RHAP: We Know Survivor - Ethan Zohn Talks Jenna Lewis | The Survivor 50 Files

Episode Date: June 16, 2025

Today, Brandon talks to Ethan Zohn about Jenna Lewis' time on Survivor.

Hey everybody, Rob here and I had some summer travel plans that took me away from the podcast, but I left you all in very good hands. I brought in Brandon Donlin and I gave him an assignment. I asked him to do some research and do some reconnaissance on the players that are going to be participating in Survivor 50. His mission that he chose to accept get in contact with players who know the Survivor 50 cast extremely well and then bring those interviews to you. And so I have dispatched Brandon Donlin as he begins his mission to bring you the Survivor 50 Files right here on RHAP.

Enjoy the podcast and the series and I'll talk to you soon. Hey, I guess. What's up? It's Brandon Donlin. You may recognize me from the two episodes of Survivor 45 that ScreenRant.com deemed off to a slow start. And you're also just as shocked to see me here as I am to be here. And listen, we're going to talk about Survivor.

The whole podcast is about Survivor, but just for a second, please. Let's just talk like the elephant in the room, right? I guess the peacock in the room, if you will. Oh my God. Rob Cic sir, Nino is on the traders. I originally in my head when thinking about making this intro video, wanted to say there's nobody who's done more for this community than Rob, but there is no community without Rob. I listened to these podcasts for the first time when I'm 13.

And I've, you know, I've spent years and years going to his events, meeting all of you being tapped in, in this online world that he created. There's nobody in the world that deserves to go out, have another televised adventure, meet some crazy people, probably meet an old British guy. There's always an old British guy on the show. He's going to have so much fun and I am so beyond happy for him. It did present us on the Rob is a podcast team with a dilemma as we have to fill this offseason before Big Brother. And I am beyond honored to be selected to do this. Really, like if you know me, this is so, so much fun for me. But this is the Survivor 50 files. And pretty much this is like, you

know how they elected the Pope and then the news was talking to like the Pope's cousin or the Pope's third-grade teacher? That's what this is. We're going to talk to somebody who knows the person playing on Survivor 50 well. They've played Survivor with them. Sometimes they played a different game with them, maybe multiple different games with them. Who knows? We are going to have so much fun. My ask for you, the listeners, is to please give me feedback. I need your feedback. This is the first time I've done anything like this. I'm, again, beyond honored that Rob would select me to do this while he's gone, and I want him to come back

to a product that he is proud of. I wanna make him proud. So I need your help to do that. I wanna make this not only good, but so much fun. This is, Survivor's supposed to be fun, right? Shout out to Keith now. All right, this is, my God's supposed to be fun, right? Shout out to Keith now. All right. This is, oh my God.

We're off to a great start. Ethan Zahn is our first guest. I love Ethan Zahn. I know you love Ethan Zahn. Ethan Zahn is gonna talk to us about Jenna Lewis. I'm so excited. Let's get into it. What is going on everybody?

Brandon Donlon here bringing you the first ever episode of the Survivor 50 Files. We're here every day for the next couple weeks. We're going to be talking about one of the Survivor 50 contestants with somebody who knows them pretty well. Knows them, has played with them, has spent time on and off Survivor with them, and with me to join us for our first episode. One of my all-time favorite Survivor contestants, a survivor in many ways, an amazing racer, a guy you all know, a guy you all know, love. It's Ethan Zahn. Ethan,

how are you? What's up? How you doing? I'm doing great. Good to be here. This is so much fun for me, Ethan Zahn. I can't tell you. When we had the idea to do this, I was looking through the Jenna Lewis Rolodex and it's you. You're the guy. I'm curious to hear. Louis Rolodex and it's you. You're the guy. I used to have a thing for gennas, I guess. Sure. Sure. Many, at least two.

But I would love to talk to you, Ethan, just firstly, how are you? It's been a minute since you've been on Rob is a Podcast. Tell us what the life update is, what you're up to, what's going on. Things are good. I'm calling in from Fiji. No, I'm joking. I'm not in from Fiji. No, I'm joking. I'm not in Fiji. I'm in Florida.

So my wife and I, we got a little place in Florida. We also got a place in the middle of the woods in New Hampshire. And yeah, things are good. I'm just doing the grassroots soccer thing, doing a little public speaking. I'm doing some like survivor team building events. So it's just things are great, smooth, fluid. It's awesome. Listen, I wish you were in Fiji. You know, a lot of people I've been seeing the online streets,

Ethan, they wish you were in Fiji. Tell us about like Survivor 50. You know, I don't know how much foresight you have 20 years ago, in 2002, you win. Like, did you think we were getting to 50? Where did you think the life expectancy of Survivor was going? Did you think we were cutting it? I mean, I thought it was going to end after I won. You know, that's what they were telling me, right? Let's finish at the top. Let's retire. Let's not jump the shark. You know, that's what Propes told me.

But no one ever thought that Survivor would still be alive today. I mean, from my perspective, way back in the day 2002, when I was on the show, everyone was like, what is reality TV? There's no way it's gonna last. And look where we are today, and especially, and more specifically, Survivor. I mean, I don't know the stats, I'm sure you do, but I think it's probably one of the longest running

reality competition shows of all time. It has to be. Oh, for sure. You know, we're not only running, but like we have now like a whole new fan base. You know, like the COVID, you know, did obviously quite a bit of harm. But you have all these people rediscovering the show. You know, I don't know how much on TikTok you are, but you go on my TikTok and there are people who are just filming themselves reacting to Survivor from 20 years ago, 25 years ago.

So we have we breathe new life. And have you, Ethan, taken a break at all from Survivor or have you watched all the way through? I definitely watched all the way through. There was a good 2009 to 2012 was a little bit of a blur just because I was going through a health challenge. So I was paying attention but I wasn't like as into it as I was, you know, before and after cancer. But now, you know, I'm a huge fan now. I would call myself a super fan. And so I enjoy the show. I love watching it. I love I'm in fantasy pools.

I'm in high stakes fantasy pools of survivors. So it's great. I love it. So season 50, the cast, you know, I'm not sure how much you've talked about the cast publicly yet, but give me your thoughts as a whole on the group that we got for the 50th anniversary, rather, of the show. What do you think about a whole on the group that we got for the 50th anniversary rather of the show. What do you think about the makeup of the group?

I mean, I think the makeup of the group is good. You know, I think they clearly were casting for certain archetypes within the Survivor universe. I think they did a decent job kind of plucking people from different seasons, you know, throughout the history of the show. However, I think it's a little bit skewed towards some of these new era players. As we all know, we saw a big jump,

and I don't know the numbers, I wanna say like early old school survivor, you missed the middle, and then you kind of got into the thirties. And so I, you know, some of the choices were a little bit confusing in the sense that I think some of the contestants or characters, you know, they've completed their survivor story their survivor arc, like, what else are we hoping to get for them as contestants?

And so, regardless of who they pick, I think it's going to be an epic season. You know, I think I think the number 50 everyone just built it up gonna be an epic season. You know, I think the number 50, everyone just built it up to be this like huge, monstrous, incredible, momentous occasion in the history of Survivor, which it could have been and potentially should be. However, I think it's just come down to, it's like, it's gonna be a great season

with some interesting characters and probably some new twists and turns. There's an extra couple of players with 24. So I think it's going to be exciting. But I think people were hoping for just like a giant mashup of like the ultimate legends of the show coming back for 50 for one last time, you know. But I don't think we're getting that as a fan base.

