RHAP: We Know Survivor - Survivor 49 Hina Tribe Preview

Episode Date: September 10, 2025

Rob Cesternino (@RobCesternino) and Mike Bloom (@AMikeBloomType) are here to share their reactions to the Survivor 49 Hina Tribe consisting of Jason Treul, Kristina Mills, Matt Williams, Steven Ramm, MC Chukwujekwu, and Sophie Segreti!

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A day of sunshine? No. A box of fine wines? Yes. Uber Eats can definitely get you that. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol and select markets. Product availability may vary by Regency App for details. Hey, everybody, what's going on? Rob Cesternino, and I'm back one more time to talk about the third of three tribes. We're going to meet here in Survivor, 49.

And I'm so excited to be back here with a man, went all the way to Fiji to meet them all. Give it up for Mike. Boom. Yes, Rob. elated to be talking about Hina and Hura, everyone on the Hina tribe with Yua and Mia. Mike, I'm so

thrilled to be here and I feel like that something has shifted since the last time we got together because we talked about the first tribe and the second tribe, people like, whatever, Survivor 49, when is that starting? But I don't know. I feel like that this week, people like, hey, it's Survivor season, baby.

Big Brother, what? Exactly. I think that you know, maybe it's the back to school field, you know, the post, the post Labor Day were officially in September. I'm sure there were no other major occurrences that happened in the world of CBS reality TV that had everyone turning their eyes to the islands at Biji. But regardless, we are happy to have everybody here as we wrap up our preseason series, a couple weeks before the season proper premiere.

My mention's flooded with, hey, when does Survivor start? People are so excited to get into Survivor 49 now. Yeah. And, you know, Australia versus the world just concluded to, there is no better time to get into the Survivor 49 beat than right now. Survivor 49 says, finally, this is our moment. Exactly. Take the dive to quote a previous preseason quote. Okay.

All right. So we're going to talk about this Heena tribe. And, of course, if you missed any of Mike and I's previous previews of these tribes, we did the other two tribes. all 18 interviews are out as podcasts on YouTube. Mike, is all your stuff out on parade yet? It should all be out on parade. I've got some, like, you know, compilation stuff coming out just to assemble things in one handy-dandy place.

But yeah, we have basically everything you need to know about these contestants. So whether you are, again, catching up maybe in retrospect, if you're trying to know as much as you can about these contestants before any drafts you might be doing or just to get to know these people before you watch them on September, 24th. Now you've got two weeks to do so. Rob, again, extra long preseason. We're leaving plenty up, for lack of a better term, wiggle room for people to get to know all of these cast members before the show premieres. Okay, so we also will get into not, not only every player individually, we will also then put them all together. I've got visual aids and we'll talk

about that all as we get ready to talk about the Hina tribe. So, Mike, do you want to set the stage at all with this tribe where that this was the tribe where we have alternates who are coming in who's out who's in yeah so I do feel like even just looking at this tribe on paper now that you sort of get a sense as to

what all three tribes are Rob you know I've been treated to get your perspective as like do you think there is a disaster tribe I still feel like it feels fairly balanced I think we have talked about in basically each of these podcasts so far like if this tribe is the disaster tribe what happens I do feel like

This tribe really has a lot of high variance where it could go in a direction where if you look at this six-sum, it is a bit of like an odd mismatch of a bunch of different personalities. You know, you have like incredibly physically strong people in MC and Matt. Maybe you have some people that are not known for their physical game like Jason, like Christina, who have both admitted as much. So honestly, there could be equal chances of like them absolutely floundering and going the way of a similar yellow. tribe that we saw a couple of years ago on Survivor, or they could gel together incredibly well and, you know, pull a Nami and just basically dominate the entirety of the pre-merge. I don't know if there's anything in between, to be honest. Yeah.

Well, sometimes that dominating the premurge comes at the expense of a total implosion once you hit the post-merge, but we don't have to focus on that part of it. Yeah. So let's talk about what you mentioned here, Rob, because this was a major story that came out once the cast release that has only been elaborated on over the course of the past couple of weeks. There was an unprecedented situation that happened in Survivor 49. You know, they say curveballs get thrown your way on Survivor, but I don't think production expected one to get thrown at them as large as this one as 12 hours before Survivor 49 kicked

off. Two people were ultimately dismissed from the main cast. And the two onstage, site alternates, which were Jason and MC, were brought on to round out this cast of 18 players. Now, when Jeff talked with myself and Dalton Ross, there was admittedly some vaguer language, I should say, as to the reasoning as to why this happened. He said it was specifically a pregame rules violation. I can say that since then, Jeff did an interview with TV Insider. A shout out to Kelly Boyle about that, where he was more specific as to what. exactly the situation was.

Okay. Said in this interview, quote, when we finally put you on the show, we promise you that we will give you everything we have to create an adventure that will change your life. And all we ask is a couple of things. And one of them, please don't talk to each other before the game starts for obvious reasons. And they were warned. This was not out of the blue. They knew what they were doing and they were wanting it.

And that's just a bad idea. I'm glad that word is spreading because I don't think it will ever happen again. Again, I think both players probably regret it, but it left a mark, and that was the intention. And so I can confirm that from what I have been told, these two people were released from the cast, indeed, because they were a heavy amount of explicit pregame communication to each other. Yeah, that's interesting.

I don't know if this is a situation that may have been building for years, and I had read a book where I'm not sure which, like, I don't know. it was who this was, but they, this is, like, military general, like, had all of these people that they were trying to instruct in the army, and they weren't listening. They were, like, goofing off. And then they said, okay, well, execute them. And then the next. Yeah.

Yeah. Or I think they actually, they actually, I think they executed the general that was in charge of them. And then everybody was, like, in tip-top shape after that. So I feel like, I don't know, maybe if they. did for Survivor 50 or what, but once you do this once, people are like, okay, I'm on the straight and narrow now. See, that's the thing is that, and again, I'm glad that Jeff was a little more specific in subsequent interviews to underline exactly what happened to inform future contestants.

Because, yeah, from what, you know, I certainly have heard from previous contestants, especially in the new era, it certainly is a rule that is enforced, but there are always moments. you know, certainly when I talk with these contestants in the preseason, they talk about, you know, making gestures to each other. I know that part of Katora and Sabaya's, you know, meet cute was the fact that they talked in the bathroom at Ponderosa, basically being like, I got you. I think this definitely was a case of like bending so far until things were broken, you know, to the point where Rob, I heard rumors of like them passing notes to each other. uh like this was incredibly over the line they were all given a warning uh as jeff confirms in this interview and f around and find out you know like they they chose to do this it grants an opportunity to jason and mc i think that you know it does create a very interesting vibe with not only this

tribe but this cast in general for what it's worth i was there on the first day jeff did tell the cast like just so you know we're good like it's okay we're not starting off on the wrong foot. It had to happen, but now we're here. So I don't think there's any sort of like oddness about it. But I do think, especially newbie casts moving forward, I think there now is going to be this example to point to of like, make sure you don't talk to each other. Basically the one thing you're not allowed to do because look at what happened to these people. But how freaking stupid do you have to be? With all due respect to our survivor, 49th that we didn't get to meet where you're passing notes to each other why for what like hey if we're on a tribe

together you and me we're good i got you you could just say that to the person what what does it mean like oh i got the note from this guy at ponderosa so you're oh i'm i'm so good we're so good now yeah it felt like again very much kind of flying in the face of what they were trying to do in making sure, again, they set up things to be on a relatively equal footing ground for everybody. And the fact of the matter is, again, I don't know if there was any last minute shufflings all over the place, but if we are to believe that Jason and MC were these two people's direct replacement, they would have been on the same tribe, which I think probably also contributed to the decision, right? Was this idea of like, they are essentially made an explicit alliance together and they would be on the same tribe together,

even if they were on separate tribes, the fact that they would eventually meet each other at the merge, maybe is kind of a recipe for disaster. It's just dumb. And I guess it's just sort of like big brain thinking when you're in Ponderosa. Oh, if I could just get this word to this person, then that's going to set my whole game up. But it doesn't matter. None of this stuff at Ponderosa

really is other than like giving people like a total bad vibe the ick while you're at Ponderosa. None of this stuff actually matters in terms of what you're going to do. So these people played themselves. Exactly. Exactly. But this creates a really, as I mentioned before-

