RHAP: We Know Survivor - Survivor 50 Wish List | Ep 36: Ghost Island with Brice Izyah

Episode Date: July 25, 2024

Today, Mike and Brice Izyah (@BriceIzyah) discuss Season 36: Ghost Island.

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Hi, everybody, and welcome back to the Survivor 50 Wishlist Podcast, an off-season series where we're trying to figure out who could and should come back for the upcoming returning season of Survivor 50. And it makes sense. We spend all these days looking back on the past that today we talk about a season that did it in the form of a twist. Survivor Ghost Island.

And in a season that is all about an incredibly dominant partnership, I'm excited to welcome in an incredible podcast partner to this podcast. Let's see if we can dominate the mics as much as Wendell and Dom did. Of course, this season is all about reversing the curse, but it is a blessing to welcome this guy in. Of course, host of the Purple Pants podcast, Survivor Kagaian Castaway and member of the survivor 50 shortlist from survivor kagayan it is bryce isaiah hello hello i'm so excited to be here i don't know if i can talk as fast as dwight but i will absolutely try so that we can have a great podcast please i think people's

brains may have melted over the course of the kagayan podcast so i want them to like solidify a little bit this is super exciting b obviously Ghost Island is a season that you have one particular link to but I am curious what made you want to talk about this season when the bat signal was sent out uh well one I'm never going to say no when Mike Bloom calls and wants me to do a podcast and I love Ghost Island I think that Ghost Island makes me love the survivor community um you know it's brought me my best friend. And so I just remember the excitement of watching that season. So of course I wanted to come on and give my two cents

on a couple of people on Ghost Island. Yeah, so that's the thing is that Ghost Island, you know, I think that at the time there was a lot to do about this cast. I think the pre-merge in particular is a lot of fun. A lot of big moments happen. But I think the pre-merge in particular is a lot of fun a lot of big moments happen but i think the way that people kind of remember the season is like well dominic and wendell just dominated the entire way and there was no competition which look might be true

to a certain extent but that doesn't mean we necessarily need to throw out the baby with the bath water and like completely nullify the rest of the cast here because i do think there are some really interesting personalities to mix in and also the fact that besides Wendell nobody from this season has returned to Survivor and so look we talked about this in the Heroes, Healers, Hustlers

podcast we're expanding the courts a bit Bryce we're allowing five picks today instead of just four so you get a little bit more bang for your buck today as we're talking Ghost Island. Ooh, I get five. I ain't mad at that. I mean, maybe it's four and with a tie

decision is the fifth one. Okay, there we go. Absolutely. Laurel comes in and breaks the tie to figure out who is going to be number five. Well, listen, I mentioned at the top here, I'd be remiss, Bryce, because I think besides Rob, we haven't had a Survivor alum yet to come onto the podcast after

they were put onto the shortlist so like I need to be the media person that like asks the person after their award nomination like how does it feel to make the Survivor shortlist for Kaga Yan? So it is such an honor truly right it makes

me a little emotional right so i love it because i am a survivor fan like i really do eat breathe and live survivor so it is truly an honor um however with honor i'm very realistic right and again okay i'm glad i made the short list. But honestly, and I keep saying this, I'm just excited for 50 because season 40 was so fun with winners. And so I'm just excited to see the players that will be selected. And we're yearning for a returnee season. And I remember like in my survivor era, there was a point in time where it seemed like returnee seasons were happening over and over and over again. And we kind of were like, okay, we're done with it. And I remember my season, Kageyan, was like a fresh start to newbie seasons.

And so we've been on this newbie era for a while. And so like, I'm just really excited for a returnee season, taking myself out of it. I think that there are so many amazing players that I would love to see come together and the mess that it would be, I just know it's going to be amazing. So, but it is truly an honor as a third boot, as someone that has always kept Survivor in my veins

and always just being a fan, right? I'm a fan first. And whenever I'm at events or I'm talking to people, I always tell people, I don't really feel like a Survivor alum because I really had that much time on the island. But I feel like I have the deluxe package of Survivor. Like, I feel like I'm a super fan with Plus. Like, I get to meet the former players, become friends with them, and I get to meet the fans that watch it.

So, again, just truly honored. But I'm just excited to see what will happen with 50. Do you have a preferred theme for 50, whether it be like Legends, Second Chance, something else you could come up with? So I have like two things in my mind that I talk about. Here's the thing. Here's a hot take. Tell me if you agree or not. I don't want to see no winners.

I don't disagree with it second chance is definitely probably my preferred theme or like best to never win right like I just think if you won you got a million dollars go on about your day go do other shows but

again we had winners at war where they were all winners so I really would love to see old school, new school, new era. Like I would love a theme like that would be, in my opinion, really, really, really great. Because I think that like, you know, there's old school players. There are new school players. And then there's this new era. I think the combination of that would be great.

I would love it if they went back to 30 days for something like this. I think that it would be amazing. Another idea that I love, and again, taking myself out of it, but I would love pre-merge versus merge. Because I really do feel like there are so many amazing pre-merge people that just due to the luck of the game or just due to their, you know, due to whatever. They weren't able to get the shine and they are amazing game players. And again, I'm not saying that just to include myself, but I mean, you can include me, go on ahead.

But I just think that, and I say this all the time, pre-merge is the best part of the seasons. I don't care what nobody says. Pre-merges are the best. I think pre-merge is underrated as well. I like the storylines kind of being amongst two different groups. And look, sometimes there is a little too much of the tribe strength, tribe unity drum getting beat.

But especially nowadays, I feel like that sort of is out the window. So I'm up for it. Survivor South Africa for its last season did an all-star season of pre-merge versus post-merge and it went really well. And yeah, to your point, I think especially going through this exercise and putting people on the list,

it does go to show that so much of Survivor, yes, there is skill involved, but a lot of it is luck. And a lot of it is the cards that were drawn, the people you're with, or just the circumstances around you that could lead you going third or could lead you going all the way to the end. why not give some of those people another chance absolutely and i mean even though

i've given three options like i really would like a two tribe two tribes again i miss the two tribes i love well actually i don't really love the three tribes you know they don't work out for everybody so well i love a two tribe season i feel like so much can happen i do understand um that sometimes in two tribes like it's a domino effect and things can become repetitive and it's like hard to switch up but like at least start off with two tribes then break the to three tribes and then merge to one tribe or something i would really love to see that well listen you outlined the exact structure that was in survivor ghost island though i think it was two to three back two to two to three to one and we've got five that's a lot of numbers

let's get into it shall we and we got some big ins to start with here bryce because we have arguably the two players of the season, those that ran it down pretty much from the beginning all the way to the end, even tying for the first and so far only time in Survivor history. In your boy, the GOAT, Wendell, and his guy, Dominic.

