RHAP: We Know Survivor - Bottoms Up! Steven, Sage, and Jawan Talk Survivor 50

Episode Date: April 13, 2026

Bottoms Up! Steven, Sage, and Jawan Talk Survivor 50 Survivor 49’s alliance “Bottoms Up” unites as Rob Cesternino sits down with Jawan, Sage, and Steven for a dynamic Survivor 50 recap. The trio relive the biggest Tribal Council in Survivor history, unpacking the strategy behind the 14-person vote and dissecting how new-era gameplay shakes up the battlefield. This episode zeroes in on the luck, loyalty, and shifting alliances that make Survivor’s landmark season a wild ride. Rob and his guests dive into the clash between old-school and new-school players, exploring why the veteran group is holding strong while the newer faces struggle to find their footing. They highlight Rizo’s surprising run, debating whether his chameleon gameplay and willingness to play the “little brother” role to Survivor legends is keeping him safe—or painting a target on his back. The crew also weighs in on Cirie’s magnetism and how her alliances with Ozzy and Rizo could change the game, and they can’t help but wonder if Rizo will make the big move against Cirie if it means grabbing the win for himself. – Why Rizo’s “Robin to Batman” approach is winning him friends and idols, but could backfire – The old-school alliance’s tight grip versus the chaos of new-era gameplay – D’s bold Tribal scramble and whether it’s better to fight or play dead when you’re on the chopping block – The rise of “double agents” and where power really lies as voting blocks take over post-merge – How Sage accidentally stars in a viral Allure article about “snatched” Survivor contestants As alliances shift, Bottoms Up asks: Will Rizo take out Cirie or ride shotgun to the finals and risk losing it all? Which “honor and integrity” player will become the next big target, and can the new-schoolers pull off a comeback? Tune in for Bottoms Up’s full Survivor 50 breakdown, including hidden idol strategy, double-crosses, and those unpredictable power flips! To pre-order Rob’s book, The Tribe and I Have Spoken, visit www.robhasabook.com Chapters: 0:00 Bottoms Up Alliance Reunites 6:06 Rizo’s Jury Perception Discussed 12:44 Rizo’s Social Strategy Examined 20:13 Cirie and Rizo Alliance Debate 28:30 Survivor Relationships and Pregaming 36:33 Christian and Cirie Fan Moments 41:00 Old School vs New School Shift 48:45 Dee Takes Out Charlie 50:35 Dee’s Last Stand at Tribal 54:44 Bottoms Up Trust Issues 1:01:42 Horror Movie Seasons Compared 1:10:22 Boomerang Idol Hypotheticals 1:14:43 Cirie, Rizo, Ozzy Double Agents 1:18:05 Next Big Target Predictions 1:21:31 Dangers of Hiding Alliances Never miss a minute of RHAP’s extensive Survivor coverage! LISTEN: Subscribe to the Survivor 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!

We all love Survivor, and in my first ever book, The Tribe and I have spoken, I'll tell you how this little show evolved from that juggernaut first season on the beaches of Borneo all the way into its landmark 50th season. I'm like a storyteller. That's what I do. What role did the greatest players, the unforgettable moments, and Jeff Probst himself have in shaping what Survivor has become today? And what contribution did we play in building this worldwide tribe of Survivor fans? Love you, Bay.

For you future players, I've also included my ultimate survivor playbook to help you win the million dollars, unlike me. It's fine. You know what, dude, it's fun. This hardcover edition is filled with beautiful survivor illustrations in every chapter and is an amazing addition for every survivor collector. I'm a meat collector. Pre-orders are everything for a book launch, so to say thank you to everyone who pre-orders, you'll receive an exclusive digital bonus chapter called the Ultimate Rights. of passage, my personal tribute to all the players who have ever competed on the show, all 751. This is huge.

I needed this. Free order wherever books are sold in hardcover and as an audio book at robhatsabook.com. That's rob has a book.com. Nicely done, Rob. Hey, everybody. What's going on? Rob Sestradino, back with you for this. is going to be a fun one here today because I have the chance to catch up with a full three-person alliance from Survivor 49.

They called themselves bottoms up and we are here with Joanne, Sage, and Stephen. How are you? What is that, Rob? Yes, okay. They were a Polly Alliance before it was cool. Risgod is heating their nachos, reheating their nachos. Oh, I love that. What do you think about that? I didn't think about that. Yes.

Yes. Sage, do you, did you put that out there? Were you the Surrey of Bottoms Up with Joanne and Stephen? Oh, gosh. I think so much of Survivor's luck and I think Bottoms Up is a testament to that of the tribe swaps. Like, I love Joanne. I got to start off with him. and then I got really lucky to be with Stephen

for the next two tribe swaps and it's just like, guys, man, it just is natural. It was, what is that word? Like symbiotic? Is that how you said? It just happened. It flowed.

And I knew the two of them, I knew they would love each other. So I think it was just, you know, luck. Nice. Okay. Well, this is fun to have you all here with us. Stephen, you were coming off of a busy week at work. Everybody, first of all,

I think that Stephen made talking about space cool again in Survivor 49 because I didn't hear anything about space or going to the moon for like, I don't know, 15 years. And now all of a sudden, Stephen, you talked about it and now space is big again. Yeah, it's all because of me. Artemis II rests on the shoulders of my little cameo on season 49. Otherwise, Congress was going to just cut it. So, but for real, it was a super awesome week for. just mankind in general. It was a big international collaboration for the first time in 54 years. We sent humans around the moon. In fact, they went farther away from Earth than any humans ever

gone before. And it's like a big step forward to creating my dream, which is Stephen Topia. It's a moon base on the Lunar South Bull that then is a stepping stone to get to Mars. So a lot of big moves and then a lot of big moves in this episode too. Artemis 2 was hot. Do you think are we greenlighting Artemis 3 yet? Oh, it's already greenlit baby. It's been going. Yes. Yeah. And Joanne, I feel like that people really didn't give you enough credit for my friend, Rob Rausch on the traders, that everybody talks about him with the overalls look. But really, where are your flowers for rocking the overalls look?

You're a real one, Rob. Thank you, bro. I appreciate that. But the problem is the big difference between Rob R is I feel like he's naturally hot. I had to grow into my hotness. The ball got I stayed and I lost some weight. I got the six pack. But yeah, I think it's just my...

Well, six pack, not good for overalls. I mean, you have to unbutton a little bit. Covers the six pack. Yeah, you're right. You're right. But thank you for my flowers, Rob. Yes. Okay.

Well, this is great to have you all here with us to talk about what's going on here where we just watched the biggest tribal council in the history of Survivor, 14 person tribal council. Things are really starting to get dramatic. Coach is really on one. Would love to just hear Survivor 50 in general. How are you all feeling so far? I've been loving it so far.

I mean, I really like returning cast seasons because, one, you kind of already feel like you know the players and there's a lot of like different, there's like another layer of dynamics. And I feel like this one has been messy in kind of all the right ways. So we're getting to see a lot of people like coach who just are dropping haikus and that little cut of Joe in the hammock where he was like, I don't know if that was some editing magic or what, but I was like dying laughing as he was dropping some like poetry on him. And it's just been fun to watch.

It's been it's been interesting, especially coming right after 49 and jumping into like such a big season like this and watching from the other side having gone through it. It's just a different experience. So I've loved it. Yeah, same. Just to pick you back off of that, I thought I would need a little bit of a break from Survivor, but it's something about seeing like the old school. It kind of feels like an off-brand, like Heroes versus Villains in a weird way. And so it kind of feels right.

And just the editing too, I feel like I have mixed emotions about the season. Like on the one hand, I feel like the editing's been really good with the flashbacks. Like, for example, with Ozzy and Christian, when they had that little, like, back and forth, and they flashed back to Cochran. I'm like, oh, that's so good. Like, I love that as an editor. But, you know, I feel like we, hopefully we get more screen time for, you know, some of the women, you know. But all in all, I'm really enjoying this. Not that many women left.

We're losing them. You're right. Yeah. Yeah. So let me ask about Rizzo who has come in. I've said this a bunch of times on the podcast. I didn't think that it was going to go so great for him. I kind of thought that it was going to come in and people go say,

who is this guy? Get rid of him. And he's really coming to his own here in this season. So many people have tried to like pick him up and put him in their back pocket. I'd love to just get the reaction from the three of you in terms of how he's doing. not to say that he's not a good player, but did you all think that he would hit more resistance coming in with the veterans?

I can take this one if you guys went real quick to get the juices flowing because I... I just want to say my arc with meeting Rizzo was like very similar to the way Colby felt when he first met him. I thought Rizzo was so incredibly obnoxious and annoying. He's this 25 year old kid. I thought he was lying about his age when it was really 18. I tried to start that room around camp, didn't stick. He found out

Three days later, he's like, was that you? And I was like, yeah. But he grew on me. Maybe. Maybe. Yeah, he like grew on me over time. He was, you know, he's a good player. And like, I think he has good reads.

And like being able to read the game and like also know when to not talk and when to like drop information and share it. I think he's abiding by the same code that he followed on 49. And it's like, it's when they gave him an idol, I was like, you guys have no idea what you just unleashed. on the island. And so I will say it's a lot more fun to watch on the other side, not being on the receiving end of some of those mind games.