Well, I've actually thought about you quite a bit as we've gotten through the process, whereas it's the spring of 2019 and the winners at war, rumors are flying. We didn't even know it was called winners of war yet, but we have a couple completed lists we think we know. And then when it gets leaked, like you yourself and Amber were shocked, everybody. Nobody expected you and Amber to be back.

And that I feel like was missing from this time. Whereas we have, I think Jenna Lewis, who we're gonna talk about is maybe that person, but everybody else who returned is like, okay, that makes sense. And I was hoping for a couple and they exist. I mean, you played with some of them, these folks from back in the day,

who would have come back and have now voiced, they would have come back. We were missing that like wow shock factor. Whereas I think what we got was exactly as you said kind of built up, you know, and everybody's expectations are a little bit higher. And maybe that was our mistake. Maybe we should have tempered just a little bit and been like, you know, it's not going to be exactly what you want.

But I like the feeling and the online sentiment just a couple of years ago when you and Amber were both there Was crazy and I missed that and I wish we got that this time. Oh, well, thanks man. Yeah I mean there's there's always fun to find some surprise players like Amber was a shock to me I mean, I remember you know, I was on Rob's tribe before Over the guy showed up first and then the girls got off the boat and I was like I looked at Rob and like oh my god Amber's here too he's like yeah like well played buddy well played. You don't you didn't know you you that was no I had no idea no because like as we were going to Fiji they separated men and women

so like in our mind oh it's going to be men versus women and then we get to that little island at the start of the show and um you know then then we eventually got into our own tribes. Was it a shock to everybody else that you were there? Cause I know that we were all shocked, but had you talked to folks that were there that knew that you were coming? No, I mean, I was friendly with Parvati. So Parvati knew I was going.

And coincidentally, Adam Klein, we shared the same manager for public speaking. And so I hadn't talked to him, but I knew that he was probably going to be out there just because we share the same manager. Other than that, listen, I didn't even know there was a pregame. I didn't even know that was part of the new game of Survivor. So back in the day when you got cast, they're like, don't talk to anyone, $5 million contract. You know, if we see you talking or hear anything,

you are ruined. You're kicked off the show. So like, oh my God. So then I come back, you know, 15 years later to play 40. And I'm thinking it's the same vibe. And they say, listen, don't talk to anyone. Don't tell anyone you're going here. You're, you're, you're a family release form. So I'm like, okay, let's I'm playing it safe. I didn't talk to a soul of them poverty because I knew her. And then we get out there. Little did I know that everyone was talking before the show. Right. And that surprises me about all stars, too, because in my perception,

like in the All-Star seasons, it's only what it's only 80 people total who have played Survivor at that point. And you're seeing each other all the time. So there's no there's no cross pollination there with people talking to one another. I guess from your end. Well, so in All-Stars, I did know, we knew who was going, but I didn't strategize or pregame at all. I didn't. Maybe other people did. Obviously Lex and Tom were going.

I had an idea that they were going. I knew Jenna Lewis was going because I was friends with her. I knew Jenna Moraska was going because yeah, so I knew they were going. I did not know that Amber was going, surprisingly. And then she showed up and I didn't know boss of Rob was going, you know, I didn't know Rupert was gonna be there.

I assumed there'd be more winners on Survivor, you know, I guess they would have had an equal number. Who's gunning for these winners is our dear friend Jenna Lewis, you know. So I want to talk about, you know, you're watching Survivor Season 1 as it's airing and you're seeing Jenna Lewis. Can you think back, what is your perception of Jenna Lewis at that time before you had gotten to interface in person?

What is your perception just seeing her on the screen? Well, I actually watched Australia before I watched the last episode of Borneo with Richard Hatch. So I hadn't really seen the season. I watched all of Australia and that's when I decided I'm going to apply for the show. So I went back and I watched, you know, Jenna Lewis after watching Australia. And, you know, it's hard. I mean, it's hard to put into perspective now because you just know so much about the show. But when I was watching it back then, I can't necessarily say I had a feeling or an impression of Jenna Lewis. I saw I thought she was like a little bit like sarcastic and snarky.

She had like a happy attitude. She was good in challenges. She didn't seem to be the most strategic player out there. But, you know, listen, that's that was early days. There wasn't much going on in Survivor. And so I don't think I have a good understanding of really how she played in season one. That changed, obviously, coming into All-Stars and when I had to actually be on the same track with her.

Well, and then in that in-between period, too, is you're obviously you're going to these parties, you're interfacing quite a bit. And it's only about, what, a three year span before after you play before you're in All-Stars. So what was that Jenner Lewis period like for you guys? You guys are obviously friends at that point. But what is that relationship then going into All-Stars?

So we had actually we had a pretty good friendship because we competed in Eco Challenge Fiji together. So this was, I don't know if anyone's familiar with Eco Challenge, go back, check it out, this was Mark Burnett's first foray into reality TV and it was an epic 10 day adventure race through the jungles of Fiji. And so I was on a celebrity reality team with Tim Begge from MTV real world, Adam Larson from Road Rules real world, and then Jenna Lewis from Survivor. And also Burton Roberts, who was on a team, had not been on Survivor yet, but he was on a team. He was competing in this same Eco Challenge as well. So, I mean, Jenna Lewis is a great teammate. You know, I spent like Eco Challenge, I don't know if anyone's familiar with it,

but it's you train for hours on end in like a lot of different disciplines, like mountain biking, rock climbing, paddling, all this stuff that you would need to kind of you know adventure through Fiji. And so we spent days and days and days on end together as a team and she's an incredible teammate. She's incredibly tough. She's a really good athlete. You know we're talking back in the day. I don't know what she's into these days. However, I was incredibly impressed with her as a teammate. And like she never quit. She never let down. She was always supportive. She would like take your pack and wait if you needed to. She'd give you her food if you needed

to. So I really enjoyed racing as a teammate with Jenna Lewis during Eco Challenge. So that was a really good experience. Tell me that the format of that show, because I'm unsure of how that works. So you're you're racing every day and then you're camping where you race. Like it's a full. Yeah, for basically what happens is 80 teams of four players show up at a start line. Mark Burnett gives you a map and you have a compass. And he says first person to get from

point A to point B wins. You have 10 days to do it. Go for it. And that's the race. And you have to hit certain checkpoints throughout the way. So you might get to a checkpoint and the next is white water rafting. Then you'll get to another checkpoint and you actually have to build a raft of bamboo to get down a river. Then you got a mountain bike a couple hundred miles and you got to hike through the forest and then you got to kayak and then you got to like, you know, climb up a abseiling up the side of a waterfall. And so we made it seven days and then one of our teammates got injured. So we had to quit. But basically we made it about halfway in seven days and the team that won the whole race won it in eight days.

If that shows you, we were competing for last place. Wow. So I'm sorry, so you had dropped out before all the other teams or you were so close to the end where you were the person who won it in eight days? Teams drop out all throughout the race and we were in last place and we dropped out at day seven. So there were teams behind us.

