I'm a surprised to people. I'm gonna sursprise the people and I'm gonna give the gold star to one person. But I got nominees twenty.
Four of you. O.
I am growing, people, I am growing, Okay. So number one it's Tina for the way she was cheering for Rachel. If I'm in elimination, I need somebody to know for mean me down like that. Do you understand cracking me up? She really was, Oh my goodness, hold me down like that. Nominee Number two is for Kara, but the way she held it down and did what she was supposed to do and didn't let her pride and her ego getting
away and try to sabotage it for her team. When she had opportunity to do it, she didn't do it. So she is also a nominee. I'm gonna also make john A a nominee because she is the only person that I've been able to see that can fully handled Jordan and all of his foolishness. She's come up with a method. Okay, and shut up Jordan by Jordan, leave me alone, Jordan, stop talking, Jordan. God it Jordan. Like She's not phased by it right at all?
Is she?
She does not care he's yelling. She's like, okay, whatever, It's like a net at a picnic. She's not paying it no attention in one of them situations. And then also Derek for pushing through and see, I think some people might argue that he could be in time out for the same exact reason, because sit down, why are
you pushing through? Why are you pushing through? One you might be slowing down the team, and then two we need you in the future, So why are you putting pressure on something that we're gonna need later on, you're further hurting it. So why are you doing this? Are you doing this because you really want to see us? When are you doing this because you trying to prove
a point about you? So it could go either way, right, But I'm gonna stick over here on the star side and i'ma I'm gonna give him, I'm make him a nominee, but ultimately I'm gonna give my goal star this week to carl Ra. Hmmm. That's I'm gonna get my goal starts. I'm gonna give it to the Carra And for no other reason than that.
It's because she saw you all Twitter messages and then.
I promise you I don't care about no, how about you? All right?
So my time out of the week. Uh, my nominees are okay, I'm just really, Jordan, Jordan, just shut up. Jordan's just the idea that this is just who he is. Yes, but we can all be better, and I bet you he would bark at any one of us to be better physically or athletically, So like, be better at your communication. Work on that, bruh, work on it. You've been We've seen you barking at people all week long. I'm gonna need you.
To at yourself and get it together.
So he is getting my time out now my gold star of the week. I too have some nominees, including some of which you mentioned. Tina, Tina really was cracking me up. Kara is a nominee for how she Kara and Laurel for how they worked together on their team this week.
I thought that was beautiful.
Derek is a nominee for really pushing through. I respect him not wanting to quit. I don't think he was fully a liability. I respect that he was really trying to say, look, I want to earn my part and be a part of this team, especially since they are a smaller team.
I thought that was beautiful.
And then Rachel is also a nominee because Rachel, when she went into that elimination, honey, Rachel just she did the thing. Rachel just did the thing from doing the defense and her offense, like, great job Brad for putting up a good fight ultimately. And then Corey Corey for me, Corey in the elimination was amazing. But before we even get into that again, I can't get over I love people who stand on business and I love that when Josh came to him. He wasn't doing the woe as me.
Even though he was disappointed, he wasn't like, oh my god. He was just like, bet, I'm a better myself. And it was really beautiful to see. And ultimately my gold
star goes to the Brad and Corey combo. And this is why when I saw at the end of that game, which came down close when I if you go back and watch the way they hug each other, hype each other up, and even Corey, who won and had been in the lead the whole time, ultimately he was like, man, it came down to the last ball, like good shot, Like just It's like you could tell he wanted Brad
to know that he was a worthy opponent. And I thought that was just so beautiful to see between the two of them, that coupled with those nineties two thousands glasses and the little curls that came out front when they were at the bar and Corey had his hat down. I just it was a winning dynamic, a winning combo. They both get a gold star from me.
Love that also love this guess we about help. I'm so excited we have the man the myth the legend the Beard coments hey got with us on the podcast. So sit back, relax, and don't forget show snacks because this is gonna be a good one. Okay, guys, let's get back to the show.
All right, Challenge fam, we are so excited to welcome this next guest. It's actually a two for one. One is known for being an icon on the Challenge. I mean he goes way back and the other is his trusty sidekick.
Please give it up.
For Brad and his Beard coming to the podcast.
What's up, Brad?
What is up? I love that intro. I really appreciate it.
I want to say it's been a minute since I've seen you at the initiation party, but it's always good to touch base.
I love your energy.
Brad. Oh my goodness, I feel like I haven't seen you in a long time, but I'm excited to see you back on the main show. How do you feel about being back on the main show?
Dave Bond, We've always gotten along. So while I it's our hawks, how long has it been?
Was it? What was't the last time I saw you before this?
