RHAP: We Know Survivor - Aubry Bracco Talks Big Brother 28

Episode Date: July 20, 2026

Aubry Bracco Talks Big Brother 28 Big Brother 28 is deep into chaos as alliances shift and eviction targets wobble, with the house fixated on the fallout from the HoH’s big move and the relentless push-pull over who stays and who goes. Hosts Rob Cesternino and Taran Armstrong are joined by special guest Aubry Bracco for a recap and strategy deep dive, unpacking the current shakeups and social maneuvering as the game’s pace tests even the most seasoned reality veterans. This episode covers Devens’ reign as HoH and his struggle adapting to a position of power after mostly playing from the bottom, with discussions on his plan to target Rome and the resulting complications when the veto threatens to throw everything into question. Aubry delves into the differences between Survivor and Big Brother gameplay, especially around pacing and how alliances are built and tested over a week instead of a day. The trio breaks down the influence Dee and Angela wield in the group, Lyric’s social savvy resulting in safety, and the chaotic ripple that comes from changing targets and messy coalition-building. The influence of outside friendships, especially the Survivor/Big Brother crossover, is front and center as Dee, Devens, and Angela navigate loyalty and self-interest. Aubry points out how Devens relies on feedback from his allies and finds working with others more comfortable than solo gameplay. Taran notes Dee’s ability to connect with every type of player in the house, keeping her well-positioned even after making nominations. The hosts observe Lyric’s impressive social maneuvering, getting almost everyone to support taking her off the block. Aubry and Taran agree that Barrett risks being left behind if he lets Dee’s influence outpace his own relationships. The struggle between acting boldly and maintaining trust comes up as Devens questions if the house will really back his Rome plan at eviction. With shifting alliances and the week’s eviction plan up in the air, the balance of power could tip at any moment. Will Devens and his allies keep control, or is another blindside on the way? Tune in for the full breakdown of the latest moves and what might come next in Big Brother 28. Chapters: 00:00 Big Brother 28 Intros 02:02 Watching Survivor Friends on BB28 04:43 Rick Devens’ Big Brother Approach 07:31 Survivor Mindset Meets Big Brother 10:09 Dee and Devens: Social Strengths 13:20 Big Brother Power Versus Survivor Bottom 16:20 Dee’s Gameplay and Player Connections 18:48 Lyric’s Block Move and House Dynamics 20:29 Melody Versus Rome TV Week 23:22 Angela’s Survivor Knowledge Advantage 26:30 Returning Players and Newbie Dynamics 29:07 Barrett and Dee’s Showmance Impact 32:38 Houseguests Remind of Survivor Players 35:14 Would Aubry Play Big Brother? 38:34 Survivor Versus Big Brother Pacing 41:42 Survivor Stakes in Big Brother House 44:21 Live Feeds Show True Gameplay 46:02 Would Aubry Join Big Brother 29? 49:22 Message to Dee and Devens Never miss a minute of RHAP’s extensive Big Brother coverage! LISTEN: Subscribe to the Big Brother podcast feed WATCH:  Watch and subscribe to the podcast on YouTube SUPPORT:  Become a RHAP Patron for bonus content, access to Facebook and Discord groups plus more great perks!

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The result? Less time spent on operations, more time connecting brands with the moments and fandoms that matter most. Learn more at Accenture.com slash Spotify. What's going on? Rob Cessonino back here with you. We've got us a fun bonus podcast for you here today. Of course, we're back here with Taran, Armstrong. Taryn, how are you? Doing great, Rob, very excited to be here today. Sure. How could you not be? Because we are here with the winner of Survivor 50 and somebody who has played Survivor with two people from the cast of Big Brother 28. It is a former entertainment. Weekly reporter covering Big Brother, it's Aubrey Bracko. Aubrey, here are you. I'm great.

Thanks for having me. Thanks, Dalton, for making me that reporter back in the day. Yes. Yes. Is there anybody that's on the Survivor beat on Entertainment Weekly? There's Dalton jumped in himself because Rick Devin's involvement. You know something? I'm not sure.

I think Dalton's probably covering it. I think he's in it. Him and Rick Devons are close, so I think that that would make sense. Oh, yeah. And you know Rick's going to be there. So something's going to go wild. Yeah. It's always fun.

Thanks for having to meet. Taryn, I have to ask, do your caffeine consumption go up like week by week? Like, where are you in the, like, the chart? It has. I'm not much of a caffeine person generally. But it has started already just this morning. I had a tiny bit. So it generally, yeah, we'll probably.

go up. Well, depending on the season. Sometimes it goes down over the course of time. Last season, not as much. Yeah. I was just curious how that works. Like, do you see yourself devolve the days go on? I was physically ragged by the end of season 27.

Okay, fair enough. Fair enough. Yeah. It's just fun. It is a grind, big brother that I was saying earlier on another call that it's wild that two weeks ago we didn't have the cast. We did not even know who these people were. And now I cannot remember a time when it wasn't Big Brother 28.

No, it's so, it is funny. It is wild. And I look back at my first tweet of the season, it was like, yay, Lala. I'm like, Lala, it's not working with any of the people that I'm like, like, that's the magic of the beginning of any first season. I remember even thinking this on 50. It's like, you're in Ponderosa. You're like, anything could happen.

It's like, you don't know the cast. anything could happen. And here we are. It's like we've been old friends for far too long with some of these people. Well, Aubrey, this is not your first Big Brother rodeo, certainly. But also not the first that you have watched one of your Survivor friends compete. How is this experience compared to watching Surrey play in Big Brother 25? Oh my gosh. It's wild. I have gotten to play with every single survivor crossover, not the Alliance, every single player who's crossed over from Survivor to Big brother. So, Surrey, when

Surrey was on, I was a little bit less connected from the reality television world. So it was like, oh, here I am with an old friend. But I'm saying, I've just been like in the 50 slog with D and Devons and I'm like really feeling the, I'm like feeling anxiety. I don't do that. What do you don't know.