Laurel, of course, the Malolo, serving as the one that was supporting them the entire time and ends up filling an incredibly important role in Survivor history and that she was the first time that a finalist then turned final juror and had to cast a tie-breaking vote but we do need to start with the Wendell and Dominic of it all it only makes sense given the season I mean Bryce I'm just going to give you like unlimited time to talk with me about your thoughts on wendell coming back for a third survivor season because suffice it to say certainly at the time the second season wasn't entirely an incredibly positive experience

it it really wasn't um i think he got the short end of the stick uh on winners at war i think uh didn't really love his character arc however as a friend and there's somebody that's really close with him i enjoyed it okay he got humbled on season 40 and so you know in my opinion i don't recognize season 36 for him i recognize season 40 uh that's the only time I, you know, give him his credit, but I feel like a winner of ghost Island, but more so importantly, merge boot from survivor.

Yes. Merge boot of ghost Island. Okay. But regardless, even though I said, I don't want to see winners. I think that window would be a great option. He would have a huge target on his back as that.

He's like very diplomatic. He's great. He's strategic. He's really good. So of course I would love to see my best his back as that he's like very diplomatic he's great he's strategic he's really good so of course I would love to see my best friend back out there however also in that same vein of me saying that I don't want winners um if he were excluded uh I definitely think that Dominic needs to be at the the top of the list because uh dominic in my opinion is as quiet as a skept he's the real winner of ghost island right you know like he he really embodies everything and we've seen him on the challenge usa where it's like it's not just fluke. Like, Dominic has the mental capacity. He has the strategic knowledge.

He has the social ability. He has the dominance to make it to the end. And so, again, I really feel like you put Dominic back out there, you might see a Tony Vachos come out and be another two-time winner because Dominic really does have what it takes. And I feel like when you meet Dominic and, you know, obviously I know Dominic personally, but like, excuse me, he has like this disarming factor about him where it's like,

you know, he's a threat, but he's also a dad. He's also like, there's so many different facets about him that you're like, Oh, he's a threat. I need to to remember that and then next thing you know he voted you out you didn't even get to take him out so it's like i would love to see dominic back out there yeah so talking about these two guys i mean obviously wendell is someone who has gone on from survivor to make a couple of reality tv appearances most recently on the goat on amazon prime and i'm sure that sort of had like maybe uh lived in the minds of

survivor fans as to okay would wendell want to come back but it feels like and bryce correct me if i'm wrong here i mean every time that i have talked to wendell he has always said like survivor don't lose my number if you ever call me i will accept the call and so i do think that he would stand a good chance of coming back if he was asked. Now, I guess the question is, Bryce, would you, because I'm trying to figure out like what would be the theme that would bring Wendell back? Do you think he would qualify for like a legend season? I think he could qualify as a young legend. I like that.

Old legends versus young legends. That's the theme. Absolutely. I definitely think he, and again, the way that he played the game in Ghost Island, I like to make a lot of jokes and I like to make fun of Wendell any opportunity that I can. However, watching Ghost Island, like you can't take away that this man was leading the tribe. Other than that one time, they almost got him out. But like he really was building relationships. And again, speaking to the fact

that Laurel made that tie decision and it was because of the relationship that he built with Laurel. He really did his thing out there. So absolutely. I think that, you know, he could be or again, you know, pre-merge.

Well, both times. Merge, even if you do old school new school new era definitely would consider him a new school player uh so i think there's a lot of possibilities that we could see wendell again so the dominic side of things i totally agree with you i think this guy is an absolute lock i think when we talk about oh it sucks that we haven't had really any returnees since uh you know season 34 with the exception of like a few random people on edge of extinction it sucks that there are people like chrissy like christian like angelina who haven't come back dom's name has been right up there because this is a guy who

has maybe come the closest since Boston Rob to kind of running a season like a mafia boss and maybe it's just the you know Italian dad construction persona to him but he had such an interesting arc where he decides kind of foolishly in that opening challenge to like speak up against Chris Noble in the moment immediately starting this rivalry but then he finds a real idol but then also finds a fake idol and claims to chris that he has the fake idol i mean in a season that was all about throwing out all these advantages that served as like past survivor totems dominic was the one that maybe had his hands on the most of them considering how he was kind of spending them like candy towards the end

game. I mean, I think I wouldn't necessarily boil down the two games to Wendell being only social and Dominic being only strategy. But like, that's the way it kind of shows to us. And for what it's worth, Dominic is the runner up that has, from a numbers perspective, come the closest to winning. I mean, how could you not use that as a follow-up to the story of this is the guy who was one random jury vote away from being a million dollars richer

he needs to make up for that and what's interesting is that in his quarantine questionnaire a few years back when asked if he'd play again he'd say he'd love to but it's not even for that story of redemption of making up for the the one jury vote that he missed. It was more so about the fact that he just loves to play the game. You know, the Challenge USA might have stoked those competitive fires for a bit. But as the final showed, maybe not necessarily the fire that he necessarily wants to be a part of. So I think he is more than happy to throw himself back in Survivor once the call comes in. Absolutely. I think Dominic is waiting once the call comes in. Absolutely.

I think Dominic is waiting at the door with his bags packed. And he already has his PTO time or short-term disability request in. Because Dom is not playing. And yeah, everything, I agree with everything that you said. I just, he would really be interesting to watch. However, and maybe Ghost island was a little it's a little far removed than say uh i forgot what season was jesse season 43 yeah but like i a lot of dom reminds me of like a jesse right like obviously jesse has that bigger move but i just wonder when dom goes back will people see him as a huge target or will they remember how he played in his game and his season?

And it's like you really have to watch out for him. But I also think Ghost Island is a little far removed that I think he'd be able to assimilate and kind of like take the reins again. So it'll be interesting to see. But Dominic, for sure. Yeah, I completely agree. And I think the benefit would be that I assume Dom would be on a cast alongside. You mentioned Jesse. You could throw Chrissy in there of like some of these people who made it super far and would have won under circumstance, other circumstances that didn't.

Otherwise, I think Dominic would stick out like a sore thumb but i do think the time away combined from like again i think the way that people remember ghost island now it's like well wendell and dom ran the season but dom had no social game and so that's why he lost he did get five out of ten jury votes that's perhaps broad brushing his game a bit too much so i actually think he might come in a tad bit underestimated compared to like if season 40 was an all-star that featured basically a bunch of people from the thirties, Dom would have been a shoe in there. And I think would have gotten a much bigger target than he would have for 50.

Yeah. I think his, that threat level is a little lower now, but I also feel like knowing Dom's personality, even if going in his threat level, wasn't low, give them two to three days. The threat level is going to shoot back up there because dom just can't help but to be in control and and kind of get things together so i mean regardless

if it's there when it arrives the threat level will soon find dom i'd be remiss of course not to mention laurel here and look i do think that survivor history looks back fairly unkindly to laurel all they say is like oh all she did was just aid in a bet, Wendell and Dom, and she cast the tie-breaking vote at the end of the day. I do feel like that is removing a bit of the agency from Laurel's game. Yes, she did make a very deliberate choice

to be with Wendell and Dom, but she even expressed that in one of the episodes, that she hopes that the two of them end up splitting votes because they are such a tight pair and then maybe she'll mop it up through a plurality listen it's a strategy that has yet to work out in the history of survivor but at least there is intentionality behind it as opposed to maybe some people that are just like yeah i'll get dragged there and then we'll sort of see what happens so even if laurel made choices that the audience did not necessarily vibe with she still

made choices at the end of the day uh Laurel is somebody who has also done a lot of stuff since her time on the show she has gotten married she's 36 and actually recently gave birth as well so congratulations to Laurel I do think that the show probably would not consider bringing Laurel back again there would be some appeal to like okay is she someone that can have a bit more activeness to her game and kind of take it by the reins and become the power player as opposed to kind of siding with the power players but I just think in the grand scheme of things that there are other people and other zero vote finalists that the show would bring back over Laurel. OK, so I might have to disagree.

