RHAP: We Know Survivor - Ken Hoang Talks Survivor 49 Ep 4

Episode Date: October 18, 2025

This week, Rob and Ken Hoang sit down to talk about Survivor 49 episode 4.

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Hey everybody, what's going on? Rob Sisternino here, and we have a real treat for you here today on the old school interview that we are joined here by royalty. The King of Smash is here from Survivor Gabon. It's Ken Hong. Ken, how are you? I'm good. How are you doing, Rob?

Yes, we're so excited to have you here to talk about, Survivor 49. Can you believe it? I can't. It's been a while, so. Yeah. I think it's been 17, 18 years since I've been on. Yeah. And we're going to talk about your ties to this season of that you have Jason who mentioned you in his preseason press. And we'll talk about how you think he's doing and everything. But Ken, what's new with you? I'm also a gamer at you know hard I still play games um I'm getting married next year oh congratulations the wedding is next year um and you know just save well just live in life yeah ken where do you live

these days uh L.A okay I live really close to PG like walking distance okay and how often do you see PG I hit her up because like I just recently moved to L.A and I hit her up and she's like oh no probably busy, but I don't know, we haven't been hanging out at all. So where were you prior to being in L.A.? I was in the L.C. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, where I think Wu was living around there. Yeah.

I actually saw Wu, like, around, like, the area, too sometimes. How's he doing? I don't know. Oh, I don't know. He does flips because my fiance's friend, he does, like, flips and stuff. He does, like, he does, like, stunt stuff in movies, and then Wu does it with him, too. like they all like flips and stuff so they go to parks and they do flips

and then wait who does stunts in movies um my my fiance's friend he was the he was in um shang chi the he was a death dealer okay yeah he's a death dealer and then he has ties with woo and they do like and they go to the park and they do flips yeah yeah that's pretty wild what made you move to los angeles uh my fiance okay he uh she works in uh pediatrics

Oh, I think I say she's in the biz No, no, no, she's not in the biz Yeah Okay, and then, Ken, we know you're the King of Smash We know you're a legendary gamer But like, what does your average workday look like? I mean, I play video games And I stream on Twitch, you know, I do some content, so

And so when you're streaming on Twitch, what is your stream look like? What are you doing on Twitch? Are you playing different? games do you are you sticking with your bread and butter yeah yeah sometimes i play melee sometimes i play other games just depends yeah and do you do like different missions of okay today i'm going to do this or do you like challenge anybody from the audience do you think you can beat the king of smash yeah yeah sometimes i do that yeah yeah i'll play like people people

in my stream or like i'll just um i mean sometimes there's like people that have challenges that tell you to do things and then you just like sure we'll try to like beat everybody with like certain characters and stuff has anybody ever beaten you from coming out of the chat i mean yeah yeah i mean there's some good players like the kids nowadays like they're they're they're they're built different they're built different yeah because they're always like in the chat like six seven me well i'm getting old uh robs yeah my my generation's like started to go you know yeah in terms of gaming so the audience for your Twitch stream, do you have, like, any sense of, like, what's the average age of people

that watch you on Twitch? I think you're on maybe 25. I think 25 or 30. Because my kids, they would sit and watch people play video games on YouTube all day long. And we have to say, hey, could we watch a real show? No offense to your professional. But can we have access to every single show that was ever made? Why are we watching this random guy play Minecraft?

I mean, they love the. They love watching people play games. Roblox, my kids love. And they want to do, they do steal a brain rot. Yeah. Do you know that? You've heard of that one? Mm-hmm.

Yeah. So we could get all into. I mean, as long as the, the streamer's entertaining, then, you know, kids will watch, you know. Watch. Yeah. Okay. So, Ken, have you kept up with Survivor from, like, season to season over the last couple of years? Or do you just jump back in for 49?

I just jumped back in, but I've, Been a part of the scene. I saw, I think, two of the new seasons. And then I just, I couldn't keep up afterwards. Yeah, what are your thoughts overall on what survivors up to these days? I'm not a big fan of the new season. I can say that because, I don't know, even this season, like, if it weren't for Jason, because, like, he came from my, my, like, background and stuff

from my profession and gaming, I probably would have kept up because it's like, right now it's like, it's hard to keep up. So what is it that you're not loving? I think the kumbaya. Like every, every, like when I played, everyone was out there and it was like, it was grimy dirty. Like everybody wanted to kill each other, right? Right.

Everybody here is just like so happy. Like, oh, I'm getting pulled out. Yay. I don't know. Right. Yeah. There was, that was not Survivor Gabon. It was not a season.

No, not even close. Not even close. Yeah. But I would like to say, like, I read a lot of the pre-game interviews and stuff, and then Jason was an alternate, right? Yes. And because, and then someone else was an alternate, because, like, I guess the people who were on who were just talking a lot, they were talking a lot, right? That's why they got booted off. Yeah.

But I guess, like, they were, because my season, people were talking, too, like, during Ponderosa. Like, people would go into the restrooms and, like, since there was, there was always a handler there, right? or like watching seeing if we were like talking with each other. Like always I was a good at two shoes. I was, you know, not even close to like any talk with anybody. But I would see people going to the restrooms and like, I'm not going to say any names. Okay. It happened during my season.

But you could see it was a difference because we had a school yard pickup. Oh, yeah. So then you can see it changed the whole entire like who picked you. And it was kind of a wacky school yard pick where it was like, wait, why did that person get picked? Do you feel like that some of those pre. game conversations impacted the opening pick. Exactly. 100%. My season, like, I know who was talking to who, like, at, because like, they were telling us to, like, watch people and I was watching everybody. Yeah.

And I would see people going to the same, the restroom the same time. And like, they would like whisper and, you know, but I guess, you know, it's a good thing that they, they, they put the altruits on that people were talking. But were they on the same tribe, you know, the few people who were talking? Who knows? Well, it seems like that they were because they kicked off two people that are, unless they rearrange the tribes, but I don't think so, because now everybody comes in and they all are already wearing like the colors of their tribe, like the women get manicures of like, okay, I'm going to get my red nails done or my toes done. So I don't think that they switched anything up. I think that these two people were from that yellow tribe.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah. Actually, yeah. Okay. It makes sense. It makes sense. All right. So tell us about what you knew of Jason prior to Survivor. 459. Okay, so I don't know Jason personally, but like I used to host tournaments and like I go to tournaments and people would go up and ask for a pitcher and like, oh, I liked you on Survivor or I'm a big fan of your like Smash. And then Jason probably probably was one of those guys who came up and I was just like, oh, hey, how's it going?

So now he's on Survivor. But yeah, I don't know Jason personally, but I heard he has, he lives in the same area as me or used to because I live in L.A. now. but um and he has the same birthday as me but we our birthday just passed last last last weekend happy birthday so happy birthday birthday to jason too happy birthday to jason too if he does well enough on the season would you consider hanging out with him or he has to win i mean i mean i'd hope he'd win because that's a good representation of like gamers and you know everybody who who games and part of my community but um no no i'd hang out with them because we share

a lot of similarities, so. Yeah, birthday. Now you're both survivors. You live in the same area. And now, did it mean something to you to have, because, you know, a lot of times players talk about the same. Oh, Surrey, she was such a influence on me or this other person. But, you know, to have somebody talk about you all these years later,

what was that like for you to hear? Normally, no one ever says anything about me when I was, like, playing or like, the new school kids, right? They never mentioned me. They always mentioned the people who went or whatever, right? But hearing, like, it is a breath of fresh air that Jason got on because I know for a fact that when I went on and then afterwards, like, I know a lot of people from my gaming community, like applied to get on Survivor and they probably didn't get on, obviously didn't get on. But Jason was the first person they got on. I think it's after like 17 years. Yeah. Like another person from like my gaming community got on, which is kind of crazy. Like 17 years. That it took 17 years for another

and from like the smash scene they get in. So that's kind of crazy. So, yeah. I mean, I'm happy about it because, like, anyone who, like, applies to doing the whole casting process because it's a bitch, you know, Rob, and then to actually get on the island and, like, play, like, props to them, you know?