Just let's listen to that person. Like I was invested with Ceri, but more of like casual viewer. Now I've got to like, I'm chomping at the bit over here. I'm like, I'm like, I wish I could talk to I can't I talk to him. Yeah. All right.

Well, we're all dying to know. What's been your reaction to watching Devin's so far? Oh, I am so happy for Devin's. Like, I just wanted to say, like, on season 38, Devin's was magic to watch. I never played with him in the game proper. I mean, the theme's not on trial. It's all still the game.

I don't want to hear it. But I never played with him in the game. I met him on the edge of extinction. And then I was on his jury. And I got to see the magic that was Devons just doing his Devons thing. And so I felt after 38, I was like, man, like, sometimes, like, people were a little harsh on him or he didn't get the reception I thought he necessarily deserved in the long tail. Maybe it was because of COVID and streaming and we went on to other things. But it's been really nice for me to see Devons now kind of getting his due.

Like Survivor 50 Devons was just like an even better version than 30. Devin's, but to me it's the same guy. So I'm like, it's fun to see people receiving him as like this icon. I call him Betts, but icon that he is because I think he is. Yeah, it's been a wild week. And we've really seen Rick Devons, as Rizzo once said, Rick Devons doing Rick Devin's things. What have you thought about Rick's HOH run? You know, I'm going to need your help here because this is the thing about Big Brother.

it feels, I get like scrambled. And this is where I think the pacing thing of a survivor player versus a big brother player comes in. There's like too much time that you create a plan and then you're like, you don't, you go over here. I was proud of Rick that he won it. I really liked the idea to make a big move because of anything, I want Devin's to play true to himself.

I know that's what he values. I know that's important to him. I also think it's been really interesting. We've been seeing more of like Devin's. Evans, his fluidity in the game that I think we saw or his fluidity in thinking about the game that I think we see like on 50 when he's talking to Joe who's like more rigid it's this or that. And Devin's was like, let me do my thing. We're seeing that in a more like front and center way than I think we've ever seen on Survivor that like, Frick feels good with you and he's loyal to you. He's going to hear what you have to say and be like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

But it's been interesting to watch him like take people's opinions in so much. I just want him to stay centered on what's right for him. But I think he's done great. I mean, I'm always going to, I'm always going to like support my friend's decisions, but I'm like, go ahead, Terran, sorry. It's so interesting to me watching Devin's who I think, yeah, he had this mentality of like, I'm going to make this big move. We're going to go after Rome.

It's going to be great. Blindside, whatever. But like on Survivor, especially the new era, you know, seven days is like a third. third of the season. It's like not very long. It's very very long in the context of a survivor season. And on Survivor, when you blindside somebody, when you

make a big move against them, usually it's either you or like somebody gets eliminated. Then you don't have to like deal with them much more in the future. But he made this big move and now Rome's still there for an entire week and might stay there. He doesn't

even know yet, depending on what happens to the blockbuster. And I think that like, that's kind of in his head a little bit. And I think that when it comes to the veto decision as well, which I'm sure we'll talk about, I think also like, it's this, you know, similar survivor mentality of like, this is the thing right in front of me and not realizing that on Big Brother, there's like an additional thing a few days later. And I think that's really interesting because we also saw that with Surrey, who also played

a very different kind of Big Brother game that was so survivor-pilled and so quick and so kind of like, you know, rapid fire, replace my allies when I need to. And similarly, that eventually didn't work out for her. So, yeah, it's been interesting. Yeah, I very much. I do see the survivor aspect of it. I kept thinking to myself, if this was a survivor game, I could tell that Rick felt genuinely comfortable with Rome.

I'm like, he would have kept Rome that night if it was just survivor and no one else had spoken to him first. Like, it just, things have a way of just turning and then turning on one another. Like, the only thing similar in Survivor I've experienced is season 50 when the Mr. Beast tonight, that that was such a chaotic day at camp. It was this big brother week is as if every conversation that afternoon was blasted over a loud speaker. So it's funny because I think the Survivor players can logically know that there's more time. But I think when you've played multiple time Survivor, it's like ingrained in your body. and you just move that way, you get itchy.

They're up till four in the morning. The night he wins, H-O-H. Like, you just said you had to sleep, buddy. Go to sleep. Like, you don't have to let run out of the room in that moment. Like, it's great TV. And that's what Rick's making, first and foremost. But I'm like, you guys have a week of this.

You're going to go nuts. Yeah, on Survivor with like a shorter time period, you're still like going to bed, right? I mean, it's hard to stay up too late, I imagine. Well, it's pitch dark. Like, it's. literally like you can't tell if your eyes are open or closed. So at a point and you're also so taxed because you don't eat anything that you're you're out.