But I think he's playing great. I don't know. I think a lot about our exit interview that we did when you came out. Because we, during the airing of Survivor 49, that there was a lot of talk about, like, well, like could Rizzo win? And then, but there was like, but seems like the jury isn't really loving him. And I got to ask you about that in terms of, you know, how is the jury receiving him? And we talked about how some of the antics he was doing at tribal council, like, okay, I'm going to put my idol away.

I'm taking it out. I'm taunting you. It seems like it wasn't really hitting with the jury. But do you see that, did he course correct from that? Or it just has to happen the same way? I think it's a little bit of both. I think he probably took some of that to heart. It was really funny on the jury when Rizzo lost to fire and he came out.

And we all kind of, you know, at that time, I don't think really appreciated some of the game that he was playing. And he came in and he in like 10 minutes just very eloquently gave what probably would have been part of his final tribal speech. He made it that far. And I think a lot of people were a little surprised that he had a little bit more agency or there was a little bit more intent behind some of the moves that he was making or maybe they weren't aware of some of the conversations. And so that was really fun to see. And so, but I do think he was a little surprise maybe to see that everyone's initial reaction wasn't like, R-A-Z-G-O-D in the house. We were just like, we were like, where did that come from?

Because that was the first time we had heard the nickname Rizgod. It's not like he was popping that off left and right. Yeah. And I was stressed for him because the only thing anyone from season 50 saw about him was the promo trailer where he introduced himself. And I was like, dude, that's, so I've been, I've been happy to see that he's got, you know, a lot of the premurge stuff, I think, is a little bit of luck getting put on the right tribe that doesn't lose, having someone

getting swapped out, you get to step in. But he's been navigating, I think, really well. And I do think that he may have taken some of that to heart. He also looks like he's about to get blown away. He's so gaunt and seen. You were saying putting him in his pocket, man. You could definitely fit him in your pocket at this point. Could we go back to sort of like when he comes out of the game?

Because, Juan, you were there also. And so when he comes back to Ponderosa, when he was received by the people at Ponderosa, was there like a conversation about actually, you know, you actually were pissing us off a little bit. Yeah, I mean, it definitely, it was, there was some crickets when he walked in.

It was definitely like, oh, I guess I'm explaining to do. But I feel like he just kind of jumped in, and similar to Stephen, it wasn't, it wasn't like all fuzzy and warm hugged at first until he got into his game. Yeah. If I can talk to a little bit about, Rizzo too. I feel like one of his superpowers, I feel like one of his strengths is how he kind of

responds or he maneuvers after a big event, you know? So like for example, I think about the blood moon, like the three people going back to back. I think he does a good job of kind of blending in, but also solidifying relationships. So like with Surrey and Ozzy, just kind of carrying that information. It makes me think about like my first introduction with Rizzo. when he went to do the fight for supplies, you know? He comes back. And normally when you're away from camp for a long time, especially those early days,

you got some ground to pick up. I think that's kind of his bread and butter. I think he does well. It's like how he's aware of the groups and he tries to like fit in. He doesn't have to be the biggest fish right away. And yeah, I feel like this game has a lot of luck and bad luck and like the shakes and stuff. I think if you can kind of be aware of the different groups and then find out the cracks,

I think that's what he does really well. Sage, what about for you? Are you seeing anything different from Rizzo in this season? Not necessarily because I think we're just now getting to the individual part of the game. And so so far it looks very similar. And it's hard, right? Because you only see so much in the game version. But no, I think exactly what Joanne said of he's really going.

at strategic timing. And I think he's like shown that so far of being careful of who he shares with and just taking in all the information, holding it in, deciding when he drops that. So I think so far he's playing a good game. And to the luck component,

like I think he's had some luck on his side. And I think Rizzo's biggest, my biggest concern for Rizzo going into this part of the game is humility. I've been very open about that. I think a lot of it has to do with his age. But should he make it to final tribal, my biggest hope is he can like tap into that humility of own your game,

like phenomenal game player. And you have to speak to the parts that were luck and being able to explain like, you can you can do that in a way where you acknowledge the luck component, but then speak to how you use that to your advantage. And I think Briseau has a tendency of like, nope, it was just told me, guys. And that can rub, that can rub a jury really.

the wrong way if you can't give credit to lock into other players. So that's my biggest fear for him. Maybe he grew in nine days. I don't know, but we'll see. You know what, though? I think that this format, though, really suits him because I think that in this environment

where he's there with all these legends and all these people who are sort of like these established survivor figures that he has a lot of respect for, he's really sort of locked into sort of being that little brother to so many of these people little brother, son

that he's in a role where, and he's been good at playing that where he hasn't had to come out and say like, hey, I'm I'm, you know, the top dog here. He's been very comfortable being like playing the Robin to a number of different Batman's

so far. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. He's got his handed a lot cookie jars. I'm kind of impressed at how many people they just kind of want to scoop them up. We've seen two times with

Colby and Coach and with Coach it worked out and with Colby ended up smoothing over as well but where he has this tendency to even though he's the youngest as his tendency to act as the wisest and he does have wisdom again that's not to discount that so sometimes I and this happened like this was my

experience in the game but it worked to my favor because I was trying to lean into that like I don't know thing I'm I'm vulnerable is He has a tendency to like preach or like, what do he? Stephen, you had this experience with him. How would you describe it where it's like he kind of acts as if he's the oldest one in the room? Yeah, I had a really banger of a confessional.

It didn't make the cut. But it was the merge, speaking of Burge episodes where it was between me and Nate, I was going and pretending to be the wounded puppy that knew they were going to get voted out, but was just pleading for their lives. When I really knew I had the numbers, so I was playing it up. And I was going to everybody and everyone was kind of giving me the same like, no, we'll see what we can do. All these things.

They're telling me lies. And then I talked to Rizzo and he was like the godfather and he wouldn't look at me in the eye like directly at times. And he was like, yeah, you know, we'll see. We'll see what we can do. I can't make any promises. You kind of rubble some feathers. But you know, if you do make it, I'll just let you know.

This is my. And he started like preaching a little bit. And I was like, who is this 18 year old kid talking to me? Like, I'm a child. And, like, that was my first impression of Rizzo. That's why I was, like, so rubbed the wrong way by him. He was so cocky. He's got this mustache that's barely coming in.

A monster, like, impersonation is so good, bro. You got to do monster with Christopher Walken. No? Wow. Crazy. I'm going to come to your house. I'm going to feed your wolves. Oh, I do people every day of a week.

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BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. But no, that was my experience with Rizzo at times. I also remember one other moment when he thought he had clocked exactly what my secret advantage was from the journey. And I loved that so much because the entire game, the dynamic was me trying to play like the wounded puppy. I was trying to like minimize my threat level and pretend like I, you know, kind of like you said.

You were like, I don't know what I'm doing. And Rizzo was kind of very matter-ofactly thinking he was in the driver's seat. And so it was very fun to like listen to him, tell me, I know what it is and it's this and him be wrong. I'm like, okay. And so, yeah,

I think if he can hone that stuff in, kind of like what Sage was saying, if you can hone some of that in, I mean, like I said, he's got good reads. And one thing I'm really impressed with him is that when he gets an advantage or he gets a piece of information, he's so good at finding strong players to align with. I mean, there's no one better than Serian, like using that information to build trust. And it's a little, like, if you shoot off all the knowledge you know to everybody, then it's like, who are you with? But he's really good. Like he connected with the, I know. they had a conversation before the game, but still, he connected, shared information in a very smart way, whereas some players, I think, can be a little sloppy about who they tell and when. And Rizzo takes, I remember he has a code. And that's what I mean is like, when he, if he tells you information and like share something and, like, actually means it, it's like a bond. But if you break that bond, he's like, okay, you're dead to me. You're gone.

Mobster again. Like, dude, you're done. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, you got a question. How do you break that bond when you, that you share the thing, the secret that he told you? Yeah, it's kind of like what happened when he found out that D had mentioned other people that he had an idol.

He was like, wait, I thought that that was something that we were just keeping between us. And now I'm finding out from other people that you have shared that. And so that there's no better way to make someone suspicious of you than to find out secondhand that something you told them in confidence is now getting back to you. So did that happen in season 49? Yes. Wait, let me speak to it. Let me speak to it. With Rizzo and

Yeah. Shannon, Rizzo and Shannon. So it was really, I still, I was waiting to see what CBS's move was with this. It still doesn't make sense to this day. If anybody has,

has like a perspective on it. But they, when M.C. told Rizzo that she knew about his idol, they dubbed over. And so it sounded like M.C. was saying my name. MC told Rizzo during like the tribe swaps and the,

the first half of the game, that Shannon told him or told her and like the rest of Hina about his idol. But CBS dubbed it over so it sounded like MC said my name. Rizzo was freaking John with Shannon. Like when it came to the merch, she was already out so it didn't matter. But he was pissed because he thought that Shannon, somebody who he was closely aligned with in the like first half the game, spilled the beans.