Well, we were probably third to last place. There are teams behind us. There's lots of teams ahead of us. But only like eight teams finished the race ever. It's literally the hardest thing I've ever done. More so than Survivor, to be honest. I wonder why not bring that back. I'm so surprised it's been 20 years

and there's no Eco Challenge reboot. It brought it back a couple years ago with Bear Grylls as the host on Amazon. Okay. And it was just a little bit of a lighter version of Eco Challenge. Like when Mark Burnett did it back then, it was hardcore.

You're not sleeping for 10 days because the more you sleep, the more teams get ahead of you. You're packing all your own food, water, everything. So it's it's one of those kind of deprivation, suffering, athletic events that Mark Burnett just gets off on, you know. He's trying to kill you guys. He's back in the day. He was really he was doing what he could to back in the day.

I mean, I doubt he was involved in the evolution of Survivor, but Edge of Extinction tried to kill this, too. I don't know if you watch that. Sure, sure. You know, listen, I want to talk all about it. You were there. You lived it. You were there. Which, you know what? While we're here, Edge of Extinction, people are talking about, is there any potential that that exists now on season 50? We'd have no way of knowing if it was, but you have these legends that are coming back as yourself, folks who are maybe out earlier than we'd want them to as the audience. you get to keep them there for a little bit.

Granted, it's 24 people in a 26th condensed game, but we don't know what they're going to do. I wonder if there's any hope for the Edge of Extinction making a return. I hope so. I really do. I think the fault of Edge of Extinction was they really have the opportunity to make it just as exciting as the real game. There was really no incentive for me to bust my ass to find fire tokens to send to Tony

or Ben back in the game. What does that get me? In my mind, I knew everyone that was going to be coming to the edge of extinction were probably better than me at challenges. And therefore, you know, winning a play-in challenge was slim to none. So my experience on the edge of extinction renamed the end of Ethan, E-O-E, is basically just suffer and wait it out. Right. And is basically just suffer and wait it out, right? And it wasn't that exciting for me. It wasn't a strategic game.

I didn't feel like I actually got to play much of Survivor. Having said that, if like Edge of Extinction was part of a blood versus water game, right? And now I'm on the edge and my brother or my wife is on the main game, I'm gonna bust my ass to do everything I can to win challenges on the edge to help them in the real game. So I think there needs to be a little bit more of a connection between an edge or redemption or an exile back into the main game.

But they'd be stupid to get rid of all these players because they're legends in their own right and I would want them to keep them around for as long as possible with these 90 minute episodes, make it a little bit more exciting. What is what is the edge like in terms of what you're you are funny, you know, Tyson's so funny, you have a couple of groups like are people less funny by the end of it or people still cracking jokes to two and a half weeks in like is is there still that morale there or is everybody just done? Yeah, you know, there's a few jokes here and there, but they definitely wane as the days went on.

You know, we always said the days are long, the nights are longer. And you know, Jeff probe said like we want they wanted to, when you're down, they want to step on your throats and make it even worse for you. And when you're up, they want to elevate you in the game of survivor. So his whole idea of the edge of extinction was he wanted to get people to quit. That's what he wanted to do. So he made it as horrible as possible for all of us. And that came down to we had a hike, you know, up to the top of the mountain

to get like a handful of rice to bring back down to eat. And if we missed it with the tides, then we didn't eat that day. You know, so like, you know, just stupid stuff like that. You know, the whole firewood thing was an issue. The log challenge was ridiculous. You know, there's no shelter out there and it's freezing. So, you know, normal survivor conditions. However, I think plus it was, you know, I was on the edge longer than people play to win the game. No, Jenny. I mean, what does that say about the game of the survivor, right? Today, again, I'm on the All Stars Wikipedia page, and you played 21 days in All Stars,

which is at the final seven at the New Era. Exactly, right? Yeah, yeah. So tell me about your now, you're moving towards going to Survivor All Stars. You know, Jenna, I've heard so much from Rob about the pregame of All-Stars and that he was in, I believe, Michael Bolton's father's house in Miami. You know, I know nothing about the other tribes' experience.

So what are you doing in the pregame with your tribe, with your group of six? Where are you? What's the vibe? How you feeling? Group of six. So I show up to All-Stars, they segreg you feeling? Group of six. So I show up to all stars. They segregate us into groups of six.

So you instantly knew, OK, there's probably going to be three tribes, which I don't know if they had done before. And I look around at my tribe and I see myself. I see Tina. I see Rudy. I see Jerry. And then I see Rupert. And Rupert was a big mystery because he had just played in Pearl Island. So no one knew who this last person was and we hadn't seen the end of the show yet.

So Rupert shows up and like, okay, we got this Rupert guy. In my mind, I'm looking at my tribe and I'm thinking, okay, like I have a pretty good shot. I got Tina, who I'm good friends with. She's a winner. We're definitely gonna line. I got Jenna Lewis, who I thought I was friends with and I could potentially work with. She's a winner. We're definitely going to line. I got Jenna Lewis, who I thought I was friends with and I could potentially work with. That wasn't necessarily the case, as you saw it unfold. And Rupert, who's this new guy where I felt we could potentially target Rupert a little

bit just because he was the nobody knew him. No one knew how he performed. We could kind of make up some story on how he did do and we had to get them off early. So I felt confident, probably more confident than I should have going into the first season. I mean, sorry, going into All-Stars. It's interesting, you know, there are two people now on season 50 that played season 49. Nobody knows how they did. And you've lived this experience where you're with this non-entity. But that person, like I did some number crunching for a good friend of mine who's on season 50. That person always does well. They make the final eight and up every time. So it's, you know, you can use them to vote

with, but like statistically, they're taking a spot from the final eight, at least that could be yours. You know, so I just, the benefit is interesting. Was there any thought of you thinking Rupert had won or could you tell from his vibe that he did not? No, I there is a thought that he may have won. I can't, I can't remember if he told us if you want or not, but it soon became apparent that he did not win. I mean, yeah, you look at that, like, look at the way Russell played, right?

Russell got to play back to back. He played the exact same game two times in a row and it worked two times in a row because no one had seen him play. He comes back to play with Rob. He's the first one out or second route because he wasn't able to adapt his game to this new form of survivor. And so he was voted out early. So I think the best players in survivor are the ones that can adapt their game for whoever

they're playing with in that particular situation. I mean, the whole goal of Survivor is how can you sell yourself and your ideas to the other people and get them to follow along. And so if people have seen you play a certain way, they're going to come in with certain impressions. So I think that's going to happen on season 50 coming in, right? People are coming in with a lot of baggage and it's going to be hard to break the baggage playing these new games. Well, Jenna Lewis in particular, Jenna Lewis in episode one of All Stars is shot out of a cannon, is ready to game, ready to get rid of you and Tina both. And I wonder how that will translate to season 50.

Cause she's had now a 20 plus year break of playing Survivor. And she just did, Rob is releasing episodes of the podcast from back in the day featuring guests when they were on last. So Jenna Lewis was for the, I believe, premiere of Survivor Second Chance, is talking about how she wants to go back so badly in 2015. Now it's 10 years later.