Aubrey, now you've worked very closely with Rick throughout your time in season 50. I find that Rick in watching him in this Big Brother season, I think that and also from season 50 of Survivor, I feel like that he likes working with others more so than being. a solo operator is any and he really wants to bounce ideas off of people was that your experience with him yeah i mean that's actually one of the things that i think we are so similar in certain ways where we could love a dose of chaos but i was like survivor 50 i'm alone wolf everybody leave me alone then i'd be like already this is a social game you have to play with people

rick loves nothing more he says it himself the only thing rick loves more than making chaos is making chaos with his people. Like Rick's ideal game is, he's like, it's like this circus and he wants all of his players and his friends and it's like a jolly good debauchrous time. It's like the Roman Empire. Let's see what we can mess up and he wants to have fun with everybody. He just like, he loves it. He loves it. He loves it. And it's interesting, but I'm like, buddy, you're number one. You are number one. Because watching D and Devons at the very beginning, this is the first night I saw an episode, I was like, I think Rick could like take this,

but will he cut D? I don't think he will. Because he cares about his people. Yeah, I do think that is a long-term problem for him. I think that D is somebody that is probably a little more likely to command respect in the end, probably. Oh, granted, we've seen Devin's do. well in competition, so he might not

be quite as in a deficit there as we might have thought coming into the season. But yeah, like, getting to that end game, I think we've seen D, who is a very team-focused player, be very capable of toward the end game being like, okay,

now I'm going to make the moves I need to make. Whereas Devons has never really had to do that before. And he's always played from the bottom. What do you think about him playing from the bottom? Like, he's always on the bottom. feels like in Survivor. What do you think about now, Taryn or Rob, about that aspect? Well, we were talking about this last night that I was talking about how Rick's never been in a

position of power. He doesn't necessarily know what to do in terms of his survivor career. He's always having to come from behind. And so this week was really the first opportunity that we saw that he's calling the shots. And I think that he's a little bit learning on the job. Yeah, I think so too. I mean, I think that like, We see this happen on Big Brother a lot. Usually you don't come from a survivor background, but there are people who spent a lot of time, and Taylor Hales is a great example of this, actually,

who spent a huge portion of her game on the bottom and then gets included in the leftovers, wins in HOH, and all of a sudden it's like, wait, what am I? I'm in power. Hold on. And has a bit of a messy HOA train before kind of locking back in. And we see this a lot.

People who get used to playing from the bottom, they get used to a certain persona, a certain way of operating. And then once they get into power, they screw up their whole game. And they don't even realize why, because it's a whole different way of playing when you're operating from this position of power,

especially in Big Brother, where, you know, there are so many mechanisms that you can, and levers that you can pull to operate things well. Totally agree. And I relate to that. Like I've been on the bottom a lot when I played Survivor. And I do remember there have been a handful of times where I was in power, in power.

I don't even like to call it that because whenever I'm at the top, I assume I'm at the bottom again because I'm like, it's going to go south if it's good. Like that's how I'm like trained to think. So I agree with you. And everyone's saying he's chaotic now. I'm like, oh, just you wait till he's on the block. You don't want to see it. It's going to be wild. Yeah.

This is what he's doing when he's the HOH. imagine when he's desperate. But, Aubrey, I'd love to know your thoughts on D. I know you didn't play together for too long in season 50, but did you have a relationship with D in season 50? Oh my gosh. I barely played with D.

I was with her a day or two. I respect D so much. She just has, it just like oozes off of her, this bubbly, like effusive, bubbly, like, seltzer water and a lovely flavor. She makes you feel good. You respect her. You want to play with her.

I love Dee. She's so strong. She's like how I would strive to play. Like in some ways, I'm realizing that she, there is a serenist to her in how she plays, and how she moves and how people intuitively, like, the level at which D understands people is at like this deep, intuitive place. And she can connect with literally anyone. Like, I was definitely, like, of all the people on 50, I'm like, whoa, D.

like in pregame like wow just scared me she's so good ah i'll be my friend um d's doing a great job she can work with and that's what i like about her and rick they can both work with a totally wild range of people i really respect that about both d and um and devons i think that d is like an entrepreneur when she plays she's super creative she's super like roll with the punches workshop it it's a little bit of a different style than uh rick but they do have some of the same sentimentality. So all praise for Dee. I think she's she's an incredible player. I think she's right up there with the very best in survivor history. Yeah, I'm seeing that with the ability to get along and connect with so many different people, like really the only

people in the game that have any amount of ill will towards Dee are the people she nominated, which like, and even some of them, most of them, are fine with her again. Taylor's mostly fine with her again. Yash is mostly fine with her again. It's really Mallory. Oh, Mallory. Who is holding the biggest grudge. But I think, you know, even that's like, I think half because she was nominated, half because

she's like, Barrett, don't go to D. Stay with me. And so, you know, but that's a very good hit rate, especially for having been HOH. Yeah, it's got. I mean, I noticed that she's very good at, she says what she wants. She's direct about it. And then she kind of just like, cultivates those relationships.

She's really smart about knowing who she needs to talk to next and what they need. So she's really smart like that. She's also really good at identifying threats. I'm very curious. When we get to lyric, I'm so curious what you think

because Dee doesn't seem overly threatened by her spots that Mallory is a good, Melody is a good player. So I think generally D has a very good read of the situation. She knows what she has to do. Her intuition is sharp.

Yeah. You break it up. What do you think about Dee's relationship with Lyric? I mean, I, how do they not see what we see? Or, like, what I see? I'm like, they did not break up. What are you talking about? Like, I kind of felt like, I'm like, lyrics got some mist.

It's not the kind of mist I'm used to. It's not the kind that, like, I've necessarily played with. But I, I'm just, I'm like, how are we talking about taking lyric off the block as of whenever we're talking, has that changed since I saw it? Are we still taking Lyric off the block? So as of right now, the feeds are down for the ceremony and the plan is pretty locked in. Lyric is likely coming off the block as we speak. And when the feeds come back, I expect her to be down and roam to be up.