It was final reckoning?
It was so it was final reckoning.
Briefly, saw you at the initiation party because we had to like walk.
Past and everybody was busy and exhausted the jet lag.
And here we are, and I just want to say that I'm grateful to reconnect again because I've always enjoyed your energy, and between the two of you, I already know this is going to go amazing.
Absolutely well, welcome back. Tell us, yes, I want to know, how does it feel being back on this main show.
I'm so sorry I just avoided the question.
All Right, I'm gonna bring you back.
Thank you. This is perfect.
So it feels amazing. It's such a big season, season forty. I mean, what an anniversary. I've been a part of this game for so long that just the number forty alone was somewhat triggering for the legacy factor of the game, and it really did help me focus in extremely difficult times. I just want to say that, you know, even on
All Stars four, I had a pretty rough performance. I came into this season struggling with sleep, and I do want to talk just a little bit about that to explain not just my performance, but to help make connections to anybody else that might be struggling with something like what I was going through. You know, I was just having too many personal issues that I didn't make the choices with where family members were making horrible choices that
I was getting looped into the energy with. And what I want to say is this, and I'll keep the family stuff as private as possible. Sleep was very scarce, not just on All Stars four, but you know also on season forty when I showed up to this game. This is a true story, and I cannot believe it. I'll never forget getting my first promo pick and seeing my face because I only felt what it looked like. I mean outside of let me just say this, I
didn't sleep for five full nights upon arrival. So I moved and I went over twenty four hours on the plane and that time I was like, Okay, we're just excited to be here.
We're adjusting to the time zone.
And then we were in the hotel for a holding period of roughly five or six nights. I want to say it was four or five nights, but probably five nights, and that that became a blur for me because I just could not sleep, and when I would finally try to even fall asleep to meditation music and stuff on the cable TV provided in the hotel room, my mind just kept, unfortunately defaulting back to the recent trauma at
home that again I still had no control over. And I've done my best as a family member to encourage the others involved to seek the same type of professional help that I have been for eight months now, and they just won't do it. And unfortunately that did take a toll on my sleep, It took a toll on
my game and my decision making ability. But to be honest with you ladies in this moment, as much as I wish I did better and I have so many notes that I've taken from my own performance this season, I'm proud that I made it through and that I was still a part of such an important season because this game has been so good to me. I'm honored to have been in the presence of Season forty and the competition that took place.
And I wish I could have, wish I could have whatever. You know, we all have those.
This was a pretty serious one, but the beauty of it is and I'll try to wrap this up. I'm sorry I'm taking so long to answer the question, but fine, thank you. So like the beauty of this really is that without these experiences, without getting away from the trauma that I was experiencing in my family locally, I never would have been able to make the realizations with the professional help that I have, I would have been consumed
by them. And you know what I will say is this, I'm so grateful for every soul that I crossed pads with in this experience, including you ladies at the initiation, because just seeing you sparks the memories I have with you, and you know, and that goes for every person that I crossed paths with on both sides of the lens.
And it was so therapeutic to be able to come back and still go back to my dedicated work plan with the new information that I had, with the break that I had from the energy I was you know, being pulled into and helped me make decisions that I know will help my children for the rest of their life. So I just want to say that I'm so grateful for that, even though it wasn't my best performance, I'm so proud to have been a part of it.
We love that, Brad, and we appreciate you so much for sharing. And you know, this show has such an impact on I think everyone right and when used correctly or paired correctly, can actually be a tool that contributes to our growth in the long run. And so hearing that you are being proactive in your mental health and you know MTV has mental health resources to even us. You know your Challenge sisters too are here even off the podcast recording too. But sure we appreciate you sharing that.
And it was beautiful seeing you on this season, Brad, because you are such a huge part of this show's legacy and seeing you come back, seeing you fight, and I was tearing up, not to like jump ahead, but the moment with you and Corey was really special. I actually found myself tearing up because not only was it a great game to watch, but the I feel like the beauty of the sport really shine through in the two of you all's competition. So we do we want
to talk about all of that and share. There's no such thing as TMI here, Rad, so share what you're comfortable. Know that we support you. We are going to be in your business a little bit. And because of our last episode, I.
Do have to start right, man.
We we had your Challenge Season forty romance on last week shout out to Emily and so just wanted to.
Tap in check in with you.
See, Uh, you know, what was that experience like for you in the house? Uh how did you What do you think drew you guys together? Like what was that connection?