And I mean, the rest of the season, we just kept hearing how, like how much. Rizzo, he's like, I'm never talking to her again. Like F. Shannon, like he was just done with her because of that. So I agree, Stephen. That's all I got. I'm going to pee. I'll be back. Okay. Yeah, just to jump in too, just to talk about another one of Rizzo's strengths for me,

I think it was interesting watching my game in the early days. I think you talked about this, Rob. I really was oil to the soil. I mean, I'm sorry, Oli to the Day I die. I really was like, oh, I want to rock with these guys. And from talking to my family, they're like, why the heck, how do you not know Savannah's coming after you and like you're on the bottom?

And I think a lot of that was due to the work, some of the work that Rizzo was doing with me. They don't really show it on TV, but me and him were close mainly because like when you share information. So I was right there when he found the first part of the Beware Advantage. And then when we got tribe swath together, I remember digging it up with Savannah and Nate. And moments like that, those are like the little things, survivors about the little things. And I remember when he went out into the water to grab the idol, he came back and told me straight away. So I was like, oh, so it's interesting how like, you know, who Rizzo, you know, shares information with and how that can really, you know, build bonds. I mean, we saw that with Surrey, you know, and that amazing confessional she had with Stephanie.

And Stephanie and her have history for a long time. You know, she just met Rizzo. And the fact that, you know, Rizzo is one of the first people to know about what Stephanie has says a lot about his game. So I want to ask the three of you a question that I've been thinking about over these last couple days where you have this alliance with Sari and Rizzo and Ozzy. And, you know, we've gotten to watch so much of Rizzo play in these last few months. but I'm wondering to get your perspective of if it gets down to the end of the game.

Okay. He's heading towards the final three with Surrey. Would he go to the end of this game with Surrey and probably lose? Or would he vote Surrey out? And he's loyal. We've seen him to his people. He's loyal. But you have to think he would know.

I can't beat Surrey in the end. Would he make that kind of move where I love Surrey, but I'm going to take her out before she gets to the end? 1,000%. I think so. I think Rizzo has been saying he wants to cement his legacy as one of the greatest players that ever played. His whole philosophy in season 49,

he said it openly at travel so many times. Rob, or he said, Jeff, you were there too, I guess, Rob, in my mind. But he was like, I'm with all the survivors in spirit when you're there. when you, you know, I would love for to be like, what do you, what's Rob going to think about this when this happens? I would like to be there. I was like, dang, I can't wait to see the takes on this one. But there were moments where he said getting an eighth place and the difference between

eighth place and fifth place to me is like, is not a big deal. I'm here to win. I'm coming to swing big. If I risk it all and lose, so be it. But I'm not coming here to play it safe. And I think that that's the same attitude that he's coming into this game with. And I do think that if he gets an opportunity to take out one of the. best to ever do it and cement his legacy amongst all the greats.

He's going to take that shot. I would be shocked if he decided to just lead. I know he's a huge fan of the show. I used to call him the Survivor Almanac because every time we'd get tree mail, he was like nine times out of 10 able to guess what that challenge was based on the limerick that they had. He actually guessed our buff color for the merge based on historical knowledge of like when the colors were.

I'll never forget this. He's like, I think it's going to be black. And I was like, where did that come from? And he's like, well, and he like explained it. And it was like watching a mathematician or a professor give a lecture on like, on like TEDx or something. I was like, oh, okay. Sure.

And then he just kept being right. So what I'm getting at is like he's a big fan of the show. But I haven't seen that yet cloud his judgment in a way that's making him like maybe fanboy and be like, nah, it's Surrey. Like he's not going to roll the red carpet out for anyone. He's there to play. Sure. I feel like what are your thoughts, Sage, before I go? No, I agree.

You agree with Stephen, right? Yeah. Now you. I feel like my hot take is, I think that I feel like, I could be wrong, but I feel like he's so like not egotistic. There's a nicer word. I feel like he has so much confidence that, you know, there is a world where he pulls off some moves and he can feel comfortable going to the end with anybody. And I think that because Savannah was a, not.

to compare Surrey to Savannah, but Savannah was a pretty big threat, and I do think that he would have felt comfortable sitting next to Savannah. So I don't know. I think you guys are probably right, but I wouldn't be surprised if he pulls off some moves,

he'll be like, okay, I'll sit against anybody. So who knows? Yeah. I could see it where maybe he doesn't take out Surrey. And maybe, like, you know, I'm not sure necessarily he even could. if he needed to maybe

at five, maybe he convinced somebody else, hey, we can't beat Surrey and they're able to get her out maybe a little bit earlier. But I wonder if he thinks highly enough about his game, he's like, hey, you know what? Like, Surrey might win. Let me, I don't know about that.

Like, you know, maybe, like, he might just want the shot. And I can't take out Surrey, but, you know, I'll fight my ass off in the end. Right. Right. I can see that for sure. I mean, yeah, coming out of the game, I think he was little surprise to see the, here are the jury's perspective of his game. I mean, I, you could, I was very in tune with the jury because I would look over and see their reactions. And so

when he was playing chicken with the idol, I saw that it wasn't landing. And so I was like, okay, cool. I think I've got the jury on my side, um, in a way that maybe he doesn't. And so, um, he's, we were going like, I don't know what it is, but like, he's 25. Like you're at 25, I felt freaking invincible dude. I thought I knew everything. And like, it's kind of endearing. I mean, he says things like, he's like, I'm my number one cheerleader and all these things. He's like, he always says things like, why not me? Like it's, it's, it brings me back to when I was 25 and I thought I like had it all figured out. And, and that type of confidence can carry you really far. But it can also sometimes come back to bite you. And I, I hope that maybe he's in those nine days, like you said,

Sage, maybe he's like really internalized and did some soul searching. But I'll tell you this, if I was in his position, nine days would not have been nearly enough to process everything that happened. I still sometimes feel like I'm processing our season even after watching it air. So, you know, I just, yeah, it's interesting. So I'm rooting for him. But I'm also like, it's interesting from our perspective, I think, to see him. And he is kind of just playing the same way. It's like the same old Rizzo. And it's like fun being on the other side. I'm like, I get why everyone loves him. And I understand. And it was so, I loved how. everyone has had that arc, like that Colby tip where they're like,

he's ignoring. And then they're like, dang it, I think I kind of like Rizzo. And like, that was kind of my journey with him too. And like, you know, but at the same time, like there were definitely moments where he would, he would sell you on this like, I'm loyal, I'm honored. Like, you know me. If I tell you something, it's the truth. And like, you'd hear him tell that to everybody.

I'm like, you can't be saying that. Like, you know, there's no way. You've been working with those two people, Tris Lachase, the whole time. And now you're telling me at final seven, you're going to jump ship and all of a sudden be my best bro just because I have this advantage. So like, I think if he, I think in his head, he thought he was missing me or something. He was so confident. And so as long as he can like reel that in, it's hard to know. But like, yeah, I mean, some of these like older season players, I mean, I feel like as you get older, you get to know yourself better.

You can kind of like control your, you have a better poker face for the most part. I don't know. I feel like my poker face is much better at 36 than it was at 20. And so, but I thought at 25 that I was a poker shark. So I don't know about, you know, Joanne and Sage what you guys think. I feel like you had more time with them being on Oolay. Yeah. I think for me watching this season is kind of cathartic and a weird.

No, no, no, no, you keep going. You go, sis, go. I'm not doing it. I'm not doing it. God damn it. Okay, see, no, go. Go, go. Go, go.

So, I'm looking. at the time in the first 30 minutes about Rizzo, I would love to move on, but I do want to say one last thing. I totally, all of you have spoken to this to a point where it's like, his confidence is his biggest strength,

but also his biggest weakness. I would have loved to see Rizzo, like, play five years from now when he's 30, and maybe he will play again. And that would be really interesting to see the character, because the character development, when I think of Rizzo, I've always seen him at this, like, fork in the road,

where you have Rizzo, the person, than Rizzo the character or Rizgod. Rizzo is very, he's a great salesman. He talked about how successfully was in his job. And I think he is a really good salesman in his personal life. And he is really good at reading people. But there's certain types of people that he's not good at reading. And those are the people that I think kind of like to what Stephen was saying are,

guys, come on. Come on. Hey. You know what? I'm going to drop it. I'm going to drop it. I've got my whole life to talk about this. it's okay.

If we're going to be able to myself and try to punch a wall. I love it. I love that. No, you were on a roll though. I kind of want to hear where you were going with it. Yeah, you were cooking. Yeah.

You know, yeah. It's just, he's on an interesting journey at this point to come into Survivor and have so much success in the show in such a short period of time. And I am very interested

to, you know, see what the future holds. for him because I've seen it be like a very positive thing for people and I've also seen where it becomes not such a great thing to have happened to a person and I really am rooting for him and I really

hope that you know he has a good support system around him to be able to come out on the other side of this thing with like somewhat of a still normal experience that he can move forward with. Amen.

I've seen him in person. Oh go ahead. Yes. Yeah. I was going to say he seems like he's doing really well. I've seen him several times, obviously, since, you know, 50 started airing. But it doesn't seem like it's gone to his head too much. And it seems like he's staying pretty centered and doing well, readjusting into real life. But yeah, I mean, coming out of the game, you're kind of messed up for a while.