So what do you think after having lived through the Jenna Lewis shot out of a cannon, what is that? What does that feel like? I mean, I know it didn't benefit you obviously, but what is that drive that you're seeing from somebody that you know and you're friends with? I mean, like, oh, this isn't looking like it's great for me. Yeah, I mean, I'll go back to what I said, I think she's gonna be able to suffer well.

I think the environment's not gonna be a factor on her. She can starve, she can not eat, she can not shower. All that stuff's gonna be a non-factor for her. However, I do think the game is completely different than what she imagines it is, even watching it. I had that same experience when I went back to playing 40, and it was still pretty similar to kind of older school Survivor in the sense that it was 39 days, there's a lot of all that stuff.

But the game moves incredibly fast. I think the strategy is a little more complicated. I mean, it is more complicated. So I do think she is gonna potentially have a hard time with how fast the game goes and kind of the quick decision making that you need to do in this current new era of Survivor and just all the little kind of things that happen.

I know for a fact that she hasn't been keeping up with the show. She doesn't necessarily watch it. I'm sure she, you know, studied and watched the seasons kind of coming into 50. However, I know she's not a super fan anymore. Not that that matters. So I think it could go either way for her, right? She could somehow kind of play the middle claim that she's so old school. She doesn't know what's going on. She can do okay in the challenges. She's

a social person. She's, she's in real estate right now. She's crushing it, selling houses left and right. So I think there is a social game that she will be good at if she doesn't rub people the wrong way, which she has been known to do. She has, she's very vocal about it. Like you see the back half of All Stars to where she is. She is very much like that. Now, your relationship now with Jenna Lewis, you guys are geographically close to each other. Now, she's up in the New Hampshire ish area.

Is that correct? No, I think she grew up in Keene, New Hampshire, but she doesn't stay there anymore. She's out west. I think I don't know if she's in Tahoe or California. Oh, beautiful. Yeah. What is that relationship now? Are you guys still in contact? Did you talk before she left to go do this?

Is that a conversation that happened? No, I'm kind of, to be honest, I'm a little pissed at her too, because like I definitely when her names and face started floating around on all these lead cast, I instantly texted her like, are you going to 50s? Like, no, I would never go. I can't play that game. I'm too old. So she's still, that's why I'm thinking like she's still stuck in the old school days when

you can't pregame, you can't talk to anyone. So I just said, bye, texted back like, well, if you are good luck. And lots of people are talking about this. So you know, don't miss out is what I said. So but she completely denied it about going out there. So we'll see what happens. Tell me about, you know, now when you're voted off pre jury and you don't go right to the edge of extinction, you hang for a little bit until the jury gets there and then you

go home. But your experience, it's rather all stars, you know, you get voted out and you get to go with, you know, Rob has called it on podcasts before the fun group, you know, Rob got with, you know, Tina and Rudy, God rest his soul. They went and did hiking somewhere, but you and I believe Colby and Jerry, you guys did your own thing. Tell me about what was that like for you?

What do you remember from that part of the experience? You know, it's, well, the way in which I got voted out obviously didn't sit well with me. You know, I had Lex took me aside and kind of broke the news that I was going to be voted off that night. And in that moment, you know, I feel like his strategy was like, listen, if if Ethan, Lex and Tom somehow make it to the merge, people are going to assume we're still in alliance and it's going to screw up other people's games. somehow make it to the merge. People are gonna assume we're still in alliance and it's gonna screw up other people's games.

Yeah, I see the value in that analysis. However, I was an easy target for anyone. I was the meat shield when meat shields didn't exist back in the day. And I just don't think it was a smart choice to align with Jerry in that moment. And then you clearly saw what happened, the next, you know, a vote or two later

when Rob kind of blindsided Lex, the same way Lex blindsided me. And, you know, there's a little bit of drama around that. So I think the smarter choice would have been to keep me there, vote off Jerry, and go to the merge with me, and then get me off at the merge. Do you remember when you got voted out,

who did you think was gonna win? Did you have any indication of the winner of All Stars at the time of you leaving? No, I had very little interaction with the tribe that Rob and Amber were on. I didn't even remember the names of my tribes, is that crazy? So, you know, I was, the tribes, we went from three tribes to two tribes

and I was on the tribe with Lex and Colby and Richard Hatch, right? So when I was on that, I'm like, okay, good, Hatch is definitely gonna go first before me. I think Colby is definitely a bigger threat than I am and I'm closer friends with Lex, so Lex may keep me over Colby. And that's exactly what happened. But the strategy

wasn't complex back then. It was still, let's get the winners off first. They can't get to the end of the game together. It was so simple. There was nothing really else going on. No one had any other ideas. And there didn't need to be other ideas back then. That was the strategies, get the winners off first. And luckily, I kind of squeaked through a couple of things, I think, because I was good at challenges. And I guess, lasting the longest of all the winners, is that something to pat myself on the back of? I don't know, probably not, but I'll take it.

I'll take it, listen, I'll take it. And now we're going into a situation for season 50 where there are two winners in a group of 24, which the internet is doing what you did, is just shaking your head. into a situation for season 50 where there are two winners in a group of 24, which, you know, the internet, the internet is doing what you did is just shaking your head is it just, it does seem like we're being set up or they're being set up rather, um, to just instantly go home. You know, I, I run the Rob is a podcast Instagram and I put up a poll of who do you think is going to be the first out? Kyle doubled the votes of anybody

else, the second person, you know, because he won a week ago. He won a week before they left, you know, which is so interesting. So do you think, you know, if you're going to season 50, and obviously you are a winner, but put yourself in the line. By the way, I am going. I'm just late to say no. You are late. Yeah. You showed me the ticket. I know you're going, you know, you're on my flight, which is awesome. You know, you're there as a non-winner. It makes sense, right? The first boot is an easy one. The first boot, no one wants to be the first boot, so you're just looking for any reason

to find someone to be the first boot. And actually, the one advice I did text to Jenna Lewis, and because we have a good relationship, is I'm like, keep your mouth shut. That is all you need to do. Because if you keep your mouth shut. Like that is all you need to do because if you keep your mouth shut long enough, one, they won't hear you talking and two, someone else will say it. And then they're gonna be the person that's gonna be targeted.

