RHAP: We Know Survivor - Survivor 50 Flashbacks: Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick on Talking with T-Bird

Episode Date: June 22, 2025

This week, we're flashing back to the Talking with T-Bird that featured Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick!

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Offer for details MasterCard is a trademark of MasterCard International incorporated Hey everybody, what's going on Rob sister Dino back with you for another installment of the survivor 50 flashback where we are going back into the RHAP vault and bringing you some conversations I've had with people that you will be seeing on Survivor 50 in a short, what, like nine months time. And so we are very excited to continue on today with Stephanie LaGrosse Kendrick, who was somebody who was kind of off the Survivor scene for quite some time, but in the last few years has popped back up in a big way doing shows like the Snake in the Grass and of course the Traders before eventually popping back up on Survivor 50. So Stephanie was an interview guest

for one of the very early episodes of Talking with T-Bird, almost six years to the day. June 20th 2019 we caught up with Stephanie and got her take on all things in the survivor world at that time. And a little bit more about her survivor playing days from the past, a little window into what we might see in the future for Stephanie LaGrosse Kendrick. If you missed our earlier installments, I talked to Jenna Lewis or had our interview

with Jenna Lewis and with Colby the last two weeks. So check those out as well. Here is our conversation. Talking with T-Bird with Stephanie. Hey, everybody, what's going on? Rob Cicino back here with some more Talking with T-Bird. And now here's the star of Talking with T-Bird, the great Theresa T-Bird, Cooper! Hello Rob, how are you doing today? T-Bird, we need a Talking with T-Bird theme song, I think. I think we do too. What do you think?

Yes, I think so. Oh my gosh, so I've heard music and stuff that you've had people using with you. What's going on over there? What are you doing? What are you, what's going on over there? Sorry, sorry, I was grabbing, I had my notes, My notes just started flying off my desk. So I was reaching to grab it and I forgot I was hooked up to this headset. Okay. I'm back. Yeah. We

don't need any notes for this part. Right. Okay. Got it. I do have my popcorn here. I forgot to mention my popcorn. Did you see? I'll send you a picture of this big thing of popcorn. I saw it. I saw it. Do you always make popcorn before we podcast? Yes. It's a tradition now. Seriously. It's a tradition. I've got, what's the deal? Listen to what I do, Rob. I go do a, I do my workout cause I want to get pumped up and excited and get my energy going. So I do a workout and then I pop my popcorn and I got my big thing of water and then of course I've got my bell. I got my eight ball, popcorn, everything right here in my little area.

Yes. Tradition now. Tradition we got going. Yes, we need a theme song. We need theme song. Yeah, this is your pre-podcast ritual that you have down to a science now. And we've got a good one today

because T-Bird was able to track down a three time survivor legend from Survivor Palau, Survivor Guatemala, and so our heroes versus villains. Stephanie LaGrosse is going to join us on the podcast. Stephanie LaGrosse Kendrick. Kendrick, Stephanie LaGrosse Kendrick. Kendrick. Stephanie LaGrosse Kendrick. Yes. Yes.

Okay. Everybody's going to love to hear from her. She is going to be great. It's going to be fantastic. It's going to be great. Fantastic. Very exciting. Okay.

All right. So just to, for anybody who's jumping in, that I have given T-Bird a list of names of people to try to contact and T-Bird has been hard at work tracking them down and T-Bird you have a work ethic like no other. Thank you Rob. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. This is such a fun segment and it's great to hear from these people that we haven't

heard from that I know the listeners want to hear from and I do too. I mean these are, they're legends. I mean Stephanie and my Stephanie's a survivor legend. Absolutely. And if you missed our first episode of Talking with T-Bird, we caught up with Helen Glover and you should definitely go back and listen to that. That was a very fun podcast with Helen.

Got a lot of great feedback. Yeah, Helen Glover from Thailand. She was fantastic. You know, you get to see her personality. That's another thing with us doing these podcasts. A lot of times when you watch these players play, you know, they're in game mode. They're they're focused in game mode. But when we get them and we talk to them on these podcasts, you get to learn different things about them.

You get to see their personality, their sense of humor. It's great. It's fantastic. Their passions. I love it. Okay. T-Bird. I'm going to now bring in our guests and to introduce our guest, I'm going to turn it over here to the great T-Bird Cooper. All right. Rob and I are so excited about our guest today. Old school has her, new school claims her, and for every clear-cut reason, this three-time player is truly survivor royalty. We first saw her in season 10 in Palau, then we saw her in season 11 in Guatemala, and then four years later, we saw her in Heroes vs. Villains in season 20.

She is one of the most popular players to have ever played and is still regarded as one of the strongest women to have ever played this game. If you're not familiar with Stephanie LaGrosse Kendrick, you've been living under a rock, living under a rock or you've been stuck on edge of extinction longer than Reem thought humanly possible. So now I introduce to you with much, much excitement, Stephanie LaGrosse Kendrick. Thank you for having me. Yes. Hi. Hello. Hey, Stephanie. How are you guys? Thank you so much for that. That was beautiful, thank you.

Stephanie, thank you very much for coming on and talking with T-Bird. And I don't know how much T-Bird explained to you about how she is like a bounty hunter. I've given her a list of people that I really wanted to talk to and she's been out there working on trying to track these great survivor players down and so happy that she was able to find you.

Well hey, anytime. I love talking to fellow survivors. Yeah. So anytime. Great, well Stephanie, I guess we'd love to get the update on you and I know that so many of us haven't been able to follow what you've been up to these last few years since we saw you on Heroes vs. Villains. Okay, so, well, what do you want to...

I got married after Heroes vs. Villains to Kyle Kendrick. Yes. We now have three children. I just had my last baby, she's seven months. So I have a seven year old, a five year old, and seven month old, a girl, boy, girl. And we live in Florida now near the Tampa area. He played, you know, for the Philadelphia Phillies

where we met and I had a restaurant there. I'm well aware. Yeah, I'm well aware of all the, I'm a Mets fan, so I'm well aware of. Okay, well, dad's a huge Yankees fan, so we're not offended, don't worry, it's fine. His own father. Yes, and the restaurant, Stephanie, so many people wanted to know about

the filet mignon pizza at Gigi's. Yes, okay, so I no longer have the restaurant. I had the restaurant for about almost six years and it was amazing and it had the best filet mignon pizza you'd ever have in your life with like this balsamic drizzled sauce on top, I can't even explain it. But we no longer have Gigi's, so. Okay.