Yeah. And I'm happy, like, that anybody, like, could do it, you know? And this was kind of his breakout episode. So I'm glad that we're talking after this episode where he was featured because he had been kind of quiet through the first three episodes, but then was very prominent in the episode where it looked like that he might have gone home. Did you think that he was done for this week?

I was on kind of the edge of my seat because I didn't want him to go home. And then also, like, we were planning this podcast. It kind of been really, yeah, if he went home and I was like, oh, Rod knows something that I told, well, maybe the boot list that that's why he's like putting me on the podcast because, Jason, I mean, I was hoping he stays longer. At least the merge, at least the merge.

At least the merge. Okay. So what did you think about Jason so far? Okay, so he's pretty good on challenges, right? Yeah. Rob, you know what a CRT is? So I know what I think it is. It's a monitor.

It's a TV. Yeah. It's a TV, right? So anybody in the melee scene or a smash scene, during tournaments, we would carry these huge CRTs around, right? Like, because they were the gaming monitors for our game, right? We can't carry the thin ones because, because it lags, the input.

When we play games, it lags, and we don't play with, like, input lag because it just doesn't make, you know, it's not right. So those crates on Survivor, like, I see Jason carrying the crates, like, the CRT TV. So, like, anyone who's in the Bailey scene or, like, gaming scene, back in the day, we used to carry these CRTs for two tournaments all the time. So those crates are, like, nothing. But he's really good at, he's really good at puzzles. And, you know, I think he practiced to do all those puzzles before getting any on.

So when you play. So when you play melee, you need to bring in, like, go to, like, some sort of, like, pawn shop and get, like, old TVs? Yeah, those things are, like, um, the CRT TVs that people, like, throw out are, like, a huge treasure in our scene. Wow. See, I thought you were going to say, well, he's really good at the puzzles, but you're saying he's strong because he's carrying big TVs around. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Wow. Okay.

Those things are heavy, too, the big CRT TVs. Well, a lot of people have commented on about how he has been sort of, like, O.P. in terms of that he is like the ultimate puzzle solver. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, here's the thing. Like, if you're a gamer, you play a lot of puzzle games and stuff, too.

So you're good. I mean, I wish there was more of those type of puzzles during my season. There was like zero. But if I had those puzzles, I could do them pretty easily too. Yeah. Well, he was basically the difference maker, it seems like, for these challenges where that the yellow tribe was, seeming like

they were never going to go to tribal council because of him. Yeah, he's a, he's a threat in terms of puzzles, I would say that. Yeah. What do you think about the way that he handled his business in terms of he got swapped to this new tribe? And he was down in the numbers. And Savannah went to go talk to him and said, like, hey, we like you. We want to work with you. He's like, well, I'm going to stick with my own people.

Okay, so he obviously said the wrong things, right? Because, like, you want to tell Savannah what she wants to hear. If it were me under that situation, I'd be like, oh, I would throw a man under the less easily. It would be like, no, no, I'm with you guys. Matt has, like, big ties with the other tribe, right? Like, I'm the odd one out. Like, I'll join your, you know, your alliance. It's like, put me around, you know?

Let me stay. But he was like, I love Hina so much. Like, if I emerge, like, I won't target you guys or something. He said something like that. That was, that was bad. Yeah, I would say that was really bad. It's only been like six days, but they love each other so much on the tribe. Yeah, he has too much Heena pride.

I think it also was kind of like, I think Rizzle said it was cringe that like every time they came in, like Heena. And he was like the biggest like Heena, like heard of to say that. But I think Jason is playing teams and he needs to play individual. Yeah. And he's playing video game teams. Like in Smash Brothers, there are teams. and he's trying to save his teammates more than himself. It should be an individual game at this point.

Yeah. Do you think that now he did vote out, Matt, in this tribal council, do you think that coming back from this, do you think that people will look at him as, in the tribe that he's on, people will look at him as somebody who won't play ball, or he did vote out his ally. Like, is there a room there that he think he can get integrated?

Yeah, that was, I think it had to do with the edit because he was like, I'm not going to vote off Matt. I'm going to play my shot in the dark, right? And he was like trying to threaten Savannah there. But then he ended up voting off Matt. So I don't know the conversations that because even at Tribal Council, they said that he had a lot of conversations everybody. But they didn't show us that.

So I think they just swayed it one way. So maybe he did. Maybe he had like a lot of conversations and like said, oh, I'm with you guys. And who knows? I think the edit was a little off because it was weird that he ended up voting Matt off. And then, like, he was looking really sad about it. And, like, they're, like, touching, like, are you okay and stuff? But then, like, he ended up going with their plan.

So I know that Jason is somebody who's in your world, but do you think that these people made the wrong decision? Should they have voted Jason out? Over Matt, if I were Savannah, I would have voted Jason out. Because looking at his puzzle skills compared to, like, Matt, like, Matt barely got across the, like, the balance being the last. But I don't think Matt's good at as. puzzles. I think Jason is more of a threat than Matt. I agree. That's what I said to Stephen also that I thought that they should have taken out Jason because I feel like that Jason is the type of person who is going to be able to

adapt a little bit more. And Matt is just like, you're never going to lose track of where Matt is. Exactly. Exactly. I think, I think you know the right on the dot because Jason is more of a threat in terms of like the long game. And he's so like heena pride, you know. Matt was trying to work with other people. Jason seems like he wasn't going to turn. Which, again, I hate to say it, but like when they were casting me, they were always asked all these situations where like, if this guy doesn't work with you, what would you do?

But I feel like if Jason went through Mike, like the casting I went through and he said like, oh, I would stick with my tribe and I wouldn't like jump ship in the situation, you know, like that would have been, It looked bad, you know? Lynn Spillman would have said, you're out of here. Probably for sure, because they were grilling me. They're like, what if you were in a tribe, like, the same situation in Jason, would you, like, jump ship? Would you, like, try to work with others?

Or we'd stick with the same, like, I'd be like, oh, I'm scrapping. I'm trying to stay in the island as long as I can, you know, like, I'll do whatever it takes. Yeah. But now I think New School Survivor, like, they're just casting people. The people that they're cast here are just like, kumbaya, I'm okay, what are you. Like, I'm, like, under the bus. I'm just trying to get off, but I'm still, like, in a bad position. Yeah.

I think that there is a desire to find people who have, like, an interesting backstory of people who are, like, at an interesting crossroads in their life to come here and to be on Survivor and, like, let Survivor tell their story as opposed to. I think in the old school casting, I think it was like, okay, why don't we try to find a bunch of people who are going to not get along? exactly exactly and put them together on purpose yeah my season yes yeah that's more reality tv though like nowadays like i just feel like everybody loves each other when i'm watching survive there's like no i hate this person or like oh we're just getting all along like our tribe is so great you know yeah which is what it's hard for me to watch it's it's hard for me to swallow that do you feel like and i don't know if you watch any other reality tv do you feel like that that is more of a symptom of survivor or do you feel like that that's true across all of reality TV?