And, like, he went back to back. So I think that's, her, in Savannah. I, you know, you kind of wish that it was you. But then at the same time, you're kind of also like relieved a little bit that you got some breathing time, to decompress because I can't imagine like you're it's an advantage going in with your brain still wired in game mode and like we're ready to roll and like you don't have that weird warm up period where you're you know they came in I think locked in but that can also be it can also backfire because then you come in and play too hard too fast sometimes and I think he's

luckily not done that but anyway I know you want to move on yes do you well do you think that he's benefited from Savannah being out of the game already where if the both of them were still in like I wonder if maybe people would be like a little bit more wary of him but now with Savannah being taken out maybe it's like okay well now I can pick him up now he doesn't know anybody I think that's absolutely it I think especially sorry I keep jumping in I want to give joan and sage your chance as well we're at alliance dude bottoms up baby but I just I just to get so excited I was going to say um yeah I think he's done pretty I think it definitely benefited him that that Savannah got booted early um he's a number he's a wild

card in a returning season where allegedly there were a lot of pregame alliances or people came in with people they wanted to work with or maybe thought they wanted to work with. And him being the unknown wild card, it's scary at first. But then I think sometimes his like endearing goofiness, maybe disarms people and maybe they underest him in a bit. And then when he actually shows that he's rock solid and like can handle the pressure and like keep a good, you know, has a good reads. And I think that people see that. And they're like, okay, that's a number for me that none of these other alliances have. If I can speak. him up. Yeah. Sage, can I ask you, you were very vocal during Survivor 49 about the things that you saw at Ponderosa that you didn't feel like were right in terms of how the game should start. What about in a returning player season where players are going on Zoom and talking to one another or making phone calls about let's work together? And sometimes it works out and sometimes it burns people. Do you have any feelings about how returning players handle that? I think it's just for the integrity of the game, it would be awesome if it didn't happen. And I think a returning season is very different than all new folks.

Because even if there weren't pre-gaming for returning seasons, you still have relationships going into the game. So you already are going to have some sort of like an advantage or a leg up because you already know people. So from a personal standpoint, I think it would be awesome if there's just no pre-gaming period, even with returning seasons and a returny season is vastly different than a new player season when it comes to pre-gaming. And we live in, it's 2026, we live

in a social media day and age. It's impossible not to pre-game, I think. I mean, it's not impossible. It's unlikely not to pre-game for a returny season. But it would be really cool if we didn't because it'd be so much more fun. But, I mean, it is what it is. Hey, Rob.

Sorry to, I'm all trying to unwrap any wounds, but you played on the original, you know, the first ever returning season. How was your experience with the whole, were people hitting up your lines? Like, what was the, what was your? So I played in the first All-Stars, which was the first time that they ever brought anybody back. I don't really think that people really knew how to do a pregame.

I think it was just like, I know I would just like, oh, I talked to this person on the phone. So they like me now. They're not going to vote me out. So that's, I'm good with this. or this person, it was their birthday. And I called them and I said, happy birthday. And so now I'm good with this person.

So I think that I was a little naive about what, like, I felt like, hey, I'm friends with Boston Rob. He's not going to vote me out. You know, we're good. And so it was different. And I think that Rob came into that season with a little bit of a, like, he was the one person that was like, hey, I'm going to do whatever it takes. That's not a quote.

but that's how he came into it and he really I grasped like the opportunity that he had to really put his mark on the game and you know it wasn't like that he benefited from any pregame alliances I guess but what he benefited from was that

he there were people that felt like okay well this is gonna we've got this relationship outside the game and Rob was just like no we've got in what I have in the game like it's not if you're Lex, I think, was counting on, okay, well, I know I'm good with Rob,

and so let me do this because we're good, and wasn't necessarily playing it like it was the actual game that was happening, kind of like was counting on a relationship that ultimately Rob wasn't valuing the same way. Yeah. Another quick question. Not the sure. Deep dive on Rob, but on All-Starts,

but I'm just curious, I feel like what this season, or at least with you, I feel like there's characters on All-Stars that were like dead on arrival. Like no matter what the tribe, you had a target on you. Is there any people in this season, do you feel like kind of,

we're in the same similar boat as you? I kind of think Savannah. I thought it was going to be Rizzo, but I think that maybe in hindsight it was Savannah. I think that maybe people felt like, okay, that one of them has to go early. And maybe it might have been flipped around

where if Rizzo's tribe went to tribal council, maybe, and it seemed like he was in a pretty good spot, so probably not. but I wonder if maybe the returning players looked at them and said that one of them has to go. I think in the, for the actual All-Stars that I played on, Richard Hatch, I think that people were, because he was also so pompous

and had always, like, really carried himself in a way that it's like, you know, I am better than all of you. Like, I am the king. And so you saw, like, in that episode where Richard Hatch got voted out, that everybody really relished of voting out. Richard, I don't think there's anybody who came back and really carried themselves, even like the winners who came back, that everybody, I think, like, came in pretty humble and, you know, even coach humbled himself in terms of what he's done in the past. Ceree always carries herself in a very humble way.

So there wasn't a person that really, like, had carried themselves as that, like, the, you know, God's gift of survivor that was coming back, that people really wanted to take down a peg. okay cool but let me hear from you all as people who have watched the show for a long time who's been fun for you all to watch in season 50 I'm a big Christian fan

like yes I have I'm about to say is it yeah I love Christian I love Sarita win I'm like if she wins retire in the show wrap it up come up

You want to end the show. No, dude, we still got to bring bottom back again, baby. Come on. No, I'm sorry. We're cool and all. But if, like, that's the perfect bookend. If Surrey wins 50, end the show. Come up with a different name.

Like, I don't know. Like, that's how I feel. But who I think can win. So we're going to end Survivor 1. Surrey is 1. And then we're going to come back with like a new thing. It'll be drop the 5. Keep the 1.

It'll be Survivor. It'll be something 1. And you. You can host it. No. But now we're really now we're going to be off the air. We threw out the hot

IP and brought me in. But okay, so yeah, obviously we're all interested in watching. But I'd love to hear you talk a little bit more about Christian because I feel like that Stephen, when you came back or you played in Starved 49,

I think that a lot of people got the Christian sort of being able to talk in the challenges and be able to, you know, spin a yarn about science. Yeah, absolutely. My biggest worry, actually, after that challenge where I got to talk about space facts, which was incredible for me.

But I didn't invite that. It's not like I was like, hey, I'm going to now, I have a captive audience. Let's start yapping about space. I think Savannah was the one that broached the topic and said, Stephen, give us the space facts. And knowing how fierce of a game player is, I wonder if her motivation was to maybe throw me off my game. And really, it did the opposite.

And I just locked in. But I remember leaving that challenge. And I remember thinking to myself, everyone's going to think I'm just trying to be the next Christian. And I was like, I want to be the only Stephen. Like I want to be me. And so that was definitely something in the back of my head. But of course, I would be lying if I told you,

I was not thinking about Christian when I was out there. Because watching his first, you know, season, he inspired me a ton. I mean, he was just so authentically. He's an engineer and he's so smart, but he won people over with his earnestness and his just like intelligence. And I got a chance to meet him for the first time at the Ron Clark Academy a few weeks ago. And it was, it was awesome.

Like he, what blew my mind was I was up trying to live stream the Artemis 2 on my phone. And he like, like, I was like, Christians pointing at me. Christian knows who I am. And we sat down and we talked about robotic arms because we're trying to design some from the surface. Did you talk about Survivor? you think about science. We talked about science, yeah.

I figured that he's in the thick of it right now. His season's going. Maybe he wants a mental break. But then I remembered after the conversation, I was like, that's what he does for a living. Maybe that was not the best topic. Sometimes you want like a non-technical thing

when you're an engineer. But I just couldn't help myself. I wanted to nerd out. And I like him. I think he's playing a really, really entertaining game. I don't know. I hope that he wins.

I'd like to see him go really far. But I do think that it's maybe, be going to catch up with him. I think he was playing a little too hard too fast at times, but I, if it was just the Christian show, I'd tune in. Like I, I, I have very much enjoyed watching him. So he's great. Sage, did Christian endear himself to you even more earlier in the season when he was so brave as to talk about in his confessionals about how he had had an accident? Yeah, of course. Oh my God. I didn't. know I could love them anymore. It's just so real. I mean, you shit your pants. You talk about it.

Why not? Everyone shit their pants after post-baby phase. Like, if you haven't, that's weirder to me. So I just appreciate him speaking to that adult experience. I'd love to know from you all. The new era has really been going through it here in this season over these last couple of weeks. Why is that? What's going on with the new era? Are they going to be able to turn things around? I wanted to talk about that, too.

I feel like there's two big themes in 50, at least for me. I feel like there's the old school versus the new school. And then there's this, you know, the honor and integrity group versus what would you call everybody else? Fluidity, Rob, um, flow. What would you call the other group? That's not.

I think it's like voting blocks, really. I don't know if there's like one big you know there's like there's the Christian group there's the Surrey Rizzo Ozzie group you know there's Tiffany so it's not really like a one big you know they outnumber them

but they're not they're not tight and can we label who is old school because the question marks I have is Devons and Christian old school no is it three four are they in new school their new school? I don't they're new school. I would say they're more middle school, really, the people in the 30s.

Yeah, because like, I feel like I was grouping them into the old school because they're pre-40. And I think the only one that's in the 40s right now was Rizzo. Yeah. Tiff. Jonathan. Who else we got? Emily. Emily.