So early on, keep your mouth shut because she likes to talk, she's got a big mouth, she's like sarcastic. And I'm like, not everyone gets sarcasm. Not everyone understands that sense of humor, playfully negative type stuff. So I'm like, keep your understands that sense of humor, playfully negative type stuff. So I'm like, keep your mouth shut. So yeah, I agree. I would. Well, one, not only did they invite Kyle back, they invited his two closest Alliance members back to like, what are you

thinking? So instantly you got to split those three up and, and Kyle would be the easiest vote. On the other hand, do you keep the winners around to like, you know, mid game? And right, cause they're always that vote. You can always get them off. I do feel like whether it's as big of a deal as the first All-Stars in terms of having just a few winners as it is now, I don't think it's as big a deal because there are just so many different ways to win the game

and play the game. The title of winner, I don't think has as much weight now as it did back then, but I still think it's a focal point and it's an easy way to rally people around the vote. For sure. And I'm very curious to see what happens because at least with the three, you have the three people from 48, you would assume they're going to be on separate tribes. But if you get one tribe that has two of them, you know, out of three tribes, that just seems like it seems easy, you know. Right. And all stars, all stars, they put two winners on one tribe, two winners on another

tribe, and then no winners on the third tribe. And so like, like, why would you even do that? Like have six winners or three winners? You know, it just, it was a really weird casting choice for them. I see a lot of people on Twitter online, you know, trying to rationalize the tribe divisions of like, oh, this person can't be with this person or whatever. Like, yeah, they can't, like they'll do whatever they want. You know, they're not doing the math that you and I are doing. And they know exactly what they're doing. You know, casting is incredible, right? They know exactly who's going to mesh, who's not going to mesh. You know, back behind the scenes,

they're making the perfect survivor puzzle of casting, right? You can see you got the Colby and you got Jonathan. You know, Jonathan's the new Colby, right? You know, you got Ozzy and, you know, I don't know who the other challenge piece would have been. Well, Jonathan, I guess. But like, so like maybe they're trying these old, old school, new school, like refresher version of the character archetypes, you know. Yeah.

D and Stephanie and, you know, that's the one that I'm most excited to see, you know, because I feel about D. D very much gives old era survival. Like D is a Stephanie, you know, because I feel about Dee Dee very much gives old era survival. Like Dee is a Stephanie, you know, as a, as a where there are some of the new. Kyle's an old school player too. Joe, Kyle, Stephanie are all kind of old school style players. Who do you think Jenna Lewis, you know, in terms of meshing with these new era folks, is there anybody that you think he immediately gets along with or anybody that immediately she is out on? You know, I'm very interested in the Jenna Lewis and Q relationship. I think that's interesting.

I can't see it going great, but let me hear your thoughts on if anybody jumps out as like a good friend or ally to Jenna Lewis. I feel like she's going to try to gravitate towards like, you know, Colby and Stephanie and Coach just because they're old school and it just feels natural. I don't think that's the right move for her. I think she's got to play nice to them, but I think she needs someone in the new era. And you know, the good thing is no one's going to really remember her or remember how she played, I think. And that's that was what I was hoping would happen to me when I went into season 40 that

it's just been so long. I mean, just knows I'm like the cancer guy, you know, the nice cancer guy. Right. So like, I was hoping to somehow use that to my advantage. Clearly, did it work? Who else were you hoping for in season 40? Who else were what other winners were you hoping were there that weren't? Was there anybody that that you expected to maybe see there that didn't end up there?

I mean, I would have liked to see Hatch and Tina only because I'm friends with them. And that would have just been a better scenario for me to align with from the winners. I hadn't talked to Robert Amber for 20 years. I had maybe met Jeremy at a Boston event. No one else I really knew. Danny, way back in the day. No one was there that I felt I could really attach to. Parvati, obviously. And I miscalculated. Listen, I align with Parvati and Rob thinking that they're clearly the more

powerful players, franchise legends. They're going to go first. Obviously, they made the smartest move in the history of season 40 to split up Robin, Parvati and Vodafith and that was a miscalculation on my part. Such a bummer of an episode too. It's like you're just hearing about COVID, you're like, it's not going to get us. And then you get this gut punch and then a week later, the world is over. It didn't set us up for success. If that's different, maybe the whole world is different.

Tell me about your relationship with Colby. You and Colby are still tight in 2025? Or you have been tight the whole time? Tell me about- No, I wouldn't say we're tight. We're acquaintances. If I happen to be traveling through Austin, Texas, I'd give him a call. We'd go out and grab a meal. He's good friends with Burton Roberts, who's a really good friend

of mine. So we could stay connected through that. But once again, I'm going back in the day. We all did hang out. We're all friends. And a funny story, side story, I don't know if it's been told before, but there was a time when the Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation had a partnership with Survivor. And so Jeff Probst is a huge fan of Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric Foundation. Actually in Survivor Africa, we delivered HIV testing kits to a little hospital in the village of Wamba. That was through Elizabeth Glazer. That was like a product. That was like a charity product placement, never been done before in the history of the show, which is pretty cool. So after the show, we got invited to all these really cool, fun events that the Glazer Foundation was doing. One of those

events was the Celebrity Dodgeball Tournament. So we got asked, it was me, Colby, Jenna Lewis, Jeff Probst and Lex Vandenberg went to Los Angeles to compete in a Celebrity Dodgeball Tournament against other actors and actresses and musicians. And we were kind of like, we were real people. Everyone else is like major celebrities. And so it finally got to the final against it was Survivor versus Friends. I mean, you couldn't have asked for a better matchup.

It was like prime time competition. You know, both were Thursday nights at 8 p.m. And here we got Survivor versus Friends. We had Matthew Perry was there with Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox. In the final scene, it's on video. You can find it is that is that we were crushing them. We did the, I did the classic move where I threw a ball up, Matthew Perry starts looking at the ball

and then we all just throw the ball at his face and he falls over backwards and we win the whole fricking thing. And that was like one of the greatest, never before told survivor stories ever. Lex got in a fight with Brendan Fraser. Remember Brendan Fraser? Because Brendan was a complete asshole,

totally overcompensating, like, you know, uber competitive in a moment when he shouldn't have been. It's like for the kids, it's for HIV and AIDS. And he was just such a dick. And Lex just went after him, it was really funny. But we were awesome. We won the whole thing and it was such a fun night. But anyway, so there were things going on. Yeah. The dodgeball, the movie, you've seen the movie, you know, qualifying rounds. Like

you have to beat, you know, Baywatch before you get to eventually graduate friends. Yes. And we beat in sync. We beat in sync, which is really fun. I can't remember the but I remember we beat Brendan Frazier's team. We beat in sync's team which is really fun. I can't remember the, but I remember we beat Brendan Fraser's team. We beat NSYNC's team and then we beat friends team. I don't know if there's another game in between there, but yeah, we were crushing everyone because we were like athletes and real people, like normal humans that didn't care if we got our hair messed up and we fell down or we got cut or anything like that.

And Propes is a former baseball player. He's got an arm on him. I don't know if you know that, but he can whip a ball. You know, hanging out with Propes is something that the new era folks really don't get to experience at all, you know, what is that like back in the day? You know, you're doing stuff like that. I'm sure there's more stuff like this.

What is the Propes, what's he like? You know, tell me about him. I met him for a couple of days. Yeah, I mean, he's great. I mean, back then, I didn't have as much interaction with him coming back to 40. And I understand as the show grew in popularity and the number of contestants came off

and some of his dating history, like he gotta create a boundary between the players and him as a host. Cause now he's involved in casting and challenge design and executive producing. So like, I think there's a more weight on his shoulders and there could get some, some blurry lines there if he starts hanging out with too many of us,

especially when you have these returning seasons. But yeah, he was totally cool. He's incredibly supportive of the work that I do at Grassroots Soccer. He showed up at events, he's donated money. We used to have a reality all-star soccer tournaments where we had, you know, a survivor, amazing race, big brother, the apprentice, all coming together

to play in a soccer match for Grassroots Soccer. We had a bunch of those, probes would show up with Julie Barry and you know, that's with that time of era. So it was super fun and it was really fun to hang out with and yeah, he's a nice guy. When I went through my cancer stuff, he was right there kind of sending me notes all the time.