No, I mean, I watch the challenge because my, my fiance is into the challenge, too. So we watch it together. There's always, there's always, like, people hate each other on that challenge. And they've been, like, playing the same, like, they've been playing, like, so many seasons together and they still hate each other, you know? Yeah. And trying to, like, you know, work that out. But, you know, in a lot of ways, I do admire what Survivor, I feel like, has set out

to do, especially since they came back post-COVID, I do feel like that they have tried to make Survivor into a show that you can watch with your family, that it is aspirational, that it is something that you are going to, like, tune into this show for feel-good stories about the human condition. It's just not necessarily the same show that you and I fell in love with. Yeah, exactly. I grew up watching, like, a competition. It's still competition, but I felt watching, like, real Survivor, you know?

I don't feel like, I mean, people are complaining like three days in that they're starving, Rob. Like, it doesn't, I don't know about that. Like, and they're talking about merge, like, after like three people are getting voted off. So I was like, man, the days are just, it's happening so fast, you know. Well, Ken, they make a big deal in the new era that, hey, we don't give them any food now. Now, now we made it, we, it's not 39 days, but it's harder because they don't get any food to eat. I don't agree with that because, but Fiji is also like a plentiful area. You get, they have coconuts.

Yeah. Rob, they have coconuts. Yes, because if I recall in Fiji, did you all get any food from Survivor? We got rice, but not a lot. Okay. Yeah, yeah, we got rice, but not a lot. But Africa, there was not much, like, without any tools in Africa, there was just, like, not much you can get besides these little, like, green, like, little pumpkins that we ate,

which were sour, but they also, like, dehydrated the crap out of us, so. Green pumpkin. Yeah, there's like the little pumpkin in Gabon that they, they were like, they were, oh, it was so sour too, Rob. And then like, it dehydrated you when you were eating them. So, and there was like ants and stuff in them, like big ants. It's just, we ate some ants. I ate some ants. I ain't termites.

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All right, Ken, is there any other players in the season that you have thought are interesting? I mean, I think Savannah's playing an amazing game. I think she's like, she's like, she's playing the game that I would play, like if I was in her position. Like, she's asking people questions or like judging them, making sure, like, where they're at. But these players are just telling them, telling her, like, the truth, like what she wants to hear, you know?

Mm-hmm. She's that good of a journalist. I don't know. I don't know. I think the players are just being honest this season. Like if there was like any player from old school, they would just tell her what she wants to hear, not like being honest.

Like I'm still like with Jason's. Jason should be like, if he watched my season, he should know like not to be honest and tell people like the truth. Yeah. Did anybody lie about their jobs in Gabon? Oh yeah, everybody. Yes, even back then.

What were people lying about? Like, Dan, Dan didn't say he was a lawyer. Crystal said she was, I don't know, she was in sales or something. She was like, Emily, I didn't tell everyone. I was a pro gamer. I forgot what I told everybody. Everybody was still lying. Like, the moment we had the beach, like, everyone was lying what they were doing.

Yeah. I feel like in the old days, I feel like people didn't lie as much about what they did for a job. But I guess Gabon was ahead of its time. Yeah, probably. And no one, no one told everybody about the truth. about who they, even even Sugar was lying about, like, her job, so. As a Pitta model? No, no, no.

She says she's a Pitta model, but she didn't tell everybody she was like an actor. I don't know. Okay. Yeah. All right. So when Savannah asked Matt about his career, what did he do before he worked at the airport? Yeah. He ended up stumbling over his answer about being a stockbroker back in the day.

Yeah. Ken, do you feel like was that a really bad move for Matt? 100%. He should just been like, no, no, I was just, I was just working at the airport the whole entire time because she like, she's like, she's called him a psychopath, those people were psychopaths, right? Yeah, yeah. You can't trust them because like, I mean, it's cutthroat. Like, he's right. Like, that industry, like people let go people like that, you know. So if you're doing that job, then yeah, you're more cutthroat than like being. someone at the airport. So I think he could have downplayed it or something,

but it was not the right answer that she wanted to hear. Ken, you played with Matt. Are there any similarities between Matt from Survivor 49 and Maddie from Survivor Gabor? No, no. Maddie is like, Manny was like a surfer dude. This Matt was like more hardcore, more... Hey, this guy's like, where's Tommy Bahama shirts?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But maybe that's more like Randy. yeah yeah but but he knew like how to survive with stuff i don't think randy knew how to survive he was yeah randy was just like more of a uh a big fan of survivor like he knew survivor stuff not like how to survive survive yeah yeah okay so last week we saw jake got bit by snake and got taken out of the game yeah did you have any experiences with ding dangerous animals during your time in Earth's Last Eden? There were snakes.

Yeah. Okay, so I think I told this story plenty times. There were snakes in the first Garden of Eden. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The minute I got to my camp in Gabon, I was exploring and I went to the little trail, and I saw this huge, like, snake just slither down and go into like the little riverbank or whatever it is. And I was like, holy crap, this is like real.

you know and then another time um i was uh it was really dark at night and uh it was late and i had to go to use the rest of i had to go pee so i went to like into trails and then i went to like a little like tree and i was just like you know peeing and i look up and there's like these like glowy eyes okay you know you know like in the dark when like you have a cat and like their eyes glow that's what i saw i looked up and there was like a panther or something on top of the tree a panther looking down at me like i saw the eyes yeah so i just like i just freaking peed and it just got the hell out of there you you finished yeah yeah but there wasn't much there wasn't much uh rob because i wasn't drinking much but you know i i took the

leak and i did but yeah i saw i saw a freaking huge snake go down the river the first time i got there and then during late at night like day five or take five i think around there i saw the panther eyes Yeah. Were you surprised to see us lose a survivor to a snake bite in 2025? Oh, yeah, 100%. That's crazy that he would just, like, sit there and just like let the snake wrap around and then bite him and then just leave. Like, I would have more awareness. I know, like, people are starving, but this is new school survivor. Like, what date is? Day, like, three, four, I don't know. I think it's like five or six. Okay, day six. Like, even if you're just standing there, like, you would, or you would, you

look around around to see if there's any danger right but i guess like they're so um i guess they're not i guess it's like they don't think it's like survivor so i mean there's there's animals out there right rob so you have to always look at your awareness and i always do that but some people just go out there and think it's like paradise or whatever just like that nothing can can bite them in this case um what's his name let me let me look at my cheat jeep okay uh it rhymes with snake so it's easy to remember. Jake, okay, Jake, Jake, Jake, Jake, I bit with the snake. Yeah, because I guess he wasn't looking. They were showing last week the Survivor Nature Guide, and all of the Survivor alumni got very excited for the first time that the nature guide has made it to the episode.

Did you get one? Yeah, we had one. Okay, okay. Did you all have one? Yeah, yeah, of course, of course. Yes. I still have it. I still have it today. So, they didn't give us copies of ours it was just like in a binder like a laminated uh like sheets in a binder oh we had so for our season we had it in the the little the little case like yeah yeah and then we also had copies of it i still have mine today like i could it's with there any highlights highlights yeah i mean there's animals like the totally yeah yeah highlights as if you see a hippo um you're pretty much dead you're dead if you see a hippo yeah yeah that's that's what they said like you see a hippo like you're kind of like just screwed but you see the elephant

you run zigzag yeah zigzag and then in there they also said if you saw a um gorilla a big fat hunchback or no silverback gorilla um don't stare right at the face because that means you're challenging it always look away and be like this and like and like kneel down like he's the king kneel down not in a needle position like not a fetal position like not a fetal position You know, hunch down, hunch down and look away and go like this. And your hands, like the look at them in the eyes. Now, is that how you suggest that the other gamers approach you can? No, no, no.