OK, put your back on that, Emily. For OK, for the sake of me knowing Laurel, love Laurel. I think she's an amazing, smart, brilliant, athletic, talented woman. And two things I want to say about Laurel. One, I really feel like she got the short end of the stick. I know that she's like somewhat removed from the survivor community a little bit because like during this time, like people dog piled on her.

Like she was getting like so much hate and I didn't understand that at the time. Like, what are y'all talking about? Like, and you know, she just got so many nasty and hateful comments that like she just kind of removed herself a little bit. However, Noah Wendell and knowing Dom and hearing the intricate stories about how pivotal their game was because Laurel, not because like, you know, Laurel was just, oh, whatever you guys need to do. Like Laurel was playing the game. Laurel was a double agent. And I think that because maybe she wasn't as flashy as other people are, but homegirl was on both sides.

Homegirl was bringing information not only to Wendell and Dom, but to the other side. And it really was Laurel could have flipped on Dom and Wendell and got them out. But she, I forget what episode it was, but she ultimately told them that like, they're coming for y'all. So it's like, I think Laurel's one mistake, which I feel like a lot of first time player mistakes are, is you want to get to the end, but when is the right time to make the move?

And I feel like when you are playing the game of Survivor, that right time sometimes is hard, especially when you make it farther in the game like of course when we're watching on cv you'll be like girl get rid of them now but it is like you know there's so much on the line there's so much to take in there's so much to like if i flip on them they can take me out and so um i definitely think laurel is a strong player she's athletic there are so many challenges that she beasted. And I also want to change the stigma

in the Survivor community a little bit, right? Because... Reverse the curse. Reverse the curse in the sense of, like, we give Wendell the praise. Season 36 is his, but... And I've never really said this out loud. I've said this to people in private, but there's something about the Survivor

community that annoys me me how we don't give Dom and Laurel praise getting number one like the number two and number three spot like that is still an honor like that is still a very prestigious to be number three obviously it's not winning but I just feel like someone from the opposite end I'd rather be that three than the three that I was and so I just hate how we don't really congratulate that as much as we just kind of put all the praise on the winner because although Dom didn't win you still got number one you still got to the end with your ally can Jesse and and cody say that i'm not sure right like you know laurel making it to the end with those like i don't know i just feel like we don't offer enough praise and congratulations to the the second and third spot it's an honor and sometimes it's like what's wrong with playing

to be number three like i damn sure we'll play to be number three then number 17 okay that's just my two no no i listen preach absolutely and yeah i do think that dom in particular was like one of the best players to never win the game considering he almost won the game there are so many what ifs that we can ask about oh if jesse makes it to the final three what happens if rob sestrino makes to the final two what happens like Dominic was somebody that was able to get there and nearly won and yeah to your point it's so interesting yeah so it's so interesting to look back and yeah I totally agree that like Jeff used to say this back in the day during the live finales but like making it to the finals is an incredible tough thing to do just considering all the elements that are working against you in survivor and yes sometimes we don't commend it as we sort of lump together particularly when it

comes to a lot of zero vote finalists right it's like these are the goats these were not good players right but and again when you you think about it zero votes but also when you think about it she's up against diamond window like it's like, you know, you're up against greatness. But listen, zero votes is still, you got to the end of number three, and I would love to see Laurel back. Now, I don't know if Laurel would even want to come back, just

given her life, being a mother, but I definitely think Laurel could kill it. And I also feel like, sorry, I'm just all over the place. No, please. That's what we brought you on to do. There's something about playing again. There are so many things just from a production standpoint of that you learn going out there. And so it's like Laurel 2.0, I think could be lethal.

And just just as much as what Dom has learned. And I'm sure Dom has learned, like, haven't an ally, but take them out before they take you out. I'm sure, you know, and I remember just so many times watching Laurel's season, like, girl, make the move. And even though, even if it would have been against Wendell, it still is like, well, clearly that was Wendell. But at the same time, I was rooting for Laurel. At the same time, I was rooting for Dom.

And so I just wanted one of them to win. And so there were just so many times that she could have pulled the, she could have pulled back the slingshot. I don't want to, you know. Well, Dave versus Goliath is next season, yeah. So, yeah, but I would love to see Laurel again. I think that it would be a surprise. And although, like, on these podcasts, we're saying, like, yeah, maybe not. But I also feel like if she were on 50 the story that they could give her I think would be exciting and relevant to fans

another hot topic I would love so it's hard right because there's a part of me that's like oh I'm just like I want Dom Dom but there's a world where I would want a season where it's kind of more people like Laurel that kind of like we didn't really get to see blossom and excel. And I think as a Survivor fan, fan, fan, that season kind of excites me a little bit more because it's like in a season, if we were to get down a window, it's kind of like I know what they would give with Laurel. It's a question mark. And dare I say, like, let's they would give with Laurel it's a question mark and yeah dare I say like let's talk the Kelly Wentworth edit right like you know that second time around and a player or let's even talk I always feel like when we talk about a pre-merge player we always talk about Kelly Wentworth I always feel like people leave out Michaela and I feel like like we've seen how those players have evolved. So, I mean, I can only imagine what Laurel would be like now as a wife and as a mother.

Now her mama bear protective capacities are in. She's playing for like Laurel going to be a threat. Y'all going to stop playing on my girl Laurel name. OK, that's all. I love it. I love it. The passion is perfect. What's up, Spotify? This is Javi. I remember this one time we were on tour.

We didn't have any guitar picks, and we didn't have time to go to the store, so we placed an order on Prime, and it got there the next day, ready for the show. Whatever you're into, it's on Prime. Let's see if that passion carries over to the jury of ghost island here so we have in order of finish we have uh mr suave himself chris noble we have a libby we have desiree we have uh of course our one of our showmances that came out of this season in jenna and challenge usa competitor sea bass sebastian we have a resident teenager on this season in Michael Yerger. We have, unfortunately, probably the most purple player of the season,

if not in recent memory, in Chelsea. We have a fellow RHAP podcast host in Kellen. We've got SEA Award winner, Donathan, and the person who goes out in firemaking that if Dom had his way in retrospect, he would have thrown himself in in her place in angela perkins i want to dote upon a few people here in particular before we start going you know overall about the rest of these people i want to start with donathan here because again i do think that there was like there was a lot of fever around donathan

in the moment here comes a kid absolutely. Absolutely. Like sweet as honey. You know, a really huge survivor. Super fan has a bit of a struggle in the beginning where he's a bit of an outcast because he's not necessarily perceived as being like incredibly athletic, but he does make it through. He survives that challenge where he has to dive down and get the balls.