Forget going to the journey. You screwed yourself. You gave away your vote, essentially, by eliminating yourself from the game. But I do think that this creates such a unique dynamic in that Jason and MC, you know, they were basically confirmed to be alternates. They take the cast photo that showcases who the alternates are

and who isn't. And now they're getting brought in. I think we can certainly talk about, like how much is it going to bomb them together? There will be someone who is also a former alternate herself on this tribe that could be bonded by there as well. So as much as- Alliance name, the alternates.

Exactly, a control, alt-delete, if you will. But yeah, I do think that shout out to someone in the comments who posted that during our cast-revealed podcast. I cannot take credit for that. But I do think that as weird as a situation, this might be on paper and it's like, oh, no, Jason and MC are automatically off on the wrong foot. You know, Candace gets voted off first on blood versus water because of this.

I think given the circumstances and especially given the fact that they have each other on this tribe. Not to forecast too much because we'll do that down the line. I don't think they're in as much hot water as the situation might assume. Okay, let's talk through these six players, Mike. And who is up first?

Well, let's continue on this alternate train, shall we? Alternate track. Alternate reality. Exactly, because we are talking about someone who might know his way around some AR games, not to assume it too much, but it is Jason Truel. So Jason is 32 years old, originally from Anaheim, California.

Currently lives in Santa Ana, California. He is listed as a law clerk, but of course, one of the big stories he talked about with me is that at the time he was filming, he was in transition between a couple of jobs. Of course, Jason graduates with a degree in, you know, math and physics, pours acid into vats for a little while, a couple of odd jobs, becomes a software engineer at Google, but, Rob, upon the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 2020, Jason did save Ruth Conda forever and decided to become inspired enough to try to, you know, do some good, be the good he wishes to see in the world and become a lawyer. And so he's currently a law clerk right now. Wow. Okay. So he's a law clerk. And then he has this video game background also. Yeah. So Jason is a prominent member of the Super Smash Brothers community. You know, he and his fiance.

organized these big like events and tournaments. And so he's relatively well known there. And of course, what brought him onto the show and into the show in the first place is Kenny Huang, who is a prominent smash member in and of himself. Kenny shattered him out when the cast was

released. So yeah, now we have to wait another what, like 17 years before we see another smasher get cast on Survivor too. You don't know that. You never know. It could be a season coming up. Again, 51 might see the return of themes. Yeah. Mike, so it occurred to me while I was watching these you know I feel like that maybe we've been doing this for so long that and we put so much importance on like everybody's game plan and what they're doing but then I almost feel like that when the game starts that I feel like that what they said to you is not nearly as important as how they said it and how they interact with each other and so I was like you know but Mike sits with them

Mike, what was your vibe of Jason when you got to sit down with him? Because I think that's the thing that comes through. I feel like that people, they have all these strategies that they tell us. And they almost never actually do what they say they're going to do. But I think it's really more about like how they make the other people feel. Oh, I have my drag. Right. No, I totally understand that.

Listen, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face, to quote Mike Tyson, or is it Brett? So I very much understand that concept. And so for what it's worth, it's tough to sort of answer that question specifically from the perspective of the Jason interview because Jason was my first interview. And again, Jason is doing this interview under the assumption that he is not a part of the cast of Survivor 49. You know, I do interviews with the alternates as well. Luckily, in this case, just in case anything might happen like this. But, you know, the chat that I had with Jason, I don't think he was expectedly like, all right, and now I'm going to go out and do this. So I do feel like I really like talking with Jason because I think if you're asking about the tone that I got from the conversation, I think Jason is probably the most strategically oriented player we have this season.

I think he's an incredibly passionate fan of the game and in particular from the gameplay aspect. I think there's a lot of, again, incredibly animated people talking about this show and why they want to be. be a part of it. We'll talk about it with the next person in Christina. But Jason is somebody, I think, who probably espoused the most, like, explicitly strategic things about the game, right? His survivor hot take was that he doesn't want to go for the idols. He feels like the vote steals and the vote blocks are the more important thing between the small numbers that usually exist in the game and the fact that the people with idols are targeted more. I think that's actually a really good take. And I think that does serve as a larger microcosm of, like, the way Jason views

this game, which is very cerebrally. And that makes sense, again, given his incredibly academic background. But it's a very unique tone, I think, for this season, which I think is a very emotionally intelligent cast. I think a lot of people talk about, you know, their strengths and weaknesses being like, I have so much empathy for people. I love to connect with people. You know, I'm very socially minded.

Not to say that Jason won't be, certainly. But I do think he was one of the people in this cast who was more game forward than a of other people in 49. And I like how you put that as he seems like a very cerebral thinker. Do you feel like that that's something that could be a turnoff to the other players? I think it's something that could help in the pre-merge. I think not only from a challenge perspective and like you're looking at the biggest shoe in to do the puzzle on basically every challenge, I think just purely from an optics

perspective almost. But I think it could be one of the biggest things to bite me. him in the post-merge. I think that Jason is going to try to present this very like goofy energy of like, you know, he's, he said he has small guy energy that like, you know, he's very unsuspecting. He likes to, you know, he likes to, again, make himself feel vulnerable in front of people. You know, he was tripping at, you know, in the pregame. We're not talking about what Sage did before her time on season of 49. But I do think that there can definitely come to a point in the post-merge, especially if Jason is able to exercise these cerebral skills when it comes to planning moves. You know, I think he is someone who could be capable of doing like a Kyle and Camilla move

that they did twice over in 48. But I think that's something that could very easily put a big old arrow above his head. Like he's choosing a smash bro's main as like, okay, this is somebody that is a big threat to your game because he can outthink you at every turn. Mike, who was Jason feeling good about? or bad about. Well, of course, Jason had probably the most unique way to classify these people than I had ever heard, which is, you know, I can't remember. Maybe it was Alex said that this guy just has his head down, you know, playing video games the entire time when like, actually Jason

was categorizing his opponents and how he thinks about them into boxes in a Pokemon game. Never would have thought the Pokemon company would have been able to do that. Jason wins. Maybe he owes them some restitution there. But he said he was picking. They're hard up. They could use the money. Exactly. Listen, they're on dire straits right now. Have you played Scarlin and Violates? But Jason said that he was getting

good vibes from Christina who was on his tribe. Shannon who is not on his tribe, it certainly could be from a merge setting. And he was picking up like bad vibes from not on his tribe, but you could see sort of again the people he's eyeballing in terms of possible threats,

which are Jake and Rizzer. He said that he felt that Jake was the type of person that, like, if he was on a tribe with him and made everything about himself, which I honestly don't think is Jake, but I could understand based on, again, the just general nonverbal perception of him. And he tells a story about Risgod, where Risgod was reading this, you know, pretty comprehensive book and didn't clock the fact that everyone could see what he was reading. And so he very much. Yeah, I was trying to follow the Risgod story. So what was this book that he was because you would feel like that this would have come up a little bit more that Riz God is somebody who I think also probably puts a lot of thought into what he's going to be reading at Ponderosa. I don't know. Remember Riz God told me in my interview that he's like, yeah, he didn't really expect to like have nothing with him. You know, he said he didn't bring any music.