And that's it. I think that might be it. Joe, still in there. Joe. Joe. That's so interesting. Yeah. I forget that Joe's.

And Chrissy. that she's in the middle school, but she's playing with the old school. Yeah. Yeah, Chrissy gives old school vibes. I don't know what it is. And I mean that as a compliment. You know,

they're just like, she's very good at connecting. I think there's maybe an advantage being a middle player because you have a connection with both sides. Like you can kind of straddle the fence a little bit in a way that you don't come in with a moniker already above your forehead,

like a little icon, like you're a game, you know, in a video game. Like you're like not one or the other. you're kind of like in the middle of the Venn diagram where things were starting to shift. And so yeah, that could be an advantage for those type of players. If people are making very tribal-esque first impression decisions, which I don't think they are because it's season 50. But it is interesting to see how the old school players have definitely banded together in a way that it seems like they are actively looking to get rid of some of the more wildcard players. some of the people that they think are a threat.

And I've actually really enjoyed Emily's gameplay quite a bit for the reason that, yes, it's a little messy. Yes, it's a little chaotic. But it's like working for her in a way that like it's just mesmerizing to see. And I do wonder, I think it could go either way. I could see that being a player that I'm like, I could beat them in the end because they've been very disloyal and like burned a lot of people along the way or things like that. But I can also see.

And so that could get her really far. are in the game. And then you end up in a situation where maybe Emily gets into the final three. And like the people she's sitting next to, she just has, she's like at least I was out there hustling and trying. I don't know. Like so it's,

it's been fun to watch the different styles for sure. Yeah. I don't know. What you think, Sage. Yeah. Go ahead, Sage. Yeah, I do have a thought on this.

I like the, I like the middle school reference because I did, going into 50, I was like, I think people in the 30s have the most. advantage, but in terms of seeing like new era kind of get picked off more quickly, it's interesting because even playing the game, being an observer of the game and then playing the game, it's shorter days. So the game moves a lot quicker. And I think that contributes to

like a sense of urgency for folks, which can then cause dysregulation. And I think that maybe new era folks are more prone to getting dysregulated and therefore not thinking as clearly compared to old era folks who have the old air experience where you did have a little bit more time to think and calculate, but also they're older now. So, you know, frontal lobes are developed. They are more wise. They have had more life experience. So I think that there is a lot of like cognitive advantages being old era compared to new era where maybe you're just prone to more chaos and operating from that place, which can really bite you in the ass if you're not aware of it. I have a question.

Oh, go ahead, John. I wanted to ask Sage a question. I know you don't want to play again, but in a different alternate universe, if you were on 50, would you lean towards the old school people or would your ties be close to like the 50 people? This is just for my own personal. I'm just curious. New school, old school. I don't know that I can answer that.

I would have to think about that. That would require me about 10 minutes of silence. So I'll get back to you. But I think I would probably be more leaning towards old era four that like the, the calm aspect of it. Like you see Ozzy out there finding his piece after some chaos. Like I think that I would probably mesh better with them on a game level. But I don't know. It really just depends when you get out there.

I'll think about it some more and let you know. Yeah, to piggyback off that, I mean, that's the reason why I was so drawn to you and Jawan, because you were so real. I had no shade to Shannon, but spent a couple days hearing a lot of very out-of-pocket things that were very interesting. But I got the impression, though, that it was, she was doing that with everyone, right? She was going to everyone and working the room in a way that felt like it was very pre-calculated and not necessarily genuine, or it seemed like it had an ulterior motive where,

Sage, I think you and I didn't really talk actual game until maybe like two or three conversations like, you know. And so we just kind of joked around and like we just like kind of vibed about just normal things. Like we both at ADD and we just like had a similar sense of humor. And I think in a game of Survivor, finding people that you can at least vibe with, it's not essential, but like it definitely helps to like the people that you work with and like know that you kind of think similarly. And I had good impressions from Duran just from some of the matchats. You just seemed real earnest, real awesome. And like, saved when you vouched for him, I was like, hell, yeah, let's go, dude. And then Joanne came and we just, like, broed out about

Marvel stuff. And I'll never forget, like, that whole day. So, yeah, it's kind of like, you never know from, like, the old school players and the new school players who you're going to connect with until you're out on the island. But I sometimes wonder, the, being older, I'm now, like, I look at Gen Z and I'm like, I'm like, dang, I'm getting old because now I'm kind of got this, like, get off my lawn mentality. I wonder if some of the old school players have like a chip on their shoulder. Maybe this is their last time that they might get called back to play. They're getting older.

They're moving on. And they want to really show the young kids that, hey, yes, you've been playing a game for a while. But we started this. Like we're we are OG survivor. And like there might be that little like, you know, we want to flex on the young ans a little bit and show them that we know what's a, I don't know. Maybe that's playing a little factor. That's certainly possible.

you know, I think that maybe like the simplest Occam's razor might be that a lot of the old school players just like are kind of locked in with the other old school players. And I just think that that's sort of been like a firewall for them to like they're not turning on each other. They feel really good. They've known this person for 15, 20 years. And so I'm going to stick with our own side. I'm just, but also just to be fair, it really hasn't really been too much of the new school players like going after each other. maybe like the one like new school on new school violence that you could talk about was when you know d made the move against charlie with along with riso and camilla to take charlie out of the game i do feel like that uh i don't want to be super results oriented but that did feel like that that was a big blow for the new era players Charlie leaving?

Charlie leaving, yeah. Yeah, I mean, I kind of wonder, because weren't Dey and Charlie close outside of the game? And so, I mean, you kind of wonder, like, you go into the game thinking that people maybe you're close with outside of. Like we were saying, Rob, like, you kind of have like a relationship. Maybe those are people I'd work with and then seeing those two people turn on each other

might make you a little bit paranoid about your relationships in a way that changes how you play. And just because you're friends with somebody, like, outside of Survivor, especially when they weren't on your season, doesn't mean that you're going to vibe when you're working together on Survivor. Like, D, I think in Charlie, were just not a good match

in terms of people who, their play styles. Yeah. Speaking of... Go ahead. Yeah, speaking of, I feel like D, I know not to jump too far ahead, but I think that, you know,

minus the whole Rizzo leaking, or like leaking Rizzo, idol. I thought like her at tribal, like when your back's against the wall, I feel like she kind of did everything she could do, you know, especially coming into the game with that much heat. I was kind of impressed. I'm like, yeah, you, you do cause a live tribal. You do play your shot in a dark. I'm like, that's it. That's like what else could she have done at that point other than like the leaking Rizzo thing? I was kind of impressed. I'm like, oh, yeah, makes sense that she was like one of the most dominant winners. I just was impressed by her game up into that point, you know?

No, she really didn't go down without a fight. I think that's D in a nutshell. I do think, though, that there probably is a, it feels good to do that. You kind of want to see it. But I don't know if this has ever worked for anybody who's like the person who's on the bottom and the person who's like, I'm going to get this thing to flip. I'm going to turn this around. I'm going to go whisper in everybody's ears.

I think that you almost have better success playing dead. in that spot, then you do, like, really fighting because I think it makes the people who are trying to get you out, try harder. It's like, see, this is exactly why they have to go home. Like, you understand why she did it. I'm not saying taking anything away from D.

But I just think that, like, if we look at, like, the times that it has changed, I think playing dead is, like, a higher percentage play than fighting, even though fighting feels good. Yeah, that's a good point. good point good point

thank you yeah I'm actually thinking back right now do you guys is there a live tribal where anyone real time has changed the vote in a meaningful way

because I don't know if yeah yeah I'm trying to think so if I go back to the edge of extinction and Rick Devons there was the pilots and passengers tribal and I don't know if Rick was getting voted out

at that specific tribal council I think they were trying to like flip things around and he has the moment with Julia where she says like you're such a passenger Rick and he's like oh really I'm a passenger so who's flying the plane like he's like gets into it and then the whole thing like really starts everybody's bickering and unravels so I think that that was one but I feel like that was a little bit more of like a gotcha moment than like a you know standing up and like trying to whisper

and everybody's ear to sort of like turn this around like Not to bring it back to the traders, but this happened this past season with my buddy Ron Funches, that everybody was on his ass and they wanted to get rid of him. And then he's like, you know what? I'm just going to use my time to say goodbye to everybody here. And everybody's like, guys, I don't think it's, should we do it? I don't know. So I think that you sort of like are maybe better off just like, hey, everybody here is the best. I love everybody.

like that give up. That's a good strategy. Sage, if I had done that, would you have maybe not voted me out at final six? Like, would you still pop me? Or like, if I was like, dude, I love you so much. Get over here. Remember the good old times? Damn, dude.

That's a good question. I think it would have made it a lot freaking, it would have made it a lot freaking harder because it was gut wrenching having to vote you. It sucked. There was nothing easy about it. So I don't, I feel. think ultimately at that point in the game, I was locked into game mode. Joanne was, God, it's, it's great that you went, Joanne, because you were really breaking my game

mode because I would have given, I would have died for you. Like, I love you so freaking much. That's why it hurt to see you go, because I wanted you to win more than I wanted me to win. And so that, unfortunately, like, after Joanne went, I'm like, I can't have any emotional ties to anyone. And so I think it would have ignited that part of me again, Steven, for sure. But at that point, I'm like, disassociated, got to get to the end. Everyone's got to go, but me.