And then he's like, plays a little bit of a, a little bit of a fierce game to him he's finding idols i'll be playing them incorrectly he's one of the people to like really clap back at dominic and wendell when he starts seeing the writing on the wall and starts calling them out over at tribal council which ends up getting him booted in a fifth place so people are usually used to, up until recently, Sia kind of becoming a commonplace thing amongst Survivor fans,

that she gives awards every season. So people might not remember that, yes, she storms the stage at the Co-Wrong finale really oddly and decides, I'm going to give money to Tai. But then Sia disappears. She doesn't give out money during Millennials vs. Gen X,

Game Changers, or Heroes, Healers, Hustlers. And so I was actually in the room. I attended the Ghost Island finale when Jeff announces to Donathan when he brings him out on stage, like, there's this popular artist named Sia, and she has been so, you know, enamored by your story

that she is giving you this certain amount of money. And then it pretty much continued from there on out. We're from 36 through 46, basically with the exception of Winners of War in 41. We got money every season. And that goes to show the power of Donathan's story in the moment. That again, this was a very sweet guy

who was working uphill at a certain perspective and ultimately ended up finishing just short of making it to the top of that hill, but certainly reverberated amongst people in the moment. Bryce, do you think that reverberation has carried through to survivor 50? I definitely think so. I think that Don Don is a player that when we saw him into our screen,

we was like, what, what, what is that? what is Donathan? And he was just his country self, just so happy, so excited to be there. And I definitely think that Don Don, because that's my nickname, I call him.

I think he was like culture shock, shell shock. Like he didn't really understand what he got himself into. But the second that those lights switched on,athan was ready to play like donathan could be cutthroat donathan we could we saw make the alliances and i think one of like his iconic lines was like you know like i want to play like i want to stay i came to play and donathan is just truly uh a light a bright light uh he's just so friendly, so himself. And I think Survivor 50 would be lucky if we could get an appearance from Donathan because I really think that Donathan is just so great.

I think, again, playing a second time. And, you know, Donathan has experienced a lot of different things in his life. You know, his me mom recently passed away and like he's been sharing the story of like caring for his grandmother and I think things like that kind of like change you as a person and so I know that Donathan going out there this time around he's still the same Dondon like we still love him he's still silly he's still um a country boy at heart but I

definitely think Dondon has what it takes. And I sometimes think that like, people forget how funny Don Don was, how like interesting he was. I would love to see a Don Don. That's weird. Come on, Don Don. Well, I also think as well that,

you know, you could say that Donathan's archetype might've in the past been filled by somebody like Nick Wilson, who actually said on the show that he was called evil vampire Donathan by the audience after David versus Goliath. But now that just not to spoil tomorrow's podcast too much, but now that he has gone down the political route and I imagine does not want to come back to Survivor. I do think Donathan is a fairly unique cast away to bring back as well. cast away to bring back as well and you know in this sort of era where we're going to be talking about oh this person would be fun to bring back but are there other people that could take their spot in their archetype i can't think of many people except for maybe like elaine if we're comparing them a little bit that would be filling the same spot here yeah um but for me i i just

i want a donathan and also you know he's a member of the LGBTQ plus community. And so I think adding that layer on just knowing Donathan's story, I think you're right. Like there isn't really an archetype like a Donathan. And the only one that I could think of, but not anywhere similar is like of the older season, like a Colton. Like, you know, colton was from the south colton a lot of different things but also a stark difference in donathan you know so different and again i think we tend to lean towards the light and someone like a donathan but i also feel like donathan has the ability to be a shark to be cutroat. I don't think we necessarily got to see that on this season

just because I feel like, you know, it's a learning curve and, you know, you got to kind of get in where you fit in. And I don't think that we got the opportunity to actually see what a Donathan gameplay really could have looked like. And so I think, yeah, season 50, I would be excited to see a Don Don. What about Kellen here? Because Kellen is somebody who has a really interesting season where in the pre-merge, she's kind of seen as like

the leader of her alliance during the pre-merge. You know, when the tribes end up swapping, Navidi ends up having this majority on the Malolo tribe. And she's the one that's really kind of the figurehead of it, saying Navidi's strong. She's the one who like really kind of the figurehead of it saying navidi strong she's the one who like is one of the only people to go to ghost island and actually pass up on playing the game because she values her vote too much because she knows she's it's like a five to four uh advantage in the moment and so she was seen as i think one of the biggest strategic

forces for the first half of the game but then at the merge as dom and wendell kind of rise to power it comes at the expense of kellen and it gets to this extent where like kellen's left a little flat-footed you know she tries to make this move against wendell to your point really the only time that wendell is in trouble in the game but wendell and dom are able to come over the top and able to you know uh basically get kellen to throw a couple votes waste her extra vote on laurel and be able to take out michael where kellen ends up being on the outside looking in and as much as she tries to scramble and use her gut-based line of thinking she ends up getting voted out right before the finale and kellen has certainly i think uh boosted

her profile a bit of course in doing the Road to Reality series where look for what it's worth if Kellen were to return she has now made a lot of one-to-one contacts with other people that might be on season 50 yes anyone that can take a shot at Wendell to try to get

him out you got my vote I love Kellen and so it's interesting because some of my hot takes for a lot of this cast is from my personal experience with them right like not necessarily from the game because it is an edited show and so for me it's like how is this person in real life and kellen is when i just say she is so smart uh and she has that like the zest for the game she reminds me of like an aubrey right like if we're talking like different like uh archetypes i just think kellen is so amazing i think even during the pandemic kellen lived abroad yeah she had this wild story where she was like traveling abroad and then due to

the airlines getting shut down she was basically stranded in spain but that's where she like met the love of her life okay because listen because okay because i'm trying to think around wait a minute i've been on some delayed flights my flights got canceled i'm trying to find where where's my i don't think the delta outages are causing any new relationships to drum up because I'm trying to just figure something out, Michael Bloom, because how Kelly get a man. And I love her husband. Actually. I love her. Might love her husband a little bit more than I love Kelly.