He said he didn't bring any books. So I don't know if he like found this at the bookshelf at Ponderosa or if he was, you know. And what was the book? So the, I think it was called How Champions Communicate. That's the way that the Jason title. It's clearly a very tactically branded title. Yeah. And it wasn't like Derek Jeter by autobiography or anything like that.

Exactly. By L. Capitan. But yeah, I think that- How Champions Communicate. I mean, that feels like almost like an AI-generated title for a Survivor book, right? Like, if you tried to put in a prompt of, give me a book title of what a Survivor winner would write. how champions communicate

would probably be top of the list. I see how champions think is a book. Maybe it's something like that. In sports and life? Okay, maybe. I mean, for what it's worth, this could have been the very beginning of Ponderosa because, yeah, as you mentioned,

nobody else is really clocking this from Rizzo, but apparently Jason did spot him reading it and the next time he saw the man of myth, the legend, R.I.GOD Riz God, he's gone illiterate and has put the book away. But again, I think that shows that I could see a whirl that, like, if Jason and Rizzo both make the merge,

that they could, like, do a neither can live while the other survives, right? That we go full Survivor Superfan Highlander and be like, all right, only one of us can get away with this unsuspecting perception. One of us has to go. Bad news for Rizzo, okay? So other than that, you know,

I could see a world where, again, maybe because of Jason's incredibly passionate way of talking about the game, it could be something that puts him as an immediate threat on his tribe's radar, and especially if Hina is losing early on and they want to vote based on strength. I think Jason would probably be one of the physically weaker members of this tribe. Though, again, I think he maybe has some of the best puzzle skills just naturally baked in. So there could be a world where he goes early just based on sticking out.

But we'll get into these dynamics. I do think he has a natural connection with MC. I do think he could be connected to Christina. Because they're alternates. I think he could be connected to Christina. I think he could be connected to Stephen as well. Like I think this is a guy who, again, with a lot of these socially forward players, I think they're looking for

somebody to be the numbers guy. You know, I think they're looking for that Stephen to their JT in a manner of speaking. Like, I want someone to think through the Drew to their Austin, maybe. And I think Jason would be able to provide that to them until they get to an inevitable point in the post merge where they say, okay, this guy's way too powerful. We can't let him go any further. Mike, who's up next after Jason? All right.

After Jason, we are going to the opt mentioned Christina Mills, uh, aka, and I, I'm not, uh, you know, just saying this outright. She herself confirmed it in her bio, close enough, welcome back Surrey Fields. Okay. Here she is. And Christina, who was somebody that we've heard the name a lot or KM. where people seem to have very good vibes about her. So the vibes are immaculate here for Christina

as she's impressed almost everybody at Ponderosa. Yeah, so Christina is 36 years old, originally from Houston, Texas, currently lives in Edmond, Oklahoma, something that she certainly talks about as maybe an experience that has informed, you know, being a bit of a stranger in a strange land or, you know, not feeling necessarily comfortable

to be entirely yourself. And she is an MBA career coach. So she originally worked as an engineer, you know, incorporate America. Now instead advises people on a one-to-one basis as to what to do outside of grad school. And so Christina is somebody who, I don't know, you just feel it. I certainly felt it when talking to her. Like I very much understand, again, I was not there in Ponderosa, but I could very much understand the energy that people were picking.

up. I think, again, not unlike a Surrey field, I think she is incredibly warm. She's incredibly friendly. She's very relatable, despite the fact that she has gone through so much tough stuff in her life the past five years specifically. I think she kind of approaches it with such an air of positivity at the same time. And even just like that laugh, you know, that's something that can immediately get someone onto your side. So I do think maybe unlike Jake, where we talked about how he'd be able to really overcome the preseason perception people had of him and really impressed. This is somewhere on the other side. She's going to completely satisfy. I think a lot of what people assumed her to be. So we know she's going to come in. She's going to be likable.

People want to work with her. Do you get the sense that the challenges are going to be an issue for her? So that's what she admits. You know, she says that she's not exactly the most physically minded person. That could be the case. I mean, the thing. The thing. about these challenges, again, I've been saying it a bunch, is physical strength really only comes into play with that first immunity challenge where there's almost always a component of lugging something. I really do feel like maybe people can fact check on me. I feel like afterwards in like episodes two through five, we get more like there's swimming challenges. There's more dexterity based challenges of carnival games, something that Christina did practice. So it always

feels like short-sighted logic to me to vote off the physically weakest person after the first challenge because it's not like we're exactly going to touch upon that again. But like Jason, she could be somebody that if they want to put forward this keep a tribe strong mentality early on, it could be the case. But again, not to keep making this comparison, but we say that about Surrey Fields all the time. And time and time again, even when she goes to tribal council in the first episode, with the exception of, you know, exile island, she's really never on anybody's radar.

Okay. So who is Christina feeling good about? Who was she viving with? Oh, great question. So she is picking people that are not on her tribe. She says that she loves Jeremiah and Alex. Like she really, really vibes with the two of them. That makes sense. I think all of them have some of the most bubbly personalities on this cast. I would imagine they were giving off that positivity during the preseason as well. She really likes Shannon. I believe that's Shannon is the one. that she described as like the one with the sundress and the Moana-esque necklace.

We'll talk about some other necklaces later on here. The person she picked up bad vibes from is Jake. Her and Matt will both mention the fact that Jake has one singular nipple ring, nipple barbell. She doesn't like that. I mean, more so I was asking for descriptors and they both gave that, which honestly makes a lot of sense if he's walking around shirtless and showing that.

I don't really understand the choice of only. one nipple barbell. I don't know if this was like a Steve Carell in 40-year-old version situation where it was so painful to get one that he didn't want to get the other one. But listen, you know, if it was something to help him get through

that mail review that he was doing, let the barbell stay. And he loves lifting barbells too. Okay, yeah, maybe it's mean something it's a meaningful nipple piercing. Mike, Christina had one of the most out there survivor hot takes I've ever heard of in the history

that you have asked this question that her hot take was that Sandra should not have won Pearl Islands Lil who was voted out third

against Sandra and did nothing should have won the game beating Sandra that was Christina's hot take yeah I mean I think I think Lil has now found officially her number one survivor contestant of all time.

Yeah, that's right. I should have won. I should have won. She said it's not her fault. She had to wear the Cubs Scout uniform. That I do agree with. That I think the stranded with the clothes on your back thing. I mean, for what it's worth,

maybe Liz should have gone, Lil should have gone full OT and just sold her Boy Scout uniform in the Panamanian village. I'm not sure how many belboas it would have a mask. That I do agree with that I think unfortunately she was painted into that perception. I love Christina. Now, I don't think I could necessarily co-sign all the residents of like, but listen, I love it. Like, there are so many people when I posted that hot takes article that were like, this is what a hot take.

Yeah, that was the definition of a hot take. And I think if we did a survivor hot takeoff with all of these ones that I have amassed over the course of, you know, the new era, I think this would win the hot take off. Well, you know what the thing is, though, then she went on to say after that the thing she really hates about survivor players is when they swear on their loved ones, even like if the loved one says oh yeah you could swear on me and of course sandra does do that in survivor pearl islands where she is like yeah i swore on my kids but like i i i swore i'm gonna screw you and burton yeah so it seems like she really doesn't like that so maybe sandra lost her with

that yeah it feels like again christina i think really associates with a lot of these emotional moments on the show she says her favorite moment which was a real throwback deep cut was when kelly wigglesworth like one immunity at the final six of a survivor Borneo when everyone wanted her out. So, yeah, I think it's something where, you know, I think that she is someone who's going to come in and I think like Surrey, be able to connect with a lot of people and have them immediately fall in love with her. I think maybe what she's missing is the more, as we spoke about in the last try preview, the cutthroat more strategically forward nature that Surrey has.