I need to find a place in Florida that's gonna make filet On Pizza, to be honest. Okay. All right. So, thank you for all that. What about in terms of Survivor? Have you kept up with following the show at all? No, I did.

I did for a long time, and now I've been kind of out of touch the past two years with the whole baby thing pregnancy and school and kids and my husband just stopped playing baseball just about two years ago too so we've been like just traveling and crazy but you know there's a little more consistency when he actually was playing and I was in I knew where I was gonna be and when I was gonna be there but now we're actually busier when he's not playing. So I haven't I haven't been keeping up that much.

OK, well, some would say you haven't missed much. Well, I hear that right here. It's like totally different now. The game is totally changed. There's so many twists and turns like you got to watch to even understand it. I don't know. This last season, they brought people on, right? They brought all new people back.

Half were new and half were old. Yeah, well, it was actually somewhat similar to what you did in Guatemala, where they brought four quote unquote captains back instead of just two. And the returning players had a very hard time where the new players really put their foot down and said, hey, this is our season

and we don't wanna work with any of these returning players. Right, except for one of the returning players won, didn't they? Wow, no, no, it's a little confusing. So then there was also the place called the Edge of Extinction where people got voted out and then a guy who was a first time player got back into the game and then he won.

So. And he won, right. Yes. Right. So it's, again, it's very, it's a lot different than Palau. Now you get like a second chance. Yeah.

Like yeah, so you get the boot. Yeah. You have a chance to get back on now. And we don't know if that's permanent. That was just in this one particular boot. Yeah. You have a chance to get back on now. We don't know if that's permanent. That was just in this one particular season. Yes. Well, I mean, they keep coming up with new stuff. But you know what I was going to say with Palau,

wasn't that the very first season to have Exile Island? Even though it was just a very short, short thing. So you guys kind of introduce Palau actually introduced a lot of first that they're doing now. They're just doing it bigger and bigger and bigger. Right, right. There's like now there's like a name to it. Yeah.

Like when Bobby John and I had that fire making challenge and I ended up like winning and being the last person on my tribe and that I was by myself in that cave that technically was the first time of exile Island kind of I guess you could say, right. But I think that's when they realized like, kind of, I guess you could say, right? But I think that's when they realized, like, oh God, people can be alone out here by themselves. Let's do this. Yeah, and they sent Janu off to the Exile Island

and she had to be there by herself. And that was- Oh, that's right. That one night, that's right. And then they did the whole season about that. Stephanie, thinking about your survivor career, do you think of one of the seasons as your season that you look back at? Because you have Palau where you were the, you know, universally beloved. And but then you have Guatemala where you went the full 39 days.

Do you think of one of those as being your season? I mean, well, Palau was like my favorite season just because the location was just to, I mean, it was gorgeous. I mean, that water you had, at least you could try to catch, you know, some food. Uh, Guatemala was just, it was really hard. Like the conditions were complete hell actually. I mean, it's 118 degrees, 20 degrees. Sometimes the bugs,

you could not go in the water at all, you know, with the crocodiles there. Like it was just out of control. So and it was just a really hard season because yeah. Stephanie, let me ask, on Guatemala is it true that you guys actually had to trek or walk 11 miles to get to your camp? trek or walk 11 miles to get to your camp? That's what I read. Is that true? Is that a fake? No, no, no, no. It was not 11 miles, but it was back there.

Like it was far back because it had to be because the we the only body of water we were on was this little lake and we were not allowed in it at all. And of course, I and a couple of other people are like, screw this, like we're so friggin hot. We're jumping in. So we jump in and then they're like, screw this. Like we're so friggin' hot, we're jumping in. So we jump in and then they're like, here comes Jeff Probst flying in on the helicopter

with like everybody else. They're like, stop the game, stop everything. They sit us down, they're like, you cannot go in that water. Like you will be pulled, drugged to the bottom and killed. They do it to the locals all the time. Like you cannot go in the water. This is not a joke, blah, blah, blah.

We're like, you know, dumping the buck over our heads all day long and getting cut in it. But that's where, so our camp was back. It was back pretty far. It was probably about a mile or more. But I think the perimeter, to be honest with you, was guarded because one night we heard gunshots

because apparently a cougar tried to get into our camp. So it was guarded by some sort of local army type men from Guatemala, but those things were massive and I don't know if they'd walk a mile to get us, but maybe we were like two miles in. We were pretty far back though. It was like far. What about that hike though that they started

the season of Guatemala? That was like 11 miles or more. Yeah. That was insane. That took us like half a day. I can't even remember. Yes, maybe that's what you're thinking of. Yep, that's what I was thinking about there. Oh my God, that was brutal.

And then one of the challenges, you won that cage that went in the water that was like, it was a cage that you could swim in and you were safe from getting eaten alive. Yeah. That was a very punishing season in Guatemala and it seemed like that, when you played in Survivor 10 and 11, it seemed like that they were trying to play with the format a little bit of

how far can we push these people where, how tough and how physically grueling can we make it? For Guatemala? Yeah, I feel like that really from the turn of like when Survivor got into double digits, I think they were really starting to play with, you know, how punishing can we make it on the contestants? Yeah, no, I mean, it was it was. I mean, it was hell. Like there were challenges where we flat out were dehydrating. I don't think they've ever stopped the game.

Yeah. As far as I know, they had to stop the game. One of the challenges and sit us down and be like, okay, everybody gets one bottle of water and you all have to drink it. Cause we were like passing out. Cause it was so hot. Like you had to wear clothes and like head to toe protect

yourself just to try to have some sort of sun block from like you would think you'd want to strip down to be cooler. No, we were like wearing stuff because it was so hot to like repel any sort of bug, sun, heat. Physically, it was a really, really, really hard season. I mean, I I was on three and it was by far the hardest. I mean, which makes you more of course, my edit was much different too. Like I went from the Plow edit to the Guatemala edit and you know, they like to pick and choose a little what they put on but for the most part, you are

irritable. Like I was bitchy. Like you just, you are. Like you're, it's a social experiment and you're starving. You're miserable. Of course it looked like I ate constantly, but I lost more weight on that. I mean, I was down to 92 pounds. Like I don't know any adult that can be 92 pounds.