Cause he's so amazing. But yeah, Kelly is a survivor. Like, can you imagine being overseas and like, Hey, like, you know, I'm going to come home in two weeks and then the world shuts down and then you have to literally pivot um but kellen's just so amazing she is maybe not when you look at her oh not a threat but she's a threat she's smart she yeah i i would love to see a kellen uh give me more yeah And I think she's somebody who also understood a bit of her own folly in Ghost Island as well, that she was somebody that like took the shot a little too late and got again,

a little like bamboozled into what was such a tight yet essential vote during that split tribal council that could have cracked the game wide open. If she does end up working with Michael correctly and the, you know, with her extra vote they could have taken Wendell out and the game is completely different right from there on out so I think she's someone that's also again eager to find advantages and use advantages so I think she

really is set up perfectly to do well I mean Ghost Island is definitely a cast that admittedly has some hits and misses so I don't know if survivor 50 like you know they'll be looking to really popular seasons of the show to be honest i don't know how popular ghost island is that they're like oh we got to bring back all these people from it but i do think kellen is somebody that would be fun to get a shot from a season that is not incredibly well regarded i would agree. And you're right. There's a lot of hits and there could be a lot of misses

in Ghost Island. But Kellen for sure is a hit. Well, then let's talk about someone that casting wise was a goddamn home run. We got to talk about Chris Noble here because it's so wild that this guy makes it

halfway through the season. He's voted out at the merge at his first tribal council with an idol in his pocket. But I feel like when we talk about Ghost Island, he is up there as one of the biggest characters of the season. Of course, the big, hulking, handsome male model coming in, immediately stepping up in the first challenge making decisions for his tribe starting this rivalry with dominic that's going to last all the way to his boot it also like showing a bit of his softer side obviously taking his time i think it was when he was put on ghost island to like open up about his mom's diagnosis with ms and all the conditions and then living with that to show that he isn't necessarily this like two-dimensional character

but when he does show that character side of himself it's amazing you know between him throwing those beanbags and yelling about how much he wants pastries to again as mentioned before the beneficiary of it all to of course him crafting back when Ponderosa

videos were a thing perhaps the most iconic one in survivor history making a whole ass rap music video with the poor ponderosa staff serving as his background actors and so for a while people were thinking that like chris is a necessity to bring back just from a character perspective is he someone we want to carry forward to 50 i would uh have to agree that i would love a chris return um do i think chris could win i don't know but do i believe that chris would deliver us the noble edit that we love and deserve because it's i think the golden thing about a Chris Noble is that and I'm not sure if he was a recruit or but I knew that he didn't know much about the game where he was one of the

people that like you know in a hotel room watched seven episodes and it was like I'm a genius uh he only made like eight episodes so he okay he needed to know he fell asleep a couple of times and he woke up and the tv said, are you still watching? And he was like, I'm good. Right. But there is just something about Chris's personality that makes for such great TV where it's like. Why are you raising your hand? It's like if we were on an airplane, not, you know, on a not a Delta, let's say an American air.

Mm hmm. on a, not a Delta, let's say an American air. And all of a sudden, like where it seems like there's a lot of turbulence and all of a sudden the plane kind of going down a little bit and they, the seatbelt sign comes on. Then it's like, this is your captain. We're having issues in the cockpit. I'm getting ready to pass out.

Do we have a pilot on the plane? Chris Noble would be like, I can fly a plane. Or like, is there a doctor in the house?ris noble would be like i could fly a plane or like is there a doctor in the house yeah i think i can figure it out i can figure it out she just needs a double bypass give me a cookie and a straw like there's something to be said with somebody with that amount of confidence um and zero amount of, but they always step up. And I think that that's what makes for great TV. Then when you mix in the ability of this feud with him and Dom, him willing to go against an adversary,

I think that Chris Noble is needed. And I think people forget because in this new era, we have such big personalities. We have a lot of these things. We have a lot of attributes that Chris has in himself in the new era. But I think when you think about Ghost Island or you think about the old era, I don't think you necessarily think that about Chris because he is easy on the eyes. And, you know, just for him to just be on the island with his shirt off alone, he could have my vote.

But I just would love to see his cockiness be put down again in some way, shape, or form. I think that it's like golden. So I would live for Chris Noble. I mean, could you imagine him in queue on the same beach? Oh, this is what I'm talking about, Mike. Noble. I mean, could you imagine him and Q on the same beach?

This is what I'm talking about, Mike. Could you imagine them two going back and forth? Like, this needs to happen. I'm sorry. We need to manifest this, producers. I don't know in what way, if it's just a captain season with Chris Noble and Q. No, we have to put

them on the same tribe, though. We need an immediate reaction. They have to be on the same tribe. Imagine two days they're gonna work together for two days yep then after that third day cute cute cutaneous is gonna have a thought and it's going to be ward war war three that would be epic that just has my mouth salivating for the type of TV that we would get that would be gold Chris and Q who would have ever thought well let's talk about somebody who might have your mouth salivating in a different way let's talk Michael Yerger

okay Michael Yerger Yerger yogurt yogurt listen aesthetically alone we want Zaddy Michael back, okay? Yeah, I believe was one of probably the original people to be on a Zaddy calendar, no? He absolutely was.

And I want to say the year that Ghost Island came out, I don't know if it was like People Magazine, something, something, something. He was voted the most attractive person like in America. What? Yes, like, in America. What? Yes. It was something weird. I remember that during this season, because he kept posting about it.

And I was like, well, what publication is this? Like, who did, like, who? But, yeah. This is what I will say about Michael, right? Because I don't really know him that well. But what I remember from that season is Michael was good at everything. Right? Like, I remember him being good at everything.

I remember Michael always fighting, even when it seemed like, OK, you should probably give it up. Like I remember that like go get her attitude. And so I do feel like respectfully. Because I don't want to be mean, but I just want to be honest like right I love a Michael Yorger you're you're you know you'll play your girl we love a Michael uh Yorger but I do feel like his archetype we've seen a million times right like you know like and there isn't for me personally, like not that much special about him that I couldn't get in. 82 more other survivors. Right.

But I do love Michael. I do think that he killed it on his season. But like, I don't know if I'm going to volunteer his tribute to put him on the ballot. Yeah, that's the thing is that, again, I speak about sort of Donathan Fever being rampant at the time. Michael was an outright pandemic. And that like, this was a guy. Yeah, he came on at 18 years old.

And we had certainly seen teenagers in the past, but there was a lot of talk. I remember for a good number of years, pretty much until Sammy came along of like, is Michael Yerner the best teenager to ever play as Survivor? That this was a guy that was pretty much until sammy came along of like is michael yarner the best teenager to ever play a survivor that this was a guy that was pretty much the underdog throughout the season starting from when he gets swapped into that tribe with kellen and it's pretty much in the minority from the beginning you know he finds an idol he tries to do this whole charade at tribal council

where he's like oh who am i gonna play it on to try to get the votes right it doesn't work out but then he finds another idol plays it on himself to save himself at the merge because he really is the the you know the huge target by the super majority going on and then he eventually again gets taken out in this really odd vote during the split tribal council but again there was a lot of popularity around him because it was this combination right of like being really young and being an underdog for the vast majority of his season and i think if season 40 again was a a regular all-star season not specifically winners at war there was a very very good chance that michael would come back i think production absolutely loved michael yerger and even now you know he's only 26 years old but

to your point I do wonder now if especially looking at people like Xander looking at people like Sammy again are there other Austin are there are there others especially on the younger side of things that are the new

hotness over someone like Michael has the time for a Michael return past possibly yeah I of things that are the new hotness over someone like Michael? Has the time for a Michael return passed, possibly? Yeah, I again, Michael is great. But to your point, right, like when we're talking about Donovan or even like you just mentioned Sammy, like if I were to compare Michael and Sammy completely different, but there's something about Sammy's archetypes. There's something about Sammy's story. There's something about, you know, Sammy kind of going hot, playing super, super hot and

not always being right. And so I don't know. I just feel like there are a lot of Michael Yurgers that we could pick from. And so I'm just, I don't know how I am uh to want to cast a vote no doubtably if he were on of course I would be hyped because it's like oh I know what we're going to expect from him but just because the pool of survivor players is so wide um I just don't know I don't want to necessarily throw these people all in in one batch for consideration, but I would love to hear thoughts in general of, you know, between Angela, Sebastian, Chelsea, Jenna, Desiree, Libby. I think there's a fair chance that none of them would get asked back just looking back upon what people remember from Ghost Island.