Like? Really, I came into the house just like I explained to you. And if you if you don't mind, I just like that. I'll start with recapping. Yeah, you just said about the hashtag mental health awareness, and that
is in my own dedication to the cause. What I will say I found just to help anybody if you feel like there's more negative than positive and that your overall thoughts by the end of the day were not positive, you are probably struggling with mental health and you know, and to get back to Emily and that because this kind of this goes hand in hand in a way.
Because I was.
So dedicated to my health, I really have taken my yoga, meditation, and you know, just overall organic eating to another level. I've done a lot of self study and research on a lot of different topics to really project a positive message into my network of beautiful people that have helped me through some dark times. And it's really it's the response and return on investment has been astronomically beautiful.
But let me tell you that's not why I did it. What I'll say is this.
Emily became an immediate, reconnected part of that journey because when I showed up, I was meditating at sunrise every morning and sunset every day at my home. I also pray when I meditate, so at some point of deep meditation, it becomes prayer. And it's one of these beautiful combinations I can't put into words until you experience it, but it's worth the work.
And it took me years to find.
But Emily was well into her spiritual journey and meditation, so we were able to connect in the mornings at
sunrise meditations. I would literally wake up in the morning and see like a shadow moving in the in the room, even on like the second and third night, and lo and behold, it was her every morning, and we just happened to be on the same start your day with gratefulness routine and these I was meditating, you know, on the other side of the pool to give her space at first, but then a few times I just kind of noticed how dedicated to peace and beauty she was,
and that kind of turned into an infatuation at some point.
Where we just kept seeing each other in the morning.
So I started bringing her tea and I brought my own oohlong tea, and I started to share that with her, and it was strictly just a friendship. And then the game got intense, and then I was talking to somebody before I left. But we had not locked in a relationship because I was honest with her about my commitment to internal work before I could be in a relationship. Because if I'm going to be in a relationship, I wanted to be a beautiful relationship.
I'm not filling voice.
And Emily had told me when I brought up the topic of possibly you know, like just our feelings.
I mean, I want to say.
We were roughly two weeks into the experience and I said to her on a night we were out, I just.
Simply asked her.
I said, hey, you know, like I've never connected with somebody like this on this level with meditation.
That's a fact. I don't even have a close second.
So I just said, like, is it possible that there is something more to explore? And she said something that really surprised me that I never thought she would say, and it's not what you think.
What is it? Because yeah, I'm curious.
I figured you want to know.
And I'm trying to think of I wonder if she's gonna get mad at me for saying this.
Well, you know, we got to take risks on these things. We don't have parents sometimes.
Can we go.
I'm thinking, you know, like I'm talking about possibly laying the groundwork for like a real showmance because of our mornings.
I'm thinking it's possible this is going to go to the next level.
And she said something to me, and I learned a lot about her in this moment, and it just unfolded from here. She said, well, I don't know about a showmance, but like if some hot guy like pulls me in the bathroom or whatever, it's like whatever.
And I'm like, oh, yeah, like I mean no him, yes, yes, so yes.
So like that's kind of how everything aligned and went down the way it did. The power went out, we kind of made out for a little bit, and that was the end of it, you know what I mean.
Not y'all taking advantage of the power. The sparks are flying that much, Brad that y'all made the power go out.
Something like that or I mean, I don't know what happened, because honestly, the power went out, and I thought the power went out, and I'm thinking, oh, the universe, because she had just said this to me maybe three to five days prior the power goes out, and I'm like, that's a default mechanism almost like you know, I'm on a reality TV show. This was said, We've already connected. Are you going to show up and do your job today or not?
Brad? That's how I felt, you know, I mean, it almost felt like.
That, are you going to show up today and do your job?
I did?
I did well while you were making connections and you know, dealing with the power outages that may happen. Your era was dwindling down in numbers, okay, gosh, And as that's happening, as you're watching it and you guys, it's like, where is everybody going? So then we see Johnny call you guys the bad news beer. Do you think that was accurate?
Like?
How did it feel going from a big team to just.
A little bit spot out accurate? Honest to god?
Like he said that, and I'm like, if anything, Johnny, that was a compliment at this point, like I don't even know you know what I mean, like because we had the team, you know, in my opinion, I hope I'm not getting off topic here, But like I showed up just coming out of survival mode. I was still training, I was still doing everything I could, and you know, I showed up like ready to focus.
But what I hadn't done as much as I would have.
Liked to is probably had some prior conversations with people that had twenty years of experience.
And I think that because of.
That, I believe that there was an awkward packing order I wasn't aware of. And so I saw that first vote where there was like the over volunteering between Derek and Durell. And once that started to take place and I started thinking, like, okay, I don't have an alliance on a side with Mark or anybody else, I automatically started to see my position with the guys and it wasn't good.