As the King of Smash. Some people are very nervous when they approach me, but not like that. No, no. I'm very friendly. Yeah. So didn't, was it, Ace was doing a confessional and then an elephant was popped up? Yeah, we saw a lot of elephants, but Ace, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, my season.

Yeah, yeah. He actually came back and he was like, when I did it, when I did the, I can't, I can't do the accent, but you rob you were better than it added to me. But he was like saying, when I did the interview, an elephant just came back, just in the back of me. Like, oh my gosh, like he was saying that. Yeah, but he didn't have to run in his zigzag. No, no, no, no, only on the trails, because the trails are made by the elephants in the, in the jungle. Yeah. Which is kind of crazy.

Okay. Can, is it true? of snakes that you were approached to be on the television show, Snake in the Grass. Yeah, I was. I actually made the tweet about that and people were just like shocked about it, which is kind of crazy.

Yeah. I know how it feels to be an alternate. They told me on the last day that I was an alternate, which is kind of shitty. I like took off work into everything. Yeah. So, yeah. All right. You said you posted, fun fact, I was called two years ago to be on a show called Snake in the Grass. I made it to finals. I flew to Costa Rica.

Practice jumping off a cliff into water only to get cut the day before shooting. Probably the last time you'll ever see me on reality TV again. Yeah, yeah. Probably 100% the last time I followed me on reality TV. Wow. So, yeah, so you and Jason had that in common also

that you were both alternates. But they told me on the last day, Rob. Like, at least on Survivor, to tell you before you go. You go. Too bad Earl and Yule weren't like talking to each other too much before they had to into the game with that guy from naked and afraid. That makes no sense.

They had three survivors plus the guy from naked and afraid. Who needed that guy? Yeah. Yeah. How come I wasn't there? Like, I was a survivor guy, right? Yeah. That was just, maybe they caught me for him.

Who knows? Did you watch that episode of Snake in the Grass? I did. I did. Yes. Because I was like, man, that could have been me. That could have been you. Malcolm ended up winning.

Do you think that you would have been able to? 100%. Yeah. 100%. I would have known Malcolm was the snake in the grass, 100%. You said you watched another couple of the new era seasons. Which other ones did you watch? I saw the one where the little, it was a big controversy at the time.

Oh. The reversal of the time or whatever. Oh, yeah. Season 41. Yeah. And then I saw the one of Marianne and Marianne one. Okay. So you came in hot in the new era.

You watched 41 and 42. and then said, you know, this is not for me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I'm watching 49 now, so I skipped from 43 and on to 49. Yeah. Let me see. Do you have any questions about anything you missed? I don't know.

Is there anything that happened between 43 or 143? I mean, there was a lot of stuff that happened. I don't know how interesting you think it would be. But I saw like the, the cat, well, they put the cash for 50. Yeah. Let me see. At least if I could come up with some things that were, that might, you might think were interesting. There was a, there was a woman who didn't get to go to Applebee's one time.

And she, she crashed out. Applebee's. Yeah. Over Applebee's? She crashed out over Applebee's. Okay. It's a new school season. Like, how long are they laughing?

Like 17 days at that point? This is what she said. I'm pissed Did she say I'm pissed? Yeah They brought back the auction Oh yeah I love the survivor auction

But they changed it What do you mean they changed it That they made it So if you have any money If you have whoever has the most money Left when the auction stops Then you lose your vote at tribal council Wow

I would have lost my vote during my season then Because I had the most money I did I passed so So everybody just like then just like, it's just like bidding just to like get rid of their money so they don't lose their vote. I mean, that's pretty smart because like if people don't know, if you don't spend the money, you got to keep the money, right? So it's a smart way to make people spend the money. Yeah. Jeff cried one time.

Whoa. I've never seen Jeff cry. Yeah. It's kind of crazy. Yeah. So that was over what? Over what? Like.

There was a girl who. was had autism and she only told one other person and then she was having a moment where she was getting very emotional after a challenge and the only person who could comfort her was on the other tribe and then he left his tribe to go give her a hug and then Jeff cried Jeff's got a little soft I think because like that should happen to my season he'd be like get back on your match what are you doing he's a dad now okay okay yeah yeah and so that yet jeff is very he's very in touch with his feelings maybe i like new jeff better then because he's a lot nicer my season he was freaking he was

he was he was not that nice yeah i think that they say like that was like that was like the era that he was like maybe the most uh not feeling it in terms of being the host of survivor but Even then, like, even it was not nice when I see, I still, I still liked, you know, what he did. So, yeah. Like, I still, I still, I still, um, appreciate him, so. Well, one of the other things that happened, and maybe it's sort of not as much, but there was a point where they were saying, spicy Jeff is back. Is he?

Kind of like that they would bring back Mick Rib that they'd say spicy Jeff is back. And one time, yeah, some people like spicy Jeff, though. Yeah, we like it. And there was one time where. there was a big bag of rice and they had to decide who was going to sit out of the challenge and he took a knife and then he just cut the rice open and everybody was like uh-oh this is spicy jeff they don't know what spicy jeff is they don't know the new the new school kids they don't know what spicy jeff is maybe like on 50 it'll come back because like there's a lot of contestants

that are you know from the old school but but they haven't seen spicy jeff i think they just saw like tobasical, Jeff. Yeah. Not that spicy. There was a guy also who is obsessed with milk and he would talk about it all the time. He loved chocolate milk. And then he said that if you're a real man, you drink your milk with your elbow out like this. But if, but not like you can't have your elbow like in too much.

How do you drink your milk? Listen, I got to, now I have to. Now I've got to like that's a real angle. I don't drink milk, so. Yeah. So that was a big deal also. Okay. So you could go back and binge any of these.

I mean, like, you know, I'll probably would watch if like I got casted on like another season of Survivor because that's when your time you can binge it. But right now I'm, I'm liking other reality TV shows more than Surveyora. Like the challenge? the challenge um i like to watch naked and afraid oh the challenge one the challenge one there's a naked afraid challenge oh like xxel no no there's not there's a naked afraid like challenge like they do challenges to survive okay and it's called naked and afraid the challenge i i don't know what it's called but they're afraid something but there's challenges yes and is that guy that took your spot on snake in the grass on it yeah yeah he's a good player jeff oh okay so you

So you actually, you approve of Jeff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. I like Jeff. I like Jeff. But he wasn't good on steak in the grass, but he was good on the negative freight stuff. Okay. So going back to, if you ever were to be on one of these other shows, they just did all of Survivor 50.

And did the powers that be reach out to you? No, no, no. I haven't gotten like a survivor call since blood versus water, I think. think. I don't know what season that was. The one that Tyson was. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Um, well, first of all, I'm surprised that they didn't even check in. What are you drinking, by the way? Macha. Oh. Macha. Yeah. So this place in L.A. called, uh, Hatee. They're not a sponsor, right? No, no, no, no. I'm not a sponsor. Okay. I'm just, I just like it. So they called a bunch of people. Mm-hmm. What would you have said if they said, hey,

Are you ready to come back to, to come to Fiji? I have a love-hate relationship with Survivor. I think I missed my chance between like around like after I got on and like the whatever seasons that I don't know if I've returned nowadays. I don't know. I really don't know. Okay. So for Blood versus Water, they called you.