I don't think she would be someone to plan a three to one. she could absolutely surprise me in that regard. I don't think that makes her any less of a threat, though. I could also, much like Jason, that's what I'll say about this Hina tribe in general, is that this tribe maybe has the most amount of players to me that I could see making a deep run in the game. I know Savannah is my winner pick,

but there's a couple here that I nearly made my winner pick just because especially if Hina is able to do pretty well pre-merge, like I could see them going really, really far. Christina is a prime example of that. But she honestly has like fifth place, maybe even fourth place written all over her face for me. Maybe it's a suri comparison, but maybe it's, I think it's just this idea that like she is going to be so likable, so relatable. She has such a great story, you know, talking about everything that she has had to deal with over the past five years and that like, survivor, this is for herself. This is her moment to recharge.

And I think that once people sort of reconcile that story and her assumed popularity with people in the game, it's just going to make her a very, very big target in those last few votes should she make it that far.

Okay, Mike, anything else we'll say about Christina? No, I mean, again, I think that Christina was, I don't know, she just was such a great presence. You know, I think especially like her viving with the Lulu of it all was very interesting, right? that like what got her into finally applying

to Survivor was like watching what Caleb and Emily were able to personally overcome. I do think Christina is somebody that we're going to see maybe not go on a journey, but certainly see a journey from over the course of this game. Reading, playing, learning.

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No matter the stage of business you're in, visit td.com slash small business advice to find out more. or to match with a TD small business banking account manager. When I found out my friend got a great deal on a wool coat from winners, I started wondering, is every fabulous item I see from winners? Like that woman over there with the designer jeans. Are those from winners?

Ooh, are those beautiful gold earrings? Did she pay full price? Or that leather tote? Or that cashmere sweater? Or those knee-high boots? That dress, that jacket, those shoes. Is anyone paying full price? for anything?

Stop wondering. Start winning. Winners, find fabulous for less. Mike, who's up next? All right. Who's next? Because I'm curious to know. Do you put MC next alphabetically

or Matt is next alphabetically? I went with Matt. I mean, either way. Michelle is... Because I feel like M period C. I feel like that technically... There's no period, Rob. Oh.

No punctuation with MC. I know we have a lot of like librarians that listen to Rannap, would love to know, like, what would you put first alphabetically, Matt or MC? Let's see, let's do the Dewey DeSle system for Survivor players.

Because her name's not Mick. Yeah, it's true, but I think, you know, we'd stand to standardize it a bit more out here. Round the wild, Rob. There's not a lot of writing. You ever see a pen on Survivor? But either way, we're talking about Matt here.

We're going to the airport. Matt Williams, not famous baseball player, Matt Williams. For all you know, this kind of looks like an undercover boss disguise. No, of like put on this fake beard and these dreadlocks and this Hawaiian shirt. Go to the airport now and see if anybody will recognize this is airport CEO. Yeah, I mean, that is kind of the story of Matt Williams, right? Matt is 52 years old. He is originally from Farmington, Utah. And as long as he could remember, Rob, he always

wanted to be a stockbroker. And he was part of that rat race for a while, thought greed, was good until it wasn't and decided to leave behind, you know, that profession over a decade ago and started working at the airport. He was drawn in by the allure of free travel. And hopefully his travel out to free to Fiji will warrant, you know, a million dollar paycheck at the end of the day. Boom. Okay.

So here he is. Humble ramp agent, Matt. And what's your vibe from Matt? I think he's presenting with the Tommy Bahama shirt and so laid back dreads. So people are just going to feel like, hey, this guy's chill. Yeah, so and that's very much what he wants to present as, right? He talks himself up being a Trojan horse, much like Ozzy at the merge of Survivor South Pacific, where he says, quote, like, he wants people to think he's just a funny old fat guy.

He's no threat. Keep him around. He catches fish. I don't think so. But I do think that Matt very much wants to present himself, especially as the oldest person on this tribe, oldest person in the game as like, listen,

I'm here to just make some friends, catch some fish, make everybody happy, really concealing the more stealthy strategic background that made him, you know, a stockbroker for, you know,

the better part of his life. And he is able to tell that, you know, he is someone who admits he grew up, hunting and fishing, like he is very outdoorsy. So I think he would be someone to like spend the first two days of the game just gathering innumerable amounts of firewood. The downside, Rob, is that he also seems like somebody who in between firewood trips

would absolutely go scouring the jungle for idols. Okay. So who is Matt viking with? So Matt has a couple of people that are on his list. Good vibes. Jake. He's on the positive side. for Jake, but more pronounced...

So polarizing, Jake. I mean, again, the image that he presents, he is the one to really look at just in terms of, like, how he pops out. But bad vibes, exactly, bad vibes, is more prescient at the moment. It's not picking up great vibes from Sophie S. Is that the light clip lady?

Yes, it's the one where, yeah, as you mentioned, they are, you know, hanging out in this tent in Ponderosa. And apparently, like, you know, they wake up at like three in the morning to get on these boats, to arrive on the end. It's a long, long day. And so sitting in the darkness of this tent, she turned on her book light one day

and he was taking a bit of back by, you know, that's shown a light perhaps on how he feels about her. Okay. Definitely very, very unique assumptions, though, concern that I asked to describe her. And he believes that she's wearing a necklace that has Santa Claus written on it. and it does not it says her name which is sophie yes okay interesting so now there's two selfies

is this the sophie that's on his tribe or the other sophie it's the sophie that's on his oh boy oh who's on the naughty list yeah exactly and he looks like santa maybe they should have honestly been partners in crime right he's got the santa beard he looks like kind of like Rastafar against Santa. Oh, oh, wow. So yeah, that will be something that might tell, I would say a little friction early on,

but again, Matt is so easygoing. Except as you shine that freaking light at 3 o'clock in the morning and read your book. Luckily, no electricity, unless Sophie is like taking a little torch and reading her tree mail, her idle clue at night to wake Matt up. But I do think that Matt really is sort of as easy.

going as he presents. I mean, he quite literally during my interview says, like, I hope to leave this game with 17 new friends. He admits that, you know, one of his downsides is he might be too loyal and honest to people. But the other side of things, and this is where I have the most concern for Matt, is that I could totally see a world where, again, he has sort of put in this Mike Turner light as like, here's the older. Don't put it in the light. Exactly. Keep him out of there. He's this loyal, dependable guy who's just his spending all day. taking care of us. He's not, you know, outwardly strategic.

He'll vote wherever we want him to vote. But this is a guy who when I ask, like, you know, are you going to incorporate aisles and advantages into your game? Answered, is that even a question? This guy is going to go aggressive when it comes to trying to incorporate everything he can into his survivor toolbox. And he has plenty of places to hide it considering the volume of his hair. And I think that is going to be a big concern

Because I think for as much as he wants to present this persona Of laid back, easygoing guy Who's going to work on the shelter And not be considered dangerous in any other regard This could be something that immediately contests that This totally looks like a guy that would have an idol Exactly It's just got that idle behavior on him

Yeah, he seems like a guy who'd be like out in the woods Looking for an idol. So yeah, I definitely think that this is the type of person that would have an advantage. Yeah. And so I think that is going to be a problem because, again,

if you're trying to present yourself as like, I'm not a threat, I've got nothing, I'm just here for a good time, and I'm here to help you have a good time. Then when you see him go off and search for things or he tells you that he has something, that immediately tells you like,

oh, no, this guy is here to play. Now, then the converse of that as well is that I do think Matt is surprisingly physical. You know, he says a number of times, You throw back to the airport for 11 years and say that doesn't work on your core strength. Like I do think he is someone who could be one of the bigger physical assets for this tribe. So again, if they're valuing that type of stuff early on, that and the camp life might be enough to keep Matt safe.