So I think I still showed up and did my best every day.
But this is one theory on that I don't think we we just didn't work together as a team. It was almost like the old school challenge, where like people are just yelling blah, yeah.
You know, like even and and and for not for nothing. It was exhausting.
I first of all, I want to say this because I saw it and I was there. That boat did not paddle like a canoe. And I did a horrible job in the rear. But it wasn't as it was bad. But like even when I was trying to call out, when I realized the steering didn't do as much as I wanted it to, and I tried to collaborate with my team, nobody listened at all. I mean like nobody. That's when I kind of started to really take notes.
Fro'm Like I would ask CT to stop paddling and he would do like a water break thing on the left side when somebody was And the crazy thing about the boat was and I think the whole challenge unfolded this way.
To be honest, I know it didn't watched it.
It was like we would just get frustrated and we would just I mean we we'd we'd try, but everybody was so in their own world that we didn't work together as a team. We had good stand loan athletes that could show up and get a job done, but we had the weakest collaboration out of four eras.
Do you think there was too much seniority there, like because you guys were all coming in being like, oh I've done this before, I know it. That sort of everyone was stuck in their ways.
I think that's spot on accurate. I think we had moments of trying to unfold out of that. But the thing is, and the reason I use the term unfold is because it's not a one trigger deduction. You're looking at people that are so set in their lives, they've programmed and mapped their brains to be in this zone. And then we get put into a competition not seeing each other for an extended period of time, and then we are forced to collaborate.
And I think that because of that, and.
Especially because of outside issues that I won't even bring up of other peoples, but.
I'm able to make connections with my own. I see where there was just too many distracts, you know.
I think that there was a lot of stuff going on at home for a lot of people.
I think that was a factor.
And I think that we still did have our challenges in the collaboration laid out for us prior to starting.
But beautiful team.
Let me say this, I love them all Era one for life and I want to read you.
Come on, all right, we have to take a quick break, but we'll be right back after this.
Okay, let's get back to this show in Brad's beard. Derek, Now that's a boy. And then most importantly, let's let's let's get into the challenge as well. We're watching Derek out there non stop. How was that watching him to keep going like that?
What happened to his leg in the first place.
Derek's like a brother to me, so I'm actually like silently pissed. He's a grown man.
I'm not going to tell him what to do, but I'm thinking, like I tried to get him to preserve his leg. I can already tell he's in PTSD Derek elimination mode, you know what I'm saying, where.
It's like I'm going home.
It's like, bro, you're we need to preserve ye. Like, I was like so frustrated with him. In fact, I'm the one that talked him into going to the hospital.
At the end, I was the one that talked him into it. He was not going to go.
Everyone was like, dude, it's toosteric and I'm like, unbelievable. He's got a newborn son coming. He needs to be able to walk for the next thirty years, Like he's going to the hospital, you know. Like, and I love his heart, I love his competitive spirit. He is a beautiful animal. But you know what, you gotta preserve something that nice.
Yeah, what actually happened?
Like?
What what happened?
So we were both going into that ditch that was filled with the mud in the water, and I was running right beside him, and all of a sudden, I just heard him scream in a way where I felt like I accidentally signed up for the military and got deployed, because it just sounded like a war cry coming from behind you. So I didn't know what had happened yet, But the minute I got through the pergola and had come back through, I had noticed where he was.
I tried to help him. I tried to get him to stop, but he was You could just tell.
By his aura and his energy in the moment he was in that I'm going against Joss movie phase, you know what I'm saying, And like, you gotta let a man do his thing when he's made his choice.
And it was so clear in his eyes. That's where he was.
Can you explain these balloons to us? Because the people were struggling? The people were struggling, were they like very flimsy and thing like what?
What?
Was it?
So like they were all different sizes. That was such a big factor.
I don't know if you pick up on that, but like some of them fairly through the pergola, and some people are just running them through with one person.
I mean the other factors. You guys clearly had fewer people and then one of them lost a leg in the challenge.
Yeah, yeah, it's not that wasn't the only factor.
You're right, Thank you for correcting me because it's so active.
No, No, wasn't to correct you because you were there. We were, But it's like you guys really came in as the underdogs in this particular challenge today. Anyway, just from all those other factors.
You know, it wasn't our season for me. I can't even say it was any thing about that, because our whole season unfolded with like the analogy Johnny used, you know, I felt like he went a little easy on us.
Do you think if you could do it all over again, like coming into season forty what do you think your team would do differently, or what would you suggest to your team to start the season off right? Because you came in pretty strong, just in the sense I know when we saw you guys. You guys are obviously super excited, but you're a very strong team. You're a very knowledgeable team.