And who were you going to potentially do Blood versus Water with? My sister. My sister. The one that visited me on my season. the one that and what happened we she made it to um she made it she made it she made it to before jeff and then she got cut i think okay yeah but they were like when they were calling me they were really excited they're like oh i can't believe i can't wait till you're you're you're on again like we miss you and stuff from my side yeah but for my sister's side it was a different story okay so they

said ken you're great but they said your sister was not bringing you i think so and then we Were you mad at your sister for growing up? No, no, I wasn't mad because, like, it was a blood versus water. Like, it was, you know, two for one. Did you tell them, hey, I'll find another relative. See, here's the thing. If I was with my fiance then, like girlfriend then, like if I had her, I think we had 100% of him to cast it because they wanted like a, like, me plus a girlfriend.

Yes. But I didn't have a girlfriend then. So then they're like, oh, do you have anybody else that's like a girl? Because they wanted a guy girl. And I think I'm pretty sure. Like from what I heard, we got cut for Rupert and his wife. Yeah. Yeah.

Okay. And then they didn't do it. And they didn't do anything. Yeah. Ruper got voted off like day one or something. Well, his wife got voted off day one. And he's all trade spots with her. And you would have.

Yeah. You would have never done that for your sister. Probably not your girlfriend either. Let's be real. Come on. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Like Tyson, when his wife or fiancee then or wife now got voted off, he was like, he's like, no, you say it. You know, obviously. like yeah and then he won yeah he won yeah exactly yeah but if my wife got voted out and then i didn't switch spots with her do you know how mad she would be when i got home really really yeah and i'd be like babe like let me cook i know what i'm doing exactly oh you know everything you like you're more important than me i guess i'm like i don't know this is well depending between depending depending on between the two of you who would last further you know i think well you know what

the thing is that i probably have a target on my back yeah you're she doesn't yeah you're too much of a threat rob honestly but honestly if we were on a season i'd work with you on yeah i should hope so ken come on yeah yeah but i i i think uh you do have a you big you have a big target on you no matter no people they they love my wife because she keeps it real she just says whatever she she wants and everybody laughs. It's all, it's all good to me. It's like, oh, he's up to something. Yeah, yeah.

Like, I'm not. I mean, it's the same with me. Like, any game I play, like, with my family and friends, like, I'm, I have the biggest target, no matter what. What other games do you play? Like, you know, we played Among Us. Yes. You know what Among Us, right?

I know what I know. I actually played with a lot of survivors, um, among us. And, like, I was still the number of target. I don't know why. Like, I played with Eliza and, like, Eric. Yeah. And, like, Eric. kept going after me every single time.

Eric Reichenback? Yeah, I don't know why. I was like, Eric, it's not even me. It was like, clearly, like, Eliza was like the one. I was just telling everybody, like, it was Eliza. And Eric's like, no way, Eliza, it's got to be you. I'm like, okay, they just vote me off. I was like number one target every single time. Yeah.

During Colvin area, like when we were playing. Right, right. That's the Among Us era. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. With this Survivor 50 group that they pulled, Is there anybody that's going back that you are particularly interested to see? Oh, Coach.

Coach is a good friend of mine. Yes, okay. We hung in a lot of times. I went to his wedding. Yes, okay. So how did you end up being close with Coach? Now, you played 17. He was 18.

Yeah, so I think people are always like the, you know, your number neighbors. You're always like close with. I don't have like a lot of Survivor friends during my season. like nobody actually we're not i don't know many people there i like i talked to crystal like once and a great while maybe randy that's about it but like i talked like i was good friends with tyson and rachel and then from tyson rachel i met coach oh cool and then and then we hit

off coaches telling me stuff even it's funny because uh coaches telling me if ever ever get back on survivor he's giving me like tips and stuff yeah he's like say this don't don't say this so and then i have friends what kind of tips was coach giving you well i don't know i should okay well i'll tell you guys this um so this is rob has a podcast i'll tell you guys well he was telling me he's telling me he's telling me kenny if you ever get it back on survivor and play with other people make sure you say this this is the number one thing that people like to hear i was a big fan of you during your season and i would like to work with you that's what that's a big fan that's pretty good yeah so

if coach says that on 50 with what the people is around you it'll last longer right yes That was. He'll make me make to the end. I was a big fan of you and I want to work with you. Yeah, yeah, during your season, during your season. Yeah, during your season. Yeah. And I know, he also said something else.

I wish I would have known that for Survivor All-Stars. Well, that's what coach told me to say. So, you know. No, I did say that to people. They're like, get away from me. You're annoying. You're a nerd. You're like me, Rob.

We're to the point where we have a big targeter is and no one will trust us. Yeah. No matter what you say, no matter what you. If you were being completely honest, even if you were Jason, I love my Hina tribe. Or you're lying. No way. When I went back early on and it was like, yeah, I'm a big fan of yours. He's like, oh, he watches every show.

He watches all the episodes. He knows too much. No, find a way to escape. Don't you, Rob, no matter what you do, they'll say something. Yeah. I think we're to the point of nowhere. Maybe you are not me. Not yet, not yet, because, like, I've been out of the scene for survival anyways.

I'm on the point of no return, but you could come back. No, I'm saying, like, if you went on, like, people wouldn't trust you no matter what you say. Yeah. Yeah, maybe, but, but I'm legit, though, Rob. I don't, I don't, I don't screw people over. So, I'm a lost cause, but you'll be fine? I, no, I don't know, Rob. I don't know, you don't screw people over, right?

You're pretty legit. I, I would like to think, like, a. very loyal person. Like, in my real life, I feel like, if anything, it's like, I don't want to just, you know, commit to people too quickly. Like, it's like, hey, let's talk this through.

Yeah. But I also care about people. Like, I don't want, like, I care about people. So I don't want to, like, you know, screw people over. But if I was in Jason situation, like, it was me or Matt, obviously, like, me, right? So you mentioned, you know, of course,

you are friends with Crystal. I saw Crystal last year that I live in North Carolina now so I don't live too far from Crystal. Wow. Wow. When you saw her, how, where? So I went to a UNC, they were doing like college screenings

of the Survivor episode and was actually the episode that was the auction in Survivor 47 and they had, Crystal was one of the people there and she was a UNC alum. Oh, wow, nice. How is she doing?

She seemed like she's doing good. She is not watching Survivor actively. She did not know a ton about the new era. Yeah, I think there's a disconnect of like the old school. I'm old school now, which is kind of crazy. I thought you were old school Survivor, but I'm considering it. You're really old school. I mean, you played in, what, 32 seasons ago.

Yeah, 32, 19 years. What is it? 17 years ago, 17 years ago. Yeah, you're in the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, first third of Survivor season. So I have the math, right? Yeah, that's so crazy. Because I used to think you were old school. Now I'm old school. I'm part of your group now, Rob. We're just old school. Where are the grizzled veterans? Yeah, yeah. I don't might be in old school, though. Yeah, people were better. But, yeah, so I saw Crystal there. You know who else was there that night?

Was Sandra was there. She lives in North Carolina. Oh, yeah. Sandra and Crystal, I think, like, Sandra was like Crystal's like biggest inspiration. Her and Susie's for my season. Oh, really? They always thought about Sandra. They're like, yeah, we want to be like Sandra. She won. Oh, they didn't say that, listen, I, no, I don't like the way she plays the game, but because did you, could you believe that Matt of all people?