I was 140 pounds when I started. So who loses that much weight in 39 days? I don't know. Tell, let me know that diet. No Frills delivers. Get groceries delivered to your door from No Frills with PC Express. Shop online and get $15 in PC optimum points

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played in Palau and just 25 in Guatemala. But with you playing six months apart from Palau to Guatemala, did that make it harder on you? I mean, six months might sound like a long time, but I would imagine on your body. You know what? I didn't physically have time to prepare life for Palau. You know, I at least could train and work out and really like from Palau to Guatemala, I worked out a little bit, but I basically blew up

because you do from not eating and you know, the lack of salt and all that in your system. I mean, everybody that was on the show knows like we had to elevate our feet, you guys know. Like you start eating again, your ankles are swollen, your whole body's swollen. So I didn't prepare, I didn't have time to prepare my body like I did for Palau, but then also mentally,

like you're not mentally right, and you go kind of right back into the game, which could kind of be a good thing, because you don't really want to forget it all, you want to just get back out there, because if you have too much time to think about it, you might be like, yeah, I don't want to do this again. You had four years to prepare for Heroes vs. Villains.

Did you pretty much know going, did you know pretty much going into it, you were gonna be a huge threat? Oh, I almost didn't do it, because I was like, I'm gonna be dead in the water. Like, it's been four years. You know, I didn't know who was gonna be on the show, but I had feared that it might be a lot

of the newer, younger players that I wasn't like buddy buddies with, because I kind of moved on and started living my life, and I met Kyle, and... that it might be a lot of the newer younger players that I wasn't like buddy buddies with because I kind of moved on and started living my life. And I met Kyle and also as far as like I did do, you know, so well the first two times that I'm like, they're gonna wanna get rid of me like immediately. And I mean, as soon as I got there and I saw our try,

you know, I just knew I didn't have the numbers. It was like me, Tom and like, what the, what? Colby. Colby, that was it. It was like the three of us. I'm like, oh yeah, this is gonna work out well. How much did the injury that you had, your shoulder was separated, right?

And how much did that factor into you being hurt in the challenges? You know what? I had the surgery after that, but it wasn't because of that. I had dislocated my shoulder for years, and I knew how, I sometimes could not get it back in on my own, most times I can.

That time I could not, because it was the way it dislocated, it was up and out. But as long as I have a day to kind of keep it next to my body and act as if it's in a sling, it usually strengthens the muscles enough to be okay. Yeah, so I knew I'd be okay and I could continue with the show as long as I didn't have to throw

with my right arm, because then the arm could come out again. But I didn't have a chance even to recover because they voted me off right away. But it was pretty bad. But I could't have a chance even to recover because they voted me off right away. But it was pretty bad. But I could have done it. I still could have sucked it up and done the whole thing. I was afraid if medical had to come out, I was gonna have to leave the show.

So that was my worry. And Jeff's like, no, if we can get it back in, like you could say, I was like, oh, okay, we'll get medical back out of here. So I'm gonna put my arm back in. Yeah. It would have hindered me in certain challenges, I'm sure. If I would have had a hang from something,

like I don't know, it would have been bad. Stephanie, if you had had a little eight ball that Rob and I like to use, and you had known going out that you were gonna be second voted out on Heroes versus Villains, would you have gone out anyway? I probably still would have did it.

I mean, I knew I was going out early. I knew it. But I, you know, I'm not really wanting to give up. So I mean, I would have taken a chance. Do you remember, you know, the slogan, the survivor slogan, of course, is out with out playing out last. Do you know or remember what the slogan was for heroes versus villains? They changed it up. Do you know, Rob? It's something like revenge, redemption, right? Is it real?

Was it really? That's pretty close. Steph, do you remember? I have the worst memory. I'm like baby brain dead now. I'm almost 40. Come on. Okay. Okay. It was return. It was return. It was return revenge redemption. I do kind of remember that now. Yeah. Yep. And you know what's

interesting too. So Stephanie is also very interesting that you you kind of introduced in your seasons the immunity idol, which they've gotten immunity idol crazy. I mean, hidden, excuse me, hidden idol crazy. But I know Heroes versus Villains, you had one at each camp on Heroes versus Villains. And didn't you have one in the very, very, very, very first one was Guatemala, the very first hidden immunity idol ever. Yeah, that was you, Guatemala.

Yep, Guatemala. I remember the football, Gary. Gary Helgabon. Yeah. Because I went looking for the stupid thing and got attacked by hornets and my whole face blew up. I was looking in some tree, it was like a hornet's nest. Yes.

But yeah, Gary found it. I was like, oh, this looks like a good place. Nope. I was like, ah. Yes, and Judd got the clue. And then he told Gary Hawkins slash Hogaboom that it was definitely on the damn ground, man. And then he knew it was in a tree.

Do you have any good Judd stories? Listen, Judd was like my favorite and it looked like I totally screwed him over at the end. But here was the deal. I was against getting rid of Judd. They were getting rid of him, all of them. My numbers, I forget how many of us were left, but if there were five of us, all four were voting against Judd or three. So there's only two of us. So I had to go with them because now I'm gonna be stuck with these people

and I don't wanna try to piss them off. So poor Judd, Judd ended up going. Do I have any good Judd stories? No, Judd was just, are you kidding me? Everything about Judd was just great story. He was funny. He's a typical New Yorker. He's a great guy, loves his family.

I mean, no, I love being around Judd. He was like, you know, you're out there. You're so freaking bored. You're just like, Oh my gosh, is this day ever going to end? And then there's just Judd, at least you got Judd there. The best. How many times did you apply before you got to do your first run on Palau?

you apply before you got to do your first run on Palau? I applied once, luckily, and they called me. So I really lucked out. What kind of audition video did you throw together for everybody listening wanting to do this? So my video was actually pretty creative. At the time I had a friend that did Miss America pageants, but in order to get recognized, even get into those, she needed to be creative with her audition tapes. So I asked her, I was like, what should I do? And she said, what about that Bon Jovi concert you just went to?