We've had challenging dailies already that include trivia where it sort of felt like you guys should know the answers because you've been there, you know, basically.
And so I knew the answers this season out of all the seasons in trivia, I got pulled before I even got the answer question because my history in trivia is not good. I got to be honest, ladies, I was there for ninety percent of the questions. It was the one season right.
So what would you tell your season starting over again? What do you think you guys should have done differently from the jump that maybe would have kept you in the game, or is there anything you could have done differently?
I would say that I would truly and passionately pursue motivational speaking before and in between the challenges to just draw the attention away from internal alliances, worrying about votes. I think consciously and subconsciously when I say that, because we're all instinctual and by nature, so like, obviously there's a big season with a lot of pride on the line.
You've got a huge check and so much pride, and I feel like a lot of us, especially for me, just coming on with no prior conversations, thinking I was going to do the same thing as every season, and that's just play my heart out, and however the chips fall. Usually there's some people that need help and you end up being one of them. You show up that way, and it's always been my strategy. I will say I
had prior conversation with Rachel before this season. Outside of that, there was no real alliance in place for me, but Rachel and I did say we would do the best to kind of do what we could for each other because we keep in touch outside the game, and I think she's an amazing person.
So that is one conversation I had.
But once I saw the Derek and Durrell volunteering and I saw, you know, even prior to Mark leaving as early as he did, I saw that there was I feel like.
He was almost their third more than him and I were going to.
Work like they were, and it kind of put me in a position where I had to start thinking, I've got ct and that's the only other person that I could possibly work with, and in order for that to even start to unfold, we would need so much game to unfold because Cet and I don't speak that often outside of the game, and we don't have that kind of rapport because everybody kind of campaigns to play with him because he's an absolute showstoper player. So I was
in the hardest position for defaulting to an alliance. So I was just hoping that we could stick to performance and I could show up every day while I was struggling with the sleep and catching up and everything else I needed to do.
So I hope I answered your question again. Yeah, didn't get far.
No you did.
It sounds like you're saying that you recognize the value in being a unifier, so you would have done more of motivational speaking to kind of unify the team, and then also that alliances in this stage of the game. I think people we're seeing it with Genny two in this episode where people coming in who think, oh, I'm just going to come in as is play the game and kind of make friends along the way. It's really
the people that make it far. I mean, i'd be down to even say that maybe gone are the days at all that you can kind of just come in and play like you have to lean on some relationships that have been made prior to in the game or with some other show and some other capacity.
I think that you're right.
The days of being able to show up without having prior conversations they've been over. And unfortunately for my situation, I just had the immediate scenarios that.
I had to dress before I left, and.
I did, and that prevented me from having the free time to do that. And I think that Jenny is playing the same way that I showed up.
And I don't make a.
Lot of phone calls, but I'll normally at least call a few people that I know I'm close with if I had if I hadn't already spoke with them recently, and I don't think Jenny is doing that. For example, a lot of people don't know this. Jenny and I are a lot closer than people know, because we were alternates for War of the Worlds and we were in South Africa together for two weeks. We went to two dinners a night because we were confined to our hotel rooms.
So we would work out in.
The morning every morning, and then we would go to dinner early, and then right before the restaurant closed, we'd go to dinner again. And we had the best two weeks. We really bonded, so I really understood when they were talking about you know who with Casey. In the beginning of the episode, she goes, you know, all Jenny talks about is snacks or guinea pigs and somebody else. And I was dying because I heard. I knew every one of her guinea pig's names by the end of the two weeks.
Okay, wait, at least two of them.
Oh my god, I'm glad I did it for my I have other stuff to focus. I didn't, you know what I mean right home riding down the studium when I got home. But I was able to relate because at the end of that trip a few years ago, I was like, I knew more about guinea pigs on my departure than I ever knew existed. Like they're a legit pack animal and they have like real issues, almost like people. I guess I don't know how you get that deep into that the guinea pig game, but she
was not focused. She's an amazing athlete, she's an amazing, amazing competitor. That's blatantly obvious. Her social game is hurting. I can relate, you know, like I've had seasons that were like that, and sometimes you really do have to just compete to the best of your ability. But the other half of the game is the social game. And that's where I feel like she put herself in that position without seeing it. Because other people were having quality conversations about game talk.
Two weeks in, she's still hitting them with the guinea pig talk.
We already know one plus one is two, so that guinea pig talk is actually going to de escalate your position.
In that setting. And I mean that.