Do you think that is D's doing? Because I know Kamu wanted melody off the block. Like, I think Kamu's actually, however you feel about him, he's moving in a very grounded, logical way through the game. He wanted Melody off the block, right? So this is D and Angela. What I saw was Dian Angela

really were like, yo, this is the deal, and this is who we want off the block, and Rick is loyal, so loyal. And he ultimately went with their plan. So from my perspective, how this came together, I'll mostly credit lyric for it

because she basically managed to separately convince four different people Chuck, Haley, D, and Devinz all separately came to the conclusion that they wanted lyric off the block. When D and Devin's came together and they were like, oh, we both already agree that we want lyric off the block, they were able to convince Angela who got firmly on board. Then Chuck talked Devin's out of it, or sorry, Kamu talked Devin's out of it briefly, only for Rome to kind of come in and seal the deal with Devin's again. And with D, having never been convinced the other way around,

also was a reinforcement. No, we still should take lyric off of the block. And so, and Angela was the same, that they were able to kind of get him back on board. But I will say that I think that even in the time he was like temporarily convinced to do melody, I think he was very reluctant to do so without full approval from D, which he never fully got,

which is part of why he was so easily swayed back into the lyric direction. Yeah. It's interesting. And then behind every decision is like another person, like the Drew of it all. I noticed, knowing Rick, I could tell he felt very comfortable with Drew off the bat. So, and I also thought he seemed really comfortable with Rome, which is why it was interesting to me that they're, I don't know. I got a lot of feelings about it because I know Rick can work with anybody. I saw him actually being able to work Rome pretty well.

And it's just going to be an interesting week. I don't, I don't quite know what to say about that. It's, it's interesting. Yeah. Well, Aubrey, how do you think it should all go this week? How do I think it should go? Ooh. I mean, I would love, so I'm really liking the way Drew is playing.

I know he's wigging people out. I know that it's like a little heavy-handed in moments. Angela compared him to Andy Heron. I love Andy. And it's not good, though, if you think he's Andy Heron at the beginning. of the game. It should be much later. That is bad. Like Andy and I were actually talking about that a little bit. But I see Drew as like potentially someone that like the vets could put like as a threat

in front of them if they think he's kind of playing the middle. If other people feel that way, I would have, I think Melody is someone who could work really well with Dee and Devons and Angela. I don't want Melody to go. But I think she's. she might. It's definitely possible. You know, right, because right now, basically, the, the target is Rome, but if you win to blockbuster, the backup is Jason. But Jason's been putting in a lot of work with people like Angela and D.

They really don't like Melody and they don't like her connection to Drew. So I am personally expecting some kind of push at some point for Melody to be the backup over Rome. And the funny part about that, though, is that, like, that was such an easy play they could have made without any of the spectacle, without any of the exposing themselves to Rome and all of this stuff. Melody was somebody at the other side was happy to throw under the bus to them. It could have been melody. It could have even been Lala and lyric. It could have been whatever Devons wanted. He could have kept his deal with Rome. They could have kept the, they wouldn't have had to have that meeting in the HOH room.

They could have easily taken melody out. It wouldn't have even been as upsetting to Drew, I think, in that moment because it was like, well, what are we going to do? She used the one that stopped the Ashley vote from happening. But with all of this stuff that went down to go back to Melody would feel like such a, like what did we do all that for then? It's like we ran everybody over them. We back the bus back over them a little bit.

So, yeah, it's a little, yeah, it's a little, it could be precarious. I mean, best case for Devons is that Rome goes home. I did feel for him when he was like, are you guys sure everyone's going to vote for Rome? Like, I have been in that position in my life where I'm like, this is what we're going to do. I'm leading the revolution with a torch in my hand. And I look back and nobody's following me.

Like that would be my worst nightmare scenario for him. I don't think that's what's happening. But yeah, it's a little funny. It's not the cleanest thing I've ever seen. That's for sure. And the thing that's been really encouraging for me, watching Rick is like, I've heard people say like, Rick's a man of his, Devons is a man of his word, I know him as Rick, sorry, Rick Devin's, Devin's Rick. Rick is a man of his word. Like, I like

the convert, I like the way he's playing. Like that's fine. Like Rick, I think Camus was in the storage room being like, yeah, like, and Haley, they were like, Rick really like pulled a solid for us. Like, I'm really happy and encouraged to hear people talking about him this way. And I'm like, keep it clean. Keep it clean. Like, hopefully Rome doesn't win the blog poster. Aubrey, I'd love to ask you about Angela. And now, did you see Angela in Big Brother 26? Did you watch that season? So I didn't watch that full season, but oh, have I watched crazy eyes more than a few times?

Sure. Okay. I was wondering if you thought that maybe Angela, who's a survivor watcher, seemed to have a really keen understanding of Rick, because I thought in the episode last night when she talked about how She knows Rick's a showman. She knew what notes to hit. And she did get him to see the light pretty quick.

Yeah, when she used the word showman, I was like, was she spying on conversations we've had that are like the survivor live feeds? Because that's how I would, you know, describe him. He described himself that way. Yeah, I feel like she studied him. I really, really do. Yeah. And I think that she,

got him to go into full Rick Devon's mode and maybe make a move that wasn't necessarily the best move for him. I agree. Like I said, when I saw Rick with Rome, I was watching live when they're at the chessboard, that very first conversation. And some people are like, he's pouring it all thick to Rome. I'm like, nah, Rick's doing exactly what he needs to do for this guy right now. And I know that Rick can really connect with that type. And then when I heard, I'm like, oh, whoa, we're going to Rome. but I thought you had a good rapport with him.

What's going on? And it really was Angela. I wouldn't just what to say. She's a wild player. Also, her and Jason. I'm like, okay, first of all, cliffhanger for the episode. I want to see what we missed

before the feeds back went back up the other night. But I'm like, are Angela and Jason just going to like duo up and run this thing at a point? Like, I don't know what to think with the two. They're like these real mismatched twin flames or something. It's crazy. Yeah.