Well, that's crazy because I remember, I mean, obviously, I was under no impression that I was not at the bottom of the three of the bottoms up the lines because you two were just tight. Like, you were thick as thieves and like, I just kind of knew that. And it's interesting that I was, I was gutted to see you go, Duran. I actually cried.

Like, teared up. I was like, oh, no. But a part of me was a little excited because I was like, well, now I'm Sage's number one, maybe. Like, I just moved up in the, you know, higher, I got promoted. But I, in hindsight, maybe that switch that was flipped in your head to our sage, like, you know, it made you kind of look at the game differently in a way that was ultimately my undoing. So it's like, it's so fun to like play this like, try to untie all the things. And, yeah, coming back to like season 50, I mean, you never know.

I wonder if they're all watching this season right now and going through that same. process because like this has been a really dramatic season at least out like it seems like there's a lot of beef between people um outside the game in a way that I haven't seen in a while and I I've been yeah I've been kind of I'm not gonna lie I've been enjoying dining on the drama a little bit I'm like oh this is good every exit interview dropped something like spicy and like going back to the pre-gaming thing I was so interesting when Dee talked about how she did have a call with Rizzo, but it actually worked against him.

And I thought it was so fascinating how like, you know, it could definitely, you have to be really careful. Yeah. Can you set that up? Yeah. So when to set it up, so like when D mentioned in her accident interview that, yes, I did have a conversation with Rizzo, but during that FaceTime call, he lied, told me that he got fifth place or fourth place and Savannah got fifth place and lied about the placement.

But D, being well connected and smart, she had already. figured out she knew he was lying. So going into the game, you're already a little bit of suss about Rizzo. And I think it is a bit of a testament to his game that even with that, it seemed like she was okay to continue putting trust in him over

Charlie to work with him. And I think it's sometimes when you find new information, I think what maybe worked really against Charlie in that situation and won Rizzo some point because he was quick to share info that he had. And then Charlie sat on the info and

gave it to her second. And so she's like, Charlie knew about this, but waited. And I heard it from Rizzo first. Maybe I should be trusting him more. And I remember feeling that way because there were times where I knew from Sage that Shannon had found an idol. But I also, and so I knew, and I was like, who knows? And Christina knew. But Christina didn't tell me until like a day later. And I think in hindsight, it was just like, it slipped her mind. She didn't find a good moment. But I do remember how that felt. I was like, dang, dude, I'm supposed to be your number one. And I'm finding out like after. And so maybe Dean Trialie did have a good bond outside.

But that feeling of like, I mean, Joanne, I kind of burned you in that way too, dude. Like, let's talk about that. I feel that. Not to have a bottoms up intervention right now, but like that same thing happened. The night that I got booted, I remember me and Sage had our first disagreement. I wake up. I'm like, and she tells me that Stephen told her about Christina's Idol. And that's when I was in my head.

I was like, oh, I'm on the bottom of the bottoms up a lie. This is crazy. And then I go to Stephen to confirm that. And then he doubles down on the lie. I'm like, oh, Stephen has to go. And they don't show this, but I was actually pushing for Stephen to go that episode until talking to Sage. And we got back on the bandwagon to Target Savannah.

But yeah, it's like those little like moments of like not feeling like information is being told to you like on time and like you're being like left out. It can really kind of like that domino effect or the snowball effect, you know. And it's those things that don't always come through in the edit. Just real quick, one last 10 second thought because like all of those emotions that we feel like your your feelings about like a person can change so quickly. And as the sun is starting to set and you know you're getting. closer to tribal, you know you have to make a decision. And it can be kind of very anxiety-inducing because you just heard, maybe Joanne just heard like, holy cap, maybe I can't trust Stephen. Maybe we should go after him, but maybe not. And it's like, the wind blows so many different

directions throughout the day. And it's hard to know which direction to set your sales in. So I don't know. It's fun to watch. I've got some fun questions for you all from the listeners of the podcast. They wrote in with some questions for bottoms up. Let me start with Slipper House. What are Joanne's thoughts on Jonathan's Mr. Jeff?

Oh. You know, I didn't, I have all these notes, and I didn't put that in my notes, but it is interesting. For me, I feel like I never got the touch on like why I call Jeff, Uncle Jeff.

But the The short story is like, yeah, I grew up in a single parent household in South Jersey and my grandma raised me and she was the type of person where I never could call like someone older than me, just like their name. So it would always have to be Mr. Rob or Mr. But with Jeff or with certain people, I was like, oh, their family, like auntie. So that's how I kind of, you know, refer to Jeff, Uncle Jeff. It was funny being casted with Christina, though, because I had no idea. She was doing the same thing, too.

So, you know, just to give the fans and the people that are confused, like, I kind of get it, too. Like, two people saying Uncle Jeff is a lot. But it is interesting how people with Jonathan, maybe because he's so big and handsome, they're like, yeah, we'll let it slide. Mr. Jeff is fine. So, yeah. So here's a question from Zahaskin. What horror movie would Jawan compare season 52 thus far?

Yes. Yes. I got that in my notes, baby. I got that in my notes. Let's go. Oh my God. I love you so much. Who asked that question?

Z. Haskin. Let's go, bro. Let's go. So I thought about it a lot. I think Survivor 50 to me is like Cabin in the woods. Have you seen Cabin in the Woods? You guys, Stephen has Rob, have you? Yeah. You know, refresh my memory. So Cabin in the Woods is kind of like a comedy meta commentary, similar

to screen or that kind of like poking fun of like the genres. But basically, um, the bare bones of it. It's like, you know, you have a band of different characters, different archetypes. You have the hero. You have the wild card. You have like the, the queen. You have the girls. But, I feel like Survivor 50 is kind of like that too because I don't know. This season feels like it's in the hands of the fans, but it does feel like it's heavily produced by Jeff, you know, and other people too. So, yeah, I feel like Cabin in the Woods is just a good. What are your thoughts about that, Stephen? You say, like, Cabin in the Woods?

I do, actually. I was like, rocking my brain. I was like, can I think of a different horror movie that I would throw out there? But, no, Jawan, I think you kind of nailed it. That's a really good comparison. Joanne and I bonded, I think we all three did look over our love for horror movies. And so that's one of our frequent topics of conversation as we're texting each other and like DMing each other. And so I was very excited when you started reading this question because I think you kind of nailed it, man.

John, like I think he's Gavin in the Woods. Yeah, it's got the Chris Hemsworth. It's got everyone and it's like meta. This season feels a little bit more meta because it's referencing. Survivor previous seasons in a way that a new newbie season doesn't and so that is Cabin in the Woods in a nutshell so dude well done I took my hat

that's age you co-sign cabin in the woods I co-sign anything Joong Pitts says oh my gosh got it out Sage can I ask you about this article that came out recently on a lore magazine that features a very prominent photo of you that's called even the survivor contestants

are snatched now. The show's cast are more beautiful than ever despite having no access to beauty products. What happened? What is this? Can you send that to me? What? What's the question?

I'm looking this up right now. Yes. Yes. I wanted to know, were you reach? Were you interviewed for this article? It talks about the beauty of the Survivor Players. Yes, okay. Here, let me see, maybe can I share this?

Can I show this? Because I feel like that. I can't believe that you didn't see this. So let me see if I can show you this Allure magazine article. And here it is. Allure magazine. Yes, there's Sage. I kind of thought that this was an article

all about you. Are you able to scroll down? My God. Let me see. Yeah, so here it is. So I'm going to close to add. Sorry to the people at allure. And then here's, it's D

and Sage and Savannah. It says, even the survivor contestants are snatched now. The shows cast are more beautiful than ever, despite having no access to beauty products. What happened? And it's about how the survivor contestants get Botox

and they get eyelashes and skin care. Wow. Okay, first of all, Aller, where's my discount? Are you kidding me? Why? I need, so yes, Botox for sure. Is there a question here, Rob?

I thought you had been reached for the article. Yeah, and they say that Survivor from here in 2000. I thought you have some insight into it, but yeah, they talk about

I guess they interviewed Savannah and and to talk about beauty looks to get that Survivor glow. Dude, this headline makes me feel so old. Yes.

The word snatched. Like I feel like I'm back on season 49 talking to Rizzo for the first time. Some of the things he was spout. And I was like, what is that word? mean? Is snatched? Is that like a good thing?

It's not the actual... Yeah, that's good. Even the Survivor contestants look snatched. What is such? I mean, I get in the context what it means, but I've just literally... I need to change my algorithm a little bit.

Get with the time. Yeah. Okay. That's a question for Stephen. Who gets more food? Stephen on Survivor or the Artemis 2 crew? That's from D. Bloom 5674. I don't think that they're not feeding the astronauts, right?

You know, sometimes it's a different type of social experiment once you get into space. And so the real, they eat a lot of tortillas. It's a lot of tortillas and a lot of hot sauce and a lot of freeze, dried food. So they actually are eating really, really well. But there was a moment of time. The reason they do these tests on Artemis 2 is with humans on board is to test things like the toilet. And Apollo, they didn't have toilets. There were problems, dude.