I mean that in the no we get no get you can build report in the you know, like where we were. But if I'm looking for game talk and all I keep hearing about getting guinea pigs, even if I like you, you're still getting de escalated on my I Got You list because other people are saying things like, hey, if you do this for me, I got you moving forward, and that is a more valuable conversation a week three and four than hearing about that guinea pig, you know, recap one more time.
I mean, you could be like, hey, Ginny, I'm doing this for your guina. I'm fighting the good fight for your guinea pigs too, so keep.
Me in, you know.
I we'll use that next season, say.
A good fight.
So so talking about kind of like Alliance's relationships and the dynamics.
There when you go into the chamber.
You didn't actually give up any names regarding who you wanted to go against, but Daveon wants to know who do you want to actually want to go against?
You know, I was so authentic in that moment when I said that Rachel was right about being in the better position not having to go in and try to like argue our way. We already knew that we were going in. I think that's better than not knowing and you have to go through the whole process.
Of the angst. But I meant it. I gotta be honest with you.
I didn't have one, and I can't make one up because I just didn't have one.
I'm sorry to disappoint.
No, well, well, and I just I just was at the position where I was so tired of losing.
I meant what I said in my mind, I thought I was.
I mean, I knew I was going to do my best without expectations, but to do my absolute best with every fiber of my being. And I felt like I did that. I overpowered those throws. I'm going to get I won't get off topic, but like I, I just it wasn't my season and it wasn't ERA one season.
So like it.
You know, when I looked at my physical contributions and even my team contributions for the whole season, I don't have very many regrets there. I just know when I was up against coming in and uh yeah, it just didn't come together for for a lot of us.
Okay, So then then answer this, do you think that Josh made the right choice?
You know what?
So the honest answer to that is, I have a hard time following Josh's game.
I girl, we know, don't Davon. You have some explaining to dostly if you didn't know Davon is a Josh Ryder diy.
Well, you know what? So am I So I'll probably help her with half.
Of her explaining right here, because there we truly see his energy. Him and I sat next to each other on the plane there, read a lot of the same books, follow the same authors, and what I really was impressed with was, you know.
Just his overall aura and his personality traits.
And I I had seen him on prior seasons of being a very emotional man. I got to be honest between us. I appreciate that. I know I can be a little extra for some people sometimes and I've seen the comments and I understand where they're coming from on some of it. But for me personally, I appreciate his openness and his display of emotion to the extent where people can at least scrub personal situations.
With what they're seeing. And that's why I'm so open and honest about even.
My personal stuff prior to arrival, is because I think Josh is a difference maker. And if you're a difference maker, I'm going to ride with you.
And that's really sweet.
He is a difference sometimes chaos, but he is a difference.
Well yeah, and at the end of the day, you really have to go by somebody's intention, and that is what I evaluate when it comes to Josh, and he is an amazing person, and for that reason, I think whatever choice he made was the right choice. But I will say this so I don't sound like I'm just pad admittance.
He is very difficult to follow. I was.
I was hoping at some point, because our rapport, that we might have an opportunity to play this game together, to build a little report moving forward. Yeah, didn't really see the opportunity because the notes I took where, Wow, this dude is so overwhelmed with bullshit from priorcy.
Do in thirty minutes, let alone tomorrow with the I mean sure, he can't even commit to the lunch option right now.
He's like that kid that got a credit card right out of high school and is like still trying to pay it off, like he's only making interest payments. It's he is all like his heart, it seems so good. He's all over the place. And Corey's reaction to that was wild, well not wild. It was interesting when Corey was kind of like, oh, you've already made your choice now, like it's done.
That's so fair like and it's like it's not personal at this point, You're playing this scattered eye just got all these favors. May not like, who in their right mind could take that many notes and follow that when they're trying to play their own game like you're you're
you're literally you're disc combobulating people in conversations. When you start to you know, I got all this stuff from last season and then five years ago, I did, you know, it's like, whoa dude, this is not a confessional, bro, Like, what is this? You know? So again, to truly state how I feel about him, He's an amazing person, but I was hoping to play more game with him, and seeing the way him and Corey had that that I
wouldn't even call it a falling out. I would say a conversation about new terms is what I would say.
What they did.
I think Corey did an amazing job of setting new terms based off of Josh's havoc style game.
Okay, I like that new terms. That's good.
You know, we appreciate you sharing that. Now, please help us appreciate this elimination strategy, because my head.
Going, it's gonna be a hard sell, ladies.
Okay, try, just try.
I have to be honest with you. So leading up to this, we just lost CT.
I just we chalked up the l Derek's legs in critical condition at the moment, we don't know what it is and real talk.
Durrell told me this, I'm still you, ladies. No, I'm I key.
I'm clean, like I got this big beard. But this beard usually smells like good high end conditioner.