I think, I think Angela really, I mean, she said it to Jason early in that conversation where she was so hurt. She said, they put you on this season for me. And I really do think that this is part of Angela's mentality this season, which is like, I am the sole Big Brother Returney, which is part of why she was so mad when Rachel was almost in the cast. I'm the sole Big Brother Returney. Like, this season is for me. because that's kind of how it works. I mean, she was guaranteed her or one of her probably built-in

allies won's the first H-O-H. Fan-voted powers where she's the first one to get it. She's like, they want me to do well on this season. I'm sure they told her they wanted to do well on the season. And she's like, they cast Jason for me. And then she was so hurt when he was trying to, when he was playing her. But I think she just, she wants to make it work

because she really wants to have Jason as an ally. And so she will do, I think, whatever she can to brute force him into being an ally of hers at whatever the cost is. Yeah, I see that. I mean, when you come back and as you're a returning player, you do understand like the meta aspect of it and that kind of thing. Like you're thinking that way. It's been funny to hear Jason being like, he's getting all the air time. I'm like, oh my gosh, this is wild. Survivor 38 all over again.

that kind of thing. Well, can you talk a little bit about your experience there? Because you came into a situation where, you know, when these types of scenarios happened in the past, we saw where the new players really gravitated to the returning players, certainly in Survivor of Redemption Islands, our South Pacific. But at the time that you played in a pseudo-captain season, there was a bit of a backlash to the players who are the returning faves.

Oh, yeah. I mean, Mallory is raising my hackles. I'm like, get out of here. Don't want you here. Like, I could like you. I could think you're fun any other time. Go away. No, I can't deal. It reminded me a Survivor 38 where I was like very evident off the jump that we were like, I felt like I was in somebody else's house. Like, it wasn't like I crashed a wedding. It's like I had entered someone's house and was pretending I live there and they're like, get the hell out of my house. That's how it felt with the newbies on Survivor 38. And then I was like so distressed by that that I wanted to believe that they wanted me there, which is why I went out as I did. But it's very much the same thing. And then the whole airtime thing comes into it. Like my wild reactions on the jury to me like sincerely, it was the only control I had at that point in the game. And I was like, you know what? You screwed me. So I'm going to steal the airtime from you because I know that and you don't. And it reminds me of Jason about airtime and Mallory like, you play Survivor twice. What do you need to be? be here. I'm like, it's like there's a war for another, for something else. And that is, they know what, they have an idea of what's going on. Like I thought it was interesting. Jason was a mess because he thought he was going to get the Rupal's drag race, um, fans to give him the, what's the advantage called? The Bibi time capsule. The Bibi time capsule. And he was like, shoot, my perspective, my perception of this is all off. But it's like a perception head game.

Yeah. What do you think about Angela in terms of being a long-term ally with Rick and D? Do you feel like that this is going to last the season, or do you feel like that there's maybe some fractures? Yeah, so it's really interesting. I was actually texting Kelly Wentworth, and I was like, do you think Angela is closer to D? You're closer to Rick? Or do you think Rick and D are still closest to each other? What's going on? I am not quite sure. I think that Angel is going to do what she thinks is best for her. I think she's really viving with Dee. They're getting very Sandra Diaz-twine villainous with like the honey,

whatever was going on in the storage room. Pranks. Pranks. And then I saw when you have time for pranks on Survivor. Some people did. And apparently I was not, well, I guess that wasn't a prank. It was a very strategic move. Yes.

We don't really have time. for pranks. And I, but I did see how I felt like Angela really connected with Rick when Rick initially told her about the Red Corner Alliance. And I was like, ooh, he does kind of understand what she needs to feel good. But now it's like Angela studied Rick. And I'm like, right now I'm kind of feeling like D is the most sort of in the position where like if everybody's in a room, D's the one with,

in the corner with their back against the wall, seeing everything the most clearly at the moment. Yeah, I think at this point, Devons is closest to D, Angela is closest to D, Barrett even is probably closest to D. And so she's in a pretty powerful position in this group for sure, I think.

Yeah, she is. She is. Aubrey, you just had a very audible sigh when Barrett came up. What was it about Barrett? that caused that reaction? I, okay, well, the showmances, flirtmances on this season.

Woo, they went quick. Like day two. I'm like, what? Just like marriage proposals? Barrett's interesting because he was really like on my radar off the jump. And now I'm like, Barrett, what's going on? Like, I don't know. I don't, he's not popping for me right now.

Probably a good thing he can skate through a little, but I think he's going to make people a little bit wear. that they don't, that he's kind of like to tied himself to D. And I don't want D to, I mean, I also like, I have a interest in D. I'm like, I was really nervous. Get away, get away. Distance yourself. So what do you think, Taryn?

I agree. I mean, I feel like, and I think there's still plenty of time for him to sort of like get back on track. But I do worry for the world where he's just like, hey, I'm kind of just chilling. I'm safe. I can just keep letting this ride out. But the problem is that the more he lets things ride out, the more influence D has with the rest of Red Corner,

the more influence Drew has with Kamu. And the more, you know, Angela and Devons are bonding with D. And like all of these pieces are sort of like figuring themselves out outside of Barrett's circle. And if he wakes up, you know, a month from now and he's like, all right, I'm ready to play. he's probably going to find himself without any pieces.

Yeah, it feels that way. And on top of that, given how D's moving right now, I could even see a world where if Barrett and D were on the block together, people vote out Barrett because they're like,

oh, we get Barrett out of the way so we can work with Dee because he's in the way of that. Because he doesn't have the connections for anybody that want to be like, well, we feel better about Barrett than we do about Dee, even though she's obviously more threatening.

So it's a concern for Barrett. But again, I think it's early days to be like that long-term concerned, but it's a concern I would have for sure. 100%. I see. Yep. Well said. You have a way of saying things just so perfectly, Taryn. I'm like, how do you boil them down? That's why you do what you do. Listen, like Rome, I boil down the list. Yeah. Hear that? It's your money calling. It wants a promotion. Elevate your savings with the Scotia high-interest savings account. Always earn high-regular. interest rates that grow the more you save and invest. Conditions apply.