Yeah, yeah, I'll quote Sandra, even though I don't like her. Yeah, yeah. Sandra won twice. Like, that's a good strategy. Like, I don't know why he doesn't like the way she plays. but I don't know what kind of way does Matt want to play survivor that's what I'm asking I guess he wants to make big moves and that's he had the chance and rather than say hey let me just vote for Jason he's like hey I want to go after Nate that's the crazy thing is like in that situation like they would try to survive over the other like Hina person right and like they they love Hina so much and it's only been like a couple days but they don't want to like throw each other on the bus that early and And they love Heena so much. It just boggles me.

Like, at that point, like, you know your number, you can't do much. You know, your numbers are God. Like, you're just trying to survive, you know? It's either you or me. Yeah. And they're still, like, trying to protect each other. Like, there's no, there's no shot. And what's her name?

Sophie, I think Sophie's playing a good game. So, for the car that she's dealt. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the one that their whole tribe's got. Yeah. I think she's playing a great game, especially the episode where she had a chance to, it was like, Jeremiah and then Alex and then she like

mind game them both and then she ended up voting Jeremiah and then it made Alex also look bad because Alex played his idol and she didn't trust him. She's playing a good game but also like I think when you lose a lot of Survivor

it makes you think more strategy in terms of like trying to survive and I think she's doing a good job because like she's playing Survivor already compared to like Jason who's won every single immunity challenge whatever and he's not playing he's not playing survivor because like his tribe is just winning everything you know yeah and this is the first time he's playing survivor which

which is not good because he he answered the savanna's uh questions so wrong she's asking him man like like do you have any lies this oh yeah i love my hina tribe like i'm going to stick with them no matter what that's that's that's something you wouldn't say which is like i think if jason want to hit me up and ask for some like survivor like you know like before he went out there I'm trying to help him out, you know? Yeah, what would you say to him? Tell people, I loved you on your season. Yeah.

I want to work with you. Yeah, I would tell him the white coach to tell him. No, no. That's not working on a new season. Yeah. This is working on a new season, Rob, because then no one is, no one's played, right? Yeah. But he, I would tell him like, okay, don't like, at least lie about things in terms of like

when you're talking to people, not tell them the truth. I think he's being a little too honest. And I think something about like, maybe. Family community or Smash community, I think we're a little bit too honest about when people ask us things. When they ask us straight up, like, do you, would you do this or that? And maybe just like answer, I'll do this. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Which is, why do you think that is? I don't know, it's just, it's just anyone from our scene is kind of like that. Like the gamer, like the smash builder's scene. It's just who we are. Just very honest people. Maybe, yeah, very honest people. but I know I met a lot of people in my scene who just is kind of like Jason who just like would answer but I'm obviously I'm a little different bit different like the King of Smash yeah yeah but I met a lot of people in my community who was just like they were like oh Ken I dude I loved you on Survivor like do you think I'd be a good person on Survivor they would ask me that all the time and what do you say and I have to ask him questions like Savannah would like I would ask him like if if we were playing this game and I asked you you if you would like if we made a deal would you would you do this and then later do this and then

like I was I was asking like if we played Mario party you know what Mark I was talking about a party and I said we made a deal and I wouldn't take your sir and then you would take my star then later would you take my sorry they would be like oh yeah of course I would take your star that was something Jason would say yeah right and I was I was like what what that means yeah I can't trust you right that's bad you would say that survivor it's like Savannah asking somebody um we got each others back but later would you cut my throat and then jason would be like yeah of course i've cut your throat something like yeah i wouldn't want to hear that right right yeah yeah yeah what do you think of the r i z g od the man the myth the legend ris god baby i like him i think he's uh he's he's he's he's

he brings more uh he makes the show more watchable this season i guess because he's kind of entertaining. Yeah, you're enjoying it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, do you feel like that he would fit in the smash community or the melee community? So I heard rumors of someone who was like in the smash scene, like, going to be on this season, I thought it was Riz God, because I thought he was like, he looked like a smasher.

Yeah. But in our scene, we call someone like Base God, not Riz God. Base God. Okay. Yeah, base God. Can there be more than one base god? Yeah, I guess if you're really good. Yeah.

But Riscod is, he's doing well. He's doing well. He reminds me like a fan that wants to be on the show and like he's performing, you know? Someone that wants to do well on Survivor and like loves Survivor. But I think he would like old school survivor more than new school. Yeah. Well, listen, he doesn't have a time machine. Yeah.

Okay. So let me, speaking of Time Machine, I want to go back to something from Survivor Gabon. And this is something from our. research staff pulled together and let me go ahead and ask you about a question that was from a

survivor conspiracy theory thread on Reddit. Whoa. Whoa. And so this survivor conspiracy theory says that somebody said that G.C.

Didn't actually get lost before the immunity challenge that G.C. actually was talking with the producers who were trying to talk him out of quitting the game. Ken, can you address this conspiracy theory?

That's a conspiracy? Oh, I was there. I didn't know exactly what happened. So he was strolling a little bit out there in terms of like food and stuff because old school survivor is pretty rough. And everyone was just annoyed. like he was he was getting annoyed by everyone especially crystal because crystal was just like telling him what

what he can do or not and he doesn't like that right so gc does his own thing so gc's like i need a moment so he like goes out so it's rolling and the whole entire time he was just like telling me that he was craving pop-ice chicken okay yeah he just loves it is delicious yeah and i love pop-ice too love that chicken from pop-eyes yeah so he uh so he's like i'm gonna take a moment and and and you know go on my go on the little canoe and start rolling and rolling but uh but no no he uh he really did go take the canoe he took the canoe yeah it didn't have anything to do with producers talking to them telling them to stay they um at that point they even the producers wanted him gone if he didn't want to be there yeah the producers were trying to talk to him to leave the producer

oh here's the thing like he didn't want like i love dc but he didn't want everybody to to to everyone like because he knows everything was filmed right so he didn't want everybody know that he quit he wanted to know everybody like voted him out and stuff right yeah but it came on anyways that people were like like crystal called him a quitter and all this stuff so it's like no secret now but um he was like whispering in my ear like like i'm done like i can't i can't like i forget it out here you know um so he just he just needed some time you know to think and stuff to and when he came back he was he was a lot happier but it's also like he's dealing with people and dealing with Crystal

which is because I was just telling him what he should do or not and he didn't like that so he just went on his own and the producers were like oh there's a community challenge coming up we're like oh shit like GC's like

been gone for like an hour like so we just called his name and then he finally came back but no the competitors at that point they didn't want to deal with them was just like if you were to quit just like just out you know so

okay has anybody kept up with GC I see him on Facebook sometimes, but I don't really talk to him much, but I think he's doing well. He's doing well. Yeah. He's, he's, he's still fishing. Fishing. Yeah, yeah. I think he moves. I think he moved to, I don't know where he moved, maybe Arizona, but he was in Oregon. I visited him, like, um, back then when, uh, after the show was, uh, um, airing. But, um, again, Gabon, like, nobody talks to each other, dude. Govonne is like, well, all right, then let me give you

another fun fact. Our research team has put together. Okay. One of the castmates of Survivor Gabon now is a DJ in Las Vegas that is named DJ Soxie. Do you know who this is? Michelle, Michelle. I actually, I went, okay, so a couple years back, there was a tournament, a big tournament in Vegas. And then I hit a Michelle to hang out. And she came by and we hung out. And we went to see the Marvel thing in whatever, the Marvel stuff in Vegas, and she told me all about her DJing stuff. So, yeah. Yes. Okay.