You know what I mean. I take I take good care of myself and I stay clean. It's just what it is. So I heard this.
I don't know how true it was, but this sucks because it tapping on prior challenges. The cleaning crews come in and they rotate the blankets. Okay, I kept a very clean bed, but at this point I had heard that CT filed the callouses off of his feet into his comforter before he had left, right before me, and I was laying in bed, and I happened to realize that I had now been laying inside the CT's comforter and Durrell at by the time Lady's true.
Story ten PM before an elimination, and I go, oh man, they gave they switch the comforters again, and there.
All goes, yeah, yours is over here, and he goes, oh man, you got cts he just shaved all of his callouses off his feet on his before he went home, and I'm like, dude, I'm like ready to puke. Girls, I'm like, honestly, lady, I am ready to throw up in my mouth in this moment. And then I realized it's probably the same sheets, and I just want to It was hard not to.
Want to go home in that moment. I'm gonna tell you, we've been chalking up els.
This is happening, and all I'm saying is you got to you gotta perform tomorrow.
You gotta perform tomorrow.
I may be pulled off two three hours of sleep because of that whole like whatever you want to call that experience.
For me, it was just like we're not home.
Right, not CET's dirty feet.
Oh I can't.
Yes, And honestly, like I just I still felt like I showed up, but usually And hats off to Corey. Your strategy was better than mine. The chess passed the way you have screened it brilliant, very oh perfect, it was perfect. But we went first. I didn't get to watch somebody else. I was tired. I thought, laser beam accuracy, let's go, you know, and it's like then I watched the playback, and I'm like, oh, when I saw Bory's chess past strategy, I realized I could have done a
lot better. I still gave him a pretty good run. I want to point this out. I showed up struggling to get sleep and did the best I could.
Corey is in the prime of his Challenge career.
I'm proud of him, honestly, Like when I hear about how hard he's still working to get champion status, like, you got to really realize what you're up against. You're on two three hours of sleep, you showed up struggling, You're doing your best.
But this guy, he's been dialed in.
He's been showing up to Flagship Challenge games for consecutive years on end, and he's so motivated and focused on getting that first W to get the champion status. I mean, I had the ship stacked against me and it's still made it pretty close.
So you know, I will say, hats off to Corey. You beat me.
I did my best, my absolute best in the moment with what I had, and you know, I can only say as if you know, I ever go against Corey again, I'll be damned if I'm giving him two oh but for right now, congratulations and hats off to.
You, my brother.
Yeah, it was really beautiful to watch, Like just it was nail biting because it's like, we appreciate you both, and so it's nail biting to watch.
But it was beautiful to see.
How you guys just like hugged it out at the and how you hyped each other up, and it was just all of it was I don't know, it was really special to see that and see you guys there and I wish we could see so much of that. And I also think it was really nice and I'm glad that editing included that. It was a nice balance to some of the drama we've seen in the previous episode, like a reminder of the family side.
Yeah, it was.
It was really good. That goes so far with me. I truly appreciate that absolutely.
So here comes the fun part of the podcast. Are you ready, Brad?
Go?
So this is what we do. We let our guests give us superlative to each of the era. So superlatives most likely too. And so we'll start with your era, Era one most likely too.
That's probably the toughest one.
I mean a lot of people have been saying you guys are most likely to need to go to bed early or no.
I'm just I'm in the best shape of my life and I've worked hard to get here, so I can't say that, and I love that, thank you. I see Rachel still showing up, I mean Tina showing up on next level. I still see all the potential and all the gentlemen. Honestly, some of us were just pulling injuries a little bit more than others. I don't like to go to bed early thing because I still think that we're some I still feel like we're young at heart when we're not hurt.
Yes, Brad wrap your era, go ahead, and and then I would say, I would say, most likely to come back stronger than you ever seen before in your life. Okay, okay, come back.
I like it. I like it. What about to Yeah, what's air too?
Who's most likely going to listen to? Johnny Bananas?
Interesting?
Okay, Okay, the voice of their team.
I think I think that even though they had they had they had cohesiveness.
Cohesiveness I believe because of it.
But I think because Johnny was the default mechanism and they didn't have the same issues as Era one that I felt like he kind of had a good motivational role on that team.
I think that's fair because Johnny's almost like Era one hybrid, you know what I mean, and he doesn't have I think if Johnny was on Air one, he wouldn't have the same level of respect from his teammates, Like they wouldn't listen to him reach.
H Yeah, you'd see a totally different Johnny because he's smart enough to bring a different approach.
Yeah, yep, I completely agree.
God, he has the social game down.