And I was like, what are you talking about? So here I just went to a Bon Jovi concert in Philadelphia and it was the last concert ever at like one of the big arenas there they ended up knocking down and a guy that I worked with at the time found the tape on the Jumbotron and Bon Jovi actually pulled me up on stage and sang a whole song to me. It was like sold out. It was like what song? You were born to be my baby. And I was made to be your man. And I have the VHS tape of it. So I guess it's a VHS tape, by the way.

It was like at the last concert in 2004 at the, I can't believe I can't remember the name of the, whatever. So, so I have it, right? So she goes, you need to put that clip of you and Bon Jovi. I mean, he's singing to me. He kisses me on the lips at the end. It's a whole thing that he's there. We're dancing.

I like have his microphone. It's like a mess. So at the end, she's like, you need to put that clip on. And then at the end, it needs to flash to you. You need to be like in a bikini or something. You need to say, hey, if Bon Jovi can pick me out of a crowd of 50,000 people, so can you to be on Survivor. And I did that.

And then they called right away. They're like, OK, was that really Bon Jovi? And me out of a crowd of 50,000 people, so can you, to be on Survivor. And I did that, and then they called right away, they're like, okay, was that really Bon Jovi, and was that really you? And I was like, yup, and I'm not telling you another word unless you cast me. Yeah. Okay. And they did, they brought me out there.

Good take. So. That's great. Yeah. For everybody listening that wants to apply, you don't have to get quite this elaborate, don't get discouraged, because Stephanie's was over the top, clearly, clearly over the top. No, you know what they're

looking for though? Like they really just want you to be yourself. And I mean, I also talked about like my everyday life. Like I went to college, I was division one lacrosse player. Now I'm a pharmaceutical rep. Like I talked about that too afterward, but I think the banjo we got them. But they want you to be yourself, you know? And also if you don't make it the first time, you need to keep reapplying because they're constantly, like they typecast, you guys know, so maybe they need like the young tomboy type girl

that I guess I was, and maybe there's two of them. So maybe they need you the next season. You know what I mean? Like you're gonna be one on each season or whatever. So you just gotta keep reapplying. Great advice. All right, Stephanie, who you know, we have we interviewed Helen Glover from Thailand. And we asked her who her her role model survivor idol was. And of course, it was you,

of course. I'm gonna ask you, who is your survivor idol, your role model, or who you think is most like you from these seasons? And it's gonna be a, I don't even know how you pick, you know, for yourself, but anyway, because I know a lot of people say you. Well, my favorite of all time that I always loved was Boston Robb. Like he was just like my favorite from way back.

Stephanie, if you would have been on My Tribe, we would have kept you around, okay? Yeah, exactly, see? Well he was on Heroes vs. Villains with me and then I was on the other tribe. He's still on. He's still here. Is he on again?

Stop it. You have no idea, Stephanie. You have no idea Stephanie. You have no idea. So I'm glad he's your idol because on season 39 it starts this fall him and Sandra are the two. Oh he's back baby. Oh my god. I never had a chance to like oh Sandra too? Oh geez geez you know what I gotta watch am I gonna watch when does this start? September. Okay all right I'm in. But Stephanie the interesting thing about this is they're actually out there you know when you and Bobby John played in Guatemala I think you said that you guys y'all are out there for resources to help the other tribes. Yeah they praised it really well yes. for resources to help the other tribe. Yeah, they praised their really well, yes.

Yeah. But you were playing. You were playing the game. Okay, season 39, Austin, Rob, and Sandra are not playing. They're strictly out there for resources, for advice to the other players. Right, Rob? Yeah, coaches.

Coaches. And so so just FYI, so you put this in your counter Stephanie. September 25th is when Survivor starts and it's going to be an hour and a half show. Are you kidding me? I'm putting it in right now. Set your DVR. I'm putting it in right now on my phone as we speak. Yeah. Are they the only two or is like Suri on again?

No, it's just them on this one on season 39. Yeah. Are you kidding me? Come on. So that's a cool idea. Hey Rob, isn't it? Hey Rob. Hold on. What is it T-Bird? I was going to say Rob, isn't it? Hey Rob. Wait, hold on. What is it, T-Bird?

I was going to say, Rob, isn't it interesting? I kept thinking, who was Stephanie going to pick as her role model, as her idol? And isn't it cool that she picked Boston Rob? I was looking at females, but I love that. Well, I've always, I mean, we hung out like one night eventually finally at some finale show or whatever. And I told him, I'm like, you were like my favorite. Like, I don't wanna be weird.

I don't like you, it's not like that. And he's like, no, no, no, it's cool. He was an East Coast guy. I mean, he was Boston. I was Philly, he was totally different. But, and then he ultimately met Kyle and everything. Like it was cool. Cause Kyle ended up with the Red Sox eventually, right?

Oh, I know he did. Yeah. And I think Boston Rob texted me about that. But he was with the Red Sox, but then he got sent to the, he did. Yeah, and I think Boston Robb text me about that. But he was with the Red Sox, but then he got sent to the minors. Like that was the end of his career. So he only, I think he only had two big league starts up there, but still it was cool. Like we were, you know, we went to Fenway.

Can I ask you a baseball related question? Because I have some questions from our listeners and Justin Feinberg wants to know, during Kyle Kendrick's. Oh, Justin. You know Justin? I know Justin, go ahead. Okay. During Kyle's time with the Phillies,

did Stephanie ever bond with Heidi Hamels over their shared experience of being on Survivor? Of course, now I knew Heidi way back when, when she was just Heidi Strobel. Yes. Yes. Funny you ask. So Heidi has become one of my very best friends and not because of Survivor, but ironically, Kyle and Cole, both starting pitchers for the Phillies became good friends. Heidi's Cole's wife. And then Heidi and I became good friends because of Kyle and Cole. Well, then we started talking, you know,, and then Heidi and I became good friends because of Kyle and Cole.