But is there anyone that you want to highlight in particular from that group um I love my girl Desiree uh because I also feel like you know I feel like Desiree didn't vote for Wendell I feel like she uh voted for Dom so that's a vote for me um I also just feel like Desiree was another strong competitor uh I feel like she wasn't highlighted enough. We didn't really get to see a lot of her. So I would love to see Desiree. Angela, I think she is amazing.

Chelsea, we definitely didn't get to see a lot of her, which leads me to if they won't throw in a wild card, like, you know, just somebody that's just like, like, like, you know, you know, just somebody that's just like, Hey, just, you know, I,

I feel like we didn't get to see enough of Chelsea. I have seen all that I need to see of Sebastian. And you know, Libby is. Libby is on. She was on the CW show alongside another member of this cast. Like she's got other reality shows to be right. So,

yeah. All right. Well, let's, let's segue into our pre-jury group here because again I speak about the pre-merge of Ghost Island being surprisingly strong and these are the people that end up getting booted from it so we have the other person that was on I think it was called like fight to survive alongside yeah alongside

Libby is Stephanie or as she's more so known as Gonzalez. We have a huge superfan who has a pretty epic flame out in the premiere in Jacob Derwin. We have Morgan Rickey, who ends up becoming one of the first big blindside victims of the season

when the tables get turned for really the first and only time on Dom and Wendell. We get a trio of Malolos that are swap screwed in the form of Brendan Shapiro, Stephanie Johnson and James Lim. And then we have the guy that I want to start with here and arguably the biggest character of the pre-merge here in Bradley. And again, it's interesting, you know, we talk a lot, especially nowadays about like, does Survivor have villains anymore? And it's even tough to call like Bradley a villain as much as he was just like a person who complained about stuff, but was still such a fun, dry character, as dry as the dirt he unfortunately had to sleep on on the beach. Yes love bradley bradley in my mind was an

ex-boyfriend of mine i think that bradley's dry humor is the funniest thing ever i am of the era that i love a complainer on survivor right like i love a complainer on survivor it like makes it so interesting it like annoy the other people have this snarky dry humor um i think bradley would be great i am very excited and would be so happy if we got to see a bradley because i just he's funny he knows the game he's willing to go against the odds he's like willing against to go against the grain to be sneaky to be like bradley would be great tv he was gone extremely too soon um i love me some bradley so yeah it was very uh in this pool of people very high on my list yeah i mean it got to the point where like supposedly dominic and chelsea had to throw the challenge because

they were done with bradley they were like nope we can't let this guy get to the merge because yeah he was kind of running things alongside kellen for the majority of that pre-merge we talk about again that that majority that he was able to swap into and he kind of becomes the main antagonist there to the point that i do remember uh brendan, because he was a gym teacher, like finding Bradley online and harassing him a little bit because they voted out his teacher. Bradley was certainly a little bit of a lightning rod, I think, for a lot of consternation from the community. But this seemed to be a guy that,

I wouldn't say like necessarily took it on the chin, but certainly seemed to lap it up in the moment, which is also what we like as well from our Survivor characters. Absolutely. And I think when we think of in more recent seasons, there's Franny and her partner. What's her partner's name?

Matt. Before there was a Franny and a Matt, there was a Bradley and a Kellen. I don't think people really remember their short, their short flame, but it was like all of the streets in the Survivor realm, they were like the

Helen and Matt before Helen and Matt. So, yeah. Brandy and Matt, don't throw any other stuff at the Survivor streets by shipping them Matt together with somebody else. No, no, no. Please, I don't want no smoke. Yeah, so I would love to see Brandy. Can I jump to someone else as well?

Please jump away. OK, so here's another person that I absolutely adore. And I think got the short end of the stick as well. It would be Mr. Shapiro, Brandon Shapiro. Brandon is amazing. Brandon knows the game. Brandon is amazing Brandon knows the game Brandon is smart and I think it is just one of those cases where it's like the luck of the draw and it's like being a first time player

I think that Brandon Shapiro is so amazing, so funny his podcast with Rick Devins and what's his name? Dalton Ross Dalton Ross, Dalton Ross. Like they're like, Brandon has the personality.

Like he like, and so I sometimes always get a little frustrated at Brandon when I see him. And I'm like, I'm listening to the podcast. Where the hell was this Brandon at on the screen? So I just, I love Brandon. However,

I don't know if I want Brandon for Survivor 50. What I do want Brandon for is Survivor Blood versus Water 3. Okay. Brandon has a son named Will Shapiro. And Will is like my little brother, little cousin. He is a spitting image of Brandon. He is like, literally, it's like your genes are strong. He is a survivor, love survivor. He just graduated college.

Like, I need to see that duo on my screen. I need a fan. I mean, I need a blood versus water three stat. And I need Will and Brendan on it. Okay, I love this. Casting even seasons beyond 50. We're really doing casting's job for it. Okay, I love this. Casting even seasons beyond 50. We're really doing casting's job for it. Yes. And then

let's go over to my good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good friend, Jacob. Love Jacob. And I think he's like a casting... Recently engaged as well. Recently engaged. Musician. He's a casting director.

It was hard to see Jacob on the show, right? Because it's like, you know, your words have power, right? So if you're like, I'm going to have a bad day. And you're going to have a bad day. And so I just, I had a lot of empathy for Jacob during this time period. Because I just remember, you know, he took it hard and going out early. I know what that feels like. And so if there's ever a chance, you know, Francesca Hoagie-esque style,

I think it would be interesting to see a Jacob back on our screen. But Jacob was an interesting character uh and we love jacob yeah i i loved jacob i mean he kind of also paved the way for like flame out super fans as well uh because jacob really comes in hot you know he infamously is believing that there's an idol in the rice so he pours the rice into one of his socks. He's someone who, again, the big twist in the first couple episodes of Ghost Island was like, if you were sent away after the challenge,

you didn't go to tribal council and so you weren't voted out, basically. You couldn't vote, but you couldn't be voted for. And so Jacob begs the Navidi tribe to send him away immediately and so when he comes back, everyone assumes he has something when he doesn't. And so he's a very easy second boot.

I think he unfortunately kind of like paves the way for people like Daniel Strunk and Brandon Donlan, like these huge super fans of the show for the experience to your point is not exactly what they idealized to that point. You know, when asked his quarantine questionnaire about if he would come back, Jacob said, boy, probably not. It would have to be under very specific circumstances. to that point you know when asked his quarantine questionnaire about if he would come back jacob said boy probably not it would have to be under very specific circumstances i'm not interested

in being a prime time punchline for millions of people again and i definitely get that sense in interacting with jacob recently that i think his life is fine i think he he had his time making a dream come true by being on survivor and he has now gone on to do a bunch of other really great stuff. I do fear for him a little bit if he wanted to open himself up again to that experience, considering that it did make a major impact on him the last

time around. Definitely. And that's why my heart just always goes out to Jacob. Us super fans, we're so excited to get out there and sometimes it doesn't pan out the way that you want it to pan out. And some people can bounce back from it. Some people internalize it. And I definitely think Jacob was one of the people that it was really hard for him because he was such a fan of the show.