Visit scotiabank.com slash h-I-S-A to learn more. Scotia Bank. You're richer than you think. Aubrey, are there any other people in this cast that remind you of anybody that you've come across in your many survivor adventures? That remind me of anybody. Oh, Angela, I'm always like a little Debbie coach vibes, just a little bit. anybody that reminds me of anybody

yeah Mallory for me is just like the whole newbie cast of 38 there's that who else Drew Drew is so interesting he's got that Cori in America thing going on from Big Brother

but also he's I'm not quite sure is he like Spencer Raymond perhaps well what do you what do you see that's like that it's like that eagerness to play

and like connect with people and it's very cerebral and it's just like doing a lot. He's doing a lot. Sometimes I'm like, you're good, you're a good player. Just like, you know, chill for a second. Who else? Oh, I mean, Kamu's really interesting to me. I kept trying to think who Kamu was like,

Camu has that kind of stability that was kind of the Honor and Integrity Alliance in 50 where it's like there are the stable, like, you know what I mean? Like the solid liquid gas. They're the solid. So I kind of feel that way about him. Chuck is an interesting player to me. I'm like, I think Chuck's in a good spot for a bit until he's not.

I wouldn't say I have many like super one-to-one comparisons, but I have elements of people, vibes of people. Yeah. I feel like, yeah, I feel like Kamu is like, if you took Jonathan and you like mixed a little bit of like, like softened him up a little bit with like some Joe. and then, you know, there's something else in there.

Like, I feel like you're starting to get the right chemistry to make common. Yes. There's a little bit of a Jonathan in Camus. I think Camus a little more like puts his emotions in a box kind of situation. Yeah, like Jonathan had those like moments, but Camus hasn't yet at least. And so he is definitely a lot more, but like he still has that sort of like, I'm a big athlete who is going to talk strategy with you. Yes.

Yep. Totally. It's a really interesting cast. Yeah. I'll say that. All right. So we've talked a lot about how Rick's game translates to Big Brother and whether it makes sense. But as this interview was coming up, I started to think about you and the way that you play these shows.

And I actually feel like that you would be a very good fit for the Big Brother game. What do you think of that? If I didn't go crazy on the first three days, perhaps. But I think you're a slow burn, right? I feel like... Yeah, I'm a slow burn. You make deep relationships with people and have that ability. And I think that that's...

And I think that you would keep your eyes on the prize over the course of this long haul. That's the thing. It's like I am definitely someone who, the more painful it is on the long haul. long haul. I tend to do better. Sometimes survivors like, can this just be like Australian survivor length? Like I get better the longer it goes. And I do make deep relationships. And I do know the restraint when to be quiet. Like I can sit there like a house cat when I have to just like be quiet and let people fight. So in that way I think I'd be I'd be good at it. Yeah, you know someone who's, go ahead. I was going to just add that

I think that also when the house gets boring and the house gets slow, I think you could keep it fun. I think that you would come up with things to keep people engaged and have activities to do. Really? You think I'm fun? Thanks. I do think you're fun. I think that in this house where people are going crazy, I think that you would help keep them sane. I mean, I will say I was the master of making dream catchers and crafts on Survivor. When I have fun, I was good at filling downtime. So I think, yeah, that's the thing is I think that in Survivor, I can create those one-on-one relationships with people feel like they can take a breath and it's slightly not safe, but it's like the breath of like,

oh, this is real and it's direct and it's home kind of thing. I think that would be very good on Big Brother. I would have a lot of fun with that kitchen. Like Taylor would drop in the glasses the other night was the funniest thing ever. I think I would have a lot of fun in the house. And yeah, you know what? Thanks, Rob. I think I could do it.

I think I might lose my cookies, but I think I would have fun. I'd have some Angela moments talking to myself. Like, we need to get, is Angela getting the credit she deserves for the self-talk? I know she's not,

like, direct to the camera like D was in her HOH, but Angela has some great self-talk. That would be me. Mm-hmm. Very focused. Yeah, but yeah, speaking to that point,

I do think that, like, I think about your 50 win, and it feels very much like how, like a solo big brother floater might play and do well on Big Brother.

Like, I think it's actually, in some ways, harder to pull off on Survivor, that kind of play than it is on Big Brother. So it's in many ways, like, yeah, more suited to a game like Big Brother. So, yeah, interesting stuff. But, yeah, I would also be interested in hearing yourself talk. Oh. Oh, boy. There's a lot of it.

There's a lot of it. It's so funny that we're talking about, like, the pace of the game. And I, funny that, like, I do see how I would be suited for the long game. and then Survivor 50 was the short game, but I don't know about in the middle. The pacing question, I could debate it for years. It's just so fascinating and it is different, but people do do too much when there's time,

especially Survivor players. You know what's funny? We're talking about PACE. I would say out there on Survivor 50, remember when we'd have an off day and the plan would flip? Like now they have seven. It's wild.

You know, we didn't get to talk about this when we talked about your Survivor 50 experience, but you're one of the few people that played in the 39-day era, but then played in the 26-day game. How does the pacing compare? I mean, it's super different. And it's also a 24-day, a 24-person 26-day season. Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, it was a totally different pace. Like, you didn't have time to always think or mull as long. And sometimes for me, for someone who can overthink, it was almost better to just, like, act, deal with the cards you were dealt that day, and then deal with the repercussions. Like I didn't get in my head. I get paranoid on the off days at times.

So it's very different. It's so different. So that's why I can't imagine what D and Devons are going through in there. It's like, oh, my gosh. I want to do it. But again, I should go to sleep, but not enough stuff's happened.