Same with Mark Burnett, came visit me at my apartment in the hospital. So incredibly supportive of me and some of the stuff that I've been doing over the years. It's a really, you know, once you're in the family, it's a good family to be in. You know, it's a great... It was funny during 40, I think it was the family, it's a good family to be in. You know, it's a great. It was funny during 40. I think it was the second challenge during 40 and Mark Burnett shows up to Fiji. And apparently he hadn't been there in many, many years. According to Rob, the Boston Rob,

Burnett didn't even know there was like a season 40 of all winners version. And then they told him a couple of weeks before. And he's like, oh, shit, I should get out there and see what's going on. But it was interesting because when he came out to visit there, you know, the legend of Mark Burnett exists. Like, so like the super fans on my season, like Adam, Adam Klein literally started to cry because he met Mark Burnett. Yeah. And meanwhile, like Rob and my eye, we're like, Hey, what's up for that? How's it going? You know, I did the eco challenge apprentice. You know, I did survive a couple of times. Like I know Burnett, we hung out, we go to

dinner together. Not anymore back then. So it was just, it was funny moment to that kind of showed me that like where the show is, where it was and where it is and kind of where it's going. Like, you know, Burnett's not even involved anymore. No, no, not at all. That's very, Adam Klein crying at this late in the first. Literally, he was crying, he was crying. I mean, he cried about everything, but you know, that's Adam Klein.

I wasn't much better on season 40, so like, I'm making fun of myself. I think I cried a couple times too, so. It's something in the air over there. Everybody's crying, you know, it's the- You too, you too, you almost had to cry. Oh, I almost, brother, I was crying for a minute one. You know, I had a quick cry.

What would you do if you met Mark Burnett? Would you be, is that a thing for you? Oh, I'm playing it cool with you, Ethan, that I'd be crying. I'm crying to the thought of it. I'm crying now. Listen, he, you know, Mark Burnett, really he created so many of the projects that

I just have made me, have given me all of this stuff. It's super cool. You mentioned it. You showed up at The Apprentice, the first task, is that right? You donated to When Hatch was on, was that right? Richard Hatch was chosen to be contestant on Celebrity Apprentice. Donald Trump is the, you know, host and whatever. And he played, every celebrity has to play for a charity. So Richard Hatch chose Grassroots Soccer as his charity to play for, yeah. And so on Richard Hatch's challenge day against Meatloaf, they had to sell pizza.

So like I rallied everyone I knew in New York City that were fans of me and Grassroots Soccer to show up and buy a freaking thousand dollar slice of pizza from Hatch to try to win the challenge. Unfortunately, they didn't win the challenge. And the rules of the game is that all the money raised goes to the winning contestant. So even if we got like $50,000 raised from grassroots soccer donors, Hatch lost and that went to Meat Loaf. And so he, you know, his charity gets double the amount, basically, which is kind of a lame rule back in the day. But anyway, that's what happened. And Hatch got voted off. So I didn't get to spend too much more time on Celebrity Prentice. But

you've done it all my friend. You're everywhere. You're doing it all. Back in the day, like there weren't many of us. So like when you got invited to do something, you said yes. You know, like, so I would, I did everything because it was fun. Like Fear Factor and Eco Challenge and Kill Reality, Celebrity Paranormal Project, Amazing Race, Survivor, whatever it was, I would do it. Was your Fear Factor celebrity or were you with all Survivor folks?

It was celebrity. It was me, Jenna Moraska, Ryan Sutter from Bachelorette, Trista showed up but she wasn't competing, Omarosa from Celebrity Parentus, Nikki McKibbin from American Idol, and Riken something from Amazing Race. A really good looking tall gay dude. I think he won. I think they won. Oh, you didn't, they won the Amazing Race.

Did you win Fear Factor? Who won Fear Factor? I lost to Ryan Sutter by three seconds in a car challenge. It was so upsetting. But I won that. I won the Gross Food Challenge challenge which was pretty cool. What was the food? You remember the food was? Oh I remember it was basically a bunch of worms, basically a buffet of worms. We had to like transfer worms from one area to next with our mouth,

they had to blend them up, we had to drink it, then we had to dig through like a a dumpster full of mud to get the rest of our prize out. You gotta do it when you get the opportunity. You gotta do it, why not? Tell me. Yeah, and I think there aren't as many opportunities for reality, like now there's a little revival, so it's exciting.

You're seeing the challenge and traders and deal or no deal and all these peacock and paramount formats, which I think is awesome. But there aren't as many opportunities for someone graduating from a reality show these days. Do you see any of these things that are popping up now? Your traders, your dealer, No Deal Island, do you see an opportunity where you would want to participate in such a thing?

Of course, I'm still like, hey, I'm 51 years old. Like, yeah, whatever, I'll do whatever you want. It sounds fun. It's all about having a life experience for me. And, you know, some of these shows, I've never competed in a reality competition show where suffering wasn't the primary like object of the game. Like I can beat anyone at suffering, you know?

So like put me in a show where I get to sleep in a hotel and have three meals a day. And like, then you can see what I can do out there, right? Absolutely. I mean, fire's not necessarily the right game for me anymore. Just, although 26 days, I think pretty much anyone can do it. It's pretty much a joke, but I think, yeah, that's what I think pretty much anyone can do it. It's pretty much a joke. But I think, yeah, that's

what I think. Well, listen, was there any thought before season 50? Like I know calls went out at whatever time. Did you think there was a chance that you were getting back out there for 50? No, I didn't. You know, I had fun teasing that I was, you know, as socially, you know, that was really fun for me. But I think it gets back to Jeff and his idea for how and where he wants a show to go. He is all about storytelling. He's all about, you know, contestants having a transformational experience in the context of survivor that's going to help them overcome something to make the rest of their life better that's gonna help them overcome something to make the rest of their life better.

It's just as much that type of show as it is a competition strategy social. So I think that's a huge part of it. And I think in the eyes of Survivor that my story is complete on Survivor. Would I have played again if they called and asked me? 100%. But in terms of the storytelling, I look at all the contestants that are out there now and I'm trying to think, okay, what is, why did Jeff ask them back? And it's because there might be some unsettled business,

he wants to see them play, maybe he thinks there's another chapter. How many more times can Sri play? I don't know. I mean, been there, done that. She's just coming off Australia's Survivor. How many times can Stephanie play? Traders, Snake in the Grass, Survivor a couple times. Really? Well, that's the thing. Stephanie in particular is interesting to me because I feel like without the Traders and without Snake in the Grass, it's such a more exciting pick. You know, I had a friend that I went to high school with in college, our first year of college, he posted that he went home after like four weeks to like surprise his grandmother for like her birthday. She just saw you. She saw you four weeks ago. Like I feel like I just saw Stephanie the other

day. You know what I mean? I so want to be excited about Stephanie, but it's like, hey, just we just did this, you know, with a couple of those folks. Let's not forget she didn't necessarily. Grass, I think that strategy went a little bit fast overhead, like she totally got swindled by Surrey on Snake in the Grass and then same on Traders, like she had no idea what was going on. So, I mean, so I think the strategy on Survivor, it's gonna be eye opening for her.