And so it's like me on a positive spin, right? Like I really feel like, and this is no shade. This is really like you know love it's like Jacob crawled so that we could have a Jelinski to walk right like you know and when you look at a Jacob and a Jelinski right like Jacob had such a hard time with his you know how everything went out and people like the punch lines that's one thing I love about a Jelinski right like you know well how everything went out and people like the punchlines. That's one thing I love about a Jelinski, right?

Like, you know, well, I mean, well, a couple of things, but I love how Jelinski is taking it with a badge of honor. Oh, he is staring into the curve and then some, yeah. You know, maybe a little delusion mixed in there, but like, you know, we are delusional. So I love it. But like, I just really, really, really, really love when an early boot can really make the best of it. Right. And really kind of like, like even a Brandon Donlan, like him had a hard time, but he makes the best

of it. And I love whenever I see fans and they are talking to people and they're like talking, like I talked to Brandon Donlan, like he really helped me out through some things. it and I love whenever I see fans and they are talking to people and they're like talking like I talked to Brandon Donlan like he really helped me out through some things and so I love it and even with the Jelinski like you think Jelinski won the damn season how Jelinski is out here selling merch and like I

when I tell you I love it random funny story at one of our Survivor finales Jelinski was there right before his season cameor finales. Jelinski was there right before his season came on. Oh. We met Jelinski. Michael, Jerome, Malik, Gerard

Balloon. The confidence that Jelinski exuded. First of all, like, not even like because I don't want to say cocky, but first of all, he was so excited to be there. Like, so excited to be there. Like, he kept walking from one corner to the other corner. He wanted

to just be in the background. And like, he just was like, watching everything. And I remember saying to Wendell, I was like, that boy is interesting. And then, like, because like, he really was just taking it all in. And we talked with him after,

and I was like, so shocked. Someone introduced us and we were like, Hey, his first words, the window was like, you don't want to see me on a basketball court. I see your Instagram.

I said, Oh my Jesus. Jalinski came out hot. And so I remember later that night, I was saying to Wendell, like, I think we might've met the winner. And so I remember later that night, I was saying to Wendell, like, I think we might have met the winner. Like, he, the confidence,

just how happy he exuded. And then we will go on to see the season. However, his attitude didn't change. And I just love that. And which is, again, pre-mergers have a special place in my heart. And no matter if you go out first, y'all need to be like Jelinski.

And it's your season. You won. So that's my little take on Jacob. Also, James. Yes, because I want to tell you, James and Stephanie, I feel like were definitely at the time two people that a lot of people felt

ended up getting screwed over a bit. You know, Stephanie was like this really positive force and james was someone who he's the architect behind the morgan vote the person below him he's the one that puts together the votes and he ends up really becoming the most swap screwed of them all where they do a second swap and he is just on he goes from the right side of the numbers to the wrong side immediately absolutely and j James is in my opinion James is the type of like super fan but also I think where James in my opinion it's like the super fans that know everything know every possibility you know he reminds me of different they look a little different but a James Jones right uh James Jones is so smart so sophisticated knows the things, is constantly running these

things in his head, and so is this James. This James, a little different than James Jones, this James is built like a gladiator. Yeah, he was a big runner, right, I think? Huge

runner. I remember one time, like, he spent the weekend at Wendell's house, and I was, like, so excited to meet him. We were going out. I was like, oh my god, I can huge runner. I remember one time, like he spent the weekend at windows house and I was like, so excited to meet him. We were going out. I was like, Oh my God, I can't wait. And James is like,

I have to get up in the morning and I've got to work out. So I can't go out. I was like, Oh, James is serious. But James loves the game of survivor. James, I believe he's a lawyer,

but there's something about a that just in my mind, we didn't get enough of him. And so, like I said, these luck of the draw or like these people that maybe, because I really want season 50 to have a couple of like, who was that again?

Like players. It wouldn't be an all-star season without that. Right. And I think James would be perfect for it. He's smart. he's talented uh but I do fear that James would again be in his head running numbers thinking different stuff and so I don't know how what his outcome would be like but I would love to see a James on there and also my girl Gonzalez uh I also feel like we didn't get to see enough of her personality. I think on that other show on the CW

that she was on, she was like very entertaining, very fun, lighthearted. She's beautiful. I love my girl Gonzales. I would love to see Gonzales as well. I'll give a shout out to, again, the other Stephanie who I think warmed a lot of hearts at the time. I believe the story

was that she was a single mother. I think I might be talking out of my ass story was that she was a single mother i think i might be talking out of my ass here but she was someone that certainly had uh some game to her she was like a a pretty big strategic player from the jump and again just ended up getting kind of screwed over at the swap unfortunately uh you know stephanie does not attend the reunion of ghost island and there's been rumors behind the scenes that like something happened between her and production that i think made her a bit of a persona non grata behind the scene so i do think she would not necessarily get uh invited back and morgan seems like a very lovely person and like was my winner pick once

upon a time i think was set up really well and just ends up getting kind of hosed again at the swap when the malolos take charge but again it's a surprisingly good pre-merge group for the season. It's crazy because, and yes, Morgan is amazing. I don't think I did an Issa look for Ghost Island. And as I'm like sitting here looking at these Issa looks, I don't know

if any of them would be my winner pick, right? Because I'm looking at Bradley. Bradley has the quintessential winner pose, but from this far away, I can see a thumb. Brandon or Brendan has that's another quintessential winner pick, but hello, cop to the side.

I can see a Jacob thumb. I can see a Morgan thumb. I can't get into enough of Gonzalez, but like I'm sitting here looking like, I don't think I did it. It's a look, but like it's all in the pose. They were like, I don't think I did it. It's a look, but like, it's all in the polls. They were telling us they wasn't winning without telling us.

Alright, well Bryce, polls or not, it's time for us to pick not just the winner, but those to add to our short list here. Now you made some good cases for a lot of people. We do get to pick five, up to five, a quarter of the cast, but let's start with some guarantees here who's somebody

that you like are locked in want to put on the ballot uh it's gonna have to be dominic yeah i completely agree with that i think dominic is far and away the most likely person to put on the short list so now here's the question that always comes following or preceding Dominic. Do we put Wendell on? I know you said no winners, but again, we've really cast the net wide as to what season 50 could be. Is Wendell somebody that you want to put on the shortlist today? We won't put him on the shortlist. I can't do my best friend like that.