So I'm going to cause mass chaos by not letting someone in the door. I feel like this is probably something that a lot of people have experienced in their life where, like, you have what, you feel like is a really good, intimate, great conversation with somebody that was like high stakes.

And you feel great about it that day. And then you wake up the next morning, you start thinking about it. Like, wait a minute. Did I actually screw up that conversation? Wait, hold on. Is that actually way worse than I thought? And it feels like, yeah, on Survivor,

it's like you go and you vote that night and it's over and it's done with. On Big Brother, you have that every single day. That moment of doubt, that moment of like, wait, am I doing the right thing, actually? And yeah, that's such a huge difference in how you might play the approach to games. And then to exacerbate that,

not only are you having that conversation with more time, you're literally watching people have other conversations. You're like, is this undoing the conversation I just had? Like, I thought it was really interesting. A lot of when Dee is talking, I don't know if you've noticed this. She's like, oh, but I saw this. I saw them together. Like, D is observing everything.

Like, that's how I played 50. Like, that's how you get information when you don't have information. You look at where people physically move. and how they move. And she's observing that. So I can imagine it's a bit of a mind screw. Yeah, and Big Brother, it's like the radar gets spammed with a bunch of pointless conversations

because there's so much time to fill. So as a survivor player who's like tuned your radar to survivor pacing, it's like, there's all these things happening. Oh, this person's turning on me. This person's doing this. And I think that's exactly what happened with Surrey. Yeah.

Well, yeah, Tara and I were talking about this the other day. Oh, that it's so different in Big Brother where in Survivor that there's less socializing that's going on. There's less like, okay, these two people are just hanging out having non-game talk, especially with how fast it's moving. You could see two people in the Big Brother house and they're alone. It doesn't necessarily mean that they're plotting. Whereas on Survivor, you see two people having a conversation.

It's like, well, why are they talking? Totally. It's absolutely that. And I, yeah, it's, oh. I thought Angela was spinning out the other day And I think it's because she saw like she thought something And then somebody else was I feel like I'd be very Angela

And I feel like I would go in wanting to play Like Morgan Pope and would spin into Angela Um Aubrey Are you feeling any sort of stakes in this Where you know If Rick and D they go on they dominate You feel good

It's like you listen Of course survivors are going to come in, they're going to crush in Big Brother. But if this position collapses and this goes bad, I was thinking about this, like, I don't want to hear like, oh, Big Brazis, survivors come to Big Brother.

They think it's so easy. And they sucked. I don't want to live in that world. Oh, hell no, I don't want to live in that world. Big Brother. And we'd hear it. We'd hear it. We'd hear it. I mean, I do have, I do have respect

for the Big Brother players that it is that long and I will say online feels even more wild for them. It's so much, it's even more parisocial and I think we're parisocial. So like, I don't want to hear it, but I'm going to have grace for the big brother players. I don't want to hear it. Survivor is the best reality show of all time. But I do have, I mean, I see how some of these, I'm like, whoa, people think they really know you because they're hanging with you all the time. That's, that's a weight to bear. And you don't have, like, I can't imagine watching Survivor. Like, I can't imagine playing Survivor.

And then, I don't know. I just think it's different. This whole real-time thing where there's a perception, this whole other audience that's deciding who you are in the moment and you have no control over it. Like, they're not seeing what we would see, like, the reaction to how we're playing. I don't know. I don't know what I'm saying. It's a mind screw. So, Rob, I'm saying Survivor's the best game ever, but I got empathy for these big

brother players. Yeah. This, you know, the Survivor game is such an adventure. But I think the experience of watching Big Brother is so much more real and visceral than the experience of watching Survivor. Yeah, I agree. Yes. I feel like sometimes when I'm watching the feeds, it feels more like playing Survivor. Because you're seeing those moments where the action, like, that's when I think back of like moments of Survivor, sometimes I feel like the closest to it when I'm watching the live feeds where you're like, oh, that moment, that pause, that look.

the way that person left sooner than I thought they would and then went over here instead of over there that's Survivor. Like that's the magic of it. Yeah. The thing is happening right now. Like it's,

you get to experience that watching Big Brother. Yes. Yeah. And I mean, there's like the meta of all of these games, right? And we really get, like you can talk about the meta of the games, but like unless you really see what's happening

in those like in between moments, there's you know you don't have quite the full picture you have most of it but it's just on big brother you can see those things like this is why I love big brothers like I always say in 50 like a lot of the stuff I did like wasn't great TV it's because it was about the pauses like I said and the looks and all of those things and on big brother on the live feeds like you're seeing how the way you present yourself in a more nuanced way makes people feel that's like we're getting this feedback about drew on the feeds about like some people are really sketched by drew like would you necessarily necessarily catch that just watching the show. I think you can see it more fully when you see like

Drew is talking to this group. Then he moved over here. That's what made people feel weird. Like you can see with the feeds you can see why people catch the vibes is what I'm trying to say. Yeah. I mean that's you know, that's why that's why I still cover big brother. That's why we're like we're in this. You know, it's like no other show is able to give you that feeling in the same way. Like, you can go play the show. But I think Big Brother Livey are the closest to actually being there without being there by a huge, huge margin.

Yeah. Aubrey, let's say this goes incredibly well. Biggest rating season of all time. The powers that be saying, you know, we got to strike again with this. And we need more survivors, and they call you Aubrey. Big Brother 29.