You know, she'll be good in challenges. She's strong, she's sociable. You know, funny, funny story is that I went to, I'm sure the people listening, there's this, it used to be called Hearts and Reality, now it's called Over the Edge, it's in Florida every year, and Kissimmee, fun event, charity event, mess load of survivor reality TV people show up.

But I've been a couple times, I usually only go when Boss and Rob goes, but some surprising faces showed up this past season. Jerry showed up, Ozzy showed up, Stephanie showed up. Who else is there? Boston Robb was there. I was there. So, and it's all starting to, starting to make sense now where like, Oh, of course you're going to show up people. This is like nine months. This is over the winter, December. So people are showing up, trying to get some FaceTime, you know, ask questions, see who else is going, find information.

The game, the second probe called everyone. The game season 50 started, right? It's been going on for nine months. I've had multiple people from multiple different seasons call me asking me like, do you know about this person or that person or this person? So it's been an interesting and fun kind of six months for me as well, just to be able to kind of help or not help some folks that come my way. I do wonder for them, like I, and I, I, those are the people that I grew up with,

right? Like the new era people to anybody who played in the new era, like it just feels like who we went to high school with. Like it feels like we're all the same kind of cohort. But seeing the folks from however long ago is so fun for us, but I just don't know how it's gonna go for that. Like, I don't feel great. And people didn't necessarily, you know,

everybody was, you know, very much on the record that the winners of war, you know, the people that everybody was so excited for, you know, kind of were out earlier than we wanted. And then we get back loaded with the folks that we just saw a year or two before. Whereas I have a feeling that we might be in for that again, which I don't think is what everybody wants.

No. I mean, I don't know how the seasons break out, but I feel like it's old school, new school versus new era. That's how I think it might shape up. Just looking at the season number and the number of players from those seasons, right? You got at least 10 from season 40 plus, then you have about 10 from season 40 below. So I think that I'd like to I think that's how it's going to shake out at first. And then someone's going to have to cross lives, you know, like, you know, the interesting thing is there are he did choose a lot of old school,

new era players, and we'll go to Jonathan is a new school, Kyle D a little bit, Joe. I don't know any of the others that they chose, but I think they're all kind of, those are kind of like, they got the old school vibe, right? For sure. And I'm very curious to see, you know, and you said it in this podcast, like the 26 days,

you know, feels like a cakewalk to anybody who did the 39, but this is the first time that Jeff is now allowing people who have played that 39 and people who have made it to 39, some a couple of times to go play this 26. So somebody's going to come back and be like, it is as hard as the 39 one. Like there will be some of this. This is so right. This is the first time a 39 dayer is going to play a 26. So we'll have, we'll finally have some real honesty on which is harder. Interesting.

And somebody's going to break. It's like there's maybe a pack to say that the 39 was harder, but somebody won't do it. Somebody's and Eliza will hear it. It'll be upset. You know, everybody will be upset. Um, but I, I wonder who that'll be. Um, cause it's going to be, you know, I hope, I hope at least one of these older

folks, older, yeah, they're Older in terms of when they play. Yeah, they're also 20 years older than when they played 39 days, right? So no matter how many days, if I was out there for seven days, I'm still gonna think it's harder than when I was 27 playing a 39 day game. Well, so let me ask you about Colby's.

Because the critique about Colby is that when he was back for Heroes versus Villains, which I'm not sure again, this was during your health challenge. I'm not sure how much you remember. No, I watched it from the hospital room, literally. Wow. Yeah.

Colby, in that season, the critique was that he just seemed tired, and not physically tired, but just a, he wasn't as in it as this, I think James had said it, it was the Superman in a fat suit or whatever. He felt weighed down. What is it about season 50, do you know, I think James had said it was the Superman in a fat suit or whatever, you know, he felt weighed down, you know, what is it about season 50? Do you think that made Colby want to get out there again?

You know, I've known Colby since All Stars or you alone before I met him the night he rode in on the back of a motorcycle with Rosie O'Donnell for the Mark Kasich finale, which I think that was when it happened. It was weird. He is a different guy. Like from, from knowing him, Survivor does something interesting to you. Like it makes you aware. Like you're back in the day. It was mega, right? You're talking 27, 30 million viewers a week, right? And so that kind of has an impact on you as a human just out in the everyday world. Colby was into, you know, he wanted to be an actor. He's living out in LA. He was hosting television shows. He was like the shit. He was it. And then I think, you know, things changed for him. He moved

back home. He got back to his normal life. And I think he just found himself again. And from my experience hanging out with Colby is that I think he's more self-aware. He's evolved more as a human being. I think he's been married. He's, you know, taking care of kids. He's been through some health stuff. So like, I just think he has a better perspective of who he is.

So I think he's taking this into the new game of Survivor to test himself. Like, I don't think he's, he doesn't want to be famous. He doesn't care about, maybe he cares about the money after everyone does, but I think it's, it's, it's an internal personal thing. And, um, you know, I know he used to be best friends with Probst and they've lost touch. And, you know, I think it's kind of he's a franchise player. He always have been. He always will be. And so I think it's wonderful to have Colby back, whether he does well or gets voted off first.

But I agree. Heroes versus villains. I don't think it was his best day. I think he was just he was a little bit jaded. I don't know if he really wanted to play, probably just felt he had to because he got asked back. He had other shit going on in his life. He just wasn't bit jaded. I don't necessarily know if he really wanted to play. Probably just felt he had to, because he got asked back. He had other shit going on in his life. He just wasn't in it mentally. He just wasn't there.

And just kind of, just aware of the world and the cameras and all that stuff. And you've spoken about watching, now I'm remembering you've spoken about watching Heroes vs. Villains as you were in the hospital room there. Was that anything, seeing, you know, those folks and them playing, was that inspiration for you to want to play again, seeing that maybe like, you know how much

you'd give to be in it? Was that a driving force in that moment? That was, that was like, I mean, I said it on my opening line of 40. One, it was a miracle that I was alive to be able to play Survivor again, but I was stuck in my stem cell transplant room watching Survivor. I was there for over a month. So I watched five episodes in a hospital room watching my buddies out there play this game that I love and that I want to be on. So yeah, it's like I said, like if I get out of this place alive, I'm going to get myself healthy enough to go play Survivor again.

And when I say healthy enough, it's not even just physically, like, you know, mentally, you need to be in a space where you could go play Survivor. I actually got the call to go play Blood vs. Water in 2016. So I don't know which one that was. Too soon, I almost said yes, but the issue was I would have returned the night of my rehearsal dinner for my wedding. I mean, God bless my wife Lisa. She's like, go do it.