It was like burning. That was really interesting to see that like a burning smell coming from. from the toilet. Usually I only smell out after like Taco Bell or something. Well, maybe let's cut out the hot sauce. Okay, Artemis, Stephen? Like, uh, look, I'm not a rocket scientist, but if there's a burning smell coming out of the toilet, maybe we should have less hot sauce on Artemis. Yeah. So that's kind of a good point that a lot of engineers are not good when it comes to diets or anything biological. There's a story that when they launched the first woman to the International Space Station, they did not know how many

tanponds to send up with her. And so the NASA engineers estimated an absurd number. Like, they're like, is a thousand enough? And that female astronaut was like, bro, what? So, yeah, maybe they need to work on the hot sauce, like some of the more human stuff, because they're so, they're so in the thick of doing the hard thing, which is sending a tin can that's basically a mini earth, a mini atmosphere around the moon. You kind of forget the day-to-day stuff. But no, they're eating pretty good. They're eating way better than we did. I'll say that much. Will Applebee sponsor the next Artemis mission?

I don't think I don't think Applebee's going to afford a meaningful sponsorship. Oh. I don't think they can sell enough bourbon burgers to pay for El Rocket launch to go to the moon. But it's expensive. That's why they need help from other sponsors. That's true. My whole thing is like, dude, why are we not putting a bunch of logos on the outside?

of these rockets and spacecraft like a NASCAR vehicle, you know? Come on. Zach Brown consider going into space. He seems pretty adventurous. I'm not a big country music guy, but he seems like, he seems like getting his hands dirty. So maybe, I don't know, dude. I think being able to say I recorded the first song in space would be pretty sick. So he'd be, uh, he'd be silly to not do it. Mm-hmm. Yeah. But there's nothing, he can't, like, harpooned anything to eat out in space. He can't go for a spacewalk and go, like, catch something that the, then that the astronauts could eat on Artemis, right?

No, but he could definitely tear open a package of freeze, dried food, like a freaking boss, like shred it, and hopefully it doesn't go everywhere and start a short circuit. But, you know, the food, the food that they send up into space is actually, from what I've heard, incredibly bland. But I can tell you from our time on Survivor that you stop caring about. taste and you just want something that makes you not feel lightheaded every time you stand up. Yeah. Yeah.

That's the overlap. Okay. All right. What about if for all three of you, okay, we'll go. We'll start with Juan. If you found the Billy Elish boomerang idol in season 49, who would you send it to? Oof. Ooh.

What tribe would I be on? Let's see. Starting tribes. It's a, you're, so you're in your original tribe. Oh. Like, I'm on Oli? Like, my bad. That's right.

I'm on a Oot. And you found the Billy Elish boomerang idol. You got to send it to somebody. Oh, my gosh. Someone on another tribe, right? So like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. So say mechanics. All right. I got my answer. All right. Well, go to Stephen. Yeah, you go. You go.

You go. You go. I mean, I would probably have, uh, it depends on when I would have found it in the, in the game. But it was very obvious that the Blue tribe was the disaster tribe at a certain point. They were just like just wasting away. It was it was kind of like painful to watch. So I probably would have picked someone that I thought was not, it was at the bottom there,

which probably would have been like Annie. After, they just seemed like Annie was a little bit on the outs. Just from like, you can just kind of pick up on body language in the way that they were all like celebrating or talking to each other. Like you only get to see them at Matt chats. And so that's really all you get. So that's probably what I would have done.

Because I want that in my pocket. it. As much as I'd love to give it to someone that I think I might be able to work with at the merge, you just don't know who's going to make it. So I would pick who I think is most likely to get voted out. And I think my read at that point, I think that's one of the things you talk about because there's not much to talk about on the beach. You're like, who do you think's working with each other and who do you think's going to get voted out next, like after Heena would win. And we would be like, we were pretty right with the first couple boots just based on what we had observed at challenges. So I'm pretty confident. If I found that thing early on, I wouldn't have had one in my pocket. And you guys would have all been. actually in a good spot because we're working together. But everyone else would have been cooked. Yeah. I got my, no,

you want to go, Sage? No. Okay. Okay. I'm about to just copy what Stephen said, but I feel like, you know,

I kind of had something similar in a weird way. When I went on my journey, my first journey was like to either hinder Hina or, you know, help. Kela, and I probably would have gave something to Kella too. And yeah, either Annie or maybe Nicole, I probably would have brought something over there.

Hina was not a Jawan fan early in the game, so probably would have been a blue. Because you gave them a disadvantage. Yeah, yeah. Dude, that was so funny. They didn't even air. Some of the people on my tribe got so mad in a wake. I was like trying to live off.

Dude, it didn't show this on TV round. I got jumped, Doc. What do you got jumped? Like the whole squad yelled at me. Jason yelled at me. MC, like, or maybe not MC. I feel like it was, they showed yellow Sophie. But it was definitely Christina and definitely Jason was like, no.

Jason was who surprised me the most. He surprised. I did not see that. I mean, having lived on the island with Jason, he seemed so calm, collected. And he was the most fired up. And I was expecting that to make the episode and it didn't. But it was probably because he had the same sentiment that Yellow Sophie was, which I have a fire in my belly and I'm mad.

It was kind of like that. But it was, dude, it was a firing squad. And I'm looking over at the Ouli tribe next to us. And they're all like, I'm like, I'm not with this. I don't, I don't co-sign this because maybe I'll make it to the merge and want to work with you. I'm like, uh. Yeah. Yeah.

Do you think that Yellow Sophie, she changed the game when she said the rewards are, not that good. Fruit is not a reward. And the rewards in season 50 have been much more robust than they were in season 49. What are they eating in the short of? Shout out.

They brought Applebee's back. They're Chinese takeout. They got Zach Brown cooking fish. That's why we didn't get nothing in 49. They were saving them money for 50. What the hell? Yeah. Our merchies

was a trick-reward. It was a yeah. Well, what else is in your notebook? I love when people come in with notes. Yes. So I rewatched like a crazy person. I rewatched our season, you know, episode seven. That's our like, you know, really come out episode and we're like superstars.

And then after that, it slowly goes down. But I think when I wrote in all caps is double agents. And I was like, oh, we were kind of like, you know, Mission Impossible. And then I was thinking about this episode first, you know, season, 50. And I feel like I'm trying to figure out who are the double agents of this season. And I think we're kind of getting set up with the Ceres Wizard of Oz with the Ceres. Ceres Wizard of Oz.

Yes. Thank you. Yes. Those three. The Polly three. And I'm curious if there is this old school versus new school war that's about to be brewing. I'm like, are they about to be the bottoms up but slightly cooler?

are they going to try to ping pong and go back and forth? I'm trying to think about with Ozzie and Surrey where their alliances, like where their core alliances are. What do you, what are your thoughts on that, Rob? Where do you think they'll lean? You think they'll blend in with old school for a while? I really don't think so.

I mean, I think that we've seen that Ozzie has been no fan of coach. Surrey voted against coach and Colby at that other tribal council. I think if anybody's the double agent, I think it's Rizzo, and I'd love to know from you all, is Rizzo potentially a little over exposed, where if anything goes wrong with that, like at some point when that side gets double crossed,

is coach going to be coming for Rizzo of that he's, hey, Rizzo, you're supposed to be one of the four horsemen. What the hell? Great point. Yeah, I think that he could potentially be in some hot water if people start talking too much. Yeah. I do want to see Rizzo and Jonathan fight at some point.

You say they'll fight? I'd like to see that. Yeah. Like this fight? I don't think they'll fist fight. I think that that would get them kicked off the show. But I think that like if they're going to get into an argument, I would like that. Mr. Rizgod, I've had it with you.

Sir, ma'am. No, I, I, dude, I think, I think Rizzo is actually, even though he does have his hand in a lot of cookie jars. because his main alliance, they have so much firepower when it comes to advantages. Two idols and a block of vote. That's insane. And so, I mean,

Serregeus has this magnetism around her. And I've met her in person a couple times. And like, I kind of get it. Like, you know, she's one of those people that you just want to like you. And so I think people gravitate and just give her info. But it's like crazy. Like, I think that she's a lot.

The one strength that, like, one of the biggest thing that Rizzo is good at is he identifies strong players. that can that have good reads and they like play the game really well he aligned with savannah and so they were like rock solid like and he did that like he used his information on idols to try to build a bridge with d but also to solidify something with serri so even though he's getting pulled into other things I think that core is going to take him far like if I was in his position I would feel safe like dude I got I got a freaking idol they haven't even seen him do his thing yet I don't know if he's going to do it. But, yeah, I don't know. What do you think, Sage? I think Brissos, I mean, just being

coming straight from 49, being the unknown piece, you know, it's a hard spot to be in. So I think kind of what you said, Stephen, like it could come bite him in the ass because as we see like a lot of people this season are just kind of sharing all the information. So it is a vulnerable spot to be in, but also just with his positionality coming from 49 into 50, it's like you don't really have a choice. like you got to go where you're going to be invited. So I don't know. Maybe his luck will pull off in this season as well. Who do we think the next big target will be?

Like if we're looking at like the center of power is like Surrey and like Rizzo and Ozzie, who's the next big fish? Because I feel like D was definitely a giant target. But if you remove her off the board now, I'm thinking, And do they set their sights on? Also, I don't know if you can hear the airplane in the background. I am so sorry. We're good.