What about Era Three's.
Likely to pull it off? And I'll tell you why.
I see so many strong players on that team. I saw the leader of that teams, Devin Walker. I think Devin Walker is a genius that functions well into a genius level. Yeah, that is a force to be reckoned with. He is going to get creative in ways a lot of people won't. He's going to take calculated risks with serious return of investment attached to them, and he's most likely going to pull it off because he is just that player and I appreciate playing the game with him.
I wish our games intertwined a little bit deeper. That's okay, I still appreciate being a part of the game. And I'll tell you anything, if I showed up in the future and didn't have prior conversations with him or some kind of an agreement that I believed in, I would have.
To go for him early in the game because I see the way he unfolds.
So you know, I'm just going to put that out there because it's true, and he is a friend of mine, and if he hears this, I wanted to think to call me if we ever both.
Yeah, is brilliant. He really is a brilliant player, And I also like that. I feel like he's a player with integrity. Whether you like his moves or not. I think he follows through on what he says he's going to do or not going to do, and I think I just respect that in.
A player so much so it goes a long way.
Okay, Era four, what's their superlative.
Deal with Era three?
Yeah, Brad, I'm so glad you came to hang out with us on this podcast. We love you so much and we're so grateful that you came to hang out with us. Tell the people on the socials of the media's where can they find you?
My social is at Brad Fiorenza, the last name is spelled ephis and frank Io R E n Z eight. I've got an amazing podcast coming up that I'm really excited about. I hope you guys look me up and check it out. We also have a merch line with some fun items in there that I'm excited to unfold. And you know, I'm gonna do a little less traveling because I'm working on some art with some amazing local artists and I'm excited to share that with you guys too,
So please look me up. And I want to thank you ladies so much for having me on this show. You were both amazing and it was so great to reconnect with your energy again.
Oh you too, Brad.
We appreciate you so much, Brad, and it was wonderful watching you. We're excited to hear about your podcast and all the great things that you have in store, and thank you for just your intentionality and the beauty that you're trying to put into the world.
It's a lovely things.
Thank you so much for saying that.
I've truly just enjoyed this whole interview and I just want to say one last thing to close out at I couldn't be more serious about just, you know, making sure that just encouraging people to at least consider a focused self evaluation process, especially if you feel like you're
going through stressful situations, especially situations you can't control. And the point that I'd like to just make for the hashtag mental health awareness is this, if you're having more negative thoughts than positive per day, and if that happens repeatedly for more than a couple days in a row, two.
Three days, then you probably are. You're probably avoiding a lot of red flags in your life that need to
be addressed. So I just want to recap that I encourage anybody that is feeling like they have negative energy in their life, whether they're responsible for it or not, I just urge them to seek professional guidance and lean on the valid resources in their network that can help them, because it's helped me tremendously, and I look forward to demonstrating this healing moving forward, and I hope to make a difference doing so.
Love that love, Yes, Fred, we appreciate it. You're wonderful.
Thank you, James, thank you again, and we look forward to seeing you in future seasons of the challenge for sure.
Oh my gosh, thank you ladies. It was so nice to reconnect.
Great interview. So glad that Brad came to hang out with us. He is such a joy. His energy is contagious, like he's just such a joy to have. Now, Where can the people find you? On the socials of the media's miss Devin.
Yes, love, you can find me and all the places you can go to. My website devinsimone dot com is Devin Withthewismo with an I dot com. Click on that you'll see my socials there. But you can check me out on TikTok. I'm probably a little more like stripped down and chill on TikTok, so that's at Devin Simone. Instagram is a little more polished, but I like to post a lot of behind the scenes stories and snapchat.
I'm there occasionally. Also if you want to give some commentary positive usually then you can find me on Twitter at Devin Simone. If it's negative, you might get a clipback or blocked, So take your pick day. Where can they find you?
You can find me not clapping back of people. I have been delivered praise the Lord were realized. Basically You can find me on all of the social media's at Davon Diane Underscore, and you can also find me here on the best podcast ever have It. We want to thank you guys so much for joining us for another episode of MTV's official.
Podcast, Absolutely, and tell all your fellow Challenge fans to listen, rate, and follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts and leave a five star review on Spotify.
Yes, and on a serious note, I know we talked a lot about mental health today, so remember MTV has resources for you. You don't have to be an expert to help a friend. Just ask, Acknowledge support and keep in touch. For more information, you can go to askthfhelp dot com.
Absolutely, and of course join us every Thursday to hear brand new episodes of MTV's official Challenge podcasts, available wherever you get your podcasts. We'd like to dedicate this episode to Jenny's Guinea Bags