Well then we started talking, you know, you get more involved, and I'm like, you were on Survivor? She's like, wait, you were on Survivor? I'm like, I remember you from Survivor, I remember you. So then we talked about Survivor experiences, very cool, but we became friends beyond that, like it wasn't just about that,

and Heidi and I are actually about to do some sort of really cool little business thing together that's gonna launch in the fall. Whoa. So yeah, that involves fitness. Yeah, that involves fitness. Completely Heidi's idea. Yeah, I believe it.

She's been, she said she is a genius workaholic, like has multiple companies, but she called me and said, I'd love if you'd be a part of this with me. What do you think? Like probably a year and a half ago. And I said, I'd love it. I'll do whatever it takes. Let's go. And it's finally gonna launch probably in the fall.

And I'm honored to be a part of it with her. Yeah, so I'll keep you guys posted, but it's gonna be a really cool, like fitness type of thing. I always say about Heidi in terms of, I don't think that people gave her enough credit as a player. I was the most scared of her out of any. That's right, so you were on her season. Yeah.

I was looking up her cast recently, and yeah, that was a good season by the way. It was a great cast. It was fun. It was fun. But yeah, I was so intimidated by her because I felt like that she was a strategist and people didn't give her enough credit.

Oh, she's like a genius. She's like a math witch. She is so smart. And people probably just think, oh, she's another pretty girl. Nope. Yeah. She's so freaking smart. Yeah. Yeah. I know. I know. I know.

But yeah, if you remember, say hello to Heidi for me. I will. I will. I'll tell her about this. You just have to send me like the tape too, so I have it. So at some point, if she can't listen on Fry, whenever this airs, I'll have her listen to it. Actually, I'm going up to film stuff with her in July up at her home. So I'll have her listen to this that night,

because she's the best. Please tell her I said hello too, because I actually have her Playboy magazine. Oh, the she's the best. Please tell her I said hello too, because I actually have her Playboy magazine. Oh, the T-Bird. And she, I do. We're not talking about that. Why, she looked hot. I know that, but it was, and she's not,

she looked fantastic. No, I'm saying it because Stephanie, it's great how you're telling us not just another pretty face, she's stunning. But for you to say how intelligent she is, it's very cool. So yes, please tell her I said hello as well. I will for sure, I will.

Yeah, she's got the whole package going on over there, that Heidi. Can I ask another question about Guatemala? Because Stephanie, I know you played so hard that season in Guatemala and then you got to the end and you were there with Dani, and then all of the votes, except for, was it Rafe, I think, that voted for Dani in the end.

But didn't you do a lot more than Dani did in that season? Should you have been the winner? I mean, of course I think I should have been. But you know what? Survivor comes down to a lot of luck in the end. And if if you piss off too many people, you're not going to win. And unfortunately, I had to play a hard game like from the beginning. And a lot of the moves that were made really race made them.

I just went along with him and it looked like it was my idea. So I looked like the bad guy. When, and Danny just kind of flew under the radar and sometimes that's what it takes. And I mean, I will say she won, she won fair and square. And that's that. But if you ever asked anybody, do you remember survivor Guatemala and who won? I'm not even kidding you.

Most people do not remember who won. They're like, I remember you went to the end, didn't you? But who won? I'm not even kidding you. Most people do not remember who won. They're like, I remember you went to the end, didn't you? But who won? And I'm like, and there have been a couple like, you know, fellow contestants that said like, I was just so mad at the time because you place the vote right then and there, but the votes aren't read until months later. So once people calm down and realize, like they, people say like they didn't vote for her. They just voted against me. Yeah, but probably like a couple of people did come up to me and say,

you know, I probably should have voted for you. I'm sorry. Like you should have won. But I mean, I know I'm so happy I just got to the end. But really race played an awesome game, too. Like it could have should have been him, too. Like he was amazing. He played a good game. If Danny got to play again, how do you think she would do now?

You know, 10 years later. You know what, I don't know because we're all older now. So, and I know age doesn't matter, but it's a different time. Like when you're younger, you feel invincible. You're not worried about getting hurt. You don't have kids that you have to worry about back home. I don't know, cause it's a very mental game.

So. Don't you think she'd play under the radar? You think she'd play the same game she played before? Oh, she would play the exact same, yeah. She's definitely not gonna be out and boisterous, I'll tell you that. Yeah. I think that's her personality to do that

as far as like on TV, but I don't know. I mean, she would definitely probably go under the radar again, she'd probably get voted off early too for it, because then people would be like, all right, we've seen this before. Yeah. Stephanie, can I ask you one question about the under the radar stuff?

Because I know Dani has said after the season, hey, I wasn't under the radar. I was stealth. I didn't tell the producers anything. I know, if she said that one more time, I was like, but you were under the radar. Yeah. I mean, she won a couple good challenges in the end,

I think like two. But like- She says, no, I beat the radar. That I wasn't under the radar. Well, I mean, of course, she's going to say she's not going to say I flew under the radar and that's I won. But now she flew under the radar and that's

how she won. Yeah, yeah, it's easy to do when, you know, there's the returning player and everybody can then say, hey, I just don't want to vote for the person who came back. Right. And it was hard too, because I was a returning player. Everybody was constantly coming to me like, what do you think of this? What do you think of that? Like they almost wanted me to be the leader and I didn't want to be the be all end all say all because what if it wasn't the

right thing? And then they look at me like, oh, well you said that you said to do that. So I kind of was like, I don't know. What do you guys think? And you know, It was a tricky situation to be in. Yeah, really. Stephanie, were you screwed basically? Whoever you went up against in the end that the jury would have voted for the other person? Probably at that point. Yeah, even Lydia Yeah, Lydia probably would have beat me too because nobody was really mad at her. Everybody was mad at me. Everybody thought I voted them off. Like it was my idea. When sure, I also casted one of the votes, but there were very many people involved and

it wasn't always, it was not my idea. I didn't want to vote Judd off. I didn't want to vote Lydia. I want it all. Although I love her dearly, but she started getting a little like, I don't even know, kind of in the end. And she wasn't doing much really, the end. And then and then she was the kind of person that, you know, flew under the radar.