But if he does go as, you know, balls to the wall as he wants to in terms of trying to grab any advantage that he can, this could put him in a bit of hot water early on. He could be booking his departure back to the U.S. sooner rather than later. Mike, anything else about Matt? No, I mean, deep poll from Matt mentioning Elizabeth from Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, bringing that back into the conversation for the better part of a decade. I haven't heard anyone mentioned that work in like, God, since like 2016 maybe. Okay. Mike, finally, let's talk about MC.

Yes, controversially some thought she would come before Matt. Not MC Culla. No, definitely not. Definitely one of the more colorful. We'll see if she's one of the more colorful characters in this cast. We're talking about Michelle Chukujekwu, also known as MC. MC is 29 years old, originally from Saks of Texas, currently lives in San Diego, California. She talks about that a lot in my interview, that she kind of just packed up, made the choice, you know, no secure employment, but decided that she fell in love with the city, and this is where she wanted to go.

And that kind of informs why she's here on Survivor as well. Well, considering that MC is maybe one of the newest Survivor fans proportional to playing that I've ever interviewed, you know, like, it's probably what, six or so months, maybe a little bit more, maybe several months prior to her being out there that she watched her first episode of Survivor. She just wanted something to talk about with friends. She fell in love with the game, binge watched half the seasons, became an alternate, flew out to Fiji, and now she's on the show proper.

So here she is. She is the recovering people pleaser. Yes, exactly. So we'll see how much of a relapse this is on the island. It's tough, you know, when you have flesh and blood people in your face being disappointed with something that you did, it's really tough to not satiate that part of yourself. But MC has this really interesting background in that, you know, she is, she works a lot in fitness. She is a trainer. She gets up and does like CrossFit at 5 a.m. every day.

but she also has the sales background to her as well. She compares herself to Cody in my interview. And it's a little bit apples and oranges. Maybe Matt has more of the living vibe than Cody does. But I actually can see it a bit in that, again, much like Cody, I think MC will be able to hide this sales background that can help her from an interpersonal perspective. She had another very spicy hot take. yeah i mean i would say i've certainly heard this a couple times right that uh either the new era

is as good as you know the previous 40 seasons she says outright it's better yeah no better way to demonstrate you are a recovering people pleaser than to come out with the take new era is better than the old era is this count as a go this kind of going going cold turkey say the thing that might alienate the fan base the most yeah because i kind of get like hey the new era there's there's a lot to like here like i can get like a listen the new era gets a bad rap i could see that take but she says the new era it's actually better than the old era i mean again mc seems like somebody who has like formulated her own opinions because she is such a new member of this community i don't think she's necessarily tuned into what a hot take might be she's

one of the only people i've encountered who said that she was rooting against the people in Operation Italy, that she was, that she shouted it as one of her favorite moments, but she wanted Andy and Genevieve to lose. So clearly MC is going to go her own path as the track star she is. Okay. So she's going against the grain already. She's going to go on journeys. She doesn't care.

Yeah. And so I think that- She's playing with house money. I was an alternate. I mean, that's a great thing that I'm actually really a great point that I'm intrigued to talk with Jason and MC about is like, again, just the absolute whiplash of having a headspace of like all right this isn't my time this is a great first time out but i'll get him in 51 only to find out like no it's happening now does it give you sort of

that license to your point rob to be like i don't care i was even supposed to be here today so like i'm just going to play with this this opportunity that is given to me right now because i do think we'll talk about speculation on this tribe later on i do think mc might be the hub of hina because Because I think that she is somebody that a good amount of people have liked. I think across all tribes, a lot of people have positively clocked her. I think due to, again, her strength physically, I think that she is going to be somebody that will be considered one of the biggest assets of Hina in the pre-mage. And I think her personality, again, is like so down to earth.

I could see a world where maybe much like Matt she does hit the ground running. Again, makes sense given her track background. Every day she hits the ground running. Exactly. to be like, all right, I've got to start hunting for things, but I could easily see MC as somebody in the initial days, like, sit in the back pocket, really

make bonds with people. And I think that story that her and Jason have does endear herself to this particular tribe as well. So I think that MC could be one of the safest people in this pre-merged scenario. Much like I've said with Christina and Jason, post-merge might be a different story.

Because, again, I think a lot of these individual challenges are going to be tailored to MC's skill set. I think this could easily become like a Ryan Madrano or Kyle Oswald situation where it's just like she's by far the biggest challenge threat right now. She's easy pickings.

Mike, anything else you want to add about MC? Yeah, so MC is picking up good vibes from one of her fellow tribe members Sophie S. And she's also picking up good vibes from Jake. So it'll be interesting to see we talked before about like, will there be

you know a strong alliance come the merge i don't necessarily think so this is a very an alliance of the strong yes compared to 48 but i could see a world where like jake and mc get on the same page again as i mentioned in my keletri preview as well they are maybe two of the most locked in safe people just on paper to make it to the merge this episode is brought to you by defender with its 60026 horsepower twin turbo v8 engine, the defender Octa is taking on the Dakar rally. The ultimate off-road

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Visit canadalif.com slash business protection to learn more. Canada Life. Insurance, investments, advice. All right, let's get to our S names, and let's start with Sophie. Yes. Sophie, aka Santa Segretti, Segretti Santa. That's what they call it back in Italy. Now, certainly I've heard people, because I've just gone with like Sophie B, Sophie S.

I have no idea how they're going to just, you know, give them distinct names on the show. That's the thing. We might have gotten given to the Santa nickname. This could have been like, this is like a Tarzan versus Trojan type of thing. I think some people were calling Sophie B. Sofi, just given the name that hurts the way. The stadium. Exactly. And she hopes to be like a ram and just batter her way through this game.

But Sophie Santa herself, so seasonal occurrence, it seems much like the jolly man that she comes around to Fiji as Sophie was the female alternate for Survivor 48. I interviewed her twice and less than a year. as she came right back out for Survivor, 49. I thought she had some really interesting perspectives as to how her headspace changed between seasons, that she kept up the physical prep, but specifically for her, she realized. And look, watching previous seasons is always good to, like, you know,

bone up on the game a little bit, remember how things can typically be structured. But I think she has a very wide open, much like Rizzo's book. She's an open book when it comes to, you know. A lit well book. exactly she's reading these contestants to filth rob but this idea of the nice list and who's on the naughty list we'll find out yeah maybe it was that she was making her list for that year and matt just sort of like caught her out

but i think that sophie basically figured out this idea of listen i could watch as many past seasons as i want to but the fact of the matter is i'm not playing with any of those casts i'm playing with these people i think that's a very salient argument and as much as again i loved risgod comparing each and every one of his competition to a Survivor player. It's a fantastic exercise. It doesn't need to necessarily be something to be executed because, again, these are distinctly different people from any of the hundreds

that have competed in Survivor prior. You know, it's a really good point because I think sometimes, and we do this a lot in the preseason of like, okay, this person is a Cody, okay, this person is a soda, okay, that's the new Jesse. And then it's like, okay, well, now we don't really get to know these people because it's just like, okay, well, that's, oh, that's the new part of it. Okay, so now we're just going off of in our head

what that person is like, and we're not really getting to know the new people. Yeah, exactly. So Sophie is coming in, again, with that very fresh mindset. It certainly helps, again, that she has been through this process before. You know, she kind of gets to go through her own alternate scenario in a manner of speaking in that she got to sort of like project herself onto Survivor 48 and then be able to ascertain from there sort of a more open strategy of how to approach this game. I will say, Savannah, again, was my winner pick. Sophie Santa S.