So are you a big Marvel fan? Yeah, of course. Okay. So are you excited that Nate is on this season of Survivor? Oh, yeah. Dude, Wakanda forever. I love Black Panther. Yeah.

How do you think he's doing? He's doing great. He's doing great. But they haven't lost, so he hasn't voted anybody out besides the last episode. but I think he's like what in the Savannah align so I think he's doing great yeah yeah um do you feel like that Matt clock that he was the person running that tribe no no no no I mean Savannah's playing such a good game that like she's running things and they don't know it's her they think it's like I mean he's like the shield for Savannah right

they're gonna vote they're gonna vote him Nate out first for Savannah like I think he's playing the best game right now she's doing a good job i think i'd be playing the game that she's playing if i was in her position yeah that's like the best position to be in yeah like everybody trusts you you get all that info from everybody and like you're running things like secretly and she's like she's cool-headed um what's his name uh is getting on her nerves the guy that took her bag uh oh joan juan juan yeah and she's like she wants to like bitch him out but she's she's still like very cool with them so Yeah.

Joanne said back in the first episode that Survivor is like a horror movie. Do you agree with that? I mean, old school Survivor, maybe, not new school. I think New School Survivor is more of like a happy movie. Yeah, it's like a comedy. A comedy, like a Happy Gilmore movie. Yeah, yeah, feel good. Yeah.

Like everybody, you know what, okay, I don't know if you watch this episode of King of the Hill. I don't know. I'm not a big King of the Hill guy. Okay. So in King of the Hill, there was an episode where they were playing soccer. I don't know if people remember. It's like old school, right? Maybe a lot of people who are listening or watching this will know. But Bobby and his friends are like playing soccer and there's like down gritty dirty and like playing real soccer and then they look across the other side and like it's like happy, happy community of people playing soccer. It's like, yeah, you can do it. Great job. Like even though they suck and all that stuff, right? And then they're looking over here. They're like, man, like, we want to be over there. And they're playing. And then eventually they quit and they go into the happy soccer, right? And then they realize something's missing.

They're like the competitiveness and all the hard work and the gritty and stuff. So at the end, they're like screw this and they go back to where they started, like the hardcore soccer. I feel that's like a representation of the new school and old school survivor. Do you think it'll come full circle? Do you think they'll go back? I don't know. I think Survivor's changed. I don't know if we're the better, but, I mean, if the ratings are better, then good for Survivor.

But it's not my cup of tea. I don't think the ratings are better. Oh, yeah. They definitely have to do something. I think people like Old School Survivor more from what I'm experienced from the fans. Yeah. But as a fan myself, like, I grew up watching Old School Survivor. So it's not, it's not hitting the spot, which, you know.

But, yeah. I mean, there's definitely things that you could say that are. You know, I think we've talked about some of the things that are for the worst. I think that, you know, they did really open the doors to cast a lot of different types of people. What we need to do is mod, Survivor, like, project. How would you mod it? Well, in the hands of the fans. Oh.

I mean, they did ask people, like, the fans for next season. Did you vote on anything? I think I would have done something. I don't remember, but I think I voted on, like, what was it? Like, I don't remember. I did vote something.

I remember. And you wanted them. Yeah, I made it more like old school survivor. Yeah. But like if they modded it, yeah, they'd be in the hands of the fans and, and make it more a little bit like old school survivor.

Yeah. Do you think that maybe if the votes were overwhelming in one direction that they would maybe in the 50s try to change what they're doing? I would hope so. Because like, I mean, if it's not doing well, then go back to,

you know, back to the basics, right? Like the foundation of Survivor. And I think if it does better, I mean, they're always changing things, right? So I don't like the early days because I feel like the more days on Survivor, the more people build connection and stuff. I think things are happening so fast and then people are just like hooking up and they don't build real connections as back in the day because it was 39 days.

It was more days. I feel like it's happening so fast. Like people are getting voted off like day by day by day. And it's just like, and people are already. planning for like merge already like after like four people voted out and like this is like day five yeah see i would have thought that you would like the faster pace i mean i do like faster pace but i i also think like people need to build connections and i think that's mostly about survivor you know yeah like you have to you have to um talk to people and see if you can trust them but i i don't

think trust is built over like one or two days yeah like you got to have my back and i got to have your back if you're, like, trusting people in scenarios. If things are happening so fast, like, you're just, at that point, it's, like, more luck involved, I guess. Like, people are just, like, jumping on a different alliance and just, like, I don't know, it's hard to trust people after, like, one or two days. Ken, is there anything else from Survivor that crossed your mind when you were watching the episode this week? Well, I mean, I'm rooting for Jason because he's, like, part of my scene. I don't know

I feel like it's hard for me to keep on watching Survivor if Jason wasn't here this season like I probably would stop watching Well then I hope you keep watch I hope he goes very far Yeah

I'm hoping too Because like I don't know I did a podcast With a Josh Wiggler I don't know I'll be still around I mean he's still with us

on this earth Okay okay Okay well shout us to Josh Wiggler But we talked about A game called Final Fantasy 7 Yeah Do you know probably seven rob i i know i remember when josh was podcasting about it okay so anyways there's uh

there's a there's a there's a there's a guy named zach who was like part of the the first soldier which is kind of like me right and when spoiler or he dies right at the end of his game okay and he passes his like sword onto the next like generation basically like jason so i'm hoping like that's kind of like me and jason where like obviously i'm dead because like my my season's over and i didn't win, right? And then I passed the buster sort of over to Jason and hoping that he can like carry on like my dreams, you know, to win survivor. So hopefully he's doing, he'll, he'll do well. But it's not, it's not, I'm saying that. I mean, it's, he's okay. It's not. Here's the thing, Rob, if he, if his tribe loses the next community, 100% he goes. Yes. Right. I'm, I'm only making

on the fact that he'll stay if the other tribe loses. He's a 50-50 shot. Exactly. And then, well, more than that, there's a, there's a puzzle. Yes. And so, 80% chance. But if he gets to the merge, I think he's okay. I think they're going to leave him alone for a while. Yeah, yeah, yeah, because there's bigger fish to fry on his, on his, he not. So it's really, this week is really all or nothing for him. Yeah. But, but I'm also like, they're, they're displaying the, the sage versus Shannon. Yes. Do you have a thought on that?

see here's the thing that i i like that like she's seeing through like shannon's like bs yeah i don't know it's bs but she's seeing through that and it's gonna and sage it's like it's like it's either her or me so like she's playing more of a game than like what happened with jason the mat like like we want to see that right like there's like both sides are trying to stay and like shannon's already like getting everybody on her side and stage is like oh calling her out like oh that's that bs like trust me she has like alliances on the other side whatever right but we like to see more of that like what happened with jason and matt was like kind of boring survivor yeah and they i love each we love each other we're never going to turn each other so yeah

those two if they could really start to turn each other that could be very exciting yeah yeah yeah do you ever talk about survivor on your streams oh yeah there's people come on and they they ask me about survivor so i i talk about it they ask me about things they ask you about questions from gavone gabone or like like how to get on survivor too like they ask me like uh if if they uh what what what what can they do to get on survivor yeah But I always tell them, like, just be yourself. Like, you really like you, you know? Well, casting's different now, so I don't even know, so.

Yeah. Ken, where can people watch your streams? Oh, it's on Twitch, Liquid Ken. I haven't been streaming much because, like, I've been busy with other things, but I'm going to start streaming again. What else are you busy with? What are you up to? I'm also an artist, so I draw stuff.