She probably would win at the end. So she had to go. Gary, we had to get rid of because he was very that wasn't my idea. He was very, you know, threatening. Jamie was not my idea. Yeah. What about Cindy in her car? Cindy was not my idea. Nope, didn't care about the car. Who cares?

But you know, now like somebody had to go and I didn't want it to be me. What? Was that the car curse? That was a survivor car curse. That was a survivor car curse. That was a that was a survivor car curse. That was a survivor car. Is it going to win the game? Yeah, it's so true. But you know, like, I don't care about that, but like, I didn't want it to be me.

I didn't want it to be race because I knew he was like my major. Like he was my my bestie out there. Like, but, you know, Danny, I wanted to get rid of. I kept saying that. But Rafe wanted to keep her. So I went along with that. but it's just so tricky. Like you never know. In Palau, if you had gotten to the end to that final immunity challenge, would you,

and I think I know the answer to this, would you and Tom still be up there all these years later trying to beat each other? Cause I got a feeling you would not have stepped down no matter what. Oh, I wouldn't have ever stepped down, but until our bodies would have physically given, my body would have physically given out,

like it did in Guatemala on one of those challenges, like I would be up there. There's no way I would have stepped down, not at the end. All right, so it went 12 hours. How long do you think it would have gone with you and Tom with you just beating it out? Just curious, Katie, what Katie lasted? Katie lasted what? Five?

Five hours. Katie lasted five hours. Okay. And they lasted 12. So what do you think? Well, it's harder for guys because their feet are bigger. So I definitely could have gone longer than 12, I will tell you that. And I do feel like the girls are a little mentally stronger sometimes. Not all girls, but sometimes out there for some reason, women like something with the pain they can take it more. But Tom, I'll tell you, still has no feeling in his in his feet. It has like some damage, some nerve damage. So does Ian.

I don't know, I probably could have went at least 16, I would think. Wow. Yeah. Stephanie, and I believe you and I actually believe you could, don't you Rob? And I believe it. I bet on you. Well, thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Don't bet against Stephanie. But it's easier for me to say now, of course, I'm home, I'm not starving. Yeah. But, and Tom probably could have lasted too. Who am I kidding? All right, Stephanie, would you rather do puzzles, strength, balance, or endurance challenges? What's your strong suit? Probably endurance. All right, that would be the challenge we just talked about.

Right? Yeah. Yeah. Stephanie, besides Heidi, are there any other survivors that you keep in touch with all these years later? Yeah, Tom actually has become one of my very best friends. We still send like Christmas cards to each other. I talk to him every now and again.

Suri, I talk to a little here and there. And Kobe, I talk to here and there. And Katie a little bit. Yeah. You and Suri became close from traveling together after Heroes versus Villains. Yeah. Yeah, we really did. We really I didn't really know her that well on there, but we got to know each other afterwards really well.

And I really love her. She's a doll. Do you watch when she came back the last time? I watched parts of it. I'm like, oh, my gosh, it's like crazy. So then I had to Google, I'm like, all right, how many people have done it like three or four times? Let me look into that because there's only a handful, right? Only a handful.

Would you be one of the people that would ever do it a fourth time or have you hung up your survivor hat? You know what, if you would have asked me this a year ago, I probably would have said I hung it up. But like now that I'm getting back in shape after the baby and I'm working on this fitness thing with Heidi, like I do feel like even approaching 40, I can totally do it again. Yeah. Because now you say, Hey, Kyle, you that you're like, you're, you're retired now.

So now you can, you can stay here with the kids and then let me let me go back one more time. Right. Right. Right. He would love that. He would be so thrilled. Stephanie, if you went back again now, you'd be 39. Right. Thirty nine. Would you be a hero? Would you be hero villain? Soccer mom, soccer mom or hero soccer mom or hero soccer mom, or villain soccer mom? What category would you be in? Oh, I would hope to be hero soccer mom,

because otherwise my daughter would be like, mom, why are they calling you a villain? Like, you know, she's gonna be eight. She totally gets it. Yeah. But hopefully hero soccer mom. Have you shown your seasons to your daughter? They have watched her and my son a little bit of Palau.

They have not watched the full thing because when we get to parts where I cry, they get all upset. But they need to watch. Hey, so let me ask you this. If if if if they did a blood versus water. Now, I know your kids are young, but if blood versus water, what you do it with, would you pick your husband, Kyle, to go out there with you?

Would you pick Sophia? I know she's eight, but let's just fast forward that she's 18. Would you pick Kyle, your husband, Sophia, Kyle Jr., or Sloan? Which one would you pick? Which one would you pick? The baby. The baby.

Which one would you pick to go out there with you? So I have to compete against this person or is this person like- No, I don't think you'd compete against, they would be another person on the season, but I don't think you'd be against them. Although- You know what, my husband, forget it,

he could never survive more than five minutes, so he's out. Sophia would be whining, Kyle Jr. would be like, not, I don't even know, he would be like running around like crazy. So probably Sloane, she's a little spitfire, I can already tell, she'd give me a run for my money, but she would be good. I think Sloane, I'd take Sloane.

Right, so. So at eight months old. I'm taking the seven months old. Eight months old Sloane, I'm getting it. Yeah. That's a good, great question. I love it. I'm taking the baby.

Stephanie, give me three adjectives that describe you. Oh my gosh. Three adjectives that describe me. Fun, is that an adjective? Fun, loyal, is that an adjective? Yes. I was no English major, okay?

And honest, I'm a really honest person. I really am. I'm actually a terrible liar, and when I have to lie, I get full blown anxiety and can't even deal with myself. So it's the whole thing. Stephanie, I wanna just go back to the filet mignon pizza because all these years later that people still talk about that, how, was Jeff Props really mad when you gave the shout out for Gigi's during the Heroes

vs. Villains finale? Yeah. I think he was mad, but I think he was just mad because it wasn't like survivor talk. He never really like, I've talked to him after and he's always been so nice to me. So I don't think he held it against me. But you were smart.

You knew that that was probably going to be the one question that you got at the finale. And that was the thing. I mean, I got voted out second. I had to say, I was like, that's it. I'm going to promote the restaurant, at least, because, Frey, I didn't do anything on the show. Right, right.