Very close behind. I think Sophie S is very well set up to make a deep cut in this game. Because she is somebody who, again, not to say it's a one-for-one success rate in terms of like alternate pipeline to coming back and doing well. But when you look at like, obviously what happened with Rachel, when you look at someone like Shaheen, for an example, even someone like Janine in 43. Like I do think there is at least a little bit of a small advantage when it comes to going and 43 was an alternate?

She was an alternate for 42. I didn't know that. Kelly now Bandian, another good example of like, you know, going out there and being able to at least like experience the hurry up and wait period, you know, to be able to then watch a season engage your like preseason perceptions versus what actually happened. It is a bit of an exercise as to like how you can adjust yourself and how you can sort of like read, for lack of a better term, this entire pregame scenario. Now, what's interesting from Sophie's perspective is that I do feel like Sophie S has been mentioned a lot,

maybe not sometimes in a positive light, for lack of a better term, sometimes not. I think part of it is because, and again, this is a very unusual pregame situation and maybe it was because of that. Like Sophie S was a very strict rule follower. And again, maybe it's because she's been through the process once before as well, but it seemed like with some open communication happening, she was someone who was more so not giving people a lot. And so while it might have worked against her here, I do think that she is someone who is amiable enough that like once she actually gets to the beach,

I think any sort of misgivings people might have about her is going to go out the window. If you thought she was a rule follower then, you should see her now after she watched two people get kicked out of Ponderosa. Exactly. So Sophie, I think, has a really interesting set of skills, you know, obviously coming in from her job.

Rob, actually a little bit about Sophie S that I did not talk about. She is 31 years old, originally from Darnstown, Maryland, currently lives in New York City, is a strategy associate for YouTube. Talks a little bit about much like Richard Hatch may be espouse in the Borneo premiere, about how corporate America maybe does work out here in the Bush, Sue Hawke, and that she does feel like, you know, being able to strategically work with and around people could be something that carries over. She says, Rob, that she is, quote, handy as hell.

So I think maybe if they decide to get rid of a mat early on, she could be someone that maybe steps up in terms of like as a provider. I think the one thing honestly working against Sophie for me is like if she is too outspoken. You know, Sophie professes herself as a very expressive person. She compares herself to Carolyn in that regard and that she does wear her emotions on her sleeve. I think there could be a world where like, it's almost like onica, you know, downside in that like if something, thing doesn't go her way or if she decides to, again, speak up a little too much at camp, she could be perceived as like, okay, she is someone who's really calling the shots.

Let's cut her feet out from under her. Did she have any people she was really viving with? Yeah, so one of them was MC. And we talked about this before. Again, I think that Sophie very easily could lock in with Jason and MC just in the initial days based on this alternate thing. She finished our interview by her being like, I can't wait. to meet the alternates because I know how tough

that experience is. Well, be careful what you wish for, Sophie, because they just might get it. They're playing with you, living alongside you. So I think she is going to connect with them there. Also, I think you know, something that MC clocked about Sophie is that she felt like she had an athletic background. Sophie does profess

herself as a bit of a competitor. She is someone who has, I think, played soccer in the past something that I think could also really help her in individual challenges and be a bit unsuspecting to. She also mentioned Annie. Very interesting. She mentioned that it's not really bad vibes, but the people she feels most threatened by

from her competition are people like Nicole and Christina basically feeling like she sees how they're sort of like what they're presenting and how they're being perceived by people. And she sees that. That's my lane. Exactly. The most direct threat or Elaine, if you will,

speaking of that likeability to the game that she wants to play. So maybe that could lead to like, again, much like I was talking about with Rizzo and Jason, could we get that sort of battle between Sophie and Christina come the post merge? I will also say as well, I don't want to be against here. I don't want to match bake, but we talked last time

about how Alex's boss said, you better go on Survivor and come home with a wife. Slim Pickens, I would say, that well has run a little dry this season before you throw Rome into it. There's maybe one exception here in Sophie S because in her CBS video, she talks a lot about

going on the New York dating scene. And you know, how that was much like a fateful journey of a roll of the dice. So, you know, maybe it won't be until a swap or a merge, but I don't know. Could be something happening here, Rob. Okay. All right. One more person to get to. Let's talk about Stephen.

Stephen and he is a rocket scientist. Yes, you love. Not only do you love a Stephen, Rob, you also love a rocket scientist. So he really has all the makings of a Rob Cessorino favorite. Now, we don't get a ton of S-T-E-V-E-N. No. Yeah, I mean, we've had like, what, Steve Wright in the past? Steve Wright and Steve Chicken Morris, right?

Yep, yep. So I think that's basically it. We've been more largely regarding the pH Stevens for a long time, but we shall see how basic the pH of Stevens game is. Okay, tell us about Stephen. Ram. So Stephen Ram, not to be confused with SoFi Stadium or so five. If you don't have enough RAM, you need to do control, Alt, delete. Exactly. So Stephen is 35 years old, originally from Littleton, Colorado, currently lives in Denver.

Though I do believe with the recent news about NASA's, you know, made. Oh, he's moving? Yeah, being moved out of Colorado. He might be moving to Alabama soon. But he is a rocket scientist. I believe his formal job title is. It's like spacecraft systems architect. So essentially, he is in charge on a daily basis of managing a bunch of different projects, managing a bunch of different subsystems in a spacecraft to make sure that everything is humming along fine. So missions succeed and people, you know, end up surviving in the various missions that he goes on.

And so we shall see, you know, if this one small step he takes onto the beach is one giant leap to a million dollars. What was the vibe you got from Stephen? Stephen, it's understandable that he has a golden retriever because he exudes that energy like no other contestant I encountered in this season. He is incredibly excitable, incredibly energetic, very passionate, very positive. And, you know, I think it's kind of like two sides

of the same coin with Jason. And that like Jason, you could tell how much love he has for Survivor and how much he loves talking about the game. Stephen is admittedly a very new fan to Survivor. He's a COVID baby. He discovered it when Rupert stole the shoes. A number 24 moment in Survivor history is voted on by the fans this summer. And so he's not exactly coming in with like, I just love every ounce of this game.

Steven's kind of in, Stephen just kind of loves life, it seems. And this is a guy who has been through a lot of ups and downs. You know, his life sort of reached the stratosphere when he discovered only about 10 or so years ago about the hearing loss that he had lived with. entire life. And I think a lot of his journey throughout a lot of his 20s and 30s is this idea of finding the edges. You know, he hasn't found the edge of space yet, but he wants to be able to serve like find his comfort zone and then strictly push past that. And I think he's someone

who's looking to do that in the boundaries of the game of Survivor as well. Yeah. And he loves Rupert. He loves Rupert. I do remember, Rob, I'm not sure if you, if you remember this. I love Rupert. I I love you too, Stephen. If you were on my tribe, I'd give you a big, I'm gonna guess. I'm so happy to have you here. Yeah, it would be like the Kristen Rupert, right? Like, oh, Snoopy, boopy. I mean, listen, we know that Rupert is very passionate with his P.A.