Although I don't want winners. I'm only talking about him playing season 40 so that qualifies him alone to play so we can put Wendell on there I definitely want to add my girl Kellen I would definitely think Kellen would be good to add on there I'll add Chris

Noble as well I think again this is somebody Chris Noble again I don't know what the chances are that he ends up getting voted on or would even be asked because again it's like five years ago at this point or six years ago but i do think that he is somebody that has been in the talk for so long amongst the survivor community is like oh wouldn't it be great to see him back that i just want to throw him onto a fan ballot as well to see how much people do want to see him back i agree this makes it so hard because now we only have one person right one person left and throw him onto a fan ballot as well to see how much people do want to see him back. I agree.

This makes it so hard because now we only have one person, right? One person left. And honestly, I would imagine it's between Laurel, Donathan, maybe a little bit of Bradley. And that is what I'm stuck between because I love my girl Laurel. I think that she absolutely deserves a chance. I love Donathan. I think that there is just something magnetic about Donathan. And of course I love Bradley.

That's like, you know, my ex-husband. I'm so glad you're keeping it amicable after the divorce, by the way. Yes, yes, yes, yes. We co-parent very well. We have a turtle together. So. yes yes yes we co-parent very well uh we have a turtle together uh so so yeah but between the three i would probably say donathan is the most realistic between the three of them and look there's a chance that through wild cards and and you know people

suggesting in the comments we could get a laurel we could get a bradley on but i do think donathan would be the one that I could see them bringing back because again the uniqueness he provides I um I'm gonna go ahead with that and with you know an honorable mention to my girl Laurel uh but yeah I definitely Jonathan just has this energy this magnetic thing and I think that like people would love to see a Jonathan I know I absolutely would I I could just hear some of his sayings and just, you know, I could just picture it now. But again, I also think I don't know if they would be ready for the Donathan, the Don Don 2.0. You know, I don't know if you follow him on Instagram, but Don Don is good for giving you a shirtless photo.

You know, thirst trap, Donathan. Yeah. So again, I'm saying there's this new energy about Don Don. So that I definitely think that Don Don could kill it out there. I'd love to see him just come in as like this absolute mafia boss power player and become Don Don Don. I think it'd be such an amazing turn for him. Well, the people we are putting on today from Survivor Ghost Island, including their ages, are Wendell Holland, 40. 63.

Exactly. At heart, maybe. Dominic Abate, 45. We've got Jonathan Hurley, 33. Kellen Bechtold, 37. And Chris Noble, 34. Finally, Bryce, now maybe some of these people have answered this question for us because they have appeared on shows

outside of Survivor, but is there anyone from in this cast that you would want to see on a show that's different than the one we're talking about today? Absolutely. I want to see Dom on Traitors. That is such a great idea. Like I like sign him up. That would be great if I do believe Chris Noble is in a relationship, but if Chris Noble were single, I need Chris Noble on Love Island. I just,

I feel like he's so Love Island coded. Absolutely. I think that he would absolutely kill it. I need Kellen on a Ted talk. So now we're just charting careers for these people. Like just go on a Ted talk, Kellenellen on a TED Talk. So now we're just charting careers for these people. Just go on a TED Talk, Kellen. Get a Masters. Okay, I need Kellen on a

TED Talk. I need them to bring Top Model back and we're going to put Don Don on Top Model. I think you put Don Don and Michael on together and just see what happens. Well, I mean, if you want to see my, yeah, if you want to see Michael, you could just go to his OnlyFans.

That's true. Yes. And who's the third person we had? Oh, and Wendell. Yeah, I would like to see Wendell on another show. I think I would love an HGTV show for him. I would love like House Hunters. I would love, because I don't think people really get to see

his building ability. So I would love Wendell on like Property Brothers or House Hunters or not House Hunters, but like one of those build shows I would love to see Wendy Z on. Yeah, I think, you know,

Secret Celebrity Renovation was a show that was on CBS for a while where like celebs gave renovations to people that impacted their lives. And for a while, Boston Rob went from like someone who was who show that was on cbs for a while where like celebs gave renovations to people that impacted their lives and for a while boston rob went from like someone who was who did that to becoming an actual you know builder on the show and consulting for construction i say reboot it and bring wendell on i think that listen he's in-house at cbs it's a very easy thing to do because i agree i think like watching the little things that he built around the navidi camp were so much fun and obviously was a testament to that social game that he was quite literally

building relationships through the things that that he was building i'll only add on to that chris noble for the challenge i feel like people were talking about that a lot during his heyday and he's only 34 right now so again i feel like he's still in a pretty prime age i think he's also stopped modeling and he's no longer in the running for america's next top model i think he's now like fully committed to being a personal trainer so like he's in even a better shape to just go lay waste to the competition yeah uh then let me just also add i also think bradley for the mole i think bradley i think he would fit right on in there so Bradley for the mole as well yeah the Bradley has a lot of mollish behavior that I think people would just become

really captivated by well Bryce tomorrow we talk about a season that really captivated us back in the day and forevermore with uh this beloved cast to the point where it made its way on to Netflix at one point as a season to watch David vs. Goliath and let me just tell you this now Michael Kareem Abdul Bloom

if Natalie Cole and Uncle Carl Natalie Cole and Uncle Carl are not on that list. I'm coming to find you. Oh boy. Alright, well I'm glad I moved so that, listen, I'm not gonna say anything. They'll be up for discussion.

They'll be up for discussion. Absolutely. Well, we're gonna talk about it all tomorrow with Jenny Autumn. I mean, there's a lot of people to pick from. It's a really great season. It's a really great season it's a really great cast it's gonna have a a really tough job in front of us yes that is uh you know how they say kagian has a lot of personalities and like i feel very similarly to david versus goliath

because that's a good season like that is that's a oh God. I can't wait to watch that episode. Bryce, you are truly a Goliath when it comes to the world of content creation and podcasting. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to come on, taco styling with me, put some people on the shortlist to join you. Of course, you always got stuff going on

on the Purple Pants podcast. What would you like to plug for the listeners out there? Yes, I just am really excited that every Tuesday, Brooke Kamhai and I, Brooke is the winner of Amazing Race Season 29. We are doing a summer rewatch of Amazing Race Season 5. We've had the honor of having Mike Bloom on with us this week. We recapped Episode 5.

And I just have to say, like, my love for Amazing Race through this rewatch is, oh, it's it's just one of the best seasons in reality TV that I've really ever watched. And I'm just being honest, Survivor included. So don't don't don't come at me. But this season is so amazing. So I'm having so much fun doing the recap with Brooke on the Purple Pants podcast. You know, I'm doing some sports takes with my play-by-play. So, yes, a lot of things coming up. And, you know, this is around the time that the Zaddy calendar gets revealed. So, you know, we've got the Bryce Isaiah 2025 Zaddy calendar coming soon. So, you know, a busy summer over here, Michael.

Should we have done a survivor wish list for cast members for the Zaddy calendar? That seems like the more marketable list. I mean, you are doing a summer of Survivor. I mean, you know how to find me. There we go. There we go. So TBD on that. And of course, check out everything that's going on here

and let us know your thoughts about the cast of Ghost Island and who you want to see on the list as well. Tomorrow, we'll be back with a big one, Survivor David versus Goliath with jenny autumn thank you all so much for listening bryce thank you so much again for coming on until tomorrow everybody take care bye