You need to do this, have fun. I was gonna go with my brother. But in the long run, I knew if I came back, if one, if the flight got missed, I missed the wedding. Right? That would have been bad. And so we made the choice to not to say no to that season. And I think that was Tyson's,

I think that was Tyson, the season Tyson and Tyson won. Wow. But anyway. You know, I saw some people hypothesizing that this, you know, everybody built up season 50 as like the legends. And maybe the legends is like a year or two from now. Maybe we do the legends, you know, you think that if Propes is going to sign off, if he's going to do his final goodbye, he's going to want the legends and maybe in a year or

two, that's what that maybe this we all built it up as that that's what this is and maybe it's not. It's a blindside legend game, right? Like it lets blindside the fans. But yeah, if when Probes retires, if I were him, I would say I'm going to pick my the 20 most favorite people that I've hosted on this show, whether you're a winner or a loser, he knows everyone because he's involved in casting. I think it'd be fun for him to literally it's Jeff's picks. That's it. I

mean, pretty much that way anyway. But I think, you know, I think more, more, you know, you know, more creatively explained to us that these are these are the favorite people he's seen play and he's hosted on the show. Let's bring them back for one last time. And then he's out. I heard 55 is the last one, but we'll see. Yeah, I'm unsure. But listen, we're going to do great on that season. I'm excited. You, me, Boston Robb, we're going to have a great situation. But I think Colby is, it's interesting with what Colby's having with Colby. I think the impression of Colby, no matter how he played on Heroes and Villains, is one that he is dominant, challenge beast. So I think that's going to hurt

him because I just think the perceived Colby is just one of success, right? And you gotta get him out early. He came in fourth on Heroes, Villains, came in second on his first one, I don't know, fifth at the All-Stars. So I think he's gonna have a little bit of an uphill battle unless he can find

early alliances early on, which he probably will. Old school people are going to gravitate to each other. I can't see how Coach and Colby and I don't know, maybe Jenna Lewis, maybe Serene and Stephanie all don't link up if and when they're on the same drives together. My other Colby thought was I know Colby hasn't watched. I'm surprised to know that Jenna Lewis hasn't been keeping up as much but I know Colby. Colby you know Colby's meeting all these people they think he

thinks they've never played before I would imagine. He's meeting people for the first time. Ethan give me your winner pick. Do you have a winner pick for Survivor 50? I think my winner pick like I'm along along the same lines as you, is that I think a nobody. Someone who like people don't even think should be there. And maybe someone from 49 that people don't have a tap on. But I don't think another winner is going to win again. I do think it's going to be someone who's been out of the loop for quite a long time. Maybe it's like a Chrissy, you know, or maybe it's a,

you know, but there are some really great characters. I'm just, I don't have a list in front of me, but you know, Charlie was really exciting. You know, all the Jeff Probst co-hosts are on the show, right? Three out of the four. Charlie, Dee, and, oh, here we go, thank you. Devons, right? Everyone's excited to see Devons.

Oh, Christian, you know, I think Christian is an interesting guy. I think he could do well out there, Christian. And I think Mike White, if Mike White's smart and he leverages his TV show. Hey, don't put me off. I'll put you in my show. Right. I would do that. I would if I was out there, I would align with Mike White just because I want to be his best friends because he's so cool. Right. So looking at these picks, I Kyle, no chance. I think, oh, Guinevere.

So I think like a, I think like a Christian or Chrissy, maybe a coach. I would love to see a coach if he can kind of not be too crazy. Do you know coach? Have you met coach a bunch? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I like Coach a lot. I'm kind of just naming the people I want to go far. It doesn't even really mean who I think is gonna win, but like Aubrey, like where the hell has Aubrey been? She's played twice.

Kind of not anything special at either time. And who's that? Oh, Angelina. Yeah, like, just like, I don't know. I think that someone who people don't necessarily remember much or remember how they played is going to do the best on this season. Well, people are pointing to describing how you just described Tiffany, who was on season 46. She was with Q, she was with Charlie.

She was like the fifth most, you know, maybe impactful character of that season, but she is very game savvysavvy. And in a group that everybody has these egos and wants to get out who they deem the best player. I mean, Tiffany's going to sixth and above, I think. You know, like, what's the reason to get Tiffany out at that point? But I'm excited to see it. Unless Charlie and Q, which, you know, yeah, I mean, yeah, it's gonna be really exciting. I'm super, super pumped for season 50. I can't wait. Well, tell me, Ethan, we talked a little bit about

an event that you have coming up at the end of July, a soccer event in San Diego. Do you wanna talk a little bit about what's going on? Yeah, sure. Well, it is a division of Rob has a podcast. So Rob has a podcast, San Diego has a really strong fan group. So I'm working with a guy by the name of Nathan and our R half SD and Grassroots Soccer, my charity. And we're going to be having a series of events in San Diego. So July 31st, we're going to

have like a big brother watch party. So with food and drinks and games. And then on August 1, we're having a survivor tailgate in the parking lot of the San Diego FC MLS soccer team. And then we'll head to the stadium and we'll watch the game in the stadium. There's going to be an on field moment for me and a bunch of the other survivor alums that are going to come. So and it's just going to be a really fun event because grassroots soccer, we partner with San Diego FC, which is this MLS soccer team to run soccer camps that have mental health curriculum attached to it. And then at the end of the camp, we're bringing all the kids to the San Diego game that night. for bringing all the kids to the San Diego game that night. So we thought we'd make it a little bit more special

and make it like a survivor night. So inviting some of my survivor friends from up in LA in the San Diego area, and plus all the survivor fans from our app and big brother fans. And so it's just gonna be a big fun special evening at San Diego FC. We are gonna post about it on the Rob is a Podcast channels

when we air this podcast, as well as leading up to the event, we want everybody to come on out. San Diego, I believe is the best city in the US. There's no better city than San Diego. I haven't been there a while, but I had so much fun there. Yeah. So like if you're interested, you can DM me, you can DM our Instagram account is our have local San Diego, our HAP local San Diego that's on Instagram, and you can DM us there

if you're interested. We'll have more information coming out in the next couple of weeks. Ethan, this was so much fun. This is the first time we're doing this. A peek behind the curtain. This is the first interview of this podcast, and I'm so thrilled.

You are- It's only downhill from here, my friend. I don't know how you can repeat this interview. Who's next? Who are you talking to next? That's TMO. Somebody that you've spent quite a bit of time with in the past, Roger Bingham is going to talk to me about Colby Donaldson. Wow. All right. Roger Bingham. Nice. We got Roger. Roger's coming out. He doesn't do a ton of these interview situations. So we'll talk to him, hear about... He still watches, loyally. He's a loyal every week survivor watcher. We'll talk to him, hear about, he still watches, loyally. He's a loyal, every week, Survivor watcher.

So I'll get his takes on Q and all that. I think it's so, Crooks wasn't able to get the legends back, but you are. You got the legends. So you're talking to all the legends that didn't make it to 50. I'm building my own cast, a cast that I think is better, I think, maybe.

Oh, that's interesting. Well, once you're done with all these, you can put up your cast versus the 50s cast and see how we do. I don't think it'll be close, my friend, but even this has been so much fun. Stay tuned till tomorrow. You'll see an episode with Roger Bingham and I talking about Colby Donaldson. Ethan, have anything else to plug?

Yeah, I mean, yeah, nothing. Yeah, things are good. I'm excited for the show. If you're interested in getting some old school survivor merch, you can still hit up my website. We got some cool Fiji jerseys, old school jerseys, new school jerseys. We have a line of new stuff coming out for season 50, so stay tuned for that. And yeah, that's about it. Go buy a t-shirt. Have a great time everybody. We'll see you all tomorrow. I've never signed off a podcast before. This is our first time. Thank you and we'll see you tomorrow.