So you knew that with all these millions of people watching, this was going to be the best shot to promote it. And look, all these years later, all the fans were asking me questions about filet mignon pizza. Seriously, I know, I know. Well, it was kind of ballsy of me to do, so sorry. Sorry, Jeff. It was, sorry.

All right, so we already know what a strong, determined, smart woman you are. We already know that. So I wanted to do these kind of rapid fire questions just so the listeners can learn a little bit more about you very quickly. Are you ready? I'm I really am. Okay go. All right rapid fire. Ready? Pizza or steak? Pizza. Okay. Boots or heels? Boots. Beer or wine? Wine. Running or yoga? Running. Roses or daisies? Roses.

Broadway show or rock concert? Rock concert. Yeah, Bon Jovi. Lake or ocean? Lake or ocean. Ocean. Cats or dogs? Dogs.

City or country? City. All right, last one. Baseball or football? Baseball. Yeah. I'm actually not a football person, to be honest. All right, very good.

Yeah. Okay. Stephanie, thank you so much for all of your time. I know you got a million things going on and with the three kids, we really appreciate you making some time to talk to us. Hey guys, thank you for having me. It was fun.

And I don't know if you realize this, but they always ask these survivor players, who's the person that you're going to play like at the beginning of the season? And still to this day, so many of the female contestants mention you as a role model or an inspiration of somebody that they want to play like? Aw, well that's, seriously I am honored, I am.

Because you know, I really, I came off kind of rough in Guatemala and I didn't have any intention of acting that way or I was really hoping I wasn't perceived as a horrible, nasty person because I'm not. I just played a rough game, I had to. So that means a lot, thank you so much. And I'm honored and thank you to everybody who has always supported me.

Yeah, and I really think that your reputation, I don't think that people really think of you in that way. I think that people still remember that person in Palau who was the underdog, who never gave up. And I think that people still remember that person in Palau who was the underdog who never gave up And I think that really has been your lasting legacy of Survivor. Thank you. That's sweet. Thank you so much. Yeah, all right Stephanie unlike Rob. Yes. Yes Hey Rob before we let Stephanie go. I wanted to I talked to three different people from each of her seasons And I want I know yeah, I want to see

if she knows who said this stuff about her really quickly. Do we have time for it? You have time for this game? Yeah. Okay, all right. Okay, so this person described you, all right, this is gonna be from Palau. Okay.

They described you as optimistic, tenacious, and naive. Kobe? I thought naive was interesting. That's exactly right. Kobe. Yeah, a double bell. Right. Yeah. And, and the reason he said they're interesting, I'm like, naive, I didn't expect that, Kobe. He said, well, because she, whatever she sees or she hears, she goes with. She's not, you know, she's not really,

if you tell her something, she believes you. And is that, would you say that matter? No, no. That's not necessarily true, but out there, I liked everybody to think I believed what they were saying because I didn't want to question too many people because I didn't want them to think I was disagreeing with them.

So I kind of yesed a lot of people and figured it out on my own. But. All right, so this next one is from Guatemala and I asked this particular person to give me three adjectives and it's really interesting the three adjectives they gave me. So they said the first adjective is is the

V is the first adjective Freaking and freaking actually what in the word they used they used a little stronger word Oh, and the third adjective was was best. Oh my god best the freaking best But change the middle word and you know where we're going. That's how strong this person was feeling. Uh, was it Judd? You know who that would be? Judd? Nope.

No. Not Judd. Not Judd. Oh, gosh. Bobby John? He was, nope. He was pulling for you at the end. Oh, Rafe?

Aw, I love Rafe. I feel the same about him, okay guys? Yeah, Rafe. All right, heroes versus villains. This particular person said, I love her and miss her. Heroes versus villains. Rae? I love, nope. Well, not many people liked me on there. Tom or Colby?

Nope. And he said, and this coming from him is pretty big and Rob, when you know who it is, he said, I wish I could share Ponderosa with her and Siri again. Oh, I know who it is. Oh, um, um, Randy. Was it Randy? Randy! Oh my gosh. Yes! Because Randy and Tom had a falling out and I loved Randy, but I didn't know if he knew that.

Oh, that's sweet. I love her and miss her. I miss him too. That's sweet. I love her and miss her. I miss him too. That's sweet of Randy. That's very good. Stephanie, unlike Jeff Probst, we wanna give you all the time that you want to promote or plug anything that you want people to check out.

Well, you know, I gotta get my social media game on better because I'm terrible at it, but stay tuned for something in the fall with Heidi Strobel slash now Hamels and I guess. And also I've been working out it. I don't know if you guys heard of this place at 45. It's like a new franchise across the country. Okay. But I work out at 45 in Clearwater and Brooke and Tim Ritter own it.

And it is bad ass. Like it's amazing. It's like the best workout. My husband's working out there. It's killer. It's so great. So wherever you live in the country, check out an F45 workout place.

And other than that, if you ever get a chance, donate to the Hamels Foundation because it's just a really great foundation that we support. Dali, thank you. I could go on, but I'm not, so if I forgot anybody, I'm sorry.

No problem. No problem. T-Bar, did you have anything else? No, Stephanie, thank you so much for giving up your busy, busy day to talk to us. Hey, it was great talking to you guys. Great, everybody's gonna love hearing from you. Aw, thank you so much for giving up your busy, busy day to talk to us. Hey, it was great talking to you guys. Great. Everybody's gonna love hearing from you. Yeah, we really appreciate you making some time to talk to us about all this stuff.

And the fans are so excited that we announced that we were going to talk to you. Oh, well, thank you. Well, keep in touch, guys. If you ever want me back on, I'm around. Okay. Stephanie, thank you so much. Thanks, guys. I'll talk to Okay. All right. Stephanie. Thank you, Stephanie. Thank you so much. Thanks guys, I'll talk to you soon. Have a great day. Bye, Stephanie. All right, everybody, there you have it.