But you better not lie to me. I hate liars. So, yeah, Stephen is, I remember Rob. I feel like this was a few years ago. Maybe like four or five years ago. Do you remember a commercial for the NFL? that was linked with Survivor where there was like

an NFL fan who named their dog Rupert. Yeah, that was a cat. Maybe it was a cat named Rupert. So Stephen is, I guess, the exact opposite of this. But again, he has such dog person energy. I mean, he talked about this story, right? Where he was in a YouTube video for his work

and someone said, like, when did they hire Ryan Reynolds? And like, honestly, I really do see it. I think it's not exactly like, unfortunately, the smarmeier side of Ryan Reynolds that we have seen in recent years, but it's more so this like very energetic persona. And he, you know, he's able to joke around a lot as he does with me.

But I feel like he has more of a goofy, quirky Ryan Reynolds energy than the more like sardonic Ryan Reynolds energy that people have been associating him with as a blade. Okay. Now, I know somebody that he has good feelings about because they remind him of Rupert. Yes, him and Matt. So basically he's like, listen, if he's going to be the tri-provider, I am all for it He says he looks like He basically came from like a yacht

Club or yacht beach I don't know Try a different method of transportation I don't know Matt would be able to let Be allowed within like 30 feet of a yacht club He'd be very much like the no shirt No shoes no service He has like the Tommy Bahama shirt

That you might see like at a yacht club maybe Oh yeah it's very much You know giving Margaritaville Yeah Margaritaville But probably not as many White guys with dreadlocks at the Yacht Club So Stephen also touted He didn't really give a lot of bad vibe

People which also again speaks to I think the positive persona that he is curating here He says that he's getting good vibes from Matt From Nicole From Annie from Nate He compares to Lawrence Fishburn And I think that is something that again Is going to endear Stephen to this tribe

Is that I think that he is going to be like Maybe one of the biggest tribe motivators In that he is so happy go lucky That I do think even if this tribe is down and out. I do think he is someone who is going to try to, you know, motivate them to launch out of the pad, you know, to try to get some lift up, lift off the ground, considering that everything that he has been through. And again, just like the way that he regards so much, I think that he is somebody who, again, would not necessarily be labeled as like the biggest strategic threat

out of this tribe or even this cast. But like I said about Christina, I think a major downside could come at the merge where it's like Stephen is so endearing everybody likes him why are we letting this guy get to the final three you know okay Mike is there anything else you want to say about Stephen or could we start to put this puzzle together I mean I did like as much as I'm saying that maybe Steven's not like as game forward I did like his one for one comparison to his j job about off ramping or planning for redundancies especially in a game like survivor you know you're hoping that things might not pop up from a twist perspective or a people perspective where you're saying probes we have a problem but stephen's day to day essentially is crisis management

right is about thinking in the moment or creating backup plans on backup plans of okay if this thing is faulty how do I do this to compensate for that I think that's going to work incredibly well yeah for him because again especially if you are coming into a seasonal setting where so much can be so up in the air if this is more Survivor 47 than Survivor 48 in terms of things changing on the day, on the hour, on the minute, on the second. This is a guy who I think is probably most likely to land on his feet and come up with something quick on the fly to save his own skin over maybe some of his fellow competitors. Can keep a cool head, whether it's a live tribal or some sort of lost his vote and

it can pick up the pieces. Exactly. Like he has redundancies to hopefully not become redundant in the game. Yes. Okay. And I thought that you and Stephen were. really vibing on all of his black hole analogies as being at the center of the universe that could be this tribe.

Yeah. I mean, it's weird to say like, oh, he's a charisma black hole because I feel like, usually that means the exact opposite, right? But like, he makes sense from his perspective, considering that like, he could be this sort of gravitational well of charisma to attract people in of like, oh, I really like Stephen. I want to work with Stephen. And then once you get too close, it's too late. And your inner gets squished from the inside out.

too bad he wasn't playing last season with star that's very true exactly uh he would have been the first to say that she went supernova okay all right mike i'm very excited to try to put this all together i've got the whiteboard back for the i have a whiteboard but we're not really using it like a whiteboard we're not usually using it's more so like a placard yeah i could use it just it's like a a bulletin board but here we go all right here is where do we start mike Do you think that the alternates are where we're going to end up going with everybody? I think that is going to be the initial connection. And look, sometimes with these tribes, it really matters.

Let's keep the wide shot because I think that it'll help me be able to have the whole the whole screen in here. The wide board shot. The wide board shot. I do think that Jason and MC, it's the most natural connection. The two of them have this shared experience that they're going to immediately bond. with. And so, again, as I was just mentioning, I think that a lot of like day one alliances maybe go a bit under regarded in New Era Survivor, considering how long these people are in tribe,

three tribes in the pre-merge. We've only seen two swaps. I think if you make a day one connection and it sticks, that can go really, really far in the game. And so I think even if just connecting on a surface level brings these two together, there could be a world where maybe their, you know, priorities vary over the course of the pre-merge, but I think at least initially, these two are going to be thick as thieves. Okay. And then you want to add to them also the other past alternate. Yes, I think that especially with Sophie and MC really viving with each other, I could see them being one of the most locked in pairs on this tribe. Uh, so I think that it would only make sense that she would want to work with both of them. Okay. Now, on the other hand,

we have here's Stephen okay and Stephen though he was vibing with Matt yes so the two of them could lock in early as

a pair you know I could easily see Stephen B Matt's junior deputy firewood bitch the only question is two into six does not make a majority and so as we talk about the last piece in Christina.

I do think as much as Sophie is threatened by Christina, I don't see a world where Christina wouldn't want to work with MC with Jason. So I think we could be looking at a 4-2 situation where, you know, it's those four early on clicking with each other. And then Stephen to a certain extent, but I would say to a much larger extent, Matt would be left on the outs. Matt is on the outs. He's such an easy guy to get along with.

Yeah, until again, they say, like, where's Matt gone? Oh, he's probably looking for an idol. Is he looking for the idol? Yeah, so I think that Matt, unfortunately, whether it's due to demographics, whether it is, again, him going up with advantage, Hungary, is someone who could put himself on the outs early on. But again, there could be another universe, an alternate universe, if you will, where if this tribe starts losing quickly and they say,

okay, we need Matt's strength here, then maybe things get flipped. maybe MC and Sophie jump over to work with Matt and Stephen and Jason and Christina are on the outs. I know that Jason and MC have the alternate bond and I'm sure that's going to help. But yeah, if they end up losing a challenge and I don't know if Jason has any kind of like athletic background,

I know you said that he's going to be a help in the puzzles, especially for somebody, you know, MC is a newer fan? Like, is she going to be that loyal where she's an athlete somebody who I'm sure wants to win. Is she going to be that betrothed to Jason just because they were both the alternates together? I don't think so.

I could see a world where this is like an initial connection and then if they go to tribal council later on in the premers like, you know, like I could see for example, okay, let's say they go to tribal council. It's a very got to the yellow tribe from 47 arc where it's like, okay, first vote is an easy five to one to get rid of Matt or four to two. and then they like go to tribal council again in episode five and then at that point

MC and Sophie jump over with Stephen and vote off Jason you know like I could see something that bonds them early on I don't know if it's ironclad to get them all the way through to the end of the game I think MC could bond much closer with Sophie or even with Christina but it is something to I think at least keep Jason safe if there is a vote early on we did this on the last one. Could we try to build this differently? Like, let's say hypothetically, the three alternates don't instantly gel, okay? Is there a different scenario that you could build this tribe to have a different four ending up being in power?

Yeah, I think it's really simple. I mentioned it before. Just move Sophie and MC down. I think that Sophie and MC may become the people with the most movement, possible movement, I should say, the options in this tribe. And I imagine they're going to lock in together. And I think, again, they would be both perceived as assets where they could really go between, assumingly, not to pair Christina and Jason together, but essentially between two

different groups. So, okay, Sophie and MC, you see them working with which, what, the duo of Stephen and Matt? Yeah, could be the case, especially if, again, they're looking for a keep the tribe strong type of mentality, I think that would immediately put Jason and Christina on the outs. Yeah. I have a hard time imagining Christina on the outs. I feel like that she's in the four no matter what. So do you think it would be, what, like a five to one on Jason?