Okay. Sorry. The next big target in my eyes, I'm like, even though he's not that big, but I thought coach got a lot of heat. And if they're looking to target, the king of whoever the honor, integrity, like, who's saying that the loudest? So I feel like either coach could be in danger. And I'm slightly worried for my boy Christian and Devin.

I think if they're going headhunting for like, you know, big dogs, I feel like on Genevieve, you know, shout out to Genevieve. She gave us a little crumb when she was trying to talk to Christian. They're like, oh, they might try to block and go back. Yeah. Yeah. So I think you have an interesting situation coming to this next episode where Tiffany is such an obvious target at the next vote. But such an obvious target invites the opportunity for a really delicious smoking.

screen where everybody's thinking Tiffany, Tiffany, Tiffany, but who's going to take the opportunity when everybody's thinking Tiffany to ultimately get five or six votes on somebody else? Yes. I think they're at the stage right now where right after the merge, the middle, people playing the middle are the scariest. And I don't know how you, you know, Joanne and Sage, you were my, like, you guys were the double agents.

We were trying to hide that we work together. and you guys were so good at like kind of hitting both ends and um i mean Alex was doing that a lot too and that ultimately i think was his downfall um he did it so well that people clocked in and so i think Alex was good i do think um it surprised me how much i was okay with like like okay yeah like i think i can work with Alex but like also he's a little bit of a wild card so when like i found out that that was the target. I was like, okay, I can kind of see the logic. And so I do wonder, I feel like Christian and Devons have been called out in this last

episode as being people in the middle that people are picking up on. I thought it was so funny when coach was like, why did you tell Christian who's in the middle? I'm like, bro, you're about to, you're trying to go off to the middle people. That's like campaigning against something against forest fires while starting a freaking nuclear fire in the background. It's like the fire you're burning is way brighter right now, dude. But he got fired up. And I mean, yeah, so yeah, I agree with you, Juan. I do think coach is on people's radar now. I think Christian is, man, I hope that he's not on their radar, but it sounds like he might be, he's being left out of conversations and he's one of those people

that people are wary about. So that's never a good spot to be at this point in the merge. I don't know. question real quick. How do you hide a pair? When I think about my relationship with Sage, like it's hard if you, like on an island where we don't have like cell phones and we don't really talk about much. Like it's hard not to be around people that you really connect with.

Yeah. That's what makes I think Kyle Camilla's like duo so like popular. It might be in the top five, you know, duos of all time is like how you can hide that. And as much as I love Christian and Devons, I feel like eventually people are going to be like, all right, we're going to look at those two.

Like, how do you hide that? They enjoy each other's company too much. I think that that's the problem that they, I think that Christian really couldn't wait to get back to Rick. I think that you have to have it. It's a special type of pair that doesn't need a lot of reassurance that Kyle and Camilla, they were just locked in from jump and they're like, I see you, you see me. Okay, good.

And we got this. And I think that not every duo is going to be like this. I think there's a lot of it. I think I would struggle with that of like, oh, wait, is something like they're not talking to me today. So something's off with that. I feel like that I didn't, you know, we didn't do like a have a reconnection today. So maybe something's off.

I don't know if I can trust it now. Sage, quick question. Maybe it's not a question, but I think about us and our relationship. And you know, I love you too, Stephen. But I also was curious. I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, kind of wish me and you had like an argument or like a fake has there ever been a duo to kind of like publicly do a spat to like you know hide their relationship or like would that cause more harm

than good you know that's something I thought about with you sage like if we had like a public display of like oh lines are drawn that but we're secretly like sharing information like would that ever work I think the problem is is like with the tribe swaps um because we spent like intimate time together with only four people. Automatically, now people who are on those smaller tribe dynamics within the tribe stop, you're going to have a bias towards them in that I'm going to look at these people and assume that they have some sort of a relationship since they got to spend that intimate time together.

And then with you and I, we're just naturally goofy. So I think regardless if we had been working as closely together as we were, if we weren't, I think people automatically were going to pair us together because we were having a good time on a human level outside of the game, but people are going to inherently read that through a game lens. So I think we were screwed no matter what unless we just totally had no

interactions. Even if we had a big blow up, I think people would have read into it because I can't think off the top of my head examples, but I have this faint memory in my head of past seasons where people are like, we've got to try to throw people off. They're going to pair us together. Somebody like, you know, cue the

examples if you can think of them. But yeah, I think it probably wouldn't have mattered since we started on the same tribe. And then we were in that intimate tribe swap with the Shannon vote out where obviously like that's going to it's going to grow people closer together. Well, it kind of surprised me after that real quick just to add on to that. I mean, the three of us working together, I think back to the Alex vote where I knew that the votes were going on Alex.

You guys told me like really close before tribal was happening. It was originally Savannah switched over. But we agreed that it made sense for me to pretend like I didn't know what was going on and vote the wrong way to try to throw the scent off of the fact that we were working together because it was so obvious, at least to me, I was like, people got to be clocking that we were vibing. You guys saved me over Shannon when it was the easy vote to get rid of the Hina. And then also like, I just like talking to you guys. And so we just kind of like naturally would find these little pockets of conversation. I was so aware of it. There would be moments

where we're walking on the beach. I'm like, dude, we got to like stop doing this. Get out of here. But I think going back to like if we were to orchestrate a blow up, I think that's a it's a trick you can only do once. So you pull it out and like, let's say we blow up. And then we go in and everyone knows it's a ruse. Now the target on our back, even it was big. Maybe we saved ourselves. It's like, it's like, hail Mary.

So you got to pull that out in the last round. That's like the last round, yeah. Because then if someone did that, if like, let's say Rizzo and Sab tried to like pretend like they were like mortal enemies and convinced us that, fleeced us, voted the same way, blindsided one of us. we'd be like, all right, dude, you're gone. Yeah. I just don't see it.

Like, it's like the long game, you know? That's a good, like, endgame type move, so I don't know. Okay. Okay. All right. Well, bottoms up. Thank you so much. This was educational.

This was healing, I think, at times. We learned so much more. And this was fun to see the bottoms up dynamic in play. Jawan, where can people keep up with what you're doing? Yeah, you can follow you on Instagram. Also, can I say something cheesy? You know, I'm a cheesy. Please.

All right, here's my cheesy Jawan moment. Skip past it. Like, give me 30 seconds. But I feel like there's a lot of, you know, crazy stuff happening in the world. And I think now more than ever, community is important. And I must say, Rob,

you're doing such a good job with building a survivor community that feels like everyone can be seen. So that's my little cheesy little thing. I always appreciate that. And that really means a lot to me. And I know that it's heartfelt from everything you've ever said about the podcast. So thank you, Jouan. Yeah.

Long time, fan. Okay. Sage, not going to be easy to follow that up, but anything coming up for you? No. Thank you for having me. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you.

And congratulations on being so snobes. that Allure magazine has featured you as part of their reporting. Where's my dysport? The new generation of snatch survivors. And Stephen, how about for you? Yeah, I mean, folks can find me on Instagram and Twitter somewhat underscore Stephen. I came up with that handle back when I was in college and thought it was super freaking funny. Back when Vine was a thing, I used to be big on Vine.

But yeah You know What did you do on fine? Oh man I was a Magic hilarious No I did like

These little short skits Just trying to be funny And then I got a big boy job At my company And I was like Yeah they might not like this As they're doing a security clearance Background check on me

Popping off on weird topics But yeah Artemis 2 just launched Space is We're going to the moon baby The moon is back The moon is back And Stephen Ram brought it back

Let me just say also I know we were like talking about many times about Rizzo that he's 26, but we think he's 18. But I do feel like that Stephen, you also have a little bit of the Rizzo thing that. You said, are you 35 or 36, you said? I'm 36 now. I keep forgetting because I'm so used to introduce myself. I would not have guessed that. I would have guessed that you too are in your 20s.

Yeah, that was honestly, before I went out on Survivor, I was asking a lot of like friends' family, just to give like anonymously, I set up an anonymous poll because I wanted it to be candid, but it was a Google poll survey and I had people fill out like little questions because I was just curious like is myself, I think self-awareness, like knowing yourself, but also knowing how others perceive you is so important in the game. And so many people said, dude, you're, at the time I was pretending to, I was planning on faking my profession and like coming up with something like I'm a swim instructor or like I run an Etsy account, like something dumb or not that those things are dumb, but like something that was like less threatening.

And one of the big things I got was like, you sound more articulate for any of those things you said. Just own up to it. But too, like, dude, you look like a golden. You look like a kid. So like maybe lean into that. Like you look younger. And also you don't act your age and you don't act like someone that works on spacecraft,

you know, because you're kind of goofy. And so they were like lean into that. And I tried to do that. But yeah, I identify with Rizzo. I see my, I honestly admire Rizzo at 25 because he has a lot more self-confidence than I did. And so you can't help but look back and kind of be like, oh, I feel like that. But like, if I had that confidence at 25, like, where would I be now at 35? So I'm excited to see how he does on 50, like where he goes. It's kind of like that Papa Colby feeling that he had. You're like,

I just want to adopt you. Find the joy. It was good. He weaponizes it. So I don't know. All right. Well, thank you so much everybody for joining us for this one. We still got plenty more as we get ready for another week of Survivor coming up here on RHAP. Take care. have a good one. Bye. Peace.