Stephanie LaGrosa, how about that, T-Bird? That was fantastic. Oh my gosh, I loved hearing from her. We got so much good information from her. Yeah, a lot of good stuff. Yeah, and it is an interesting, you know, she mentioned a couple of times, I didn't say a word, you know, she played when she was in her twenties and then she played at now she's 39. And she was mentioning

how you know how it would be she'd play again, but how it would be different because she's older and says, you know, this and that and And I'm thinking to myself, I was, I was over 39 the first time I played. Right. And I'm wanting to play again, what 20 years later. So I was listening to her at 39 saying what she was saying. And I was okay. Interesting. Wouldn't it be great?

I wouldn't be great to see her play again, to go from her twenties where she was young and fit and I guarantee you she's well, to go from her 20s where she was young and fit, and I guarantee you, she's, well, 39, where I'm sitting, she's still young and fit. Can you imagine how differently it might be to watch her play now as a mom, you know, married mom of three young children? I think it'd be fantastic.

And I'm not really a big fan of returning players coming back three, four, five, six times, whatever. But Stephanie, that's a whole different ballgame. I would love to see her play again. Absolutely love her. It's interesting. And I think that she would be somebody that a survivor would want to have back for a couple of different reasons.

I do think that the game has that in its current evolution, I think that they are looking for more women that are going to be like a Stephanie and play in the Stephanie style of play. And so I think that she would be somebody that they would want to have back in, especially that in terms of moms, that I think that she would be sort of like the tough mom

that they're looking for. So I think that she would be sort of like the tough mom that they're looking for. So I think that she would be a very good casting choice to potentially come back and play again. I will, when I think about who I'd want to see come back of all these hundreds of people that have played, I gotta tell you, I think she's probably number one. 100% number one. Number one, wow. Number one to play, yes.

I mean, just think, I mean, she's played three times and look how she did from going, you know, from what, I mean, she, she became a, she, she was our sweetheart. She stole our hearts that night in Palau when she was over there all by herself. And I thought, wow. And then again, she went Heroes versus Villains when she knocked her shoulder. I'm like, that is a tough, tough woman. So again, to watch her now play at 39, you know, 39, 40, as married as a mom with these young children,

I think would be fascinating. And I think she'd do well again. I think she'd do well. Okay, T-Bird. So far in our Talking with T-Bird shows that we have this segment here where we were going to call it Teaching with T-Bird. You were going to see if there was something

from your vast array of wisdom that you could teach me about. Whatever reason, you caught me off guard, I was so excited about doing this interview with Stephanie. I was really excited about it and trying to kind of brush up from her seasons and everything, but I forgot about this segment. So here we go, I'm gonna pull something together very quickly.

So in honor of Stephanie, and in honor of Stephanie's husband Kyle Kendrick because you did ask a few baseball questions Mm-hmm. I'm gonna see I'm gonna put you on the spot here and I'm gonna see If you know the words to take me out to the ballgame How many viewers how many viewers viewers listeners know the words to take me out to the ball game. How many viewers, how many viewers, viewers, listeners know the words to take me out to the ball game? All right Rob, do not do the leading things right now. Is there like a second verse that I don't know about?

I don't think so. I don't know. It's like a kick song. No, no, no, no, I don't think there's one. So go ahead, start singing, and go ahead and sing. If you need me to jump in, I will. I'm not afraid to do that. But let me see if you know the words.

Take me out to the ball game. This is a duet? On the podcast? It can be whatever you want. Hey, this is our segment to ask you to see if you know something. And so now my question to you after doing our interview with Stephanie, with Kyle being a big baseball player,

do you know the words to take me out to the ball game? You better not be Googling anything right now. I'm not googling anything. I definitely know what that is. Alright, let's do it. So we're gonna sing it together? Okay. Okay. Since you asked. Okay.

Alright, go. People always want to hear you sing more. Yeah. Okay. Alright. Okay, let's go. I'm gonna let you lead it. Take me out to the ball game. Take me out to the ball game.

Take me out with the crowd. Take me out with the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack. Or popcorn for T-Bird. I don't care if I ever get back. Let's just root. Root, root, root for the home team if they don't win it's a shame cuz it's one two three strikes you're out at the old ball game yeah

thank you T bird okay T bird are my Mets are playing your Braves this week Awesome! Good job! Thank you, T-Bird. Okay. T-Bird, my Mets are playing your Braves this week. Yeah, I hate it for you. Do not let that affect our friendship, okay? I won't. I know you wear the Braves hat in... I know you wear the Braves hat in Survivor Africa. Do you follow the Braves day in and day out?

Yeah. Yes, yes, my husband follows them, so of course I follow them. And Brian Snicker is their coach, and I've known Brian and his wife Ronnie for over 40 years. So Brian, that's the head coach now, was the pitching coach in the minor leagues

when I first met him, literally back in the was the pitching coach in the minor leagues when I first met him literally back in the you know the 80s and so now he's the he's the coach so of course I followed and you know what I wanted to ask Stephanie and I forgot I thought I saw that Kyle was part of the Atlanta Braves team back in 2015 so I know that he I'm sure he knows Brian Snicker because you know Brian was the pitching coach then. But anyway, I forgot to ask for that. So I'll have to follow up with her and ask her about that.

Very nationally East centric podcast today. I'm just going to say just don't let it affect our friendship when the Braves do what they have to do to your team. I'm not worried about it. I'm not concerned about the the I think the Mets are pretty much over for 2019. So I think we'll be okay. All right. Okay. Good. So T Bird if people have more suggestions of people they want us to track down or want you to track down can they go to at Tird Cooper on Twitter and let you know?

Yes, definitely. And I've gotten some people that are mentioning names, some really great names, I just need to get them to you. Yes, let them do that because that's what this segment's all about. Okay. People you want to hear from. All right, good stuff.

And so T-Bird, thank you again for all of your hard work. We hope to have more Talking with T-Bird coming your way very soon. Yes, definitely. That was so much fun. That was so much fun. Thank you, Rob. T-Bird, anything else you want to tell the listeners? No, that's it.

Okay. All right. Everybody have a safe and happy Fourth of July. Of course, support for all of these podcasts comes to us from the patrons of Rob as a podcast. Find out more about everything that's going on in our patron community. Head on over to robhasawwebsite.com slash patron. You'll get access to our patron only podcast feed, our patron Facebook groups and more at robhasawwebs website.com slash patron. Take care of it.

Good one. Bye.