Oh, I didn't know that. And then I'm also a good cook, so I kind of want to start, like, a cooking thing, so we'll see. What do you mean to start a cooking thing? Like a restaurant? No, no, no, no. I started a food truck, if you did know. You stopped. I didn't know this. Back then, back then. It was like a couple years ago. Okay. I did really well. So, but then like, I just had no time for anything else. Where this isn't anywhere in our research. Ken had a food truck at San Diego and I went on for like three or four years. Yes. Okay. Yeah. And that's when they called me for Survivor, too. Okay. What, were you serving on

the food truck. The sandwiches, Vietnamese sandwiches, my means. Okay. And how did you get started with that from going from gaming on Twitch to serving sandwiches on a food truck? Well, I'm a good cook, right? So, like, I had, like, like, friends that were, like, in the business and then, like, I would help them out making sandwiches and stuff.

So then I was like, oh, okay, let's start one with, like, me and my brother and my sister. So we did it. We just tried it out for, like, four years. And it was very successful, but then I hadn't like no life. It was like day and night, work, work, work, work. Right. It seems like such a departure from what you've been doing. He's like, I'm going to go all in on the food truck.

Yeah, yeah. It was good. Then afterwards, we just, I just wanted a life, you know. It was just like, I didn't want to constantly work, work, work. Did you get closer with your brother and sister? Or was there any animosity that it? There was, I mean, obviously, like, we, I love my brother and my sister. Like, we always argue, like, we used to always argue.

like we used to argue but your sister already cost you survivor and then get the food truck also no no no no i love my sister she she was actually like no no she's she's good she's good yeah okay would you ever consider doing anything like that again i mean that's the thing i like to cook i cook for a fiance a lot so maybe i'll start like a like an influencer like cooking show i don't know we'll see we'll see i have some recipes like i yeah besides the vietnamese sandwiches which sound good. What else do you make? I make pretty good curry.

I make good like chicken rice. Steaks, I make really good steaks. Wow. Yeah. Ken, you're such a Renaissance man. Maybe I'll cook for you and your wife someday. Who knows? Maybe.

I'm in North Carolina, North Carolina. Yeah, we come visit Crystal and then swing by. Yeah, yeah. All right. Well, that's incredible, Ken. I had no idea that was part of your background. Yeah. Yeah, I've got lots of things under my, my,

my belt. Yeah. Well, Ken, thank you for making so much time to talk about this. I think you're such an interesting guy

and that's awesome that you're watching Survivor this season to see how Jason is doing. Anything else you want to tell people? No, nothing much. Like, shout-ups to

the melee scene. I like, I started play melee with them again. Yes. Are you noticing that a lot more

people are watching Survivor this season because of Jason? Yeah, yeah, yeah. From the melee scene, especially. But here's the thing. Like, when I was on, a lot of people got into Survivor from like the gaming scene because of me. And now they've been hard, hard fans since, ever since, which is kind of crazy.

Yeah. Like more than me. Like I got to Survivor because like my family, right? And then. I didn't know that. Yeah. So Cook Island is my first season that I saw. And then when during casting process, then went back to like the old, like the old seasons.

like old school seasons. Did your family watch it from the start and then you just jumped in on Cook Islands? Yeah. No, no. My brother, my brother was a saw like three seasons before that and then he got my sister into it and then he got me into it. And I was in college at the time I went home and they're like, oh, Survivors on Cook Islands. Oh, the season is great because they have like the minority or majority like the tribes were split into like ethnicities. So then always like my brother and sister was read for the Asian, you know, the Asian, uh, Tribe. Yeah.

And then we really liked Yule last season, Ozzie. And then I was watching that season. I was like saying, oh, I could easily do some of these challenges. And they're like, no way. No way you can do it. Like, you understand they're starving. I'm like, and I'm telling them like, oh, it's going to be easy for me to do it. And then like China came on or PG came on.

Then we saw Yao Man. Yeah. And then I was watching them doing those challenges. I can easily do. They're like, they're like, you're full of shit. I'm like, that's it. I'm going to apply it. Then I applied and I got on.

Yeah. um when you got through with uh casting did you feel like that they loved you instantly or did you have to talk them into it uh i don't know if i told you this rob but i went in and they sent me home like no yeah right did i tell you that how'd you get back in okay so i i went in and they they loved me i don't know what it was everyone had a big smile face yeah in the interviews right they loved me and then like all of a sudden they sent me home like i'm like what the Where was this? This was in Los Angeles or this was a, okay.

At the double, I don't know where it was double Hilton. Double tree, yeah, double tree. So anyways, they sent me home and I was like, what, like, I thought I did great. And then Lynn calls me back up. She's like, or she told me during the interview, it was like, I think, I think you're great, but I think you're not ready. Maybe next season. So I would have been on the season with coach in Tyson, token jeans, right? But then all of a sudden, like three weeks later, they call me back, they're like, you know what?

We want you on the show now. Like, come back. And then I did the whole. whole thing and they love me. Okay. But I think they were right. I was really young. I was like 22 at the time.

But maybe I would have been better if I was like Jason's age now. I don't know how old Jason is. He's like in the 30s, right? Yeah. So I think I would be better if I was like a little bit older. But I was really young when I, when they put me on Gabon compared to everybody else. So I think if I was a little bit more life experience, I would have done better on on Gabon.

if I, you know, but it is what it is. Like, I'm happy for my chance to be on Survivor because I was a big fan. So I can't complain. Can't complain. Okay. All right. Well, Ken, thank you for making the time to talk about all this. Check out Ken's stuff if you want to watch the King of Smash do what he does.

And stay tuned to see if the food truck comes back, if Ken is going to launch a new influencer cooking show. I have a match against someone named Bob Soldier in December. It's going to be on Twitch. Oh, wait, who are you playing? Who are you facing? I'm not going to be in Japan. His name is bomb soldier. Yeah, yeah.

Okay, can I look this guy up? You know, the bomb in Mario, you know, the bomb? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what they call it in Japan. Japan is, they call it a bomb soldier. All right, I got, I got to see if I couldn't find this guy somewhere. Yeah, so he's a foulful player. So I have a match against him coming up.

Yeah. December. So you guys check that out. Okay. And you're going to beat him, right? That's what people were saying. Yeah. How long does one match last? There's a timer of eight minutes, but it goes by pretty fast. And you're going to go to Japan

for that? Yeah. For eight minutes. No, no, no, no, no. It's going to be a best of five or seven. So it'll be like 40 minutes. I think it'll be, no, no, it would be like 15, 16 minutes. Okay. I mean, if you don't beat them sooner than that. 17 minutes.

If you need all that time. Yeah, yeah. Sometimes it goes by fast, slow. It depends on the match. But how many people will be in attendance to watch you play bomb soldier? Like at the venue or like? What about in person?

Start with in person. In person? I don't know. A good amount. I guess like, I would say 600. 600. I don't know. I don't know who.

I don't know. It's just going to be in Japan. If it was anywhere else, like, US would be more. Yeah. And how would people be watching? At home a lot, probably up to like, well, during COVID, like, mainly had a big scene. It was like, I think we peaked at like 400,000, I think, people watching our game. But now it's kind of, you know, it's kind of going down a little bit.

Now, now it's like about like 12,000 or 20,000. So it's up and down. All right. Well, best of luck, Ken. Thank you so much. Thanks everybody for watching. And of course, get ready. we got another week of Survivor kicking off here on Rob's a podcast.

I'll still be watching and maybe tweeting a little bit on Survivor for the season. Okay. Yeah. All right, Ken, thank you so much. Take care of everybody. Have a good one. Bye.