Or do you think there's a different configuration here? Who did Christina go back to her and who was she feeling good about? Christina was feeling it was all people that were not on her tribe. She's feeling good about Jeremiah, Alex, and Shannon. does christina want to work with a jason do you feel like that the types of people that she wanted to work with uh were those the people where like was it like the strategy type people that she was feeling good about i feel like that she's going to say uh he looks like the type of person would lie about his family i mean she wanted good vibes i think jason does have good vibes in his own unique way

like i think he is a very positive person again he talks about showing that vulnerability so that might endear him to her, but I could also see a world, yeah, where it's like, she wasn't explicitly saying, I need someone brainy who I can pair up with. Hmm. Okay. So most likely earliest person out of this tribe is who, Mike? I would say the leader in the clubhouse would be Matt. I think secondarily to what you're outlining right here might be Jason. Okay. All right. And I would say tertiary in in that could be an outside chance of a Sophie or an MC just really going kind of aggressively buckwild

in the game early on, putting a huge target on themselves and getting picked off early. Yeah, okay, you think we could see the three women together? I could definitely see that. Yeah, I think all, I mean, again, Sophie was... I thought I could kind of see this with Stephen being with the three women. Yeah, I could see that too. I think that, you know, I think that Sophie, again,

was threatened by Christina, but I don't think that precludes her from wanting to work with her. I just think it more so means like, yeah, like when the merge hits, just look out for her. So yeah, I could very easily see this as well. I think I see the three women working together more likely than the three men would be, just because the three men are so different. Okay. All right. Well, we will see them all in action in, but two weeks.

I know. Wild, right? Just a fortnight. Oh, not the game. Tell Jason, Fortnite, baby. There we go. Super Smash Brothers down, okay? So we shall see

who will be dancing over their... Who will be dancing over their competitors, Rob, in just a few months' time. Can't believe we're here. This has been so much fun. I always love getting to re-engage in these conversations, you know, months after talking with them out in Fiji, getting your perspectives on this,

Rob, getting everyone else's perspectives. I've loved the comments that we've received so far on all of these interviews. And especially, you know, I mentioned this at the tail end of my Stephen podcast, but I have so much gratitude to so many people to CBS for giving me the opportunity to talk with these people to you, Rob and Jess and Scott and Sam

for facilitating everything behind the scenes and Jose for like packaging all of these things in a palatable fashion. You know, putting a video camera out there on the island is a lot harder than it might seem. So being able to, you know, edit it in a way to make it seem listenable and watchable. And so, so much gratitude.

to these contestants, considering, you know, what they talked about with me. I'm just some Jamoke who happens to be in the right time, in the right place. And it honestly always means the world to have these people sit down with me and get the chance to open up with me about so much in their lives. Give yourself more credit. Jo-Wan had a Mike Bloom impersonator that he spoke to. That's how we started this series. Yeah.

And we ended it sort of on Jason saying that I would be his celebrity a loved one. which like, wow. Blew my goddamn mind. Like, honestly, it did. Like,

it's, it's tongue in cheek, and the question itself is tongue in cheek. You know, you're not meant to look into it really at all, but like,

I don't know, that really, that really meant a lot to me. It's like, again, I'm nobody. I came up with the silly question and for me to actually be the answer

to the silly question. I don't know. We've come full circle. Yeah, I think between that and then, you know, I'll talk a bit more about my experience on Survivor 50 when that time comes,

but like, feeling a lot of gratitude. this year. I think for what I have been given the opportunity to be able to do. And it's only through people like you, Rob, to be able to give me the ability to do so in the first place. Well, Mike, you've made the most of every opportunity. And of course, you mean so much to everybody in the survivor community. And I'll tell you that I was texting with Shane Powers this weekend. And he said that I hope I'm not talking too much out of school. He said, he said in text you know who I really like the guy who's the survivor encyclopedia

and it took me a second to figure out who it is he's like Mike something oh really yes yes so even the Shane Powers endorsement comes to you Mike Bloom oh my god it's me and that coffee are right there one A and one B in terms of endorsements that means a lot no that honestly means a lot oh my God I had no idea yeah that's why So there you go, Mike. All right. Oh, my God. I will also say, moving forward, any Survivor 51 contestants and onwards who say I'm

their celebrity loved one, it'll be greatly appreciated, but it will also be taken to quote shame powers as sucking kneecaps, just so you all know. Get creative people. Get creative. All right. Mike, what's next for you in Survivor 49 and beyond? Yeah, Infinity and Beyond, perhaps to quote Stephen's line of work. Yes, so I've got a couple more things.

Again, the vast majority of my Survivor 49 preseason content is. out there. Is Buzzlight you're a colleague, do you think? I mean, he goes. He's a space ranger. He's a toy, Mike. I believe the word you're looking for is space ranger. So I do think that, you know, I've got a couple more things to throw out there in the

prison. Just a couple of quotes from my interview with Jeff. I'll have some more stuff to offer. I did talk with Jeff after the first tribal council on the island. I'll offer a lot more once the premier airs. I think I'll talk a bit more about my experience, what I saw in the first few days. how it compares and contrast to what the edit was showing. I've got a couple more of these compilation pieces like I mentioned

where I sort of like sum up what everyone answered for one particular question. Like I think I'm going to do a roundup of the what previous twist would you want to bring back. I'll do, I'll try to. I understand that the good vibes, bad vibes question can be a little tough to discern sometimes, even with descriptors. I'm going to try to organize it this year in a way where it's like, here's what everyone said about this person to try to like really collate it

into one place. Here's the good news. For Survivor 50 it'll be easier. I mean, literally. We'll talk about that again in a few months' time, but it was much, much easier. So I'll try to do that to the best. Nobody be like, yeah, J.Y. is really giving me a weird look. I mean, listen, you never know what some of the engagement. Some of these old school survivors may or may not have had with the recent season. It's not out of the picture completely. But I've got a lot of other stuff going on, of course, still covering

Big Brother. Also ramping up the day after Survivor 49 premieres will be the premiere of the Amazing Race 30A, which is our big amazing race, Big Brother crossover. Going to be doing, of course, a lot of coverage around that, including through the preseason. The reality flash is happening. Of course, Survivor at You versus the World just finished. We did a big finale podcast with Shannon and the recap bitches. I got the chance to talk with Parvita. to another two-time winner to add to the pantheon of Survivor about her game. So there is

so much stuff going on. And of course, one Survivor 49 starts proper. I'll be doing Exit Press every week and the B&B with Leanna as well. You can check out everything I'm doing at a Mike Bloom type. And thank you, Rob, and thank you all as always for, much like Stephen would say, creating such a stellar

preseason. Okay. All right. It's going to take me a minute when you start quoting Stephen for me to not think that you're talking about fishback, but I will get there. This could be another, no, number one, Stephen. This will be Battle of the Stevens this year. Number one, Stephen. Okay, that's going to take a lot of work, all right?

Listen, he could, it's a slow process. Number one, Stephen with a V for sure. Okay, that's, you know, that's a starting point, I would say. We'll see how much it lives into the, uh, the, the, the next atmosphere. Stratosphere, yeah. All right. Mike, thank you so much. Great job by you.

Amazing work all preseason long. And of course, we love to hear what you have to say in the comments. Thank you so much for. joining us. Take care, everybody. Have a good one. Bye.