Are you in? That's a long time. It's so long. it's a long time and I got a little kid um it's a long time rob I feel it and I'm not in it I'm like oh my god but oh damn would I be tempted shoot I mean I take the call I wouldn't say no yeah did serri tell you about her time that she said do not play big brother ever

seri didn't have to tell me I could just see it on her face like I like I'm not trying to to psychoanalyze, but after she played that Big Brother season, I know Surrey enough to know when the metaphorical Big Brother sunglasses are on or off. And I contend that watching her in Big Brother is a big reason why I was able to win 50. I saw how she moved in that game in a different way. Wow. I can. When I'm a Surrey, I know when she's done with people's stuff and she just puts the sunglasses on. I think it helped me. I think it helped me. I think it helped me study her a little bit. Oh, Saria is the best player. I wish they would just pop her in right now.

Wouldn't that be great? So like, surprise, Surrey's on Big Brother. They could do it have a great point. I thought a lot, I've thought a lot about like how watching Surrey on the feeds really helped me understand the way she plays Survivor so much better. But it never occurred to me, poorly should have, should have occurred to me, that people playing with her on future Survivor Seasons might have watched her on the Big Brother Live feeds and have a better idea of how she plays as well. Yeah, and I was eight and nine months pregnant and then had a newborn. So my hours were weird and I was watching. I was watching that whole thing. Was it, was it you, Taryn? Someone said this and I think I've said it a few times, but just like the nuances,

someone made the observation that if you come up on Surrey and she's having a conversation with a group of people and they've been talking about you and you walk up, she doesn't stop talking. She'll be like, hey, we were just talking about you. Like those details. Those little like It's valuable texture, the emotional texture of the room She has complete command over it But man, I would do anything to go back

I mean, I'm loving this season But the days of Izzy I love Izzy Izzy might be like Izzy's in my top three Big Brother players like all time Izzy, Surrey, Felicia and the whole Heism thing

Oh my gosh. I'm afraid that we could have like a Heism moment here with our friends D and Rick, so we'll see. But I loved those. That group, give me Izzy in the pig costume any day. Aubrey, anything else that's on your mind about Big Brother 28? Oh, I wish I could talk to Devons and Dee. What would you tell them? If we could send a video to them, what would you say?

I just want to give Rick and Dee the biggest hug. I just want to give them a hug. They're doing so great. And you know what? I just want to say to them, hell yeah, you said yes to the experience. You two are wild. Like the fact they're even doing it, win or lose, I don't care what anyone says. I think it's amazing that they're just going for it.

Like, I'm just proud of them. I don't care what anyone says. I'm with them. Ride or die. Survivor till the end, till the wheels fall off. I hope they're having fun. I really do.

I think they are. Yeah, I hope they're. And it was really fun to see Rick sing to Juju on her birthday, his daughter. Yeah. So it's really nice. I know how much he loves his family and their wonderful family, and it's got to be tough. And I think it's great that they support him so much, too.

Yeah, it's been fun. Even like Christian Hubicki, whatever, wouldn't that be fun? We had a Christian loved ones visit, something. Or like Tiff went in and visited D. Anyway, I want more crossover is what I think I'm saying. That's what they call it the crossovers. Yeah, I'm proud of them. They're killing it.

Yeah. Okay. Should Survivor have more Big Brother people on now? No. No, of course not. You know, I love how I say that. I'm like, get off my show. It's so funny.

I mean, that's the thing is when I have some big brother players that I've gotten to know and I like dearly love. I love to see them play Survivor. I want to see Izzy play Survivor. I want to see Andy Herron play Survivor. I've been talking a little bit to Morgan Pope and she's amazing. I think she'd be really good at Survivor. So let them on. She'd be intense.

That's how these shows survive. Sorry. Yeah. She'd be intense on Survivor. she would but she's very she's really good like positioning and knowing people yeah i'd love to see her play i think she'd be a formidable like savannah like competitor with a different social game probably okay taryn anything else for aubrey today uh just so happy to see her uh it's obri famously one of one of my favorite taryn show interviews back in the day thank you i remember that interview i remember

I was sitting in West Hollywood. It was a great time. Yes. Oh, a tear of sleep. Listen, he knows what he's doing, and he doesn't need to sleep. Okay.

Yeah, right? Do you sleep? I get it in there. Okay, just checking. Yeah. And he would rather be tired and there'd be good feeds than it'd be boring

and he'd be well rested. Can I ask how you felt on Friday night? How were you on Friday night? Saw me, it was a lot. Listen, there's nine whole other months to sleep. You know what I mean? Fair enough. Yeah.

Okay. Aubrey, anything you want people to check out what you're doing? Just follow me on Aubrey Bracco on probably Instagram, but I've been on like X lately again and threads talking big brother. So yeah, Chad Big Brother, it's fun. What a treat for us. You've been live tweeting this season. I mean, it's so much fun when it's not your own foibles and things to talk about. I keep saying, I'm like way more excited when I'm in a different universe

because I can talk about that universe and like apply the lessons. I'm happy. I love Survivor, but it's nice to like, let's talk about you. I don't want to about me anymore. Okay. All right. Well, great to catch up with you. And then Taryn, what else is coming up for you?

We got the roundtable. I don't know exactly when this is dropping, but in my time, the roundtables tonight. Live feed updates every morning. Check out all the other shows I'm watching on my Patreon. Okay. And then we have another busy week of Big Brother coverage coming your way, including the slop coming up on Tuesday night.

Plus, Taryn and I are going to get into the patron mailbag. if you have questions, Robbinswebson.com slash BB Mailbag as we answer your strategy questions about Big Brother 28. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you, Aubrey. Take care. We have a good one. Bye. A lot of folks listen to Robbins' podcast because they want to get smarter about Survivor. But when you want to get smarter about your money or your time, you got to check out all the hacks. The host is named Chris Hutchins. He's a financial optimizer. Not like Emily Flippin. And he sold two companies, he traveled to over 60 countries, mostly for free,

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